Introduction to Negin

Yes, I am writing about my teacher.

Negin Smith my teacher Curtsey of:
Treasure Mountain Junior High

I started Spanish class last year as a beginner. I got this teacher named Negin. (It's her first name and it's rad.) I had a good class with a mix of eighth graders and ninth graders. My friends Kira and Emma were in that class and we called her Classic Negin anytime she did something out of the ordinary. Or I guess ordinary for her. For example, one time she told us about how she went sailing for a few months then shaved her head. The rest of the sailors then followed making her a trendsetter. We had a signal for these kinds of things. We would just make a C with our hands then laugh a lot.

I had Spanish or as I should say español, last period of the day. It was a long time until that final bell rang but we made it. I learned a lot and was ready to move to Spanish two for the following year. We have three Spanish teachers and they all teach different levels. I had a slim chance but a chance of getting Negin again.

And as you guessed I got Negin again. That makes two full years of Spanish with the same teacher.

I got Emma in my class this year for the second time and my other friend Rell. It's a really strange class with a lot of eighth graders and being the older you natural dislike them. The year I have it first so every other day I spend an hour waking up with Negin.

One thing you need to know about Negin is that she is from Camden, Maine and tells us that a lot. Emma has a sweatshirt form Maine and every time she wears it Negin comments.

Anyways, Negin and I have this weird connection that I can't describe. But it only got weirder this year.

It all started a few weeks ago when I was sitting on a bean bag working on a project. She has this special room with a couch and beanbags connected to her room. Sometimes we get to work in there for individual or group classwork. The project that time was to make a presentation about someone that the rest of the class had to figure out based on your hints. I decided to write mine about Negin just for fun because I kid of know a lot of random facts about her. For example, she likes to knit and is Iranian. She came over and asked if she could see my project and I said no and pulled my computer to my chest.

Then she sat on me.

Just plain old flopped down on top of me with all her weight and sat there for a solid 45 seconds. Then she rolled off me and laid on the floor for a minute.

What was I supposed to do? Just push her off or tell her to get off? She is my teacher!

After she left we all started laughing a lot and just carried on. It was easily the weirdest and most uncomfortable experiences ever but interesting all the same. 

I really enjoy Spanish some days and other days not too much. It really depends on my mood and what happens throughout the period. Negin is a really chill person and a good teacher. I have learned a lot of Spanish and keep improving but I still have a lot to learn.

Personally, I would rather have a teacher I can tell stories about rather then your average lame teacher. I can't imagine Spanish without Negin but I still have a 3/4 of the year to go so no worries. If your teacher ever sits on you it's a good story. At this rate I am guessing there will be a lot more stories about Negin this year so no worries.

PS... We call her Kween Negin now because it sounds better. Notice the spelling.

Happy learning,
~Corrine

Pumpkin Passion

Fall is one of the best times of the year. All the leaves are changing colors, pumpkin spice lattes are out and it’s the time when all the new fashion trends come out. Most teenage girls love fall for reasons like this but I like it for different reasons. My favorite parts about fall are the perfect temperatures to go hammock in the trees, the cooler weather for playing sports, and I am defiantly a sucker for pumpkin foods.


My mom has always been a great baker and baking at high altitudes is always a challenge. She makes all kinds of yummy cookies, delicious pies for thanksgiving, and different kinds of sweet breads. My favorites are her pumpkin chocolate chip and banana walnut bread. Although, my mom only makes pumpkin bread when it is autumn. I have gotten pumpkin bread in other places such as great harvest and it is good, there is no denying that, but, my mom’s is better.
 
Ever since I was little I would help my mom bake. I would sit on the counter and get flour all over my face. I cracked the eggs, poured in the sugar and whisked it all together. The worst was when it went in the oven and you had to wait. I would sit and watch the oven timer keep ticking until they were finally done. The worst was when it needed a few more minutes to cook. Once they came out I would have to test them to make sure they were okay to eat. Then I would have to test just a few more times to make sure there was nothing wrong with them.
 
My mom also makes wonderful pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and a great pumpkin pie. Pumpkin is defiantly one of my favorite flavors and it always hits the spot when the leaves are changing. Here is my moms recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bread. You should try to make it and keep in mind little things change depending upon your altitude. Make sure to test it a couple times at the end.
 
