I recently read an autobiography called "A Stolen Life", written by a courageous woman named Jaycee Lee Dugard. Jaycee Lee is now 31 years old, has two daughters whom she loves dearly, and is surrounded by friends and family - but her life was not always as charmed as it may seem.

When Jaycee Lee was 11 years old, she was tazered from a vehicle on the way to her bus stop, and then abducted by a man and his wife. For several years, Jaycee Lee was forced to live in a tent (and later a shed of sorts) in the man's backyard, while he repeatedly molested, abused, and raped her. While in captivity, Jaycee Lee was impregnated twice by her kidnapper (the first time at the age of 13!), and delivered her children in the backyard, without painkillers or any assistance, other than from the kidnapper himself. 

It was 18 years after her kidnapping before Jaycee Lee was discovered, and freed to go home to her family, along with her two daughters. Her kidnapper and his wife are now in prison, serving life sentences. Jaycee Lee wrote a book about her experience to show the world just how gruesome her time in captivity really was. However, Jaycee Lee makes it very clear that she is not a victim of her situation, but a survivor. She is currently back at school and working towards a career to support her and her daughters, and hopes to even find love someday. She has taken her terrible circumstances and turned her life around for the better. She is a symbol of hope, and in my opinion, an incredibly strong, brave woman who well deserves the title of a role model.

For those of you who have lived under a rock in the bottom of the Atlantic (no pun intended) and do not know what the Titanic is, it's a huge cruise ship that was thought to be unsinkable, but hit an iceberg and sank just a few hundred miles off the coast of Newfoundland. The incident occured on the ship's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The ship sank on April 15, 1912, and 1, 517 of the over 2, 200 people on board were killed. The story of the Titanic is considered one of the deadliest peacetime marine disasters in history.

Anyways, the actual boat/sinking is not the subject that I was referring to, exactly. In 1997, there was a fictional movie released based on the story of the Titanic. Written and directed by James Cameron (who, yes, also directed Avatar), the film starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. (Just to let you know, I have full intentions of becoming Mrs. DiCaprio someday; that man is a smokeshow). The movie was about a fictitious woman, Rose DeWitt Bukater, who came from a high social class, and was forbidden to associate with, much less be in a relationship with, commoner Jack Dawson (DeCaprio)  who won his ticket onto the Titanic in a game of poker. The two fall in love, defying Rose's mother and fiance, and are torn apart as quickly as they were brought together when the ship sinks. The film is told from the perspective of Rose, as an old woman, having survived the disaster, and she recounts the events right from boarding the ship, to the famous, "I'll never let go, Jack."

The film has amazing special effects and ocean scenery considering it premiered almost fifteen years ago. It quickly became one of the top grossing movies of all time (I'm talking 1.8 BILLION dollars here) as well as one of the most beloved. I fell in love with the movie the very first time I watched it when I was seven years old, and have watched it countless times since then. 

This April 15 will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and in honour of this occasion, the movie is being re-released in IMAX and 3D. This essentially means that the already amazing visuals will now be absoloutely mind-blowing. I, for one, could not be more excited. While some argue that it is pointless to go see a movie you've already seen, I feel this is a movie that is different every time you watch it.  There's always something new you notice that makes it just slightly better than the last time. 

The movie is being released in theatres on April 4, 2012, and I will be making a special trip to the closest theatre (a five-hour drive away, thank you very much) to see it during opening week.

If you have been deprived of this necessity of life, I highly suggest you go see it. Even though it's nearly 3.5 hours long, it's well worth it, I assure you :) 

Well, first of all, do any of you have a friend who's super judgemental? I do.
 No matter what I and my other friend are talking about, she always says, "Shut up, no one cares," and goes on to tell a story about her extended family that we don't know, nor do we care about. She always acts like her life is so much more important than ours and never listens to what we have to say.

My other friend and I have been debating for a while whether or not we should tell our friend about her actions. She is outright rude towards us sometimes, and it really bothers me. I am not normally a confrontational person, but I feel that something needs to be done because the way she acts is bad for our friendship, as well as my friendships with other people. Several people have met only her and then decided they disliked me, by association, just because they didn't like her and her judgemental personality. In a small town, this isn't something that's easy to let go.

My friend is also a very negative person. Just recently, we went away for a provincial broomball tournament, and all she did the whole weekend was complain either about the cold, or food, or the hotel rooms, or anything else. She is constantly putting people down, and many people do not want to be around her because of her negative and judgemental personality. My other friend and I are afraid to call her out on this because of how harsh she can be sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I love my friend and she can be a great person to be around. I don't mean to harp on her faults because we all have them, but this is just something that really bothers me.

I guess my point is that it is important to be your own person, and to not let the actions of other people define who you are. It is also important to make sure that when someone says they like, or dislike, you, that is is because of who YOU are and not because of who your friends are. 

What would you do in this situation?

~ Jamie 

Hello Canada :)

My name is Jamie, and I'm from a place in rural Newfoundland that is the textbook definition of a small town. I'm 14 years old and I love reading, writing, travelling, and all things 'girly'. I am a self-proclaimed nerd; I especially enjoy English and Science, and I someday hope to be a doctor.

 I wanted to join this blog group to share my thoughts and ideas with other girls, as well as to communicate with them on the things going on in the world around us. I look forward to blogging about topics that affect myself and other girls from all over the country, as well as my personal experiences :)

Of my circle of friends, I am the bold girl, loud and proud, who is not afraid to speak her mind, (and of course, the one that my friends are often embarrased of ;) ). I'm very opinionated,  and I stand up for the things in which I believe. 

I live to please myself and not those around me. I am who I am, and if someone doesn't like that, then that's perfectly fine. I believe that you should love yourself no matter how others feel about you, because at the end of the day, it is you and no one else who has to live with the decisions you make. I talk far too much and I love to have a good time. My friends and family mean the absolute world to me<3

I'm excited to start blogging regularly, and I hope that you'll enjoy mine and the other girls' posts. Thanks so much for checking out this page :) 

~ Jamie