hi kiddos! woo, its been a while since ive BLOGGED here.. haha. i swear to you, it was iNTENTiON to BLOG REGULARLY but ehh.. you know how SCHOOL can get.. EXTREMELY STRESSFUL.. and right now, even though i HAVENT had school for the past NiNE DAYS, im still as STRESSED AS EVER! GAH! WiLL iT NEVER END?! anyway, woo hoo! lemme give ya a RECAP on whats happened in the LAST MONTH.. its been PRETTY BUSY, so SiT BACK AND RELAX.. here we go! alrighty, lets start with the RATHER BORiNG STUFF.. aka, SCHOOL..

SACRAMENT: ehh.. okay, i swear to you, i DO like MR.YUMUL but this class is just a PAiN iN THE ASS! there are just too many frikkin GROUP PROJECTS in EVERY CLASS and my particular GROUP in this CLASS i dont really enjoy.. okay, well thats not true.. i LiKE my group, its just i have some iSSUES with one person because as GREAT AS HiS iNTENTiONS ARE, THEY ARE JUST TOO HARD TO MEET! gah.. but anyway, yeah, same ol same ol here.. since were on a BREAK right now, MR.YUMUL assigned us with an ESSAY on the HiSTORY OF THE SACRAMENTS and a GROUP PROJECT where we have to FiLM TWO SCENES from a movie that showcases JESUS in the PRESENT.. ehh.. so far, ive got ONE of those TWO assignments complete, that being the MOViE SCENES.. we finished that today at around 1:00.. not TOO bad, but PRETTY BAD.. haha.. but luckily, this is one of the CLASSES that didnt have a PREREQUiSiTE AP EXAM.. but we'll get to that a lil later.. anyway, moving on!

WORLD HiSTORY (H): ehh.. im tellin ya, this CLASS will be the DEATH of me.. its just TOO MUCH WORK.. and why i took the PREREQUiSiTE AP U.S. HiSTORY EXAM ill never know.. good lord, last week i had to stay after school to take this exam.. we had to write an essay on what the THESiS of a document we were given was.. there was a LOT of people who took this TEST but hopefully i made it in.. anyway, during this class we also had a CHAPTER 7 & 8 TEST.. blah.. i think i did okay.. for the FiRST TiME i actually paid attention to MR.BAiLEY when he was explaining stuff so that really did help.. haha.. sad.. during the break we got ASSiGNED a DBQ ESSAY, TAKE NOTES, and SECTiON 9-1 REViEW.. grr.. currently, i have ZERO out of THREE completed.. woo hoo for me! haha, anyway, moving on!

ENGLiSH II (H): okay, i can honestly tell you that this is probably my FAVORiTE CLASS.. i dunno really why.. maybe because i like to write.. but this is like THE ONE CLASS i actually put EFFORT towards.. dont get me wrong, i do with all the other classes as well, but i really do try hard in this class..iuno, i like the TOPiCS MS.DOMiNGUES assigns us to write about.. i find them more interesting than having to do some stupid GFR.. anyway, we just finished reading THE STRANGER in this class and we did our PRESENTATiONS .. we did PRETTY WELL.. when compared to the others i think we did a good job.. it was a very HARD subject to write about because it required A LOT of research.. eh.. but all in all, it was a GOOD TEAM EFFORT.. this CLASS also had PREREQUiSiTE TEST in order to get into ENGLiSH III (H).. so i had to come in at 7:30 last WEDNESDAY to take this test.. we had a choice between THREE TOPiCS to write about and so, NATURALLY, i chose the EASiEST one in which we were asked to write an ESSAY on OUT OF THE SiX PiLLARS OF CHARACTER, WHiCH iS THE MOST iMPORTANT.. it was pretty easy, but like AP U.S HiSTORY, there were a lotta people, but hopefully i got into this one as well..

SPANiSH II: woo.. this CLASS is a class that just KiLLS ME.. i absolutely HATE iT! haha.. okay, its no OFFENSE to MS.ALVAREZ or even HiSPANiCS.. its just, i DONT UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE! its so FRiKKiN hard.. its horrible.. but luckily, MS.ALVAREZ told me i was gettin an A.. haha.. she asked to talk to me AFTER SCHOOL and i was so AFRAiD that she was gonna tell me i was FAiLiNG but instead she told me i was gettin an A in the class so that was a relief.. this CLASS also had a PREREQUiSiTE test to get into SPANiSH III but i KNOW FOR A FACT i DiD NOT GET iN.. haha.. it was HORRiBLE.. i only knew like THREE WORDS on that STUPiD TEST! i mean, were in SPANiSH II but were still learning things from SPANiSH I! its so STUPiD.. but whatever.. looks like im taking FRENCH I next year! haha.. anyhoo, for the break, we just got BOOK WORK, but as usual, im not FiNiSHED YET.. haha, but hey, you gotta GiVE ME SOME CREDiT for actually STARTiNG iT!

BiOLOGY (H): alrighty.. well this is the ONE CLASS im actually WORRiED ABOUT possibly getting a B in.. grr.. im only worried about it because i got a C on the ZOO PROJECT but i got a PERFECT SCORE on the iN-CLASS TEST with ERNiE so hopefully it'll CANCEL OUT.. but lord only knows.. anyway, this class i also had to take a PREREQUiSiTE test to get into CHEMiSTRY (H).. it was pretty BAD.. haha.. most everyone took ONE LOOK and LEFT.. haha, well luckily, i learned SCiENTiFiC NOTATiON at SCS so i got the FiRST PAGE DONE.. but the second page was asking about SiGNiFiCANT FACTORS and i just thought to myself "ARE YOU FREAKiNG SERiOUS?!" haha.. but whatever.. i TRiED and i WROTE MY NAME DOWN, and thats more than others can so so hopefully i got into this class also.. for this class we only got assigned to finish our SECTiON REViEWS and CONTENT REViEW and AMAZiNGLY, iM FiNiSHED! WOO HOO! haha, my ONLY completed ASSiGNMENT! OH YES!

ALGEBRA II (H): woo, well this class im really starting to LiKE because ALGEBRA is so much EASiER for me than GEOMETRY WAS.. im actually GETTiNG an A despite the fact that ive been SLACKiNG OFF LATELY.. i mean, can you blame me though?! theres just TOO MUCH WORK.. ugh.. anyway, i had to take a PREREQUiSiTE test to get into PRE-CAL HONORS but we were competing against people who were in the ALGEBRA II class and so they knew a LOT more than we did so we were at a HUGE disadvantage.. i think i only answered like TWENTY out of FiFTY-FiVE QUESTiONS.. argh.. but MR.P said that our biggest CONCERN should be our CURRENT GRADES in his class because since we didnt KNOW ALGEBRA II, he didnt really expect us to get a VERY HiGH GRADE on the test.. hopefully, i made it in to this class. i really, really hope i did.. anyway, for this class we were only told to FiNiSH our BOOKWORK so i still have to get that done, but luckily, its not TOO MUCH.. im hoping to FiNiSH all my HOMEWORK tonight.. but lord knows ill probably get DiSTRACTED AGAiN, much like how im BLOGGiNG now instead of doing my LiTERATURE HOMEWORK..

haha, anyway, how bout i fill you in on the SOCiAL ASPECT of school.. well, LUCKiLY, this MONTH went by REALLY QUiCKLY especially with all of the SPECiAL HAPPENiNGS GOiNG ON.. lets see, for VALENTiNE'S DAY i got a couple of GRAMS which were pretty cool.. i got a COMPLETE one from ERNiE.. which included a ROSE, A BAG OF CANDY, A BALLOON, and a TEDDY BEAR.. woo hoo! i also got CANDY from ELLE and then i got a bunch of lil VALENTiNES and CANDY from other friends.. it was REALLY SWEET! we also went to YOUTH DAY in ANAHEiM, iuno, i ENJOYED iT.. but i guess when COMPARED to other people, im kinda RELiGiOUS cuz i go to CONFiRMATiON and stuff.. but anyway, we saw the CONFiRMATiON group there.. hmm.. ANDi, SHANNON, STEPHANiE, and LENA were there so that was pretty COOL BEANS.. i also saw TONY so all in all it was a good day.. anyhoo, ERNiE and BRENT decided to join the TRACK TEAM.. haha, oh lord.. HAVE FUN GUYS! i seriously dont understand how people can ENJOY running.. thats just plain weird.. anyway, ERNiE now has PRACTiCE like everyday after school so im kinda stuck there watching him from now on i guess.. haha.. oh man, ERNiE came home from PRACTiCE last week and he was COMPLETELY SORE.. haha.. sad.. but hey, it takes a lotta EFFORT to be on the team... im so EXCiTED for the SEASON because ERNiE and BRENT get to wear those CUTE LiL SHORTS THAT GO UP TO MiD-THiGH.. haha.. oh man.. i LOVE it! but goodness, those two FiNALLY decide to JOiN a sport and they choose something that i CANT EVEN CHEER FOR! what is that?! whatever.. haha.. anyway, hmm.. there were also a LOT of BiRTHDAYS CELEBRATED, MiNE included but we'll get to that later.. AiDREE, DEX, ANDi, and CHRiS celebrated birthdays so HAPPY BELATED BiRTHDAY GUYS! haha, well i guess that leads us into the FAMiLY BiRTHDAYS and MY birthday.. my DADDY turned 51 and my KUYA turned 23! woo hoo, theyre old farts.. haha, we only ATE DiNNER that SATURDAY to celebrate because KUYA went out with his FRiENDS to celebrate and MOMMY and DADDY went to the CASiNO to celebrate.. well, and now onto MY birthday! =)

