soo i got my license

i got my license! the state of tennessee found me a good enough driver to be allowed on the road! i am soo excited that i can drive over to a friends house to give them a pint of ice cream after they had their wisdom teeth out and pick up a friend to go to a church activity. its soo awesome.

reminiscent day on the job

so yesterday i went to work at a neighborhood in the community. and i love that job; its so much fun! i get to interact with the kids that i lifeguard and its a lot more personable than my other job (that i don't love so much). but i was looking at the schedule that is in the office and it looked like it was going to be my last day working ever that summer. (but i got that fixed and i am working another shift later on in the month). and i thought to myself: what have i learned from this job and what memories will i take from it? and this is kind of the list that came to my head.

1. britt. one of the lifeguards that i probably spent the most time with working-wise. me and him it seems always worked together (either him or greg). and we had a lot of really fun and interesting conversations and experiences while we were working together. one of them being a really bad storm that quite literally ran right through our clean deck. we had completely closed for the night (in fact i got off the stand five minutes early because i could see the clouds rolling in) and britt had just finished washing the deck. all we had to do was close the shack and lock the front gate and we could leave. then the storm ripped through while we were locking up the shack. britt shut the door at the right time and saved us from the winds and rain that came raging through. the storms knocked down a tree, pushed our lost and found bucket into the pool as well as a few chairs and almost two 2-3 ton benches. later we found out that a deck of cards was put into the lost and found and had made it into the pool. all 52 cards split into 2 and greg got to peel the mushy parts out of the drains and off the bottom of the pool. thankfully the power surge that happened right before the storm clicked the pump off or we could have been in serious trouble. another time was when it had rained the night before and it was a little cloudy and not pleasant out still. me and britt were working together again, so we got into the pool and we had a good 30 minute conversation about what he was going to be studying that year in college and world war II and families, etc. we pretty much talked about a bunch of random things that all interconnected through one little tangent. all in all we had a lot of awesome conversations that i will forever remember. he just has a way of making the conversation hilarious even if we are talking about something as boring as like the weather haha britt always jokes around with me too. he jokes that after the evening shifts on fridays and saturdays that i go and take out my fake and go partying and live that party life of the scandalist teenager. haha its always a ball when hes around because he knows how to joke with you without making it inappropriate or going too far.

2. greg. he was the other guy i worked with like all the time (seriously i think i worked with someone else like 3 times). greg is this super carefree guy who loves to have a good time and a laugh. he probably weighs like 375 and is like 6 3 maybe. but i tell you, that is the burliest yet cuddliest dude you will ever encounter. he is scary when he wants you to listen but the next sentence will be full of laughs and jokes. he and his brothers are like a machine for inside jokes and funny punch lines from movies you have never even heard of. i had this kid come up to me one time and ask me "why does greg always say 'hey buddy' before he yells at me?" haha i just kind of stared at him and said, "i dont know, that is just gregs way of getting your attention if he doesn't know your name." the kid just looked at me and said, "but its sooo annoying! i hate those words now!" haha i just had to laugh at him and tell him to go ask greg if he was so concerned about it, but it made me realize that greg doesn't like to yell at people, he is more of the kid of person to laugh and have a good time even when he is having a bad day or when you are breaking a rule. he makes it fun and he was definitely the life of the party.

3. mrs. b is possibly the nicest manager anyone could ever have. she is like the best definition of a southern belle sometimes. she has few habits that i don't enjoy but she is one of those people that you just dont know unless you have seen it for yourselves. she is always so full of "hey sweetie"s and "how are you pumpkin"s that you never leave a conversation with her feeling like put down.

4. molly is a lot of fun. she is always so ready to laugh and have a fun time. she is super competitive so watch out! she had a really busy schedule with swim team so she couldnt always work, but she was so enthusiastic about it that you never would have known.

5. the kids! o my goodness!! one of my favorite parts was coming to the pool to work and having all of the kids come up to you and say "hi janelle! you havent worked in a while, are you working today?" they want you to get involved in the games that they play and they are really good about listening (most of the time) and doing what they have been asked to do. they are so sweet and just flock to you when you arent on the stand. i know a lot of the kids by name or can at least place them in families. one of the little kids, ethan, is my favorite though. he is a high functioning autistic boy but he sure loves to play in the pool. there isnt much you can do about telling him that he is breaking a rule because he doesnt listen to you. you kind of have to go up to him and talk to him face to face in a calm voice, or he doesn't understand what you are saying. but he sure in a cute kid. his sister, brother, mom and dad are such angels because they kind of hang over him just to make sure that he follows the rules and doesnt harm himself or other kids. he has gotten so much better over the summer its amazing. i guess its just from hanging out around the pool for the better part of the summer. and its really weird though, you watch the little kids grow up before your eyes. its reminiscent really.

but i love all of my coworkers and the staff party that we had a couple of weeks ago was soo much fun. we played volleyball with us and our siblings and then we played sharks and minos, then star (both games we are allowed to play while we are on duty :( ). i found out that during the volleyball game, that a lot of my coworkers are very competitive and have a lot of fun egging each other on.

