School & Pneumonia

Lately I've been really busy with soccer and I've also been running at seven in the morning for cross country. The weather here has been insane! One day it's freezing, then it's warm, then it's raining, then it's a foggy mess....anyways, you get the picture. Because I've been outside all the time for over a month now and the crazy weather, I've been getting sick. It was pretty bad on Valentine's Day and yesterday at the soccer game I had a random pain in my back below my left shoulder. When I say random, I mean random. I had no clue what caused it! I hadn't lifted weights in a week, I wasn't hit by a ball, later discovered there was no visible bruise, and the strangest thing, there was no problem in the warm-up right before. I left school a little early today for a Dr.'s appointment that would hopefully clear up the whole mess. After some examination, an X-ray, and some hangman with mom we now know that I have pneumonia. Specifically, Atypical Pneumonia. The symptoms consist of runny/stuffy nose, sore throat, fever, and coughs, most of which I've had. Basically I have a bacterial infection in my lungs. It's not too bad but I can't go to school tomorrow, am on a lot of medicine, and can't play sports until next week which means that I won't be playing in the soccer game on Friday.

That all sucks but that's not all that happened today. It just so happens that today is Ash Wednesday. That means, because of lent, I will not be eating beef, pork, or chicken until Easter Sunday. Technically, we're allowed to take a break on Sundays but I'm still considering whether or not I'm going to. My favorite thing about Lent is seeing if you can do it and keep your promise. The problem though is that because of how active I am, it's really important that I get plenty of protein in my diet. That's pretty hard without meat so I'm going to be researching a lot. I guess that means I'll be eating a lot of fish and beans. I also might start making fruit smoothies with protein powder. I just ate some yogurt, and guess what! It had 5 grams of protein! Also, my mom buys these energy drinks called Boost. It's great just like chocolate milk, and it has 13 grams of protein. Who knows, maybe I'll survive without meat after all.

Also, today I got my first finished ceramic from the kiln. In my art class at school we have been making ceramics (clay figures and such). It's so much fun and we're just finishing up this week. Here's a picture of my penguins ceramic. Hope you like them, I know I do.

Lent

Hello people...it's been a while, but guess who's back?!

This upcoming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, and as a Christian that is the first day that we observe lent. Lent is a season of fasting from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. You give up something (or start regularly doing something good like volunteering weekly at a hospital or something) as a sacrifice to God and as a remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us (dying for our sins). Well, every year I give up some form of food. I don't know why, but I just do. Last year I gave up any form of potatoes (my favorite food) and the year before that I gave up sweet tea (my favorite drink). This year, however, I've decided to do something a little different.

As you may (or may not) know, I have been a lacto-vegetarian since August 2011 (about half a year) for various reasons (health, animal cruelty, and protesting the meat industry). I generally regard myself as simply a "vegetarian", but I am, more specifically, a lacto-vegetarian. That means that I eat no meat of any kind but I do consume dairy products and eggs. So, for lent, I've decided to become a vegan. Vegans are basically a more extreme version of vegetarians who eat a diet of mainly raw foods - they don't eat meat, dairy products, eggs, honey, some don't eat sugar, and most don't wear leather, wool, or fur. To simplify things, anything that is an animal product is excluded from their lifestyle. Well, I'm probably going to eat sugar and continue using leather and wool (I've never used fur in the first place), at least for now. I've been wanting to do this for a while and lent seemed like the perfect opportunity. And if it's not too horrid (how can it be? lots of people live perfectly happy & healthy lives this way) I might just continue my veganism after lent. Wish me luck!

Also, Savannah (the hooligan who helps me cause brouhaha on this blog) will be giving up any kind of meat for lent except for fish. That makes her a pescatarian (think I spelled that right...?). I'm so proud of my little hooligan. :)

-Alex (A.K.A. Tally)

P.S. I'm thinking about making a playlist of motivational songs to help everyone out with staying away with whatever you're giving up for lent or to help you continue doing whatever good deed you're doing for lent. Hehe, I make a playlist for everything. ;)

The Vow & Valentine's Day

Last weekend, I went with a friend and saw "The Vow" starring Rachel McAdams from "The Notebook" and Channing Tatum from "Dear John." It was a cute love story about a married couple who's madly in love and when there's an accident the wife (McAdams) looses her memory. It's heart wrenching to watch how the husband (Tatum) fights to win back his love from fate's cruel clutches. Was that a little dramatic? Either, it's a good film and you should definitely see it.

Also we recently celebrated Valentine's Day. I didn't do anything special but at my high school I was constantly crowded from huge bears, balloons, and flowers. A good guy friend of mine did get me a flower that the Art club had been selling. That was sweet. I hope that everyone had a good holiday. I don't know about other areas but here in Texas hardly anyone was putting "St." in Happy "St." Valentine's Day...I wonder why.

