29 days until christmas

i know its bizarre to think that i am already counting down, but in my defense i wasnt the one who was counting down. it was my younger siblings. hahaha but i really am excited for christmas. because of one very special gift that cant be wrapped. family. if my grandfather can sell his spec house, he and grandma can come into town. i cant wait!!

thanksgiving weekend

this thanksgiving the school board decided to be nice and give the kids wednesday through friday off. thank goodness.

wednesday we didnt have any mutual so rachel snapped the opportunity to have a party. a just-for-the-heck-of-it party. we ended up having two dozen people show up to the house at one point and we had a lot of fun. we played catch phrase, capture the flag, mafia (upon popular request *cough*cough* **barrett** *cough*cough*), and then we settled down with The Princess Bride. yes possibly the greatest movie of all time... and ive only seen it three times. i know i know what a shame...

thanksgiving was a blast. the church girls got together to play powder puff football at the high school and it was a lot of fun. we were playing touch until becker showed up with flags which turned out to be soo much better. our team turned out to be significantly better at defense than offence. what a shame. ahaha but we still had fun. we had a family friend the raineys over for dinner and some horse play aka motorcycle riding for the little boys and some chatting for the female. hahaha sadly i must admit that the tom boy came out in me and i spent my time watching the rainey boys race around our yard on a couple of small motorcycles. soo adorable. hahahahahaha then we went for dessert to the giacalones and we were going to play games but that didnt work out hahaha too much chatting going on. plus too many people.


and lets see. whats left for this post? o yes! a list of thankful fors....

so i am thankful for...

this little goober that is a ball of laughter and fun one breath

and a raging tyrannt the next

but that is the fun part. always living on your toes

this little girlie who refuses to be called our little sister

and wants to be seen as my equal and nothing less

i just hope that she continues with her persistance

this little sweetheart who is the sweetest little girl ever.

she reminds me of rachel somedays so much i almost call her that.

shes adorable and the sweetest little mommy's helper ever.

this goofball i get to call my twin sister.

shes a freakball sometimes but my best friend too.

the coolest girl EVER

the oppurtinity to build onto our house.

i was trying to find a picture of the back of the house,

put that didnt work.

these amazing people. they are the greatest parents ever.

and the greaest role models. thanks so much mommy and daddy

the great moments in life like this. father and son bonding time...

even if the son doesnt enjoy it as much

nature.

the beautiful moments that can only be caught with a camera or your eyes

this goofball of a brother.

love the kid to death.

he should be a drama kid hes that funny

this little cutie.

he is a little boy who knows what he wants in the world.

even if hes about ten years too early :)

the gospel. for the standards it has set me with.

for the beautiful reading that it has filled my life with.

for good books that my mom has helped me choose.

as well as my grandmas.

a warm bed to sleep in.

even if i hardly ever make the thing.

make up and a toothbrush.

what would i do without hygiene.

for clothes! what a blessing

technology. if it is too slow for my liking sometimes.

shoes. boy o boy do i take them for granted.

and then friends. but i dont have a picture of that. hahaha there are too many friends to count and put into one picture. love you all

i think that is all. if i havent thought of it assume im thankful for it. unless its something like war... then its questionable. hahaha :)

marching contests and football season catch up

in the last couple of weeks, the band has gone to a couple of different band competitions. the first we went to was at sullivan north high school for the "music in the foothills" competition. we did really well all things considered, although the guard didn't even place. the band placed first in drum majors, second in percussion, third (last of 3) in guard/majorettes, first in the AAAA division, first in the AAA and AAAA combined section, and then first in the over all competition. after review of the scores, our guard just happened to be the guard that the judge didnt particularly like the most. the ride there and back on the bus was so much fun. we colored and talked and slept and talked some more, vedged on some food and did all the fun stuff that you do on band buses. (on a PG level, of course)

