My ACT Score

The score came in! I'm pretty happy with it, for being my first time. I need to improve on science and math.

More photos of the house

Further photos, mostly of the interior. 

The front door

entryway

Stained glass on the front room window

the front room

the downstairs bathroom attached to it

the dining room

another stained glass window 

the music room (sort of)

deck outside

the kitchen

the porch 

other view of the kitchen--there's a "servant staircase"

my bedroom :)

Tessie's bedroom

Thomas's bedroom

Mom and Dad's bedroom

the upstairs bathroom

upstairs hallway (the very last door is mine)

back view of the house

We own a house!

After two years + of searching! It was built in 1899 and it's beautiful, with a redone kitchen, big windows, two staircases, an hardwood floors. Not to mention a double-lot on a corner with a bunch of trees.

We move in in mid-June. I'm so excited!

More dinner-dance photos

As promised, lots and lots of photos taken by Mrs. Scott! This isn't even close to all of them.

After the mystery dinner we had to figure out what was what.

Maren and her daddy. c:

Sus and Ethan

Maren and Bob

Maren, me, and Nicole

The adults insisted on a group picture...AFTER we were all sweaty from dancing.

Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin, the organizers!

Ann, with the monkey from the Jungle Book table.

Christopher and JP

Nicole, Ann, Ceal, me, Sus, Maren

My first table--the Jungle Book table.

Marie and Ann at the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat table

Hannah eating Olaf.

Ceal

Sus

Dinner-Dance!

Saturday, in addition to being the ACT, was the annual homeschool dinner-dance. (Yeah...I'm sleep-deprived.) It was tons of fun, even more than last year!
A bunch of the girls went to Nicole's house to get ready. Tessie and Hope plus Hope's sister Annie and Katie were all there just to help us. We spent about three hours getting six people ready...but hey, getting ready is one of the best parts! I brought a batch of chocolate-chip cookies for sustenance.

Ten minutes before we left, Mrs. Gerdes got some photos of us. We would have gone outside, but it was raining and most of us had way too much hairspray in our hair to risk it.

We actually ended up getting there a bit early, which was cool because we were the first people they let in. The theme this year was the Academy Awards, so they had a red-carpet-looking entrance, and all the adults were pretending to be paparazzi with their phones, cameras, etc. The whole room was decorated very impressively.

We had a lot of fun, laughing, talking, playing games, and dancing. I am sore now! 

I will post some photos Mrs. Scott took (she was there) once I have access to them.

I can't wait till next year--Tessie will be able to come!

Spring...and essays.

The warm weather is glorious. There's been much taking of walks and other such activities. For me, there has also been much writing of essays.
First of all, for literature I just finished reading Milton's Paradise Lost. Now I need to write an essay on it. There was an interesting point I thought of. At one part, all the devils in their new home, Hell, are having a meeting regarding the creation of the world. Satan says something about the humans who are about to be created. It reminded me of last year reading Dante's Divine Comedy. In the Inferno there is some discussion about the "foresight of the damned." The idea is that those in Hell can see into the past of earthly events and into the future, but are unable to know what is going on in the present unless informed by someone else. Thus, when Dante speaks with the damned, they often ask him about the political state of Italy. Back to Paradise Lost. Satan, by mentioning the people about to be created, demonstrates just that foresight. He can see into the future, and into the past, but can he see the present? It is to be doubted.

Another Essay I'm writing is for the Jane Austen Society of North America essay contest. The prompt this year is: 

Examine a single Jane Austen novel or several and show different ways characters engage with their culture, views, mores, or living conditions.  How does participation in their world affect each character’s development?  You might look at how a character approaches material culture, physical or emotional space, interpersonal relations, social class, wealth, or gender.  You may consider elements of Jane Austen’s world that have inherently negative or positive influences on characters and events in the novels.

I'm doing my essay on Emma. Emma is the only one of Jane Austen's heroines to be a member of high society and not in need of any money. The novel treats a lot on class distinction. Think of Ms. Bates, the argument with Mr. Knightley regarding Harriet Smith and her potential marriage to Robert Martin the farmer, Mr. Elton's ill-bred bride, the Coles' party, Jane Fairfax's obligation to become a governess. There are so many examples in Emma of how her view of the world is shaped by the society she lives in. There is an essay at the JASNA site about the possibility of Emma being the novel about "ordination." 

