End of the Year Reflection 2015

As the last day of 2015, I would like to reflect on how well I've stuck to all my resolutions for this year.
2015 Resolutions:

Post at least once a month on this blog ✘ 

Fix up my old blog, fizzypolish.blogspot.com (the pictures got deleted) ✓

Exercise at least once a week ✘

Follow through on my planned schedules ✓

• I did post at least once a month except for July, which I did go back and make up.  It was just a pretty hectic month.  
• I fixed all the links and pictures in my old blog.  I don't post there anymore, but maybe I'll try to do one or two next year.
• I started exercising at least once a week in the summer and at the start of junior year. 
• I do complete all of the scheduled tasks in my planner

Memorable Events of 2015

• Placing at a Science Olympiad Competition
• Visiting the Rodin Museum
• Spring Break Trip to Washington DC
• Rachel's Graduation
• Rowing at Marsh Creek
• Forteniter's Prom
• Sweet Sixteen B-Day Weekend
• Trip to Boston
• Teaching a Seminar at the Library
• Trip to Texas
• Winter Wonderland Inkwell

Merry Christmas!

I was super excited for Christmas this year, just getting in the holiday spirit--listening to Christmas carols, decorating the tree, and wrapping presents.  The day before Christmas break was somewhat festive.  I saw some kids wearing "ugly" Christmas sweaters and some of them lit up with red, green, yellow lights.  My Chem II class made these non-denominational silver ornaments by combining equal amounts of 4 different aqueous solutions into a small cylindrical container.  My math class sang some Calculus carols, a creative way to celebrate the holidays.  I created a 12 Days of Calculus song with Sherie and the whole class sang it together.

Of course, every Christmas, people--including me--hope for a white Christmas, but this year there was no snow.  It was not even cold.  In fact, it was 68°F and raining.  Science sources blame 2015's record breaking hot temperatures on El Niño, the burst of warming in the Pacific, and anthropogenic climate change.  However, the main cause of this warming is carbon dioxide emitted by human activity.

So I made this Christmas in the Spring design on Canva inspired by this year's Christmas

Moving on from the disappointing weather, this year is the first year my family decorated our tree with fancy bulb ornaments instead of the trinket ones.  I took a bunch of pictures of the tree.

If you look carefully, you can see my non-denominational ornament hanging on the far left side.

Something artsy with my camera

Trying to capture the reflection of the light off the ornament

Had to do it again for the ornaments

Presents under the tree

All the Christmas presents.  Lot of food this year.  The avocado slicer--for sushi making--and fish tank--for Waldo II--are from Gail.

Rachel's cranberry and apple sauce that she brought home for the holidays.  Complements well with toast or crackers.  She also got me a red head warmer (not shown in the pictures).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays with their families and friends. Thanksgiving gives me time to reflect on what I am thankful for. 
Most importantly, I am thankful for everything constant in my life. I am thankful for my family, home, and education. I am thankful for my acrylic paints, nail polishes, and craft supplies. And, I am thankful for dark chocolate, glowing sunsets, and hot tea.  

8-course meal with soups as appetizers

My first serving

Happy Halloween!

Instead of carving a pumpkin this year, I decided to just paint one with acrylics.  I found a really inspiring picture on Pinterest of a sugar skull pumpkin, so I used it as a reference.  It took much longer than I thought it would to finish painting it, but the end result was totally worth it.  I loved how it turned out and the pop of color it brings to the living room.

Spooky Eyes Nail Art Tutorial

For Halloween tomorrow, here's a cute and spooky nail art tutorial!

Materials

• Black Nail Polish
• White Nail Polish
• Blue Glitter Nail Polish
• Makeup Sponge
• Wooden Skewer
• Matte or Glossy Topcoat

Steps

1. Paint on black nail polish until opaque and let dry
2. Sponge on a blue glitter gradient with the glitter concentrated near the cuticle
3. Use the large end of the wooden skewer to dot on two white dots touching each other anywhere on the nail for the whites of the eye
4. Use the small end of the wooden skewer to dot on two black dots in the centers on the white dots for the pupils
5. Paint on a matte or glossy topcoat and you are finished!

