As Of Lately

I find people have all these cool stories to blog about, and so I start thinking there's something terribly wrong with me when I don't. I've come to terms with it, though. I know now that my life in the summer is a complete bore. I do nothing besides either sit at my house or go swimming. And, like I said, I've come to terms with it. How great is that feeling that you can do nothing today, go to sleep late, and wake up late because you know you have absolutely nothing planned the present day. It's fantastic.

I'm going to completely contradict myself now, though, and tell you all of the news as of late. The first and foremost is my braces. I finally got them off and boy does that check off feel good! After going through almost two years (this is where we hit our first problem. The Orthodontist told me a year and a half at the latest. Ha, yeah, nope.) of appliances you have to turn creating five gaps in totally odd and random places resulting in my smile and overall me looking like a complete freak; the braces cutting my gums and making it impossible for me to eat or else every single tooth will fall off; and, at one time, 9 elastics in my mouth, (I ended with only five, but the point is, the Ortho said it would work, he just didn't tell me that I would look, again, like a complete fool doing it), I thought it appropriate to have a small party. So, I called over two of my great friends Mia and Caleb and we drove (My mom did; sucks still not being all the way legal) down to our local Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and had ourselves an apple. IT. WAS. GOOD!

This is the general selection. I had the Cookies and Cream Apple :)

I was also a nerd and went with my sister Lauren to the performance of the French Camp participants at BYU. Besides wanting to go, I had a good reason and that was to watch our good friend Mared Blakely perform. What it is, first, is a bunch of kids who have a love for french go for three weeks and learn the language and culture of France, and then, at the end of the three weeks, which in this case was yesterday, they all perform skits and musical pieces in french to show what they've learned. It's entertaining, that's all I can say. Oh, and Mared did an awesome job! I can most definitely say that too. :)

To end my day completely, I went to Miller park (which I have no idea where it is, I think 150 West? It sounded right when I said it) and played steal the flag with Kasey McMullin and, wait for it, a bunch of boys. I made a fool of myself, no doubt. Seeing that my gluteus maximus is broken from speed walking the Timp. Cave hike (they don't allow you to run), sprinting after guys who are already really fast was nearly impossible. I did it, though, and didn't catch one of them. I may have been the cause of my team's loss.

What Matters Most

I love Mormon Messages. 

They always have that feel good, smiley, happy feeling after each one, 

and so I could spend hours and hours watching them on Youtube. 

But today, I was directed to this one by good old Stephanie Nielson on NieNie Dialogues. 

Please enjoy it as much as I did.

Eat, Pray, Love

Since it's summer, I took the time to stay up until the odd hours of the night to watch a movie. I was browsing through the instant netflix and found this. I've heard about it, but never really found an interest in watching it. But I did today. I loved it! I've realized that I love almost anything I watch whether it be some stupid Nicholas Sparks movie or this. But I really do mean that I love it.

It makes me want to travel. Go try a plate full of spaghetti in Italy even though I hate spaghetti. Go meditate in India even though I don't know how. Go find love in Bali even though I'm way too young, and my mother would be shocked at hearing something like that. In this movie, though, the main idea was the romantic kind of love, but what it didn't show was the love that you find for the people, for the culture, for those things that really do matter most instead of the old cliches.

I also found this book hiding in its little nook in Ashley's closet. I can't wait to read it. Of course, though, I'll finish Gone With The Wind first! I found that movie on instant netflix as well, and I can't wait to sit down again at midnight to watch it.

I think this summer is going to be filled with nights of just me, myself, and I watching chick flick after chick flick, and I'm okay with that. Sometimes, it's better that way. Maybe, along the way, I'll learn how to meditate, and India won't be so bad.

Yes, It Is A Good Day

Please, pay no attention to the picture of me, but pay close attention to what the heading of the paper says. Yes, that is what you see.  LEARNER PERMIT!!! I got it finally! After failing twice and endlessly studying- that might be an exaggeration- I finally passed with only missing 6. :) I am happy. Hopefully, I'll be a good driver. If not, stay off the roads. Or even sidewalks for that matter. I'm guessing, though, with as much as I studied, I'm going to be an expert. That's not an exaggeration either. I practically have that book memorized. So, feel free to walk on the sidewalks and wave hi to me as I'm cruising down the road.

Summer Tunes

I'm on a Summer high, so the next few posts will be packed full of excited-ness for the summer season!
I always have those songs that will forever and always remind me of the summer and these are just 10:

1. Airplanes- B.O.B feat. Hayley Williams
2. Nothin' On You- B.O.B feat. Bruno Mars
3. What To Do- Demi Lovato
4. Pony (It's OK)-  Erin McCarley
5. Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles
6. La Lettre- Renan Luce
7. Solo- Jason Derulo
8.Symphonies- Dan Black
9. Dynamite- Taio Cruz
10. Nothing Wrong- Stephanie Smith

There you have it, folks! What songs are your Summer Tunes?

Here Comes The Sun

Summer, the long awaited season, is finally here! I don't even know how to explain how excited I am to be able to wake up every day at 10 o'clock and not get ready for the day until 5 o'clock. Or not at at all. I am so ready to go to the pool every day, finally pass my drivings test, and start on my English packet. Yes, I am excited for this. I don't know why- it's work- but I am. Last summer was such a great one, and this year, I'm determined to make it even better! I need to find a funny book like Diary of a Wimpy Kid to read. So, suggestions are highly welcome!

