Pretty cool picture, huh?

This is Echo, one of my original characters for a fanfiction I'm writing based on The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. If you haven't read the series, I definitely suggest you do.

The series is about a boy named Gregor and his younger sister, Boots, who find a secret, hidden world miles below New York City. In this world, called the Underland, there live giant rats, bats, mice, cockroaches, ants, and a race of humans with skin so pale that you can see their veins. There are other giant creatures in the Underland, but you'll just have to read the series to find out what they are! The books are (in order): Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw.

As for Echo, she is the bat bond of Jason Wolf, a runaway "Overlander" who lives most of his life in the Underland now. Jason and Echo are "bonds," which means that the two of them took an oath to protect each other despite anything they might encounter.

Echo is not the only original character in my fanfiction, though. There's Capella, a ginger bat with dark brown markings who later bonds with Angela King, the main character of the fanfiction. The bats Artemis (a female) and Apollo (a male) are twin siblings. My other OC character is Crimsongash, a rat. I have pictures for most of them, but I don't want to swamp this post with a bunch of pictures!

That's what I've been doing lately story-wise. As for the rest of my life, I had a birthday yesterday. Eighteen! Booya! I'm officially an adult now!

What did I do for my birthday? Not much, actually.

Dawn brought me a Happy Birthday balloon that I had to carry with me around school, so EVERYONE knew it was my birthday! Right after school, I went to get a "surprise" in the office. It turned out to be a bouquet of flowers in a glass vase with a little Beanie Baby sheep attached. The poor sheep got wet because someone put WAY too much water in the vase. I had to poor out some of the water so that I could get into Dawn's car. After that, Dawn and I went to her house and watched Jeff Dunham movies. (He's a hilarious ventriloquist!) Dawn's mom gave me $30 for my birthday. I was SO happy!!! My mom picked me up and we headed home. I had sausage rolls (mmmmm!) for dinner with breaded cheesesticks. It was SSSOOO yummy! During dinner, I watched a taped episode of Law and Order with my parents. After that, I read until it was bedtime. Not a very exciting birthday, huh? I was content, though.

Tomorrow (Friday) my mom, dad, brother, and I will be heading to my grandma's house to color eggs with the family. Saturday the family will get together and celebrate Easter with baskets full of CHOCOLATE! YAYAYAYAY!!! I love chocolate! We'll also be celebrating my birthday (PRESENTS!!!!) and my uncle's birthday. Sunday we'll come home...and then my brother and I get the rest of the week off! I don't know WHAT I'm gonna do! Monday, Dawn and I might go and have one of our FFA advisors check out the sheep that we're gonna get from Casey. Then, Saturday the 26th...I'll have another birthday party!!! I invited a bunch of my friends, and I hope they can all come! Here's who I invited: Dawn, Cassidy, Tailor, Steven, Ryan, Chantel, Mel, Shannon, Shannon, Ali, Diana, David, Michelle, and Casey! Who are these people???

Dawn = my BESTEST BEST friend

Cassidy = Dawn's boyfriend

Tailor = a friend who reminds me of a younger me

Steven = a guy in my Astronomy and Economics classes

Ryan = the son of my mom's best friend (known him since 6th grade)

Chantel = the daughter of my mom's best friend (known her since 6th grade)

Mel = a girl in my AP Stats and Economics classes

Shannon = my friend and Mel's best friend (known her since 9th grade)

Shannon = a friend (known her since 6th grade)

Ali = a girl in 10th grade who is in FFA with me (Diana introduced me to her last year)

Diana = Mexican girl in my Photography class (known her since 9th grade; she's been in one of my classes all 4 yrs of high school!)

David = my ex-boyfriend (the breakup was mutual, so we're still friends)

Michelle = a goofy girl who sadly isn't in any of my classes (known her since...uh...junior high maybe???)

Casey = a guy Dawn and I met at the local fair last year (Dawn and I will probably be getting our sheep from him)

And those are the people I am inviting! YAYAYAY! I can't wait!!!

As for whatever else I've been doing...I came down with a stuffy nose/sore throat!!! I'm happy that it comes in the early morning and leaves by around 10:00 in the morning. I hope I get over it soon, though!

I've signed up to go on the Astronomy Field Trip!!! We're going to a astronomy museum in a town near Las Angeles. It's a couple hours on bus. Steven is going to be going, too. I hope he'll sit with me on the bus, or I'll get stuck next to someone I won't want to talk to. Yay for Astronomy!!! (The trip is the birthday present from my parents...it was $125 to go! I'm saving up the $50 I got from my grandparents and the $30 from Dawn's mom to pay for souvenirs and snacks on the trip!)

That's all I can think of right now!

a bouncy karia_roses