How to Host a Benefit at the Library Seminar

I can't believe that I taught a seminar today!  
I organized this seminar at the library mainly to advertise to my school's nonprofit clubs that the library is a wonderful place to host a fundraiser.  A few weeks before, I designed an invitation and handed it out to high school students that would be interested.  There was a pretty great turnout; representatives from Mini-Thon, Stop Hunger Now, Literary Magazine, Animal Abuse Awareness Club, and National Honors Society came to listen.  
I started the seminar off by having everyone introduce themselves and what clubs they represent. There were pizza and refreshments for them to enjoy as they listened to my short presentation on what the library can provide as a venue.  I incorporated a guideline and some tips on how to successfully organize a benefit, which explained the handouts I passed out before the presentation.  
Afterwards, I gave them a tour of the kitchen and the balcony/'backyard'. The best part about the balcony is that during the spring, clubs can host their benefits outdoors, which can be much more appealing to kids because there of the fresh air and free space.

Balcony

Backyard

ACTs

Today was my first day taking the ACT! Although I did have some prep over the summer, taking it under the pressure of knowing that this score will make an impact made it different from my summer experience. 

My school did not offer the September test, so I had to take it at a nearby school.  The idea of taking a test I had never taken before at a foreign school gave me the jitters, but seeing some familiar faces from my school comforted me. 

After everyone settled down, the proctor delivered the instructions and I filled in my information bubble sheets.  I flipped through page after page of questions, only stopping in between sections and for breaks.  Fortunately, while I was taking the ACT, time flew by. That's probably because it has four lengthy sections instead of multiple short sections, like the SAT. 

The testing went smoothly, and the scores should come out in one to two months, but since I took the writing section, it might take a little longer.  

Sprained Wrist

A few days ago, I felt a sharp pain in my right wrist, but I just ignored it.  Unfortunately, my wrist became more irritated, and I could not perform simple actions like lifting up a grocery bag or tying up my hair.  Today, I decided to go to urgent care, which has been my go to option whenever I need a doctor's opinion immediately.  After recalling what happened the day the pain started, the doctor told me that the sprain might be caused by overuse during my workouts.  He ordered some X-rays to make sure that there was no damage to my bones, and the test came back negative. Before I left, he gave me a wrist splint to wear for 1-2 weeks to heal my sprain.  
My new accessory definitely restrains me from being able to do a lot of daily routines gracefully, since it is placed on my dominant hand.  Ironically, the tip of my thumb is not covered by the splint, so typing this blog post was not such a difficult feat.

My friend for 2 weeks

Birthday Weekend!

Friday--Trip to Washington DC
We visited the National Postal Museum and National Museum of Natural History.
In the latter, we visited the exhibits: The Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals, Wilderness Forever, Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt, The Bone Hall, and The Last American Dinosaurs.

The National Postal Museum

The Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals

Wilderness Forever

The Bone Hall

Saturday--Sweet Sixteen
We bought a cheesecake and decorated it with strawberries and blueberries to make it look like the flag.  

Yum!

 An 8-course dinner!

All the presents:

Some decoration for my room, a new water bottle, a cute notebook, a new hairbrush, lengthening mascara, and a gorgeous bracelet

New journal, sketchbook, and purse in my favorite color

The notebook, decorative piece, and water bottle are from Rachel

Sunday--Sushi and Inside Out
Rachel and I made sushi and I for the first time.  We put avocado, carrots, cucumbers, pineapple, lobster, and shrimp in our sushi.

Set-up

Carrot, avocado, and lobster

Cucumber, lobster, and pineapple

All rolled up

Plate it :P

Afterwards, we went to go watch Inside Out, a great family movie that explores the emotions--Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness--of a young girl.

Finished Finals & Ready for Summer!

I'm so excited that I finished all of my finals today.  I had to take two each day for the past three days, but each day I got to leave right after finishing the second one .  Tomorrow is the last day of school, but unlike last year, it just doesn't feel like summer vacation is starting.  But I am still very excited for my vacation.  I already cleaned out all my binders, and I have a humongous stack of papers that I need to recycle, which is something I do at the end of every school year. 
I'm super excited for this summer because I will have time to blog more and catch up on my hobbies, like reading and painting, things that I had to put off because the last few months were so stressful.  I already ordered some books online and bought some fancy paints and paintbrushes months ago just waiting for this moment.  
For this summer, I don't think my family made any big plans for the summer, but we might go on a few small trips.  I'm advocating for Longwood Gardens; I love taking pictures of the scenery.  I also would like to go to the aquarium or Washington D.C., but those are just some ideas.
This summer is going to be really great and relaxing!  I can't believe I'll be a junior next year!

Graduation Party

My friend, Kaeli, had a super fancy graduation party for her sister today and she invited me to come. The coolest part was the moon bounce, so we spent a lot of time on that. We also played soccer, volleyball, Frisbee, and with a Beachball until it got dark. Then we had to use glosticks as our light source. At the end, we chilled out on the moon bounce and listened to some rap with her cousin. I had a lot of fun tonight!