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
 
Ingredients:
Makes 3 loafs or 12 mini loaves)
Preheat oven to 350
1 can pumpkin puree (30ounces)
6 large eggs
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1/3 cup of cold water
5 cups flour
2 cups of sugar
2 tsp pumpkin spice
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda in Park City  (3 tsp for lower elevations)
2 cups Chocolate Chips (semi-sweet or bittersweet)
2 cups nuts (optional)

 Combine first 4 ingredients and mix on low until moistened.  Stir the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and gradually add to the pumpkin mixture.  Then fold in the chocolate chips and nuts if you choose.
Bake at 350 for 50 minute's or until done.  If using mini loaf pans, bake for 28-30 minutes.
Enjoy!  

 Pumpkin bread right from the oven

Fall is a super fun time of year if you don’t factor in school, the end of the quarter and all that jazz. Pumpkin carving is not my favorite but can be fun if you are a talented pumpkin carver. Eating almost anything pumpkin is highly delicious and I would highly recommend it. I hope you made my pumpkin bread and enjoyed every last bite. Sharing is sometimes not caring when it comes to your sweets. Go out and enjoy the fall weather and maybe set up your hammock in the trees.
 
Happy fall,
~Corrine

Family Trip Rant

Just a little bit annoyed at the moment.

Being the first and only teenager in a family has it ups and downs. You act like an annoying little twit (which you are) but you also feel that your parents are just the same. For example, my family and I. This weekend was a fall break in school so we had Thursday and Friday off resulting in an extra long weekend. Defiantly a joke of a break in my opinion. In my mind I was going to catch up on homework, prepare for my upcoming finals and hang out with some friends. I have also had many big tests the past few weeks so I have been doing a lot of homework on the weekends in edition to sports practice and games. I was just ready to relax and have the weekend to myself.

Little did I know my parents had a complete different idea of what we were going to do. My family is really into camping, boating and enjoying nature which is great to a point. We tend to go camping a lot and I mean a lot. I went to Yuba Lake, Moab, Yellowstone, Tetons, Bear Lake and Flaming George twice. That is just within six hour car ride and only this year. I have also been to many other out of region areas but we will get to that later. Anyways, my parents came home Wednesday and decided that we were going camping the next morning out to Jackson Wyoming. I was pretty mad and asked if we could please say but they said no. I already had plans with one friend for Thursday and more plans for later that weekend. I was really annoyed so I complained and did what teenagers do. I had to go so we packed up and left Thursday morning. It was a five hour drive to the hotel and thats a long time in a car with people you are not too fond of at the moment. We slept in the hotel for the night which was nice but then we got up the next day and drove another hour and a half to our camp site.

We stayed in the Tetons National Park for two nights. We set up our pop up trailer, got the bikes down and then unpacked. Once we were done I was ready to chill but they decided we needed to go for a bike ride. We loaded up our bikes then drove down the road for about fifteen minutes. We biked to Jenny Lake and it was really pretty and I liked it but, I thought we were done. Once again, I was completely wrong. We kept biking for another 3 miles then we stopped at another lake and had a snack. After that I was really done but we just kept on going. We were going down hill for a good amount of this time so it wasn't bad but I was worried about the bike back up. I kept saying lets go back up and if you want to bike more once we get to the car we can. After a long time my parents agreed with me and we turned around and started biking back up. My dad and I went ahead and then stopped for my mom who was super slow. She finally came up to us and told us she had a flat tire. Of course we did not have a bike pump so she stayed put with my sister and my dad and I rode all the back to the car quite quickly to go get my mom. Mind you, this whole ride was back up the hill. I wasn’t tired physically I just really hated it. We got to the car and picked up my mom then headed back to the camp site. My thing is I really don’t love biking but I do like sports with some kind of purpose to them like shooting a lacrosse ball into the goal.

Anyway, the next day we drove to Yellowstone and looked at the geysers all day long. I thought it was pretty cool but after five hours I was tired of watching water shoot in the air. We finally went back and had dinner and a campfire. The next day we got up and packed up everything which took about three hours. (UGH) Then we drove home which took five hours. I also spilled a cup of noodles all over me which was super hot and sticky. I finally got home and had the fabulous opportunity of ending my weekend with homework which was a blast. It was a fun weekend but I would have preferred to stay at home which sounds like I am a little brat but that's okay right now. To conclude, family trips are annoying and painful but sometimes you just have to suck it up.

Jenny Lake Tetons National Park. Half way through the bike ride.

The mountains were pretty I guess.

Happy traveling,
~Corrine