School is Over!!!

     We finished school (semi-officially) last Friday. So today I'm going to give a brief overview of the subjects I did that I enjoyed. Anyways... Here goes!!

Biology

     First off, there's biology. I love biology. And I mean I love it. It's so interesting to see how our world works, and how different animals work, etc. My favorite parts of my biology course was genetics, cellular respiration, and vertebrates (animals with vertebrae). 

     Genetics was mostly interesting because of Punnett Squares (which you can analyze all the possible combinations of genes of offspring) and pedigrees. One of the experiments was to write your own family's pedigree for ear lobes. Yep, you heard me, ear lobes. It was awesome!


     Cellular respiration is how cells (cellular) get their energy. It's fascinating, and incredibly involved. Yet what struck me was how many cells are in your body. Thousands.And each one is going through this complex process 24/7. Then you add the hundreds of other functions your body must do simply to stay alive, let alone allow you to move, it's absolutely staggering. 


     Vertebrates were mostly awesome because of the change. I'd been excited all year to get to horses (my favorite) and dolphins and other such animals. But for the modules before, I had been on tiny little organisms, such as those in Kingdoms Monera and Protista, and then fungi (Kingdom Fungi). Then I get to Kingdom Animalia and spend forever on invertebrates (animals with no backbones). Then finally we get to Phylum Chordata, only to spend that module on fish and amphibians. And then we take a break for two modules to go over Kingdom Plantae. Then in the very last module, I finally get to do vertebrates!! Joy.


     But it was fun to study all those other stuff, too. And I learned so much about God's creation! It's amazing, and I can't wait for chemistry next year.

History

     History is another of my favorite subjects. I don't have nearly as much to say about this one than I did for biology. (Sigh of relief from everyone reading this.) The reason I love history so much, is I think because I like to learn why things happened. Learning about Rome especially was pretty cool this year. As well as learning about Egypt. Mom found me this awesome book about Tutankhamen, and I now love the period of history around him and his father, Akhenaten, or Amenhotep IV. 

     I love our history curriculum. It's called The Mystery of History and it's amazing. I've helped Mom a few times at the Mystery of History's booth (at a homeschool convention), and I've gotten to meet the person who writes it, Mrs. Hobar. Which is awesome, because I think she was the one who made me love history as much as I do. 

German

     I'm taking German for my high school language, and have been taking it for a few years already, but this year I feel like I really learned the most and am beginning to enjoy it more. I love speaking it, and all my friends know what 'danke' means, because I use it so much. (For those of you who don't know, it means 'thank you'.) I also greet people in German, say good bye in German, and often times talk to my siblings in German. Jack's the only one who really can have a conversation with me though. At least one that isn't super simple. I want to go to Germany so bad, but I probably won't be able to until I'm out of high school. That is good, though, because I want to be fairly proficient in German before I go. 

Piano

     I've been taking piano for nearly nine years now, but the past few it's begun to become much more enjoyable for me. I love the instrument, and think it's one of the most beautiful sounding. (I also like the violin, but alas, do not know how to play it.) I'm hoping to start teaching piano next fall, which is a fun and scary thought all at once. It'll be fun to teach younger kids a love of the instrument, but also scary. What if I teach them bad habits? I'm by no means an expert, and have a lot of things to learn still. Also scary because I get really nervous for that kind of thing. But I'm excited!! 

     I hope you enjoyed that little look into my schoolwork this past school year. I've still got to finish up math (oh algebra!) and Constitutional Literacy (learning about the original intent of the Constitution). I'm behind on both of them. But after that, I've got summer and freedom!

     Thank you for reading! I'm going to be posting at the TAJ Blog next Monday, as well as posting here, so be sure to check both out!! 

Stepping Heavenward - A Book Review

     Well, here I am!! Today I'm going to be sharing a short book review that I wrote. I couldn't think of anything else to write about on short notice, and this worked well, since I just finished reading this book for the third or fourth time. But enough of my rambling, here's the report on Stepping Heavenward.

     Stepping Heavenward was written by Elizabeth Prentiss. Originally published in 1880, my version was published by Barbour Publishing in 1998.

     The story takes place in the mid-nineteenth century, beginning in 1837. It is a diary, written by the main character, Katherine (or Katy) Mortimer. She is joined by a retinue of other characters, including her parents and brother, her friend, Amelia, and her pastor, Dr. Cabot. Later on in the book, Katy's aunt is introduced, as well as Dr. Elliot, Dr. Cabot's nephew.

     Katy struggles fiercely with her strong temper, as well as her lack of obedience and love for God. She has been brought up in a Christian home, but questions whether she is actually a Christian. With help from Dr. Cabot, Katy works through her doubts. After entering into a hasty engagement, Katy discovers her husband-to-be isn't all she believes he is, and breaks the engagement. Katy's mother sends her to stay with her aunt in the city for a few months. While there, Katy meets Dr. Elliot, who is the family's physician. Dr. Elliot soon proposes marriage. Katy refuses, but returns home restless. When she and her mother return to the city, she avoids being alone with Dr. Elliot. But is Katy really as opposed to Dr. Elliot as she things? Do they marry? And what happens in the rest of the story? Does Katy conquer her hasty temper with God's help?

     This book is one of my all time favorites. It is a fun read, but also makes you think. Some of the stuff that is said has helped me in my own Christian walk. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It is an amazing book!

A stone has more feeling than I. I don't love to pray. I am sick and tired of this dreadful struggle after holiness; good books are all alike, flat and meaningless. But I must have something to absorb and carry me away... (Page 95)

     Well, I hope you enjoyed that! It's not the best I've written, but for writing in less than a hour this afternoon, it's decent. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next week!!

Hi!

     My name is Anna, and this is my blog. I’ve posted on here before, but it hasn’t been very regular. To this point, I have an average of two posts a year since I started in 2008. Well, the goal is to improve on that. Hopefully that won’t be too hard. :P

     So my plan of attack (after hours of agonizing over what I should write about) is basically this: I am going to post about my daily life, and things that interest me. That could be everything from a book I read to a paper that I wrote for school that I had fun writing. In a nutshell: you'll get a bit of everything. :)

     I will try to post once a week, at least. It might turn into more like twice a month, but we’ll see how much I have to write down. If you're interested in knowing more about me, check out my post on a blog I run with some other friends - TAJ News Blog - here.

     Anyway, that is my introductory post to (hopefully; again, we’ll see) a new chapter in my blog writing story. Thanks for reading, and I'll try to post this Monday!!!