i love my work and the people that i work with. its saddening to think that me and one other girl are the only ones that are in high school still, so most of the staff are all going away to college with a matter of a month or so. :(

a new member to the club

so yesterday joined a new club: the no wisdom teeth club. and it is the worst experience to date. as everyone who has gone through surgery knows, they ask that you not eat anything 8 hours before your surgery so they dont accidentally hit anything and cause other unwanted problems (gag reflex, spit glands, etc.)  so i didnt eat anything... but i wasnt about to miss band camp because i was getting my wisdom teeth out. so i woke up like super early (5:45 AM!) to have breakfast by my lonesome, and then went back to bed until i could get up again to go to band camp. (UGH......) then i trailed my sorry little dehydrated butt through 3 hours of basic marching before i was allowed to go home and lay on the couch for two hours until i could leave for my appointment. let me just interrupt and say that that is super hard to do: sit outside for 3 hours with no water and little eat that morning in 98 degree weather, with a 105 heat index i think it hit. not exactly ideal situations.

but then i was sitting in the chair waiting for the doctor, and the nurse gives you the low down, (no eating for an hour, take your meds, soft stuff, etc.) and then she took my blood pressure and gave me the laughing gas. so well i guess i should say that i had heard one too many stories about laughing gas, and so i was extremely nervous to be on it for the first time in my life. not exactly top ten things to do before i die, kind of nervous. so i just sat there in the chair trying to relax, and it made me sick! like the room would start to spin (and i DONT do roller coasters) and so i would jolt back up, and the stinkin' blood pressure thingy would start beeping and it was just irritating (oh, we also found out that laughing gas makes me cranky and highly irritable. :) ). so then the doctor walks in and gives me the iv, and gives the the novocaine or whatever it is to numb you and then to knock you out. one of those itches like crazy in the worst spot imaginable.... i will just let you imagine that one...... and then i dont remember anything.

i woke up like 45-60 minutes later three teeth-less and got to ride in my first wheelchair to the car. mom took me through the drive through at walgreens to get the meds to the pharmacy, and then i got to spend the rest of my friday and saturday on the couch... my friend brought me moose track ice cream (THANK YOU SOO MUCH! SOOO AMAZING!) and i couldnt speak because my lips and tongue were still numb and when i did try to eat something, it was difficult because i couldnt feel those muscles, so my dad had to help show me where the stinkin drool was lol ya great times. i got sick friday night but my mom thinks it was the steriod that the doctor gave me for pain (you can split it in half if it makes you sick, and i guess it makes me sick to have a whole one! :)) but i was able to eat a pancake saturday so that is promising. and no swelling yet! yipeeee!!

i walked into band this morning, and everyone had forgotten that i had gotten my teeth out, because honestly i didnt look that bad. hallelujah!


and guys, the iv was the first shot i had had in 11 years.... yaaa you do the math on that one and tell me what i need to get......

passing the third grade

can you place all 48 contiguous states in the right spot? take this test and we will just see! lol i used to be able to do this test with a lot of time left, you i havent done it in a while.

tell me how well you did in a comment. haha i got 43/48

trek

so a couple of weeks ago I guess now, I went on trek. and I LOVED it. I had a great family with an AMAZING ma and pa. they were really good about helping each other get to know each other better. during the first two miles before lunch, we used the first letter of our names to describe ourselves. turns out we had like 5 people with names that started with a’s. I don’t have pictures (SORRY!) but lets see:

#1- awesome adam

#2- amazing alex

#3- ME!

#4- athletic allie

#5- mysterious mariah

#6- ragin’ ross

#7- rockin’ rand

#8- kind kayla

#9- excellent erick

lol and then my magnificent ma and patient pa. lol they are just sooo amazing. I love them so much and we only were together for like three days.  but we had a lot of fun. allie got a massive headache (like crippling bad), so she sat in the cart and friday two of our brothers used a two-man carry to carry her back to base camp (about a 1/4 mile) so that her uncle could take her to the hospital (like an hour away). but we had an awesome time. allie got some medicine and was able to have an awesome time the rest of trek. we played some rather authentic games for the times and we all wore our pioneer clothing without any major complaints.

testimony meeting was amazing. the Spirit was so strong there. and one of our friends that isn’t a member that came along with us, bore her testimony and it was just absolutely beautiful. one of my brothers who I didn’t expect to be emotional at all, totally broke down during his testimony and it was incredibly beautiful.

we had a solo experience and my parents wrote me amazing letters. before I had even opened up the envelope I was crying because all the memories of the last time my parents had done that, came rushing back. it was so amazing. I have a greater appreciation for everything that the pioneers went through just to follow what the Lord had told the prophets to do. it was amazing. they were such a faith-filled people and to live among them would have been amazing. a couple of the families had a true simulation of what the pioneers had bc a ma was pregnant, they had a bruised ankle, and one of their boys got sick the first night so he ended up going home (so we joked that he “died”). but it was a lot of fun. nobody really complained about the amazing amount of bugs (ewww we used soo much bug spray) or like smelling like a cow. not at least until we were in the car on our way home.

