Blog Post #7

Apple a Day Festival

During the local Apple a Day festival the entire city of Santaquin, Utah, comes to Mountainland Apples to pick apples.  The festival is held every year on October 1st to celebrate good health for the winter.  

In 1992, the mayor, Samuel Elliot decided that it was important for the citizens to remember the popular phrase “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”.  Elliot believed that this phrase was important to the functioning of Santaquin.  Elliot made it a requirement for all able citizens to pick apples at Mountainland Apples that year.  Since that day the entire town shuts down on October 1st for everyone to be able to celebrate the tradition.

Everyone who attends the festival gets one special apple from the Salus tree.  These apples represents health for the following winter.  Many people use their apple as a messages or a symbol.  For example, some people give their apple to a person who they care about.  This is a message that means that the giver cares about the receivers health and safety for the coming winter.  Some people give their apple to a person who is ill.  This is meant to be a healing over the sickness.  Others eat or preserve the apple for themselves.

Throughout the day people eat apple pie, apple cider and apple sauce and they drink apple juice.  Recently people have been wearing apple attire and adding many other novelties to the festival.  One of the most common traditions is to make the famous Santaquin Apple Pie.  This recipe was kept confidential until 2009.  Fortunately, for people living outside of Santaquin, Edward Roberto leaked the recipe to a cookbook editor for five hundred dollars.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup shortening

4 tablespoons cold water

FILLING:

7 cups thinly sliced peeled baking apples

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

Directions:

In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening. Gradually add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing lightly with a fork until dough forms a ball. Chill for 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll half of dough into 10-in. circle. Place into a 9-in. pie pan.

In a bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; add to apples and toss. Pour into crust; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; cut slits in top. Place over filling; seal and flute edges. Beat egg yolk and water; brush over pastry. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F; bake 40-45 minutes more or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

My favourite holiday is Christmas.  Christmas is my favourite holiday because it is a time for family, friends, and celebrating Jesus’ birth.  Christmas has definitely lost its true meaning to many people.  Many people view Christmas as a time for food, presents, santa, decorations, and a break from work.  I think that these things are okay if they are done in celebration of Jesus’ birth.  To bring back the true meaning of Christmas everyone should encourage their friends to go to a church service either on Christmas morning, or Christmas Eve.  

My family celebrates Christmas with many different traditions.  On Christmas Eve we go out for chinese food (Thanks to ‘A Christmas Story’) and then go to my church for the Candle Light Service.  On Christmas day we give presents to everyone in our family, we have our grandparents over, and we have a big turkey dinner.  Throughout the day we read the Christmas story from the Bible and thank God for sending Jesus to the earth.

Blog Post #6

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Conflict	Sammy finds a stray cat on the road.  Sammy carries the cat home. At home Sammy names the cat Kitten and instantly falls in love with Kitten.  When Sammy’s parents see Kitten they are furious.  They immediately make the decision to take Kitten to the Humane Society.  Sammy pleads until her parents give her one week to prove herself responsible enough to own Kitten.  Sammy is trying to show her parents how responsible she is so that her parents let her keep Kitten. This conflict is external because Sammy trying to prove to her parents that she is responsible.  This conflict is also internal because she is struggling with learning responsibility herself.
Theme	The theme of this story is responsibility. The message I am trying to convey is that Sammy wants a cat so bad that she is willing to prove her responsibility to her parents by working hard and maturing along the way. I am trying to teach kids that by working hard many things are possible.
Character	Prognostic: Sammy is 5 years old Sammy has blonde hair and blue eyes Sammy is very sensitive and loves animals Sammy is independent and is very grown up for her age Agnostic: Sammy’s parents are already busy enough trying to raise Sammy and her baby brother. They do not have time to take care of any pet. They would need another person to take the responsibility of feeding and cleaning the pet.  They do not thing that Sammy is old enough to take on this responsibility yet.
Plot	Initial Action: Sammy finds a hungry stray cat on her street. Rising Action: Sammy’s parents tell her that they are taking the cat to the Humane Society. Climax: Sammy is given the opportunity to show her parents that she is responsible enough to take care of cat. Falling Action: Sammy shows her parents that she is responsible Resolution: Sammy is allowed to keep the cat.
Setting	Place: On Brock Street in River Heights. Time: A Saturday afternoon in August. Circumstance: When Sammy’s parents tell her that she has one week to prover herself responsible enough to take care of a cat, Sammy is ready to take on the challenge. Mood: Starts sad, gets challenging, ends happy.

