My father has arranged for me to marry his friends son. I'm only 13, and on top of that, I've never met or even seen this person in my entire life! How could I marry a complete stranger? What if we don't get along? My father has asked me my opinion on the situation, which isn't very common here. I told him I don't want to marry a stranger, but that didn't seem to change his mind the least bit. Sometimes I wish my father would just hear me out.
     In a few weeks I'll meet this stranger. He's around my age, but I don't know his name yet. My mother doesn't like the idea, considering I'm her only daughter. She doesn't think I'm old enough. I'm siding with my mom on this one. I can't handle all the work that will come with being a wife. Just the thought of being a pregnant teenager sends chills down my back. I can't stand the thought of being married. That word just keeps repeating in my head, married. I can't do this!
     My dad could care less. What he wants, he gets. Even if it doesn't have anything to do with his own life. My father should be the one trying to keep me from getting married. I mean, isn't it the dad's job to protect his daughter. People complain that their parents are too strict, but I wish mine were stricter. I'm so upset right now. How could this happen? I've always wanted to find true love, but not at only 13! I wanted to grow up and become an adult, then settle down. But apparently, this matter has nothing to do with the way I fell. It's all up to my dad. He's so selfish! I want to do what I want to do with my life, not what he wants my life to be like. 
     

     I cannot believe my life right now. Everything crumbled as soon as my mother died. My house was burned, Aycliff accused me of stealing form the Lord's house, and now I'm forced to run for my life in the forest. I believed for a while, ever since I saw the hanging man, that I already died and I was in Hell. I wanted to die, but after seeing him, and how scary he looked, I decided I didn't want to die; I wanted to live. 
    After being declared a wolf's head, I had to flee for my life. I hate having to be isolated so I wouldn't be killed. Father Quinel, whom I found dead in the forest from a slit throat, was my only friend. The only one who was there for me. 

    I was just getting home from a long day of work on the other side of the hill. I was beyond tired, and sure I wasn't going to be able to move tomorrow. As I climbed the hill, I smelled a odd smell. It smelled like burning plastic and the way candle smoke floats through the air when blown out. I climbed more and saw rising smoke that made the beautiful blue sky turn grey, almost like a storm was going to hit, but storms don't have smells. I climbed more and saw the flames. They have engulfed our entire village! My worst fear had come true!!
     Then it hit me. Where is my wife and children?? I ran to where my house was, which was also on fire. My eyes wandered around the house from the outside. It was empty. It's a good thing that they weren't in there. 
     Nearby, I saw my wife with our two and six year old daughters. I was so relieved!  I ran to them, my wife sobbing and my children clinging to her dress as if their life depended on it. I wrapped them in my arms, and we fell to the floor. I was welling up, also. We sat there, embracing one another. I have no idea what I would have done without them. I was so happy. Thank you Holy Mother of Christ.

    I am thankful for my family. Some people don't have a family. Some are maybe missing a mom or a dad. I have a mom and a dad. I also have 2 sisters, 1 bother, 2 cats, and a dog. My family made me into what I am today. My parents feed me, buy me things I need, and try to make sure I'm always happy. 
    I am also thankful for my pets. I just got a puppy and we named him Chip (from the movie Napoleon Dynamite). We're not sure what kind of dog he is, but he might be a chihuahua, or a miniature dog of some sort. He is just a newborn, and we have to feed him formula. I recently lost one of my favorite cats (10/17/12: about a month ago). His name was Jigsaw and he was our only male cat. I will never underestimate the value of my pets again. 
    The final thing I'm thankful for is life. I've tried to end it, but with the help of my psychiatrist, I'm getting out of this hole of depression. I have a life. I'm not abused like some people are, sadly. I may not be the happiest person, but at least I'm not in danger. I'm a hazard to myself at times, but I've learned coping skills to help me out when I get overwhelmed. 

    Charlemagne was a very great ruler in the Middle Ages (also known as the medieval times). In fact, Charlemagne means Charles The Great. Charlemagne focused on war for a while to conquer the territory around his kingdom to expand. The kingdom was expanding to a great size. 
    But Europe wasn't very safe after the fall of Rome. Vikings attacked, leaving towns in ashes. Vikings were very powerful people. They were vicious; showing no mercy whatsoever. 
    Charlemagne didn't just focus on war. He also loved the idea of education for children, so he had schools built to teach them. The teachers were monks, very religious people that serve the community. The monks did everything from teaching to working as a doctor to help either sick or wounded civilians. The conquered territory of Charlemagne prospered at the height of their times. 