overall it was amazing!! lol if you want to see pictures go {here} or the trek’s photobucket page.

preparing for trek

so I was trying to get ready for trek when I realized I really didn’t want to take the case to my scriptures to trek and ruin it. and then I remember that in the movie Legacy, Eliza wrapped her scriptures in a piece of quilted cloth. so I just used a bandana. 


this is what it looks like.



these are rachels scriptures. tilt the scriptures so that its diagonally

and these are mine. i dont like the case.

tuck the first corner up over the front.



then take the top over the middle


















take the left over the middle



take the last remaining corner over the middle.
it should all stay without help.



take the ribbon over the top



do the blanket switch in the back.
then knot it over like you want to.
doesnt matter



this is what the back looks like



if you want to take it in your case, just fold the handles over

haha wow that looks like it would take forever. but it really doesnt

do I stay or do I go?

so we had our mock meet today for swim team. and it was a lot of fun, minus having to swim my two least favorite strokes in a “race”. it was awful but whatever. I got a pretty satisfying freestyle time (like 38) and then had to swim the other three strokes (YUK!).  but I failed to set aside some water for myself. so after my backstroke I was starting to feel shaky because my sugars were starting to drop. (lovely) I definitely needed that water. then I remembered that I had a couple of dollars in my wallet and there was a drink machine right over there. hahaha problem solved lol

but once I got home I had a massive headache and my stomach hurt. so I thought maybe its just hunger. so I took some ibuprofen and then popped some popcorn. after I laid on the floor for a while, I went upstairs where I made it to the toilet before I got totally sick. I took a bath and a huge nap and I feel much better.

but the problem now is I am supposed to report to work at 3:30.

 

do I stay or do I go?

so sweet

okay so yahoo helped me find this one.

 

but you HAVE to look at this one. montage proposal… its soo sweet and even if is graffiti. its still amazing

follow up

so you remember that post I did a couple of months ago on “prince charming and his many princesses”? well since then I have received some calming thoughts about that post (through my parents, some friends, and then a new friend-my patriarchal blessing). I wont share exactly what it says, but I does say that I will be happily married and be able to have a beautiful family of my own. and I took comfort to that because, yes, it will take time and I still have several years to get there, but my “happily ever after” will come and I will be able to live a happy life that maybe will have some of the Disney princess fantasies in it.

 

WHO KNOWS until it is upon them?

rookie mistakes

so yesterday I worked my first evening shift at work. and we did everything we were supposed to do, except for one thing.

so we are supposed to take all the umbrellas down, take all the trash out, clean the deck and check the bathrooms. well one of the “unlisted” job duties is taking the lock out of the shack and putting the right keys behind the right locks and then locking the gate when you get done. well I kind of forgot to take out the key to the bathrooms and the lock that goes on the gate before I locked the shack. so we had to call mrs. b to ask her to come and unlock the bathrooms so we could get to the key to the shack so we could get the key to the gate, etc. out of the shack. (yeah we have a pretty high security pool, its legit). but ya after that I find of felt stupid hahaha because I am usually so good about not locking myself out or locking something behind a lock that I don’t know the code to, but it had been a LONG day lol

I guess now I know what NOT to forget

and then the other day I got a paycheck (MY FIRST ONE EVER!) yipeeee!!!! I am a rich woman. and now I have a savings and a checking account at a local bank hahahahahaha I am soooo pumped!! hahaha I would post a picture but I don’t have the check anymore in physical form (I already deposited it. hehehe, that makes me feel old to say). and then my debit card is coming in the mail too!!! now I feel super old and sophisticated hahaha

home remedies

did you know that rubbing alcohol takes away the sting of a sunburn? dad thinks the scientific reason is that it cools it, but I just am glad that it takes away the burn enough for me to be able to move my shoulders more than six inches.

I got my one really bad sunburn yesterday working. smart me forgot to reapply sunscreen. lol but I got what I deserve and I covered up for sure. but another one of the lifeguards where I work, got sun posioning. YIKES! (if you don’t know what sun poisioning is, its when you have an allergic reaction to the suns rays. apparently aspirin or something like clariten, will help…)

 

WHO KNEW!!!

summer jobs

so this summer is going to be it. I am finally going to get a job. and a neighborhood in my community said YES! we want you!! I am soo excited. my first job ever and its one of the easy, entry level jobs: lifeguard. of course I got told by another neighborhood that I could be an alternate, but that makes no promises. I have to turn in my papers for my neighborhood soon, but I got the job in the neighborhood that I actually know a couple of people in. I am sooo excited!!!!

easter

so easter wasnt too special, at least it wasnt too out of the ordinary. i sang in the choir and sang a couple of really beautiful hymns, and then i got to see all the super adorable Easter dresses of my friends (mom and dad decided a couple of years ago that we would do away with the Easter presents because they distract from the true meaning of the season: Christ's glorious resurrection.) we went to a friends in the neighborhood for a lunch and Easter egg hunt. it was a lot of fun to hold my neighbor's beautiful little Joe. hes like 6 months old and he is soooo cute. hehehehe me and little kids are soo meant to be. but Happy Belated Easter!

