Imagining My Future Essay Example for Free

Imagining My Future Essay My hand flies to my heart, the other to Matthew’s hand. I startle awake from an endless nightmare. Luckily, I haven’t awakened my sleeping husband, who I must say sleeps like a rock. I stretch out and sit up, the covers pooling around my waist. The moonlight continues to shine into our room from the balcony. I give Matthew a quick kiss on his hand and slowly crawl out of bed into the depths of our house. I wander the empty hallways of this home Matthew and I have built. Pictures line the wall from our wedding, to the birth of our three wonderful children, Braden, Katarina and Adam. I couldn’t imagine any better life. As my hand skims the wall, my feet sink into the plush purple carpet that lines the hall. I touch the cold metal of my first son’s door knob and hesitantly open the door. Braden is twelve-years-old, and as athletic as his father. The first thing he learned to say was â€Å"Dada† and knew how to skate before he could walk. Hockey must be in his genes – he’s the captain of his Pee Wee B hockey team. He has a great future set in front of him. I tip-toe over to his queen size bed covered with blue sheets. Braden takes after his father in looks as well. His eyes are the rich color of the sky and grass combined; his hair a dark chestnut brown; a smile that is so perfect, he didn’t need braces. As I stroke his hair and pull the covers up, I remember the first time I dropped him off at school and I imagine how he’ll deal with going to a new school next year since its seventh grade. I turn off the music he plays every night to help him fall asleep, and exit his room as quiet as I entered. Katarina is only a year younger than her brother. She’s only eleven and is as independent as a teenager. She’s sprawled out on her queen size bed covered with bright colors that swirl around. I watch her breathing, a slow rhythm of ease as she dreams ever so peacefully. She takes after me, which I’m thankful for. Her eyes are a rich green, her hair a bright blonde, but Kat was born with teeth like her great-grandmother. She’s almost to the ripe age to get braces. I hope she won’t get teased when she gets them; it’s a grave fear of mine. Kat is always striving to be her unique self, and doesn’t exactly care what others think of her. Her fearlessness is something most other girls her age crave for. She’s a bookworm, just like her mother as well. Matthew and I brought her skating multiple times, but she didn’t really get the same sensation her momma felt as a figure skater. Instead, she’s a dancer – hip-hop and ballet – and she’s extremely gifted. Where she received her gracefulness on feet is something I question myself with everyday. She’s my angel, her father’s little girl, and her brothers’ best friend. I glance over to her window which is right above her bed. The moonlight casts a light upon her drooling face and I manage to hold back a giggle. I wonder how many hearts Kat will break when she enters the scary and dreaded place of high school. My littlest boy, Adam, sleeps the farthest away from his parents. He has the intelligence of Einstein and is constantly questioning everything. He isn’t big into the high-contact sport as his older brother, but is enjoying music quite much as well as tennis. Adam is eight, and loves his guitar. He plucks the strings night and day. His looks are that of mine and Matthew’s. As he sleeps, he snores a bit and fidgets, but the stuffed tiger his grandmother gave him is tucked safely away in his arms. Right now, Adam wants to be a rock star. I only hope he achieves the dream he decides on. His clothes are scatter around his floor and being as restless as I am, I can’t help but not pick them up. CD’s of oldies line shelf after shelf. I watch him move and he silently calls out for â€Å"Grandma.† Grandma Fern passed away few months ago and little Adam was her absolute favorite. When Adam found out about her death, he was devastated. He took up a vow of silence and wouldn’t come out of his room. Finally, Matthew and I were able to soothe him out to talk to us. He’s been back to his talkative self ever since. I close the door and hear the â€Å"click† of the door. I wander back up to my room, and dance to the balcony. I flop into the overstuffed red love seat Matthew and I placed outside. In the distance, I can see a glimmer of the soft lake that is only minutes away from my home. I cross my legs and sigh to myself. â€Å"Well hello there. Didn’t you ever learn to close the door?† a deep, rough voice says. I quickly whip my head around to see the man I call my husband. â€Å"Oh, dear I’m so sorry! I was caught up in how beautiful the night sky looked. I didn’t even think about the door.† I say hastily. â€Å"Well, I’m glad you forgot. You can’t keep this to yourself, you know.† Matthew says as he joins me. I’ve known him since I was a junior in high school and I’ve been infatuated with him ever since. His face is turned toward the night sky, and I can’t help but wonder how this fascinating creature is with me. Matthew has been playing hockey ever since the age of five, and has a knack at it. He played for the Fighting Sioux in college, and was moved up to the professional league when the Washington Capitals signed him to their roster. He was ecstatic about the offer. My children and I can’t go and stay with him i n Washington State, but we go to every game we can. He’s my children’s hero, and my own to love. I place a single hand on his cheek, an act I’ve always done towards him. â€Å"It’s almost morning wife. What are you going to make for breakfast?† he teasingly asks me. He knows whatever I cook, he has to help with. â€Å"Well, I was thinking some bacon, maybe an omelet. Unless you prefer something more five star.† I instantly challenge him. He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder as if I was as light as a feather. He lays me on the bed and suddenly we are in a game of chasing each other around the bedroom. He never ceases to amaze me. Of course, Matthew lets me win and we stroll downstairs to the kitchen, starting up the coffee, and planning out what to feed our children.

