Settlers

English settlers first arrived to America in the 1700s. They mainly colonized two regions, New England and the Chesapeake. Although both groups of people were English by origin they eventually evolved into two distinct societies. The key differences between these two groups include the following: the New England settlers mainly consisted of puritan families who wanted to permanently settle and seek religious freedom, while the Chesapeake settlers were primarily men who hoped to find profit and gold in the new land.
Document A was written by John Winthrop a puritan leader who led a group of people to the New World in 1630. In A Model of Christian Charity Winthrop describes the perfect “purified” society. A society in which all men of different statuses and social classes work together and sacrifice for one another in order to keep the colony alive. They must “rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together”, meaning that all colonists will deal with the same troubles and triumphs in order for the colony to truly succeed. God is a major portion of this document, showing that Puritans (New England settlers) were very conservative people. They attended church every Sunday and paid the minister. They wanted their colony to succeed through honesty, religion, and hard work, unlike the Chesapeake settlers who wanted to thrive with gold and money alone.
Document B is a list of the emigrants bound for New England. This document shows that the emigrants to New England were very family oriented, because almost all men had a wife and children. In fact, many men had several children. There were only a few servants, preventing class differences among families living in the colony. There was one minister, who was probably considered the “leader” of the colony, because religion played such a prominent role in New England. Overall, this document confirms that the New England emigrants traveled to the New World to permanently settle without returning to England.
Document C is a list of the emigrants bound for Virginia and the Chesapeake region. Most of these emigrants were young men ranging from the age of 16-40. This is evidence that the Chesapeake emigrants wanted strong men to mine for gold, and provide a strong economy and profit for the colony. There were only a few women on the list of emigrants, and their main purpose was to reproduce so that the colony’s population would continue to grow.
Document D was the Articles of Agreement written by the New England colonists. Document D was a set of rules that the colonists were required to live by. The first rule proves that the New England colonists were very devoted to their faith. They were required to faithfully follow a minister, Church and Christ, which shows that the Puritans were very conservative people, and religion played an important role in their lives. The second rule demonstrates their importance for family and equality. They wanted at least forty families that were rich and poor. This is one of the reasons why the town did not have severe differences between social classes. The third and fourth rules stated every inhabitant shall receive an equal portion of land and planting ground allowing each person to make their own profit through hard work and dedication.

Weekend

This weekend was one of the best ones I’ve had in a long time. On Friday my best friend had this fabulous 17th birthday bash. And it was so much fun. Five of my closest friends were there and I knew we were bound to have a great time, but I didn’t expect to have that much fun. It was a sleepover and we were up the whole night. At 2 AM we made a Wal Mart run, and let’s just say this consisted of moustaches, underwear, sword fighting, and vampires. It was really fun. The rest of the night we pigged out (we ate SO much) and were addicted to Guitar Hero. We ended up falling asleep at around five and woke up at ten. That’s probably the only thing I don’t like about sleepovers, it basically ruins the rest of your weekend cause you’re so tired. It’s Sunday night and I’m still recovering from the exhaustion of that sleepover. On Saturday I came home from the sleepover and went running (Like I said we ate A LOT) and then took a nap. That night we had this Indian republic day thing and I went to that with the friend who had the birthday party the night before. It was really boring, but I guess it was better than staying at home. I really don’t want to go to school tomorrow. Sunday nights are the worst, cause you basically dread school the next day, the whole night, and it really isn’t fun. It seems like we haven’t had a three-day weekend in the longest time. At least Friday is a half-day, I’m really looking forward to that. I love how my blog posts always end up turning into these really random rants, where I talk about things that have nothing to do with each other.

