Pearl Harbor: A Day that will Live in Infamy

Seventy-Four years ago today, we remember "a day that will live in infamy". On the morning of December 7^th 1941, the Imperial Japanese Empire initiated a surprise attack on the U.S. Military Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The effect was devastating. The Japanese Navy launched aircraft from their carriers in the pacific who dived to attack important military targets in Pearl Harbor and surrounding area. Almost 4,000 Americans were killed and wounded. Heavy damage was inflicted on US ships and aircraft. This day of tragedy changed the lives of all Americans and the history of our nation.  

Those men there suffered indescribable things. George Washington said this about the American Soldiers at Valley Forge. “Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery.” I believe we can say the same about the men that fought during and after the attack of Pearl Harbor. The battles they fought later in the war took courage, sacrifice, valor, honor, and valiance to win. I would have liked to have been there that day and on many other days to come, to talk with the men and ask them why they kept going in those terrible conditions. I would have liked to see their unfailing devotion first-hand. They suffered all this for one principle–liberty. They suffered so that a man can stand on his own two feet and say, “I am free!” This is why I would have liked to have been there–to see their courage and to help grow mine in the fight for Freedom. They did not sacrifice for our liberty just for us to take it for granted. Ronald Reagan declared, “Freedom is never more then one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” Those men want us to take their stories and do the same as they did. We can become inspired by their sacrifice at Pearl Harbor to take our own action in fighting for freedom.

Beyond the Mask

"Hollywood has never seen a movie before like Beyond the Mask. Filled with good morals it teaches that you are never to late to repent. A touching story of a trained assassin who tries to turn away from his dark past only to find it has chased him down. Desperately searching for escape and repentance he discovers he is the key to a daring plot--that he is the only one who can stop the organization he worked for and the save the country it's trying to destroy." - Austin Brady

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"A Christian action-adventure romance film set during the international 

turmoil of the revolutionary war." -Beyond the Mask

"A plot of historical proportions" -Deadline Hollywood 

"On the same stage as National Treasure and Zorro" -PluggedIn 

"Stunning special effects" -Christian Post 

"A swashbuckling revolutionary war saga" -Kam Williams, RottonTomatoes.com

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Beyond the Mask comes out on DVD on

September 8th!!!

beyondthemaskmovie.com

Driver's Education

What do you think when you hear 'Driver's Ed'? Some that have not had that glorious experience yet may feel anticipation and excitement or even dread and worry. Personally, before I took the Driver's Education Class I was extremely excited! I emphasize BEFORE. ;) Hindsight is always 20/20.

To start my whole experience I had to get my learner's permit. On my birthday a friend came over  to celebrate and had picked up the driving handbook for me so I could begin studying! The handbook was filled with all the things I needed to know about driving. It had stuff I knew already and stuff I didn't know (or wanted to). For example there is an entire chapter on trains. TRAINS! I checked the cover again just to make sure I didn't have the Driving Handbook for Trains instead of cars. Why would trains be in a book for cars. Did they think I was going to drive a train? I guess not, but apparently there is enough people that get in sticky situations with trains that they put a chapter about it in the handbook. Even so with an ENTIRE chapter on trains stuff like this still happens. You can see for your self . . .

. . . moving on. After you study then you take a test to get your permit. I think you can never be to careful so I read through the handbook 3-5 times just in case.  I actually wasn't to worried about passing, but you never know. Later that month I went in to get my permit. After finishing all the paperwork I got my test pin number and sat down to take the test. The questions seemed fairly simple though some took a while to answer. At the end I looked at my results and saw that I had FAILED. I had failed the test! That was a huge shock. Suddenly, I worried that I wouldn't be able to drive until I was 40! That was of course an invalid concern. I sheepishly walked up to the front desk, and quietly told them I had failed. Turns out you get two tries a day to pass. Hooray! I still had hope to drive before 40! They gave me a new test pin, I retook the test, and passed. Wow, it was a rough start to my driving career.

Psst . . . 
Please! If you have the choice, take a little piece of advice. Take Driver's Ed in the summer! It is less torture to have two long weeks rather then a whole trimester (which is twelve weeks). 

