Story...

Okay so I attempted NaNoWriMo for those of you who don't know what that is, it is National Novel Writers Month. Basically you have to write 50,000 words during the month of November  I know your wondering so no, I did not reach that goal. Anyway here is my first three pages I would like you to comment and tell me what you think. I'll love any comments you give me.






PROLOGUE




The griffin screeched as it landed on the tall mountain overlooking the island that served as it’s home. The griffin scanned around the island and focused the single roof that poked up out of the forest.
That roof irritated the griffin. It wasn't supposed to be there. The

griffin didn't know how the humans had survived long enough on the island to have built it. Nor did it know how they had had the means. It tended to keep humans off the island as much as possible. But it would deal with those pesky humans later, then the house. There was a storm coming and it had to take shelter.
Disappearing into a grove of trees the griffin went underground. The island had several openings. The griffins “burrow”. The griffin continued down the dark tunnel, leading farther and deeper into the mountain. The griffin suddenly stopped, as if alarmed. A soft noise was echoing through the tunnels.
It was a human child. The griffin sniffed the air, it could smell their usual acrid scents of man made products. They were in the tunnels. The griffin didn't like humans, they were tolerable though. At least until they entered its home. The griffin followed the now louder noise, and acrid scent, then it saw them. Human children.

It tensed, ready to attack. That’s when he saw the woman. She was
Short and skinny, she had tanned skin with brown hair and blue eyes. She was obviously their mother. The griffin could tell by the way they clung to her like she was their whole world. And they were about to find out just how scary that world could be.
The griffin readied itself to attack once more, annoyed at the distraction. Then Suddenly seemingly out of nowhere, the griffin charged. The only thing the woman and children would have seen was something huge barreling at them. Then their worlds where as black as a moonless night.




CHAPTER 1


I put the last bit of clothes into my suitcase. I was almost done. I grabbed my sketch book and threw it in as well. Knowing  would want it. I looked around the to make sure nothing was missing.
I loved the light blue walls and dark stained oak furniture, but I felt trapped. The only thing I really had at the moment was my job. Not that I didn't like my job. I was a ranger for the national forest my house. But I was glad that I took the offer for a cruise. I needed a break
I left my room and wandered around my house it was probably too big for one person but the place meant a lot to me, and I could afford it since I was only supporting myself.
I froze when I saw the bright blue picture frame sitting on the side table in the living room. I stared at it long past the time tears started their sad journey down my cheeks.



Thank you for reading this it means a lot to me. Please tell me what you think. Bye!

Christmas

Scince it is now Christmas time and my favorite holiday i want to share with you all what Christmas means to me. Christmas is so much more that Santa Clause and getting presents and spending money. Its more than trees and gifts and stress. Its time to spend with family and loved ones. Its time to give without expecting anything more in return. Its a time to remember our savior, Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice he made for us. Its a time for love a time for smiles and a time to bring happiness to the world. There are so many songs and poems and stories that explain how I feel. My two favorite Christmas songs are Christmas Shoes by Newsong and Christmas must be something more by Taylor Swift. They tell what I love most about Christmas. My favorite Christmas story is one that my uncle told us last year at a Christmas party. It goes like this.

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out next to the fireplace.

"What are you doing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know. He then answered me with a simple statement . . .

"TEACH THE CHILDREN!"


I was puzzled. What did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood bewildered, Santa said,

"TEACH THE CHILDREN!" 

Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that now-a-days Christmas has forgotten. Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it before the mantle.

 "Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, depicting the everlasting hope of mankind, all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven."

He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. "Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a Savior for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of His promise."

He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. "Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness."

Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH and placed it on the tree. "Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the real nature of love. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection."

He then pulled from his bag an ORNAMENT of himself. "Teach the children that I, Santa Claus, symbolize the generosity and good will we feel during the month of December."

He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF. "Teach the children that the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Savior. The red holly berries represent the blood shed by Him.

Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said, "Teach the children that God so loved the world that he gave his begotten son." Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.
 

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. "Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherds' crook. The crook on the staff helps to bring back strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper."

He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. "Teach the children that it was the angels that heralded in the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The angels sang Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men."

Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL,. "Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.

