10-0 Baby!!

Football Season 2011-2012

This year's football season has been AMAZING!! We defied even my greatest expectation and have completed the first perfect season since 1977!! I was afraid that we were going to get beat by T.R. Miller, but ended up defeating them. We even shut out Headland 63-0! The Straughn game worried me, but it ended up being a piece of cake! Our hardest game was this past Friday night against Opp. The officials were horrible! They would throw a flag after every first down or after every touchdown! They called back two of our touchdowns! We should have scored at least two more times and Opp should have scored one less. It was almost as bad as the first round of the playoffs two years ago! I'm so excited that our class will get to go down in AHS history as being undefeated and ranked #2 in the state!!

Word Count: 148

2011-2012 Football Schedule

Carroll		W 34-14
Fri	Sep. 2	at Alabama Christian R		W 26-7
Fri	Sep. 9	#9 Saint James R		W 52-14
Fri	Sep. 16	Bullock Co. R		W 44-9
Fri	Sep. 23	at #9 T.R. Miller		W 35-10
Fri	Sep. 30	at Hillcrest Evergreen R		W 40-6
Fri	Oct. 7	#23 Straughn R		W 37-3
Fri	Oct. 14	Ashford R		W 31-22
Fri	Oct. 21	at #23 Headland R		W 63-0
Fri	Oct. 28	at #23 Opp		W 21-13

Word Count:

Opp Bonfire

Thursday, October 27th AHS held its annual bonfire to get students excited and ready to "Bop Opp!" I had a great time! This year's bonfire was so much fun (we didn't have a bonfire last year, but it was definitely better than the one two years ago!) I felt the heat and the excitement burning on my skin. Mrs. Shellhouse was in a very good mood, so we got to play many of our favorite songs. There was one point during the event, that I felt very connected to the past traditions of Andalusia High School. Right after the band played the "Hey Song," the cheerleaders led the student body in my favorite cheer, "Right On!" It was at this second that I felt the energy and traditions of "Old Andalusia!" I finally felt like our class had woven its place into the colorful cloth of the Traditions of The Andalusia High School!

Word Count: 153

Dracula at the Shakespeare Festival

On Wednesday the 19th, my entire English class headed to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery to see Brahm Stoker's Dracula! I was very excited. The last time I had been to the Shakespeare Festival was to see Beauty and the Beast in Middle School! The play was very different from the book, I think they adapted it very well. They had many special pyrographic effects that helped to make the anti-climatic parts very exciting.  The added two new characters Mrs. Sullivan and her lover; they added a lot to the story. Renfield was hilarious! In the book, he was the most stupid annoying character, but he added a lot of comic relief in the play. Afterwards, I had a relaxing lunch at the Panera Bread in East Chase and then we had a few minutes to shop. East Chase Shoppes is such a neat area with many nice stores; I am looking forward to it being very near to Auburn :) We headed towards home and got stuck in traffic in Greenville. It was a very pleasant day and a well needed break from school.

Word Count: 186

Le Grande Tour De L'Europe: Assisi et Roma

Well today we started off by driving from Florence to Assisi. I felt as if I were Diane Lane in "Under the Tuscan Sun." The region of Umbria was picturesque! The trip took about two hours, but it was well worth the trip. Along the way we saw Tuscan chateaus tucked along the hillsides and acres of olive groves. We arrived in Assisi at the top of the hill and worked our way through the city down to the Basilica of St. Francis. It was such a quaint and beautiful village with tons of shoppes! It was so interesting to see real Monks and Nuns just walking through the streets. We got to see a Roman temple of Minerva that had been converted into a Catholic place of worship. Once we made it to the Basilica we saw St. Francis's tomb and robe. The fresco's inside the Basilica were gorgeous! This was the first church where I had been able to SIT DOWN and pray! I got out my rosaries that I had just bought and went to work! Upon exiting, we got the last few minutes of a performance by an African Chior!!! We then headed towards Rome. The scenery was even more beautiful that from Florence to Assisi! The vineyards and olive groves were my favorite part of the scenery. Upon arriving in Roma, we ate supper and immediately started touring. That night I got to throw a coin over my left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain. It was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. I know that may sound crazy, but just knowing that "one day" I'll return to Rome is just a very content feeling! That night we rode the bus  and saw the Colosseum, the Roman Baths, the Circus Maxis, the Theatre, the Forum, The Wedding Cake Monument, St. Peter's Basilica, and L'Arc de la Constantine. I thought that Rome was even more beautiful at night than it was in the day time. Then we headed our 51 miles outside of Rome to the Hotel Hilary.

