Apple Picking in North Kingstown, RI

Hey everyone! About a month ago, my aunt took me to her house in North Kingstown, Rhode Island (about a half hour from Providence), so that I could get off campus (and take a shower that didn't involve wearing flip-flops).

When I pictured going to school in Rhode Island, I thought that I would be able to see the water from my dorm, despite the fact my school is a campus in a city. Three of my cousins have gone to other colleges in Rhode Island, and two of them were on sailing teams so my thoughts of Rhode Island was always the ocean. As nice as my college is, there is no water view from my dorm or from any part of campus, so it was super exciting to go to my aunt's house and literally be on the water.

 During this weekend, we were celebrating a birthday; so we took a boat to the restaurant (and I ate real food, hence not from a dining hall).

 The next morning, we went apple-picking at Narrow Lane Orchard. I had never been apple-picking before (the closest one near me are probably an hour away in New York).

 Sometimes it's hard to eat fresh fruit in college, which I know sounds crazy but is kind of true. My room is stocked with microwavable mac-and-cheese and bagels, and I definitely needed to bring some fresh fruit in there.

 On our way back to campus, we stopped at a pumpkin farm shop. It was completely stocked with gourds and fall decorations.

 I am not allowed to have real pumpkins in my dorm, so it was sad to not buy any, but when my parents come up for parents-weekend maybe they'll get some. My dorm room has fake pumpkins in order to have fall vibes.

When I got back to campus later in the day, the sky was so beautiful at sunset. Definitely, one of the perks of my school is how pretty the sky looks in the evenings. This photo was taken by our soccer field and hockey complex. 

How is Autumn going for you? Have you ever gone apple-picking?

xx

Christina Madeleine

Photo Diary: Ski Trip 2018 + the Women's March

Hey everyone! Since January blogging didn't work out so well, I wanted to share some of the things I did in during that month and in the first few days of February. Also, I am reading quite a few books right now, so hopefully I will have some book reviews up soon. Although I haven't been blogging, I've taken a lot of photos.

School Ski Trip to Okemo Resort, Vermont 

Last year, I went on my school's ski trip for the first time. You can read all about that here. Back in December, Nikki and I went skiing at Hunter Mountain in preparation for this year's ski trip. In January, I spent two days in Vermont to ski and just have fun with the girls in my school.

If you are familiar with Okemo Mountain Resort, there's a green run called Sachem, and I had never done a full run before... until this trip! Previously, we've only done runs that are pretty short also known as the Bull Run. After a 15-minute lift ride, we went down such a cool slope, except we were still pretty scared, but falling is half the fun.

              We skied half way down the mountain to a restaurant just to take pictures of the view.

 The conditions on the first day were so bad that I had to buy a face mask to cover my whole body. Not a single part of me was showing. Every time I would talk to someone, I would have to say my name because they couldn't recognize me.

 I use this app called 1SE (one second a day), which compiles a second every day into a video. This was a short clip from the day with some of my friends.

It's not a ski trip without waffles!

The Women's March

In January, I took part in the Women's March in NYC. I loved the idea of #PowerToThePolls because the only way to see real change in the United States is through new representatives, policy change, and legislation. I have to say though, the Women's March in New York was very disappointing because there was no passion. People walked the streets in silence, which would've been good if it were a silent protest, but the Women's March is all about using your voice and empowering people. I was so sad that people cared more about going on there phones than actually making noise and getting messages across.

 We spent hours before the March making signs.

Thank you for reading my blog! I will be back with new posts soon. Also, check out some of the other places I write for here.

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My Week in Photos 1/1-1/7

Hey everyone! I've seen many bloggers doing a series called "My Week in Photos", which if you can't tell is when they post some photos they posted from the week & a small blurb with what they did that week. I 've been meaning to do something like this for awhile because I take a lot of photos. I think I am going to try doing this type of post a few times a month. Since I am trying to do post twice a week, it would bring more variety to this website. Furthermore, this what I have done in the last week.

January 1, 2017

It was New Year's Day, so I decided to start on my resolution of getting + staying organized by planning out my whole week in my "Follow Your Dreams" planner.  I have to admit there is something nice about planning out your whole week, blogposts, homework, and homework.

Side note: I was organizing my planner right after watching Sherlock and it took me forever because I was still not over how good that show is.

 

January 3, 2017

It was my last day of break and I hadn't filmed or edited my video for my film class. The prompt was to make a video with no actors or spoken dialogue. My mind went to my dog, Bosco, who was sitting on the couch. I spent two hours of my Tuesday filming my dog in his superdog costume & trying to get him to act for me. In the end, the 2:30 video was a hit at my school. I have some photos of him during this time.

January 4, 2017

It was my first day of school after a 2.5 week break. That day wasn't the worst, but it was a big reality check on how important Junior year is. All I heard when I was in school were the words "SAT, "college," "tests," and "future." It was a very stressful day because all I can do is study hard and do all my work to give me an edge up in the future.  It also doesn't help that I took a 3.5 hour long practice SAT the night before school, so it was rough going back to school.My favorite part of the day was my art class where I started working on a new piece. Also, Wednesday was the day I was able to get the Q train at the Second Avenue Station in the Upper East Side. This station is absolutely beautiful and CLEAN, so it was different than most subway stations in New York.