I have been wanting to drive since I was eight and now I finally had my chance to fulfill my dream! When I started driving with my permit to practice I thought I was already a pro, which led to some little (OK actually some potentially BIG) mistakes (which I won't mention). A couple weeks before class started, after practicing for a while and getting the hang of it, I felt I was ready for anything Driver's Ed could throw at me! That is of course before I actually went to Driver's Ed :) Once I met my Teacher and Instructor everything changed. After the first day, I realized that I had had no idea what I was getting into!!! 

Since the class material was heavily condensed (because of the two weeks rather then twelve) there was tons of homework every day. Homework in the SUMMER! Who invented such a thing?! 

The first video the Teacher showed us was this one on Driver's Ed. Absolutely hilarious skit!

The teacher then began to tell us about all these practice driving experiences we had to do. They included Range Drives (in-class and after-class), Instructor Drives, State Road Test--each with rules, and specifications. Every single drive was a different day, time, place, person, etc. and our teacher rattled all of this off expecting us to remember. It was all very confusing! 

Every time the State Road Test was brought up by the Teacher or Instructor, they talked of all the ways we could automatically fail. They told stories, gave us facts, showed us the test sheet. I felt like the State Road Test was practically impossible to pass. I was worried the only way to pass was to bribe them, but then I realized I would probably only be automatically failed because I tried to bribe them.

Before Driver's Ed I was confident but when I started I became stressed out. At the end of the first week I got a fever because of the stress. I couldn't skip class because I was sick. The teacher had told us that if we didn't make it to class there was hardly any make-up days we could do, so if we didn't come you would fail the class and I didn't want to fail. So I had to go to class sick and suffer through it. As well as being sick I had multiple nightmares over drivers ed. Nightmares people! Maybe I was a little uptight about it but that was the way it was. I would have fitful nights of no rest because in my dream I was driving and didn't want to make a mistake. So my brain couldn't concentrate on sleep when it was so focused on the road in a very realistic faux reality!

The range was a both a extremely stressful and boring experience. Boring, because you drive in circles at 10 mph for literally hours! Stressful, because the teacher or instructor will sit in the tower and watch every car waiting for the slightest mistake. Before taking the class on the range the first time, my teacher told us that when he got out there his devil horns came out and he became a cross between Satan and Osama Bin Laden! We all laughed not realizing that he wasn't kidding. 

Maybe I take Driving to Seriously...

When you get in the car you have to change the radio to a certain channel so the teacher can talk to you while you drive. Every other car can hear the corrections, so you become publicly shamed! This happened many times as some kids took half an hour to turn on their car (they had put the car into drive and THEN tried to turn it on, and couldn't figure out what was wrong) which produced a colorful reaction from the teacher. At times students were not paying attention while backing up and almost hit other cars.

Growing up, every time I saw a "student driver" sign on a car I got worried they were going to crash into us. When I was little I constantly judged those kids behind the wheel. That was before I became one of those poor kids behind the wheel under all that pressure. I hoped people weren't judging me for making a mistake like I had when I was little. It's almost like when one is on a bike they don't like cars because the cars almost hit them and when that person is in a car they don't like bikers because they hog the road. 

During most the drives, I managed to escape without much critique and learned a ton. My road test instructor was amazing. I was super stressed about the State Road Test, but in the end I passed it (the first time). Yes! I had survived Driver's Education!!

I have great examples to follow. My friends are all great driver's. One friend texts constantly while she drives and I don't know if she realizes the danger yet despite the fact people have told her. Another friend (he's 15) does farm work and was in a manual stick shift pick-up on farm business. 'Technically' you should have your legal guardian or parent in the passenger seat while you drive if you don't have your license yet and only your permit. He had nether his parent or permit with him on this errand. On the way back to the farm, on public roads, he was shifting back into first up a hill. When he put in the clutch the truck slid back down the hill into a ladies fence. Yet another friend was driving with his instructor, when he saw a yellow Volkswagen beetle he yelled 'slug bug' and punched his instructor. The instructor replied "oh so now we are playing slug bug!" The rest of the drive the driver hit passenger and vise-versa. 

