a seminary trick

i still remember this trick from seminary,

although it has been almost eight years.

open the book of mormon.

ask left or right.

ask again.

count the verses,

ask for a number in that range.

give a spiritual thought from that verse.

sometimes you come up with 

some very difficult scriptures.

but tonight, i came up with this

beautiful verse from alma:

my joy is full because

i know that my redeemer lives.

i know that i have someone

who has truly felt every pain and heartache

that may come my way.

a believer's prayer was performed so beautifully

in church yesterday by some good friends

and the entire time, the spirit just kept coming

in waves of confirmation.

the believer's prayer is heard.

and if you cannot have belief,

a desire to believe will be enough for now.

momma mia

this week.

for realz. 

it's been so long. 

i literally feel as if it's been monday all week long. 

let me explain: 

between my two jobs this week, i worked an excess of 60 hours. 

that's right. SIXTY! 

and gurl, you better believed i worked for it.

i worked two-fourteen hour work days.

#showmethemula

but that wasn't even the longest day this week. 

wednesday i was at one job from 5am-2pm 

and then had to be at my other job at 3:30pm to 9:30pm.

needless to say, i'm exhausted and was in desperate need of a sunday.

during the forty-five minute break i got in between my two jobs on thursday,

i stumbled across this article on facebook and had to share.

because this really was me at one point.

i took the "be prepared" motto for the boy scouts to heart during high school.

plus, i just love the bridesmaids reference.

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1. baby steps. and i am getting better.

this week was rough for me physically though.

2. getting a dental x-ray to "dot an i" tomorrow to be safe,

but they should be submitted tomorrow night!

3. it will be completed this week.

my mom is holding me accountable.

4. check for today! went and got to see some of the people

that they are investigating and it's really exciting to see the

countenance change when they open up to the idea of being comforted by the gospel.

add to goals: pray that sabrina may be able to find a job and be able to better her life

for her kids.

sabrina is an investigators that the sisters are working with right now.

we challenged her tonight to join us at church on sunday, and the sisters

have another meeting with her on tuesday. she is trying to figure out her life

and is trying to get a stable job so that she can move on to better things. she is a 

single mother and wants her kids to have a better life than what she is currently living.

she is trying to go to school and get a nursing degree so that she can provide for her kids.

the epitome of a strong woman, trying to do better, all for the sake of her children.

5. funny story: actually got asked today *twice i might add* at church to play.

i was able to play prelude music to sacrament meeting (the semi-equivalent to mass

at a catholic church) and then was asked again to play in relief society, but was not

comfortable playing the songs that had been picked to go along with the lesson.

mommy to the rescue!

i have some spare time this week (actually a lot of spare time, compared to last week)

and will be working a lot of my goals.

NEW!

6. exercise more frequently and eat better.

take something substantial to eat at work while on break,

and don't eat snack foods as a meal.

spend part of my "break" walking on the treadmill for a little bit.

time.

what a weird four letter word. it holds so much power with it, too. 

it's bizarre to think that two years ago today, i was frantically finishing a presentation for the parents of governor's school participants. a year ago today, i was hanging out around the house, worrying about chores and packing for a road trip two weeks out. today, i'm worrying about getting the smoke out of the blankets i took camping last night and about getting a cowboy to pay enough attention to me to take me out. 

time. what a silly thing. my friends have their mission calls and are preparing for the fateful day when they will enter the MTC. other friends are fretting over the details of another fateful day: their wedding day. and yet others are worrying about getting all their summer vacation tucked into the next few weeks. then there's me, just worrying about my job, my crippled love life, and remembering people's names. 

time. it slips away from you. i can't believe that i haven't seen my sister in six weeks, my family in six months, some of my friends in over a year. it's just wrong. it makes me ache for the "good times" back. those careless summer nights when we played hide-and-go-seek in the backyard of nice neighbors. those crazy fall nights when i spent all night in a ridiculous costume, freezing my butt off, cheering for the football team. those awful spring nights where i was up until midnight or one am writing a paper. i'm gonna say it: i miss high school. don't get me wrong, there are something things i DON'T miss. but the simplicity of life sure was nice. i miss my laurel friends. the semi-adult life stinks, man.

i want the simplicity of life back. 

it’s been said

It takes a village to raise a child. And I always had an inkling of what that meant, until recently when I saw how true that statement really is. There are so many people who have touched my life and have helped me grow. All of the teachers, all of the coaches, all of the church members, all of the neighbors, all of the friends and all of the family members. It all adds up to a rather impressive village. And I just wanted to thank all of the village people for the wonderful woman that you have helped create.

