Amaranthine Forever

Everyone else is doing epic new year's posts, but I'm still sick and tired and crampy. So... Happy New Year. Thanks for following me. God bless you. Oh, and I read these really awesome books called The Fiddler's Gun and Fiddler's Green. Book review soon. Go visit Leia's forum, if you haven't already.  

 Hope you had a good Christmas. Popping in to say- Leia started her forum, The Lakehouse. Jedi Chick and I are moderators, and we three have worked hard on it! We'd appreciate if you could take a visit. Like the header? I designed it. :) See you later, Amaranthine

UPDATE: I made you guys a Christmas card. You deserve it. Click to enlarge. Mostly everyone is taking Christmas Holiday off, so you'll most likely read this after Christmas. So-here's my Christmas letter I wrote to you guys. Dear friends, followers, and countrymen/women, I heartily wish you a Merry Christmas at the end of another wonderful decade. This year has been a huge year for me, but it seems to have flown by at top speed. ... ...... This can't be like my Christmas letters to family because it would be too revealing. Sorry, guys. I started a blog. Bet you didn't know that, did you? But oh, I'll tell you all about it. I was inspired by my friend's blog. I'd always been pretty tech-savvy, so I thought it would be a cinch and fun to try. My mom forced me to go outside and exercise, and I became inspired. Being one for fancy names, I immediately decided that it would have something to do with the word "Amaranthine". Unfortunately, the d

I have my first award! Thank you to Paige from The 828. I don't know what to do. Should I give an acceptance speech?? Ahem. "I thank all the people at the Academy..no, um..." Rules: List five things you like about blogging, and award it to five other brilliant bloggers! 1,.) Being able to become famous and have famous comments left on your famous blog by famous people. 2.) Being able to have online friends and establish a community. 3.) Something to do online, because I don't have a facebook. 4.) Meeting awesome people from all around the world. <3 I love you guys. 5.)Being able to give and get awards. So I award this to- Abby- http://castlesquillsandcameras.blogspot.com/ You are awesome, girl! Keep up the awesome blog! Audrey- http://musicbooksandteenagewisdom.blogspot.com/ Hope this makes your holiday a little better. <3 I'm still praying for you! Barriss- http://opineofmine.blogspot.com/ Leia Organa- http://organamajor.blogspot.com

I was never a popular kid growing up. I wasn't mean or annoying(I think) but it seemed like no one wanted to be my friend.  I was the weird one, the strange homeschooled freak who didn't watch TV and didn't know who Miley Cyrus was until she was twelve. I didn't brush my hair, wore glasses and braces, and wore whatever my mom bought me and I picked up off my closet floor. My idea of a good time was reading or digging holes outside.  I knew how to identify rocks and birds just by looking at them, but somehow that didn't impress the other kids when I didn't know what a Youtube was. I had a strange sense of humor and laughed at things no one else found funny. I never thought it was my problem that no one wanted to be my friend. I had really high self esteem. If they didn't want to be my friend, they must have been like those snobs I read about in my chapter books!   But then I realized they were friendly to everyone else, not just me. I had a few special

I've been playing the piano since I was six. I love playing piano. I placed second in two piano competitions. So I always wonder why I barely know anyone who plays the piano, or at least, seriously.   People think piano is boring and difficult. But that's like anything else! You can't give up just because starting is slow. The only things I don't like is practicing for an hour a day and not being able to take my piano on trips with me.  I'm practicing four pieces now- This one is my favorite.   I also play this one. What instruments do you play? I have a cold. I don't think I'll post from Christmas Day-New Years day.

Has anyone seen Jedi-Chick around here lately?

..instead of telling our kids "don't do drugs, drink alcohol, go to parties, etc." we teach them how to make mature, responsible decisions? ..instead of saying "don't watch R rated movies, listen to bad music, or go on inappropriate websites" we tell them to be careful of what they put in their minds and to glorify God every moment of the day? ..instead of  "don't say 'hell' '*bleep*', 'crap', 'insert bad word here',", we teach them to always speak with love and that their mouths are indications of what's in their hearts? ..instead of saying "don't lie, ever" say that God knows what's in their hearts? ..instead of saying "don't spend money on everything" or "you NEED to give money to poor people" say that we are all temporary stewards of what God gave us and we will be judged for what we do with it? ..instead of saying "don't date, kiss, or

Etain Tur Mukan is my favorite Republic commando character. If you ask pretty much anyone else, however,  this would not be the case. When I first read Triple Zero, I, like many others, was disgusted with her. Here was a Jedi. But she's not a swashbuckling, bad-guy-busting, lightsaber wielding, legendary hero. She's instead a petite, insecure,  girl frightened by the war and life around her. Kal Skirata describes her as "rather a schoolgirl then a Jedi." Wookieepedia's article states that " Etain was a caring, but very insecure person." and "Etain was a doubtful person; of her own abilities, her worth and usefulness as a Jedi and commander. Her fear of disappointing those who relied on her made her draw back from responsibility, which sometimes, especially under stress, made her desperate and angry." And she is. She's like no other Jedi. She apologizes to clone troopers rather than commanding them. She throws up over the fact tha

I say "Reprise" because I love reprises in musicals. It's when they sing the same song again, but sometimes with a different twist. Phantom of the Opera is the ultimate reprise musical. Most of the songs are sung at least twice.  Anyways, back when I wrote about this, no one read it. Oh wait..before I started writing, I was playing the piano. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw I blur of movement. I thought "Oh! It's the mailman!" But something was weird. He was running really fast...he almost slipped on the sidewalk! And he was swinging his bag and yelling. It turns out the neighbor's dog was chasing him. He swung the bag at the dog and yelled, but it wouldn't stop barking and growling. He was swinging our mail at the dog too. By now they were right in front of our door. He pulled out a can of mace and almost maced my neighbor's dog! But then, I think, the dog gave up and ran back to the house. The dog isn't a mean dog, he just likes ba