Weak

Weakness is inevitable, certain, and can consume you. Relying on other people for your happiness is quite bizarre and will almost always result in disaster. A wise woman once said, "A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left." Marilyn Monroe is my idol. Any woman, who can say this and actually do it, is quite remarkable. Being self-dependent is probably one of the hardest things in life, but I’ve realized that if you always rely on other people to make you complete, you will always end up heart broken. In fact, this epiphany struck me today. Friends, boys, family; everyone will eventually let you down, but the day you let yourself down is when you truly loose everything. Everyone wants to love someone blindly and passionately, but I’ve learned that you can’t trust anyone with your whole heart. And that’s something that if you give away, you’ll never get back. In fact, I think I have trust issues sometimes. I can be very secretive with the people who care about me, but at the same time if someone gives me the time of day, I seem to trust them much too easily. I’m not really sure why I am able to believe the lies and deceit of strangers, but I can’t trust some of my best friends. Maybe it’s because what a stranger thinks about me isn’t nearly as important as what my friends and family do. Gosh, I love blogging. It’s such a good way to pour my thoughts out into words. It feels so good afterwards to. So to conclude this post, I will close with a quote from none other than Marilyn Monroe that describes me to a “T”: "I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

Movies

I think I watch too many movies.... see last three blog posts;)

Requiem for a Dream

Requiem For A Dream is probably one of the most horrifying movies I have ever seen. I don’t know what it is about creepy movies that are so appealing to me, but once I start watching I cannot stop. For those of you who don’t know what this is about, it’s the story of three people from New York, who are addicted to drugs, and eventually the boy’s mother becomes addicted to diet pills as well. Most of us know about the horrors of drug use and what it can do to you, but after seeing this movie you realize the true significance of the matter. To say that this movie is haunting would be an understatement. You cannot even recognize the mother after her usage of diet pills. She looks insane. With horrifying white hair, a pale face, and an aged look, her friends cannot even recognize her. In fact, they begin bawling hysterically after they realize it is her. This movie did an outstanding job of making you feel. That sounds strange, but every single hallucination the mother had, felt like your own hallucination. It was so vivid and detailed, that it felt like you were on drugs yourself. The main character used an infected needle to inject heroin into his arm, and absolutely grotesque images of his arm were shown. It was terrifying, that something that seems simple, like an infected needle, could do that to you. He was in agonizing pain, and his arm eventually had to be amputated due to the needle. So I guess the point of this brief description of this seriously disturbing movie is to ask “Why do people even do drugs?” Most would say, for the great feeling that you get from the high of drugs, but is it really worth it. Is it worth amputating your arm? Is it worth willing to become a prostitute for drugs? Is it worth looking 40 years older than you actually are? Absolutely not. This movie will put you off drugs forever. It makes you feel so uncomfortable and squeamish, and you aren’t even the person who is on drugs. The characters do such an outstanding job of acting, and they really make you realize how serious drug use really is.

Gettysburg

Gettysburg is a historical film that portrays the Battle of Gettysburg in a very dramatic manner. The Battle of Gettysburg was considered one of the most important battles during the Civil War because it marked the turning point of the Civil War, as well as the end of the war. Also, after the battle, Lincoln made his infamous “Gettysburg Address” to honor the dead, and talk about the purpose of war. Although this movie portrayed the battle accurately, many aspects of the film were exaggerated and changed in order to make it more appealing to audiences.
When Tom Chamberlain is talking to the captured Confederates, one of them says he is from Tennessee, a member of Archer's Brigade of Heth's division. He continues to say that he was captured in the railroad cut west of Gettysburg. The Confederates in the railroad cut were actually from Mississippi, a part of Davis’s brigade. Those from Tennessee would have been fighting half a mile away.
Before the July 2 fighting, Lee meets some Confederate generals outside and greets them by saying "good morning." One of the generals who was there was Heth. Heth was actually knocked unconscious during the fighting on July 1. He would not have been at a meeting of generals on the morning of July 2 because he was still unconscious at the time. However, in this scene, his head was wrapped, which makes a reference to the wounds he encountered the day before.
The remnants of the 2nd Maine were not sent to the 20th Maine prior to the battle of Gettysburg. This actually occurred much earlier than depicted in the movie. It actually occurred in May of 1863. Cushing's Battery in the Federal lines during Picket's Charge is portrayed using 12-pound Napoleons, when actually the battery had 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. The two guns look very different. The final historical inaccuracy that I noted was when General Kemper is talking to Colonel Freemantle. He tells him that Longstreet lost all three of his children to scarlet fever. He also says that the youngest child was ten years old. But Longstreet actually had four children, three of whom died. The youngest was only one year old. His oldest son, Garland, was thirteen years old at the time but survived the illness. They died in January 1862.