Thank you to all of the teachers who have helped me learn the importance of an education and for guiding me to what I will be studying in college and will be going to school to become “when I get older".

Thank you to all of the coaches who have helped me to learn the importance of hard work and dedication. Even if I kicked and screamed while I did it.

Thank you to all of the church members who have helped me gain a testimony of the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For giving me great Sunday School lessons and Young Women lessons that helped me gain such a strong testimony that can be boiled down to FIVE things:

• God lives and loves EACH and EVERYONE of us. Regardless of our misdoings.
• Jesus Christ suffered for us and the Atonement is real. Through Christ and His ultimate Atonement, we can return to live with Heavenly Father and Christ again.
• The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is what it says it is: Another Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• Joseph Smith, Jr. was a divine prophet who truly saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and restored the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ unto the Earth that we may all have the Gospel again.
• Thomas S. Monson is the true prophet of God and runs His church on the Earth today. President Monson and his counselors help the people of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and guide us so that we can return to our Heavenly Father.

Thank you to all of the neighbors who really were my village. Thank you for all of your sincere concern and care for me. It truly means the world to have good neighbors.

Thank you to all of the friends who have created a tight bond and have become my surrogate family. Thank you for making me feel loved and making Tennessee a home away from home. (Although, now Tennessee really IS home.)

Thank you to all of the family members who were my closest friends. Thank you for the countless memories and love that you have showered me in. Words can not express my love for you.

 

THANK YOU FOR MAKING A GREAT VILLAGE.

#GRADuation pictures

Okay, a little explanation. The Blue and Yellow cord is for Marketing and Business Academy at school.

The Light Blue and Gold cord is for Mu Alpha Theta, a Math Honors Society at school.

The White Stole is for National Honors Society.

The Blue and White Tassel is for National Honors Society as well.

Yes, I made my dress. It took me about 10 hours to complete and I started the Wednesday before Graduation. 

That picture with your Grandparents. Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa for making the sacrifice and the flight out here to see us walk across a stage.

This was the best sibling photo. I do believe in the others I was looking at the other cameras. 

I love you Christian!

Dad wanted a photo from the Stage where we walked... so we got one! Everybody...

(Back, Left: Grandpa Graves, Mom, Julie, Rachel, Janelle, Dad, Grandma Graves.

Front, Left: Spencer, Russell, Christian, Hannah)

And then of just the family! I'm gonna miss you guys, but I am so excited at the same time for the new chapter of my life.

Rachel, Adrian, and Me. Adrian will always be a good friend. We meet Freshman year and have carried an super light and friendly relationship through Senior year. Thanks for the laughs Adrian and I wish you luck next year at Texas A&M!

Rachel and I got to walk across the stage at sort of the same time. Rachel's name was read first, and then mine, so we got to smile and wave together. :)

Rachel hugging Rachel... hehehe. Ms. Bast was the greatest guidance counselor a girl/boy could ask for. Seriously, the most fun and completely understanding of EVERYTHING. Mrs. Bolinger was awesome too. Super amazing at helping you find scholarships and always prepared. Mrs. Gray was amazing as well. She was firm handed but knew how to throw a PAR-TAY!

My church leaders decided to throw a dinner for all of the graduating Senior Girls one Wednesday night. While in the midst of dinner, one of the Junior Girls was on her way home from the activity at the church. She saw all of the cars lined up, and noted that she had some window paint in her car. So she drew '13 and "Happy Graduation" on all of our cars! It was so sweet of her and we kept it on for a few days before Dad made Rach and I wash it off. :(

I went to four graduations (one freshman year, one sophomore year, and then two others this year) before it was actually my turn to walk across the stage. This was Graduation #1 of this year for me. I was so jealous that they got to walk into Pomp and Circumstance played by a full orchestra.... beyond jealous actually. It was beautiful though.

This reminded me of a little boy that goes to my church. He has a hard time saying some sounds in front of words, so "exploded" "cleaning" and "smoking" often come out "sploded" "leaning" and "mokin."

Kelsey! She was my hangout buddy at the Band Banquet 2013, but congrats girlie on University of Tennessee-Knoxville. You will do great things!

NANA!!!! 

This is one of the best friends that I could ever have outside the church. I had some much fun with you throughout high school and I hope that life takes you far!

