Silver Award- Community Garden (August 13th 2011)

BEDA 6

Speaking of volunteering, for the past two years I've been involved in working with my GirlScout troop to take care of a community garden that we started. Last year we wanted to start something for our community that could make it a happier and prettier place while also giving back. So we made a vegetable garden.

 This is part of my troop. Since we made such a change to the community that our troop made the paper! This was one of the photos in it.
So once a week or so during the summer I go with my neighbor to the garden and we water it and tie the tomato plants.
Gardening is so much more fun when you do it with someone and for some many other people.
The harvests that come from our garden go to Center for Food Action. Which means they get donated to the less fortunate in our town. It's brilliant seeing people pick and take how many boxes of tomatoes they want or how many handfuls string beans they want.
Since last year the community garden has expanded. Now people from all over town have a small rectangle of land to plant their own pumpkins, tomatoes, sunflowers, etc.. if their yards had too much shade or whatever their complications were.
It's beautiful.

The End.

Weis Again. (August 12th 2011)

BEDA 5

 My two weeks of Weis ended today. I had such a blast. I made lots of new friends and I took a bunch of pictures the last two days :] I'll show you a couple of my favorites!

One of the counselors taking a quick nap during our long hike. :]

My group having a blast with the homemade volcano

S'mores!

He's adorable.

My all time favorite picture in the entire world. This is completely adorable.

In conclusion, it was awesome and I will be back next year.. whether or not they want me! haha. Ready or not.
I'm not sure if the kids' parents would appreciate me naming all their children in the captions of the pictures, that's why I didn't.

So I was originally going to type up my post today 6hours ago but some friends came over and we had to go water the community garden that I volunteer at. Then we went to the neighborhood party that happens every Friday and met some more friends there. YES. I HAVE FRIENDS. It's 11:30. So I need to go to bed.. BUT I still posted this before midnight. so it's legal.

The End.

Mothers (August 11th 2011)

BEDA 4

This BEDA thing is really difficult. Not the blogging every day part but the thinking up something to talk about every day.
Today, I am sick. so sick. I'm light-headed and sore and stuffy. Oh wells. We hiked for four hours today at camp. It was a lot of fun, as always. Tomorrow I am dressing Punk for laughs. All the counselors are because it is technically "Radical Rock Star" week at camp. Maybe I'll post a picture if I take one.
Since I still need to clean my room (I was emptying all my drawers and now I have stuff layering my room) and straighten my hair and I want to get to bed early... I will leave you with a poem my mother gave me two birthdays ago.

Promise
To my beautiful daughter
You run towards me
Little bare feet
Hardly touching the road
Shiny gold curls
Messy from the night of sleep
(I insist on restaining with scrunches every morning)
Stars of blue eyes
Reliantly looking looking my silhouette in the crowd

I can promise you
Sun warming someone's face somewhere
Dreams undreamed entering a soothing night
White canvas waiting for the touch of your colors
Open hearts beating with love and compassion
A lonely soul longing just for you

If you run towards me
Wearing high heels
Dirty with disappointments or shame
Baseball hat
Worn backwards on your straightened curls
Tears in your dimmed eyes
Reliantly looking for my silhouette un the crowd

I promise you
I'll be there

Written Feb. 25-March 1 2003


Thank you mommy. I love you!
You are the most wonderful human being in the world and I love you to bits and pieces.

Library (August 10th 2011)

BEDA 3

Camp was great today. Lots of singing, face paint, and water balloons involved. I had a water hose fight with all the other kids and counselors. It was so much fun!

As you know, I went to Ikea yesterday. At Ikea I got a new bookshelf/dresser because my dresser was broken and my books didn't all fit in my old bookshelf, I had books in drawers and taking over other parts and doubling up in others. (See here in one part of one of my videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfoLOK5OSbE) Today, after dinner, I cleaned out my bookshelf from all the books and I remembered why I wanted a library in my house. I have wanted one for awhile.
A place with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, comfy chairs, and a colorful carpet. This idea first popped into my head when I first watched the movie "Beauty and the Beast". I loved Belle. Her dedication to reading and her love for books. I loved those slide-y ladders that glide across all the shelves. And then I went ballistic during the castle library scene.

Beauty and The Beast. Disney.

My dream. Right there. One day I will have a huge library.... or at the very least work at one. But for now, I will enjoy the new bookshelf that I got with glass doors.