Nitrogen Demos

For the whole chemistry period, we had liquid nitrogen demonstrations. I was so excited for this demo. If I remember correctly nitrogen boils at 77K and freezes at 63K. It's hard for me to imagine how cold it is, but it could probably damage our systems. The chemistry teachers froze stuff like flowers, bouncy balls, balloons, and rubber bands.  We even saw them put the liquid nitrogen under so much pressure that it turned into a solid!  As a joke they took someone's twenty dollar bill and froze it and gave back a one dollar bill because liquid nitrogen shrinks stuff. As a side demo, they lit frozen methane on fire (which I've only seen in videos). And finally, we made vanilla ice cream with the liquid nitrogen. The Chem teachers mixed together some ingredients and added liquid nitrogen to freeze it and add bubbles. It tasted "legit". The whole demonstration was so cool!

Forteniter's Prom

After months of planning, the day had finally come.  In February, the opportunity had arisen for Key Club to organize a prom for a club called Forteniters.  Its a place in our community where people with mental illnesses gather once a month for a dinner.  Since I am the chair person for the community sector, I decided to take on the project.  I organized a Forteniter's Prom Committee which convened at least twice a month to decide on some important decisions. Around fifty people made a reservation for the prom and it was to be held at a church. Everyone volunteering on prom day was going to dress up as a waiter or waitress.  This was going to be such a great event to organize.

There were many areas that we had to cover: decorations, food, music, photo booth, and party favors.  We chose the theme to be Hollywood and my favorite part was decorating the prom. Over spring break I went to Party City and bought all of the decorations, like balloons, tablecloths, streamers, and a red carpet.  We had to come set up all of the decorations yesterday because today, the prom started right after school.  For food, we had the whole shebang.  We displayed some appetizers and drinks for when they first came in.  After most of the the people had arrived, we started bringing out the salads and then the chicken parmesan and pasta. To end it off, the talented chefs served some cookies and cake for dessert.  All the while, the DJ was playing great music that matched our theme and people were coming up to our photo booth to take pictures.  We had a variety of props and used a Polaroid camera.  I made some props, like sunglasses, bows, and mustaches, and loved it when people used them. After the huge meal, we all played a game: we stood in a circle and tried to keep as many balloons as we could in the air.  After that, the DJ put on some music that we danced to, like the Cha Cha Slide.  As people started to leave, they were each able to take a party favor, a popcorn bag filled with a lot of delicious candy.

One of the things we had to make sure was to stay under the budget, which was about $100 at first.  However, after much planning, we realized that we needed much more money, so we had a bake sale to raise more and doubled our budget.  The committee and I tried to publicize the prom as much as possible because we are able to receive most of our help from Key Club members.  When they bring in decorations and food for hours, it really helps us to stay under our budget.  

This was such a great opportunity for me to grow as a leader and develop my organizational skills.  My favorite part about community work is the satisfaction of knowing that you have impacted someone else in a beneficial way.  From seeing the smiles on  everyone's faces to their awesome dance moves, I have had a truly wonderful experience.

I'm giving a speech on my whole experience at the next Key Club meeting as a way to tie everything up. Here it is:

Hi guys; my name is Chelsea.  Prep for Forteniter’s Prom has been on our agenda for a while, and after extensive planning, the time finally arrived, and Forteniter’s Prom was last Friday.  It went all according to plan and very successfully.  If you don’t know already, Forteniter’s is a place where people who aren’t as privileged come to have dinner once a month.  This year we decided to spruce things up and organize a Hollywood themed prom for them.  My job was to organize the Forteniter’s Prom Committee, and starting in February, we started planning the decorations, dinner, music, photo booth, and so much more.  After all of our planning, the best part was the satisfaction of seeing everyone so happy after enjoying their night and knowing that the Forteniter’s Prom Committee was able to help them relive an important high school experience.  (((Eye contact w/ Mrs. Pretz))) I wanted to give a special thanks to Mrs. Pretz for helping, guiding, and supporting us.  I also wanted to thank each and everyone one of you that came to the brain storming sessions, went out to buy supplies, brought in the foods and drinks, gave rides to the event, came to set-up, and most importantly, came to help out on prom night.  I really appreciated this opportunity to lead this prom and work with everyone.  This prom is our way of serving our mission by giving back to the community and giving an experience to remember.  