well woo hoo, kiddos! im SiXTEEN now! haha, i guess im an OLD FART.. goodness, i DO feel old though.. haha.. isnt that sad?! anyway, my birthday was LAST WEDNESDAY on FEB 23RD.. when i got to school, BRENT was there and he told me i came to early.. haha.. i was like, um.. okay.. haha.. well i went into MR.SUNDERLiK'S room because we were waiting for the LiTERATURE PREREQUiSiTE TEST and so when i came out, BRENT had put a CLAY AiKEN BiRTHDAY POSTER UP ON MY LOCKER! it was REALLY SWEET.. it said "HAPPY BiRTHDAY TO MY VERY SEXY FAN. HAPPY BiRTHDAY RENEi!" it was so sweet.. and to top it off he said that i came to early and he was going to ORDER ME BALLOONS! he's such a sweetie! haha, goodness, and if that wasnt enough, he gave me TWENTY BUCKS! gah, GOTTA LOVE BRENT! THANK YOU BRENT! then later on, after i came out from the ENGLiSH III (H) PREREQUiSiTE TEST, VANESSA had put up another lil HAPPY BiRTHDAY POSTER.. it was REALLY, REALLY SWEET.. i almost cried.. it had all of these pictures from SCS and she just kept telling me how much she LOVED me and how she thought i was a special person.. it was really, really sweet of her.. THANK YOU NESSA! ANNE also decided to put up a lil paper that said HAPPY BiRTHDAY and people signed it.. it was really sweet.. then ALL DAY people kept coming up and giving me HUGS and KiSSES and GREETiNG ME.. it was really sweet of em.. haha, and everytime i passed ABBY in a hallyway, she'd say happy birthday.. shes so sweet.. haha, and then in BiOLOGY, BRENT sang me HAPPY BiRTHDAY and then had EVERYONE sing HAPPY BiRTHDAY again to me.. hes such a sweetie.. always knows how to make me SMiLE. =) anyway.. the NiGHT before, KRiS called to say HAPPY BiRTHDAY and then that night, EVAN called me up and we got caught up.. hes such a SWEETiE! anyway, that night, we went out to eat at ROSiE'S, a BBQ place.. and then we went to FRY'S to pick up my KUYA'S PS2 GAME.. haha, then i spent the rest of the NiGHT studying for my WORLD HiSTORY TEST.. BOO! haha.. anyway, i really CELEBRATED my birthday on SATURDAY when MARJ, MELO, ERNiE, and the FAM spent the WEEKEND at DiSNEYLAND.. everyone got DROPPED OFF at my HOUSE on SATURDAY MORNiNG and we left for DiSNEYLAND.. we stopped at DENNY'S in SANTA ANA for BREAKFAST though.. when we got to DiSNEYLAND we checked into our ROOMS at the PARADiSE PiER HOTEL.. it was pretty nice, although im so used to the HiGH CLASS SUiTES on the FOURTH FLOOR.. but it was pretty cool beans.. anyway, we went to DCA first and MOMMY and DADDY got us FASTPASSES for GRiZZLY PEAK, SOARiNG OVER CALiFORNiA, TOWER OF TERROR, and a FASTPASS that ADMiTTED FiVE PEOPLE TO ANY RiDE WiTH A FASTPASS LiNE.. it was PRETTY COOL! they also got me a BiRTHDAY BUTTON AND STiCKER! WOO HOO! haha, we had a LOT of fun.. we MOSTLY ate and only road like TEN RiDES TOPS.. but it was still a lotta fun.. my favorite part of the night was of course, watching FANTASMiC.. it was really cool beans.. i LOVE iT! i have PLENTY of PiCS to share and so i'll leave you the links in a lil while.. anyway, we went back to the hotel as DiSNEYLAND was closing and we stayed up until only maybe around 1:30 because we were DEAD TiRED! haha, anyway, the next morning on SUNDAY, i was the FiRST to wake up in our room.. my FAM shared one room and ERNiE, MARJ, MELO, and i shared another.. MARJ and MELO took one bed, ERNiE took the pull out bed, and i took the other full bed.. anyhoo, haha, when i woke up, ERNiE was sleeping with the BLANKET just on his HEAD.. haha.. it was hilarious and then later on i heard him complaining that his feet were cold.. haha, good stuff.. and then MARJ and MELO'S bed was a MESS! their COMFORTERS were all over the place! haha.. but anyhoo, i let em sleep in for a lil while while i TOOK A SHOWER.. when i got out, it took me another TWENTY MiNUTES TO WAKE EM UP! those kids are DEEP SLEEPERS! haha, i shook em each like THREE TiMES! anyway, we were able to get out on time.. then we ate at the OLD SPAGHETTi FACTORY and went to RiTE AiD to pick up my MOMMY'S PERSCRiPTiON while the rest of us went to BLOCKBUSTER and KB TOYS.. after that we went home and then everyone got picked up.. it was a LOTTA FUN! haha, anyway, lets see, what did i get for my birthday?! well lets see, i got FOUR VERY SPECiAL PHONE CALLS FROM SARAH, MY ATEH SUSAN, EVAN, and KRiS.. i got a BiLiNGUAL ELMO FROM ERNiE.. i got MONEY FROM MY LOLO AND LOLA, MY ATEH SUSAN, BRENT, AND MARJ AND MELO.. i got SPECiAL CARDS/POSTERS/COMMENTS FROM BRENT, VANESSA, ANNE, KRiS, SAM, MAi, AMANDA, and SUSAN.. i got a GOOD LUCK CHARM FROM KRiS and a BALLOON FROM SAM.. i also got A TON OF VERY SPECiAL GREETiNGS SO i THANK EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHiNG THAT YOU GUYS DiD FOR ME! i REALLY, REALLY APPRECiATE iT!

anyway, here are the pics you guys are waiting for! make sure to CLiCK EM! THEY'RE THUMBNAiLS! iF PiCTURES ARE BLURRY WHEN YOU CLiCK ON THE THUMBNAiL, SCROLL OVER THE PiCTURE AND ON THE BOTTOM RiGHT CORNER THERE SHOULD BE A BUTTON WiTH ARROWS ON iT.. CLiCK iT AND THE PiCTURE WiLL EXPAND. haha, i added lil CAPTiONS and who the people are just so you dont confuse MARJ and MELO because lord knows they look alike.. i keep telling em that they look like twins but whatever.. haha.. sorry im a dork.. anyway, on with the pics!

LOST AND FOUND. YES, RACHEL, MARJ, AND MELO ARE LOST. WiLL SOMEONE PLEASE CLAiM THE POOR KiDS?! (R to L: RACHEL, MARJ, MELO)

 
WAiTiNG iN LiNE FOR TOWER OF TERROR.. MMM.. BUBBLEGUM! SAD, ERNiE CAN'T BLOW A BUBBLE! (R to L: ERNiE, MARJ, RACHEL, MELO)

 
AT THE "GREETiNGS FROM CALiFORNiA" GiFT SHOP AT THE ENTRANCE OF DCA.. CHECK OUT MY NEMO HAT! (R to L: MARJ, ME, ERNiE, RACHEL)

 
ME AND MY BELOVED NEMO HAT!

 
AT DCA, WiTH GOOFY, PiMPiNG iT! OF COURSE, ERNiE iS TOO COOL TO BE DOiNG iT! (R to L: MARJ, MELO, GOOFY, ME, RACHEL, ERNiE)


PiCS RiGHT BEFORE PARK CLOSiNG (R to L: ME, MARJ, MELO, ERNiE)

 
OTHER PiCS BEFORE PARK CLOSiNG (R to L: ME, MARJ, MELO, ERNiE)

 
PiCS BEFORE PARK CLOSiNG. DOESN'T ERNiE LOOK SCARED TO BE THERE?! (R to L: RACHEL, MARJ, MELO, ERNiE)

 
PiCS BEFORE PARK CLOSiNG WiTH ME PiMPiN MY MiCKEY EARS. YOU KNOW THEY'RE HOT. (R to L: ME, MARJ, MELO, ERNiE) 


WAiTiNG FOR FANTASMiC AT DiSNEYLAND (ERNiE AND i)

 
STiLL WAiTiNG FOR FANTASMiC (ERNiE AND i)

 
JUST ENTERiNG DCA. WHAT iS MARJ DOiNG?! (R to L: MARJ, ME, MELO, ERNiE)

 
JUST ENTERiNG DCA. LiKE THE POSE? (R to L: MARJ, ME, MELO, ERNiE)


JUST ENTERiNG DCA AGAiN. iS iT JUST ME OR DOES iT LOOK LiKE ERNiE THiNKS WE HAVE COOTiES?! i KEEP TELLiNG HiM i DONT HAVE ANY AND THAT EVEN iF i DiD i ALREADY GOT MY COOTiE SHOT! BUT WHATEVER! (R to L: MARJ, ME, MELO, ERNiE)

 
LOOK! iTS CLAY AND i! OH, AND RACHEL. (BOO.) AT DCA iN FRONT OF PLAYHOUSE DiSNEY.

 
BEFORE PARK CLOSiNG. LOOK AT ERNiE PiMPiN iT! (R to L: MARJ, RACHEL, ERNiE, MELO)

 
BEFORE PARK CLOSiNG AGAiN. (R to L: ERNiE, ME, MARJ, RACHEL)

 

anyhoo.. okay, so now that you know whats going on in MY life, now its time to turn to SOMEONE ELSE'S LiFE! like my HUSBAND! woo hoo! haha, well in case you didnt already know, CLAY has been on a "SEMi-BREAK" .. for those of us on the CLAY MESSAGE BOARDS, this time is known as the CLAY-DROUGHT.. haha.. despite him being on a BREAK, CLAY has made a FEW APPEARANCES and of course, ill be covering em here! okay, lets see.. on VALENTiNES DAY, CLAY made an APPEARANCE on JiMMY KiMMEL.. he looked GORGEOUS! he looked very WELL RESTED and was just GLOWiNG.. its OBViOUS that JiMMY and HiM are very CLOSE NOW.. he didnt SiNG but the iNTERViEW was very SWEET and CHARMiNG NONETHELESS.. then the NEXT NiGHT, CLAY made an appearance on SCRUBS.. he played a NERDY CAFETERiA WORKER NAMED KENNY.. he did an AWESOME JOB and got TONS OF PRAiSE FOR iT! woo hoo! he laid the ACCENT ON THiCK and i just thought it was ADORABLE! after that appearance, we had to wait another week or so for our NEXT APPEARANCE which would be at THE BUBEL AiKEN FOUNDATiON'S HAWAii VOiCES FOR CHANGE GALA.. CLAY made an AMAZiNG SPEECH on the TOPiC OF iNCLUSiON and looked GORGEOUS.. he kept his HAiR NATURAL and LOOKED TRULY HAPPY iN HiS ELEMENT. that night he sang FOUR SONGS, i WiLL CARR YOU, iNViSiBLE, MEASURE OF A MAN, and BRiDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER.

iF YOU EVERY QUESTiONED OR WONDERED WHY i LOVE CLAY SO MUCH, i COULD HAND YOU THiS LETTER AND i THiNK YOU'D UNDERSTAND WHY i LOVE HiM AND MAYBE EVEN GAiN SOME RESPECT FOR HiM. THE MAN iS AN AMAZiNG AND BRiLLiANT MAN. two days later, CLAY said the same speech at the PACiFiC RiM CONFERENCE on DiSABiLiTiES..  i was on a MESSAGE BOARD and we were discussing his SPEECH and someone said something about it and i commented on it..

" "It is so him. I cannot even express its beauty. It sounds exactly like him - passionate, intelligent, eloquent, sweet, snarky, silly, beautiful and dedicated. It gave me an insight into the sexiest part of him - his brain. What a complex world resides in his gorgeous head."

i was completely moved to tears while listening to it.. it was maybe around 11 pm here in LA and i was sitting in complete darkness and everything just seemed so right while listening to it. people at school always ask me why i love him so much and this speech showcased that reason.. i could with confidence let someone hear this speech and i think they'd be able to figure it out. he was just so in his, oh lord, the word isnt coming to me, i guess, he was just in his scene. it was so natural for him to be up there and not only gain the attention of the entire room but grab it head on and hold it captive. although i wasnt there, you could tell that he was truly where he wanted to be.. just through listening to his voice, you could tell that he must have had a certain glow that night.. through his passion he made others passionate about it.. he may not be educating children in a classroom, but what he's doing right now, i believe is so much more important. he's educating a society on the importance of simple human rights. it scares me that our society is still so closed-minded.. but its because of people like him, that people with disabilites have a fighting chance in our world.. that night, once again, clay became my living inspiration.. "

anyway, why dont you just see for yourself the beauty of what was said that night. im going to post the transcript of the speech as well as the links to the MP3 of the SPEECH, the ViDEOS of the SONGS, and the MP3s of the SONGS.

"…We're blessed to have so many volunteers who - so many people who are so passionate about the mission we have here at The Bubel Aiken Foundation. So many volunteers across the country who are willing to work with us to create awareness and we're so grateful for their support and for your support for (building that?) with us, as well. Thank you so much for coming tonight and for all that you do to help The Bubel Aiken Foundation, as we open doors and open minds every single day. So (give yourselves?) a round of applause for that.

For those of us who are involved in education - and that means all of us, whether it's a teacher or a parent or a student or an advocate - if we're lucky we learn quickly that education is not about learning how to make a living; instead, it's...about learning how to make a life. And for us at the foundation that's what we try to keep in mind as a philosophy. It's all that we do and all that we plan to do, and it is the very essence of inclusion. Inclusion's so much more than what some people would reduce to measurement. It’s more than test scores, it’s more than class sizes – in fact, its benefits are immeasurable (to all the students?). Including individuals with disabilities in every aspect of life, working towards and, when necessary, fighting for equal access for all (tells me?) and hopefully you that we’re embarking on the last great emancipation campaign of the human spirit. Inclusion is more than civil rights. It’s about human rights. (applause) (Through?) the step of creating awareness, we’ll work to change attitude and we’ll succeed in changing the behaviors that for too long have excluded other young people from all that life has to offer. (We wish?) to engage not only this generation of young people, but all people – all generations – to move beyond the passive concept of tolerance and towards the very active concept of full acceptance, by using strategies that empower typical peers to be supportive in a variety of settings and allow children who might otherwise be at risk because of their disability, they can become managers of their risk. That’s a very important phrase that we like to use here around the foundation, being managers of risk and not being at risk because of a disability or because of a special need, but managing that risk and being a part of a full, inclusive society. But by developing academic adaptations and social participation resources, we can foster a collaboration between special education teachers and general education teachers, and they can plan and implement differentiated instructional practices that go (alone?)…go far beyond parallel activities – and we’ll talk a little bit more about that or I’ll mention it a little bit more in a minute – they can go far beyond parallel activity choices for the classroom. The children we hear about, the children we work with, the children we hear from, they cry out for all of this stuff. The frustration from these individuals, from their parents, they contact us every day and tell us how much they long for this, how important this (exclusive-happens…?) this inclusive environment, the opportunities are important to them. And educators (seek?) the exact same thing; they speak of training and support that’ll help them - that will allow them - to learn and allow them to help others learn and not just help others learn, but to know who to help and when to help and how to help. And so we’re committed to this.