At A.F. Junior, the last "real" day of school is always spent doing something fun for the 9th graders. For the past two years Seven Peaks was the destination, but this year we went to Lagoon, and this is where I spent my day yesterday. It was a good time! Really. I screamed to the point where my throat hurts still now. I went on the Samurai for the first time and loved it! I had Dippin' Dots which was delicious. It was a little ridiculous, though, when Taggart and Kasey (the two lovely people I was with) decided to be hilarious and make me laugh. I didn't notice until after I was done laughing I had had bad manners and had given the table a little bath of Rainbow Ice juice.

I got to go on the Colossus (which for some reason had its name changed to Fire Dragon) with Hannah Price who is probably one of the most hilarious people I know. We screamed like men the whole time, and when the ride was over, she told this funny story about how when her brother took some girl to Lagoon for a date, they went on the Colossus, and his date who was screaming, suddenly stopped. About two seconds later she regained her consciousness and continued to scream.

The Lagoon day ended with sunburned arms, dirt caked feet, droopy eyes and sore muscles, and a good talk from the wise Mr. Bryson. He opened my eyes to the bigger picture and for that half an hour I was able to listen to him, I know he changed just a little bit of who I am.

Needless to say, I had a great time at Lagoon. I had a great time during this school year, and I am really sad it's over. I really do love school even if, at times, it becomes. . . a bore? I loved my classes this year. I loved my teachers. I loved Hannah Price who is going to P.G. next year. I loved getting close with Alyssa Simpson who I know will always be there for me no matter what. This summer I'm determined to have fun. I'm determined to accomplish all that I need and want to do. I am determined to thrive.


Happy Summer.

"I'm Singin' in the Rain"

Things have been so crazy lately. Not really, but I like to think they are crazy... :) School is almost out and summer is in the midst. Except, for the past two weeks it has been raining non-stop here in Utah County. I don't really even care, though! I love the rain. The smell, the feel, the sound; it's one of the things in this world I could never get sick of. It's almost beating Cafe Rio! On Friday, me and my friend Mindi took a stroll around the block; in the rain. Boy, did that feel nice. I was soaking wet, and I had mascara running down my face which probably made people wonder, "who is this weirdo girl?" but the satisfaction of being wet and smelling like rain made it all better!

In other news, I finished my baby simulator assignment for Teen Living a few weeks ago. Just the fact that I can do whatever I want now, and that I'm not having to wake up three times during the night to pat its back or stick a bottle in its mouth and listen to it "eat" more that that bottle would hold in actuality, is heaven on earth. My baby was cute, though. I even dressed her up for church. :) And to make the sweet story sweeter, I got an A. Thank Goodness!

The Big Apple: The End

The last day, in my opinion, probably was the best day. The other two days were fantastic, but this day was slower paced and I guess a "lazy day"

First, we went to the Temple. The Manhattan temple is one of the only two temples that is designed like a skyscraper. It was kind of weird actually. When you walk in the front doors you can go straight which will lead you to the baptistery. If you go down the hallway, you'll get to an elevator which takes you up to the other rooms of the temple, but if you walk in the front doors of the temple and turn to your right, there's a front desk with a worker sitting there to give information and she told us to go down the hallway to the elevator. We went up and entered into a church. They told us, the workers I mean, that that church is a regular church where family wards come and a singles ward comes. My dad kept saying, "Wow, it looks like the churches back home!" We had a good laugh at that one. It was almost as good as when we went to Hawaii and my mom was amazed at how many Hawaiians were there. :) That one will never die.

After the temple, we just walked around a bit. We saw Julliard:

And in the little place where all the people are walking. (You can kind of see it in the picture above) there was this little school orchestra playing.

We then proceeded to Central Park and ate lunch. Central Park really is amazing. It's so pretty and green and peaceful. As we were just strolling, me, Ashley, and Lauren played the song game. We had a word and each of us had to start singing a song that had that particular word in it. Basically, it just turned into the Brocious girls' version of the Enchanted soundtrack. The trees were also in bloom; this brought out the brides and we saw a couple of couples (haha) getting their pictures done. Being us, we took stalker pictures so that you can enjoy the lovely event also.

We spent the rest of the day at the Metropolitan Museum. This museum is huge! It has everything from ancient Egyptian artifacts to modern art. It has real armor and swords and things from the medieval times. It has artifacts from early America too which was so cool! That description I just gave doesn't even tell the half of it. There is just so much to see in that museum! Three days might give you enough time to see everything. Maybe.

These little girls reminded me of Madeline!
They were here for school. I think their teacher was french-she had an accent- and they were just drawing. It put a little smile on my face. :)

This gate reminded me of The Sound of Music and made me want to go to Austria, and just Europe in general!

And then, the next day, we left. It was raining and stormy and exactly the same as when we had arrived. The trip back was a little ridiculous. We had a layover in Chicago and it was delayed another hour after the four we had already been there. We got home safe and sound, though, Saturday! The trip was so fun! The people and culture were just so new to me. I loved trying to feel like a New Yorker, and act like I know exactly what I'm doing on the streets. Trips in general are always so fun, and this one was most definitely a success!