Steppin' into Shelby's shoes..

So I've known the Strohla family since Kindergarten, when mine and theirs quickly became friends whenever I first moved to Frisco. And since those days, our relationships seemed to stay the same. Shelby's family is crazy and at five siblings altogether, it's fun without a doubt. And often there are times when I compare my family to hers and think about our similarities or differences. I used to not be able to make many comparisons except for that I have an older brother, she has two, and I have a younger sister, and she has two.

Though for some time my family wasn't quite as big, it recently has become. Within the next month I'll have two new sisters added to my family since my mother is getting married, and I can already feel the hecticness coming. At ages twenty-three, sixteen, thirteen, twelve, and eight; my family is seeming more and more spaced out as we grow older, but our relationships are growing as we go.

My brother, Zak, is my best friend and even though he's seven years older than me, I can honestly say I tell him everything and I cherish the relationship we have with each other.
My new sister, Courtney, is thirteen and as she begins to move in and get settled, I can feel our relationship becoming so sisterly and fun. We share clothes and she tells me about all the middle school drama that happens at her school in McKinney and we have fun even though we have three years between us.
My sister, Taylor, is twelve and it the funniest person I'll ever meet. I can't imagine not having her to make me laugh everyday and as she gets older we've become better and better friends and we really have fun hanging out.
And last, my other new sister, Gigi, is eight years old and is quite possibly one of the most frustratingly-mature eight year olds I'll ever meet. She annoys me half the time, but the other half of the time we spend together, we have fun because she's not immature and annoying like most eight year olds, but she's sarcastic and fun.

So as my family's grown, I've grown to relate a little more to Shelby's family and all the chaos that occurs, but I've also grown to love the more people and personalities that have come into my life.

Madison White(:

A sister: More Than Just A Sibling...

    As I flip through the shoe box filled with old childhood pictures, the pictures of me and Aubrey pile up. One with us holding hands on the first day of school. One with us matching for church's Easter Service. One with us waiting in line to go down the slide at a community pool. The pictures add up and seem to triple as I sort them into piles. We were always together, smiling and laughing, and never bored. We went on so many adventures that some I don't recollect. We were, and still are inseperable fourteen years later.
    When you are close in age to a sibling, you become more than just siblings, you become friends. My sister Aubrey is only 13 months younger than me and she is by far my best friend. Aubrey inspires me because she has always been loud around the house, never afraid to speak her mind, and never worried whether someone will dislike her for her opinion. I on the other hand, am always worried about what people will think of me, and in this way she inspires and influences me to speak my mind. After fourteen years of her excessive rants, and overemphasized opinions, I have learned to stop worrying about the way other people will percieve me. Even though she is younger than me, I am inspired by her every day and am more influenced by her with every opinion she shares.

My Imitation Of Jodi Picoult

An excerpt from Jodi Picoult's, My Sister's Keeper:
"If Mr. Webster had decided to put the word freak in his dictionary, Anna Fitzgerald would be the best definition he could give. It's more than just the way I look: refugee-skinny with absolutely no chest to speak of, hair the color of dirt, connect-the-dot freckles on my cheeks that, let me tell you, do not fade with lemon juice or sunscreen or even, sadly, sandpaper. No, God was obviously in some kind of mood on my birthday, because he added to this fabulous physical combination the bigger picture -- the household into which I was born.

My parents tried to make things normal, but that's a relative term. The truth is, I was never really a kid. To be honest, neither were Kate and Jesse. I guess maybe my brother had his moment in the sun for the four years he was alive before Kate got diagnosed, but ever since then, we've been too busy looking over our shoulders to run headlong into growing up. You know how most little kids think they're like cartoon characters -- if an anvil drops on their heads they can peel themselves off the sidewalk and keep going? Well, I never once believed that."

      I inched off of the ginormous yellow school bus, creeping slyly through the crowd of children as if I was hiding in a wheat field. The other girls were graced with long, smooth blonde hair, flowing dresses that were vibrant with color, perfect ski slope noses, and straight teeth. I on the other hand was cursed by God with my choppy black hair that frizzed in every direction no matter what kind of spray or potion I used to control it, my brothers baggy old jeans and ragged t-shirt, a pointed nose which I would have traded with Pinochio's if I had ever been given the chance, and teeth that twisted at odd angles which no amount of orthodontics would ever fix. Let's be honest, I was no mother's dream daughter, then again my mom never had time to worry about the way I looked. Our small, blue house was always focused on Bailey. She was the beauty queen, while I was the unfortunate third child. I was treated like another adult, always fending for myself and never truley getting to experience the affection that a child is supposed to be treated with. I was unwanted and my blue house was fully prepared to kick me to the curb. Maybe it was my unfortunate looks. Maybe my personality just didn't compare to Bailey's. All I know is that I was unwanted. By God and the family He shoved me into.