Glory

Glory is the historical movie that tells us the story of Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry during the Civil War. However, this infantry was unlike that of any other, it was the 54th regiment; the first military unit organized that enlisted African Americans. This regiment was also considered famous for the bloody battles it fought at Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina.
Although the movie was made to inform audiences about the 54th regiment, there were historical inaccuracies. One historical inaccuracy was that the regiment was composed mostly of ex-slaves, when in reality only one of the members was a former slave. Most of the members were Northern African Americans, who were literate and skilled. The 54th regiment was led by a White man as all other black troops were during the Civil War.
Robert Gould Shaw was not Governor Andrew’s first choice to lead the regiment, however in the movie he was. When the position was offered to him, he hesitated before deciding to accept. The regiment in the movie as made up largely of runaway slaves like John Rawlins or Private Trip was actually a regiment of freedmen, like Thomas Searles recruited not only from Massachusetts but New York and Pennsylvania as well. Two of Frederick Douglass’ sons volunteered for the regiment. In fact, Lewis Douglass was the regiment’s sergeant major. During the Civil War, most Southerners thought that African Americans were naturally passive. However, there was doubt about this in the North also. In the movie, a reporter from Harper’s Monthly asks Colonel Shaw if the African Americans will fight, a million readers want to know." To which Shaw replies, "a million and one.” This shows that in 1863, even Northern abolitionists had their doubts about the strength and willingness to fight of African Americans. By inaccurately portraying the 54th as a regiment of former slaves, Glory shows that African Americans were not the slaves that Southerners believed them to be and that abolitionists feared that they might be.

Random Continued

I really like Tyra Banks. She’s so confident and classy all the time. Sure, she has her weird streaks (ehem America’s Next Top Model) but don’t we all? Not to mention the fact that she’s like one of the most gorgeous women on the planet. She could probably pull any look off with that self-assured attitude she’s got going on. And she doesn’t over do it either. She’s not cocky or self-absorbed. And I love love love her talk show. Like it’s so great. Being inhumanly beautiful and helping people through a talk show is quite spectacular.


I hate diets. They really suck. Especially when you know that you’re not fat, but you need to get in shape. That’s probably when it’s the hardest. Because you know you can still eat and look decent, but you probably shouldn’t. That’s the stage I’m in right now. Like I have no self-control. I’m pretty sure I love food way too much to ever be anorexic or bulimic, or for that matter even be on a diet in the first place.

I hate being alone. Like I can’t stand not having anyone to talk to. I hate getting to places early and not knowing anyone. I’ll even admit to whipping out my phone and “fake texting” someone just so it looks like I’m doing something rather than just sitting in a corner and feeling like an outcast. In fact, when I’m alone, I’ll talk to myself. There’s something about silence that I just can’t stand. I think it’s probably one of my biggest fears. It just feels like all eyes are on you when you’re alone and not talking to anyone, even though they probably aren’t. It reminds me of Dark Blue by Jack’s Mannequin (whom I absolutely adore). Have you ever been alone in a crowded room? Why, yes actually, quite often.



I really love Kiwi. They’re so good. In fact, I love all fruits. That’s probably the only healthy food that I can’t seem to ever get enough of. I think I might be allergic to Kiwis though. Because every time I eat them I get this like itchy feeling on my tongue, it’s weird.

Random

We just had our dessert concert for Show Choir. I think it went okay. We’ve definitely had better shows, but our ballad was the absolute best it’s ever been tonight. It’s a pretty amazing feeling being on stage knowing that you’re taking the people in the audience on this emotional roller coaster ride. From sad songs to creepy songs to ridiculously happy ones, our goal is to make the audience feel the show. The placing doesn’t really matter as long as we accomplish that. Sure, it sounds cheesy, but isn’t that what being a performer is all about, making the audience adore you?