Raining Cats and Dogs

Wow! I was on my way home from a doctor's appointment and my dad and I decided to pick up some allergy medication at the pharmacy when it started to pour like crazy. It hasn't rained in forever and puddles started forming by the roadsides immediately. I got a stomach ache, but the car was parked really far. I guess the pain wasn't to unbearable for me to run into the rain. When the pouring subsided just barely, my dad ran to drive the car over and bring me the umbrella. As I stepped into the car, I examined carefully for puddles, but alas, I stepped into one anyway, leaves, dirt, and all.  I'm just really glad that I was wearing flip-flops and not my new and expensive Converses. Anyway, I get back home and I see my sunflower is drowned in water, so I dump it out to see that there is only 1/4 the amount of dirt left. I really hope that Mr. Sunflower lives and this 3-day storm washes out the pollen in the air. 

Memorial Day Weekend at Marsh Creek

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Initially my family and I didn't have anything planned for this weekend, but yesterday we decided to go to Marsh Creek.  I never heard about the place before today, but people go there to picnic and canoe.  We rented a canoe with a motor in the back.  There were paddles too if we chose to use them.  We drifted in the water for a while, taking a lot of pictures, and after that, we relaxed and played cards in the shade.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Thank you for always being there for me Mom!  I love you!

AP Exams: Finished!

Wow!  I'm so relieved that I finished taking all my AP Exams. Mine were all in the first week. AP Environmental Science was on Monday, AP AB Calc was on Tuesday, and AP US History was today. They were all in the morning and I think I did really well on the first two. US History isn't my strong point, but I was well prepared for it. All of my tests were in the morning, so I had to wake up early every exam day. I've been so busy last month that I didn't have much time to post, but I'll make up for it this month. 

I would say that a big burden has been lifted off my shoulders, but I still have to make up tests that I missed when I was taking the AP exams. Plus, I need to make up for one last APES test that I missed because I was sick a few weeks ago. Additionally, I have doctor's appointments Monday and Tuesday mornings, so I'm missing more tests. 

Anyway, I'm glad that three of my classes will be less stressful, but I still have to keep up with my other three classes. 

When I came back home, I celebrated in my own way. I catched up on the shows I missed until I left for volunteering at the hospital. When I came back home, my mom served dumplings for dinner. Then, I left to go volunteer at my elementary school's spring fair by helping out at the bean bag table. It was super fun. I finished the night by going to a nearby Petsmart to look at all the cute animals. I saw some super cool glofish with incredibly vibrant colors. 

I had a great time after my exams today. And, I can't wait for SUMMER!!!

DIY Customized Notebook

I love doing DIYs, but sometimes I just don't have the materials handy.  It's hard to do them since stuff like a glue gun or fancy craft items are vital.  So, the tutorials I post will be made out of stuff lying around my house, and most likely will be in yours too.

This idea came to me when I saw all the tutorials online about customizing school supplies. Since I didn't have to fancy stuff the tutorials were using, I decided to make do with what I had.

I had paint that I never used and some duck tape.  That's the fanciest of all the materials I used, and the end product turned out exactly how I wanted it to.
Enjoy!

Spring Break Trip to Washington, DC

I'm posting this from the future because I guess I never had the time to post this then.
Every year, my family and I go to Washington, DC to view the cherry blossoms, but this year, we went a week early because my mom had to visit her parents in China the week the flowers blossomed.
We spent our time by going to the museums.  First, we visited the Air and Space Museum. I hadn't been there in at least five years. There was a pretty cool exhibit on the Wright brothers.

After that, we went to this outdoor 3-D sculpture exhibit.  It was super windy, so we went to a nearby building, and it was another art exhibit.  They were probably the same thing.

The indoor museum.

Next, I went to the National History Museum with my mom, while my dad rested in the car. There was an orchid exhibit open which never happened during any of the past years I went, so I was really excited and took a ton of pictures.  I love flowers so much even though I'm allergic to them. It felt like going to Longwood Gardens.

Additionally, there was a National Geographic Photography Contest Winners Exhibit, which is another thing that I've never seen before.  These were the ones that really stood out to me.

I loved this one This was a grand prize winner in its category but not the winner overall.

My favorite tradition is going to the Rocks and Minerals Exhibit every time I visit the National History Museum.  I enjoy looking at all the different colors and textures.  And this year, I'm pretty sure they added these new watermelon-like rocks (which are my favorite).

They get their own full-sized picture because they are so AWESOME!

Most of these were new additions.

The last collage is of the priceless and famous jewelry!  My favorite!

<3Chelsea