just so you know.

Fun Photoshoot in Old Town Leesburg :D

2011-06-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

One of my younger brothers friends is an aspiring photographer and had asked me a while ago if I'd be interested in doing a photoshoot with her; uhhh DUH!
We got together one day and headed to Old Town Leesburg and spent a few hours looking around and having fun! Here are some pics from our good time :)

ALSO NEW HAIRCUT :)

Somebody Special has a BIRTHDAY today (meaning june 20th because it's 12:30am here...)!!!

2011-06-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hey guess what?
It's this girls birthday:
(on the left...)

Happy happy birthday katie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOT WOOT!
Check out her awesome blog HERE!

Why yes, It is possible for me to be CRAFTY!!!!

2011-05-19T15:10:00.001-07:00

So thanks to THIS wonderful blog, I have had the urge to make some really cute clothes this summer!
And so I finally began yesterday :)
I first made a shirt using THIS post and then made some jeans of mine into skinnies using THIS post! (There is also a post with a video tutorial of fixing jeans)I love them!!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Next I plan on making THIS and THIS :)
Oh the joys of not spending a lot of money and making cute clothes!

to ALL my friends i've made in my life

2011-04-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

This is a sappy sentimental song, I know. But I love it and it really is how I feel :)

our beautiful world...

2011-04-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

PLEASE WATCH AND SPREAD.

2011-04-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

My friend and I signed this for one of my class finals. Please watch it multiple times and spread it to all your friends, we want to go VIRAL!!!

Enjoy :)

WATCH ME

(i put the link there because we want lots and lots of hits and they only count if you actually GO to the youtube page!)

'tis the end

2011-03-27T15:35:00.001-07:00

It's now getting close to the end of the semester. The end of my freshman year of college at BYU.
How weird is that? Very.
Classes are starting to wind down and start preparing for finals. Here is a rundown of how I think my finals will go:

ASL 101 - EASY. This whole class has been pretty easy and straightforward for me so I don't think the final will be hard.

REL 122 (BOM part II) - okay... I have to admit I do not like being tested on my knowledge of the Book of Mormon but I'm too terrible at it, just not my strong-point.

PdBio 220 LAB - okay/pretty good. As long as I study at open lab during the week, I should be fine.

PdBio 220 LECTURE - ehh. Anatomy lecture has definitely not been my strong point this semester. But I have made a few friends in class who I will study with and they will help me do better!

Dance 164 - not even sure If we have a final... and if we do, it can't be too hard :)

COMD 133 (Intro to Communication Disorders) - ehh. This class has been my least favorite this semester. But I definitely don't think I will/can fail the final for this class.

Student Development 110 - EASY. This class has been a definite help in all my other classes and I have seriously learned SO MUCH. And the final is going to be really easy, probably just a poster or little project. yayay!

MUSIC 160R (singing lessons) - REALLY GOOD. Last week my teacher gave me a standing ovation in lessons after singing one of my songs :) I think I'll be okay on my final, and I really am LOVING lessons!

So those are my finals. Overall I would say I'm doing pretty great this semester! I am definitely much happier and more proud of myself than my first semester!!

Also, I am trying to figure out my new direction (as in choosing a new major) and I may have found one... but I'm not telling anyone yet until I talk to my career adviser and talk it out with her :) But I think it will make me happy!

Thank you all for you support, especially my parentals :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

-ali

Landslide

2011-03-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

happy wednesday :)

Casting Crowns

2011-03-06T21:03:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of this group?
They are seriously phenomenal, I first heard them on the radio station 91.9 wgts (one of the best) back home and they are what I listen to on Sundays.
Though they are a Christian rock group, their songs are really touching and wonderful!

Even if you don't usually listen to this type of music, I challenge and recommend you listen to it and take in the words and meanings :)

Bikram Yoga

2011-03-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

How does sitting in a room 105 degrees sound?
Now imagine working out in that room.
And as in work out I mean YOGA!

This is what is called Bikram Yoga.
Sounds pretty interesting, huh?

