Tuesday, November 5, 2013

At the Orchard

Two posts in two days...say what?! I know, I know, you can thank me later ;).

Anyways, this was the last football game of the season, so of course everyone had to go. However, we were playing another inner-city school that no one had heard of, it was cold, and it was senior recognition night. That means literally every.single.senior. in the marching band, chorus, and color guard, as well as every player on the football team would get individually introduced and congratulated. If you're a senior, and you know who all of these people are, I'm guessing you would enjoy it since this is your last high school football game ever. But when you're a freshman, all that talking gets pretty boring, so we ended up leaving during the third quarter, in favor of a much more enjoyable venue.
I also discovered that Krispy Kreme donuts, as delicious as they are, somehow taste even better at 11pm after you've been standing on freezing bleachers for 3 hours. Also, if you haven't tried the Pumpkin Spice donuts yet, do.it.now. If you like the old-fashioned donuts from Starbucks, and you like pumpkin, you'll be very happy with these. 

The next day I got up extra-early (not intentionally, but it Daylight Savings Time started and threw me off), and went with two of my friends to Carter Mountain to go apple picking! It's about an hour's drive nearly straight up the side of the mountain. 
In this picture there are guardrails along the edge, but believe me when I say that in about 30 seconds those rails disappeared and the road starting rising straight up. The fact that we essentially risked our lives for some apples says a lot about how delicious they are. Well, we also went for the apple cider and Carter Mountain's world-famous apple cider donuts (I don't have a picture-the four of us gobbled up an entire dozen of them before I could get my camera out!). We sat down at the picnic tables and struggled to keep our hair down in the freezing wind as we sipped our apple cider and ate our donuts. Sitting at the top of that mountain, the view of the valley beneath us nearly took our breath away. 
After we'd had our fill of the view (and the food), we hiked up to the orchards. We headed straight for my favorite apples, fuji! Luckily this section of the orchard had just been opened up for the season, so we practically got first pick. 
After we'd picked more apples than we could carry, I bought another half-dozen donuts to take home for my family (I ended up eating most of them ;)), and we headed on home. There's just nothing better than apple picking in the fall! 




Monday, November 4, 2013

School Projects

I know, I know, I haven't posted anything in maybe a decade (okay, two weeks, but in the blogging world those are basically the same thing). Honestly I just haven't been doing anything really blog-worthy lately, and have been so swamped with schoolwork that I all I've had time to do is study. It seems that since the first marking period ends this week, all of my teachers are frantically cramming in the required number of tests, quizzes, and projects that they somehow forgot to factor into the rest of the term. Which means that instead of giving you guys a great post about Halloween, I spent the entire night at home finishing a formal lab write-up due the next day. This lab counts as three test grades, and my teacher forgot to give us the rubric for it until the day before it was due, which coincidentally happened to be Halloween, and I had specifically gotten all of my homework done on Wednesday just so I would be able to go out with my friends. Sidenote: this is also the teacher that lost my quiz before she could grade it, so she gave me a zero. 
On a separate note, in World History we're learning about the Exploration (Columbus, the New World, etc. etc.). But because I'm in this accelerated program at my school, instead of taking a test on the unit, we had two projects instead. 
Project 1: Two mock-trials, where Christopher Columbus and Francisco Pizarro were being charged for crimes against humanity against the natives of the Americas. You were assigned a part for one of the trials (defense/prosecution witness or defense/prosecution attorney), and you would serve on the jury for whichever trial you weren't apart of. We spent a week researching our character (I was a Peninsular, a defense witness, which is a member of the top social rank of Spaniards in the New World), and then would be tried in the court. It was actually really fun! It was a little intimidating to be questioned in front of the entire class (especially when, as a Peninsular, I had to defend the use of slavery and the murder of thousands of Incan natives), but overall I'd say it was much cooler than a test, and we learned a lot. Plus, the jury found Pizarro not guilty (both juries had to base their rulings solely on the evidence provided during the trial, even if they knew that it wasn't accurate), and we won the case! 
Project 2: Everyone created a dish that used ingredients from the New World and the Old World. We all brought in the food on Monday, and we spend the entire class eating! Needless to say, this was definitely one of my favorite projects ever. I made Nutella rolls with cream cheese icing, and made the biscuit dough myself. These sound good, but they came out disappointingly bland. However, I remade the recipe using a pumpkin-cream cheese filling I developed, and they are amazing-recipe coming soon! 

