"Reely" Good Quotes

"Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot" -Breakfast at Tiffany's

"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But you can either run from it, or learn from it." -The Lion King

"Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out?" -What a Girl Wants

"Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want." -10 Things I Hate About You

"Reel" Life

1) My favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's. I watch this movie any time I am sad, or have hit a hard spot in my life.. I used to watch it because I love the poise and grace that Audrey Hepburn has even though she doesn't always mean to have it, it just comes naturally to her. She lives her life the way she wants to live it. Now I watch it because it gives me a sort of comfort. It's reassuring when I watch it because it has helped me through so many problems and situations in my life. It's my version of a baby blanket.

2) Usually the movies that I don't care for are the old country western movies. Those movies really seem to put me to sleep. They never catch my attention. My mom loved watching Elvis country movies and would force me to watch them with her as a little kid, but I never really liked them.

3 & 4) I don't get to watch movies very often. I never usually have time, so when I do get to watch one it's usually on Netflix on my bed. I gather a bunch of snacks and drinks so that I don't have to get up in the middle of the movie. I usually surround myself in a big pile of pillows and blankets and just get comfy for the next hour. When I get a chance to watch a movie I typically watch a bunch at one time.

5)The survey says that I am 100% extroverted, Extremely agreeable and open to new experiences, and about 50% emotionally stable, and conscientious. This is definitely me through and through.

6)If I were to have a movie made after me I would Zoey Deutch would play me. She and I share some of the same personality traits. We are very sarcastic and spunky but also super caring. We both work hard to get where we need to get and enjoy the journey it takes for us to get there. In my movie it would showcase me growing up and what it was like to live with an alcoholic. It would also showcase me graduating high school, and starting college. And then it would showcase me finding my true passion in life and pursuing it.

This is...

This is my family

Listening to each other

Loving one another

Ready for adventure 

This is my mom and dad

Telling me everythjng is going to be okay

Assuring me that I am safe

That they will be waiting for me at the bottom 

This is me 

Terrified to move

Afraid of what's below 

Trying to believe what my parents are saying

This is us before we jumped over a 50 ft. Cliff 

Flea Market Photos

Charles Ellis is a husband and father of two children. Born August 14th, 1880 in Galena Illinois. Growing up in a poor farm family. Charles had many dreams for himself and his family one day. After studying hard in school, and working his way through college, Charles makes it into the steel production industry. Still stuck to his roots, Charles runs a small farm next to his house, his son and daughter are helping hands with the animals while he is at work. Charles has dreams of one day being able to own his own steel factory. Margaret Ackerman was born on October 11th, 1884 in Douglas, Michigan. In 1904 after graduating College she moved down to Galena to pursue her career in teaching. There she met her soon to be husband Charles. They were wed in 1908 and since then have had 2 children. Margaret knits in her free time, and only dreams that her children will grow up healthy and live a long prosperous life.

Photohunt + Captions + Hashtags

OH NO! Please do not plug it in! I beg of you. Spare my life. It's all that I ask of you. #FrightenedFace  

Throwback to my 6th the grade locker number 666, what a terrible number. Covered it up with tape and made a new number! #Notaboutthatlife

Mrs. Nance is such an amazing person. I wish to one day be as kind as her. She has a lot of compassion. #Whatalady

This was the first thing I noticed as a freshman at Kickapoo. To this day I still don't know what it means #Randomdinohead

I was scared as a freshman that I would get beat up if I stepped on this head. Still won't step on it 4 years later #Chiefkingdom

I remember the day that we finally got to see the year long project...our new cafeteria. It's such a beautiful addition to our school #Allgrownup

Mr. Broaddus will forever have a place in my heart. He has taught me so much about life and how to live it. I am so thankful to him for all the lessons he has taught me #FavoriteTeacher

Ignoring the water bottle in the window, this is an angle not everyone gets to see at Kickapoo. It's the windows at the very top of our cafeteria. #NewHorizons

Always keeping a smile on my face. Whether she means to or not, Madi Pearl is hilarious 24/7 #lotsoflaughs