tennessee storms

so as most of you know most of the south got hit pretty hard by the storm that ripped through this past week. our cars and house suffered damage. my dad had the AhA! moment about two storm systems too late, so we now have two golfball like cars, with the '73 f-250 pretty much stratchless (one piece of trim is hanging by a screw, but thats it). the suburban has a broken passenger side mirror cracked and a dented hood. the focus has a broken passenger side mirror busted too with a left side tail light out as well. the house needs some patch work on the southwest side and the front of the house is going to need new screens in the windows. all of our exalia bushes look like they were sawed at (all the beautiful flowers are pureed across the front lawn :'(  very sad day) thankfully we dont need any windshields replaced or such. the biggest hail we got during the storm was about the size of an Easter egg. the trampoline was totally full of the hailstones and the street looked super eerie between hail storms. the stones were melting on the street making steam that rose really creepily. hahaha but we all survived. thankfully, even though my brother almost had a panic attack he was soo scared. but we all hid in the closet (parents made me.. not my personal choice) and got each other to calm down after a few verses of "How Firm a Foundation" and "I Am a Child of God". (THANK YOU!!!!)

owie bruises

so i was purusing the internet this morning and put my leg up against the desk to brace myself, because who know why. and out of the corner of my eye i see this NARLY bruise on my knee, and then a less nasty one on the top of my foot. the one on my knee was red and purple, and pretty nasty lookin'. i have no memory of how it got there, but it definitely explains why it hurt to put my knees together last night before going to sleep (i have a REALLY weird way of going to sleep at night, but thats another post for another day). and then the one on my foot i think i know where i got that i dropped my saber yesterday at guard so maybe thats where the hilt hit my foot. possibly...?

a new love and a new best friend

 

 

 

this is my new best friend. me and him will get to know each other really well up to may 10th which is slowly creeping up on me. I am going to have to go and set some goals to be prepared for my AP test really soon. I am soo not ready for this but I am getting there. soon

 

 

and this is my new love… my blackberry torch. I am soo excited about it. this phone is soo great. I had to get a data plan bc this is a smart phone, but I can deal with a $15 fee every month to use 200 MB of data a month. that includes pics and internet and games. as long as I am hooked up to the wifi I don’t use my data either. I am soo excited about it though. we burned my battery and about 4.5 MB yesterday playing hangman on it during accounting. sooo worth it though

home improvements

let me just say that living in a construction zone stinks. absolutely and quite literally some times.

for the last three years my dad has been working on the west side of our house (ie the kitchen) expanding the kitchen. the project started back in the spring of 2008 when my dad broke down the wall between the kitchen and the family room. that was then. now we have twice the kitchen space, a HUGE island, a longer L-shaped counter, hardwood floor throughout the downstairs, a fruit room, a covered patio, and a longer garage.

YEA!!

but wait until you hear what else we still have to do:
trim
flooring in the mudroom
all the sanding and mudding of the drywall in the mudroom
countertops

all on the to-do/honey-do list. it is quite long when you break it down. my dad is hoping to have all the trim done by the summer. maybe. depends on the budget i think.

but the kitchen looks great and my mom currenty has more drawer space than she knows what to do with. quite literally. i can not tell you how many times i have caught myself going to the pantry for a plate, cup, or bowl in the last week or so. it is going to get some getting used to for sure.

stake talent show

today we had an awesome talent show at my church. like so much fun. my sister sang while her best friend accompianed the song "the call" by regina spikter/ar. its a really good song. its the credit song for "the chronicles of narnia: prince caspian" if you were wondering. then a lot of friends sang or played instruments, and there were others who did both! it was really cool to see all the talent in my stake.

then we had a mom of one of the youth that is going on the youth conference trek teach us the virgina reel. SOOO much fun we all got into it and after a few times through you get the hang of it. and its really nice because you have the same partner through the whole dance, which makes it that much easier to catch onto. watch the steps on youtube if you dont know what im talking about.

then we had brother alred give us a beautiful spiritual thought about bringing the heavy burden home. they showed us the wonderful story of the willie-martin handcart companies and the call for help that President Young announced during a cold October General Conference many years ago. the video clip ends with the account of three 18 year old boys who single-handedly helped most of the company across a river in Colorado during the frigid November month. those three boys later passed on because of the effects of that relief effort but President Hinkley stated that that act alone assured them an eternal life in the celestial kingdom. what a beautiful honor. that story makes me cry everytime because it shows the great sacrifices that the early Saints made to follow the commandments of modern day prophets. what an amazing example to those of us living now who got through some rather different but similar trials. i believe that we were placed on this earth to go through our own trials and learn from them as well as others.

an amazing experience will forever be with me. a grade school friend texted me right before the final session of General Conference at the beginning of this month and told me that she had been baptized and her mom had become active again in the church. it made me soo happy to know that the missionaries had made such an impact on my life through her and it was soo great to hear from her again. i got to see her today and it was soo awesome. she is such a nice girl and i have so many fonds memories of her. ;)

babies

 

    3        babies my neighbor is having (2 girls and a boy)

    1        baby  a sister in my ward had (1 little girl)

    1        baby boy another sister in my ward had last week

    1        baby my teacher at school is having (they don’t know yet!! ssssshhhh)

    1        baby that a girl in the sophmore class is having. a little boy. and she’s

              keeping the baby, her boyfriends supportive as is her parents.