Anyways, I just wanted to throw a quick post out there to let you all know I'm alive, and will post something much more interesting shortly! 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Eagle Huntin' and Pumpkin Pickin'

Sorry I've been somewhat off the grid this past week...a girl's life can only be so interesting. In case you haven't read Neal Schusterman's series Unwind, I would highly recommend giving it a go, especially if you loved Divergent and/or the Hunger Games! The third book in the Unwind series came out this week, and I've spent the past few days holed up on the sofa, completely absorbed. I had read somewhere that the book had to be split into two because it was so long, and I could definitely tell. Virtually none of the conflicts were resolved, and quite honestly the ending felt more like it should be the middle of the book, which makes sense in a way.
Anyways, I finished all 400-some pages just in time for yet another football game. Because what else is there to do on a Friday night in suburban Virginia? This time though, I wasn't going to cheer on my fellow rebels. I'm enrolled in an accelerated program that isn't at my zoned high school, and all of my friends go to the school that just happens to be our biggest rival. Nevertheless, I thought I'd risk stopping by their homecoming game to do some under-cover eagle hunting ;).
I almost wore one of my Rebel shirts, but realized I'd probably get beaten up by the upperclassmen. 
The game started off with a homecoming parade. Nothing impressive, but I did get some quality catch-up time with my friends. 
I know it looks like we're in the middle of the road, but I promise you we were sitting on the median, and traffic was stopped anyways! 
Since it's an unspoken rule that you aren't supposed to play a good football team for your homecoming game, they took on a urban school from an hour away. Their fan base was very impressive:

A whole 30 people, folks. And about 20 of those are the band, who have to come for a participation grade. 
We (not exactly "we," since I'd never call myself an Eagle fan, but the side I was standing on) won 23-12, and the fact that this team managed to sneak in 12 points says a lot about the Eagle's football team. No wonder we beat them last week. Anyways, while it was nice to see my old friends again, the game itself was pretty dull, since I didn't have an attachment to either team. 

But I did take some sexy Snapchats :)
I don't know about you guys, but I completely count football games as exercise- that was exhausting! Standing for 3 and a half hours while wearing knockoff Keds turned out to be a bit more painful than I thought. You'd think I'd have learned by now. 
The next day started out with a "nutritious" breakfast at Waffle House (sidenote: they now display calorie information next to every item on the menu, and frankly I find it pretty depressing. If I'm going to Waffle House for breakfast, do you honestly think I want to know how many calories I'm eating?). I went for the usual, hashbrowns (drowned in ketchup of course) and a grilled chicken biscuit. If you ever find yourself sitting in a Waffle House, keep in mind that their biscuits are out of this world! 
Once we were back home, we had a couple hours to be productive (as productive as you can be on a Saturday morning), before pumpkin picking! 

Of course, no trip to the pumpkin patch is complete without ridiculous hats. How else are you supposed to find everyone in those endless fields? We got lots of compliments, thank you very much.
The whole group shamelessly kept their hats on the whole time, with one exception: 
But honestly, would you pass up the opportunity to dress up as two ghost riding in an apple-mobile? Me neither. 
In the fields, I came across this beauty sitting all by its lonesome, and I just had to snap a picture. 
After everyone had made their selections, we piled them into a wheelbarrow and went on our merry little way.
Ready to go!

But those poor pumpkins had no idea that they were about to be cut into ribbons.
Or rather, into jack o' lanterns! My masterpiece is the one on the right, and I'm pretty impressed with my handiwork if I do say so myself. But since it's only the middle of October, I'm 90% sure these babies aren't going to last until Halloween. Oh well, there's always next year! 








Tuesday, October 8, 2013

What I did Instead of Homecoming

This weekend was my school's homecoming weekend. There's a parade, a football game, a dance, you name it. My school even had an entire spirit week, where each day you were told to come to school dressed for some theme completely unrelated to homecoming, but whatever. I'm always up for an excuse to look ridiculous! This is evidenced by my attempt at an being M&M for "you are what you eat" day. I didn't have a roll of white duct tape, but I just happened to have a gold one laying around. I'm so high-class. Only the really classy people use gold duct tape, right? Silver just won't do.

I also was too lazy to buy a new green shirt, so I figured I'd just tape the "M" over my Frog Day shirt from summer camp. And if that wasn't classy enough, we also took this picture in the school cafeteria, 3 feet from the bathroom. 