the second and last competition was the most fun. just kidding! it wasnt as far away as the first competition was so we didnt stop at any point in time in the ride. therefore we were allowed to enjoy a little more time together before we left. my dad took me over to the high school as soon as the band room opened so that i could hang out with my freshie, talk, polish a horn or two with a friend, and do some last minute practicing before we loaded up the truck and headed out. by this point in time, i had been adopted as the guard member on loading crew (for away events for the band) and therefore helped put tubas, drums, trombones, etc. on the truck before we left. as a joke the parent in charge of loading crew wanted dillion (the senior on loading) to pack so compactly so that we could fit the gator on the truck if we werent going to be renting a trailor. of course we rented a trailor, but if we hadnt we could have easily put the gator on the truck if we wanted to. the drive up to sequoyia high school wasnt awful and it went by rather quickly. when we got to sequoyia, we started to unload the truck, and when the bass drums came of the truck, one of the cases got put too far underneath the truck and a rim on one side of the drum got smashed. mr. clemons, the percussion instructor, wasnt at the competition, so mr. rogers was the first to hear about it. and of course he was super pissed about the whole thing. thank goodness that the home band was there so we just borrowed their smallest bass drum and problem solved. we ended up being the largest band at the "Band Jam" competition so we got all the first places in the AAAA division, we won the AAA and AAAA division and then won the HUGE trophy for overall. unfortunately the HUGE trophy is a traveling trophy which means that we have to send it back to Sequoia next year. ;(

the football team won against william blount and so we went into the playoffs. we traveled to sevier county and on the way there hit a four car collision. the resulting traffic jam resulted in a two hour hold up and we missed the first half of the game. we had to pull over to a gas station because one of the girls in the back had to use the bathroom so bad. we then got the school just in time to warm up, quickly watch sevier county's band who graciously went first, and then we went on. we did a really good run of the first three songs and then marched off because of the buzzer. the band didnt take the third quarter off because we missed the first half. Farragut won against Sevier County 41-21 and we will proceed in the play offs against maryville on friday. we would have played at home, but maryville won... guess there goes our chance at getting very far in the playoffs.......... ;(

the last home game aka senior night

the last home football game is alwasy hard. but this one was extra hard. our running back coach for the football team passed away thursday night of some diabetic related heart problems. he also had pancreatic cancer. yesterday during first block we had a moment of silence for Mr. Shoup and his family. a lot of the school felt the repercussions of his death, so the guidance counselors were in a classroom all day to offer counseling to any student or teacher that felt like they needed to. the football team was called down into the gym to talk to the head coach about what was going to happen about last nights game.

the cheerleaders made a sign with "do it 4 shoup" written on it, and the football team helped make "rs do it for shoup" bracelets for the entire student body, staff, and any attendee at the game. the senior class also made some flags that they flew that had the same slogan on it. on one they printed their hand, and then made some comments for shoup. i felt for one of my friends. she has been through a lot the past couple of weeks. her grandfather passed away a couple of weeks ago and she was very close to Mr. Shoup to see him pass away, it be senior night, and having to listen to everyone screaming "do it for shoup!" was very hard for her. she was very emotional and almost made me cry many many times.

here is a link and story about Ryan Shoup and some other events of the football game.
http://www.wbir.com/news/article/139374/5/Update-Farragut-assistant-football-coach-remembered-by-brother


the band recgonized the seniors as well as the football team last night. sadly that meant a lot more crying for the guard. we will be loosing only four members this year, but the smaller the amount the harder it is to say good-bye quite frankly. we had to do our show after the game again, but this time we were actually allowed on the field to do what we wanted during half time. the lenior city band stayed to watch, of course.

farragut beat lenior city 16-7.

adorable bag #2

i made another bag like the black one i made a couple weeks ago, this time i made it for the girl on the colorguard that i am giving secret sister gifts to. the bag turned out so adorable and it was super easy this time because i actually knew what i was doing without having to really pour over the instructions. the only hard time i had was with the attachment of the lining to the outside. that was the trickest part.