I received a letter from a sixteen year-old woman named Allison, and it happens to be right here…(laughter…Clay again, inaudible…more laughter)…with cerebral palsy, and she had taught herself to be an advocate, not just for herself but for others, for other who like her – she uses the term, the word “differently-abled”, and her story is one of combating the harsh reality of old attitudes. And basically that’s just continued to get in the way of the rights that are rightfully hers, even by law - the equal access rights – and so she writes:

“I’m pretty hard to miss in my power wheelchair. I go places and do things like all busy teens but sometimes, I’m learning, people treat me as if I were invisible. I attended an NSync concert at the Rose Bowl with field seating. When I arrived on the field I was asked how I got there, and then I was told that I belong with ‘those people’ - meaning the ones who were in the handicapped section. My mom transferred me to the seat and brought my chair in the ‘those people’ section. Not long ago at the mall an adult asked what’s wrong with me and I really wanted to say, “People like you!” (laughter…Clay inaudible) I’m learning that the world sees the chair instead of me. I think it’s harder to be heard as a person with a different ability than a non-disabled person. We all have differences and we all have a basic similarity. This is the desire to be loved and respected.”

And the struggles of parents seem to be the same no matter the state, no matter the disability, no matter the school system. Very difficult for parents to wait for opportunities for their children. It’s difficult for them to see their children left out of opportunities, whether it be because of school systems that are mired down in politics or who are facing financial challenges, waiting passively has proven not to be an option…and its often – and early intervention is often the key to maximizing these opportunities for a child. The parents speak of, they seek a sense of belonging and the chance for their children just to be a part of regular life. Why should a disability exclude a child from participating in an activity that he or she would’ve participated in naturally if it were not for their disability? And why…do we not allow them to be included? Why do we allow such exclusion based - ? We don’t allow it for race - based on race or gender or creed or color, so why would it be acceptable to exclude a child from events based on a disability?

We received an email from a, from MaryAnn, Sam’s mom, and part of what MaryAnn wrote:

“Tomorrow I have Sam’s IEP for next year. I’m already disappointed, and we haven’t even started. I found out today that they only have scheduled one hour for our meeting. The whole reason we’re having it in February instead of May like we used to is so the school isn’t cramming everyone’s IEP together in one month. Tomorrow they’ve scheduled three for the morning: 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock. Next they told me, when I went to visit the junior high classroom, that the children only go out for lunch and computers. The entire day is like that. They’re in a room with only profoundly disabled children. They have no typical role models through the day, unless a peer partner comes into the classroom. I was there when a peer was there and she didn’t even talk to the students; she just sat there the whole time. The children in the room now have speech that is worse than Sam’s. How’s he gonna learn? It’s making me feel so frustrated. They won’t even allow them to take PE with typical children. All children with disabilities must be in a special adaptive PE (group?). We’re so behind. They’re still in the fifties when it comes to special education here. I’m gonna push for Sam to at least go to social studies and science. They can have the special ed teacher modify the lessons. If they’re learning the planets, Sam can learn that we live on earth while all the others learn about the planets. Or Sam can learn that Bush is our president while everyone else learns all the presidents. I know I’m going to come up against so much resistance, it makes me cry just to think about this school system and Sam in it. Say a prayer for us.”

Heavy stuff. Pretty-pretty amazing that that type of thing still goes on, and in not just Sam and MaryAnn’s community, but it goes on all across the country. And children of all ability will be the change that we seek in the world and that’s what we’re working for. These children want to help, too. We have the Able to Serve awards that we’ve talked about and how we’re able to take children or allow children who do have disabilities and allow them to better their communities and better their environment through these awards. So often we consider children with disabilities or individuals with disabilities as a population that we have to serve, that we have to help, and they, these children, have just as much and often times more insight and have more ability to help their communities and help those in their communities, and that’s what the Able to Serve award is about.

And actually we have another letter here…from an eight year-old named Jerry…he kind of speaks to this insight that children have and one of the reasons that we’re so supportive and so adamant about the importance of these Able to Serve awards. You’ll see in this letter how insightful children can be, how insightful young people can be whether – despite what their disability or ability is. Jerry is eight years old, and he writes:

“I signed your pledge to be nice to everyone, but I made a promise that I can’t do. I want to use the right words when talking about special people, but don’t know what they are. I was telling my grandma about my friend Jordan. My mom told me he has a disability called Tourette’s. Sorry, I don’t know how to spell it. (laughter) It makes him blink his eyes very fast and he can’t stop them, and sometimes he’ll say very bad words very loudly and (inaudible) to make weird noises. My mom told me when people ask what wrong with him to just say he’s just like you and me. He has a heart, but he just can’t stop doing all that he wants to. He (inaudible) and likes to play, but now my friends won’t play with me because I play with what they call ‘the weird boy’. I told grandma about it and she said he was ‘retarded’. Mom told me that this is a bad word that people used (in the past?). She said it’s just like how people used to call African-Americans a bad word, but that people don’t know ‘retarded’ is bad. I need your help, so I can use the right words (to?) keep my promise.”

Very mature for eight years-old, I think, Jerry is. On our site we have (inaudible) "People-first" language that will help Jerry keep his promise. At eight years-old Jerry demonstrated a patience toward answering what’s unsettled in his heart and a love for the very questions themselves. The first basic human right is to be seen as a person before anything else. (Defined?) by one humanity. It’s a simple request that we can all honor. If an eight year-old can make the promise, I know that every single one of you can as well. So I encourage you to go to the website and read about the "People-first" promise and "People-first" language and the importance of "People-first" language and make that pledge. And if you’ve already done it, thank you very much. Continue to do that in your community and with people around you and convince those who are around you to do it as well. It’s extremely important.

Surprisingly, the question comes up quite often by parents with typical children who want to know why their children should be in a classroom with children with disabilities. Why should their child be in a classroom, and of course it’s going to hold them back. They say the typical children are going to be slowed down, their test scores are going to be down, they’re going to suffer. How will they get into college and get a good job if they’re held back by all the children with disabilities? Separate classrooms are more equal.

So Janine sent us a letter…it was an essay that her daughter Kimberly wrote. And Kimberly writes this one. Kimberly says:

“Every day he gets up. He has to be helped in the bathroom. He needs to be cleaned, and eating his breakfast is really hard. He hates to eat. Sometimes just smelling food makes him gag. He smells everything. He gets dressed with help, but then they come to our house or he gets on a bus and he goes with them. They teach him how to walk, how to use a fork and a spoon, how to speak, and how to look at you when you call his name. He has no friends, but he is always busy. He hardly talks but most of the time when the phone rings, it’s for him. I’m talking about my baby brother. He’s three years old. Even though I’m older, I look up to him now and I probably always will. He’s my different kind of hero. He has autism. Every day is a struggle for him to learn how to do the things that we do like going to the bathroom, putting on your clothes, eating a bowl of cereal or just saying good morning. Instead of getting to play with a bunch of little kids like other three year-olds, he is busy inside classrooms learning how to be a person. Some people think that a kid with autism has no feelings. Not true. I say they have too many feelings. With my brother in my life, I can now see kids who have the same disability. I see how it is with them. I think about when my brother gets older, and I know he will always be different. I know that he’ll get laughed at, and I know he’ll not have many friends. All I can say is I feel sorry for people who will never give him the chance to shine. They will be missing out on the greatest thing in this whole world, and that is simply him. My brother’s awesome. He’s my different kind of hero, plain and simple. He’s made me see that not everyone is perfect. He taught me without even having to speak a word that life is what you make of it. Either you get up every day and do your best, or you get up and give up. And like I said, he’s only three years old but he’s so smart. He’ll probably never realize just how much he’s taught me, just how much he means to me, just how much I’ll continue to learn from him and how much of that I’ll use in my life. He taught me to be human and (inaudible).”

Kimberly, another young lady very wise beyond her years. She’s learned – she’s picked up on something because of her brother that is a simple, simple truth. Children and individuals with disabilities have so much to offer. They have so much that we can learn from them, that individual, typical children can learn from them. It’s about learning how to live, learning about -about like I said earlier – it’s not about learning how to live, it’s about learning how to have a life. Learning how to own your life and to be an active part of life and the world.

We are, as they say, the product of the choices we make. I challenge each of you to make the choice that leads to full access, celebrating the human rights we all deserve. When you see a child in a wheelchair, will you choose to see the child? Or the chair? When you stand in the presence of someone who cannot speak, will you choose to hear only silence? Or will you choose the tapestry that is found in the language without (inaudible)? When you’re facing parenting or teaching a child with a disability, will you choose to be overwhelmed by the challenges? Or will you choose to recognize a different kind of hero who brings you one of life’s most precious gifts – hope?

As you know, I’m unable to be in a classroom…I had planned so carefully…but now thanks to so many, I have the opportunity and the ability to be a part of a much larger classroom wherever I go. Last May I received this note right here (inaudible). It celebrates for all of us not only [written work] (grid work?), but the language of pictures, which is the method this class uses to communicate, and they told me all they wanted to say. You’ll notice there are picture underneath the words here. It says:

“Dear Mr. Clay Aiken,

“We’d really like it if you could come to our school and give us a performance. We read about you in our ‘News to You’ newspaper a few weeks ago. We read about your foundation. We know you are a very busy performer, but please come visit us. We (hope?) to see you.

“Your friends,”

Their pictures are all here. Vanessa, Tom, Daniel, Martha, Diane, Kevin, Brett, Byron, Tanica, Ron, Skyler, Talia, John, Bradley, Carlos, Kim and Richard.

