Week 3A: A Star is Born

If I could star in any movie I would star in a scary, but not too scary movie. (I'm not a big fan of scary movies.) Most likely one like Disturbia. We would be shooting in London, England. Why? I don't know, I've just always wanted to go there. I would have a two other important co-stars. My male co-star would be Chace Crawford (From Gossip Girl). My female co-star (My best friend) would be Hilarie Burton (From One Tree Hill). The wardrobe would most likely be vintage rocker tees, or along those lines anways.

Week 4A: Nature vs. Nurture

Personally I think nurture is what shapes us a person. Not our genes. Genes make up what we look like, but not who we are. The people who we hang out with today with affect who we will be in the future. Or any choices that we make. That's what really makes a person. The upbringing of a person, affects who they will be. The people who you chose to hang out with will ultimately play apart in your life. Either the influences can be a good thing or a bad thing. Genetics has very little to do with you will become.

Week 5A: If I Were A...

If I were a superhero I would be Batman…or Superman. Either one would be okay. Batman has a cool car, and Superman flies. So it truly wouldn’t matter to me.

If I were a type of food I would be…strawberries. There so yummy! I like fruit, and strawberries are my favorite, so why not? Strawberries go with chocolate and I like chocolate…a lot!

If I were a color I would be red. Red can be used as a happy color, or an angry color, or a loveable color. Again, it could fit any mood I’m in.

If I were a type of music, I would be rock. Why rock? Because rock has so many different varieties. There’s punk rock, 80’s rock, classic rock, and Christian rock. Rock is the genre that can help me through any day, no matter what my mood is.

If I were a car I would be I would be a Mercury Comet. (Like Peyton’s off of One Tree Hill) It would be black with a convertible top. W

Week 6A: What's in a name?

My name in very unusual, so I had a difficult time finding Jessalyn. So I looked up Jessica and Lynn, and this is what I came up with. Jessica comes from the Biblical name Iscah; which in Shakespeare’s time was spelled Jesca. The meaning of Iscah is “to behold.” Then I looked up Lyn, and came up with Lynn. Then it said that Lynn was a shortened name for Linda. The German version of Linda means “soft, tender.” But the Spanish version means “Beautiful.” If I was a boy my name would be Jesse. I love my name! It’s different, and I’ve never met another Jessalyn before. I’m not sure what I would change my name too. But it would be something totally out there, well not totally out there.

Week 2A: Creative Costumes

When I was a kid my family didn’t really celebrate Halloween. Sure I dressed up for my first few Halloweens. The traditional pumpkin costume is the only costume I can remember. Other than that, I don’t remember too many Halloweens. There is one Halloween that stands out amongst the rest. My family made this scarecrow with an ugly mask. My mom made my brother and I take a picture in front of it. I was terrified of the thing! When we were finished I ran inside to watch the Halloween special on TV. I also would hide from the trick-or-treaters. All the different costumes and masks still frighten me to this day. After the trick-or-treating hours were over, there was a knock on the door. I was apprehensive at first to open the door. So I opened it cautiously, and… DUN DUN DUNNNNN! The scarecrow boogieman was standing in my doorway! “Hello Jessalyn,” it said. It new my name! How could that be? And then I realized I hadn’t seen my dad in a while.

Music Defines You

To tell you the truth, I don’t listen to much music from this generation. Sure I listen to a little Secondhand Serenade and Foo Fighters every now and then, but the 80’s is my true passion. A little bit of Van Halen or Journey really does the trick. I recently started listening to The Rolling Stones. They’re pretty great. My favorite song right now is probably ‘I Can’t go for That’ by Hall and Oates. I do listen to some music from this generation, for example Hawk Nelson and Skillet. I’ve seen both of these bands in concert, and they are pretty amazing! My friend Faith and I met Skillet and took a picture with the lead singer.
Apparently the music I listen to doesn’t really fit my personality. Most people are surprised when they figure out that I listen to the music I listen to. I liked it because of the electric guitar and rockiness about it!