+ 1        baby my aunt is having (I don’t know, but they might)

            

      8      for a grand total

 

that’s right I know of eight new babies. well 7 if you count the 4 month old girl that my church leader has. she is sooo adorable!!

I love children!!!! :)

yet another childhood flashback

so my brother and sister found me and Rachel’s old Autumn Harvest dolls. (they are like American Girl dolls, but not). and they really wanted to dress the dolls up in the outfits that fit them. so I spent about a half hour racking my brain to remember where I put the dolls and which outfits fit which doll (because Julie got an American Girl doll from a friend and the outfits are just slightly larger, so they don’t fit quite right) and what the outfits even were. but they loved it, and surprisingly, Spencer and Christian were even into it. they were trying to decide which outfit went with a little camping set that we have. it was pretty funny.

but that just reminded me of all the endless hours me and Rachel spent doing the exact same thing: fighting over whose doll got to wear which outfit, who got to brush their hair first and which doll got to do the honors of being the one to sleep on the hammock overnight. those were the simple days hahaha before we all worried about cell phones and whether a certain someone liked us back or iPods and such.

I WANT THE GOOD TIMES BACK

pi day 3.14

pi day at my school is a pretty big deal.

the math club is pretty stoked and sets up these awesome contests to rotate through and participate in.

this year i was in the math club, so i got to be a part of most of the planning for this AMAZING event.
i worked the charades first block, cookie decorating & bingo second, third block i did musical chairs and charades again, and then fourth block i did the best thing ever: moon pie eating contests.

there were a couple of close calls with the up-chuck, but thank goodness most of them kept it down pretty well hahaha by the time we got to fourth block, we still had nine boxes of moon pies left, so me, carlos, rami, and peter decided we were going to up the competition: boys ate two and girls ate one, and each had to drink an entire glass of water with it. the guys were up to the challenge and a couple of them loved it. we had a couple of problems getting the girls to participate in the competition, but they finally got into and we had some girls dominate it. by the time we were done with the rounds, we only had about three and a half boxes of moon pies left. yipee!! haha which is better than the 8 boxes of sugar cookies we had left. but there were no guarentees those were going to last long if we were to set those out.

clean up of that room was kind of nasty because of all the water people spit back out from laughing and then those couple who kind of choked and it slipped from between their lips. kind of nasty, but i escaped that part of the clean up. (thanks rami!)

another sewing project

so I started and finished another sewing project in a collective 45 minutes. the bag is soo amazingly simple.

but adorable at the same time…

its just big enough to get my scriptures into without the case, and then have a little bit of room for my hand lol

<-- the outside

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is the inside and outside  -->    

if you want the pattern to this bag, or the other one that I make a ton, just let me know. I can give you the pattern number and make. I don’t know if it would work to put up on my blog, but let me know if you think that would work. :)

haircut

so I got a haircut. for the first time in about six months. it feels amazing!!

so this is a before:

sadly this is the best picture of me.

bags and all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then this is the amazing after shot: 

I love my hair cut!! I wish it was a little bit shorter, but I like this, because its still long, but its much shorter than it was. a full two or three inches is what she took off!

 

YIPEE!!!!!

biltmore house

this house is amazing. if you ever get the chance to go, its kind of expensive, but worth it. I love going to historical houses, although it annoys the snot of me that you cant walk through and see ALL the rooms of the houses. I mean, why open the house up, if you cant go and walk through and see all the authenticity of the house. it kind of bugs me. a lot… because they do that with ALL the historical houses.

but this is the beautiful and majestic view of biltmore estate. it has like 255 rooms in it. it has a HUGE dining hall that could seat 65 members of a dinner party, but only ever feed 38. but it still… that’s amazing.

the stable house has unfortunately been converted to house tourist shops. which is really really sad.

but it was still very enjoyable to see the largest house in the entire united states.

and I got to drive the entire two and a half hours there. on the freeway. and I didn’t get into a crash. haha yipee!!

legally licensed 2

so now I can say that I am legally licensed to save your life.

 

quite literally.

