The Backstory of the Ranch

My parents bought this piece of property in c.1990, while they still lived down on the coast. They dreamed of moving out here, but Dad couldn't completely convince Mom to actually do it until 1999, when Creator's Son was a year and a half old. They set up shop until 2009, when we made the decision to move to town.

It was great being raised in the middle of nowhere, with dangerous creatures everywhere and spiny cacti everywhere else. I'm really not being sarcastic here, it was. It was great being able to step out my front door and a startled deer look up and run off, or go for a walk and see a snake sunning itself in the middle of the path. Then Dad quit his job, and things started getting pretty tight. He was out of work for at least 8 weeks, and things were really not looking good, when lo and behold: he got hired for HCTC as an I-Fix worker (aka a computer repair dude).

The real reason we moved though, was because Dad got that job. It was in town which didn't sound too bad by itself, but gas prices sky-rocketed and Mom and Dad realized it would be cheaper to rent a house in town then to stay out here. So we had to up and move to town.

It was super hard to leave the house I'd grown up in, plus all my trees, AND two cats. They had to drag me kicking and fighting into town, but both houses we rented in town were absolutely amazing to live in. Nothing, however, can beat out here. We moved back after (drum roll) Dad quit his job! Now we're back to stay, and I'm glad.

Me playing with a stick that my brother convinced me to call a bo staff

This is me in front of our gate

My brother and me outside on our swing set after a long day of saving the universe.

All three of these are from before we moved, just so you know.. I'm much older now.

An Update on Me

Well, by now you probably think that I disappeared off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again, or the earth swallowed me up whole or something like that. But, unfortunately for those who don't like listening to me gush about puffles and the like, that is not so. I'm still here!

Ok, so if you think aaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the way back to my first post, back in August of 2010, you'll remember that I said I have lived in three different homes. That hasn't changed. I still have lived in only three different homes. We moved back to my first house, out in the middle of the Texas Hill Country (Maybe I'll tell you the story behind that next post). It is just as awesome, if not more awesome, than I remember. Lots of trees, the Hollow, and lots of good rocks. So that move took us a while, and that's mostly what I've been doing to not blog in so long.

I would've posted on Saturday (maybe), except for one very, very good reason: I was busy.  I was busy auditioning for REGION Orchestra. Later on, as we were about to leave a Target, Mom got a text from my private lesson teacher, who also happened to be one of the judges. I made 6th chair first violin out of over 200 people trying out. To make this even more astounding, there are 36 first violin chairs. And I was up against high schoolers.

Something else that happened since the last time I blogged: Mustang came down for the last time before the big move. We had a ton of fun goofing off, playing our strange games and whatnot. One special thing that is worth noting and is almost too hilarious (but didn't seem like it at the time, at least not to Mustang and I): Mustang, her dad, and I were out eating at Culver's. After we left, we convinced him to go to one of the nearby Redboxes to see if they had The Avengers. That Redbox was out of stock of it. He decided to take us to another very close Redbox. They were out of stock too. We had just given up, when I remembered there was a Redbox at a gas place... So we turned the other direction from home and went to the place. We scrambled frantically out half laughing like lunatics and half sincerely hoping that it was there. We were in luck: they had ONE left. Mustang slid the card. And then slid it again. And again. And again, until we called her dad over. HE slid the card about four times, then Mustang busts out laughing. Once she finally got ahold of herself, she said between laughter spasms, "I forgot to press pay!" Then she continued laughing, and I joined her while her dad pretended to glare at her. Finally, we got the movie home, laughing all the way, and watched it. As we bounded up the front steps, grinning and laughing, I called to my brother "We got it! The Avengers!"

One last thing that is coming up in the next couple weeks is my birthday. I turn 11 exactly 2 weeks from today.

Well, I guess that's all the exciting stuff for now. I'll be trying to get back in my blogging spirit now, so... wish me luck, I guess!

Guide on What to Expect From Book-On-Tape/CDs

These next few posts are going to be guides on what to expect from random things. Today is "What to expect from Book on tape/CD".

One good thing about Books on tape (or CD) is the fact that you can find most things on tape or CD if you look. You don't have to be a reader to listen to some really good books.

1. Whatever you do, DON'T pick up the Lemony Snicket books, A Series of Unfortunate Events. Just don't. You will live your life a much, much happier person.

2. If you, for some reason, decide to listen to the afore mentioned Lemony Snicket books DON'T BLAME ME, but please think about taking the rest of my advice below.
                                                                
3. Otherwise, it really depends on what you have chosen to listen to. If you pick up a Hank the Cowdog book on tape, you can expect lots of laughter and, though it is hilariously stupid, you might even find some suspense. And you'll find yourself hating the cat. If you have chosen something a little more in depth, say Narnia, you will probably find a story well told whether you read it or if you listen to it. If you are finding out a little on a bunch of different genres, choose things that are completely different, like Hank and Narnia. Find out if you lean more towards stupid things like Hank, or an in-depth story that is really well told like Narnia.

