Image Courtesy of familiesonlinemagazine.com

So that time of year has rolled around again. End of the quarter. It kind of reminds me of dooms day in a way. (I don't really know what 'Dooms Day' is, or if it's a real thing, but I imagine it's not a very fun day.)

I'm going to make this next point cautiously because the whole reason behind this blog is so my English teacher can read it and give me a grade, so there is a 100% chance that he will see it. I am a procrastinator. No matter how hard I try to not be, I am. I put things off until the last possible minute and then freak out because I have 10 minutes to finish my biology report or 7 minutes before that assignment turn in spot locks me out and I get a 0. But  I rarely ever fail classes because of this nasty trait. (That's a joke if you couldn't tell; I don't actually ever fail classes.) Somehow I've come to realize that that is just how I work. However unbelievable this may sound to some people, I have found that I work more efficiently and even produce better work when I have a tight time limit on me. In the few instances that I have tried working on a long term project on a schedule like more students do, I can't come up with good ideas, I get writers block, I don't work how I know that I can. So you can imagine, being the procrastinator that I am, when the final week of the quarter rolls around, I get extremely stressed out. Like, my heart beats at an unusually high rate every minute of every day for the whole week, I always feel light headed, and I can't have a conversation with someone without having them ask if I feel ok because I look like I'm about to pass out.

Case in point, I'm writing this blog post the day before it's due.

Anyway, the real point of this blog post was not to try and convince my teacher that I am a terrible student, it is to explain to you how I try to deal with this stress.

If you're anything like me, music is like a magic, all-calming, slow-your-heart-rate-to-a-normal-pace force. Music actually solves like 99.9% of my emotional problems like when I go into my rages that are typical of an Aquarius, I listen to music and it calms me down. When I get sad or overly emotional about something because I am, in fact, a teenage girl, I listen to music and it makes me not as sad. When I'm stressed as stressed can be, I listen to music and it helps me get a grip on myself. Music is simply, the key to life. (Might I suggest the new Taylor Swift album? I love love love it.)

And if music isn't really your thing, (aside from the fact that you have no soul and are most likely an alien or some other sort of not-human being,) then I also would suggest that you exercise, read a book, take a hot shower, light a candle, etc.

I will say one thing though. Some people might suggest a nap or a bubble bath. Do.Not.Listen.To.Them. I hate both. I hate baths, and I hate naps. Naps, it's like, you go to sleep in the daytime. That is not a normal thing! We sleep at night! And then if you take a nap, when you wake up it's like, "What year is it? It was light when I went to sleep and now it's dark. I hate everything. What the heck?" And then we have baths. Why why why would you take a bath? All you do it sit there and like, look around. Plus when you run a bath, you try to get in and it's like a lava pit, but then you get in after it cools a little bit and 5 minutes later it's like you're swimming in the arctic. They are just terrible.

I apologize for the unrelated rant, but I had to say it. It just wasn't really an option.

So there you have my ways to deal with the stress brought on by my excessive procrastination, but if you are to take one thing away from this post, I hope that it's that baths and naps are terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad things. Wait no, that's not it. I can't make up my mind. It's probably my ADD.

-Jackie <3

There's a First Time For Everything

Welcome To My Blog!   

I'm just going to be upfront about this first key point here, and that is that I do not know how to blog. I do not know the rules of blogging (well I kind of do because we had a presentation on it in English) and I do not know if this is even a real blog topic (talking about the overall blog topic, not the topic of this post). But nevertheless, I am always up for a challenge and in time, I'm sure I'll come to learn how to blog. But right now I'm sure you're wondering who I am and why I have this blog and what this blog is even about. Well that my dear people, I would love to tell you.

Let's start with who I am shall we? For some reason whenever anyone asks me to tell them about myself, I draw almost a blank. My name (Jackie), how old I am (15 in January, thank you very much), and that I like to sing, play lacrosse, and softball are really the only the immediate responses that come to my mind for this question. But because I want you, reader, to be able to relate to me in some way, I will do a little bit of soul searching. Let's see, I don't like the dark (it scares me), I love roller coasters and cliff jumping and any pretty much any sort of adrenaline rush. I'm not shy at all if I've never met you before and will never see you again, but I am shy if I feel intimidated by you or don't feel comfortable around you. I just might be the most competitive person you ever meet. I daydream all the time. I hate disappointing people. I'm terrified of embarrassment. My favorite TV shows are Pretty Little Liars (because I love the drama and suspense and romance), Criminal Minds (because it just plainly fascinates me), and Modern Family (because it's hilarious.) I love to laugh and I do it all the time. So there you go.

I started this blog as an ongoing project for my ninth grade Honors English class. And the million dollar question: what is this blog about? Well this blog is about the life of a teenage girl. I'm hoping readers in the same demographic as me (girls 13-17 ish) can relate to some of these posts, and others will be entertained by my hopefully humorous series of articles about my life. It is about my life and my story. My day to day happenings that I find internet worthy will all be yours for the reading.

One blog that really inspired me was a blog, also from blogspot, called Story of My Life. The blog is written by Jenni, a 25 year old woman who writes about generally the same topic I want to write about, her life. I really liked this blog for it's content and her voice and personality really shines through.

Another blog that inspired me was called, My Life in Blog Years. I really liked the layout of this blog and how easy it was to navigate around her site.

I'm really excited to be starting this project and hope that you enjoy this blog! Blog you later fellow internet people. Peace.

- Jackie