Washington's Thanksgiving

Photo credit: http://rangerville.sbcisd.net

Thanksgiving is in only a few short days, and many of us are busy preparing the food, cleaning the house, and bracing ourselves to deal with crazy relatives. But in all the chaos, we can't forget the meaning of Thanksgiving, or the reason President Washington declared it a national holiday in the first place.

Washington's Decree

Washington signed a decree that set the day aside as a "Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer." The decree was titled General Thanksgiving and it said that the day was to "be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God."

The History

Many thanksgivings were held before the day was recognized as a national holiday, and two hundred years ago, when colonies recognized days of thanksgiving, they were meant for fasting and prayer, not large amounts of food like today.
Thanksgiving in early days of America was strictly meant to give thanks to God and recognize all the blessings that He had given them. As time passed, the idea of thanksgiving and the way of celebrating it changed drastically.

The Holiday Today

Thanksgiving today is much different from the thanksgivings of our American ancestors. Instead of fasting, we feast, and often the only prayer is the one before the meal. While there is nothing wrong with feasting, we can't forget what thanksgiving originally meant. While we enjoy the food we have been blessed with, we need to remember to take time and give thanks to the God that provided it for us. We are blessed beyond measure to just be able to have a meal on thanksgiving and we can't forget that.

While you're enjoying the food and the company of close friends this Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks for your blessings and recognize Thanksgiving as what Washington meant it for all those years ago: a day to "acknowledge with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo Credit: http://7hillscanvass.org/?p=94





Another Skill Banned from Cheer

This post is a small extension of my last post-No More Double Downs.
A standing full and a standing double are two skills that have also been banned from high school cheerleading, and I just thought I'd share the video because I think they look cool :)
A standing double is when a cheerleader jumps into the air and twists twice before landing. Here is the video:

Awesome right? :)
A standing full would be if he jumped up and only twisted once.
And believe me, I completely agree with the banning of these two. They are crazy scary!

No More Double Downs

I am a member of a very successful (Back to Back State Champs!) competitive high school cheerleading team. A big topic of discussion in the cheerleading world this season is the fact that cheerleading teams around the country are having to adjust to some big rule changes.
First, so you can understand what in the world I'm talking about, here are some basic terms when talking about cheer:
Base
Flyer
Cradle
Extension
Stunt (This link refers to it as a mount, but it is more commonly known as a stunt.)
Also, USASF (United States All Star Federation) has a list of pretty much every cheerleading term there is here.

The Changes

High school teams in particular are no longer allowed to do double downs (this is when a flyer is in a stunt, the bases pop her up, she twists twice, and the bases catch her in a cradle.)

Here is a video of a double down so you can picture it:

This particular skill has been a part of high school cheerleading for quite awhile, and many elite teams have worked to perfect it. Higher level skills like this one previously earned teams difficulty points and set the more advanced teams above the others. Now, however, these top teams will have to find other ways to stay ahead of their competition.

The Reason

Double downs in particular have been removed because of the high risk of injury and the amount of serious injuries that have resulted from this skill in the past few years.

Concussions were part of the main issue-here is a story about a cheerleader who suffered from not one, but two concussions resulting from some form of a failed double down.
The amount of head injuries that were caused by double downs are already large and increasing. Though many cheerleaders are able to perform this skill successfully, the amount of injuries was impossible to ignore. And because double downs were a big part of the problem, the National Federation of State High School Associations made the decision to remove them completely.
Here is an article explaining the issue further.

What I Think

The argument of banning or not banning double downs is very difficult. While I agree that the amount of injuries is unsettling, I also believe that the cheerleaders that have worked hard to earn the ability to do the skill safely should not be held from doing it. That being said, there are many other ways that a team can show their talent and remain competitive. The elimination of double downs is not the end of the world, and there are plenty of other difficult stunts that cheerleaders can perform. The health and well-being of the athletes should always come first-no high school cheerleader will be cheering for the rest of their lives, and an injury caused by the sport should not affect the quality of their entire adult life. In the scheme of things, who is going to look back on their high school cheerleading career and wish they could have just done that one double down?

You guessed it. No one.

 



The Odd Life of Timothy Green

This past weekend, my sister and I went to see "The Odd Life of Timothy Green". I hadn't really cared to see it beforehand-it was my sister that wanted to go-but I am so glad we did!

"The Odd Life of Timothy Green" is the story of a young couple who are unable to have a baby. They have given up hope, and as a final effort to move on, they write down every quality they would want their child to have, place them in a box, and bury it in the backyard. After a large storm, a little boy shows up claiming to be their child. I won't spoil the ending, but the movie was just plain adorable, and I loved every minute of Timothy Green's 'odd life'. The actor portraying Timothy, CJ Adams, was wonderful. He was able to balance on the fine line of perfection, keeping Timothy adorably perfect, when he could have easily been annoyingly perfect.
You can read more about the movie here and here.

One of the messages in this movie that I loved was 'Never Give Up'. It was one of the qualities the couple in the movie hope their child will have, and one of the qualities that Timothy ultimately portrays. Timothy's parents refuse to give up in their hope for a child, and Timothy refuses to give up on them, and on playing soccer, even though he is-comically-terrible at it. This message can easily be applied to mine and everyone else's lives. Oftentimes what we want isn't easy to accomplish-and what fun would it be accomplishing it if it was? But we can't give up on our dreams, no matter how impossible, how difficult it might seem. Even when everyone is saying we can't, we can't give up and agree with them. Nothing worth pursuing in life is easy, and just because we might not get it right the first time doesn't mean its impossible. 'Never Give Up' is a message I can apply to all aspects of my life, and its something I will always need to remember.

If you want something badly enough, nothing can get in your way. And when you're feeling discouraged, just remember the couple who was told they could never have a baby-and the miracle that they received because they didn't give up on that little bit of hope. :)

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog :)
I'm new to this...I always thought I'd start a blog when I became a published author (dreaming big here). Then, I'd have something to write about and other people would care to read what I wrote. I never thought I'd start one now, but I guess it'll be good writing practice. (And there's also the fact that I'd rather not fail out of English 3.) :)
Anyway, since I'm not published and I'm most likely not going on any book tours I need to talk about any time soon....I plan on talking about everything and anything on this blog :) Probably lots of posts about writing and different books....and then my other love, cupcakes :) And anything else I find interesting!
Hope y'all like my blog and want to keep reading!