4.  Always expect the accents. All the best books (or even some of the not as good ones) use British readers. Try to expect it, and whatever you do, attempt deciphering any words that you don't understand. For instance, if you hear smackablobnaharnahar, it may be the phrase 'Oh really? That is so interesting!'. Always listen to what the people are saying, and if you hear something that doesn't make sense you have 3 options: a) Replay it. That sometimes works. b) Remember what they said just before and try to make out what they might be saying or it is probable that they could have said. c) Live with it the rest of your life. :O

5. If it says things like "Then, it happened." or use the word 'suddenly', brace yourself for a major plot twist. If it's not a major plot twist after either of these things, the writer is being sarcastic. Writers tend to be sarcastic, so if something happens at the end of a chapter that is a major plot twist, at the beginning of the next chapter, they may throw in a couple of lines of boooorriing description or telling you why they had to rush off so quickly or explaining every detail of their delicious dinner last night before they finally get to the story.

So there you have a quick, 5 step guide to books on tape or CD. Enjoy!

-Firefly

Fall and winter

It's finally getting colder, meaning one thing: It's close to fall and winter! Fall and winter are my two absolutely favorite seasons for several reasons. 

My birthday and Thanksgiving are in November, as is EYH (Expanding Your Horizons. I've mentioned it before.)  But at the end of this month, we're moving back out to the Ranch. Also, I love cold weather, and this marks the beginning of really cold. I love it! So those are some of the reasons I love fall.

Winter brings Christmas and really super cold weather. It also marks the end of the old year and beginning of the new.  If we're SUPER lucky, then we get a tiny bit of snow. In some years, winter brings the winter olympics. And it's really cold. So those are some reasons I love winter.

This year, I turn 11, which I'm really looking forward to. Two days before my birthday is EYH, which I can't wait for. It's gonna be so much fun again this year! And actually, just this morning I chose what I'm going to take: Marble Roller Coaster, where you get to build a roller coaster for your marbles, Food Scientist, where I get to learn about the science behind ice cream, and a robot class, where I make robots out of normal household items. Cool, right?

So I'm really looking forward to moving, my birthday, thanksgiving, EYH, all that good stuff. I'm also, in a longer shot,  looking forward to Christmas and other cold things.

Mustang, the Nose Bleed, the Arrowhead, the Hollow, and the Geode

YAY!!!!! I finally got to see Mustang after 5 weeks (and one day) apart! I have missed her so much, and the two of us were so happy to see one another.

I'm going to mention Durgans a lot in this post, so first I'll explain what they are. A Durgan is from Monster in the Hollows, the third book in the Wingfeather Saga. They dress in black and are trained fighters and sneakers. They are the protectors of the Green Hollows.

On Friday, after they got here, we goofed off in the house: making costumes of black, sneaking around spying on the parents and the brother, that kind of stuff. Then we went outside to jump on the trampoline (with our capes). We jumped around looking awesome for a bit, then my brother came out. No problem, we thought. All three of us jumped on the trampoline for a bit, but then we got a little rowdy. Mustang and I were bouncing my brother. Then as he was going up, I was coming down. My face collided with his shin. Ouch! I got a nose bleed.

On Saturday, we went out to the Ranch. Mustang and I adore that place because.. well, because it's awesome. We scouted around for an awesome fort, a new one to call ours. We went tromping through every tree that exists on that place, and got thoroughly lost. Until Mustang spotted a feeder. Then we knew where we were! We finally found an awesome fort right in the backyard. We worked at cleaning it up for a time, then decided to devote the rest of our time to playing Durgan in and around it. We call it The Hollow.

We went down to the part of the property right down from the driveway that we call 'The Flat'. Not kidding. Anyway, we were playing with our awesome staffs, vaulting over rocks and whatnot. We were taking a rest from vaulting and twirling our staffs and the like, when I looked down and saw some flint. Well, since I always pick flint up if I see it, I grabbed it. It looked at it for a moment before seeing that it was vaguely arrow shaped.

I looked at it for another moment before spinning it around and realizing it was more than 'vaguely' arrow shaped. I had stumbled across my first arrow head ever. Head spinning with wild excitement, I called Mustang over. She and I looked at it for a while before heading up to the house to show Mom and Dad.

Saturday, after getting home from the Ranch, we played outside for quite a while. We played Durgans the entire time, and messed around with our staffs and our other stuff, pretending to train. Anyway, after it got sufficiently  dark, we played a game from The Monster in the Hollows.