 

 

for the past four days, I have been taking this American Red Cross class to become a legally licensed lifeguard. tough work. and its pretty exhausting too. three and a half hours Thursday, four hours Friday, six and a half hours Saturday and then four hours Sunday. total that’s 18 hours. the course was supposed to be 31, but we only had 5 people in our class, so everything went by soo much quicker. thank goodness. but it was still brutal. :-\

needless to say i did little at my house besides sleep the past couple of days, but I learned how to do cpr, use an aed, and remove people from the water safely. regardless of whether or not they have a spinal injury or not. it was quite an interesting experience and I am thankful that I wont have to go through that for a little while, three years to be exact.

my class was soo much fun. we had a senior (she was just recertifying), a friend from church, a freshman (who didn’t want t0 the course in the first place), and then ONE boy. the freshman was the source of entertainment definitely. the boy was actually really cute and he is going to make a VERY good lifeguard. hahahaha *blush*

temple trip

this past weekend the youth went to the Nashville Temple. you talk about an amazing experience. we took about 43 youth plus a new member and we did enough baptisms to baptize an entire ward on the other side of the veil. I am so excited. we only did about 5-10 baptisms per person because of the amount of people we had as well as time constraints but it was spiritual none the less. I did a baptism for a woman who had been born in the 1890s. you take about so cool.

we left about 730 in the morning and got home around 530 that night. the best way to spend a saturday. I tell ya. six hours in the car and a neck crap from naps is totally worth giving to the people waiting for their work to be done.

lifeguarding

so this summer im going to be a lifeguard. at least that’s the hopes.

first I had to pass a pretest. a simple 300, and then a timed simulation. sprint to the end of the pool, surface dive and retrieve a 3-lb weight. then swim on your back with both hands on the weight. as fast as possible. and for someone who hasn’t swam in about 6 months, that’s about 3-4 minutes. the 300 took like a half hour because it was a 150 freestyle and a 150 breast (my slowest stroke).

the next step is to go to a class this weekend (a total of 31 HOURS) and learn about how to save peoples lives. seeing how ive got my cpr certification most of the “saving” part should be a relative review. that’s the hopes anyways. me and a friend are doing it together so we can be alone together, so its going to be a blast. I really enjoy talking and doing things with her.

post number 101

this is post number 101 for this blog.

thanks for listening to all the ramblings of my teenage years from 8th grade to 10th grade.

I appreciate the uplifting comments and then help of your advice.

I promise I will do my best to keep it up

 

just tell me any time if it gets annoying :)

valentines day 2011

my last year of a lonely valentines day before I can start dating. can I say hallelujah?! not that I don’t love taking part of “singles awareness day” and everything, but its still a little heart wrenching when the only way you can celebrate the most romantic holiday of the year, is by passing around pieces of cardstock with cheesy sayings on it and a sucker.

I am happy for those around me who have a happy love life. I just cant wait for mine to kick off here in FIVE months!! yipee!!!!!

this year the chorus did singing valentines again. and I swear it’s the funniest thing ever. a group of about 12 singers comes in, hands you a rose and then proceeds to serenade you in the name sake of your bf/gf. its pretty hilarious, but that’s from the on lookers side. haha maybe next year I will be the one receiving it… who knows?  a lot can happen in 12 months. ahahaha just kidding :)

trek

youth conference is summer is a TREK!! for those of you that may not know what a trek is, it is a three to four day journey pulling a handcart about 4-5 miles everyday. by hand. in the middle of June. dressed as pioneers (aka those in the c. 1850’s).  near Pickett State Park.

for those of you, again, who don’t know what Pickett State Park is like, it is full of bugs and the humidity levels are atrocious. the dress is going to be exciting, but its also a lot of layering. in humidity. it definitely is going to be a challenge to keep hydrated. I hope we can bring a jug or something… because heat exhaustion really isn't on my list of things to learn about this year at youth conference.

but I am super excited about this trek. its going to be AWESOME!!! sleeping underneath the stars, acting like a Saint for a couple of days, spending time with some awesome people and of course strengthening my testimony. who wouldn’t love an experience like that?

school

since school got back in, life has been pretty darn good. really nothing to complain about except for the fact that get used to having minimal homework is tough to get used to. just saying hahaha i know every one else is swimming in homework, but that was me last semester. this semester is my easy one. that could be a blessing and a curse. i could get really lazy and get fat, or i could take this extra time as a time to get in shape for youth conference (its trek!!).

decisions, decisions...

my dress

this is my dress. I wore it last Friday and got loads of compliments. I absolutely love the thing. the pockets are amazing cuz you don’t have to carry around your phone in your hand of jacket! ahahaha I think I might make a floor length one with contrasting colors like the other floor length dress I have… hmmm next time we go to joanns, that’s what im getting! haha :)

this is just a new picture of me. I figured its been awhile since I put a picture of me on my blog…

resources

so this morning, I was messing around on my dashboard for my blog. I was clicking through the little tab called “stats” and I found out that my blog has been viewed in some countries that I have no connections to at all: germany, france, etc. it was so creepy. I immediately changed my settings so that im not a listed blog on Blogger and search engines cant find me. just because its unnerving to be able to be found on the internet by foreigners. in countries halfway across the world. its unnerving. I definitely suggest looking at that and changing your settings.

it gave me peace of mind at least.

summer plans smashed

this morning i took my turn at the orthodontist for the first time in a long time. the last time I had orthodontic work done was at our sing a long last month, but the last time I was actually in the office, has been at least four months or so. and the last time I had an x-ray was when I first went to the orthodontist. so its been about four years or so. my teeth do look so much better now that they are all pretty and straight thanks to Dr. Langford. but he delivered so not so pleasant news when we took an x-ray today.

