Linnea’s Blogs

I have made several memories this academic year, but my three favourites include my teachers, my friends, and most importantly my favourite class, home economics. Firstly, I thought my teachers (Mrs. Gonzalez (home economics), Mr. Hartman (woodshop), Ms. Moffat (core (language arts and social studies)), Ms. Lockman (science), Mrs. Ehrhard (PE), and Ms. Cordero (math)) were the best by far compared to my previous teachers. I thought they were all funny, caring, and thoughtful and they made learning fun! <3 My friends were very supportive this year, and I appreciate their ongoing kindness as well as their words of encouragement. <3 In home economics, I accomplished a variety of things, from cooking and baking to the basics of both machine sewing and hand sewing! I liked the cooking portion of the year better because you got to eat what you made; you can’t eat a pillow or a pair of pajama pants! 😛

This week, I printed my things out and glued them to my poster (my pictures (to show what the finished product would look like), my title, and my QR codes.) At home, my mum owns a paper cutter, and I decided to use it because I can never seem to cut things straight. Because it was my first time using the paper cutter, I had no idea how it worked, save for the fact that you slide the slidey thingy across the paper to cut it. I learned that you have to move the blade from left to right, or else the blade will scrunch up the paper and make it look funky. Overall, I completed my goal with ninety-five percent accuracy! 🙂

My mum is thoughtful, supportive, optimistic, and generous. She puts a lot of thought into the things she does (work emails and delicious cooking :P), and it does not go unnoticed. If you asked me to make a list of my favourite meals of hers, I can guarantee that it will be several miles long :)! Some of my favourites include fish tacos with mango salsa, galbi (Korean marinated beef short ribs), and quinoa burgers with potato leek soup. My mum helps me study for my math tests, but I still receive Bs, and it’s not from her lack of trying. She is also willing to discuss “girl topics” with me (e.g. puberty, periods, etc.) My mum is also excited to take me places (the grocery store, out to dinner/lunch) and me and my sister places (Disneyland). When my mom takes me and my sister places, she’s ten times more likely to buy us treats than my dad.

This week, I practiced the fish and the fox, and I have both of them memorised :)! I also realised that you need a rectangular piece of paper to make a hat, therefore, I can’t use my origami paper to make them :(. I had to make a decision: ditch the hat idea and learn how to make a new origami that can be made with origami paper (I tried learning the penguin and the horse head, but after making two of each, neither seemed promising :(), or just continue with the hat idea. I chose option two, mostly because I’m running low on time, and I need all the time I can get to design my tri-fold. Next week, I plan to start on my tri-fold.

Despite the fact that my work time was bisected by thirty minutes, I was still able to advance greatly. I learned the steps for the fish and also showed what I learned via the four prototypes I created, one with the instructions and the other three without, in order to make sure I had the process memorised. Because this week was super successful, I had no struggles! Based on my place in my modified plan, I have concluded that it won’t be necessary to make adjustments to my plan. Next week, I plan to make more fishies! 🙂

During April, I’ve finished several novels, five in total, but if I had to choose a favourite, I’d pick We’ll Always Have Summer, the final book in The Summer I Turned Pretty series. Written by Jenny Han, this book is, in my opinion, the perfect concluding novel of any series I’ve read so far. You may be asking yourself: “Why such a bold statement, Linnea?” Good news for you, I have some quotes (and some reasoning :)) to prove my “bold statement”, but first, let me provide you with some background information for those of you who may not have read or even heard about this immaculate romance (if you would like a little overview of the first two novels in this series, click here to read a mini-overview written by yours truly!) The main character, Isabel “Belly” Conklin, her mum has a friend named Susannah who has two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly is madly in love with both of them (kind of a love triangle situation, don’t you think?), but she doesn’t know who likes her more: Jeremiah or Conrad. This novel tells about how she tackles this dilemma head-on she might end up solving this problem with the help of her friend Taylor. If you asked me to pick a character I would like to be besties with, I would choose Belly because of how helpful she is. Her helpfulness is most notable on pages one and two when she’s helping Taylor study for their college finals. Taylor asks Belly to quiz her, and she answers, “‘Define anima versus animus.’” Taylor doesn’t know, so she asks for a hint. Belly replies, “‘Umm … think Latin,’” which stresses Taylor out for a second, because she didn’t take any Latin courses, therefore causing her to believe that there may be questions about Latin words and roots on her finals. Belly responds, “‘No, I was just trying to give you a hint. Because in Latin boys’ names end in –us and girls’ names end in –a, and anima is feminine archetype and animus is is masculine archetype. Get it?’” Despite Belly’s helpfulness, Taylor still doesn’t understand, probably because she’s obsessed with texting. Helpfulness is a quality I look for in a good friend because I, like other people, can get confused sometimes, and it’s nice to always have a friend to help you out should you get confused. My favourite line is located on page two hundred eighty-six, “Your life could go in one of two directions. Do or die.” This line teaches a valuable lesson, which invites you to think about how your decisions make an impact not just on the people around you, but also on the world as well.

This week, I made another hat to test my memory (I only had the first three steps memorised :(; I have some work to do!) As a result, I may need to work on the hat a wee bit more next week. I also started learning how to make the fox; I have made my first prototype! Next week, I plan to make more fox prototypes in order to make sure I have it down!

This week, I have memorised how to make the fox faster than I’d anticipated! Because of this, I have made four fox prototypes so far, which I feel is enough for now. As a result, I’ve made the decision to choose another origami project, a fish, which I will start on next Friday. This week was fandabidozie; I had no setbacks! 🙂

My favourite room is my bedroom. I like my bedroom because I can customise it to fit my personality. For example, my parents showed me and my sister two wallpapers and asked us to choose which one we liked best. To their surprise, we weren’t fighting over one wallpaper; we both had an opinion. I chose the option that had different types of flowers, and each was a different shade of pink. My bed is another feature that sets my bedroom apart, but my blankets are what makes it unique. My favourite blanket is named Bunny Blanket, and it’s pink with a bunny eating a carrot on it, and the background composes of the sun and a couple of clouds. I also cherish my blankets because they’re SO soft and they keep me super warm at night. Another distinguishable feature located in my bedroom is my double dressers, one in my closet and one out near my bed. I like this because I have too many clothes :P, and having two dressers provides me with enough space to store them.

Pictures!

Currently, I’m reading The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy by Jenny Han. I like it so much that I cruised through the first novel, The Summer I Turned Pretty, in just two days! As of right now, I’m about one-hundred pages through the second novel, It’s Not Summer Without You. In The Summer I Turned Pretty, Isabel “Belly” Conklin visits her mother’s friend Susannah’s beach house in Cousins Beach, Massachusetts, where she falls in and out of love with several boys, including Susannah’s two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah, and another boy named Cam. Towards the end of the novel, Belly learns that Susannah has breast cancer and she was growing weaker and weaker every day. This brings us to the beginning of the second novel in the series, It’s Not Summer Without You. In the ninety-eight pages I’ve read so far in It’s Not Summer Without You, Belly attends Susannah’s funeral, and Conrad has gone missing.