Not a nature picture from kickapoo but such a beautiful picture I took in St. Croix. You'd never know that the waves were furiously crashing behind me #Scarywaters

Photos of the Millennium (so far)

This Photo is of a tiny child assisting an elderly woman after the effects of Katrina. This photo really affects me, not because I was personally affected by Katrina, but because as soon as this happened I began my life of community service. When I was little I wanted to help the children in New Orleans by sewing them clothes. My mom got me a sewing machine and I quickly got started sewing. I wasn't too good starting out, and I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to do much to help the ones in need in New Orleans. So my mom did some research and found a local charity in town that I started to volunteer for. The organization is called Newborns in Need. It is a local not for profit that creates care packages and emergency packages to be delivered to hospitals in Springfield and surrounding areas. I was 6 years old when I started and since then have received many awards for my volunteer work. I am very proud of my family and I for the amount of people we have touched by just donating our time to help those in need. I want to further my volunteer work out into the world in the years to come.

Caged Bird-Inspired Piece

I sing of happy endings

on a bright and summer day

I sing of sunshine

when the rain won't go away

I sing of warmth 

when it is snowing outside

I sing of confidence

when I don't want to hide

I sing of love

when I am feeling alone

I sing of family

when I am missing home

Writers Dreaming

4) I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that dreams "tell the truth." I believe that dreams reveal things to us that maybe we aren't quite ready to admit to ourselves. I think that dreams show what is truly going on in our brain. Things we are thinking, things we are feeling, things we forgot. Dreams bring to mind the important aspects of our lives that others don't know about us, things that maybe we don't even know about ourselves, or maybe things we are trying to deny ourselves. I know i had a dream where I was naked in public, which in turn told me that I actually was nervous and vulnerable about a situation that was coming up, I just tried to tell myself that I wasn't. My dreams told me otherwise though.

5) I don't think I could go as long as Maya did without talking. I do think that I could go a couple of days without talking, I've done it before. I definitely talk too much, I really need to listen more. I listen when it counts, but if I listened more I could learn so many interesting things about the world and the people in it. I'm very quiet when I first meet someone and then after we've been talking for about 10 minutes I just can't stop talking. My friends tell me I am a good listener though, when I do listen my full attention is on the person that is talking to me. If I talked more I could learn to teach, not just myself but those around me. I could teach about my experiences and how I overcame them and how others could overcome the same or similar circumstances.

11) I have always hated the saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" The older you are the more you learn, I feel. When you are younger you are learning everyday, making mistakes that stand out and people remember. When you are older, you still learn everyday, whether you are learning how to live life now that you are 60 or if you are learning how to explain to your grandchild that you can't throw your toys at cars that pass. Everything you do is a new chance to learn no matter if you are 18 or 80 everyone can learn and everyone can learn new things and new ways of life.

3) "Talking about bad dreams gives them too much power" That is so true. When you talk repeatedly about something bad that happened to you or happened in your life you let it take over your mind, which in turn takes over your mood, and those around you it affects them too. It starts to control your life. The best thing that you can do with 'bad dreams' is to admit that they happened, learn how to avoid it from happening again, and them let it be the past. If you can just let it be once it happened then you can go about the rest of your life knowing that you learned from that 'bad dream.'

Dream Marks on my Pillow

When I was little, i had a recurring dream. The scenarios always change, but one thing stays the same, big monsters emerge from the ground. I escape momentarily only to be found once again. The monsters were all different colors, and there were so many of them. They surrounded me, I don't ever remember the ends of these dreams, maybe because I was so afraid I would just wake up? The ends are always foggy.

These dreams always freaked me out and I would always be afraid to go to my basement as a little kid, thinking those colorful monsters would emerge from the ground and get me.

I also have very many common dreams, such as being naked in public. This dream only happened once, when I was in fourth grade, but something must have been going on in my life that made me feel vulnerable, or there was a new experience coming up. I've also had a dream where my teeth keep falling out and there is nothing I can do to stop it. This usually means that somewhere in my life I had a broken relationship or I lacked self confidence.