Now this is my kind of student driving! I would go through it all again if I could drive this bad boy.

Red Castle

Last summer I went on a backpacking trip with my friend and his family. We went to the Uintas! The forests and mountains there are gorgeous! The fishing is amazing and there a ton of lakes up there. As we hiked the 11 miles in as we watched moose, birds, squirrels and other wild life. For half the time the trail ran along side a river and we had to cross it a couple times over bridges. The actual castle juts straight out of the ground and is made up of red rock, therefore the name Red Castle!

The Medival Era

There is something about the times of castles, knights, and medieval history that is so compelling. Every time I go and study around the era of 1100 - 1500 I am lost in the stories of honor, courage, treachery, and even tragedy.

I love thinking about what it would be like to be a man-at-arms fighting for a powerful knight. Going forward to vanquish foes or retreating behind castle walls to defend the inhabitants within. Rubbing shoulders with the Knights Templar on the holy crusades, or feasting at banquets with royalty.



Recently I have had the experience of immersing myself in medieval history. I have read novels like Rangers Apprentice, acting in the robin Hood play, dressed up for a medieval feast with some friends, or fought in battles with AMRS and Belegarth groups. Can you tell that I love Medieval History?

Robin Hood

In September 2014, I was inspired by a friend.

First of all, I love acting, I love writing, and I love hanging out with friends. So when my friend, Sadie called me and said she wanted to put on a play, I was so excited! She was debating between doing "Robin Hood" and the musical "Annie". In the end, she decided to put on Annie.

As well as acting and writing, I am fascinated by the medieval era. I can't get enough of the battles, legends, and history from that time. As we rehearsed 'Annie' I was so impressed with how Sadie was able to put her dream into a reality. My mind started to form an idea. I decided that once the production of 'Annie' was finished, I wanted to write and direct my own play.

I was going to do Robin Hood!

I am very passionate about the story of Robin Hood. I find Robin's adventures so intriguing. I wanted this play to be great! This play would have everything. It would have the memorized parts, costumes, props, a stage, set, and action!

I started with research. I read every Robin Hood story published on earth and watched almost every Robin Hood movie that was ever made. I read and studied the medieval era that Earl Robert of Locksley (Robin Hood) lived in and used that to add authenticity to the storyline.

Then I started writing. There are so many versions of the Robin Hood story that I couldn't pick which one to use. So I started from scratch and wrote my own version of Robin Hood using what I thought was all the best parts from the ones I researched. I wrote, rewrote, revised, and edited my play script for three months. Then in January 2015 it was complete. I emailed my friends and asked them if they wanted to join me in producing this play. After which I worked on casting.

Once that was complete I sent my cast the script and they started memorizing! After a lot of hard working rehearsals, we performed Robin Hood! It was such an amazing experience, and to me was very fulfilling.

Here are pictures of the Cast and Performance!

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At Robin Hood's wedding, Sir Guy proclaims Robin an outlaw.

Robin Hood's Merry 'Men'! : )

Robin Hood finds out his friend Will Scarlet has been captured and is to be hung.

Robin Hood and his Merry Men come to Will Scarlet rescue just in time.

Robin Hood meets a 'young man' in the forest only to discover 

it is his beloved Lady Marian disguised.

Little John invites some thieving monks to a feast 

were the merry men relieve them of their stolen goods.

Sir Guy, Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham discussing their evil plans.

Robin Hood is captured and brought to the Castle Nottingham.

Sir Guy vents his emotions of his hatred for Robin Hood.

Our wonderful Narrator.

The very beautiful Lady Marian.

Will Scarlet talks to Lady Marian in the forest.

Sir Guy surprises them. Will Scarlet defends Lady Marian.

Will Scarlet gives his life to protect Lady Marian.

Robin Hood in the dungeon guarded by soldiers.

Robin escapes and finds Lady Marian gone and Will Scarlet before he dies.

Robin Hood demonstrates his skill with the longbow. 

Robin Hood kills Sir Guy in a desperate fight. He laments his old friend who turned into his enemy.

Robin Hood marries Lady Marian!!