Unfortuantely I wasn’t able to be in their class but thanks to the foundation, their class is with me and (with all?). Thank you guys so much (for what you do?). God bless you, Mahalo. Thank you for listening."

okie doke kiddos.. i leave you with that.. hopefully, my next blog wont be so far away.. alrighty.. love you all! *muah*

                             lots of love,
                                      <3 NEi

“Mom helped me to see that every person is like a painting. When you come in contact with another life, that individual dabs a little bit of color onto your soul. It isn’t always a color you like, but even ugliness provides its own lessons.” - Clay Aiken

“I will forever be trying to be the man my mother expects me to be. She remains an uncompromising presence in my world. When she comes to my shows and sits in the audience, I get nervous. She is the only person who can do that to me. Even at twenty-five years old, I’m still trying to impress her – the way I did when we sang together in the car, the way I did in T-ball, the way I did in school and in church.” - Clay Aiken

“They showed me that if you make tolerance the norm, people adapt. That if you institute policies of inclusion, inclusion becomes ordinary. That when you are forced to rub elbows with people you might now automatically choose to, everyone benefits. That hate is based on fear of the unknown, and fear dissipated with exposure. It evaporated like dew in the midday sun. That when you believe in kids, they will never, ever let you down.” - Clay Aiken

hi kiddos! woo hoo, im actually BACK into the GROOVE with BLOGGiNG on a regular basis.. im sure some of you dont even care, haha, but i know ERNiE doesnt like it when people DONT blog.. so this is for him.. i guess.. haha.. okay, not really, im just BLOGGiNG because its 8:42 AM and i have NO SCHOOL and yet, im AWAKE THiS EARLY! haha.. yeah, ERNiE, ELLE, RHO, and BRENT are coming over today to START/FiNiSH an ENGLiSH PROJECT.. so i guess WOO HOO for FiNiSHiNG but BOO for WAKiNG UP EARLY.. its okay.. ANYTHiNG for a GOOD GRADE right? ehh.. haha, im not even sure about that either.. but its okay..

anyway, this WEEKEND i stayed at the PARADiSE PiER HOTEL at the DiSNEYLAND RESORT because DADDY was doing a SHOW at the DiSNEYLAND HOTEL.. the THEA AWARDS to be exact.. LAST YEAR i was actually ON at the THEA AWARDS! i FiLMED an ACCEPTANCE award thingy for LiLO AND STiTCH with the iNTERACTiVE STiTCH that used to be at the iNNOVENTiONS.. haha, that was pretty FUN.. that was last year though.. we were at the PARK at like 5:30 AM and didnt finish til the PARK OPENED which was like at 10:30 AM and by then everyone was STARiNG.. haha.. but it was COOL BEANS! haha, but anyway, when that AWARD came up to be presented, they PLAYED the ViDEO i was in and we were up on the BiG SCREEN for a LiL while! it was PRETTY FRiKKiN COOL because all the people in that ROOM are the BiG WiGS of the iNDUSTRY! haha, it was AWESOME! anyway, moving on.. haha.. the THEA AWARDS stand for THEMED ENTERTAiNMENT AWARDS.. basically all the BiG COMPANiES that are THEME BASED such as DiSNEY and UNiVERSAL.. this is BASiCALLY THEiR OSCARS.. so its a PRETTY BiG HONOR.. anyway, my DADDY runs the ENTiRE SHOW! how cool is that?! they all DEPEND on HiM! and of course, DADDY is the BEST and they all know it.. that's why they have him WORKiNG iT! of course, since its BASiCALLY THEiR OSCARS, everyone has to wear a SUiT so of course, DADDY was PiMPiNG iT in all BLACK.. haha.. oh yes, BLACK SUiT, BLACK SHiRT, BLACK TiE.. haha.. ya know how it is, gotta hook the DADDY up! anyway, thats what my DADDY did all weekend, but i'd like to THiNK my WEEKEND was better..

we left the house on FRiDAY at around 7:00 PM and ate at the OLD SPAGHETTi FACTORY.. it was pretty good.. i hadn't eaten there before that so it was pretty cool.. it was REALLY CUTE.. they have it set up like its AN OLD SCHOOLHOUSE.. anyhoo, we ended up leaving like at around 9:00 PM.. ugh.. as usual, there was TRAFFiC.. there was an ACCiDENT involving a MOTORCYLCE and probably THREE OR FOUR OTHER CARS.. it was NOT pretty.. anyway, so we ended up gettin to PARADiSE PiER at around 11:30 PM or so.. of course, we got HOOKED UP with the ROOM.. it was on the THiRD FLOOR which is the POOL LEVEL so we have a PATiO, mind you, only THiRD FLOOR has PATiOS and so we had a PATiO that led to the POOL.. it was pretty cool.. haha.. people would go to the POOL and come back from it and be walking past us and would kinda point and then whisper to their friend.. haha.. it was fun.. the rooms also had some really cool stuff in there like PAiNTiNGS of PARADiSE PiER and what not.. also, when you enter, theres a PLATE of these CUTE LiL RiCE CRiSPY TREATS SHAPED LiKE MiCKEY HEADS AND HAVE THEiR EARS DiPPED iN CHOCOLATE! also, everytime they CLEAN THE ROOM they leave those CUTE LiL CHOCOLATE COiNS with the DiSNEY CHARACTERS ON EM! anyway, on FRiDAY my DADDY was scheduled to meet up with his WORKMATES for a DRiNK so we went over to the GRAND CALiFORNiAN and went over to NAPA ROSE which is BASiCALLY a HiGH CLASS STEAK HOUSE.. now let me tell you, i dont APPRECiATE being DiSCRiMiNATED AGAiNST and that was EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED! we walk in and the HOSTESS comes up to us and is like "iM SORRY, WE'RE CLOSED" when there are about 20 WHiTE PEOPLE STiLL iN THERE! WTF iS THAT?! anyway, so we told the lady that we were MEETiNG some other people and just walked past her.. haha.. i mean, what are they gonna do?! YOU DON'T MESS WiTH iMAGiNEERS.. thats all i can tell you.. anyway, we saw them there.. it was JESS and his GiRLFRiEND, GLORiA.. and AL, who looks EXACTLY like TiM ALLEN, and his WiFE, JO.. AL and JO have TWO kids named JONi, whose a FRESHMEN in HiGH SCHOOL and a son named ERiC, whose in FiFTH GRADE.. they werent there, they were in their room because, well you just dont sit around with FOUR ADULTS and DRiNK with them.. haha.. apparently, they had DiNNER earlier that night.. but i guess they went to BED early.. anyway, we were only over at NAPA ROSE for maybe 15 MiNUTES.. then we headed back over to the PARADiSE PiER HOTEL.. we ended up KNOCKiNG OUT right after we got in.. UNFORTUNATELY, i didnt SLEEP too well on FRiDAY for one reason or another.. but its okay.. anyway, the next morning, we got up around 8:30/9:00 AM.. when i woke up RACHEL was the only one in the room with me.. DADDY and MOMMY were both down at the CONSiERGE.. haha, oh! i FORGOT to mention that! we got HOOKED UP with the CONSiERGE too! our HOTEL KEYS are different then everyone elses because we have the CONSiERGE service.. which is basically where they have FREE FOOD and DRiNKS.. anyway, RACHEL and i got ready.. DADDY came back to tell us that he was leaving to get started on PREP-iNG for the SHOW and then MOMMY came back up to take us to the PARK.. we ended up eating at the STORY-TELLER'S CAFE which is basically a very WOOD-SY/CAMP-FiRE type themed RESTAURANT.. while you eat, a few CHARACTERS go around with their LiL FiSHES and play around with you.. its pretty cute.. there was MEEKO, KODA, CHiP, DALE, and TERK.. it was fun.. after, that we decided to go to DCA.. when we got there, we went over to the CENTER where the SUN is and looked at a few of the 75 MiCKEYS.. if you dont know, there are 75 MiCKEYS being DiSPLAYED at DCA that were PAiNTED BY DiFFERENT CELEBRiTiES and it MATCHES THEiR PERSONALiTiES.. it was really cute! ya'll should check it out! ill leave you a LiNK to some PiCS that we took with em and also a LiNK so you can see what they ALL look like.. they were really cool.. anyway, after looking at them for a lil while, we went to watch PLAYHOUSE DiSNEY LiVE! haha, it was COOL BEANS! of course, it was MAiNLY THREE YEAR OLDS.. haha.. but it was COOL nonetheless.. i was the BiGGEST ONE THERE.. haha.. of course, there were PARENTS there too, but i went just cuz i wanted to.. haha.. it was cool.. they had BEAR iN THE BiG BLUE HOUSE, ROLiE POLiE OLiE, STANLEY, and THE BOOK OF POOH. it was really cute.. i was DANCiNG with the LiL KiDS.. haha.. WHAT?! i told you alreay, iM NOT OLD! haha, anyway, after that.. we did something that's basically ALL THAT WE DO at DiSNEYLAND.. we ATE! haha.. we ate at BURRR-BANK iCE CREAM.. we EACH got SUNDAES.. after that we went BACK TO THE ROOM and i took a NAP for about an HOUR.. after that we decided to walk THROUGH DOWNTOWN DiSNEY and we BOARDED the MONORAiL to get to TOMORROWLAND in DiSNEYLAND.. when we got there can you guess what we did?! THAT'S RiGHT! WE ATE AGAiN! haha.. we went over to the FRENCH MARKET and ate LUNCH.. RACHEL and i had CLAM CHOWDER WiTH A SALAD and MOMMY had FRiED CHiCKEN AND FRiES WiTH A SALAD.. after that we RODE THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WiNNiE THE POOH RiDE.. haha, the OPERATOR asked us how many there were and my MOMMY said 8 and he was ready to get us TWO CARS.. haha.. it was sad.. right after she was like "NO! iM JUST KiDDiNG!" haha.. MY MOMMY iS A LOSER.. haha.. anyway, after this, can you think of what we did? OH YES, WE ATE AGAiN.. haha.. this time, we ate COOKiES, CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS, and CARMEL APPLES from the POOH'S CORNER BAKERY.. haha.. fun eh? then we WATCHED SLEEPiNG BEAUTY'S CELEBRATiON PARADE THiNGY.. oh man, SNOW WHiTE'S PRiNCE CHARMiNG WAS HOT!!! haha, yeah, RACHEL and i were STALKiNG HiM! anyway, AFTER THiS, we went back to the HOTEL.. by this TiME, DADDY was BACK and DRESSED for the show and HAViNG A DRiNK on the PATiO with his WORKMATES.. anyhoo, he left, and we STAYED iN THE ROOM until about 6:00 PM then went to DOWNTOWN DiSNEY to have DiNNER.. we ate at NAPLES which is an iTALiAN RESTAURANT.. there was about a 45 MiNUTE WAiT because there was a WiNTER FORMAL being held at the ESPN ZONE so most of the STUDENTS were DiNiNG AT NAPLES and had PRiORiTY SEATiNG.. anyway, we ATE and then RACHEL and i went to DCA while MOMMY went back to the HOTEL ROOM.. RACHEL and i took PiCS with the 75 MiCKEYS and watched the ELECTRiC PARADE.. it was fun! RACHEL and i were dancing and so we were TURNiNG AROUND iN A CiRCLE and about MiD-WAY while TURNiNG AROUND, we noticed that there was a WORKER right behind us.. haha, it was HiLARiOUS.. she was like "YOU TWO SHOULD BE iN THE PARADE!" after this, the park CLOSED so we went over to DiSNEYLAND.. there, we BOUGHT GLOW-IN-THE-DARK MiCKEY EARS and then watched FANTASMiC! i tell you, thats my FAVORiTE THiNG TO DO AT DiSNEYLAND! i NEVER miss FANTASMiC! i just LOVE it! anyhoo, after that, RACHEL and i went on THE HAUNTED MANSiON where they CHANGED UP A FEW THiNGS.. they CHANGED THE PAiNTiNGS and they CHANGED THE ROOM WiTH THE MADAME LEOTTA SO THAT HER HEAD WAS FLOATiNG.. afterwards, we went on our last ride which was iNDiANA JONES.. then we decided to go back to the HOTEL and when we were WALKiNG BACK iN, we caught up to DADDY who was walking back in coming from MCDONALDS.. haha.. i guess the GUYS didnt eat the DiNNER they SERVED.. anyhoo, this was around 1:00 AM so we PASSED OUT RiGHT AFTER WE GOT iN.. this time around, i SLEPT LiKE A BRiCK.. when we woke up the next day around 10:00 AM it was RAiNiNG.. anyhoo, we CHECKED OUT and then HEADED HOME.. so WOO HOO! it was a RELAXiNG and FUN WEEKEND! here are the links to the PiCS and the WEBSiTE! you know the drill, its in iMAGESTATiON AGAiN! the USERNAME and PASSWORD are BELOW the LiNK!

anyway, moving on.. so far, this week has been OKAY.. MONDAY was ODD SCHEDULE so i had SACRAMENT, ENGLiSH, and BiOLOGY.. in SACRAMENT we watched BRUCE ALMiGHTY, in ENGLiSH we worked on our PROJECTS, and in BiOLOGY we finished our CONTENT REViEWS.. pretty normal and BORiNG STUFF.. during FiTNESS we PiCKED OUR TEAMS.. LAST NiGHT we had NiGHT SCHOOL.. BOO! we had EVEN SCHEDULE so i went to WORLD HiSTORY, SPANiSH, and ALGEBRA II.. during WORLD HiSTORY we did our PRESENTATiONS, during SPANiSH we watched our GROUP PROJECTS, and in ALGEBRA we learned a NEW BUTTON ON OUR Ti-83S.. then we had MASS and the AWARDS for the HONOR ROLL.. woo hoo! i MADE FiRST HONORS! so yeah.. basically.. boring week so far..