this one turned out so cute i might go buy some of this fabric and make myself one! hahaha :)

bearden vs. farragut #2

the rivalry game is always the biggest game of the year. the stands are packed and the crowd is semi attentive to the game. the people there at the game usually are there to watch Farragut beat Bearden, or vice versa depending on where you go. the bands are not allowed to have the rivalry spirit in the hopes of being good sports and the on-lookers arent usually awful to us (us, being the band members). but apparently a couple years back they had some issues with band members so they dont want us to go past the bearden section without a buddy/group.

no big pranks this year, which was probably a very good thing. although we had a big injury. one of the starters was running a play and a bearden player ended up taking the dude down and messing with his ankle. BAD... all of the ligaments in his ankle, his ankle, and some open fracture leg material. needless to say he was screaming in pain, they had him on an IV and a stretcher before they even thought about getting him off the field. unfortunately that was the sad part. good part? FARRAGUT BEAT BEARDEN WITH LIKE 0 SECONDS ON THE CLOCK!!! for a little while we didnt think we were going to win, but we pulled ahead winning 32-26 with literally like 0.3 seconds on the clock.

farraguts band didnt end up getting to perform during half time because of the baseball team recognition and the can drive announcement (of course bearden won, we wont be getting into those details) and bearden's band did their entire show like THEY WERENT SUPPOSED TO! but we were responsible people and we got off the field BEFORE the team got penalized for "game delay". we did the show after the game and we had some stragglers stay and watch.

thanks guys! :)

driving update

as many of you know, i have had the oppurtunity to get my permit!! exciting!!! lol the last couple of weeks me and my sister have been taking turns driving to early morning seminary and to church. (we would drive to like school functions, but we hardly ever take the suburban around town...) but as of yesterday, the fact that we cant drive when we take the focus is about to change. yesterday after guard practice, my father surprised me and told me that he was going to let me drive for a little while in the parking lot, and then he was going to let me drive the stick home!! aah!! so exciting.

of course as soon as i got into the drivers seat, the heaven's unleashed a new bucket of rain, but that wasnt the hardest part of the drive. the hardest part was timing the clutch release and the gas engaging that was difficult. i had a hard time keeping the car running. in the ten minute ride home i had stalled the car not once, not twice, but SIX times... twice before i had ever left the parking lot!! lol but dont judge me! that car isnt the easiest stick to drive in the entire world. i am sure there are lots easier ones out there. lol


as for my automatic car driving, it is getting better. i have only had two really scary incidents: i over corrected on a turn out front of my house and almost hit the mailbox, and the first time i backed out of a parking space, i hit the wrong pedal (gas instead of brake) and ALMOST hit the curb, but slammed on the brake just in time. yeah.. needless to say, i dont doubt that my seminary teacher from last year thinks that i am a bad driver, and now my oldest younger brother is terrified to sit in the car with me while im driving. hes scared of another incident i guess. lol :) but im doing better (at least i would like to say that i am!) and i look forward to more time with the manual transmission!

scripture bag

in times past i have been known to have a bad relationship with scriptures and the beautiful bad that holds it. since the first time i got my scriptures, i have exchanged my scriptures 3 times but kept the same bad. recently the bad ripped at the seam that held one side of a handle to the other. now the handle didnt rip, but about 1/4 inch below the handle did, so it was putting a lot of stress on the hole to carry my scriptures around by those handles. my idea was to just build a whole new case, but that changed when i found this really cute bag that i could make instead.

just recently i finished that bag:



the finished bag has pleats, two handles, and a huge inside. but no pockets inside!!