 Everyone who is doing Lent better get ready. Lent is a fasting period where Catholics as well as many other Christians give up something (like candy or eating junk food) for 40 days beginning on Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. I'm considering becoming a vegetarian like my good friend, Alex (Tally), who I share this blog with so for Lent I will not be eating beef, pork, or chicken. I do like the way these foods taste and I don't want to give them up by any means but I saw a video about how many animals in mass food production are treated horrendously. In fact, I couldn't even finish the video; if you decide to watch it (click here) be warned, it's awful.

-Savannah (A.K.A. Shay)

Vampire Playlist

Recently, I've been watching a lot of vampire movies, and that has gotten me in the mood to make a vampire playlist! So, here's a few songs from vampire movies and some that I just think would go well in a vampire movie. :)
*NOTE: some songs will be listed twice. One is the original, and one is a cover that was either featured in the movie or I think is worth listing.*

Format:

Song - Artist

1. Miss Murder - AFI
2. We Love Like Vampires - Sparks The Rescue
3. A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me' - Fall Out Boy
4. Lost In The Shadows (The Lost Boys) - Lou Gramm
5. The Sharpest Lives - My Chemical Romance
6. This Is How I Disappear - My Chemical Romance
7. It's Just Me - Escape The Fate
8. People Are Strange - The Doors
9. People Are Strange - Echo And The Bunnymen (cover)
10. Cry Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys) - Gerard McMann
11. Cry Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys) - Aiden (cover)
12. Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones
13. Sympathy For The Devil - Guns N' Roses
14. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Marilyn Manson
15. Violet Hill - Coldplay
16. Hurricane - 30 Seconds To Mars

-Alex (A.K.A. Tally)

Snow, snow, and...more snow.

This morning, I was awakened at around 10:00 A.M. by my mother who insisted that I "come out and see the snow". So I did.
Later in the day, we ended up going sledding on a huge hill with some friends and neighbors, then we ate at a local bar/tavern. This is the way to raise kids. ;) It was fun, cold, and wet, and now I am reduced to sitting in my bed at 5:15 trying not to fall asleep. I think I may watch a movie later...not sure what yet. I'm so tired.

-Alex (A.K.A. Tally)

Chili's & Movies

It's monday, and I'm NOT at school. It's really great.

Yesterday I went to Chili's to celebrate my friends birthday. Happy belated Birthday Meagan! I ate "Bacon Ranch Quesadillas" and they were awesome! After I had some awesome cookie cake. 

(from the menu at Chilis.com)

Then we busted open a pinata. I got a bunch of candy but my favorites were the jaw breakers. Later

in the night we watched "She's the Man" with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum. That's definitely one of my favorite soccer movies, especially since there aren't a lot of them. It's hilarious.

Yeah so that's what I've been up to. I'm sorry for anyone who has to work or go to school today. Also I recently began reading "Austenland" by Shannon Hale. It's pretty good but I think it has an unfair advantage towards being liked because it's Jane Austen related, but whatever.

-Savannah (A.K.A. Shay)

Exam Week and Movie Splurging

Exam week is finally over! Wednesday through Thursday I spent my entire school days testing my brains out hoping to get a high enough grade to make an A+ in all of my classes for the semester. I was soooo close. I made a 94 semester average in English. So that's that.Meanwhile, Soccer has been going good but we did loose our game last Tuesday. It's still a lot of fun though and I'm expecting a great season.

Something to definitely celebrate is the fact that tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. You know what that means?! No school! I love 3 day weekends. I guess I haven't exactly been spending the extra time wisely but I have finished my homework over Act 4 of Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. On the more fun side I went to the movies yesterday with my friend Rebecca. We saw "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol." The movie was very intense and I enjoyed it immensely. Rebecca and I both agree that there should definitely be another Mission Impossible... soon. It's hilarious looking at the first "Mission Impossible" that came out in 1996 and seeing how much technology has advanced in maybe a decade and a half. I can't imagine not having my cell phone or ipod. It's a very hard concept for me to think that there's a life where these thing are nonexistant.

I have also recently enjoyed watching, "Howl's Moving Castle," an Asian cartoon directed by Hayao Miyazaki who also created two other movies I like, "Ponyo," and "Spirited Away."

After coming home last night I began watching an interesting TV series called "White Collar." The guy in it is cute (Matt Bomer) and the scenario is fantastic. Alex would love that it takes place in New York. One of the episodes even took place during and was tied into New York Fashion Week.

(Pictures are courtesty of The Internet Movie Database)