Anyways, I didn't really bother putting in a ton of effort to prep for homecoming, because I wasn't even going to be there. I know what you're thinking. "This is the first-ever homecoming of your high school career, how can you not be going?" Well the rest of my family was going down to Emerald Isle for the annual North Carolina Seafood Festival, and who was I to pass up an entire day dedicated to eating my favorite foods? So while everyone else was trying on dresses and posing for pictures, I was packing my bags and heading for the beach, baby! 

We arrived in Emerald Isle Friday night just in time to catch the sunset, but unfortunately I didn't manage to snap any pictures. The next morning we rolled into the cute little beach town of Morehead, North Carolina. The air was humid, the crowds were tight, and the music was loud, but luckily we were able to find refuge in the chef's tent, were we got to watch a demonstration on how to prepare my favorite food, ceviche! Since I prefer mild ceviche, I was a little disappointed with how spicy it was. But nevertheless, it was ceviche and ceviche is delicious. 

After the demonstration we ventured back out into the crowds and attempted to visit the various booths. But it was getting close to lunchtime, and a hungry Katie is definitely not a happy Katie. While the rest of us thought long and hard about which of the hundreds of delicacies before us we wanted to eat, my sister ran straight for the funnel cakes, but quickly abandoned it for the rest of us to share, while she chowed down on none other than a fried Twinkie.

Battered, deep fried, dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with chocolate syrup. Welcome to 'merica. I went for a slightly healthier crab cake sandwich, but was still feeling a little grumpy. That's when I spotted none other than my long-lost, one true love. 

All hail to fried Oreos. Once again, they were fresh from the fryer and piping hot, just the way I like 'em. After I wolfed down these bad boys, I felt much better. The crowds instantly seemed thinner, the music seemed quieter, and my headache disappeared. I don't care what they say about fried stuff- these things were a life saver!

While my sister ate her fried chicken and french fries (you'll quickly learn she absolutely does not understand the meaning of "I'm full." How she stays so thin is a mystery to us all), we continued through the fair, wandering from booth to booth. Eventually we stumbled into the oldest bookstore in the state, and I instantly fell in love (though that may just have been from the air conditioning) 
The infamous Dee Gee's bookstore; 80 years and counting. It just so happened that they carried a book I'd been looking for for ages, which wasn't available at Barnes and Noble or Amazon! I also came across a little book called "Lessons from a Turtle: the Little Book of Life." It was the cutest little book, and each page offered a little quote like this one: 

How can you not accept life lessons from a turtle? But after we had gotten our fill of books we headed over to Parson's General Store across the train tracks, where we were greeted by its absolutely wonderful shopkeepers. If you ever have a chance, I'd definitely recommend stopping by! They also had great ice cream, and of course my sister (who clearly hadn't eaten enough that day), ordered a double-scoop. Luckily she wasn't able to finish, and I got to polish off the cup for her. Who thought Cappuccino and Moose Tracks were so delicious together? 

Once none of us could handle the crowds any longer we headed home, but not before popping into a little beachside burger shack for a drink. 

Please excuse my blurry fingers, but basically we took a seat along the side of the pier, and I got to spend a half our or so sipping iced tea, watching the ocean, and not miss homecoming weekend at all. 

Seafood, fried Oreos, and the beach. I think we know who got the sweeter end of the deal here. 
Once we were back at the cottage, the rest of my afternoon was spent lounging in bed, listening to music. Do any of you notice how whenever you're at the beach, there's always that peaceful, quiet part of the day in the late afternoon? Everyone is reading, dozing, or just taking a little time to relax for a while before the evening excitement starts up again. For us, that meant heading back out to a steakhouse for dinner. It was dingy and unimpressive, but we were all so full from earlier that no one wanted more than just a bite or so. After the bacon biscuit, funnel cake, fried oreos, crab cake sandwich, and ice cream I'd eaten during the day, I decided to go a little healthy and order some grilled scallops with vegetables. Okay, so I also had a slice of Texas toast, but we won't count that. 

Tomorrow I'll go on a diet...

...just kidding. 













