New Semester

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

Yesterday, marked the beginning of a new semester of school. This semester is going to be interesting, to say the least, because my days are so packed with classes, working, boot camp, and homework.

My first class starts at 7:00 am. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, my last class finishes at 9:50 am. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only have the one class so I’ll be done at 7:50 am. Right after class, I go straight to work and stay there until 6:00 pm. Then, it’s straight to boot camp. Corey and I will finally get home around 8:00 pm each night. At that point, we’ll do homework and then go to bed.

I had all three of my classes yesterday, which made it nice because I got to see what they’d be like. I’m taking Spanish, an intro to literature class, and a religion class. I’m really nervous about my Spanish class. I have retained most of the knowledge I learned as a child, but I’m extremely rusty when it comes to speaking. I don’t like making mistakes and because of that, I get super nervous and can’t get out what I want to say. Hopefully, that will ease with time.

This morning, I dropped my religion class. I decided that since I don’t need to take any more religion credits, I didn’t want another class possibly counting against my GPA. I also really don’t want to write any more papers regarding religion. If this class were like Institute, I’d keep it. But, since it’s like a full-blown class, there’s no point in making my life more stressful than it already is. Plus, it gives me an hour between my Spanish and literature class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to do my Spanish homework.

I’m really looking forward to my classes this semester, even though it will be a challenge with my lack of free time. I’m excited to brush up on Spanish and, hopefully, I won’t let it slip again. I also look forward to learning more about literature now that I’m actually interested in it. Hopefully, it will help me throughout the rest of school.

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games #3
Genre: Dystopian Romance (YA)
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Against all odds, Katniss has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. The Capitol is afraid that all the Districts will turn against them. But they are not going to let that happen, so they made an example of District 12 and destroyed it leaving it in the dust. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss Everdeen. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year….

Just like its predecessors, I couldn’t put Mockingjay down. (I was forced to at a couple of points, even though I didn’t want to.) It has also earned a spot on my Favorites shelf.

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.” Katniss

I can’t believe I know the outcome of this series. I feel like I’ve been waiting for so long and to have it over feels kind of surreal. I’m glad I was able to savor my first read through of the story, even though I did know about a few spoilers.

I do have a lot of mixed feelings about Mockingjay. I’m happy, sad, and a little disappointed. Yet, I’m actually quite satisfied with how the series ended. There are a few things I wish would’ve happened differently, mostly because I just didn’t want them to happen because it was too sad. I’m very glad I got to enjoy more time with some of the minor characters in the first two books. But, I also missed the interaction between a couple of the major characters, even though it was pertinent to the story. The ending felt a bit rushed to me because I wanted to experience the aftermath in more than just a few pages or paragraphs.

Mockingjay felt different from its predecessors. It wasn’t necessarily a bad different; it was just different and it took some getting used to. The story is still an emotional roller coaster like its predecessors, and it’s very intense. I savored the beauty and sweetness when it was there because of the brutality of the subject matter. I expected to cry more than I did, but I only cried at one point during the story. Overall, I’m very happy and I look forward to reading more books written by Suzanne Collins.

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Series: Matched #1
Genre: Dystopian Romance (YA)
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Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate … until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Imagine living in a world in which everything is controlled–the things you eat, the clothes you wear, the job you do, the house you live in, the things you do during your free time, the amount of free time you get, and the person you fall in love with. This is the world Ally Condie created for Matched. At first, you think the world is Utopian–no violence, everyone being on equal ground, etc. But, as the story progresses, you realize more and more how dystopian the world actually is.

“Every minute you spend with someone gives them a part of your life and takes part of theirs.” Cassia

During the entire story, you feel bad for the citizens’ lack of freedom, even though they’re not openly (or blatantly) oppressed like the characters are in The Hunger Games trilogy. The citizens believe the Society is doing everything in their best interest and they’re so complacent about their lives, they don’t realize that they’re being oppressed until one little mistake is made or something out of the ordinary happens to catch their attention. But, even then, everyone is quick to believe whatever the Society tells them why whatever happened happened, everyone except Cassia as she begins to see and realize the truth.