 

Blog Post #5

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Sight	Sound	Smell	Taste	Touch	Feel
- Buildings - People - Taxis - Smoke - Vendors	- Honking cars - People shouting - Music - Talking - Dogs barking	- Pretzels - Hot dogs - Smoke - Rusty air - Sweat	- Smoke - Rusty air - Minty gum - Sewer smoke - Warm air	- Clutching purse - Heavy air - Dirt - Hand sanitizer - Maps	- Excited - Adventurous - Free - Nervous - Happy

Mood/Atmosphere:

Exploring New York City for the first time evokes feelings that are like no other.  Excitement and nervousness combine to create an anticipation that makes you want to explore.  The warm and humid weather feels great until the smoke sticks to your skin like tape.  No one complains about this since it is a small price to pay for the many adventures that are waiting to be discovered.  Everyone is anticipating the many places to go.  People expect adventures when they are shopping and sightseeing, but on this day there is a surprising adventure that no one expects…

Introduction:

Maggie felt free and adventurous as she grabbed Samantha's hand and dragged her along Fourth Street.  Was it only this morning that we were back in Alberta? Maggie thought.  After everyone in her high school choir had all settled into their hotel rooms they got two hours to explore the city.  Ms. Rivers warned the choir of the dangers of the city and made sure that everyone had a partner to walk with.  Maggie and her best friend Samantha decided to walk to a local cafe that the concierge suggested.

Once they got to the café, Maggie and Samantha talked about going to Central Park and buying subway tickets.  They drank hot chocolate and munched on moist biscuits.  After studying a map of the city and figuring out which routes to take to get to Central Park the girls paid for their snack.

Maggie could not contain her excitement so she grabbed her digital camera and started taking some pictures of the city.  She could not wait to show her family all of the photographs when she got home.  She took a shot of the Empire State building and decided she would hang it up in her room.  Maggie turned around to show Samantha the photo but she could not see her anywhere.  Maggie scanned her eyes in every direction and she was gone.

“Samantha?” Maggie shouted at the top of her lungs.

There was no answer...

Blog Post #4

My Scariest Dream

I am walking in a mall when I notice a man glancing at me from across the hallway.  He is larger, bald, wearing a leather jacket and he is heading in my directing.  I know that I need to run, but my feet won’t move.  I try my hardest but I cannot move faster than a steady walk.  He is coming towards me and all I can do is hope for a distraction.  I am nearing the exit of the mall.  Suddenly, heat curdles my blood.  I start coughing out the black smoke that descends into my lungs.  I look over to see a fire in the middle of the hallway and it is spreading faster than I can walk.  A dreading fear casts over me because I needed to get to the bench that I started at.  I need to go back into the middle of the mall.  I can see my baby doll sitting on the bench in the distance.  I must risk dying to get to her.  I urge my feet to move faster than the steady pace that they are set at.  Relief washes over me when I get to my doll.  I look up and all I can see is fire and the black smoke which is billowing towards me.  There is no chance to escape.

Blog Post #2

Persuasive Paragraph

I think that going to visit the Wonders of the World would be a much better vacation than going to an island.  Seeing the Wonders of the World opens people’s eyes about culture and history.  There would never be a dull moment when visiting the Wonders of the World because they are all around the world and visiting them would create interesting and exciting stories to tell others.  Visiting an island isolates you to a small land mass that only provides swimming, eating and shuffle board for entertainment.  I think that seeing the Wonders of the World would make a much better trip than going to an island.

Blog Post #3
Keepsake Items:
A favourite memory of mine:

This is a card from all of the cast and crew of the television show I was in when I was younger.  On my tenth birthday, I was surprised with a cupcake and a card.  I ate the cupcake, but I will keep the card forever.  This card represents all of the amazing people I worked with and how much fun I had acting.  This card reminds me of how the hard work and long hours paid off.  It also reminds me of the amazing feeling of being in front of the camera, memorizing lines, and transforming myself into a different person.

Something that is really important to me right now:

This is my dance costume bin.  I rejoined dance when I was in grade three, and every costume I have used since then is in this bin.  Each costume represents all of the memories that I had from each class.  I can look at a costume and remember small parts of the dance, memories from the practices, and what I learned about dance that year.  Dance is something that is really important to me because I love going to class, being physically and mentally challenged, and expressing myself through my movements.  I will continue to work hard and use the gift that God gave me to dance because it is something that is really important to me and something that I love to do!

 A hope and dream of my future:

 This is a card that showed my customers what services they could choose from at my spa business Absolutely Fabulous.  The smaller cards are receipts.  I only ever used one receipt for my only customer; my mom.  The cards represent what I used to spend all of my free time doing; opening stores, using my imagination, and making a mess!  Absolutely Fabulous was only one of the many businesses I started when I was younger.  One of my dreams when I am older is to start a real business or invent an actual product.  I have kept these items for years because it reminds me of what I enjoy doing most; using my imagination.  I hope that I can use my imagination to create a career when I am older.

Blog Post #1

Hillary Kroeker's Bucket List:

1.  Start a business
2.  Sell a painting
3.  Get baptized
4.  Go on a missions trip
5.  Open a restaurnt
6  Star in a musical
7.  Explore every continent
8.  Be in a movie
9.  Write an album
10.  Go to Bible college
11.  Invent a selling product
12.  Visit the wonders of the world
13.  Speak anther language
14.  Get married and have kids
15.  Go on adventures