My mom is the most wonderful woman in my life. She always works so hard, and I love appreciating her on a daily, but especially on Mother’s Day! My mom has done so many things for me, and I would like to share a few. First off, my mom always supports me in everything I do, and gives me guidance along the way. Recently, I chose to write a short story for my 20% project in school. She made the time to sit down with me almost every day so far and helped me write, work on my blogs, give me feedback, and even plan out ideas for how I’m going to present on the project. She even helped me email my favorite authors for advice. Another amazing thing my mom does for me is drive me everywhere! She drives me to and from school, to dance, picks up my friends, picks me back up from dance, takes me to the store, to my friend’s houses, and many more. She always makes sure I get where I need to go, and I always have a ride. Something else that she does for me is such a huge commitment. For all my dance competitions, no matter how far away, or how late, or early, she’s there. She does all my hair and makeup, helps me pack, and always shows support when I’m on stage. She even booked a hotel for the dance convention I have this weekend. She such a dedicated mother that she is even spending the day at the convention on Sunday, Mother’s Day. My mom also always puts us first, she never has enough time for herself, and she definitely deserves some. Even though she might not be doing that this Sunday, she’s chosen to come because she’s really the best mom!

Hello! This week was week five for our 20%, and we only have a little more time! I think I got done a decent amount this week. My goal was to finish my story up, and figure out how I was going to display my story. I decided to write on a doc, and I’m going to print it out sometime next week so I have time to wrap up and edit the story. I’m also planning to bring my trifold home today, and get at least a fourth of it done. I’ve also created a few illustrations for my story that I plan to add in when I print. Over the weekend I’m going to gather the materials I need for my trifold, and get it started. For next week, I’m planning to work on my trifold about half the time, and the other half will be for thinking about what I’m going to say for the evening event. That’s it for now. See you next week!

Hello! This week was week four of our 20% project, and I felt pretty good about my progress. I got done a decent amount of my story, and went back and made some changes, and edited my work. I fixed some grammar, vocabulary, and added or removed parts of my work. Overall, I feel like I’m doing pretty good, but I still feel like it’s a little bit short of a story. But that’s okay because it’s a short story anyways. I’m planning to write as much as I possibly can this Friday, and work on it a little each day. I also am planning to take home my trifold and make some progress on it as well. I also want to create illustrations, but I haven’t gotten to that yet. I think that I would want to eventually after this project continue writing this story, and maybe one day make it a book. That’s it for this week! Bye for now!

Hello! This week was not my best week…my goal for this week was to hopefully get done my first chapter and create some illustrations. However, I got majorly overwhelmed and frustrated because I was at a loss of ideas for my writing. Instead of giving up though, I decided to go back and make changes to the writing that I did have so far. I was able to make some minor improvements, and add more details. Also, I emailed a few authors this past week, and one of them offered to be my mentor and answer any questions I may have 🙂 I was really excited, and that was great news for me. This next week, I plan to make illustrations, and for sure add at least a half chapter more. That would make me back on track again, and catch me back up. That’s all for this week! Bye now!

There are many ways to be a good neighbor, and here are a few examples! First of all, to me, being a good neighbor means taking the time to know your neighbors personally. When I first moved into my house about three years ago, I would go on walks around my block, and introduce myself to others, so that I would be able to know each and every person that lived in the neighborhood. I feel like that is also true vice versa. I recently had new neighbors move in around the corner, and as a resident in the neighborhood, I took the time to talk to them, and introduce myself to new neighbors too. Secondly, a good neighbor helps out with small things and problems. For example, over the summer, I helped take care of animals for the house across the street from me while they were on vacation. I also helped some other neighbors build their chicken coop, and some other friends with watering their plants and flowers. Lastly, being a good neighbor means giving back to others who have helped you. During the holidays, my family always bakes a treat for each neighbor to say a thank you for all they have done for us. This is what makes a great neighbor, and creates an awesome neighborhood!

Hello! For week two of my 20% project, I worked on more finalized outlines, and got half way through my first chapter. I accomplished everything that I was supposed to this week, and now I’m adding more details and specific words during the next few days. I did run into writer’s block a few times, but when that happened I would try and find some sort of different inspiration from videos, or music I listened to. I also had my mom help me add to my inspiration, and she read through my work, and also gave me some feedback. This upcoming Friday, I’m aiming to finish my first chapter, and maybe create some illustrations for it too. I’m going to also email a few of my favorite authors, and see if they could answer a few questions about their creative processes. Thank you for reading, and see you next week!

Hello! Recently-ish, we had spring break, and I wanted to write about what I did 🙂 First off, on St. Patrick’s day, my family hosted a big party with all of our family, friends, and neighbors. We had lots of food, fun games, and we even had a bunch of temporary tattoos for anybody who wanted some. It was super fun, and it went pretty late though. After the party I had a bunch of tattoos all over my face, and it was quite funny….until I discovered they were SUPER hard to get off 🤦🏼‍♀️. Next, a little later into the week me and my sisters, Avery, and her brother and his friend had a campout in the backyard. I set up a big 5-person tent for me, my sisters and Avery. We made it really cozy, and added a lot of blankets and pillows, and hung a light like a chandelier from the top. For the boys, they got to sleep in the trampoline where we made it like a fort, and we put a beach tent on top too, in case they got cold. It was lots of fun, and we even got to watch a movie on my patio with some popcorn and ice cream. Surprisingly, I slept quite well, until the boys jumping on the trampoline making screeching noises woke me up at 5:30…but that’s okay! Then the day after, we all went to Ruby’s Diner on the Balboa pier. That was also fun! That was what I did on my spring break!

Hello, my name is Finley, and for my 20% project I chose to write a short story. For this week, my goal was to develop ideas, and plan out an outline of my story. I accomplished my goal, and also finished my prologue too. I used videos on YouTube, and past writing resources I have from school to spark my ideas. I did not struggle to complete my goal, and got done exactly what I needed to, and more. Over the weekend, I added some more ideas and blurbs of writing to my work, including some help and ideas from my family and friends. This next Friday, I will set a clear outline of my story, and hopefully get through a half of a chapter of writing, or more. I’m also going to continue to watch videos and build off of that too. Thank you for reading, and see you next week!!

There are so many I would want to invite to dinner, but these are my top three: Rick Riordan, Taylor Swift, and Amanda Seyfried. First of all, I would invite Rick Riordan, the author of the book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I absolutely love the books that he writes, they’re some of my favorites. This would be really cool to have him over to be able to talk about his books, the Percy Jackson TV show he started, and his creative processes. Next, I would invite Taylor Swift. She’s one of my favorite music artists, she does lots of kind things, and seems like a great person to be around. I would love to chat about her music, where she gets the ideas for her lyrics, and maybe even help her write a new song 🤷‍♀️. I would be very happy to invite her over for dinner. Lastly, I would invite Amanda Seyfried over. She has acted in movies like Mamma Mia, Mean Girls, and more. She’s also one of my favorite actors, so I would be very starstruck to see her. I would talk to her about what acting is like, and how she got so good at it. These are the people I would invite over for dinner!