    My New Years resolution is to be a better sister to my siblings. I want to take my medications regularly to avoid my meltdowns (not the best to be around when it happens). My family needs help, but there's not enough hours in the day to balance family and school work. I am not getting enough sleep at night because the homework is getting hard and I need my dad's help with it, but he's really busy all the time. I want to go to bed around 7:30 so I can wake up at the time I'm supposed to, but I need a break from school work to rest my mind. I want to limit that to about one hour. 
    I want to help my parents more. This year for my mom's birthday, I got her something she really wants. I didn't want her to be mad at me or say she didn't like it, so I talked to her about it. She just wanted me to draw her a picture, make her dinner, or knit her a hat, but I liked my idea better. I would spend $65 dollars and buy her a cat. 
    She had been talking about it for a while. She didn't want a kitten, or an old cat, but she wanted a young cat. One that likes to cuddle and that they feel a connection together. I found the perfect one, a 9 month old Siamese male cat, that is part Ragdoll, Siamese, Persian, and Lynx. Being a Ragdoll, they are very affectionate. In his description he is very shy, and cautious around new people, but he will get good after a while. They say he's good with other cats (we have two other female cats), he has all his vaccinations and he is neutered. They should get along just fine. 
    My mom fell in love with him when she first saw a picture of him. She wants to see him in person and see if there's a connection. The shelter also allows what they call a 'sleepover' where you take the cat home for a few days and see how he reacts. I can't wait to meet him!

    On our winter vacation (12/21/12-1/17/13), the thing I look forward to the most is my birthday!! My birthday is December 23!!! I'm going to be 13!!!! I hope this world-ending crud is a bunch of lies. I really want to be 13! For my birthday (this Sunday - WHOO!!), we're going to DiChico's (an amazing Italian restaurant). I won't invite that many friends, but LOTS of family. Some people are going that I'd rather not see (in my family; DUH!, I ♥ all my friends). 
    I bet everyone is looking forward to Christmas! The cool thing is I have "A Fantastic Four Day Celebration". It starts with my birthday (23), then Christmas Eve (24), Christmas (25), and then my mom and I are going to a wonderful barbecue place and then we're going to go see Breaking Dawn Part 2!!!

    When Japan was barely on the rise, it adopted many things from China and Korea such as language (written), customs, religion, etc. One of the most important has to be the written language. Today, Japanese and Chinese are two different languages, but there are some similarities. Just the same as Spanish is with English. The same kind of letter symbols are used, but in different ways to spell various words. There may be a (~) symbol over an 'n'. 
    Without a written language, Japan wouldn't have gotten very far. The whole country revolves around the writing. If things were never written, we wouldn't have past records of Japan.

    It was an ordinary Saturday morning and I was out pulling weeds from the grape vines. It was very sunny with a few light clouds overhead. I heard a small rumbling, but didn't think much of it. Maybe it was my neighbor having trouble starting his car again. The noise got louder and I turned to see a huge group of people on the horizon. I knew what was happening. The Mongols were invading.
    I ran into the house and called my husband down from his office. "Harold, come. Hurry.", I said with a trembling voice. He walked with me, unaware of what was happening. I took his arm and lead him down to the cellar. When we got down there, he asked, "What's the problem?? I was in the middle of my studies." "I saw them. They were on the horizon, coming closer and closer. They are going to invade!", I said in one breath. "Who??", Harold said, clearly getting annoyed by what he thought was a bunch of lies. "The Mongols!!", I shouted. "You cannot be serious. Why would they invade?" "What does it matter?!", I said getting frustrated because he wasn't the least bit worried. "It matters because we could DIE!" 
    Just then, the sound like thunder got very loud. The light in the cellar flickered until it blew out. "Just great!! Now what? Are we going to sit here in the dark room, bound to be infested with rats, spiders, and snakes? I THINK NOT!!", I screamed. 
    "You need to chill out. We'll be safe down here until they pass over."
    Then, I heard a crash in our house above. I walked to the door and cracked it. Our entire house...


                            Engulfed in flames. 

    One of the greatest achievements was the new weapons. They used to only have bows and arrows, but that was no match for cannons and guns! The rival country was to match for the Chinese. 
    Another important Chinese achievements was The Great Wall of China. One of the 7 Wonders of the World, the Great Wall extends over thousands of miles. During the making, many slaves died due to harsh working conditions and their bodies were buried inside the wall. Kind of a creepy thought. It took many years to complete.
     The final Chinese achievement was silk. Silk was a very valued material that only the Chinese knew how to make. The process was kept top secret, so people could only get silk from China, causing the country to prosper. Well, now the secret is out. They unwound the silky threads off of a silkworm cocoon and use it as thread. The threads are woven together to make cloth for clothes and many other things.