I hate when you have a best friend whom you tell absolutely everything to, and they just get so busy that you don’t really have time to ever talk to them. It sounds selfish but I can’t help the fact that I miss them insanely. She would help me out with everything, and I basically feel lost without her. I guess I can respect and understand the fact that she has a life too, and it’s definitely quite chaotic. Oh well, I’m pretty sure I’ll always love her to death.

I don’t like people who complain. Haha, I seem to be very negative in this post. And quite ironically I’m complaining about people who complain? Hmmm. But really, if they don’t like something they should get up and actually do something about it, rather than just whine to the people around them. I’m sure I complain at times, but I try really hard to refrain from doing so.

It’s midnight. I hate staying up late on school nights. It really hits you when you wake up at 5:30 for 0 hour. But at the same time, I’m a huge night owl and love nighttime. Like it’s such a good time of day. The stars and moon are so much prettier than the sun (and won’t give you skin cancer either). And it’s like the coolest time of the day to be awake, cause most people aren’t. I’m not really sure why, but I get some sort of weird satisfaction out of that.


A colorful moon! So pretty!:)

Mature

I’ve decided being mature is over rated. Ok, it’s probably a good thing to a certain extent, but how are you supposed to possibly gain anything from life if you’re constantly a mature, responsible individual. Don’t get me wrong; I hate screwing up like everyone else does. It’s probably one of the worst feelings ever, and it happens every day. I let down the people I love, but most importantly I let down myself. What brings me to blog about this? Well, have you ever had one of those gut feelings that you know something you were doing was completely inappropriate yet you seem to do it anyways? Yep, happened to me today, and practically every other day of my life. But it just made me think about why we always seem to ignore that gut feeling, ignore all the signs, and still do something extremely careless. Maybe it’s the people you surround yourself with, feeling that constant urge to impress someone, or feel accepted. I hate the phrase “peer pressure” but I know that I succumb to it probably every day. No, it’s not serious things like drinking or drugs, but the little things can be just as bad; if even worse. Knowing that you have to live with one careless mistake you made for the rest of your life haunts you and eats away at your soul. Knowing that if you just acted a little differently, or stood up for yourself and said no to those “so called friends” could have changed everything fills you with regret. I think regret is one of the worst feelings. Regret for not trying something you’ve always wanted to do, regret for hurting someone you care about, regret for pushing people away. If you honestly think about it, you could have regret for every negative thing you’ve ever done in your life. However, it’s what you choose to do about this regret that makes you the person you are. Are you going to spend all your time complaining about how upset and depressed you are or are you going to actually get up and do something about it? I refuse to complain. I refuse to regret. I’ve decided being mature is over rated, and I think it’s an excellent decision:)


Who needs maturity when your best friend's a pizza?!

Inside My Head Part Two

I really like Audrey Hepburn. There’s something so classy and beautiful about her. Like this sort of simple beauty that stuns all. And Breakfast at Tiffany’s is such a great movie and I absolutely love Moon River. I would love to live in that time period when she was famous. Like the 60s was such a great era. Everyone was genuine and passionate about the way they felt and didn’t change their radical opinions and views for anyone. The music was obviously great, and so were the movies. I also loved the way they dressed. I probably would’ve been a hippy in my past life, if I had a past life. I’m not really sure if I believe in that stuff, but its so interesting to think about that. Like who you were and what kind of person you were if you did have a life before the one you’re living now. My parents just yelled at me cause I was typing this with the lights off. I hate when parents freak out about the simplest things. I always thought my parents were really strict and unfair about certain things, but I guess I’ve discovered that most parents are that way. They care way too much, and as much as I think this is a bad thing, it’s probably good. I have no idea how I would be if they weren’t constantly pushing me. As much as I hate to say this I would probably have horrible grades, and never try at anything; so as much as I bash on them, I guess I really do love them and appreciate them pushing me to do things that I don’t think I’m capable of.