My imitation of the excerpt from My Sister's Keeper uses comparisons and descriptive words to describe a child who believes she is has no good looks, and had to grow up quickly because her family never wanted her. Jodi Picoult uses comparisons and vivid language to acclimate the audience to characters in her novel which is why I utilized these styles in my imitation of her work. The details allow the reader to not only visualize the character, but also to become familiar with her personality.

Jodi Picoult, acclaimed author and excellent mentor...

    Jodi Picoult, acclaimed author of novels such as My Sister's Keeper, and The Pact, enthralls readers in many traumatic stories about life, love, and the importance of family and complex relationships. In most of her books, the story follows a criminal trial and ends with an unexpected twist. Picoult's style of writing consists of vivid diction, similes, metaphors, and humor and syntax to illustrate elaborate and emotional scenes. Picoult integrates small details of her own life into her work and utilizes multiple points of view allowing the audience to grasp every angle of the story and understand each character fully. Through her emotionally webbed plots, Picoult grabs the attention of readers from the start of the novel to the finish. 

    Picoult creates novels that plant deep emotions in the heart of readers, and that is what I hope to achieve in my writing. She writes about events that are highly possible in society, and creates characters that real peple can relate to. By telling her stories from multiple characters, Picoult develops a relationship between characters and her audience in order to evoke emotion at the character's situation. I hope to master this her style someday in my writing.

    Here are some excerpts from the first chapter of Jodi Picoult's novel The Pact.   

"He [James] had hypothetically wondered what would happen if a phone call came in the middle of the night; a phone call that had the power to render one speechless and disbelieving. He had expected deep down that he’d be a basket case. And yet here he was, backing carefully out of his driveway, holding up well, the only betraying panic a tiny tic in his cheek."

"'I’m very sorry,' the doctor began, the only words that Melanie could not rework into anything but what they signified. She crumpled further, her body folding into itself, until her head was so deeply buried beneath her arms that she could not hear what the man was saying."

"Gus had run the whole way to Bainbridge Memorial holding hope to her chest, a package that grew heavier and more unwieldy with every step."

"Detective Marrone stared at Gus. “Maybe,” she said. “But he [Chris] also may have shot her.”

One BIG, happy family...

So, as you know I have 4 siblings roaming around in my house, and sometimes I feel lost in a whirl of other people's feelings and problems. Living in a big family usually leads to neglect, and while I love every member of my family it can be overwhelming. The Duggars from the show 18 Kids and Counting are very influential to me because the kids in this show have 18 siblings filling their house. They home school together, they eat together, and they even sleep in the same room. There is no way their parents always have time to listen to their problems. The family has taught me that I am lucky to have the 4 beautiful siblings that I was blessed with. I can't imagine living with 18 other people which is why the Duggars remind me of how lucky I am to have a family of the perfect size, and that my family could be much bigger!

My big, fat, crazy, overbearing, insulting, out of control, fabulous, family.

Okay, before you jump to any conclusions this is not my family. In fact, this is the opposite of my family. So, if you are looking for a blog that will sit and brag about their perfect life and the perfect people that make it up, this is not the blog for you. Here's some background on the people I deal with every day:  

• I live in a family of 7, my mom, dad, 2 little sisters, and 2 older brothers. 
• Strange things happen in my house.
• I don't have the type of family that is civilized and organized. We joke around and make fun of each other, and that is what has kept my life so interesting.

When you live in a family of 7 people, things don't usually go as planned, and most of the time something is going terribly wrong. I have lived through some crazy events, and this blog is my way to inform the world of the people that inspire me through the weird situations that have led me to love each and every person in my life. Just remember, what you read here is not what you would call "normal" and things might seem a little off, but people seem to enjoy listening to the story of my life because it makes them feel a little bit better about their own. So here it is, the people I love, NOT the perfect little family that is pictured above. Prepare yourself for a bumpy ride...