Santa looked back and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said,

 "Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but a humble servant of the One that is, and I bow down to worship him, our LORD, our GOD."

That my dear friends is what Christmas means to me. Everyone please remember the joy and happiness of Christmas  help someone along the way. be kind to everyon,. for the Christmas spirit is the spirit of love and giving. Someone needs the Christmas miracale that you can give them. Thank you everyone and a merry Christmas to all

Things have been hard recently. I have a lot of stress. keeping grades up, parents happy, friends, even ballroom can be a bit stressfull at times. but i am gratefull for all those who support me. i am glad i have everyone in my life that i do. i don't know what i would do without them. i am also thankfull to have the gospel in my life. i don't know where i would be if i didn't have the comfort that it gives me. i love everyone i have. thanks to everyone in my life. i love you all goodnight

So today we started ballroom practice for the year. We practice one dance per hour and a practice is two hours. We started with foxtrot and theater arts. I am not in foxtrot but I am an alternate for theater arts so I was there for that. Theater arts is guys lifting girls and and moving around with them in the air, mostly spinning. It is such an adrenaline rush. I love it. I always come down shaking. Today we where just starting to learn the lifts. We will piece the routine in later. I had so much fun being in the air like that it feels like you're flying. You just get this wait less sensation. It still takes a lot of work... not just from the guy lifting you. In fact a lot of the work is actually the girl. You have got to be pretty strong to accomplish it. I just love all the people there and the atmosphere is so amazing. We all love it and have so much fun. I wish I was still doing it. A little more about theater arts. Theater arts is also known as cabaret. There is a bit of a difference though. Theater arts is more of a group. They lift the girls at the same time and in formation. In some ways it is harder to do. Cabaret is one couple it is competed more than theater arts but is harder because there is one guy rather than multiple for some lifts. I love theater arts ( I have never done it without multiple guys) but I love all the dances and I am really looking forward to this year. Ballroom will be amazing and we keep improving every year. I think we can do even better than last year, and we did really well.b Everyone, pursue what you love. I promise it's worth it. Talk to you later, bye!

My Everyday Life

Being sixteen I am still in high school. I go to Westlake high School and have quite a lot of friends there. I cant name all of them but here are my very best friends. Miles, Jessie, Maddie, Kaylee, Emily, Kyle, Dayna, Makhenna, Joleyah (Jo), Jerry, and Cameron. The majority of these friends are on the ballroom team at Westlake with me. And all of them support me. I love having friends I can count on and trust. I have ballroom practice about every other day but not on weekends. You could however say that I am always practicing because I almost never stop dancing even in the halls at school. Ballroom dance is a lot harder than most people say it is. The fact is those people have never tried it. there is a lot of technique that goes into it. There are also two styles, Ballroom and Latin. I am naturally better at Latin. More on ballroom later I should tell you my family. I live with my mom and dad, I have two younger siblings, Sarah who is 14 and Joseph(Joe) who is seven. we all get along pretty well. Unless someone has a bad day. I am also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. I will not push my beliefs at you put is is a big part of my life and i would not be who i am without it. I love my church and i won't judge others because they don't share my beliefs. I know I can't do this blog without saying it so I will be open about it. I honestly don't care what others think. However if you don't like it then please just don't look at this blog. Its that easy. I'm going to be myself because i don't want to be anyone else. I love my life and my family and my friends. Everyone have a good day. I'm done for now. Bye!

Get To Know Me

I am Ariana and I have type one diabetes. I am sixteen and I enjoy my life completely. I enjoy art, music and reading, but my passion is ballroom dance. There are a couple reasons I want to do this blog. The first is so that people who are diabetic or any other minor so called "dissability" know that they can live completely normal lives. The second is there are a lot of people out there who don't know or understand diabetes. These peaple often treat diabetics like someone to avoid or they treat them differently when they really are only peaple. I know there are others out there and I bet a lot of them are afraid. I will tell you now that you don't have to be. Learn to take care of yourself. There are peaple out there who will support you even if you don't know them now. Take up a sport or team activity. Its helped me alot by joining my schools Ballroom Dance Company. All my teamates support me and I feel like peaple care about me. I don't know about anyone else but I have my hard times and bad days but I try to live life to the fullest. And I am happy with where I am today