Jess and Ruthie: A Tribute

Jessika and Ruth-Ann,
Some people have the power to chance our lives- even after they're no longer a part of it. A sister is a forever friend.
♥

[[Our 200th post is dedicated to Ruthie, Jess, Sitara, and everyone over at MLWB]]

Kirsten Larson

Kirsten L. Larson

Minnesota circa June 1854

Photography Notes
A lovely girl came into the studio today. A bit shy, but very friendly and polite. She was a stunning child with bright, blue eyes and long, shiny blond braids, tied with cobalt ribbons that brought out the colour of her eyes. She wore a simple, yet beautiful checkered pink and white spring frock with a crisp white apron. An amber heart was worn around her neck, and one could tell that it looked much like a family heirloom. A circle of daisies was placed atop her blond head, and pink ribbons trailed down her back.
I know not much about the Larson family, only that they live on a farm outside of town and are from Sweden.

The Yorkshire Times: Holi

[[A break in hiatus to bring you a newspaper article. Once again, thanks for the inspiration Sitara and Starr. This post is in newspaper form, and I do not mean to copy anyone, it's just a really great idea. Sorry if all the facts are not correct. Lucille Durham, Patrick Liam, The Yorkshire Times, and Mondale Preparatory Academy are all figments of my (Brooke's) imagination, and are not meant to represent real people/places.]]

The Yorkshire Times
Monday March 1st, 2010
Lucille Durham-Community Life Reporter

Local Youth Celebrates Indian Festival

March first, to many American citizens, is just another day. The start of this month brings hope of fair weather, and with any luck, the sun will be shining warmer and brighter ever day. But the first of March happens to be so much more; it is the Hindu spring festival, Holi. Holi is the second most important festival of India after Diwali, and I had the pleasure to meet a young, Indian-American girl, Sonali Matthews.

"Holi is the festival of spring and color," the thirteen year old eighth grader who attends Mondale Preparatory Academy explains. "It is to welcome the spring and win the blessings of Gods, so there will be fertile land and good harvests."

Ms. Matthews grew up with Hindu customs, as her parents are direct immigrants from India, and both sets of grandparents still live in the country. To celebrate the holiday, Sonali dresses in a bright pink frock, to symbolize the color aspect of the festival. The Matthews, like other Indian families across the world, will mix traditional, colorful dyes as well. Her family will be preparing regional food like 'Gujia' and 'Papad' in celebration.

Happy Holi, Sonali, and all others who celebrate the festival!

Article Written by Lucille Durham
Photography of Sonali Dhara Matthews by Patrick Liam

Hiatus

Sorry, everyone, but the blog is officially on hiatus as of now. We're going through some stuff here, and we just need some time off. I just don't have the time to post, and the last of Brooke's worries is taking photos. We just feel kind of obligated now, and the fun in AG's and the blog is gone. Well, that could be because of the current situation, but oh well.
There may be the occasional post with a bit of an update, but that's about it. I'll hopefully still read/comment other blogs, though.
-Avery

My, how the time flies!

Wow, I didn't realize that I haven't posted in forever! Well, I'm still here, sorry for not updating much. I've been sick on and off for the past week or so, and have been super busy! Here's my list of reasons, not that you care :P

• I have several huge reports for school; an art report to on Pieter Brueghel, and a math report on Joseph-Louis Legrange. Plus tons of homework and a few tests coming up.
• I have a band concert coming up on Friday, which we are definitely not ready for! I've been practicing like crazy.
• I've been sick on and off for the past week or so. Nothing serious, but just the sniffles and sore throat.
  
• Brooke fell when she was rollerblading (at an indoor rink :P Really hard concrete), and did something weird to her left wrist. It's not broken, but there's definitely something up.
• Brooke's been doing a lot of writing lately, too, but not for the blog. More like fiction story things.
  

Yeah, so life's been pretty busy. On another note, Mia and most of the dolls here have been watching the Olympics a lot. The USA, and Canada as well are doing great! We got a couple more inches of snow last night, too. I made a snowman today!