Saturday, September 28, 2013

A Day at the Fair

I took a few more pictures this time, I promise!
Friday night I went to my first ever away-game. That's right folks, I follow my team wherever they go! Even if it's just a few miles down the road, but whatever.
After asking a very understanding police officer for a group picture, we realized just how well we had coordinated our outfits. Believe me when I say that this was not planned! Anyways, we continued to cheer on the Rebels as they conquered yet another team that didn't stand a chance against us. 
No one was paying attention during the last quarter, but last time I checked the score we were up 24-0. Like seriously, what else is new? Since we quickly realized that away-games aren't nearly as exciting as home ones, we left early to go to a bonfire. No pictures (sorry!), but the rest of the night basically consisted of Netflix discussions, Instagram catch-ups, and wayyy too many s'mores. But all those calories didn't stop of the next day when...
We went to the State Fair!!
Yes, it's tacky. Yes, it's gross. Yes, it's fattening. But yes, it was a blast.
We rode every rickety, sketchy ride we could manage. These included the Supernova (teacups on steroids), the Extreme, and those infamous swings that spin around a million miles up in the air. Later on we rode a rollercoaster, but I hadn't noticed the bar that we were supposed to have over our laps hadn't been secured! I managed to push it down right before the big drop, otherwise God knows what could have happened! you can never trust those carnival rides...  
Of course, no trip to the fair is complete without a ride on the Ferris wheel!
We were also in that lucky cart that got to stop at the very tippy top, so I had time to snap this snazzy pic:
Not gonna lie, it was pretty sweet.
After we'd had our fill of dizzying, semi-safe rides, we decided to listen to our rumbling stomachs and grab some food. I forgot to get any pictures, but I had a corn dog and...drumroll...six fried Oreos. Six. Where are my fat pants?
Enjoy this last picture of me weighing under 300 pounds. As I'm typing this, I'm coming down with a "fried food" headache. But let me be the first to tell you, it was 100% worth it. I got a batch of Oreos fresh from the deep-fryer, so they were hot, soft, and delicious. Seriously, these could quite possibly be my new favorite food, like ever. The fried dough does something magical to the chocolate cookie, and I swear angels sang when I took my first bite! If we'd had more time I would've tried fried Reese's cups and fried cookie dough (umm, yum!), but the lines were just too long. Next year, they'll be at the top of my list! If your local state fair is in town, I would definitely recommend stopping by for a few hours, it's definitely worth your time!









Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Beaches and Ballgames (Your Typical High School Weekend)

This past Friday, I went to a football game...
...and not just any football game, my first high school football game. ever.
I apologize for the severe lack of pictures, I promise to have more the next time around!

We started the night off watching our team kick butt against a little rural farm school from the middle of nowhere. They tried to hold their chins high as they watched their team fall into the clutches of the Rebels, but they just didn't stand a chance.
Also, as Freshman, we were confined to the upper rows of the bleachers, packed in tighter than sardines. But eventually the chilly, windy night began to set in, and we started to be pretty grateful for all that body heat.
Plus we won 24-14, so score.
Anyways, I only managed to snap one photo, and it may just win the title "Katie's worst photo of 2013"
 photo null_zps6a4aed41.jpg
I promise, I promise I'm not usually that awkward-looking. Oh wait, yes I am.

Oh, and by the way, a friend I went to middle school with was having a slumber party that night, and I had told her I was going to shoot over to her house the second the game was over.
But there's a frozen yogurt shop five blocks from my school, so of course I just had to stop by, right? I mean everyone was going. I'm a horrible person.

Nevertheless, I did eventually manage to show up at my friend's house. At 11pm. 3 hours late.
 photo d73a37d9-3806-4866-a730-805373fc7319_zps05126ac2.jpg
But hey, the party don't start 'till I walk in anyways.

The next morning, most people went home, but one other friend and I got to go with the birthday girl to Virginia beach. Not to mention the fact that while it was warm and sunny there, we were going to be skipping town on the coldest, rainiest day of the week, so extra points!

Again sorry for the lack of pictures, but basically we spent the entire day boogie boarding and sun soaking, so eventually we were bound to get hungry, right? We went to grab a slice at a little pizza joint across the street, but we were silly enough to walk their in our bikini tops! Clearly we forgot about the "no shirt no shoes no service" rule. Thankfully a T-shirt shop next door was selling shirts for $2 a piece, plus they had free saltwater taffy! Random right? Funny how things work out. After we decided our pizza wasn't quite filling enough, we decided to pop into the Ben n' Jerry's next door...
 photo null_zps11be6671.jpg
Beaches, pizza, and cookie dough ice cream. It just doesn't get any better than this.
Is it bad that an oatmeal cookie was the healthiest thing I ate that day? Nah. Totally worth it.