I was completely blown away by Matched. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I’m excited to find out what happens in the next book.

Project 365: Week 21

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

Some of the pictures this week are boring because I spent most of my week reading. I need to figure out a good way to take pictures of books because, obviously, I don’t have the skills to do it very well right now.


August 21: It’s not the best picture, but I wanted to represent the book charity event I went to as part of Project 365. There were a lot of authors there. At one point during the evening, and most attendees’ favorite part, there was an author panel with James Dashner, Brandon Sanderson, Bree Despain, Sara Zarr, Ally Condie, Jessica Day George, Brandon Mull, and Shannon Hale. It was a lot of fun to hear them answer questions about writing and publishing, and get a chance to mingle with them a little bit.	August 22: I was so excited to get my hands on Matched by Ally Condie since its release date isn’t until November 30. (Thank you, Natasha!) Isn’t the cover gorgeous? It actually has something to do with the story, which is amazing since a lot of covers are loosely related to the story. Most authors don’t even have a say in their cover. (I finished reading it Friday night, and I’ll post my review on Sunday. As a sneak peek, just know I’m very excited and anxious to find out what happens in the second book.)

August 23: In preparation for the release of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, I pulled an all-nighter so I could get through a reread of the first two books in the series. Unfortunately, I only got through half of the second book by the time midnight rolled around.	August 24: Even though I didn’t get a chance to read Mockingjay on its release day because I was still rereading Catching Fire, I still bought it on its release day. It’s beautiful and I’m so excited to have it in my hands and find out what happens! Let’s just hope I like it. ;)

August 25: I saw this little piece of garbage in my grass and I thought it would make an interesting picture using the macro setting. I’m kind of curious as to what those calories belong to.	August 26: For the past few days, I’ve noticed these purple “weeds” along the side of the road. Because they were purple, I wanted to get a closer look, not realizing how neat they are.

August 27: These wild daisies grow along the side of the road. Every time I see them, they remind me of mini sunflowers. Maybe, they are mini sunflowers and not actually wild daisies.

Friday’s Fab Five

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

Friday’s Fab Five is a weekly event hosted by Froggy at Froggarita’s Bookcase. She asks five questions, which could or could not be book related, so that bloggers and their readers can get to know each other better. Participating can be as simple as answering the questions in the comments for this post. Or, it can be as intense as answering the questions by commenting on her blog, commenting on my blog, and posting about the event on your own blog. The only rule is that you can’t use the same answer twice. ;)

Here are this week’s questions:

What is your favorite tree?
What is your zodiac sign?
How long does it take you to do your grocery shopping?
How often do you ride a bike?
Who is your role model?

Here are my answers:

I’ve never really thought about it. Definitely not the sequoias because they disappointed me. They weren’t nearly as tall as everyone said they are. I really like old, creepy looking trees. The ones with a ton of branches that look as if they’re dead, but they really aren’t because they’re full of beautiful green leaves. I also love when there are a ton of them together and they create a tunnel of sorts over a road or some sort of pathway. There are a few places like that in Logan Canyon and I love driving through them, especially at night.
Depending on the zodiac calendar you look at, I’m either an Aries or a Taurus.
It doesn’t take me long at all because Corey does the shopping. ;)
Last year, I rode my bike a lot because it was my main form of exercise. This year, I’ve ridden it a few times on the days when I don’t have or had to miss boot camp.
My counselor Jodi. She seems to have it together. She’s very assertive, but she also knows how to take other people’s feelings into consideration. She’s very conscious of her decisions and doesn’t lie to herself like most people do. She takes responsibility for the things she needs to and is able to not pick up the things she’s not responsible for. She’s not co-dependent, she’s a great mother, and she knows where she stands with the Gospel. She doesn’t let the teachings or the members make her feel unnecessarily guilty like a lot of members do. If you were a lot like Jodi, then you’d truly be a happy person with a thirst for knowledge, to enjoy life, and to better yourself.