ARGH! TWO WEEKS from now i have to take my AP TESTS! GRR.. i dont WANNA.. next year im taking AP U.S. HiSTORY, AP PRE-CAL, ENGLiSH III (H), CHEMiSTRY (H), SPANiSH III, and SOCiAL JUSTiCE.. out of those classes, i have to take FOUR AP EXAMS.. and out of those FOUR AP CLASSES, i have to take TWO SUMMER SCHOOL COURSES! argh.. can you say BURNT OUT?! haha, oh well..

alrighty, well ive gotta go now.. ERNiE, RHO, ELLE, and BRENT should be here soon.. ill ttyl! love ya!

                  lots of love,
                         <3 NEi

"No person matures by himself. We all have had someone who reached down and picked us up when we couldn’t manage to rise on our own. We have all been carried. I know I have been." - Clay Aiken

"American celebrities have an amazing amount of influence on the way young people in our country think, feel, and act. I believe that such influence should be used in the most constructive way possible. I want to use my voice to inspire good in others. I never want to produce anything that a family could not enjoy together. I never want to create art that would embarrass my own children later. I do this because it feels right." - Clay Aiken

"One Sunday afternoon I decided to stay home with Clayton instead of going to my mother’s house. He must have been around two and a half. It was a mistake because I became so blue during the day. I found myself sitting on the sofa looking out the window. The stereo was playing some sad music and the depression finally overcame me. Clayton, being such a sensitive child, noticed and said, "Mama, what you thinking about?" "Oh, a lot of things," I said."Mama, you got cry in your eyes. What you need? You need me?" I told him the music was making me sad."Okay," he said. "You come to my room and I’ll play you some happy music." And he took me upstairs and sat me down and started to sing for me. - Faye Parker

wow kiddos! it sure has been a LONG TiME since i was last here.. a LOT has been HAPPENiNG and so, NATURALLY, i havent had ANY TiME to BLOG.. but don't worry.. ill keep you all ENTERTAiNED for maybe about the next 15 MiNUTES, that is if you actually DECiDE to stick around and READ my BLOG.. well goodness.. first, HAPPY NEW YEAR! haha, goodness, it's already FEBRUARY.. isnt that CRAZY?! i swore to MYSELF that i would blog soon.. haha, and that was on the FiRST OF JANUARY.. haha.. SAD isnt it?! haha, anyhoo.. well yes, a lot has happened.. lets see, i'll talk about stuff just as they start popping into my head..

hmm.. well why dont we start off in CLAY-WORLD.. haha.. cuz honestly, those are really kinda the things i REMEMBER the easiest because, well, i've got PHYSiCAL MEMORiES of it all unlike the things in my life.. haha.. anyway, on NEW YEARS, CLAY was on the RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARiTiES FLOAT AT THE ROSE PARADE.. CLAY looked GORGEOUS as always.. =) after that, CLAY was involved in UNiCEF EFFORTS TO RAiSE FUNDS FOR THE TSUNAMi RELiEF FUND through the NBC TELETHON and the CARTOON NETWORK "GiVE A LiTTLE BiT" PSA'S.. CLAY will also be GUEST STARRiNG on SCRUBS on FEBRUARY 15 and will play a CAFETERiA WORKER named KENNY who enters the HOSPiTAL'S TALENT SHOW.. CLAY looks GORGEOUS! i LOVE the hair because it's natural.. it looks great! i'll post some PiCS a lil later along with LiNKS to different things.. but other than that, CLAY is currently enjoying some TiME OFF.. he's set to make THREE APPEARANCES in HAWAii for THE BUBEL AiKEN FOUNDATiON and then is SET to start working on his THiRD ALBUM which is DUE to be RELEASED in MAY along with a TOUR! haha, so in light of that, im NOT attending any concerts until then in an effort to SAVE MONEY! haha.. oh yes, its all about CLAY.. haha, anyway, take a look at the LOVE OF MY LiFE! haha..

anyway, moving out of my DREAM WORLD and into my REAL LiFE.. SiGH.. who woulda known SOPHOMORE YEAR would be so stressful?! SO MANY GROUP PROJECTS! i've been so busy with everything that it's crazy.. instead of MORALiTY, im currently taking SACRAMENT because we switch CLASSES after the semester.. and instead of GEOMETRY (H) im taking ALGEBRA II (H).. other than that, its basically the same old CLASSES.. just LOTS MORE STRESS.. i dont know, i honestly think that the TEACHERS get together and PLOT OUT when they're all going to ASSiGN GROUP PROJECTS.. haha.. but iuno, im ready to CRY from everything.. anyway, ill give you a QUiCK BREAKDOWN OF MY CLASSES..

SACRAMENT: MR.YUMUL, MR.YUMUL, MR.YUMUL.. haha.. seriously, what is there to say about this class?! honestly, i PREFERRED MORALiTY only because with MORALiTY, it was based on your beliefs whereas SACRAMENT is a BLATANT RELiGiOUS CLASS.. i SiT directly in front of MR.YUMUL'S DESK and as if he didn't PiCK ON ME ENOUGH, now he hears everything when we're talking in a group! haha, goodness.. so we were gettin ready for a GROUP PROJECT (im telling you! they're all plotting against us!) and so VANESSA, TONY, and PATTY are in my group and somehow, they get to talking about ERNiE and i.. okay, what is that?! they were saying how were gonna GET MARRiED and stuff.. and im like OH LORD! and guess what MR.YUMUL SAYS! he doesnt even stick up for me and say no! he just says "WELL, ERNiE iS GOiNG TO HAVE TO GET TALLER." WHAT iS THAT?! goodness! haha, and jeez! his STUFFED CAT keeps STARiNG AT ME.. haha.. but i guess other than that, the class is pretty cool.. i get a FEW GOOD LAUGHS .. so thats always good.. anyway, moving on!

WORLD HiSTORY (H): hmm.. well this class is one of the OTHER CLASSES that assigned a GROUP PROJECT.. SiGH! i was supposed to present it today, but luckily we didnt.. right now we're currently in CHAPTER 8 which is on THE AMERiCAS.. pretty boring stuff.. haha, but at least MR.BAiLEY has his CLASSROOM DECORATED! haha.. there's HEARTS everywhere.. i thought it was cute.. haha.. but moving on!

ENGLiSH II (H): well, honestly, even though we have a GROUP PROJECT in this class, im okay with it because i LOVE english.. i just do.. theres no real EXPLANATiON as to why.. its just CUZ.. haha.. sad huh? iuno, but anyway, MS.DOMiNGUES has us READiNG "THE STRANGER" and now we have a GROUP PROJECT.. its not too hard and my GROUP is GREAT! i've got BRENT, ERNiE, ELLE, and RHO.. they're all coming over here next WEDNESDAY so it should be fun.. anyway, moving on!

SPANiSH II: okay, this is THE CLASS that is just UGH! i absolutely DESPiSE going to this class because its just so STRESSFUL! i mean, id take the class as long as we didnt have to do GROUP PROJECTS! argh! lets just say that im NOT having ANY fun with MY GROUP.. okay, END OF STORY. moving on!

BiOLOGY (H): this class is going PRETTY WELL... i didnt do too well on the GROUP PROJECT.. argh.. i ended up GETTiNG a C because most of the EXHiBiTS were closed so yeah.. but other than that, were doing GOOD! ERNiE and i got a PERFECT SCORE on an OPEN-BOOK TEST that we had to take together.. woo hoo! anyway, here's a pic from the ZOO! (REMEMBER KiDS: ALL PiCS ARE LiNKS SO CLiCK EM TO MAKE EM BiGGER!)

ALGEBRA II (H): im actually ENJOYiNG this class! its a lotta fun for me because ALGEBRA II is so much easier for me than GEOMETRY.. its just there are no STUPiD SHAPES just NUMBERS and you dont have to remember ANY POSTULATES OR THEOREMS! woo hoo!

haha, so yup, thats basically my ACADEMiC LiFE for you.. oh, well that and for FiTNESS i take GROUP GAMES which is a lotta fun.. right now we're playing with FRiSBEES.. haha.. we SUCK.. but oh well.. haha, well yeah, thats basically it for SCHOOL.. well also i added two new BiNDER iNSERTS on my binder! haha, cool eh?! i make em now and people have been REQUESTiNG me for em non stop so i better get to making em eh?! haha.. here they are in case ya wanna see em! the QUOTES are taken from LEARNiNG TO SiNG: HEARiNG THE MUSiC iN YOUR LiFE..

anyway, something else that was iNCREDiBLY FUN was the 2ND YEAR CONFiRMATiON RETREAT.. it was just ABSOLUTELY an EXPERiENCE ill NEVER FORGET.. it was just.. WOW.. it was SO MUCH FUN.. and i got CLOSER to a lot of people.. there were DEFiNiTELY LOTS OF TEARS, but TEARS HAPPiLY SHED.. anyway, with that being said, im gonna leave you guys with my PiCS from the RETREAT.. they will be in my iMAGESTATiON ACCOUNT because i have so many .. if you cannot access the pictures for one reason or another, ill leave an account that i've made so you guys can view em.. the username and password will be directly underneath the link to the album.. if you want BiGGER or CLEARER versions of the PiCS either leave me a comment or email me.. alrighty.. here ya go!

if you guys need me this WEEKEND, you're gonna have to call my CELL because ill be at DiSNEYLAND FROM TONiGHT (FRiDAY) til SUNDAY.. alrighty.. take care everyone!

                    lots of love,
                            <3 NEi

"Mom helped me to see that every person is like a painting. When you come in contact with another life, that individual dabs a little bit of color onto your soul. It isn’t always a color you like, but even ugliness provides its own lessons." - Clay Aiken

"To me. Singing is the single most joyous thing a person can do. A song is like a smile. If you meet someone from another country, even if you don’t speak the same language, you know what a smile means. A song works the same way. Music provides feelings that need no translation." - Clay Aiken

yes, LADiES and GENTLEMEN, it has happened AGAiN.. i am once again on CLOUD 9 and im sure you've got a LiTTLE iDEA as to why.. YESTERDAY NiGHT i was once again given the PLEASURE of being in the PRESENCE of MR. CLAY AiKEN himself at the JOYFUL NOiSE TOUR CONCERT in PASADENA, CALiFORNiA.. as im sure you've probably heard from the other CONCERT REViEWS, it was one of the FEW and very RARE days of RAiN in SOUTHERN CALiFORNiA.. it was RAiNiNG VERY HEAViLY, but as you can iMAGiNE, it didnt STOP MANY from coming out to see the AMAZiNG MAN KNOWN AS CLAY AiKEN.. well, LADiES and GENTLEMEN, sit back and relax because i'M about to give you MY REViEW OF THE PASADENA JOYFUL NOiSE CONCERT!

well, let me just say, this CONCERT may have been the MOST ANTiCiPATED CONCERT i have ever been to! haha, lord knows ive been waiting for this concert since SEPTEMBER 3RD when i BOUGHT the tickets through the ONLiNE PRESALE.. okay, that in and of itself is pretty frikkin nerve racking considering that i had bought tickets to a concert that was to be held in NOVEMBER, on the TWENTY-FiRST no doubt, and then to have it POSTPONED til AFTER CHRiSTMAS, is just UNBELiEVABLY FRUSTRATiNG but nonetheless made it the MOST ANTiCiPATED CONCERT EVER! haha, but dont worry kids, it was WELL WORTH THE WAiT!