<>

inside of the bag

but the exciting part was i was able to find enough of some scraps that my mom had. she had used the two cotton pieces to make a skirt for christmas a couple years ago.



the two contrasting colors

the bag is super easy. nothing really complicated about it, except for maybe the slip-stitching you do at the end to close the whole in the lining. but nothing really else complicated.

the school bus

everyone knows what im talking about when i say that my bus is crowded.

this is about what my school bus looks like EVERY SINGLE STINKIN' DAY!

but im pretty sure that my bus is one of the few buses that has issues with WAYYY overly crowded. the only days that we DONT have three to a seat are half days were the high school gets out early. that is pretty much it.

today was the worst because
a) the bus was late picking up the high schoolers (aka me!)
b) it was really really crowded today
c) i was refused a seat because this idiot (there will be no name mentioning, just referals as name) refused to sit in a open seat-the last one!- and then held up everyone else getting on the bus and finding a seat
d) the ride home was awful because i had a freshman who thinks that swearing is the way to get popularity sitting right behind me, so i had to turn my music all the way up (not an unsual exprience on the bus, but quite uncomfortable because one earphone is broken) and missed out on a lot of conversation just trying to hear myself think!!

thats another thing that stinks about my bus: the noise level. some people just dont get it you are sitting in an enclosed area, so you dont have to yell to your seat partner to hear them. ***if you actually do, GET A HEARING AID, or GET YOUR EARS CHECKED, or TURN THE STUPID MUSIC DOWN!!*** for pete's sake, lets try and save some hearing for later in life.

i just really wanted to get that off of my chest so, yeah. you dont have to like it, but plz like comment or check the little box below.



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--love you all--

the catch all posts of all catch all posts

i sincerely apologize for not keeping this updated! lol the last couple of weeks have been hectic beyond imagine, between school, band, church, and the naps i steal in between, i have had little free time. and thats partially bad time management on my part. but im working on it and i hope to keep up with the time and manage it better. lol

what has happened since the last post you ask?

well a lot of things lol

since then:
 i have been allowed to drive a good 12 times on the road. i was soo excited.

school started and i feel the consequences of having two honors plus an ap class in addition to band. friday     and wednesday nights are killer but by some miracle i make it all work.

the football season started and the team played three games: dobyns-bennett, oak ridge, and catholic. db was a blow out loss, oak ridge went into sudden death but we pulled it off and won, and catholic was a close game. with the catholic game we were up the first half, but going into the second we just lost it. a bunch of dropped passes and bad running. as you might have guessed we lost, leaving the team 1-2.

i started the Book of Mormon over again, and i am currently chugging along with 12 columns a day trying to read the BoM by the end of October. it is going to be close, but i think im going to make it.

my parents decided to take an anniversary trip (almost unheard of in my family) to dc. actually my dad was there for business, and he surprised her with an extra ticket to dc. she got the exciting courtesy of staying in an impressive 5 star hotel room, of course with a beautiful view of the potomac; or at least thats what ive heard lol

i went to Hoops for Hope and was allowed the privilege to help the team "managers" with the Down-Syndrome kids. such a neat experience. they are the sweetest things and i dont think ive been hugged so many times in one day. it was a really neat experience and i am soo excited for next year.

i went to a church activity with the entire stake plus one of the neighboring stakes. so i got to see my friend-boy that i really really like, and he likes me back. (: i know the hopeless romantic is coming out in me. but that night we added two more songs to our list of "our songs". we now cannot listen to hey soul sister, your love is my drug, and the only exception without thinking about each other. at least thats how i feel lol we cant really talk because he doesnt have unlimited texting (or i dont have the right phone service, either way) and i dont have a facebook. but im working on the facebook thing. mom and dad are contemplating it still.


that is really about it. my life has been sucked into the vortex of school, band, and the minuscule social life i  have. i barely have a life outside of that and any extra time i have is spend reading the Book of Mormon or sleeping. cuz i sure have not received the doctor-perscriped 9 hours of sleep in a LONG time. try more like 6-7 hours a night. it is really difficult to keep my eyes open during notes and videos and it really really stinks. but i guess thats high school. time to suck it up lol