I have tried to convince my parents, multiple times, to get an addition to our house. Just one room. For a library. It almost worked a couple weeks ago. My father said that he would consider it once we had the money. However, he was probably just saying that so I would stop asking him for one.

During the weekend I am thinking about typing up all the titles and authors of all the books that I own and put them in Author-Title alphabetical order. I also want to keep a record of all the books that I own so I know which ones I lent out to other people and so on.

With all this talk of books and reading.. one would think I would have started my summer reading by now.

The End.

Africa (August 9th 2011)

BEDA 2

Hi. So today, I went to the camp again. Then, I went to Ikea. Best place on Earth, sort of. It was great fun. My BEDA today will follow the topic of volunteer work (which is what I'm doing at the camp that I go to, as well).

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to go to Africa to volunteer and help people out the best that I can. Next summer that dream is 90% likely to happen. I turn 16 this year and the "Sweet Sixteen" is supposed to be a big deal. Instead of throwing a huge party, paying for a dress, and food and everything.... I will be going to either Ghana or South America for two weeks with a program. I received a phone call from one of the ladies who worked with the company and she said that I would either be painting murals, keeping children busy, working with the elderly, or helping out an orphanage, all of which sound absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait to go. It is sort of expensive but I am positive that it will be worth it. It's a life changing experience. One that I would love to have.
When/if I go I will bring my camera to take lots of pictures. I have noticed, from other peoples' videos and such, that children love to get there photos taken, especially in third world countries. So I hope to take hundreds of pictures of children smiling and having fun.
I'm excited to meet new people and go on a completely new adventure. This would be my first time in Africa and also my first time by myself on a plane. I have to be honest with you. I'm not at all nervous. After all, more donkeys kill people every year than planes that crash. And I won't be going entirely on my own. I will have whoever comes from the program then also the other teens who came along. With strangers, but not entirely alone.



If you are an interested teen you can check out here: http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/programs/teen-volunteer-abroad.aspx
You can also go to China, Costa Rica, or Guatemala. If you are interested but above the age of 18 you can go to that website and click the tab "Volunteering Abroad" and go from there. 


The End.

Dear Santa...

I'm such a dork. I found this while looking through my "Freelancers" folder on my computer. I wrote it last year for a thing for school.

"Dear Santa,

I would like to have World Peace. There is too much mass destruction and sorrow in the world right now. From gang killings to the war in Iraq, it's depressing. No one deserves to die, let alone get killed for NO reason.

I would also like for my friend to stay strong. Her grandmother died this morning and she's really close to me. I don't want her to look at it as a horrible thing but as just a bump in the road. Don't let her forget her grandma but just not to let it get to her too much.

Je voudrais un appareil-photo aussi, s'il vous plait. <-- A little bit of French, since you know every language in the world.

Lastly, I would like to do well on my Mid-terms. I know that is a lot to ask from you but I have been working so hard this year. I have never done better, grades wise, and I spend hours studying almost every day. Please just give me that extra boost to do my very best and so I can do great on every single one.

                                    Love,

                                       Karina Wojnar, 14, New Jersey

P.S. Thank you for everything in the past. I know when I was little I couldn't really thank you. So I am thanking you now.

        Safe Flight."

*PPS. Please take care of everyone in London right now. I hope the riots don't get out of control like they did earlier this year in Egypt. People just don't understand, do they?

Nature Day Camp (August 8th 2011)

BEDA 1 (Yes, I started late)
Last week and this week, I counsel for the local ecology center near where I live. It's really fun and I enjoy it so much. Normally, we go to the stream or creek bed and look under rocks for crayfish and slugs. Today, in particular, I caught 3 crayfish with my bare hands (One of them was almost 3inches long!). I am very proud of myself for that, even though it's not at all impressive.
This week there are 21 kids and 5 junior counselors, including myself. Then 3 or 4 adult counselors. I love it and I hope to do it again next summer.

I live in a very woodsy area:

For example, this is the side of my street.

And this is, in fact, my backyard.(Well, once you walk past the grass and patio)

Now, imagine that, only woodsier. That. Is what the Nature Day Camp place looks like.
It is called Weis Ecology Center. Here's a link to their website if you'd like to check them out! http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionCenters/SectionWeis/Introduction.aspx


The End.