anyhoo, YESTERDAY i woke up around 10:00  but made myself go back to sleep and then woke up again at 1:30.. hehe, what do you expect? i mean, after all, it is ME! anyhoo, at around 2:30 i took a shower and started getting ready.. by then it was RAiNiNG REALLY HARD.. i got out of the shower and had dried my hair by around 3:30 while listening to one of my OTHER FAVORiTE ARTiSTS, JOHN MAYER! woo hoo! haha, oh yes.. UNCLE JOHN helped me get ready for my DATE with MR.AiKEN.. anyhoo, THE PARENTS and i decided that we'd leave the house at 5:30 in order to have time to eat at NAPLES, a sushi place in PASADENA, and get to the PASADENA CiViC CENTER in time..

anyhoo, we left on time, but i wasnt too sure we were going to be able to make it to NAPLES with enough time considering that when my DADDY drives, he normally goes at about 90 MPH and with the RAiN we went about 60 MPH.. but as always, my DADDY came through.. we passed by the AUDiTORiUM on the way to the RESTARAUNT, and so we ssaw the TOUR BUSES, as you can imagine, my HEART STARTED BEATiNG A LiTTLE FASTER.. hehe, my DADDY originally thought we should go to P.F. CHANG'S but lord knows we wouldnt have been able to get in considering the CLAYBOARD had a PRE-PARTY of about 60 people and iDOLFORUMS aka iDF had a party of maybe about 15.. anyhoo, we ate at NAPLES and saw one of my DADDY'S coworkers there.. by the time we were finished it was around 6:50.. it was POURiNG and so my DADDY dropped us off in the front.. he insisted we take the UMBRELLA because there was THREE of us and only ONE of him.. well, when we got out i was so worried about holding the UMBRELLA so that the THREE OF US could get under it that i didnt notice this HUGE PUDDLE that i ran in.. it was HORRiBLE.. okay, maybe HUGE is an UNDERSTATEMENT! haha, tha thing was a FRiKKiN MiNi-RiVER! haha, it went up to my ANKLE! as you can imagine, my shoes, and their insides were WET.. it was horrible, but hey, ANYTHiNG FOR MiSTER AiKEN.. =) anyway, we get inside and they check our PURSES.. i didnt realize that this time around they DiDNT have METAL DETECTORS.. if i had known that they wouldnt have any, i would have hid the CAMERA in my jacket, but whatever.. haha.. anyway, they checked our PURSES and so i had to CHECK-iN my camera.. right as we walked in there was a MASSiVE CROWD .. of course, i bet you can imagine what it was they were CROWDiNG AROUND.. yes, it was the MERCHANDiSE STAND! luckily, i bought what i wanted at the COSTA MESA CONCERT so i didnt have to wait in line.. although, i did want to buy the FLEECE BLANKET, but unfortunately, they werent selling it.. gah, oh well.. i guess ill just have to ORDER iT ONLiNE.. but now that i look, it looks like they've taken it down.. BOO! haha.. anyhoo, we got to our seats and WOO HOO! they were AMAZiNG! it was so AWESOME! now, the PASADENA CiViC CENTER is not that BiG.. so, lemme just say, ANY seat would have been AWESOME.. okay, well i said that about COSTA MESA, but compared to PASADENA, the highest seat in PASADENA would have been in TiER 1 at COSTA MESA.. it was frikkin GREAT! anyhoo, we sat in our seats for about 30 MiNUTES.. while i sat there i talked with ERNiE on the phone and also watched out for JEROME and NiCK so that i could point them out to my LiL SiSTER.. and then finally, the moment we've all been waiting for, the SHOW BEGAN!

as always, the show was opened with HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SiNG sung by a little boy.. the little boy who sang last night was the same from COSTA MESA.. i looked at RACHEL as soon as he came out and i was like thats him again! haha, she agreed but i have to admit, he did get A LOT BETTER since COSTA MESA.. at COSTA MESA he was kinda off a bit, but last night he did a great job.. that led into THE MUSiC OF CHRiSTMAS.. now by this time in the show, which had to have been like 2 minutes, i was already TRiPPiN OUT! haha, i mean, goodness.. i was really really close and so i was VERY GiDDY.. well the MUSiC is playing and then finally, CLAY'S VOCALS KiCK iN AND THE MAN COMES OUT! oh lord, he looked GORGEOUS! he wore the same PURPLE SHiRT and MAROON SWEATER that he wore at COSTA MESA and GREY SLACKS.. the man's VOiCE was iNCREDiBLE! he was AWESOME in COSTA MESA, but at COSTA MESA you could tell he still had a bit of a cold, but tonight he sounded FLAWLESS! tonight, he came out with the HANDLESS MiC, THE KiND BROADWAY SiNGERS USE.. he was so AMAZiNG.. the CHiLDREN'S CHOiR was the same one from COSTA MESA except there were FEWER KiDS participating this time around.. i believe they were from SHERMAN OAKS and known as the RiVERSiDE ELEMENTARY CHiLDREN'S CHOiR.. the HiGH SCHOOL CHOiR was different however, they were from GLENDALE HiGH.. he looked so cute with all the KiDS around him.. we were a LOUD and APPRECiATiVE AUDiENCE if i do say so myself.. haha.. anyhoo, he finished the song BEAUTiFULLY and walked off stage to change his MiCS and ANGELA opened the show by introducing the CHOiRS and the JOYFUL NOiSE ORCHESTRA.. then she introduced MR.AiKEN again.. the STAGE was set up just like at COSTA MESA with a RED CURTAiN then a SHEER CURTAiN and then the BAND and BACK-UP SiNGERS, then another SHEER CURTAiN, then the ORCHESTRA, then one more SHEER CURTAiN and then en elevated portion of the stage where the HiGH SCHOOL CHOiR is located.. he then came out singing SLEiGH RiDE... i ADORE this song.. haha.. its too cute.. and i think the TEMPO is really FAST so it kinda gives it a more PLAYFUL vibe.. he did WONDERFUL and at the end he did a little TAP DANCE MOVE saying the final "SLEiGH RiDE TOGETHER WiTH YOU".. of course, we all CHEERED so it ended up coming out as a LAUGH.. ADORABLE MAN! it was GREAT! haha, anyhoo, that went straight into the BANTER.. JACOB, QUiANA, and ANGELA left the stage at this point.. the usual "MERRY CHRiSTMAS LA" came and then he said THANKS FOR WAiTiNG.. he also said that we were a very ENERGETiC and ENTHUSiASTiC CROWD to which he only recieved more SCREAMiNG and CHEERS.. he said that he had ANTiCiPATED CHRiSTMAS coming and then it passed and he thought "iS THAT iT?" well, he said that CHRiSTMAS iS NOT OVER UNTiL HE SAYS iTS OVER.. haha.. too cute.. anyhoo, he went onto say that he had to make sure that the show was CLASSY and GREAT especially because it was RAiNiNG which he said was CALiFORNiA'S SAD EXCUSE FOR SNOW .. and so he said that that would be the last time we saw him try to DANCE that night.. he also said that his AGENT was in the audience and he told the people who had been to more than ONE SHOW to tell her that that was NOT the first time he had sung on key.. hehe, i LOVE that man.. anyhoo, he said to imagine a FiREPLACE, and then went onto say "not like there are any in CALiFORNiA", and to imagine that it was SNOWiNG outside, and then said "psht. what's snow?" haha, with that he went into HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LiTTLE CHRiSTMAS.. the song BLEW ME AWAY.. he did a FANTASTiC job.. this man's RENDiTiON made me wish that it was CHRiSTMAS all year long just so i could hear him sing this song over and over again.. he did a BEAUTiFUL job.. next he went into THE CHRiSTMAS SONG.. that too was BEAUTiFULLY DONE.. this song really put me in the mood and i was able to imagine myself sitting in front of the fire with MR.AiKEN himself SERENADiNG ME.. hehe, oh, what i'd give to have that happen.. anyway, JACOB, QUiANA, and ANGELA came back on again and with that CLAY went into WiNTER WONDERLAND.. i LOVE this song.. this is one of my FAVES from the ALBUM and he did an AMAZiNG job! during the middle, CLAY slow danced with ANGELA and the two seemed to be talking.. it was really SWEET and rather ROMANTiC.. all the while JACOB and QUiANA were dancing.. CLAY twirled ANGELA a few times as well.. it was just VERY SWEET.. after that, CLAY went back to the BANTER.. he moved to the LEFT of the stage and started talking.. someone in the AUDiENCE started to talk to him and he said "WHAT?!" after trying to UNDERSTAND what was being said he gave up and said "YOU KNOW WHAT, THiS iS MY SHOW, WHY DONT YOU LET ME DO THE TALKiNG" haha.. oh how i love the SNARKiNESS.. he then said "YOU AND i, WE'LL TALK LATER [whispers] i GUESS" to that we all LAUGHED and then he went onto say "SOME PEOPLE ARE LAUGHiNG BECAUSE THEY THiNK iTS FUNNY BUT OTHERS ARE REALLY THiNKiNG 'REALLY, SHUT UP!'" haha, he went onto talk about how he's been in the CHRiSTMAS SPiRiT since MAY and that he did a lot this SEASON.. then he talked about his BOOK, his CD, and then his CHRiSTMAS SPECiAL.. he asked us who watched 'LOST' instead of his SPECiAL.. and we all BOOed.. then he said "THAT'S RiGHT. YOU MUST HAVE HEARD THAT WE ESCORTED PEOPLE OUT WHO WATCHED 'LOST'" haha, with that he introduced QUiANA and they sang SiLVER BELLS.. they did an AWESOME JOB! i absolutely LOVE CLAY'S rendition and QUiANA has a BEAUTiFUL voice.. after that he introduced QUiANA again and said that she TURNED 25 YESTERDAY, which was TUESDAY.. he then said that JEROME turned 50 YESTERDAY too.. haha, then he said he wasnt sure if JEROME would protect him anymore because of that.. haha, anyhoo, he went onto his BANTER and asks if everyone got what they wanted for CHRiSTMAS.. he asks QUiANA and she says yes, she got SURROUND SOUND, SURROUND SOUND that she's been talking about for THREE YEARS.. then he talks about how everyone probably got their CHRiSTMAS SHOPPiNG done on DECEMBER 23RD.. then he asks how many people were at our houses.. he asked who had 21 people at their house.. then he asked who had 10 people.. then he asked who had 2.. he said that he would be over at those people's houses next year.. haha.. he went onto tell his story about his friend and how CHRiSTMAS MUSiC always puts people in the MOOD.. he said that's not always true though because whoever went SHOPPiNG on SUNDAY knows that that isn't true.. well, during this point, CLAY got flustered and had to start over again.. he said "EXCUSE ME, LET ME START AGAiN" with that he turned around, then faced tha audience again and began.. haha.. it was TOO CUTE!  anyway, he told about how his friend would pop in CHRiSTMAS MUSiC everytime she would get pulled over.. he said that she DROVE AS BAD AS QUiANA.. then everyone said AWW cuz he was picking on her and then mocked us with his own 'AWW' but then said "SHE'S OLD ENOUGH! TWENTY-FiVE YEARS OLD! SHE CAN TAKE iT!" haha, then he starts giggling and said "WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR A LONG TiME NOW" anyhoo, he continues on with his story and says how his friend claims that she has NEVER GOTTEN A TiCKET WHEN SHE HAD CHRiSTMAS MUSiC PLAYiNG.. he said it was either that or she FLiRTED AS BAD AS ANGELA DiD.. haha.. i thought it was cute that he kept picking on him.. anyway, he said that told this story to an audience about three weeks ago and his friend was in the audience and took it to heart.. well his friend was driving down the road and was listening to one of those stations that played CHRiSTMAS MUSiC from JULY to DECEMBER.. haha, and so she heard this ARTiST THAT SHE THOUGHT WAS GREAT! at this point he points to himself.. haha.. he goes on and says "SO SHE TURNS iT UP AND iS BLARiNG 'OH HOLY NiGHT' THROUGH HER SPEAKERS AND iS PiMPiN iT DOWN THE STREET" omg! haha, at this point i am CRACKiNG UP! the man just said 'PiMPiN!'.. haha.. how AWESOME iS THAT?! OMG! i LOVE iT! MUHAHA! haha, anyhoo.. he continues on with his story and says that his friend got pulled over and was given a TiCKET for playing her MUSiC TOO LOUD.. haha.. but he says that he says "i DONT WANT THAT TO DETER YOU! i WANT YOU TO BUY MY ALBUM AND PLAY MY MUSiC AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!" haha.. with that he says that we wont be able to play the next song, but he hopes we like it.. its one of his favorites and that if this doesnt want to make us get up and dance, nothing will.. so he encouraged us to dance in tha AiSLE WAYS.. with that he goes into CHRiSTMAS WALTZ.. oh i just love when this man sings this song! RACHEL refers to this song as the "NUMBERS SONG" because he says 'in three quarters time'.. hes very BUBBLY during this song and i can see the SPARKLE in his eye.. he did an AMAZiNG job on this song.. at this point, QUiANA, JACOB, and ANGELA exit the stage.. next he went into the ever popular WHAT ARE YOU DOiNG NEW YEAR'S EVE.. okay, this is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORiTE SONGS! when he sings it you can just HEAR women SWOONiNG.. well during this song, CLAY makes everyone absolutely MELT.. its amazing what that man can reduce GROWN WOMEN to.. at first he started his song on stage and eyed and made eye contact with everyone in the FiRST ROW and then slowly made his way down the stairs.. he stops in the FiRST ROW in front of this LiTTLE GiRL and her MOTHER.. she's no older than EiGHT.. shes so cute.. well before CLAY sings to her he talks to her a bit while the music is going and then proceeds to sing to her.. it was so ADORABLE! there were very loud screams and it was so sweet! oh, HOW i LOVE THAT MAN WiTH CHiLDREN.. then he moved on to an ELDERLY WOMEN.. i think she didn't realize that he wanted to DANCE with her so she stayed in her seat and so CLAY stood there with his hand in hers and sang to her.. when he was finished he KiSSED HER HAND and then went out the side doors with JEROME and NiCK right behind him.. let me tell you, i think every woman in that THEATRE swooned at one point.. it was completely HOT! i LOVED iT! anyway, afterwards, JACOB comes and sings SENDiNG YOU A LiTTLE CHRiSTMAS.. which is accompanied by him playing the piano.. at this time SVON went to the side.. i believe he wrote the song himself.. its very R&B and ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS.. the song is AMAZiNG and he does a BEAUTiFUL job singing it.. its a very WARM song and it gave me a very WARM vibe.. it was AMAZiNG.. after this QUiANA and ANGELA come back onstage and they start into MERRY CHRiSTMAS WiTH LOVE.. this is another of my FAVORiTES.. CLAY is completely ON during this song.. he does an AMAZiNG JOB! it left me BREATHLESS.. he did such a BEAUTiFUL JOB.. i LOVE this song LiVE.. BEAUTiFUL.

