Chapter 1: Introducing Amy Gaarenstroom
I like dogs. Do you like dogs? What's your favorite kind?
My favorite is a Golden Retriever. I like puppies too!
They're cute. Don't you think so? Did anybody tell you
that I'm small? I'm only 46-1/2 inches tall! I'm nine
years old. My birthday is August twenty-ninth. I was born
in 1987. I like to write stories. Do you? When I grow up,
I want to be an author. I just finished a story I started a
long time ago. I like drawing too. I also want to be an
illustrator. I draw really well. I can't draw horses
though, well I can, but not very well! I can draw you. I
can draw a new bedroom furniture plan on a big sheet of
paper. I can even draw a school room. Sometimes I sign-up
for the cartooning class we get once a year in the Cromie
Media Center. I have a pet guinea pig. It's a girl. Her
name is Swift. She is white with brown stripes. She is 1
year and 6 months and 30 days old. Her birthday is February
14th. She's cute and cuddly. My brother has one too. Her
name is Buster. I was born in Seoul, South Korea. I have a
Korean name. It's So Ra. I am an American Citizen though
because I was adopted by American citizens. I don't go by
my Korean name. I go by Amy. My brother is Korean too!
Chapter 2: Schooling
I've been going to Cromie Elementary School since I was in
Kindergarten. I went to my church's day care for pre-
school. I had four pre-school teachers. Their names were
Mrs. Waller and I can't remember the other three! At
Elementary school I've had Mrs. Wendler for kindergarten,
Mrs. Zamierowski for first grade, Mrs. Purcell for second
grade, Mrs. Murray for third grade and now I have Miss
McEwan. I don't have a clue who I will have for fifth
grade.
Chapter 3: My Family
I live with my big brother, Dale, my dad, and my mom in a
big house on Ventura Dr. My house is huge, but it is not a
minimansion or a mansion. My brother's birthday is March
eleventh. My mom's birthday is July first. My birthday is
August twenty-ninth. My dad's birthday is September
twentieth. My parent's anniversary is September nineteenth,
1981. They went to Maine for their honeymoon. Dale is ten
years old and I am nine years old. My dad is a chemist. He
works for General Motors. Dale and I each have a guinea
pig. My guinea pig's name is Swift. Dale's guinea pig's
name is Buster. They are both girls. Buster is a pretty
funny name for a girl, huh?!! Buster is black and brown
with a white patch in between her ears. Swift is brown and
white with a little bit of black on her face. Swift was
fighting with another guinea pig at the pet shop. The other
guinea pig bit some of Swift's ear off.
We have a very messy basement. That's for sure! It's big
and hard to keep clean with everything we keep down there.
I have a Lion King tent in the basement and two ping-pong
tables that we have to attach to play. I have the smallest
bedroom. Dale's is second largest. Our parents have the
master bedroom. Our mom has a sewing room. She can keep
lots of stuff in it. For example, Dale's and my Christmas
presents and birthday presents are in there.
Chapter 4: Hobbies
I play the piano. I started when I was in first grade. I
am on my second piano teacher now. My first one was Mrs.
Neuffer. She lived across the street to the left and down
five houses, but then she started having health problems and
died. My second teacher, whom I am taking piano from now,
is Mrs. Muse. She's a great piano teacher. She has 3
pianos and 9 keyboards all in her living room and one
keyboard in her kitchen for a piano videograme. I play
baseball too. Last year, 1995, I played on the Sluggers.
We lost every single game we played and came in fourth
place. This year, 1996, I played on the Red Wings and we
won one game and again came in fourth place. Even if I lost
practically every game we played I still think baseball is
fun.
I like making-up my own stories and poems. It's fun. I
also love making up names for my characters. I've finished
one story. It's called "I Love You!". The characters are
Natasha, Kayla Anne, Danny, Mom and Dad. Natasha's 16,
Kayla Anne is 2, Danny is 8, Mom is 47 and Dad's 48. I also
love reading, I can read a thirty-one chapter book in one
day. Sometimes I'm so stuck in a book when I'm at home that
it feels as if I'm in the place of which I'm reading
about.
Chapter 5: Strengths
I've been playing piano since I was in first grade. I'm now
in the third or fourth level. My brother, Dale, just
started in 1995. He can play the Star-spangled Banner. He
learned it by ear.
I am good at spelling. For practically every spelling test
I've taken, I've gotten a "star", an "O+", or an "A". I
like spelling too. I'm even better than Dale and he's in
fifth grade and in the Creative and Talented (C.A.T.)
program.
I am good at reading. I read really fast. I also write
fast. I can read as fast as I can write. I can write as
fast as I can read. I love reading too.
Chapter 6: What I need to work on
I need to work on taking care of Swift and Buster more.
Like refilling their food bowl and refilling their
waterbottle. That also includes cleaning their cage, P-U!
I also need to work on remembering to set my alarm so I can
wake-up on time for school. Especially October first, MEAP
test! Eeek!
I need help remembering to finish the poems and stories I
start, because I only finished one story. I'm doing better
on poems though. I've finished seven poems. My favorite
poem that I made up is "Seeing Things!". It's about this
boy named Jim and he keeps on seeing strange things like a
walking moon and a monkey until he sees his Uncle Tim
walking into the room.
I really need help remembering to practice piano. I want to
play the songs from my music book well at the lesson. Even
if it isn't my first lesson I've ever taken.
Chapter 7: Pet Peeves
I hate getting lima beans with dinner. YUCK! I hate
saurkraut and green, red, yellow, and all other color
peppers. I hate brussel sprouts too. But most of all I
hate, just hate, getting bad grades on school papers!!! But
I love getting good grades!
Chapter 8: What I want to be
I would like to be a kindergarten teacher because I love
being with little kids. It really sounds like fun too. I
like being the teacher when my friends and I play school.
I would like to be a mom too. I want to have three adopted
kids from Vietnam, two girls and one boy. The two girls
would be twins. Their names would be Dorothy Jane and Mary
Beth. They would come first and be oldest. My boy's name
would be Stephen or Patrick. He would be youngest. Shephen
is my dad's name.
I would also like to be an author and illustrator. I would
like to be that because I love writing stories and I love
drawing too.
written September 1996