 

I have to get my wisdom teeth out some time with summer. ugh…

bye bye a week of my life. I get to have all three of my wisdom teeth removed before I ruin my beautiful smile. I have always been skeptical about being put under. its scary not being coherent for moments of my precious life. the thought has just always scared me. but unfortunately its inevitable right now. im scared.

stake activities

are my favorite. so many great youth together in one place having good clean fun. the highlight of my month. today was the monthly activity and it was so much fun! :) we played some awesome games and then had a really nice presentation about dancing and music. we played the human knot, Pictionary, charades, what are you doing?, and a knot exercise. it was a lot of fun.

my partner for the knot exercise was a boy scout so he knew his knots and they were tight too! I had to wring my hands out of it because I couldn’t get it undone. (way to go!!)

human knot was so much fun! we had 16 people in one modge podge and we only had to make two adjustments with the help of a leader. we got 10 minutes and we used all but about 2 seconds. it was really fun and definitely a great group game. :)

“fine dining”

so my parents surprised us last night with a trip to Pizza Hut. like sitting in the restaurant and actually eating the pizza there. my mom and dad refused to tell us WHERE we were going, just that we needed to put shoes and a coat on and get into the car. one of my sisters thought we were going out some place nice, so she actually like reapplied makeup and dressed up. it was pretty funny to see the look on her face when we pulled into the Pizza Hut parking lot. she said “ugh! pizza hut?! I thought we were going some place nice!” so my parents continued to give her a hard time and tell there that “we never said we were going to go fine dine, just that you needed to put shoes on and a coat and get into the car.” it was pretty funny.

we got two large pizzas and actually ate all but three slices I believe. but o it was sooooo delicious. apparently jet’s pizza is better (according to a trusted source), but ive never been there so I will have to say that pizza hut is better until I have tasted this pizza… my knowledge of the hut’s amazing pizza comes from tasting domino’s, pizza hut, snappy tomatoes, and papa johns. dominos is way too greasy, snappy tomatoes doesn’t have any crust, and papa johns crusts are too rough (like its impossible to pull apart). pizza hut, not so much. they have made a happy customer out of me :-)

childhood memories #4

so we don’t have school again today. so we are watching PBS and that means watching Barney and the rip off of Blue’s Clues, Super Why!  Of course im not excited about watching PBS, but that’s all that’s on!!  and of course watching Super Why makes me reminisce about sitting and watching endless hours of Blue’s Clues. I love watching Barney and I miss watching the quality TV that used to be on. TV now is not as it used to be when I was little.

I love Barney and Blue’s Clues. not this Joe version, the Steve episodes. those are the best!!!  but of course the time has come and gone for us to watch those episodes and the rotation as ended for those episodes. now we have to watch the other STUFF that’s on now.

o well. my childhood is over now… time for hannah and spencer to enjoy their childhood.

sewing project #3

this is my newest sewing project. i started and finished it in the past two days. i did most of it myself, with the exception of the gathering. my mom gathered and pinned the skirt graciously. (thanks mom!) other than that i did everything else by myself. i put the side zipper, the pockets, the hook and eye and the hem in by myself. the pattern is roses, with brown centers. it doesn't look like it the picture, but its pink.

i am super excited about it. i just have to figure out what to wear it with. find a pink shirt to match? or find brown leggings and wear it with a brown shirt? or just wear it with a white shirt?? these are my questions. but im excited about it none the less. another sewing project that i did all by myself with a little help from my mom.

im super excited about the fact that i did the zipper once and it worked with a minor adjustment at the top. first timers luck my mom says. or maybe its just the way that the pattern had you put the zipper in. i don't know.

snow!

so it snowed. again. for like the bajillionth time in the last month. we got out of school yesterday because there was four inches of snow on the ground, and today for the fear of icy secondary roads as well as a new layer of powder on top of yesterdays snow. i was soo excited. sleeping in and being able to bundle up warm while drinking some hot chocolate was amazing! i also got the chance to start and complete a sewing project. i am so excited about it!! (pics to come) we still dont have snow things for me to go out and play in, so i sat inside with my mom and sewed. i know i know, what a bum. but i really didnt have a whole lot of choices.

we just found out that we are having school tomorrow and im excited and sad. excited because i can see all my friends and have something to do again. sad because i want to try and find some more fabric to make something else. maybe cross something off the "i need for college" list. i guess that is just going to have to wait until another day becomes clear.

prince charming and his various princesses

throughout time, prince charming has been the hero in countless princess stories. he comes riding in on his magnificient and gorgeous horse, saves the day, and then the once distraught girl and her true love ride off into the sunset. recently i have been talking to a certain young man, and he has recently been sending me off to bed with a "good night princess" and "sweet dreams". isnt that adorable!? he is so kind and he really seems to understand me, and he compliments me even when he cant see me. he tells me im beautiful even when he knows that im wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. how sweet!