Word Count: 344

 Assisi

 Under the "Umbrian" Sun

 Trevi Fountain

Wedding Cake Monument

Le Grande Tour De L'Europe: Milan et Florence

The next day we finally arrived at the train station in Milan around 2:45. We missed the 3:15 train to Florence, so we had to wait in the train station until the next train at 6:15. We passed the time by shopping; I can now say that I visited the Armoni store in Milan! I wish we could have gone out and at least seen a little bit of Milan, but we didn't. at 6:15 we boarded a very nice and clean train for Florence. The ride took 2 hours and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. Upon first arriving in Florence, I thought that it was a very filthy city. There was trash and graffiti everywhere on the outskirts; however, it became must more picturesque as we entered historic downtown. We did a very short night tour of Florence which included the Medici Fortress, The Duomo (Cathedral and Baptismal), The Statue of David, The ole Medici Covered Bridge, and the Arne River.  Tonight I had my first real Italian meal! The pasta was al denta (just like I like it) and they did not drownd it in sauce. On the hill above Florence we were able to see the church where the man that created Pinocchio is buried. The city of Florence had both a quaint and a big city feel.

Word Count: 221

A` la gare en Milan

 Bank de Florence

 Duomo

 Balcony

 Statue of David

Covered Bridge

Le Grande Tour De L'Europe: Night Train

Well I will say that the night train was without a doubt the craziest 14 hours of my life. It was the only part of our trip that I don't think I would do over again; it was hell!! We found out before we boarded the train that we would be delayed three hours because a tunnel was closed in Switzerland, then were were delayed another three hours because someone died on the train, then we were delayed another hour because one of the stupid Hawaiians pulled the fire alarm. The train cars were incredibly small but managed to sleep six people. I ended up in a car with John David, Armon, Claudia, Aaron, and Josh. Everyone kept staggering back and forth to the bar car to quench their thirst; I can't quite remember what they ordered though. The train attendants ended up sleeping in a room of French passenger women... I accidentally mistook the sink for a urinal at one point, but I wasn't the only one. I slept on the top bunk. The window was open all night and we nearly froze to death.
Word Count: 186

Le Grande Tour De L'Europe: Paris, Jour Cinq

Well, this morning we went to Le Musee` de Louvre. It was absolutely overwhelming; it was so BIG!! It had five huge wings. I went to two of the five and didn't even get to see everything in those two! First we saw Madonna on the Rocks, The Wedding at Cana, and the Mona Lisa. In the room with Wedding at Cana and the Mona Lisa, there were tons of Asians. They were very rude and did not mind pushing and shoving to get where they wanted to go. The Wedding at Cana is so huge it covers a whole wall. The Mona Lisa is very small, and I had to fight my way to get to the front to take a picture of it. Next we saw Venus de Milo and the Coronation of Napoleon. The Coronation of Napoleon was more colourful than the one we had seen at Versailles. Venus de Milo was so stunning; she was everything I had hoped she would be! Then John David, the CCB Girls and I decided to head to the wing with the Egyptian Antiquities and the crown jewels of France. We saw many beautiful statues and sarcophaguses and jewels. We even saw the tomb of Rames II and the crowns of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Leaving the Egyptian wing, I got separated from the rest of the group, but thankfully I we reunited. After we left Le Louvre, we walked down the street (in the rain) to le Maison de Opera`, the Paris Opera House. Only a few of us went inside. It was absolutely the most beautiful and ornate thing I had ever seen in my life! It had more gold and carvings than Versailles!! I wished we could have gone to the Galleries de LaFayette, but we did not have enough time. We also went to the Notre Dame. The outside of this Cathedral look very similar to that of Westminster Abbey. There were several beautiful rose gardens flaking the cathedral; we also saw the famous gargoyles! We returned and started on the adventure of a lifetime....the night train!

 Coronation of Napoleon at le Musee de Louvre

 Grand Hall a la Garnier's Opera

 Mona Lisa

 Moi et Venus de Milo

 Garnier's Maison de Opera`

Moi a` la Opera`