I have learned a few things from this experience;

1) Google does not help all situations.

2) I can make myself look like a total idiot without effort.

3) I have trust issues. I didn’t want to order from anyone but Amazon because I thought professionals would handle it better. Look how that turned out.

4) Brick walls are a lot harder than they look. They will hurt you.

So you see, I know what it’s like to look stupid. I guess that is what makes me so understanding. I’m so ridiculous and awkward, I’m cool. And humble. And funny. Did I mention awkward?

My favorite of all of the people in this genre is Tarja Turunen, a Finnish soprano who is – in my opinion – the Queen of Metal. She was an original member and lead vocalist of the formally epic band, Nightwish, until her “dismissal” in 2005. How was she dismissed? She was dismissed through an open letter posted on the internet. This open letter can be read here. You can watch her response to the open letter here.

Nightwish replaced her with someone named Anette Olzen. Anette is okay in the studio versions of songs, but she can’t sing live. This makes me wonder if her voice is sent through AutoTune. I have yet to find a good live recording of her. The Nightwish of today is not Nightwish without Tarja. This is why I call it New-wish. I can’t begin to describe how much I love Tarja and her voice. She is an amazing woman and my goal is to own all of her music on CD. This goal has led to a disagreeable amount of disappointment and about fifty dollars down the drain.

Our story begins in early November, 2009. I had just been on the Tarja website and found that she had a new edition of her first solo album, My Winter Storm, coming out. The Limited Fan Edition was all I wanted in a Tarja CD. It was a two disk set wit lots of bonus tracks and live recordings. This was the version I wanted. This was the version I was going to save up for. There were a couple set backs. The only way to get it was through the German Amazon. As I cannot read German, my father (who can read German) helped me get on the site. The price would be about thirty dollars plus shipping, handling, and import. My parents have been on a tight budget recently, so I decided to raise the money myself. After buying Christmas presents, I realized that I would have to save up all over again. Immediately after that, money got even tighter and my siblings and I stopped getting allowance. Now, let us hop into the time-machine hiding in the garage and move forward to June, 2010.

We had started getting our allowance again, and I had been saving every penny. It was a little frustrating sometimes. I’m not trying to make you feel sorry for me. Sometimes it was hard though, like the times I didn’t get a drink when we were running errands. It was hot and I wanted my cherry lemon limeade. When I say hot, I do mean middle-of-summer-muggy-sweaty-humid-way-down-in-Lousianne hot. I’m going off on another deer trail, aren’t I? Anyway, I ordered the CD from the German Amazon and waited for a month for it to come. I was so excited when it finally arrived. I opened it with a huge smile on my face. My face fell as soon as I saw the cover. The Fan Edition has a different cover than all the other versions of My Winter Storm. The normal cover has Tarja facing the front. The Fan Edition that I ordered had Tarja facing the front. here, let me show you.

My Winter Storm: Limited Fan Edition

My Winter Storm

As you can see, they are different. They sent me the wrong one. I sent it back. After much online searching, failed attempts at buying the MP3 and some pouting,* I ordered it again on the Amazon for the US. I spent all of yesterday waiting to get my CD. I was going to upload it onto the computer, put it on my iPod and listen ’til I fell asleep. The UPS man came at around 6:30 in the evening. it was already dark. I walked into my mother’s office and asked to borrow her scissors to open the package. My hands were shaking I was so happy. This may sound melodramatic, but music really does mean that much to me. This CD meant a lot to me. I opened it to see Tarja facing me. Tarja was not supposed to be facing me. Tarja was supposed to be looking at her shoes. Since Tarja was looking at me, she got to see my face fall. I was holding a CD with 12 tracks instead of 32. It sort of ruined my day.

The second failure of a CD is currently on its way to Kentucky and I am here typing this. I am currently listening to nothing. It would be great if I could tell you I am listening to my brand spanking new CD, but I cannot. The Universe does not seem too enthusiastic about me getting this item, but I will get it eventually. I will not give up! I will prevail! There will be Tarja!

As I bid thee goodnight, dear reader, I leave you with one of my favorite Tarja recordings. This is “Ever Dream” from Nightwish’s 2002 album, Century Child.

*I’m nothing if not honest.