We have to write an essay for AP Language. I still have absolutely no idea what to write about. All of my friends have these awesome ideas and I have zilch. I wish I could just write an essay about random stuff, like in blogs. It’s so much easier to ramble on about random things that you think about than picking one topic and sticking to it. I think that’s why I love writing in like blogs and stuff like that, because there are no boundaries or limitations. You’re free to share everything that runs through your head with the world. It’s actually a lot like thinking out loud, but writing down your thoughts instead. I think it will be fascinating to look back on this blog when I’m 30 or so, and laugh about all the silly unimportant things I thought about when I was a junior in High School. Ok that’s all for now. I’m exhausted. Show Choir competitions basically suck the energy out of you for the rest of your weekend. Good night bloggers!:)

Inside My Head

Two more blog posts to go. I hate putting this off until Sunday night and feeling like I have absolutely nothing to write about. So here it goes, probably the most random blog posts ever written coming up very soon.

I like gas station music I’ve decided. I usually never go inside gas stations, because I’m OCD when it comes to bathrooms and hate going in there when we go on road trips and stuff. But on Friday my friend and I went inside to go and pay for gas and ended up getting this blueberry slushie (which was gross by the way, the worst way to spend $1 ever) and we heard this really good song. It drives me insane when you hear a song and you have no idea what it’s called or whom it’s by but you know you’ve heard it before. So usually when that happens, I ask everyone in sight what it’s called, but no one seemed to know. So then, I just wrote down one of the lines from the song which was “I won’t worry my life away.” Obviously, it was one of those laid back, relaxing kind of songs, that would come from no other than Jason Mraz (I love him by the way). And I can’t seem to stop listening to it, so here’s the song, you should definitely check it out:)



I have these weird stages of life where I obsess over something. Like in the past it’s been Green Day (I had a Green Day T-Shirt in 6th grade that I would wear every day) or Ron Weasley (AKA:Rupert Grint) or Ryan Gosling, or some other gorgeous, unattainable actor. And recently, I’ve been infatuated with James McAvoy, like every other girl probably was after seeing Atonement. I’m not sure if it’s those gorgeous blue eyes that pierce your soul, or the amazing acting that makes me cry, laugh, and get mad all at the same time, but he is the definition of the phrase “great actor”. I’ve probably seen every single movie he’s never been in and he never seizes to amaze me.

Viterbo 101

Most people dread the winter in Iowa. There is absolutely nothing to like about it (aside from those rare snow days). The below freezing temperatures, having to constantly scrape ice off your car, and feeling like your hands and ears are going to leave your body makes winter an absolutely horrific time of the year. But I love it; probably along with 40 other people. Winter is the height of Show Choir season. We have competitions almost every weekend and it’s probably the only part of winter I enjoy. In fact, our competition season started yesterday in La Crosse, Wisconsin. We arrived at an ungodly time in the morning (4 am) to school with curlers in our hair and bags under our eyes. We loaded the bus and were on our way by 4:30. After a long, uncomfortable bus ride (it’s impossible to sleep in curlers), we had finally arrived! We stumbled into Viterbo University, anxious and ready to perform; but not for another 6 hours. We roamed around and watched other groups, including our schools prep group for the next couple of hours until our time to perform finally came. The performance process began. The next hour and a half was a chaotic frenzy of changing, curling our hair, make-up, warming up, and a stomach full of butterflies. The excitement, anxiety, and nervous energy in the room were potent. We couldn’t wait to perform, but at the same time were extremely nervous. We have a costume change that we have to complete in 30 seconds, and it’s very difficult to get out on time. The time to compete had finally come, and we were ready. We performed our hearts out in the day round, but still didn’t feel like it was our best show. We all knew we could’ve done better, and so did the judges. We tied for third with another school. We were all extremely upset. Our rival schools from our town had beaten us, and we wanted to do outstanding at finals. Most of us just forgot about the pressures of winning and went out there and did what we loved to do; perform and have fun. This is the reason I thought we secured our third place spot. Our show had improved so much from the day round, and this was enough of a win for us. Most of us had had our best show yet, and we were thrilled. The placing didn’t matter to us, we were ecstatic that we had managed to improve our show from the day rounds to finals and keep our third place spot.