I also just finished an essay for my French midterm, which was comparing the writings we have translated of Victor Hugo and Jean de la Fontaine. It was quite easy to write!

And now the 70° weather is calling to me. Off I go!

Easter!

The church choir sang for Easter Vigil.
Then we went out with friends.
After going to bed at midnight, Tessie, Isabel, and I went to 7am Mass because Tessie and I were cantoring and Isabel was accompanying the last hymn. Mom and Dad came too; Mom was lectoring.
We came back and relaxed until Thomas and Patrick (I took a nap after Tessie and I watched an episode of Doctor Who), then had waffles and tea.
We hung around until one, then we prepared for our visitors, who came for dinner at two. We ate some reaaaaaalllllly good food, including Swiss chocolate, Chinese noodles, coconut cupcakes, and homemade bread.
The rest of the day we just hung around, playing games, doing our usual stuff. It was so much fun!

Alleluia! He is risen!

Approach to the Inmost Cave

Now the Hero has undergone Tests, and made Allies and Enemies, and is Approaching the Inmost Cave. Now is when he discovers which Allies will really go through the Ordeal with him, relaxes before the main Adventure, and reorganizes the group.
This is a place at which a lot of previous planting and foreshadowing comes into play. Someone may remember a valuable piece of information that seemed useless when they received it. Magical equipment from the Mentor may become useful. The Hero may discover that some Allies he thought promising do not have what it takes to go through the Ordeal, and maybe some less impressive members of the group have shown themselves worthy. The Hero may do reconnaissance on the Enemy, prepare weapons, and make plans. Usually he has one last relaxing, friendly moment with his Allies before they enter into battle.
Often the Shapeshifter of the story either reveals himself or reappears at this point. The Shapeshifter may be in the form of a "Temptress," making the Hero doubt his determination and mettle. Or maybe the Shapeshifter turns out to be good, and comes back to join the Hero in his final Ordeal.
Everything that happens at this stage is in preparation for the Ordeal. Everything that has happened previously has been leading up to the Ordeal. The Hero has thrown to the wind all his doubts, misgivings, and fears, and is 100% ready for what's to come, though he does not know whether he will succeed or not. The Hero has come to the conclusion that the possibility of attaining his goal and defeating the Shadow is worth the very real, very concrete risk of all that he may lose if he fails. The stakes are at their highest, and the Hero is at his most courageous.
The Hero and his Allies may encounter another, or several more, Threshold Guardians, blocking their way to the Inmost Cave, the lair of the Shadow. The Shadow's lair is sometimes considered another Special World, tucked into the first Special World like a nesting doll. This means new rules, new stakes and values, and lots of new room to mess up.
Some Heroes have prepared so thoroughly for this Approach, that they have lost any doubt they previously had. They stride boldly into the lair, challenging the Shadow as he has challenged them. Some Heroes, on the other hand, are still uncertain of their abilities, and retain fear and doubt going into the Inmost Cave, but carry on anyway, knowing that this Ordeal is more important than any apprehension they may have.
Approaching the Inmost Cave, the Hero discovers the real character hidden inside his Allies and inside himself.

A birthday and a quiz bowl

On Monday was my sixteenth birthday. It was as lovely a birthday as I could wish for.

The day began with a cute trail of cards from Tessie, then a breakfast burrito from Mom (along with the necessary cup of English Breakfast tea). I opened a present from Tessie: a sun hat; and a present from Mom: the newest book in the Penderwicks series. 

After doing rather a skimpy amount of schoolwork (Holy Week is off for most of my classes) I hitched a ride with local fellow-homeschoolers to the last high school quiz bowl of the season. There, our best team won 1st place, my team won 3rd place, and our other team won 6th place. So, a very successful end-of-the-year quiz bowl.

Once the quiz bowl was over we headed over to the Kanes' house for ice cream, to celebrate my birthday plus the last quiz bowl ever for the seniors. We talked and ate and laughed and it was tons of fun. I was sleeping over at the Kanes', and we stayed up far too late not coming to decisions, but I guess that meant we slept well! 

Over all it was really fun and memorable, and I'm glad my 16th birthday happened just the way it did. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in making it an awesome day!