after that was iNTERMiSSiON.. during this time RACHEL went to the BATHROOM and MOMMY and DADDY went outside to SMOKE.. so i was stuck SiTTiNG THERE BY MYSELF.. luckily, the people at this CONCERT were quite a bit YOUNGER than the people at the COSTA MESA CONCERT.. anyhoo, after TWENTY MiNUTES the second half begins.. this is my FAVORiTE HALF because the songs are more so FOCUSED on the real meaning of CHRiSTMAS, being JESUS' BiRTH, as opposed to the songs during the FiRST HALF which are more so COMMERiCAL CHRiSTMAS SONGS..

anyway, CLAY comes back onstage in a new OUTFiT.. a BLUE BUTTON-UP SHiRT, RED TiE, BLACK LONG COAT, and BLACK PANTS aka PANTS OF PERFECTiON.. haha.. what?! his BUTT looks cute in those pants! anyway, he starts off with OH HOLY NiGHT.. dear lord, the MAN was AMAZiNG during this song.. there are no other words to describe it.. i was THOROUGHLY iMPRESSED during this song.. he did an AWE-iNSPiRiNG job.. it was BEAUTiFUL.. definitely one of the BEST performances of the night.. after this a LiTTLE GiRL came out and read a BiBLE PASSAGE.. as each CHiLD comes out to read, CLAY'S attention is COMPLETELY ON THEM.. its AMAZiNG.. its defintely at this point that we see TEACHER CLAY. this led into SiLENT NiGHT which was done BEAUTiFULLY AS WELL.. during all of these songs CLAY is singing upwards, toward the HEAVENS.. its very MOViNG to watch him sing these songs.. hes WORSHiPiNG GOD through these songs and you can FEEL it in the way he sings.. after this song another LiTTLE GiRL comes out and read another passage.. that leads into HARK THE HERLAD ANGELS SiNG/OH COME ALL YE FAiTHFUL MEDLEY.. done VERY well.. AMAZiNG.. the CHOiR and BACKUP can be heard very well.. very, um.. iuno, CELESTiAL.. after this a LiTTLE GiRL comes out and reads yet another passage.. this leads into THE FiRST NOEL.. this is another very MOViNG and BEAUTiFUL song.. the GLORY NOTE was held and without any fluctuations or anything.. BREATHTAKiNG. after this a LiTTLE BOY comes out and reads another passage.. at this point, CLAY takes a seat and sings MARY DiD YOU KNOW.. this performance was absolutely MOViNG.. it brought TEARS TO MY EYES.. it was sung with SUCH EMOTiON.. in CLAY'S words, he says that the song is very HAUNTiNG and id have to AGREE WiTH HiM.. the song was just AMAZiNG.. it was SPELL-BiNDiNG. only one word for this song. PERFECTiON. after this, CLAY, QUiANA, and JACOB leave the stage and another LiTTLE BOY comes out and reads a passage.. with that the CHiLDREN'S CHOiR comes out.. ANGELA then sings JESUS, BORN ON THiS DAY.. ANGELA does an AWESOME job.. i heard WHiSPERiNG all around me saying how GREAT she was.. she really wanted to show her stuff to her HOMETOWN CROWD.. she did BEAUTiFULLY.. she held those NOTES WONDERFULLY! AMAZiNG JOB! after this, CLAY read a little passage that spoke about what the REAL MEANiNG of CHRiSTMAS was.. he spoke about how our PRAYERS were with our FAMiLiES, FRiENDS, and ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN SERViNG OVER SEAS.. with that, ANGELA leaves the stage along with the CHiLDREN'S CHOiR and QUiANA comes on stage and sings GROWN UP CHRiSTMAS LiST.. QUiANA too does an AMAZiNG JOB.. she was ABSOLUTELY CAPTiVATiNG.. she OWNED the stage.. she did a BEAUTiFUL JOB! after her AMAZiNG performance, CLAY, ANGELA, and JACOB come back on stage..CLAY is wearing a SiLVER TiE, BLACK SHiRT, and the BLACK PANTS OF PERFECTiON.. CLAY then proceeds to iNTRODUCE and THANK the BAND, BACK-UP SiNGERS, CHOiRS, ORCHESTRA and their CONDUCTOR, and CREW.. afterwards, JESSE, the CONDUCTOR, JACOB, QUiANA, and ANGELA leave stage for a bit because they are not needed in the NEXT song.. CLAY then goes into another BANTER.. he talks about how his CHRiSTMAS went and talks about his TRADiTiONS.. he tells us that he TAUGHT SVON how to play the next song but then says that hes only kidding..he says that his GRANNY took him to PiANO LESSONS and he took PiANO for about THREE HOURS and then QUiT.. he said that he was PLANNiNG on learning how to play the NEXT SONG for the tour but he said that he was LAZY and didnt want to.. he then went onto say "YEAH, i KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THiNKiNG.. 'BUT YOU HAD A MONTH'" haha, he said that he still didnt learn and that even if he were to play he couldnt play anything other than CHOPSTiCKS.. anyway, he goes on and says that his GRANNY had asked him this year to sit down at the PiANO to play so that EVERYONE could SiNG.. well, he couldnt and it wouldnt have really mattered because everyone in his FAMiLY is tone deaf anyway.. haha.. then he sat down and said that this song was going to be WEiRD to sing because CHRiSTMAS ALREADY PASSED.. he asks SVON if he knew that.. hehe, i LOVE this man.. anyhoo, SVON starts to play the PiANO and CLAY begins to sing i'LL BE HOME FOR CHRiSTMAS.. yet another AMAZiNG PERFORMANCE.. another one of my FAVORiTES OF THE NiGHT.. its completely SERENE.. its just HiS VOCALS with the PiANO.. and the LiGHTiNG adds to that because its just one SPOTLiGHT on CLAY sitting next to the piano.. COMPLETELY BREATHTAKiNG PERFORMANCE.. ABSOLUTELY AMAZiNG. after he finished, JACOB, QUiANA, and ANGELA come back onstage and CLAY begins into another PLAYFUL BANTER.. he talks about how NEW YEAR is coming up and how he'll be back on SATURDAY to participate in the ROSE PARADE that goes down COLORADO.. he says that he notices how people never keep their NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTiONS.. he says that most last for FiVE WEEKS and the diets last for THREE DAYS.. he says that he might make a resolution to EAT MORE McDONALDS because he'd be able to KEEP THAT ONE ALL THE WAY THROUGH.. haha.. then he goes on to ask QUiANA what her RESOLUTiONS are.. she says that she has none and he says, 'YOU HAVE NONE?' she tries to defend herself and says 'WELL YOU SAiD NOT TO MAKE ANY!' CLAY goes onto say 'YEAH! BUT THAT'S MY LiNE! WE'VE BEEN DOiNG THiS FOR A MONTH! YOU SHOULD KNOW THiS BY NOW!' he then looks at the crowd and says 'EXCUSE US. WE'RE GOiNG TO START THiS AGAiN' he then goes onto ask QUiANA what her resolution is.. this time around she says that shes going to spend more time with her CAT and then says at CLAY'S house.. haha.. he pretends he doesnt hear her say that because of his iMMENSE FEAR OF HOUSE CATS.. he then asks JACOB if he has any and he says no as well so CLAY gives up and says 'FORGET ABOUT THESE PEOPLE! HOW BOUT YOU GUYS?! ANY NEW YEARS RESOLUTiONS!?'.. haha.. he's so cute.. anyhoo, he then says, 'NO, BUT QUiANA iS RiGHT.. WE DON'T WANT YOU TO MAKE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTiONS.. WE WANT YOU TO CHANGE THiNGS WHEN THEY NEED TO BE CHANGED. SO THiS NEXT SONG TALKS ABOUT HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SPREAD THE LOVE AROUND ALL YEAR. SO WE'RE GOiNG TO LEAVE YOU WiTH THiS SONG TONiGHT ABOUT HOW YOU DON'T SAVE iT ALL FOR CHRiSTMAS DAY BUT SPREAD iT ALL AROUND'.. with that he goes into DON'T SAVE iT ALL FOR CHRiSTMAS DAY.. i think this is the SECOND BEST PERFORMANCE of the night.. his voice is so STRONG and CONFiDENT and he seems so at EASE.. its during this song that the CAMERAS start to go off and that means TONS of flashses.. i felt bad for CLAY because we all know how much it hurts his eyes.. gah, some fans are just URGH! anyway, during this song JEROME, NiCK, and other security are trying to stop people from taking pictures by going up to them.. it was VERY DiSTRACTiNG, but NEVERTHELESS, CLAY did AMAZiNG! he held the GLORY NOTE and everyone was CHEERiNG.. he did AMAZiNG! the song was SO ENERGETiC! with that he said GOODNiGHT.. everyone gave him a STANDiNG OVATiON.. after about TWO MiNUTES OR SO the music for GOOD NEWS begins to play and the CHOiRS start to sing.. its at this point that CLAY comes back out in his BLACK LONG COAT, BLACK BUTTON UP SHiRT, and BLACK SLACKS with the HANDLESS MiC.. he then starts into GOOD NEWS.. this was THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NiGHT! it was so MOViNG and COMPLETELY CAPTiVATiNG! he put so much EMOTiON into it.. it was ABSOLUTELY BREATH-TAKiNG.. i got TEARY-EYED during this song.. his voice was so STRONG during this song, never WAVERiNG.. it was the PERFECT ending..