Fast forward three years and I am walking through the teen section of our local library. I looked down and saw something on the floor. After picking it up, I saw it was a bookmark advertising a release party for the Book Brisingr by Christopher Poalini. At the party the next weekend, I was told about the Teen Advisory Board (TAB) by the teen coordinator. I attended the following meeting and have been a very faithful member ever since. In two weeks I will have been a member for two years, only missing two or three meetings. In March, 2010, our teen coordinator told us we would be getting a new coordinator and that our former coordinator would be working at the reference desk full time. I will admit, I was a little disappointed. I then got to know the new coordinator and immediately liked her. She was friendly, open minded, and eager to prove herself. A few weeks later, our coordinator announced that she would allow us to run for positions in TAB. I was ecstatic by the news. I had been in the program for almost two years and wanted to do even more to help the program grow. TAB was the first thing since Greystone that I was dedicated to. Without TAB, I would have been stuck in a small town with nothing to do. The local homeschool co-op was full of people who told me and my family on a regular basis that we were going to Hell. You might be wondering what their reasoning behind this was. I’ll tell you. one day at this co-op, my brother and I made the mistake of bringing up Harry Potter. We immediately became outsiders. We eventually dropped out of the co-op. Back to the matter at hand.

I was limited to two posters and one handout. I made about 50 bookmarks and two posters that, in my opinion, were really cool. I stayed up late cutting out bookmarks and writing. I had to write a letter of intent and a speech. This was the first time I ran for any position in anything. It was a new experience. For the first time, I had to compete with a friend for something. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve competed before, but friendly games of soccer and checkers don’t have much benefit in the long run. Especially if you are seven years old.

On Tuesday, August 17, 2010, I had to stand up in front of the staff and other members of TAB. I gave my speech before my opponent. My speech was rather short. All I did was tell them about Greystone and what TAB means to me. I then went on to tell them some of my ideas. I am not ashamed to admit that that was my first time talking about Greystone since the move. I am also not ashamed to admit that I still get emotional when talking about it. I am trying hard to get over it. I think I am doing fine. Anyway, as I finished my speech and walked off the stage, three staff members and a close friend’s mother told me that I did a great job. It’s amazing how such simple words can make someone feel calm. After listening to my opponent’s speech and the teens who were running for positions other than president, we had a short meeting and then it was time to go home.

I was told I would have to wait until 7:30 in the evening to hear the results. I was surprised to get the call at 6:30 instead. Here is a little bit of the conversation;

Me: Hello?

Caller: OK, do you want to guess, or do you want me to tell you.

Me: About elections. Just tell me.

Caller: You won!

I guess it’s obvious why I am so happy. I have proven myself to myself. I am very grateful and would like to give my sincerest congratulations to the other winners; JM who is Vice President, SB and AC who are co-secretaries, and SNA, who got Speaker. I can’t wait to work with you and all the other members. I would like to thank the following people. RD, even though the rose you made for me didn’t make it to my poster, I’m really grateful for all the support you gave me. I would like to thank the people in my Sunday School class. Your smiles and friendship really helped this Sunday. None of you could make it to vote for me, but I am grateful for you. The members and staff who voted for me deserve some recognition. Without you, this would be a very different blog post. My parents and siblings were my biggest support through all this. They also put up with me talking about this 24/7. Thank you for reading and for your congratulations. This really means a lot to me and I appreciate your support.

Moggie

Bone and the Things that are Invisible, But you can see their Eyes.

Bone and The Girl Surrounded By Monsters!

Bone and The Dragon with the Fluffy Donkey Ears.

Just Bone.

Bone and the Giant Lion With Birds in Front of it.

Bone and Smiley Surrounded by Monsters: Except Smiley Isn’t Smiling.

Bone and The Girl with Stripes On Her Face.

Bone and The Bone With the Mean Smile On the Coin.

Bone and The Dragon Saying “Shhh.”

I made these pumpkin muffins a while ago for church and decided to share the recipe. I got it here and tweaked it a little bit.

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In a large bowl put:

1. 2 cups all purpose flour

2. 2/3 cup packed brown sugar

3. 1/3 cup granulated sugar

4. 1 tablespoon baking powder

5. 1 teaspoon salt

6. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

7. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

8. 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

9. mix these together

In a medium bowl put:

1. 1/2 cup melted butter

2. 1/2 to 2/3 cup LIBBY’S 100% Pure Pumpkin

3. 2 large eggs

4. 1/3 cup buttermilk

5. stir this together with a fork

Preheat oven to 400 degrease F. Grease 24 mini muffin cups.

Put the wet stuff in with the dry stuff and mix together.

Scoop into prepared muffin cups and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes then move to wire rack to let them cool completely.

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You can also add about half a bag o’ chocolate chips if you want to.

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Updated: I spelled something wrong.

Harry Potter and the Shiny Lump,

Harry Potter and the Scary Snakes with Green Eyes,

Harry Potter and the Big Tower on an Island in the Middle of the Ocean,

Harry Potter and The Cup of Blue Wind,

Harry Potter and Metal Bird on Fire,

Harry Potter and the Book of Oldness,

And Finally,

Harry Potter and the Golden Necklace.

So…pretty good, huh?

If you are reading this post, comment and tell me what your favorite is, then tell your friends and family about this. I want to know which of these names is most popular.