If I could meet anybody dead or live, I would want to meet Edward Cullen from the book (not the movie) Twilight. He is a vampire who feeds off of animals and not people. So I would be safe because he wouldn’t suck my blood. In the book Edward falls in love with Bella Swan, a girl from Phoenix, Arizona. Here are some questions I would love to ask him:
1. What held you back from killing Bella and everyone else in the classroom on her first day of school?
2. What’s it like to be able to read other people’s minds?
3. Does it ever bother you that you can’t go outside when it’s sunny?
4. What’s it like to live through 101 years? How much has the world changed?
5. Do you still think it’s a bad idea to have Bella become a vampire?
6. What were you thinking when you left Bella right after her birthday?


These are just a few questions I would love to ask Edward. Even though he would already know what I would want to ask him.

When I start to see those back to school comercials, I get excited about going back to school, but not this year. Being a sophmore is upsetting. You're not new, and you're not an upperclassmen. There's really no point to us. Atleast that's how I see it. An upside to being a sophmore is that you get to pick some of the classes you want to take, but you also have to take more tricky classes as well. This semester I'm taking Biology 1, German 1, English 2, and Band. I was really excited about my classes this year.

I'm not gonna lie, but Biology is pretty boring. Science has never been one of my favorite subjects, so I just naturally get bored in that class. Which is pretty awful considering it's my first class, and I'm set on slow for the rest of the day after that. (well lunch energizes me a bit.) So far this class is easy, but i have a feeling that that might all change.

German 1 is one of my favorite classes, tied second with English. I was excited about taking this class because I heard only good things about it. I was also nervous about taking German. Thinking 'What did I just get myself into?' I remembered getting a text message sent to me in German and wondering what that ment. This text message gave me mixed feelings. One being, how am I going to learn a foreign language, I already have a hard enough time spitting out English. The other one being, wow! Someday I will be able to understand this, and more! This class is going pretty well for me.

Tied second with German 1, English 2 is one of my favorite classes. I have always enjoyed reading, writing, and history. In this class i get a mixture of all three.

Analysis of Being Frightened

Sitting in my grandma and grandpa’s bedroom with six of my cousins, the only light was coming from the flashlight. I was six years old, and scared out of my mind. We were playing a game called Light as a Feather and Stiff as a Board. There wasn’t really any point in the game, except having fun with my cousins who I rarely got to see. My oldest cousin Tara, who was 16 at the, time sat at the front of the bed. My other cousin Meghan, who was ten, always volunteered to go first. The rest of us would sit around Meghan and lift her up saying Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, and then we’d gently lay her back down on the bed. Tara would put Meghan’s head on her lap and massage her temples and tell the story of Meghan’s death. At the end we’d lift Meghan up again, and say Light as a Feather, Stiff as a board. My brother Josh, who was also ten, went next. We’d do the same thing for him, except he’d have a different story. Everybody’s story was different, but all of them would have something in common. Death.
My cousin Taylor, who was a year younger than me, went before me. Even though we were going from oldest to youngest. I was scared, no, petrified. I hated getting my story told about my death. It was uncomfortable and overwhelming. When it came to my turn, I had Tara tell my story as a good one. She did, and I was grateful. Now if I could change my story, I would. Now were too old. Tara is twenty-five, and Meghan passed away when she was thirteen. It wouldn’t be the same as it used to be when I was scared out of my mind.