We had a basket, a tree, an apple, a sneaker, and a whacker. What happened is: The apple is put in the tree with the basket a few yards away from the tree. The sneaker's job is to get the apple from the tree to the basket without getting whacked. The whacker's job is to try to whack the sneaker with a staff before the sneaker gets the apple to the basket.

I went first as the sneaker. Mustang put the apple in the tree then came down and gave me a minute to hide. She then hid herself. I snuck around and finally came out into the open near the tree. I looked about for her, then, quietly as I could, I scrambled up the tree. As I turned around to get the apple, I saw her and nearly jumped out of my skin. She was hiding at a spot where if I got down, I would get smacked no matter what. She crouched, moving forward. I waited for her to get to the base of the tree, and then I jumped. I hit the ground running hard for the basket. I took a peek around, and didn't see her, so I dropped the apple in. I had won.

Her turn: I had no clue where she was until I went around to the front porch, were the parents had gathered in the dark to watch our game. I saw her peeking around the edge of the house. I jumped backwards, and rushed around the house. I was opposite her then. She crouched, then ran to the tree. I almost got her, but missed. She crouched low in the tree for a long time before finally jumping silently to the ground and running around the house. She came back with the news that we had to go in, and she never got the apple in the basket.

Last, but for sure not least, on Sunday morning, we decided to break the geode that she got me in Colorado.  I swung first, barely hitting it. I hit it again and at first thought it hadn't broken. I felt it again, and decided it was thoroughly broken. I pulled it out, and gasped at what I saw. It was one of the rarest type. It was a black geode! It was totally awesome.
 

To sum that all up: Mustang, the Nose Bleed, the Arrowhead, The Hollow, and the Geode. And the Apple tree.

But the best part? Spending time with Mustang herself.

Welll.... You Might Say I'm Obsessed

Yup.. One might say I'm completely obsessed with the Wingfeather Saga. COMPLETELY. 

Yesterday was Creator's Son's birthday. We were off from school, soo...... I read all day, except for eating and the twice I got on my computer. So you might say I'm obsessed with the Wingfeather Saga.

Like, the fact that any time not spent doing something else, I'm either reading the Wingfeather Saga, reading off the Wingfeather Saga website, drawing things from the Wingfeather Saga, or making up my own Wingfeather Saga story. So yeah, I'm pretty much obsessed with the Wingfeather Saga.

I have added 3 Wingfeather Saga backgrounds for my computer.  Here they are! (Click on them to make them bigger)

The Igiby Cottage

A really cool scene from chapter 10

My personal favorite, a map of Glipwood

Do you like my awesome desktop backgrounds? I do! 

Like I said, my favorite is the map of Glipwood (the town they live in at the beginning of the book). My second favorite is the Igiby Cottage, and the Dragon Song comes last, but I love all three. They are EPIC!

Two Thoughts In One Post

Well, like I said, I'm going to say two (completely different) thoughts in this post. Two important thoughts.

Thought #1: My loft bed. I mentioned it in one of my newest posts. Well, get ready. I'm having my room pretty much redone. Redone... from.... IKEA. Oh yes. You heard me. IKEA. Be jealous. Be veeery jealous.

I got an awesome bed from IKEA about 2 months ago. Dad and I put it together two nights after we got it. It's totally epic, and I love it. We left my other bed in my room, under the loft bed. It makes for an awesome hideout under there.

My loft bed and bottom bunk (and me!)

So I love my loft bed. That's thought one. Thought two.. thought two... heh heh....



Thought #2: I actually did it. I actually sent an email to Andrew Peterson.

"I adore your books SOOO much. They are totally awesome! I have been waiting, not so patiently, since the beginning of the year, wishing it would go by faster so I could read 'The Warden and the Wolf King'. My brother, mom and I read the books together at first. By the end of 'The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness' we even had Dad listening and laughing. I've read them alone about 6 times (in a row).

We've shared this series with three of my best friends, and now they, also, wait in agony for 'The Warden and the Wolf King'. I know you can't write any faster than you can write but....

As the great explorer Jinto Qweb said "Hurry! Reading is fun!"

That is my email to him. The last sentence is a quote from the first book, "On the Edge of the Dark Sea of  Darkness". Like I said before, if you want more info, go here. If you are brave enough to go there, you will be introduced to a world you never knew. Aerwiar. It's about the most awesome place you can go. IF you follow the Igibys instead of living under rule of the fangs.

IF you are brave enough to click the link, then get the books off the website. I urge you. Or go on Amazon. It will be AWESOME. I promise.

Be wary of toothy cows and bomnubbles though. And Fangs. Especially the Fangs. And Stranders. Mighty unruly, that group. And almost no one is what they seem, just a warning.

-Firefly