#GRADuated

so yeah. that big thing where you walk across a stage for the first time, collecting an envelope that is blank that you will later fill with a piece of cardstock with a couple of stamped names on it and  a couple of special seals--that happened. and i honestly feel no different. believe you me, i am BEYOND ecstatic to be done with high school, but the feelings of "o my goodness, I am an adult" and "o my gosh, I probably won't see most of these people again" hasn't really set in yet.

i have got to four different graduations before I was finally walking onto the Thompson-Boling Arena floor myself. i was such a relief to be waiting around for ME this time. don't get me wrong, it was fun to see all of my other friends graduate, but it was more of a relief to see my classmates on the jumbotron, rather than Bearden, Hardin Valley, and previous Farragut graduates. i was ready for it to be MY turn.

i am so proud of the "Dream Team" of Farragut. together we graduated 414 people, 90% of those earning a scholarship, 70% earning a 3.0 or higher, and collectively as a class earning a gross of $30 MILLION in scholarship money. CONGRATS! we have done it! i was doing a little bit of calculation in my head before they announced how much we had earned in scholarship money: Bearden earned $24.8 million; Hardin Valley earned just over $17.1 million. so congratulations again Dream Team for racking in the most scholarship money!

i have had so much fun during these last four years. so many memories that i will most likely cherish the rest of my life. heartaches, friendships, and memories that are best locked up: had my fair share of them. thank you to the wonderful teachers who have lead me down this path. thank you for being stern and "teacher-like" when you had to be, but always being able to laugh and care about us. thank you to all the teachers that became my friends, and a huge shout out to those that are reading this. you are my inspirations.

this graduation may be an ending, but it's also a beginning. a beginning of new things, that won't necessarily be better, but will push me to become better. a beginning of a life where i call most of the shots. a beginning where i can start to search for that eternal companion that will call me his queen. a beginning to find my "Happily Ever After" of the fairy tales. a new beginning.

AP Tests

are the worst. So draining.

But I can do this. I have trudged through 18 weeks of AP classes and four years of education to reach this day: one more AP test and one final day before graduation. I can do this. I have taken an English Literature AP test. I did my best I could on an essay portion that was going to kick my butt. I rocked the multiple choice. And I had an awesome teacher to help me through it all. I had a rocking English teacher last year that may or may not hate my guts. And I had some other awesome teachers that could not have been any more influential.

And I can rock that AP Statistics test tomorrow. I can do this because my Stats teacher has taught me everything I need to know. I can do this because I have tried very hard. And after the test tomorrow afternoon, I can check out. Completely. Like out of high school. Out of required education. Please help me get through the next day. Please! I just need a four on the exam. I can do this.

a little catch up

'Cuz we all could use one...

School is winding down... we've hit the midterm mark. (Hallelujah!) and now, all I have to worry about is keeping my grades up and rocking the AP Tests in May. O, and NOT freaking out about a HUGE English paper due in a few weeks. After the middle of April, then I can relax.. only a few more weeks. I can do this.

I started teaching piano lessons. This was soo new. I had only ever been on the receiving end of a piano lesson. But, then I got message on Facebook about teaching someone from my church lessons. And it spiraled from there. I now have six students who are the cutest things ever. I have a few kids that are between eight and fifteen, but most of them five to seven. I now make more in an hour than most people make in three hours at a minimum wage job. Mom and Dad had to swallow a pill and now the piano lessons are my job. :D score!

I made guard co-captain this past fall. My friend Angela was the best co-captain ever. I love her! The marching band did Tron for a show and it was so much fun!! We did some rock hard stuff and scored a beautiful 95 out of 100 at our last competition! We got some awesome new instructors who are hard core Guard Participants and it made such a difference. Thank you Joey and Katie for making senior year amazing.

I went to Governor's School this past summer. I am so glad that I went too. I ended up missing my one and only chance at being a YCL at a church camp, but that is okay. I wouldn't trade that experience of Gov School for anything. It was so much fun. 35 new classmates for the most part interested in the same things as you are, 4 great counselors (two of which were hiding a relationship from us the entire time!), 4 girls who got sent home for disobeying curfew. Four weeks of a mini college experience (bad food and all). Tried the last night to pull an all-nighter and reached about 5 am and couldn't do it any more. Woke up at like seven to be out of the dorm and ready for a presentation for our parents, and then a short ride back home (compared to others).  I haven't seen a lot of them in a long time, but I really want to see them all again soon!