Blog # 12: Dude that was an awesome CDOW

When I heard that I had to job shadow a doctor by myself, I was a little apprehensive. The thought of being alone with somebody I didn’t know was overwhelming. I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to be a doctor. When I got to the hospital a lady greeted my group at the front door, and told each individual which doctor they would be job shadowing. I was told I was going to be job shadowing a pediatrician. I went upstairs with three other girls to find a girl named Connie. We went to the wrong reception desk, and had to go back down the elevator downstairs to find Connie. When we arrived to the downstairs reception desk, we found Connie, and she told us to wait in the break room. The break room was tiny, and had two tables. On the tables were pens that advertised different medicines. We talked about the possibilities of what would happen. How the doctors would look, act, and treat us. Sitting in the room was really nerve racking. Connie walked into the room and named off the doctors, and asked who wanted to be with whom. Two of the girls picked the pediatricians that were on that floor we were on. The other girl was placed with the pediatrician on the second floor. I was stuck with a doctor for adult medicines. That consisted of sitting at the nurses’ desk, waiting while the nurse was finishing up with the patients who didn’t want me to be in the room with them. One out of five of the patients didn’t want me in the room because I was too young. That’s all I did for the first hour and a half of Career Day on Wheels. It was so boring. Finally the nurse that I was job shadowing took me to the pediatric unit. When I got there the whole atmosphere had changed. Little kids walking with their parents, a few babies screaming as they got their shots. That’s when I realized I wanted to be a pediatrician or a nurse in a pediatrician office. I got to see x-rays of a little boy’s leg that had a cist on it. I also saw a baby get a shot in each leg. I remember seeing him cry and look at me, and making me feel guilty because I couldn’t help him. One of the doctors took us to the maternity ward where the new babies were. There was five of them, and they were all boys. He checked them to give them ok that they could go home. Some of them cried, others sneezed and coughed. They were adorable. The day that I thought was going to be awful ended up being a day I’ll never forget.

Blog 15: You’re Almost There

June 20th is the day my family and I head to Florida for one week. The last time I went to Florida was when I was in sixth grade. We went over spring break to visit some friends. We hung out at the beach, and I ended up with a terrible sunburn. This year will be different though. We’re renting a house on our own private beach. We’ll visit our friends on our way back home, and see my cousin and his baby while were down there.
July 21st to the 25th is Band Camp. I love band camp, but this year will be different because we will have a new band director. I’m scared and anxious to see how he does band camp differently then Mr. Abbott. Even though I’ll be nervous, I’ll have fun too. Most of close friends will be there. I’ll also get to meet the new freshmen coming in. Maybe this year I’ll remember to put on sunscreen the first day.
If I had all the money in the world and was able to spend it on summer travel, my first stop would be London, England. I would go there because I’ve been wanting to for a very long time. I would get to hear those amazing British accents, and be in the country where Orlando Bloom was born, which would be amazing. My second stop would be to Paris, France because it has amazing fashion. I would shop ‘til I dropped. My third stop would be Sydney, Australia. Australians also have amazing, beautiful accents, sadly that would be the number one reason I would go there. I would also go to the zoo where Steve Irwin used to work at because I’ve heard it’s a pretty cool place to go. My fourth and final stop would be going to South Africa because I would want to help the little kids. I feel so bad for them. Since I have all the money in the world, I would donate half of it to an organization for the little kids of Africa.

Blog#11: DOGS or Cats?

Blog #11: Dogs or Cats?

Growing up with a mom who’s allergic to cats, made me feel more comfortable around dogs. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved animals. I used to act like I was zoo keeper, and my backyard was my zoo. Even though I loved animals, I never really liked cats.
One trip to my cousin’s house determined my dislike towards cats. My cousin’s house was a home for abandoned cats. Everywhere you turned there were cats. I had a favorite cat named Sweetie. She was gray and white, and was missing an eye. I felt bad for her and decided to hold her. I sat down on a chair and she curled up and my lap and fell asleep. When she woke up I put her down on the ground. My cousin was pointing at the front of me. I looked down, and then I saw that the cat pooped on me. After that incident I haven’t been so fond of cats. Nor have a held one.
On the other hand, I do have a love for dogs. I like how they’re calm, and cuddly, but also can be spastic, and playful. I have two dogs, Zoey and Gus. I’ve had them for about five years. They’re the same, but they’re different. Gus, the boy, is skinny. Zoey, the girl, is not. Gus gets scared when you pick him up, Zoey’s legs get stiff. Zoey doesn’t like to cuddle, but Gus does.
When Zoey sleeps, her eyes and mouth twitch. This means she’s dreaming. One day though, she did something extremely funny when she was sleeping. She started to wag her tail. I feel bad for her when she sleeps because once she whimpered, and rolled off the couch. When Gus was a puppy, he had two near death experiences. One time he we couldn’t find him. My brother walked into his room to find Gus licking his cologne bottle. We washed out his mouth and he was fine, but it was a scary experience. He also ate a bag of M&M’s. This isn’t good because dogs are allergic to chocolate. There was nothing we could really do except wait. We waited to see if he was fine, and he was.
All and all, I like dogs a whole lot more than cats. I don’t know if that’s because I didn’t grow up around cats, or if it’s because my personality is more compatible with dogs. I do like cats, but they’re too independent. Unlike dogs who seem like they care more.