Memorial Hall in Philadelphia :: Architecture History

Memorial Hall The massive domed building in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, is the only major structure remaining from the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. Memorial Hall served as the Art Gallery for the fair and was designed to become a permanent museum. The building was commissioned and paid for by the State of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia. The budgeted amount for the hall was $1,500,000 and it cost just $64,000 more than planned. Although smaller than other major buildings at the 1876 fair, Memorial Hall is massive. Its footprint takes up an acre and a half. It is 365 by 210 feet, and 59 feet tall, with a 150-foot dome sitting on top. Below the building is a 12-foot deep basement. Perched atop the dome is a statue of Columbia standing 23 feet 6 inches tall. Three arched doorways each 15 feet wide and 40 feet high mark the entrance to the hall. The doors of the archways are made of iron and have bronze panels with reliefs of the coat of arms of each state and territory. The United States coat of arms is in the center. Between the arches are two clustered columns crowned with small statuettes symbolizing Science and Art. Around the base of the dome are four statues, set on the corners, representing Commerce, Industry, Mining, and Agriculture. The main entrance opens to a hall 82 feet deep, 60 feet wide, and 53 feet high. From this room three doors lead into the central hall, which is 83 feet square with a ceiling raised to 80 feet under the dome. To either side of the central hall are the main galleries, each measuring 98 by, 84 feet, and 35 feet high. When the temporary dividers are removed and the galleries join the main hall, they create what was at the time the largest hall in the country. This combined hall can be 287 feet long, by 85 feet wide, enough to hold 8,000 people. Above the hall is a grand balcony promenade 275 feet long and 45 feet wide, from which one can overlook the beautiful northern quadrant. Overall the building provides 75,000 square feet of wall surface for paintings and 20,000 of floor space for sculptures. Raised on a six-foot platform overlooking the Schuylkill River, Memorial Hall housed the first international art exhibit in the United States. Participating countries contributed so many works that even this massive structure could not showcase them all.