Over Fall Break, Rachel and I went to Utah and saw three colleges and a lot of family. Thanksgiving with most of the cousins on one side; many, many late nights with cousins and friends; and of course lots of memories. Rachel and I both have decided to attend Utah State University next fall. I am so excited for this new chapter in my life!

Right before Rachel and I went to Utah over Fall Break, my youngest aunt got engaged so over Christmas Break we all went to Utah (we drove 40+ hours) and saw a bunch more family and saw her get married to my uncle. Adrienne and Dallin are so cute together and I wish them the best of luck in their marriage. 

so close, yet so far

Graduation is slowly creeping ever closer. And at one point I told myself that counting down wasn’t going to help pass the days…and well, that philosophy has taken a severe backseat since I got my VERY large paper turned in for English.

Now, just to make all the other deadlines: final Senior Class activities, Banquets, AP tests, and of course all the lovely things Graduation! I am so ready to graduate, but I wanted to take this time to thank all of the great teachers who have helped me through thirteen great years of education. If I were to count (and I have) I would have over 75 teachers through Elementary, Middle School, and High School. That’s crazy to think about! But every single one has helped me become the person I am today.

As I reflect for a daunting church talk on Mother’s Day titled simply “My Last Talk” I am so very nervous. But I think that I will stand and share my simple testimony that we are all asked to come to the Earth to aid others along the path Home. Each life touches another for good as the hymn goes.

I am so thankful for all those that have aided me along the path.

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......

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!!!!

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!)

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!!!)

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! :)

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.



***notes are loved, comments are appreciated, but conversation is needed***
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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

city meet and the rest of band camp and the temple trip

band camp day four... ugh

thursday was actually very productive. the band learned most of our first song, eleanor rigby. the guard actually had some work to apply to the show, so we had to actually do the work and try to keep the chart correct. more difficult than you would ever know. that is, unless you've been through high school band and have had to use coordinate sheets instead of a visual of the move. that night we were going through a move and the guard was doing partner work. as i leaned out into a lunge and was leaning with my flag away from my partner. as i stepped through out of the lunge, i slipped and fell on my knee. because i was sweaty and disgusting from spending 80% of the day outside, the blood from scraping my knee open was flowing down my leg and making it a lot worse than it actually was. one of the first aid moms hooked me up with a couple of band aids and some alcohol wipes and sent me on my merry way. perfect! (: i ended up sitting the rest of practice on the side line watching the band practice moving into a couple of the more difficult charts. nerve racking right? not quite actually. when i got home, i had to wash out the wound (excruciatingly painful for someone who had slit open the skin on her knee four times, and then ripped more in little spots) and put a band aid on it. i ended up sleeping with an ace bandage AND a knee brace on it just to keep the band aid on.

the next morning was city meet. urgh.

i had to wake up around 545 just so we could leave the house and get to down town on time. i was a little nervous about swimming with my knee, but swimming wasnt as painful as i had anticipated. after my team finished warm ups i went and got a lifeguard to tape me up as to keep the "sweating" and bleeding down. walking around like i had a knee split on was fun but it really didnt hinder me much swimming wise. i ended up swimming all freestyle upon request. i did alright, placing lower than i would have like to. but, i did win my heat in the 100 free!! yipee!!!!

the next morning i woke up again and went downtown for the meet, this time to be a coach. i helped with some of the new and younger kids, and one of the little girls i helped, decided to swim at this huge meet. by the smile on her face when she got out of the pool, i could just tell that she absolutely loved every moment of it. she did her best and was grinning from ear to ear. when i wasnt screaming my guts out for her, i was following Ben, the head coach, around reminding him to get times for the other swimmers. he did pretty well at keeping on top of that.

band camp week two was just as brutal as week one, but the heat index was way worse because we had a storm front closing in. the football team was practicing a lot of the time while we were, and we all laughed as they wimped out when the heat reached 95. haha what whiners. we were able to add the second song and most of the third one. thursday night we had a huge dance for all band camp attendees. we sure had fun partying it up and dancing. friday was the last day of band camp. the blessed day had come!! hallelujah we reviewed the flow of the show, and then we practiced marching to anchors aweigh. o what fun lol jk!

that afternoon we drove to nashville to participate in a church trip. to the temple! yeah!! my favorite time of the year!! the family all caravaned down and we watched some of the littler kids so their parents could go to a session. saturday morning we all went to the temple to do a couple sessions and have a huge picnic lunch. i helped my mom print off the pictures that another sister took of the kids in front of the temple. some of the pictures were sooo adorable (: