Quarter 4 - Blog #6

For this blog I decided to blog about the book that we are reading in class. It's called Percepolus (I think that's how you spell it?),I think that it's kind of a weird book though. It's a book about this girl who lives in Iran, but the kind of cool thing is that it the book is written in comic book form. The book is a true story and it written from the perspective of this little girl who is only ten years old. I guess it's kind of cool to see a childs perspective on very controversial issues, but I don't really see the point in reading it, other than the fact that our end-of-the-year project is to do a comic strip. Oh well, I guess that's what school is for. But it is definetley NOT something that I would have picked out for myself.

Quarter 4 - Blog #5

For this blog, I'm going to blog again about the book I'm reading for class, In the Time of the Butterflies. The book is based on a true story, and I only have about 10 pages left. But in the end of the book, the three butterflies are killed. I find this really sad because they were just innocent people who wanted to better the lives of everyone. The girls were driving home from just visiting their husbands in jail, which they often do. They have to drive on a twisty-turvy deserted road. What makes it more sad is that on their way there, Minerva realized that she had a card in her purse and on the back is said "AVOID THE PASS", but it was already too late, as they were on their way. On their way back, Minerva also said that she didn't want to say overnight and wait for the storm to end, and insisted on going home. They were assassinated, a long with the driver about 10 minutes later. This is so sad to me because they were given all of these clues, but chose to ignore them.

Quarter 4 - Blog #4

For this blog I'm going to blog about the book we are reading in class. I am reading the book In The Time of the Butterflies it's a really good book, and based on a true story. It is about an underground movement to overthrow the dictator, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic in the 1950s. There are four sisters who don't like the government and just want what's best for everyone. El Jefe demands that every person hang a picture of him in their home, school, work, etc. If not, they will be jailed. He does things like this, but these end up getting Minerva, the main character in trouble. In the end three of the four sisters are assassinated because they are threatening his power. One sister is still living today and tells the story. There is also a movie base on the book called In The Time of the Butterflies.

Quarter 4 - Blog #3

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

So I have continued to read Eclipse. In the last chapter I read, Bella went to her graduation and was happy to see her dad along with Jacob and his dad there. After the graduation she went out to dinner with her dad to celebrate, and then went to Alice's house for the party. While she was at the party she noticed Alice was acting strange. Jacob also showed up and gave her a handmade charm bracelet, which Bella thought was so cute. She soon found out that the vampire army was headed to Forks, and they were looking for her. The chapter ends, but the Cullen's decided to let Jacob and his werewolf friends join them in taking down the other vampires. Hopefully they'll get along and take out Victoria.

Quarter 4 - Blog #2

For this blog we can blog about the movie we recently watched in class. We watched the movie Duel, directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie was about a guy who gets chased by a semi truck, and it was actually quite scary. The movie had some elements to it that made it eerie such as the old semi that was all dirty, and the camera angles, as was the fact that it was in the middle of no where and there were cliffs. The whole movie I kept picturing myself, if I was ever in that situations, and it was quite terrifying to think about. I mean they had no cell phones so you couldn't call anyone, and even if you did they probably wouldn't believe you. Plus you're in the middle of no where, and you are likely going to get murdered. In the end, the main character David Mann directs the semi off of a cliff. I thought it was a horrible ending, although dramatic because it seemed like they could have done more with it rather than just having him die and thats the end.

Quarter 4 - Blog #1

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer p. 287-318

So here I am, back blogging about Eclipse, yep that's right...I still haven't finished it. So why don't we pick up where we left off. So it's still on Bella's mind that she want's to become a vampire. Her graduation is only one week away, and the day will soon come. But Bella isn't so sure at some times that she's ready for this, which makes Edward happy. He also reminds her that he is not turning her until they get married. Apart from things, there is a man slaughtering of people being killed in Washington, at the Cullen's believe that a vampire is behind it, so they decided to fight them, before the Volturi get involved. So they will be gone for a week, and Edward says that some of them might not make it out alive. Meanwhile, Alice has surprised Bella by telling her that they are planning a huge graduation party for her, but Bella isn't to thrilled.

Research Summary - The Holocaust

Our group has chosen to research The Holocaust for our group research project. The holocaust started around 1940, although there were many events that lead up to it. Causes of the Holocaust include, World War I, Adolf Hitler, natural selection, nationalism, a totalitarian/fascist dictatorship, and many more. Effects of the Holocaust were, Germans isolated, PSTD (post-tramatic stress disorder), 9-11 millions of jews were killed, and many others that were not jews (17 million, to be exact), and the distrust of germans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust

Quarter Three Blog #15 - Overcoming Odds

For this blog, I read an article about how recovering cancer patients have a harder time getting jobs than people who haven't had cancer. This makes sense to me, because companies don't want to have to deal with the extra expenses and health care costs, but at the same time I feel so bad for the people trying to find jobs. I imagine that it lowers their confidence level quite a bit, and just reminds them once again that they aren't like everyone else, as hard as they try to be, and they can't afford to not work with all of their medical costs. This article particularly hits home to me, because my uncle has cancer. His cancer is not treatable by radiation or chemo, and he also is a single dad of a super-adorable 4 year-old. His cancer was in remission, but is now back. I can't imagine what would happen if he got fired, as he is barley making it by as it is. Having cancer isn't anything that someone hopes they get, so why can't businesses see that, and treat everyone fairly?

Caryn-Rabin, Roni. "Cancer Survivors Struggle to Find Jobs, Study Finds." New York Times. 17 Feb 2009. 22 Mar 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/health/18cancer.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=struggle&st=cse>.

Quarter Three Blog #14 - Love

For this blog, I decided to write about a song that has to do with love. I chose the song Love Story by Taylor Swift. I absolutely love Taylor Swift, and think that she is a great singer, but what I like most about her is that she writes her own music. A lot of her songs have to do with high school, first love, and questioning yourself and others, which I think a lot of high school girls can relate to. The song Love Story is just as it sounds, every girls fairytale love story. The song is similar to Romeo and Juliet. The girl sees her Romeo, and they immediately fall in love, but her dad tells her that she can't see him. But she sneaks out, and sees him, and she tells him that she can't handle this. And asks him to make it better, and figure it out. She goes to meet him a while later, and he's late. So she says that her faith is fading in him, when he finally comes she questions if it can work out and if she really loves him. But they he proposes to her, he calls her his Juliet, and tells her that he talked to her dad, and he is fine with it. And now they never have to be alone. I think this song is so cute, and reminds every girl of their perfect fairytale ending.

Citation:
Swift, Taylor. "Love Story." Fearless. Big Machine, 2008.

Quarter Three Blog #13 - War

War. Something nobody likes, but always seems to happen. This is the topic of my blog today, specifically about the war in Iraq. I read an article about the war, I learned that March 19th will be the sixth anniversary of U.S. invasion in Iraq. The country seems to be divided on whether we should pull out of the war or not, although polls seem to show that more people would like to pull out. But, whether we like it our not, our newly elected president Obama has created a timeline, and all U.S. forces are to be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. Michale O'Hanlon, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, said, "And obviousley after six years, Americans are going to be a little sick of it," which not all are going to agree with, and is a very contorversial topic. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the country has spend $700 billion dollars on the war since 2003, and as of March 12, 2009 4,259 Americans have been killed in the war.

Hormick, Ed. "Recession-hit Americans 'a little sick' of Iraq after 6 years." Cable News Network. 13 Mar 2009. 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/12/iraq.war/index.html#cnnSTCText>.

Quarter Three Blog #12 - Imperialism/Colonization

For this blog, I'm going to talk about something we all know (or should know), the colonization of the United States. Britain colonized thirteen colonies in North America, they declared themselves independent in 1776. There were many reasons for colonization, new technology and better shipbuilding skills were developing, plus they could build their population, and become wealthier from trade and natural resources in the foreign lands. Britain shipped 50,000 of it's convicts to North America on the Mayflower around 1610. The first successful English colony was Jamestown, near Chesapeake Bay. They continued to gain territory, and establish many more colonies along the Atlantic coast. There were then many acts of Parliament, such as the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act. The colonies got very fed up with the English government, and decided to separate themselves, and become their own county. We all know that they established their own form of government, a constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. The rest is history...

Citation:
"Colonial History of the United States." Wikipedia. 6 Mar2009. Wikipedia Incorporated. 11 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States#British_colonies>.

Quarter Three Blog #11 - Global Issue

For this blog, I read an article about the war in Iraq. President Obama recently announced that 12,000 troops would be withdrawn from the war. There are currently 142,000 troops over in Iraq. He has also announced his plans to withdraw most of the troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010. In addition, 4,000 British troops will also be withdrawn. There are many mixed reactions on this topic. House speaker, Nancy Pelosi expressed concern when she said that Obama's plan to leave Iraq is too large. I personally do not think that pulling out of the war is a good idea at all. If we pull out of the war, what message is that sending to other countries about us? I think it's telling them that we are weak, and can't stand to fight any longer, and that we are quitters. Is that what we want people to think about when they think of us?

Citation:
Tawfeeq, Mohammed. "12,000 U.S. troops out of Iraq by fall, military says." Cable News Network. 8 Mar 2009. 8 Mar 2009 <http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/08/iraq.troop.withdrawl/>.

Quarter Three Blog #10 - Holidays

My favorite holiday of all time is Christmas. There is just something about that time of year, everyone seems happier, you get to see family that you haven't seen in a while, pig out on amazingly good food, see the reactions on peoples faces when they open their presents, and of course there are presents to be opened. But of course, there is actually a meaning of Christmas. The reason we actually celebrate Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ, but his birth was not always celebrated. Back in Rome, they celebrated solstice, and held a celebration called Saturnalia, around December 17-24, in honor of Saturn (the god of agriculture). The church decided that they needed a Christian holiday in December as well, they decided on December 25, and it soon became a big celebration, although not as big as Easter or Good Friday. There is much confusion over whether Jesus was really born on December 25th or not. But Biblical chronographers have mapped out timelines, and they do believe that Jesus was indeed born on December 25th.

Citation:
Dowdey, Sarah. "How Christmas Works." 21 Nov 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 4 Mar 2009 <http://www.howstuffworks.com/christmas.htm>.

Quarter Three Blog #9 - Bollywood

This blog has to be about Bollywood, so I decided to blog about a recent movie that we watched in class. We watched the movie Bride & Prejudice. The movie is a Bollywood film, and takes place in India. The movie is basically about the main character, Lalita and her trying to find a man. She find a great man, Will Darcy. But things are so up and down with him. She really likes him, but he offends her when he says he wants to open a hotel in India, and not have to deal with Indians themselves. But Will soon redeems himself when he attends a family dinner at Lalita's house, and is soon joining in on the dancing and fun. He has to return home soon, and don't know when they'll see eachother. Lalita and her family are headed on a flight to California, when she soon finds out that Will is on the same flight. He graciousley gives up his first-class ticket to Lalita's mom inorder to sit next to her. They ended up talking, and catching up with eachother. When they get their, things quickly turn sour when Lalita meets Will's mom. Will ended up passing on the Hotel in India, because of what Lalita told him, and his mother is still very bitter about the whole idea. But that soon blows over when Will's little sister tells Lalita that he always talks about her and how she's such a nice girl. Will and Lalita soon start dating, until they encounter yet another speedbump with his mom. They are attending the wedding of her sister, and Will's mom introduces Will's girlfriend to her (the women she wants him to marry). Lalita is very upset, and gets even more upset when she finds out that he was the one who broke up her sister and her boyfriend. She says she has no time for him, and leaves the next day for London. So of corse, Will gets on a flight and attempts to track her down. He finds her in London, and they quickly reconnect, and they both try to find her sister who has run off with some guy, and has a dangerous past. After they find her, they also find that her other sister, Jaya has gotten back together with her boyfriend and they are getting married. Will then propses to Lalita, and she accepts. The movie ends with everyone celebrating at the double wedding.

Citation:
"Bride & Prejudice." Miramax Films. 11 Feb 2004.

Quarter Three Blog #8 - Culture

I am 25% Swedish, so I decided that I would write about Swedish culture for this blog. A typical Swedish meal consists of boiled potatoes, meat or fish, a sauce, and some kind of vegetable. Swedes are very heavy coffee drinkers, second to Finland who takes first. Cider is also a staple at mealtime, the cider is sweet and fruity and is drunken almost as much as beer is. Most Swedish art is found in churches, and relates to religion. Focused on the devil, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary. As far as fashion is concerned, the famous store Hennes & Maurtiz (H&M) is headquartered their. Singing is very popular in Sweden, as of its 9,000,000 people 600,000 are members of a choir. Swedes enjoy many genres of music, and famous musicians such as Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, and Bon Jovi have produced music in Sweden.

Citation:
"Culture of Sweden." Wikipedia. 2009. Wikipedia Incorporated. 25 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Sweden>.

Quarter Three Blog #7 - Change

The article I read was about job layoffs, and the changes and effects of that. With the economy only getting worse, there have been many job layoffs throughout the U.S. Many of which include big corporations such as Coca-Cola, General Electric, Yahoo, and many more. I myself have felt the effects of the economy as well. I am a nanny, and work Monday-Friday part-time, as well as full-time in the summer. But in September the mom of the family I word for lost her job, so I intern lost my job because of it. Now I know that I'm just a kid, so it really didn't have the same effect on me as it would have if I were an adult. But a few days ago I learned that she landed a new job, which means that I got my job back as well. It took her almost 6 months to find a job, and I can't imagine what it would be like. Most economists are saying that the economy will get worse before it gets better. I'm not sure if there is much we can do other than stay positive and look at the bright side. But clearly the economy is effecting everyone.

Uchitelle, Louis. "Spending Stalls and Businesses Slash U.S. Jobs." New York Times Company. 25 Oct 2008. 22 Feb 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/business/26layoffs.html>.

Quarter Three Blog #6 - Hope

For this blog since it had to be about hope, I decided to look up a poem about hope rather than an article. There are a few lines in the poem that I think describe my feelings about hope. "Hope is to remain positive when going gets tough" I think this describes hope really well because you have to be hopeful when things get tough in your life, and without it I think life would be very difficult. "Hope is dreaming of tomorrow" I think everyone has though about what they would like to achieve in their life, and hope is what makes you believe and try to achieve those goals. "Hope keeps all of us together" This line really strikes a cord with me because I think that so much of hope is relying on others, whether it be family, friends, or members of your church, and without those people in your life, it is very easy to become hopeless. "Hope is the last thing ever lost" I do think that even in the toughest of times, people who always have a positive attitude will always remain hopeful and look at the positive in any situation.

Citation:
Bansal, Vineet. "What is Hope...." Poem Hunter. 18 Feb 2009<http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/what-is-hope-2/>.

Quarter Three Blog #5 - Religion

Since this blog had to be about religion, I decided to blog about the Pope. I myself am Catholic and learned a lot when reading about him. The pope is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church - he is the top dog, you can't achieve a higher status in the Catholic church than him. He is also the head of state of Vatican City. A pope is elected by a vote of the Sacred College of Cardinals by ballot. Our current pope, Pope Benedict XVI was elected on April 19, 2005. The pope's primary job is to spread Christianity. In particular, Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized the need for Europe to return to fundamental Christian values. He has also teaches the importance of the Catholic church and their beliefs. Pope Benedict XVI has also created a foundation that makes money from the sales of books written by popes, which directly goes to scholarships for students.

Citation:
"Pope Benedict XVI." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Incorporated. 9 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI>.

Quarter Three Blog #4 - Gender Roles

The article I read was about the restaurant business, and how they consider gender when planning. They said that if they are planning a business party restaurants often want to know how many men and women their will be, if their are more women they said that most restaurants will turn up the temperature ,create more mood lighting, and plan more healthy options for the menu. As for men they will have more hearty options on their menu such as steak and potatoes, and more beer than wine. The article also said that more and more restaurants are not following the unwritten law that you should always seat a woman first in a restaurant, not only that but take their order first and seat them facing a window or a nice view. More and more both males and females are being treated as equals and it doesn't matter anymore who is served first or second. The environment of the restaurant will also depict whether more men or women will go to the restaurant. At pubs and bars their is often more men because of the cheap and filling food and the atmosphere, while at fancy sit-down high priced restaurants their is more often women.

Citation:
Bruni, Frank. "Old Gender Roles With Your Dinner?." New York Times Company. 7 Oct 2008. 9 Feb 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/08gend.html>.

Quarter Three Blog #3 - Culture

For this blog I have chosen to write about French culture, specifically their food and lifestyle. The French usually have a small breakfast that consists of tea or coffee, croissants (breakfast pastries), and yogurt. Crêpes are another famous french food that are similar to a thin pancake and filled with fruit, chocolate, or even meat. Lunch and dinner are their main meals of the day and usually consist of a four course meal. One thing that is very different in France is their are really no supermarkets like in the US, there are just specialty foods shops. So if you want a loaf of bread you go to the bread store, or if you want some cheese you go to the cheese shop. Another thing I found very interesting was that the legal drinking and smoking age in France is only 16! Smoking is a part of the French culture though, as 40% of young adults smoke along with 39% of males and 27% of females. But recently a smoking ban was put in place that prohibits smoking in public places, in an effort to cut smoking. The national sport in France is football (soccer) and is also one of the most watched sports in the country. France is well known for hosting the Tour de France every year, which is a bike race. Paris, France is also very famous for being one of the top fashion capitals of the world. Both Vogue and Elle magazine were founded there. Paris is also home to many world famous high fashion designers.

Citation:
"Culture of France." Wikipedia. 2009. Wikipedia Incorporated. 8 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_France#Role_of_the_State>.

Quarter Three Blog #2 - Overcoming Struggle

The article I read this week was about family businesses in our receding economy. The article said that many family businesses have a great advantage over big business corporations in our struggling economy. The reason they have an advantage is because they have family members who can work at the business, so they don't need to hire as many workers and get themselves into debt when times are tough. Although I agree that it is a smart decision to have family members work at a family business rather than hire employees, I don't necessarily agree with the fact that the article was more or less saying that they weren't having tough times like rest of the businesses. I think that whether they admit it or not all of the businesses - small family businesses, or big corporations - are all going through a rough time right now, and are having to make sacrifices and cut corners in any way possible.

Citation:
Birnbaum, Jane. "Resilient in Hard Times: The Family Business." New York Times Company. 4 Feb 2009. 4 Feb 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/smallbusiness/05sbiz.html?_r=1&8dpc>.

Quarter Three Blog #1 - Natural Disasters

Mount Asama is one of Japan's most active volcanoes, and is said to be erupting within 48 hours. The volcano last erupted in September of 2004. 45,000 of it's nearby residents have been warned about the volcano and told to be prepared to leave their homes within 2 hours notice. Many roads near the bottom of the volcano have also been closed. In 1783 Mount Asama had it's most famous eruption, in which the explosion was heard over 200 miles away, and lava blocks 35 meters in diameter were thrown into the air from the mouth of the volcano. The eruption also swept out most of the city due to lava flooding. Japan is home to more than 100 active volcanoes, and have experienced four minor earthquakes within the last two weeks - which also leads experts to think that the volcano may be erupting very soon.

Citation:
Ryall, Julian. "Japan warns of volcano eruption within 48 hours." telegraph.co.uk. 1 Feb 2009. 1 Feb 2009 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/4423912/Japan-warns-of-volcano-eruption-within-48-hours.html>.

Outside Reading Post #27

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer p. 152-171

Chapter seven. So Rosalie walks into the room, and want's to talk to Bella. She talks to Bella about become a vampire, and how she didn't have a choice, and if she did she wouldn't have wanted to become one, so she tells Bella her story to try and persuade her. Rosalie was your all American girl next door. She had everything, a loving family, good looks, and just about every material thing a girl could want. When she was in her late teens, her friends started settling down, getting married, and starting families. Rosalie was a little envious of her friends because for the first time, they had something that she didn't. Soon Rosalie met the man of her dreams, who's last name just so happen to be King, and was also super wealthy. They soon got engaged, and were planning for an April wedding. Rosalie was so happy, but their was still a little bit of envy in her when she would notice how her friends and their husbands always seemed so in love. She never felt that with Royce, even though he treated her like a princess. So one day a week before the wedding, Rosalie was driving home from somewhere when she heard some people in the street a few blocks from her house. It happen to be Royce and some of his friends, they were drunk. She went over to see them when they started beating her. She was beat, raped, and god knows what else. She was left in the street to die. She just wanted it to be over, when Carlisle showed up. He turned her into a vampire, so that she wouldn't die. Ever since then she became part of the Cullen family. Rosalie told this story to Bella, and Bella was shocked. Rosalie then said goodnight to Bella, and left. The book didn't describe much of Bella's thoughts or emotions, she just lied down and thought about it. The next day at school, it was passing time, when Bella herd the rev of an engien in the parking lot. She looked up and it was Jacob, he told her to get on. Bella though quick and ran for it. They sped out as quick as they could, and headed to La Push.

Outside Reading Post #26

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer p. 131-151

Chapter six. Bella leaves Jake's house, and right when she crosses the line Edward is right behind her in his car. Bella just ignores him, and goes straight to Angela's house just as planned. She helped Angela with addressing her graduation cards. When she left, Bella was surprised to see that Edward's car wasn't near by waiting for her. So she went home, but soon realized that their was nothing to keep her occupied. So she trudged up to her room where she knew Edward was waiting. Edward was FURIOUS with her. But Bella soon calmed Edward down, in a bit of a seducing matter. But soon after Edward left, Bella called Jake and made plans to meet him next Saturday, when she knew Edward would be hunting again. On Thursday when school got let out, Alice was their to pick her up instead of the usual Edward. Alice told her that Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle had gone out early, and that Bella would be sleeping over at their house for the next couple of nights. Bella was so mad with Edward, especially when she learned that Edward had bribed Alice with a brand new Porshe. But Bella couldn't do anything about it, and Charlie already knew about it. So Bella had to call Jacob and cancel their plans, and lets just say he was less than thrilled. Bella was in bed falling asleep when she heard a knock on her door, it was Rosalie and she wanted to talk to Bella.

Outside Reading Post #25

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer p. 113-130

It seems like this book is taking me FOREVER to read! I've just been swamped with homework and other stuff, and have only had the time to read it one chapter at a time. So chapter five..nothing much really happened. It just continued with Bella and Jacob talking. Jacob told Bella more about what has happened since she left. His friend Quil also became a werewolf, and he told Bella the story about how his leader, Sam met Emily and fell in love with her. Their talk had a lot of ups and downs, Bella got easily offended and threatened to leave at one point. But Jake knows how to handle her, and calmed her down. Bella eventually had to go, but promised that she would come back the next time that Edward was gone.

Outside Reading Post #24

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer p. 92-112

I have read yet another chapter in the book Eclipse since my last post. Chapter four takes place on a Saturday, Edward is gone for the whole day to go hunting. Bella doesn't mind because she knows that Edward will be more calm and at ease once he goes. But she also hate's when he's gone because she has nothing to do, which makes her anxious. And it's just Bella's luck when she goes in for work and they tell her they don't need her for the day because business was going slow that day. Bella had nothing to do, and even though she knew she would get in a ton of trouble with Edward and his family, she decided to go visit Jacob. They basically just got caught up on their lives. Jake wanted to know what happened with Edward and Italy, so Bella told him the basics of the story. Jacob also told Bella what happened with Victoria and that whole incident when she was in Florida, and it was exactly what Edward had told her, which was a bit of a relief to Bella. Jacob also told Bella once again that Bella was with the wrong person, but Bella tells Jacob the same thing every time - that she loves Edward, and she loves him for who he truly is. But for the first time, Bella sees how much it pains Jacob to see them together. And she realizes that Jake has become a part of her, and she couldn't change that; there is no just cutting him out and trying to forget about him.

Outside Reading Post #23

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer p. 65-91

I read chapter four of Eclipse over the last week. It turns out that Edward and Bella went to Florida to visit her mom. While they were there, Bella and her mom, Renee took a walk on the beach. While they were talking, Renee questioned Edward and Bella's relationship. She said that he is really protective of Bella, and she also said that she feels like their is something that they are keeping from her about their relationship. This freaked Bella out, no one had ever come out and asked if they were hiding anything. Bella just told her mom that she was crazy, and that they were just two teenagers in love. Edward and Bella soon returned to Forks safe and sound. When they returned to school the next day, their was a surprise waiting for them. Jacob was standing on the sidewalk waiting for them. Bella knew that this wouldn't be good because Jake and Edward hate each other so much. Jacob basically came their to tell Bella that Edward was keeping information from her. He quickly left when the principle came to tell him to leave. Edward soon told Bella that Victoria had reappeared but was on the border between La Push and the Cullen's treaty line. It turned out that Emmet and Paul almost got in a fight over it because they were both trying to catch Victoria. By the time they figured things out, Victoria was long gone. They would have to wait yet again until she reappeared. Bella was hurt that Edward didn't tell her what was going on, but made him promise that he would tell her next time.