one day when i first started talking to him (via text, its cheaper that way) he made a comment about "the one"... saying something about how if there really is a girl out there for him, who is she?, do i know her?, do i see her everyday but just look right over her and not notice her? i thought that it was very thought provoking.

is there a person that really will complete you?
does it happen spontaneously like it does in Snow White, Aladdin, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid?
or does it take time like it does in Beauty and the Beast?
is there a catharsis?
or does it just suddenly click?
are there really sparks?
is there anything about the love stories you read about in books true?
can the first one you fall in love with be the only one?

just some curious questions that i have for myself... thought id ask you guys for advice to these questions...

the real answer for me wont come until im much older and happily married. until then they are just sitting there in the back of my mind waiting for answers.

christmas and the new year

christmas was a success and a fairly small ordeal this year. my parents have been budgetting for the house so the gifts were small but homemade. the only really super big gifts given this year were the trampoline that my grandparents "bought" for us (they sent us a check and we bought it with the deposit) and my dad's router that santa got for him. the family got like 6 new movies (3 of them that we watched before lunch time!), two new games and then of course the trampoline. i got some new gloves, some waterproof playing cards (ive been asking for them for like ever!), the first three Percy Jackson books (rachel got the last two), a new wallet, a handy case for my Walkman, a rifle for colorguard (im soo excited!!!), and then an umbrella. but the umbrella has a story:

opened my gift from santa and was excited, my OWN umbrella, but then i was prompted to open the umbrella upside down. turned out that santa made it rain money! in between each individual prong, was a five dollar bill. so if you counted thats five prongs, so ten bills x five bucks = $50!! yep, i was allowed 50 dollars to go and spend on clothes that were badlly wanted and needed, mind you. monday i went and shopped the after christmas sales with rachel and i purchased a waist belt, a flowly sweater, and two new pairs of jeans (thank you old navy and jcpenney's!!) after our excursion, i then went to oldnavy.com and spent an addition 30 dollars on some fashionable scarves that were not in the store. they arrived thursday afternoon which is impressive seeing how i got the cheapest shipping (5-7 days). rachel was a little upset because she ordered a dress from downeastbasics.com on christmas that took until friday to show up. she was a little mad when i showed her my scarves to say the least. hahaha :)


the new year has been good to me so far. i spent the count down to the new year talking to my friend-boy that i would really like to be my boyfriend but there are age requirements on my side that prohibit that until my 16th birthday. haha cant wait for that! im only 6 months away from it! the old year was not exactly. the day before new years eve i was supposed to babysit this adorable little girl from the neighborhood while her parents went to a bowl game in nashville. unfortunately i got sick an hour before the job started and was forced to pass it to my sister. ugh i was soo not happy about doing that. but i didnt want to take the chance of getting her sick as well. luckily after a long, needed nap i felt better and was able to help in laying the hardwood in kitchen addition.

thats right! you heard me right!! the boxes that have been stacked in the living room for about a year, have finally been ripped open and the glue/sealant has been bought and both have been ripped into as we have started applying hardwood to the entire downstairs. as of the moment we have successfully floored the kitchen and family room and have crossed our way into the entry way and our small hall closet. we are down to the bottom of our fifth! (yes 5th!!) 5-gallon bucket of sealant/glue and are going to have to scrap to finish whats left of the hallway. needless to say, my father will be purchasing about three more buckets at lumber liquidators in the next couple of days. we still have about 15 boxes left of hardwood to use in the dining and living rooms that my dad thinks we wont need. we will just see how far they get us. it officially looks like we are moving if you are to look in through the downstairs windows, and taking everything with us. we have evacuated every piece of furniture, accessories, and more into the garage, fruit room, mud room, and shop as possible in order to make the rooms scarce and easy to empty when we shift rooms. needless to say, the house is an udder pig stye as me, my mom and dad, and rachel work our tails off to finish as much as possible before my dad goes back to work tomorrow. but unfortunately, that wont work seeing how we are down to the bottom of the glue. we will have to resume work tomorrow.

in the mean time, im getting ready for school! i cant believe im saying this, but im getting tired of the break! all the house work and the mindless hours of sitting down doing nothing are killing me and i cant wait to have something productive and educational to do. that is my life!! as you can imagine with all the house work, my social life has been paused in order to help, so i cant wait to see all my friends again. yipee!!


umm new years resolutions.. earn so mula! be more loving and helpful; make a list of things i will need for college and work on the little things (sheets, a quilt, a scrapbook of memories, my own clothes [none of the sharing business anymore], a cookbook, and things like that); get another honor bee (i had my interview yesterday and im getting it presented next week! im ecstatic! i finished the book of mormon on friday); and maybe build up a library of books for the college life. who knows its all news to me!

thursday begins the new semester for school and i will go into honors chemistry, lifetime wellness, accounting one, and concert band. wellness is like health and gym combined, so its pretty much a joke. and chemistry is going to be interesting, but seeing how i had algebra two last semester its supposed to be easier. (hopefully!!!)