after this song the lights went up and everyone left for the night.. unfortunately, i wasnt able to stay to wait for the BUSES because it was raining.. oh well, theres always SATURDAY! anyway, before we were able to leave, we had to get our CAMERA but that didnt take very long.. outside the doors were people selling BOOTLEG t-shirts and so i bought two.. anyway, there are so many words to describe the evening but the ones that i would use would be MAGiCAL, ENCHANTiNG, and BREATH-TAKiNG.. if you missed out on this TOUR you definitely missed a CONCERT OF A LiFETiME..

right now i'll leave you with a few pictures taken by another fan, GREENEYEDROBiN.. enjoy! =)

                      lots of love,
                              <3 NEi

"Children with disabilities never tell you what they plan to throw at you. It could be a block, a brick, a live mouse. You have to be prepared for anything and grateful for the smallest progress. Whenever I feel adrift, I think back to the kids I used to teach. Children in even the most devastating circumstance still smile. They still laugh and reach out to others. They still trust. They still try." - Clay Aiken from "Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life"

hi kiddos! woo! i HOPE you all have A VERY MERRY CHRiSTMAS! BBRRR!! iTS FREEZiNG AND RAiNiNG RiGHT NOW! so i decided to BLOG! woo hoo! this is just a  BLOG to update ya on my life.. haha.. not like there's TOO MUCH to worry about.. lord knows my life aint that EXCiTiNG! anyhoo, i see that i HAVENT BLOGGED SiNCE THE CRUiSE! oh goodness, i didnt realize it was that long! anyway, ill start there! =)

the CRUiSE was LOTS OF FUN! it was really pretty COLD but thats okay.. it was a nice change.. well, it didnt last TOO LONG because once we got to ENSENADA it was HOT again.. haha.. anyway, the ROOM was pretty CHLOSTROPHOBiC.. haha.. i uno, normally im okay, but the room was FRiKKiN SMALL! haha, but whatever, its okay, my KUYA, RACHEL, and i were the only ones who shared it so its okay.. on FRiDAY we didnt do too much.. we got there, went through the EMERGENCY procedure and then went to DiNNER in the DiNiNG ROOM.. im tellin ya kids, that was the best part! the FREE FOOD! haha, okay, well yeah, our WAiTERS were REALLY NiCE.. i dunno, but whenever my FAMiLY goes anywhere we always end up MAKiNG FRiENDS with the people that work there.. haha.. i guess were just a FRiENDLY BUNCH OF PEOPLE! anyway, lets see who went with us.. obviously, there was MY FAMiLY: my MOM, my DAD, my KUYA, RACHEL, and i.. then there was my TiTO JOJO, my TiTA SONYA, my COUSiN JUSTiNE, my TiTO BUTCH, my TiTA CHAT, my TiTO RAY, my TiTA LESLiE, my TiTO JOEY, my TiTO EDGAR, my TiTA LiSA, and my TiTO JOEY.. there were i think, SiXTEEN OF US.. it made for a FUN trip.. there were SUPPOSED TO BE a lot more of us.. there was supposed to be another family, but they ended up not going.. which would have been THREE MORE PEOPLE.. and then my TiTO BUTCH and TiTA CHAT'S kids were supposed to have come but they had FiNALS and my TiTA SONYA and TiTO JOJO'S son was supposed to come as well but he too had FiNALS.. i dunno what that was about considering i HAD FiNALS TOO! haha, but whatever.. it did make me that much more STRESSED.. anyway, LUCKiLY, i didnt end up gettin SiCK but my DADDY did.. blah.. although, the FiRST NiGHT i did have a HEADACHE but that had started even before we got on the SHiP but i guess the fact that i wasnt ACCUSTOMED to the MOVEMENT OF THE SHiP, it must have made it about FiVE TiMES WORSE.. anyway, there was a lotta fun stuff for us to do.. most of my time was spent over in the SPORTS AREA .. they had an ARCADE, FiTNESS CENTER, CASiNO, and a COUPLE of stores to shop at.. of course, i waited until we got to ENSENADA to do shopping.. hehe.. anyway, whats weird about the boat is that they dont take CASH as a way of PAYMENT.. they give you this SEA PASS CARD and whenever you pay for something, you just hand them the card and they charge it to your ROOM.. although, there wasnt much to pay for considering all the FOOD was FREE.. but hey, i guess things happen .. haha.. anyway, of course, my PARENTS, TiTOS, TiTAS, and even my KUYA and JUSTiNE spent most of their time in the CASiNO.. haha.. iuno whats really up with that.. but hey! whatever floats your boat! haha, anyhoo, i have LOTS of pictures so ill give ya tha link! =)

              - MY UNCLE JOEY'S PiCS
              - MY PiCS

haha, anyway, before CHRiSTMAS BREAK we had FiNALS and i was COMPLETELY STRESSiNG! it was HORRiBLE! NOTE TO SELF: DON'T GET BACK FROM A CRUiSE THE DAY BEFORE FiNALS! i was so WORRiED about WORLD HiSTORY .. i thought that i had LiTERALLY FAiLED the test, but it ended up TURNiNG OUT OKAY.. of course though, i had to sit through about a HORRiBLE WEEK OF TORTURE waiting for the REPORT CARD to come in the MAiL.. anyhoo, i ended up with an A in everything except for SPANiSH! WHAT iS THAT?! im going to have to talk to her about that! goodness! that messed up my GPA! right now its only a 4.50 and lord knows what it could have been had i not gotten a B in SPANiSH! but its okay, haha.. im too HAPPY to worry about that now! anyway, the last day of FiNALS was NiGHT SCHOOL and that was the DAY we PASSED OUT OUR GiFTS.. we also got FREE DiNNER that day! woo hoo! haha, we got iN-AND-OUT! anyhoo, i got gifts from SYLViA, SHE GOT ME A STUFFED KANGAROO iN A SANTA HAT, BRENT, HE GOT ME A TiCKET TO THE MOViES, and MY BEST BUDDiE ERNiE! have i told you that i ABSOLUTELY ADORE AND LOVE MY ERNiE?! oh yes! he can be a lil annoying sometimes, but i still LOVE him! hes the best! he got me EXACTLY what i wanted! he got me KELLY CLARKSON'S CD, BREAKAWAY and the new CLAY AiKEN DVD, "A CLAY AiKEN CHRiSTMAS"! how awesome is he?! woo hoo for that! anyhoo, that day we also had our CHRiSTMAS MASS.. JESSiCA CASTiLLO ended up coming with NESSA so that was pretty COOL BEANS..

anyhoo, after that, i was finally FREE! haha, okay, not really.. i still have yet to FiNiSH my BiOLOGY ZOO PROJECT.. gah, ERNiE and i went already, but we didnt end up finishing so we gotta go back to tha LA ZOO soon.. gah, i dont wanna, but we have no choice.. when we went we BROUGHT RACHEL along.. and she helped out a lot.. the DAMN FLAMiNGOS smell! haha.. but whatever.. ERNiE, RACHEL, and i all got us EQUALLY LOST! haha, we have to follow a specific path in order to get ALL THE ANiMALS.. and well, we had to start from the beginning OVER AND OVER AGAiN! haha.. but its okay.. whatever.. it was kinda FUN.. very tiring, but fun..

anyhoo, onto CHRiSTMAS! woo hoo!! it was a LOTTA FUN! i spent it at my LOLA HERMY'S and LOLO GREG'S! oh yes! haha.. well this CHRiSTMAS really did CREEP UP ON US! i mean, it was the day before CHRiSTMAS EVE, NAMED AFFECTiONATELY "CHRiSTMAS ADAM" by BRETT PARKER, CLAY'S YOUNGER BROTHER BECAUSE ADAM CAME BEFORE EVE, we hadnt even BEGUN OUR CHRiSTMAS SHOPPiNG! haha.. so my MOMMY and i went to the MALL to FiNiSH it, or should i say START.. haha.. i saw MAi at the DiSNEY STORE and i was able to get her a DiSCOUNT.. then i saw JOELLE, DENiSE, and JOSH in front of "LiDS" where i got my KUYA the LA BLACK ON BLACK HAT he's been wanting.. anyhoo, we went to my LOLO and LOLA'S for CHRiSTMAS.. my UNCLE BOLET, ATE SUSAN, LOLA HERMY, LOLO GREG, UNCLE LiTO, AUNTiE LULU, KUYA ALFRED, KUYA GiLETTE, UNCLE JESSE, AUNTiE TiNA, TJ, HiS GiRLFRiEND, UNCLE JiMMY, AUNTiE CAROL, TAMMY, KEViN, BiANCA, MY UNCLE JiMMY'S OTHER SON [haha, im completely blanking out on tha name], AUNTiE KARiNA, my other UNCLE LiTO, CONRAD, CARLO, HiS GiRLFRiEND, and my LOLO NERSiNG.. the GUYS ended up playing TEXAS HOLD 'EM all night.. and my KUYA went away with $150! woo hoo! haha, meanwhile, i was bonding with my COUSiNS and TEASiNG CONRAD! haha, boy! the kid has GROWN UP! okay, well maybe not EMOTiONALLY considering hes still a little loser, but goodness hes 5'9"! haha.. last time i saw him he was MY HEiGHT! goodness.. GROWTH SPURTS NOWADAYS! haha, anyway.. lets see, shall we go over what i got for CHRiSTMAS?! well woo hoo! haha, lets see.. you already know what ERNiE, BRENT, and SYLViA gave me.. my KUYA got me the E-L-M-O ELMO! the one that instead of singing "Y-M-C-A" he sings "E-L-M-O"! woo hoo! haha, it adds to my collection! now i have HOKEY POKEY ELMO, LiMBO ELMO, and now E-L-M-O ELMO! woo hoo! it was so COOL BEANS! from my MOMMY and DADDY i got a NEW CD/MP3 PLAYER! woo hoo!! ive been needing one! haha, its to replace my GHETTO-ASS "COBY" one.. haha... this one is SONY so im happy about that! from my AUNTiE KARiNA, UNCLE LiTO, CONRAD, and CARLO i got a EARRiNG and BRACELET SET.. from my UNCLE JiMMY and TiTA CAROL'S FAMiLY i got a GiFTCARD to the GAP! woo hoo! haha, from my AUNTiE SONYA, UNCLE JOJO, JUSTiNE, and JASON i got a RED AND ORANGE JACKET FROM AMERiCAN EAGLE!! its HOTTNESS! haha.. from my UNCLE JUNiOR and TiTA ELSA'S FAMiLY i got an ORGANiZER and from the rest of my RELATiVES i got MONEY! woo hoo! i have $140 so far! woo hoo!

and THE BEST GiFT EVER, i GET TO UNWRAP TOMORROW! WOO HOO! thats right kiddos! TOMORROW NiGHT iS MY CLAY AiKEN JOYFUL NOiSE CONCERT! ahh! im so excited!! lord knows its gonna be a NiGHT TO REMEMBER! woo hoo! its my SEVENTH TiME SEEiNG HiM! hopefully, ill be going to the PASADENA ROSE PARADE to see him again.. but who knows.. anyway, im just PSYCHED about tomorrow! i cant wait!! haha, anyhoo.. im planning on changing this LAYOUT tonight so be on the lookout for that.. anyhoo, imma leave you with a song from KELLY'S NEW ALBUM CALLED "BECAUSE OF YOU".. i hope you like it!

                     KELLY CLARKSON : BECAUSE OF YOU

                           lots of love,
                                 <3 NEi

"You don’t have to be either dating or not friends. There can be a middle ground and that’s what a platonic relationship is. I think platonic relationships can be closer than dating relationships sometimes. Dating relationships end and platonic relationships are going to be there no matter what." - Clay Aiken

smart man, that Clay Aiken, smart man..