Eventually we had to get back to reality, since we all had our textbooks to read and quizzes to study for. Leave it to high school to ruin your fun.
We left just in time though, because that was right when all that rain that had been hitting back home finally rolled in!

Another football game this weekend, and more pictures are promised to follow!




Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Starbucks' Secret Menu

For those of you that live under a rock, there have been several new Starbucks drinks circulating around known as the "Starbucks Secret Menu." They're basically a list of mochas, frappes, and lattes that people have customized to create delicious new flavors. Needless to say, I've gotten obsessed! I've made it my mission to scour the internet and pick out the best drinks. These ones look delicious but are relatively easy to make (I have to feel bad for those poor baristas trying to add a million different syrups to each drinks!)

I know there aren't a ton of drinks at the moment, but know that as soon as I find more I will add them to the list. Also, if you have any suggestions for new combinations, leave them in the comments-I'd love to hear your ideas!!

Also, as a disclaimer, make sure to describe the drink when you order it instead of just ordering an "Oreo Frappuccino," because most likely the baristas won't have any idea what you're talking about, and it will just create a ton of confusion. Nothing is worse than holding up the line during the morning coffee rush! Another disclaimer is I didn't come up with any of these drinks, and full credit goes to their original creators (the vast, vast majority of these come from here.)

And now, without further ado, I give you

Frappuccinos
If you want an Oreo Frappuccino...
7721315862_124a2523c6_z
...Order a Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino with white mocha syrup instead of the regular syrup.

If you want a Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino...

...Order a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino with a pump of cinnamon dolce (pronounced DOLE-chay) syrup.

If you want a Peppermint Chocolate Frappuccino...
peppermint chocolate chip frappuccino
...Order a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino with a pump of peppermint syrup and java chips.

If you want a Snickerdoodle Frappuccino...
snickerdoodle frappuccino
...Order a Chai Creme Frappuccino with a pump of cinnamon dolce syrup.

If you want a Samoa Cookie Frappuccino...
samoa frappuccino
...Order a Coconut Mocha Frappuccino with a pump of caramel syrup.

If you want a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Frappuccino...
chocolate covered strawberry frappuccino
...Order a Strawberries n' Cream Frappuccino with java chips and a mocha drizzle.


Other Drinks
If you want a Pumpkin Chocolate Latte...

...Order a Pumpkin Spice Latte with chocolate syrup.

If you want a Raspberry Cheesecake Mocha...

...Order a White Chocolate Mocha with a pump of raspberry syrup.

If you want a Blackforest Hot Chocolate...
the cadbury blackforest
...Order a Signature Hot Chocolate with a pump of raspberry syrup.

Hopefully, we can turn this into the ultimate mega-list of Starbucks drinks! Let me know if you have any suggestions :)

Saturday, September 7, 2013

5 Things I Learned after my First Week of High School

It's official...I somehow managed to survive the first week of Freshman year. Just barely. In a sense, it was similar to how I was expecting it to be, but also different in a few ways. Since I'm going to a special program that isn't at my zone high school, I didn't know a single person. Not one. And now that my heart-rate has gone back down to a semi-normal speed, I thought I'd share with you the 5 things I learned after my first weekof high school. For those of you still in middle school, maybe you'll learn a few things; for those of you in high school, maybe you can give me some encouragement that I'll be able to get through the rest of the year unscathed!
(I know the picture says 10...it's 5)
  1. You will never feel smaller than you do in 9th grade. You just spent your entire 8th grade year at the top of the food chain, and nothing keeps your ego in check like getting smacked back down to the very bottom again. The seniors are big and scary, and they strut through those halls like they own the place. You're a scrawny 14 year old feeling more out of place than a polar bear in the Sahara. It sucks, but hey, it's all part of the Freshman experience!
  2. High school is sketchy. Some people (like myself) went to a sheltered, suburban middle school where texting in class was considered a felony and cough drops were contraband drugs. For those of you who went to a more inner city middle school, just know that the term "sketchy" takes a whole new meaning when you get to high school. My first day I walked into the gym bathroom, only to start feeling a little lightheaded and dizzy. Next thing I know another girl comes in after me and says, "oh gawd, someone was smokin' some pot in here!" I've officially done secondhand marijuana. 
  3. Your teachers move five times faster. The thing about high school is you get 2 or 3 days to review what you learned the year before, and then get thrown headfirst into a whole pool of new material. Like seriously, I have to give a 3 minute public speech on Monday. This is the second week of school- don't you usually wait until the second semester for this stuff?? 
  4. Not everyone wants to be your friend. Coming from someone who has been the new kid a few times, I can tell you right now that in high school it's a whole lot harder to find your group of people. Why? Because high school is cliquey! It's as simple as that. But just know that if your high school is as big as mine is, your group is bound to be out there somewhere, and it might take a little bit before you find them. I know that in seventh grade it wasn't until the second semester that I found the people I could really identify with, and from then on it was a breeze! 
  5. This is it. Take a look around- these are the same people you'll see on your graduation day. These are the same hallways you'll walk down as a senior. These are the same bleachers you'll cheer from when you're 16, 17, 18, maybe even years later when you're watching your kids run down that same field. You'll make more memories in this school than you will anywhere else these next four years. You're still a kid, enjoying your last run before you have to move out and start your adult life. If you're anything like me, this realization will hit you the minute you step into school your first day, and it'll make you want to high-tail it back to your kindergarten teacher and beg her to take you back. 