Good and Evil in Bless Me Ultima Essay

The conscious of children is based on the influence of their surroundings; their notions of good and evil are the result of the moral atmosphere they breathe. In the novel Bless Me, Ultima the main character Antonio is exposed to good and evil. He is young and never really was exposed to evil since he is always home and safe away from it. Antonio is affected by the actions of good and evil throughout the book. The first time Antonio encountered evil was Lupito’s death. â€Å"I turned and ran. The dark shadows of the river enveloped me as a race for safety home†¦The horror of darkness had never been so complete as it was for me that night. † (pg. 22) Home is seen as the safest place for Antonio. He knows he is going to be comforted by Ultima or his mother and it’s the first place he thinks of going. Lupito is playing the part of evil. That is how Antonio sees is because all the men in town are after him† I prayed that he would listen to Narcisco and that the angry and frustrated men on the bridge would not commit moral sin† (pg. 21) Although Lupito is part of â€Å"evil† in the novel, Antonio doesn’t want anything to happen to him. Antonio is very religious and is why he doesn’t want anything to be done. He doesn’t want the men to sin and believes that God will forgive what Lupito did after all. The Second important encounter is when Florence dies. â€Å"It was a warm day. I felt the sweat cold on my face and arms. The sun Glistened on the wide waters of the lake. † (pg. 239). Antonio knows something is wrong when he sees the other boys screaming and shouting. At this point Antonio has confronted evil many times but this is an important event. After other occasions he has matured quite a bit and is growing into understanding life a little more. â€Å"It is god who has sinned against me! ’ his voice thundered, and we fell back in horror at the blasphemy he uttered. † (pg. 213)Florence for a while is seen as evil. He was one of the people who in a way corrupted the way Antonio thought and his beliefs. Florence isn’t aware he did such thing but Antonio stands strong with his religion. When Florence dies, he isn’t evil anymore. He is just a child that needed help in guiding him. The death affects Antonio for weeks and Ultima always seeks a way I how to comfort him. The last encounter in the whole novel is Ultima dying. â€Å"Ultima-’ I wanted to cry out, don’t die, Ultima. I wanted to rip death away from her and the owl. † (pg. 260) Since birth, Antonio is very attached to Ultima and the first day he met her as a young man she knows there would be something special between them. Shanking her hand he as well right away knows that there is something unexplainable. Ultima is the one who shows and guides him into whatever he needs to know since no one ever takes the time to do so. â€Å".. and after mass we would take her body to the cemetery in Las Pasturas for burial. But all that would only be the ceremony that was prescribed by custom. Ultima was really buried here. Tonight. † (pg. 262) Ultima is the good who people make her seem evil. Others try making Antonio believe that she isn’t a good person but him and his family knows for a fact that it isn’t true. Tenorio is the Evil throughout the book. His stubbornness doesn’t let anyone get through to him and gets others to think that Ultima isn’t good. In the end she is exposed to everyone but there is nothing that could be done since she has passed away. Antonio is devastated but has grown. There is nothing that could be done. Good and evil stream throughout the novel. Antonio is affected by events that don’t necessarily include him. Lupito’s death, Florence’s death and Ultima’s death all cooperated in changing Antonio. He is a strong young man that before is ignorant and wasn’t exposed to events in life.

How Baking Soda Works - Cooking Chemistry

Baking soda (not to be confused with baking powder), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), is a leavening agent thats added in food preparation to make baked goods rise. Recipes that use baking soda as a leavening agent also contain an acidic ingredient, such as lemon juice, milk, honey or brown sugar. When you mix the baking soda, acidic ingredient, and a liquid together, youll get bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. Specifically, the baking soda (a base) reacts with the acid to give you carbon dioxide gas, water, and salt. This works in the same way as a classic baking soda and vinegar volcano, however, instead of getting an eruption, the carbon dioxide fizzes to puff up your baked goods. The gas bubbles expand in the heat of the oven and rise to the top of dough or batter into which its mixed, giving you a fluffy quickbread or light cookies. But you have to be careful! The reaction occurs as soon as the batter or dough is mixed, so if you wait too long to bake a product containing baking soda, the carbon dioxide will dissipate causing your recipe to fall flat. Waiting too long after mixing to bake can ruin your recipe, but so can using baking soda thats too old. Baking soda has a shelf life of about 18 months. If youre not sure how long the box has been sitting on the shelf, you can test baking soda before adding it to a recipe to make sure its still good.