Dream Threads

It's my mind that keeps me up at night
Wandering in and out of thoughts
Dreaming with my eyes open
Trying to go to sleep
fearful of the creatures in the night
who's out there?
are they trying to get a message to me?
What are those sounds outside my door?
The world is a dark and mysterious place 
full of things yet to be discovered 
creatures of the night
terrorizing and tormenting
is it all in my head?
am I going crazy?
With a creek of the door and a showdow emerging from the hallway
I slide under my blankets
protecting myself from the scary creature in my bed room
Will it find me?
Will I make it through the night?
Shuffling around the room 
The blankets are slowing removed from my face
Beady black eyes are pouring into my soul
Snake like fingers curl up and around arm
slithering scaly skin caressing my bare skin
What is it going to do to me?
Will it hurt me?
It sneakily slides off my bed
out of my room
and back into the darkness like it never emerged
And I realized I'm no longer alone

If I Were in Charge of the World

If I were in charge of the world
I'd cancel school on Fridays,
Deadlines, 
Cold winter mornings and also
Decaf coffee

If I were in charge of the world 
there'd be cyber Monday every Monday
longer days and
shorter winters.

If I were in charge of the world 
you wouldn't have budgets.
You wouldn't have alarms. 
You wouldn't have expectations. 
Or "Why don't you drop the attitude."
You wouldn't even have bad attitudes

If I were in charge of the world
a Snowmonster Concrete 
would be a vegetable. 
All body Image expectations would be gone
and a person who sometimes forgot names
and sometimes forgot to pay bills
would still be allowed to be 
in charge of the world. 

Color Collage Poem

As he lay in the hospital bed he can hear the noise around him
Unable to comfort those concerned for his life he knew it was his time
He can hear is daughter and wife weeping as they say their goodbyes
His grandchildren, unaware of what is about to happen give him a kiss on the cheek
He feels his son take his hand as he whispers his goodbye in his ear
If only he could assure them that he will be alright
He takes one final breath the sounds of the room slowly fading away
Soon to be taken over by the bright white light.

Color Story

It was a yellow summer morning. Bright clouds rolling through the sky, dandelions drifting in the wind. She skipped down the sidewalk in her brightly colored sundress. Door to door she went greeting the neighbors as she passed, wishing them all a happy day. A puppy passed her, wagging her tail. She stopped to pet it noticing the dogs tattered but yellow color.

That afternoon as she was playing with some friends a green leaf fell upon her head. She reached for it, examined it and then looked up at the tree that it had come from, full of leaves identical to the one in her hand. As she looked around she noticed all of the other trees with brightly colored leaves, all different shades of green.

The blue sky shined down on her. Never changing throughout the day. Only going from a bright light to a mysterious dark. glistening clouds passing through. She lays in the grass imagining the shapes they make, surrounded by the vastness of the sky. 

Black that was what surrounded her as she lay in her bed. Not a color in sight, except that of the moon shining through her window. Darkness was all around her, it surrounded what was once a beautiful and colorful day. Even then moon could not take the darkness away from her.

Paint Chip Poems

Haiku

As he lay dying 
Surrounded by his loved ones
Heaven sent for him 

A delicate rose 
Soft, pink and blowing in the wind
Picked up from the ground

Gazing from above
She was chasing the moonlight
An escape from life

Acrostic

Stolen from her
Thoughts, she turns around
Only to find
Nothing there but pure darkness
Earsplitting sounds can be heard in the background

Without thought she
Headed toward the sounds
Ignoring her inner
Thoughts to run the other way, when suddenly the darkness
Engulfed her

Free Verse

They were no longer moving fore and aft
As they stood there united 
They became a federated front 
No longer looking for the pursuit of others
But now for themselves 
As they stared into the deep blue ocean
They knew what they had to do 
Today is the day

Narrative

He walked into the garden 
Sitting down on the bench to take in all of the beauty
The wind blowing through the flowers 
He gently plucks one from the ground
Its an amaryllis
Beautiful with it's length and pink petals
He takes it with him
A gift for his beloved wife