So Audrey, on her blog, alerted us all to Courtney(Storing Up Treasures) problems. Apparently, people were using her words against her, and she was wondering whether or not she should continue blogging. I'm too lazy to provide a link, but go check it out on Audrey's blog.  And that's another peril of the online world. You're always taking the risk that your online world might overlap into your regular world, for the worst. That's why I use a confusing pseudonym.(Actually, it's because I don't like my real name.) So what I do is: When I write about real people, I try to never portray anyone in a negative light. You never know who might be reading it(I learned that from my Her Universe post.). Or at least change their name, gender, and ethnicity.  My advice to Courtney?(Although I'm not in the position to give her any advice, since she has oh, five hundred more followers than me.) I don't know the severity of the incidents, but I wish she'd

Every time I try to post I have to stop. I've tried to post like, fifty times. Okay- so I spent the whole morning at Borders. I read Vortex, Edge of Victory:Rebirth, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Be in awe of my sophisticated literature. After that, I watched Shannah play KOTOR on her laptop.  THEN I just got back from sitting at Albertsons for three hours asking people to donate money and food for the food drive. It's raining and I'm tired. I probably won't be able to post when my cousins come. So don't think I'm dead or anything, okay? I have two novel pitches/ideas. I'm so glad I finished Or Die Trying so I can start something else! Number 1: Liadan, a middle schooler, goes to search for her crimelord mother after her dad dies. I like these kinds of stories. I got this from a awesome dream. Number 2: Kind of a background on Vana Dorja(from my current book) and her poor childhood on Marahasia. Oh, and I finally got an idea for my rewrite

~Is working on New Year's blog project-Star wars and religion, anybody? ~Is working on end of the year post ~Is shocked by new Heir To The Empire cover, @club jade ~Is working at Borders tomorrow, will read Vortex on time off, if Kaitlyn doesn't catch me ~Is overjoyed by soggy rainy day ~Is overjoyed for last day until holiday

 UPDATE: Please pray and leave a nice comment for Audrey . She's going through a really tough time, and now her dog has to be put down. Go on. Pray, right  now. Just ask God to be with her. <3 you guys. -- I say a well deserved holiday is, um, well deserved. Even though I just got used to the daily grind since Thanksgiving holiday.  To celebrate, my family from Massachusetts and the Bay Area are coming. Unlike many other Asian families, I only have six cousins, two on one side and four on the other. I actually like having not that many cousins.... Let me provide you with a brief overview of what the next two weeks are going to be like. Only my dad's side is coming.  Names have been slightly changed to protect the not-so-innocent. Uncle Curt: Lives near San Diego, so he won't be staying over. No idea what days he'll be over here. He likes to play games, take pictures, and make sarcastic remarks(runs in the family). Uncle Horace, Aunt Viv, Matt, and A

People, even Christians, talk about heaven and hell like it's the end game. The awards ceremony. The aftermath.  But that's the complete opposite! This "life" can't even compare in length or in joy to what we'll have afterwards. This is only preparation, a test, a little assessment to see how you'll fare in the real thing. CS Lewis says it better than I can, in The Last Battle . And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no on on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. Wow. Reading that made me look at life so much more differently.  Don't you ever feel like life is so short and passing quickly? I

I've been reflecting. When I was younger, I was kinda naive. So I offended lots of people without meaning to or knowing to. Also, I didn't brush my hair and wore the same clothes every day because I felt like it. I also wore glasses and braces. But then, I grew some self-assurance, underwent a major personality transplant, bought some nice clothes, started styling my hair, got my braces off, and got contacts.  Some people that didn't like me when I was younger don't even recognize me now. So it's like I'm a new person. Some inspiring conclusion should be drawn from this.  But anyways...... Come to the light side! We have better cookies....and Carth Onasi! ~random HU signature that I love. You know you're an EU fan if.... When asked by your family/friends who your favorite SW characters are, and you tell them "Myn and Kirney", they give you a strange look and ask you where they are in the movies. Then you give them the same look bac

Prepare for a super long post.  And then I have to go work on my two-day overdue essay. UPDATE: My mom said my skin would be pale, if I would wear my sunblock. Hmm. Legoland from a Star Wars fan's point of view (We should have a official name for Star Wars fans. Like Star Trek fans are called Trekkies. Anyways..) Yay! The first thing we did is sign up for Mindstorms. Mindstorms is a special kind of Legos that involves robotics and programming. Oh, and when I saw this kid, I instantly thought "young Wedge Antilles." Am I crazy? I couldn't take pictures of the good rides because they didn't want you to have your camera in case you'd lose it. One of them had a "No Photography" sign. I wanted to take a picture of it. And I went on a big roller coaster for the first time. It was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. This week. By far, Miniland USA is the main attraction of Legoland. What is it? A ride? A scary roller co

I'm going to Legoland tomorrow. They do this Christmas thing every year, it's nice. But I probably won't get to post. So this post counts as tomorrows. You can't say I didn't post every day.  I repeat what I always say. Blogs take a while to get off the ground, just like any novel. Just keep at it. And don't forget to have a life. Blogs come from personal experience, and you're not getting any personal experience sitting around in front of a computer waiting for something to happen to you. Don't feel pressured to post every day, but don't give up, either!!!      And if there's anything I've learned, it's not to take things personally. Things are mostly not directed at you. So lighten up. And don't be afraid to be criticized. Unless you've posted something terribly obscene, don't feel the need to apologize for what you post. Some people are offended by everything. But most people who are right with their lives, like you,