Blog Entry #6

Blog Entry #6: A Dream Come True

It always seems like I have weird dreams. The Easter bunny trying to kill me, bears invading my town, or traveling back in time. They’re all very strange. I remember almost all of my dreams, not every single detail, but most of it.

One of my most terrifying nightmares was about the Easter bunny. The Easter bunny, and scary are rarely used in the same sentence. In my dreams though, it makes complete and total sense. I was in my house, sitting on the couch watching TV. There was a knock on the door, and I walked over to it. I edged the door open slowly. I was home alone, and I was a tad bit nervous about who was behind the door. To my surprise it was the Easter bunny. I was a little hesitant to let him in. What the heck, he was the Easter bunny. He hopped in my house. Before I could close the door, he pulled a chainsaw out from behind his back. He chased me around my house. We ran back to the front door. I had to fight him out the door. I opened up, and he fell outside. I pushed the door shut, and locked it.

A dream I have a lot, is about bears attacking my hometown. I was sitting in my kitchen, and I look out the window. A terrible feeling of fright runs through my body. I see to large grizzly bears, and three cubs standing in my neighbor’s backyard. I’m scared because they could eat my two dogs, Zoey and Gus. I cautiously walk over to the back door to let them in, afraid that the bears will charge. I let Zoey and Gus in without any movements from the bears. The next thing I know I’m walking up to the town square. The bears are grazing lazily in the grass. They were nice, and gentle with all the people around. It was as if they were apart of our town.

Looking all around me and my surroundings are black and white. There were older cars driving down the street heading towards the diner. People are walking on the sidewalks heading to the town pool. Which I think is weird considering McLean doesn’t have a town pool. I look down and see that my clothes are old fashioned. I then realize that I went back in time to the 1950s. Everything looked simple and peaceful. I walked uptown to the town square. People were everywhere. They were sitting under the trees, on the park benches, and hanging out at the hardware store. The grocery store was open, and people were walking in and out. I then find myself sitting in the country looking at the beautiful sunset, wishing I could sit there forever.

Blog # 3: Dinner Party

Dinner Party

If I could invite any three people to a dinner party, I would have to invite Orlando Bloom, Maximillien Robespierre, and my cousin Taylor. There are different reasons I would like to invite all of them. Either they’re a good actor, was involved with something in history I’ve enjoyed learning about, or just because I want somebody to talk to just in case I don’t have that much in common with the other two people.

Orlando bloom would be on the top of my list of coming to my dinner party for three reasons. One- he’s a good actor, and in movies I like. Two-he’s cute. Three-he has a British accent. You can never be to sure how actors are when they’re not in front of the camera. To me he seems funny, nice, and charming.

Maximillien Robespierre had an influential part in the French Revolution. In social studies we learned about the French Revolution, which was my favorite unit we did. I would invite Maximillien because I would ask him about the certain things he did during the revolution. No matter if they were good or bad. Which most of them weren’t so smart. I would like to see why he chose all the decisions he did. He seemed like a good person before he tried to make himself God. The power just went to his head in my opinion.

You may be thinking why the last person I would take is my cousin when I could take anybody in the world. I would take her because if I didn’t have anything in common with Orlando or Maximillien I would be able to talk to her. She would be there for support. She could ask any questions she wanted. Even though I don’t think she knows who Maximillien Robespierre is, but she definitely would know who Orlando Bloom is. We’d probably have more fun talking to him anyways.

I would enjoy talking to these people over dinner. That’s why I would invite them. I know Taylor is caring, but Orlando I’m not sure. Even though I think he is. I’m pretty sure that Maximillien is not caring considering his killing of people. That’s why I would also like to throw in a body guard just incase.

Blog # 2

Ahhh, the Sweet Joy of a Snow Day!