For those of you who haven't started high school yet, I hope I've scared you enough that you'll want to take full advantage of your last year of middle school. For those of you already in high school, I hope you can relate to these, and if you have any more lessons feel free to share them! But honestly, high school is one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking experiences I've had so far, even though I'm only 5 days in. You'll hate it, but at the same time you'll love it, because for the first time you finally start to feel like you're growing up, and it's great! Enjoy the good and embrace the bad, it's all part of the experience!

Saturday, August 31, 2013

DIY Binder Covers


(The monograms on mine messed up when I emailed them to my mom so she could print them, oh well!)

For most of you, school has already started. For the rest, it's rapidly approaching. My school starts on the third, and I've spent the past two weeks in a desperate scramble to get everything done. So far, it's been a flurry of clothes shopping, last-minute summer reading, and, of course, searching for school supplies that are both cute and durable. Believe it or not, that task is a lot easier said than done. Luckily, I've created some adorable covers for the front of my binders, and to kick off the start of my new blog, I thought I'd show you how to make them too!


They're personalized, and can be easily altered to look however you want them too! As an example, I'm going to create a binder cover for my Geometry, Honors Biology, and French II binder (I combine three subjects into one 1.5 inch binder to save space in my backpack, since most of our work is done online anyway).


1. Open up Microsoft Word on your computer (Note: This tutorial is being done on a PC, and unfortunately I'm not sure how differently things are set up on Macs. However, all you Mac-users should be able to figure it out on your own, I believe in you!). 
2. Select the "Shapes" button, and draw a large rectangle. Change the "Shape Fill" and "Shape Outline" to whatever you want- I chose pink. 


3. Create a second rectangle inside the first. 
4. In the "Shape Fill" button, select the same color you used for the first rectangle. 
5. In the "Shape Outline" button, select a second color of your choice- I chose white. 
6. Also in the "Shape Outline" button, mouse over the button labeled "Weight", and select "3 pt."


7. Repeat steps 2-6 towards the bottom of the page, but make it considerably smaller. Alter the colors to your liking- I chose green.


8. Now, go back up to the top rectangle and draw a text box.
9. Alter the "Shape Fill" and "Shape Outline" to match the background color. 


10. Using any font you like (I used Cicle Gordita, off FontSquirrel), Type the name of your binder inside the circle. Make sure it's big enough to be read easily (I used size 42), and centered. 


11. Repeat steps 8 and 9 with the smaller rectangle towards the bottom of the page. 
12. Using the same font you used for the title, type your first and last name. 


13. You're almost done! Now find a monogram font that you like (I used Monogram KK Font, off dafont.com).
14. In the middle of the page, draw a large text box. Using a size 300 font, press "Shift" and type your last initial. Change the color to whatever you would like- I chose orange


15. Create a second text box to the left and slightly above your last initial, and type your first initial in size 300, but without pressing "Shift" (it will still be uppercase, but will be smaller and the perfect size for your monogram!) Change the color to match your last initial
16. Repeat step 15 on the right side, and using your middle initial. 


And there you have it! No more scribbling "English" across your binder in Sharpie. You now have a way to create cute, personalized covers for all of your binders!