January 6, 2017

Friday was a very busy day for me. I had school, but afterwards I went to the French Embassy bookstore with my friends, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, out to dinner, and then to my school's coffeehouse (kind of like a talent show with other single-sex schools in the area). 

January 7, 2017

Saturday was a day that I sleep in and catch up on work. How can I possibly be behind in my work after only three days of school!? In the morning, my father drove me to a new place in my area called "Baya Bowls" and I bought myself a pitaya bowl with kiwi, coconut shavings, honey, and pineapple. While I ate my breakfast I watched The Office (I only have 5 episodes left!), and then I worked on my homework. The rest of the day I did SAT prep, wrote an article for the Teen News Website that I write for called The Weekly Buzz (you should definitely check it out), and then wrote a blogpost. I know my life is sooooo interesting, haha.

 Do you like this type of post? What did you all do this week? Let me know in the comments. My life isn't crazy interesting (currently it's 20% school 20%homework 15%blogging 5%The Office 20% SAT prep 20% sleeping). I love to take photos, so I can definitely promise more insights on my life like this. 

                                                                          xx

                                                            Christina Madeleine

 

Pearl Harbor + Honolulu 2016

Hey everyone! Today is the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii and I wanted to share some pictures from when I visited it. In August, I went to Honolulu and Maui. While I was in Honolulu, my family and I visited the Pearl Harbor memorial. At Pearl Harbor, there are memorials for the USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah, which were destroyed beyond repair during the attacks of December 7, 1941.

The USS Arizona lies in Pearl Harbor where it had sunk. The memorial is built over the ship, and visitors have to take a minute long trip on a boat to the memorial. The USS Arizona and the USS Utah are able to be seen by visitors because the remains of the ship lay on two different sides of the harbor. The USS Oklahoma had huge hole, and sunk a few miles from its brother ships. The memorial for the USS Arizona is the only one I saw, but it was such a nice experience because the memorial is a truly beautiful. If you closely into the harbor, you can see the oil that has continuously leaked from the ship for 75 years, and there is no way of knowing when it will ever stop.

The memorial is seen as a sacred site in honor of all the people who died on December 7, 1941. For survivors of the USS Arizona, when they die they have the option to have scuba divers put their ashes into the sunken ship. Currently, there are only six veterans from this ship alive.  On this sign, it talks about how when the divers put the ashes into the ship, it's like the soldiers are returning home to their fellow soldiers.

At the memorial, there is a list of all the people who died on the day of the attack from all the ships. The whole wall is filled, and it has the first initial and last name of the soldiers.

Pearl Harbor also has two museums about World War II, and the involvement of the United States during the war. Also, the museums had artifacts from the ships, letters from soldiers, old uniforms, stories, and so much more. It's like walking into a time capsule of this event, and it's so interesting. I loved reading about the people who gave their lives to their country. Also, going to the memorial and the museum made me more connected to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it made everything more real. There's a difference between reading about an event, and actually seeing the faces of the fallen, and the place where it happened.


Other Pictures from Honolulu ( Oahu):

Honolulu is so far away from New York, but once I go to the Island I was so happy. It seems like everyone is just so happy and friendly. Oahu is the most populated island of Hawaii, and is filled with tourists from the mainland and Japan.

 I lived for all the fruit that was accessible to me in Hawaii. All the fruit is so fresh, and almost everywhere has at least one smoothie option. For breakfast one morning I had a pitaya (dragon fruit) smoothie bowl with strawberries, bananas, mangoes, coconut shavings, and blueberries.

My family and I went on a bus tour around Honolulu, and the views were spectacular. I also got to see the veterans cemetery that is filled war heroes, celebrities, known and unknown soldiers. Hawaii is a place with such a rich history, and I was so glad to be able to experience it.

Right when I took this photo, the tour guide pointed out that Obama grew up in Honolulu. Since I have never been to Washington D.C, this is the closest I have been to something that is connected to the president. Although there are tons of beaches and palm trees in Hawaii, Honolulu is a metropolitan city.

If you have ever seen Hawaii 5-0, you might recognize this building... :) In reality, this is a government building, and there is an older, identical building right across from it that was also in Hawaii 5-0.

I obviously had to post some picture of me from Honolulu, so here is a picture of me when I learned how to paddle board  in the lagoon at my hotel. Coincidentally, people were filming for Hawaii 5-0, when I got out of the lagoon.

On my last day in Honolulu, before I went to Maui, I went on a walk to try to get to a mountain. After walking about 1.5 miles and then realized  that the mountain was very far away. The walk was very nice because of the view of the clear water and all, but since it was August, the sun was blazing hot.

 I hope you liked my post about Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. This month, I will be posting about my Maui experience, but I felt it was appropriate to post about Pearl Harbor today. 

                                                                            xx
                                                              Christina Madeleine