Waking up at 7:30, wondering why I’m still in bed, panicking over the fact that I’m going to be late for school. Then I walk out to the front room and look out the window. I have to close my eyes because the brightness of the sun reflecting on the snow hurts my eyes. My mom was sitting on the adman, right next to the fireplace. She looked to be cooking something in a pot. I thought that was a little strange considering we had a stove, and it worked perfectly fine. My house was much colder that it normally was. I then realized that the electricity was out!

I was excited about the snow day, and knowing I didn’t have to go to school. I wasn’t too thrilled about being stuck in my house all day with out electricity, heat, or a warm meal. I sat down on the couch next to mom by the fire place to get warmed up. My mom was heating up water to make her tea, and some oatmeal for me and my brother when he got home from work. He worked nights at Caterpillar from eleven to seven. I went back into my room to bundle up. I put on my pink polka dotted hat, two long-sleeved shirts, a hoodie, two pairs of tall socks, and my fleece pajama pants. Now that I was considerably warm, I went back to the front room to get by the fire. About ten minutes later I heard the door open and my brother, Josh, come in with his loud obnoxious scream. I also heard somebody else. It was his girlfriend Justine. From then on I knew that this snow day was going to be even more out of the ordinary.

Josh and Justine walked into the front room. Justine was dressed in her clothes she was going to wear to school. I thought that was weird. Josh said that when he called her that morning that she was really awake, and was ready to go get on the bus. My mom and I both laughed because we thought that was hysterically funny. Justine and I are close in age, so we get along quite well. I was lying on the couch, and my brother decided he wanted to as well. My mom walked into the kitchen, and went to the backdoor to let our dogs, Zoey and Gus inside to the “warmth.” Josh cradled Gus in his blanket from his bed and held him. My dog Zoey is pretty huge, and I can’t pick her up so I told her to come lie down by me. So she did after five attempts of trying to get up on the couch. Justine was getting upset because Josh was paying more attention to Gus then to her. We then realized that we had a fold out couch, and we pulled it out so all of us could fit.

The water was finally heated up. My mom got out some bowls and made my brother and me some oatmeal. It was actually really good. My brother decided he needed to take a nap because he was tired. So we went to our bedrooms and got all our blankets and pillows. After we got situated, Josh fell asleep, and we played Madlibs. Justine, me, and my mom played that for awhile, and then we got drowsy, and fell asleep. I texted Faith all morning to see if she had power yet. While I was asleep she texted me saying that her she was hoping her power was going to come on soon because she was excited for the concert we were going to that night. I woke up, and my mom and Justine were making noodles. I was hungry, so they gave me some. They were really good. My mom went back out to the kitchen to get more because my brother just woke up and he was hungry too. My mom fixed the noodles and we ate. We played Madlibs again, and then the electricity came back on. We watched Happy Feet, and fell asleep in the middle of it. I had a lot of fun that day. I got to spend time with my family, stay in bed all day, not get dressed until three thirty, and catch up on my sleep.

Entry No. 1: Welcome to my Blog.

Welcome to my Blog

Ello my name is Jessalyn Ummel. I am fifteen years of age. I got to Olympia High School. In my English 1 class we are writing blogs. Henceforth that’s why I’m writing this blog

I have hazel eyes. I’m around 5’6”ish 5’7”ish, you do the math. My vision, I would have to say, is pretty good. I don’t wear glasses or contacts. My hair is really straight. It doesn’t do anything. Some people say my hair color is brown, blond, and/or sandy. My wardrobe style differs on my mood. Sometimes I wear softer colors, but other times I wear crazy colors. For example, crazy tall socks, they’re pretty much amazing. Shoes are awesome. My chucks are my favorite pair of shoes.

My personality/mood depends on the people I’m with. If I’m with my friends I’m talkative, hyper, and somewhat weird. If I’m by people I barely know I can be either quiet or shy, or a little bit more talkative because they don’t really know me. I can have a quick temper, but just as easily as I get mad, I can get happy even faster.

I am a band geek, and proud of it. I play the saxophone in marching band, pep band, (maybe) jazz band, and concert band. Basketball is my favorite sport to play. I used to play it, but don’t anymore because being a benchwarmer isn’t that much fun. Right now I’m not doing much extra activities outside of school, or in school. My favorite male celebrity is definitely Orlando Bloom, he’s amazing.