Hopefully this week we'll take some more photos.

-Avery

Happy Valentine's Day!

Get ready for an obscene amount of pink, everyone! You really don't realize how much pink/red/purple clothing you have until you see it all together. Just a little note for the AG company: Try some different colors!!!

Anyways, there was a massive three day project here at Mondale. Everyone is was changed into their own Valentine colored outfit, and a huge photo shoot followed! Erin even came back for a visit so she could be in the pictures. Another certain someone arrived, too, and you'll just have to see from the photographs who it is!

There is a boat load of photos. They're not the best, due to poor indoor lighting, somewhat messy backgrounds, and Brooke being too lazy after the photo shoot and clean up to edit 50+ pictures consecutively. Here's a teaser photo for you, and the full album can be seen here.
-Avery

Mia and the Olympics

Hello readers, this is guest-blogger Mia St. Clair! As most of you know, the 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, Canada, and the opening ceremony is tonight! I'm so excited I can barely stand it. I love all the winter sports like hockey, skiing, and snowboarding, but my favorite is the ice skating. I hope to one day make it to the Olympics! Watching the professional skaters really inspires me, and helps with technique, style, etc. I can't wait for the skating portion of the games to begin!

On Wednesday there was a huge snowstorm, and now we have several inches. I know some people don't like the cold or snow, but I absolutely love it. So in the spirit of the winter games, I decided to go out onto the frozen pond and do some skating!
There are a few photos, but it was so cold that I didn't stay out too long.


Knowing how much I love the winter games, Brooke made me a special snowflake necklace. Next to my skates, it's my second most prized possession! You can kinda-sorta see it in the pictures.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the photos. I think they turned out pretty good, especially the close ups. I sure had fun skating! Maybe Avery will let me post more often...

-Mia St. Clair
Future Olympian

Tagged!

Rule #1 - Copy image to your blog

Rule #2- List 10 things that make you happy and try to do one today!

1) Friends and Family
2) Blogging
3) Cupcakes...That picture makes me hungry! :P
4) Photography
5) Stop-motion movies
6) Soccer
7) Writing fiction stories
8) Reading just about anything
9) Snow!
10) The weekend

Rule #3 - Tag 5 bloggers who brighten your day.
Well, it seems like most everyone has already been tagged. So if you want to be tagged, just comment!
-Avery

Lots of good news!

Sorry for not posting hardly at all lately. But I have some very good news, quite a bit actually. Well, here it is:

• I won the giveaway at Piper's blog!

• We had a snow day yesterday! Yay, no school!
  
• It is now officially 'Mid-Winter' Break, and I have a five day weekend. Lots of spare time equals more posts and pictures!
• I got all A's on my first semester report card. Not even an A-, woo hoo!
• The Opening Ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics is tomorrow night, that's always very excited. Mia will be definitely be watching.
  

Haha, that was a lot of exclamation points, but I think that it's worth it. Life is good right about now.

Speaking of the Olympics, that's what our next post will be about. Mia will be dressing up in her skating costume and going onto the ice for a photo shoot.
-Avery

Mondale Greenhouse

Février (February): The time between winter and spring where everything is just... blah. There was a large thaw, and now all the snow is dirty slush; slightly disgusting. It was beautiful powdered crystals, and now it's a muddy mess. It's just cold enough for flurries, but warm enough to where everything melts. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for spring! Don't get me wrong, I love winter and the snow, it's just this yucky transitional period I hate.

Anyways, Nicki felt the same way. So... she started the Mondale 'Greenhouse'! It isn't very big, but as of now we have several plants growing, including a large tree and some cacti. I think it's a really fun project, it brightens these dreary days.


(Just a note: The 'tree thing', the cacti, and the holly leaves are all real! :) Don't you just love a mini, doll-sized cactus? Hehe!)
Sorry for not posting much over the past week. But I'm trying to take into consideration your suggestions, so: here you have it! A long-ish post with pictures. Sorry for the somewhat horrible indoor lighting and messy background.

-Avery