In my Dance 164 (Movement for Musicians) class we have just started a Yoga section and boy do my muscles hurt!
We start class by first doing some simple leg, arm, and body stretches.
Then we continue on to push ups. Many many push ups. And we do them with our hands in different positions so they work ALL the muscles in our arms; so so so painful.
After those we do the 2 warrior poses and then end on the floor with the "dead man's pose", which is extremely relaxing!
I never knew Yoga could be so difficult and painful! But I definitely feel my muscles getting stronger already! It's fantastic!!

The Big 17.

2011-03-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

Today is a momentous day. Not only because it's March 1st or because it's Monday, but because it's JUSTIN BIEBER'S 17th BIRTHDAY!

whoop whoop!

Youtube Repeat

2011-02-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been listening to a song you really love on Youtube but every time it ends you have to go back to the video and click "Replay"?? So obnoxious.

Well, I have a solution for YOU!

1st, go to the Youtube page of the song.

Now go up to the URL

After the "youtube" part of "youtube.com", type in the word "repeat"

FOR EXAMPLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D-tGqIWMU8

then becomes....

http://www.youtuberepeat.com/watch?v=1D-tGqIWMU8 (but don't bold it..)

And it will just repeat the song over and over and over again! Which is the way I love to listen to new songs :)

Current favorite songs are:

(I am actually singing this song for singing lessons! It's so beautiful!!)

Single Awareness Day

2011-02-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

aka Valentines Day <3

I've never been a huge fan or dire hater of Valentines Day, basically I'm Switzerland when it comes to this holiday of love.
But tomorrow I and some of my friends have decided to watch a nice horror movie to celebrate this fantastic day of love! What better way than to get the bejeezers scared out of you with your best friends?? I can't think of one...

Here are some songs to improve your wonderful day!

HAPPY DAY OF LOVE!

The Brain

2011-02-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

This week in Anatomy lab we learned about the brain and spinal column.
I even held a brain! And let me tell you folks, it was AWESOME. The brain is so extremely detailed and intricate and strangely beautiful!
My favorite part would be the arbor vitae which means "tree life" and the part actually looks like the tree of life!!

isn't that awesome?!

Another really cool part of lab this week is that they had a mid-sagittal (directly in middle) cut of a head with the face and brain all still attached, just halved! So we were able to see clearly how all the skull foramen (holes) and pieces all fit together and worked with the brain! I was literally sitting there with my jaw dropped in awe and gasping, it was probably one of the coolest things I have seen EVER.

ALSO, in my Anatomy lecture last night we were discussing the different lobes of the brain (frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, insula) and the topic of lobotomy's came up! And so we discussed that and after class one of the TA's had a video for those who wanted to stay and watch. Of course I did! And it was seriously crazy to see how they did lobotomy's back in the day, literally take ice picks from the freezer and jab them through your orbital fissure behind your eyeball and then mess around with your frontal lobe. The purpose of lobotomy's was to attempt to change personalities and many prisoners had them done in exchange for an early parole because they were so dangerous!

Here is the video we watched in class! It was shown on PBS so it's not too bad but it was rate TV-14, so BEWARE! :)

Hopefully this post doesn't creep anyone out but honestly, it is amazing how something made up of tissue and... "goo" can create memories and store so much information!

Yay for Anatomy! :)

peace out.

BFF Photoshoot :)

2011-01-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I got my best friend, we'll call her Foy, a GREAT gift! I bought her a photoshoot with another friend :) And I didn't tell her until the night before so it was kinda a surpise!
So here are some photos from that day!!

happy happy :)

FOR MORE LOOK HERE

When Elmo is actually Alma

2011-01-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

Take a moment and remember back to those days stake dances... dancing a slow dance with a cute guy, talking about you and your family when suddenly the music gets REALLY REALLY loud and you're practically shouting to each other. And then a question comes up that you didn't quite hear and you don't wanna say "HUHH????" so you simply nod and smile. Awkward....

These experiences basically describe my social life.

I am losing my hearing slowly (probably because I love to blast it, even as a cute little girl) but I hate admitting it. I simply love my music loud and no "hearing loss" is gonna make me change that! I also can't stand not having a song in my head or music playing. Complete quiet drives me BONKERS. (for example, right now I'm listening to "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles)

Alright so about Elmo,
Last week I called my new singing teacher about setting up a lesson time. She was super sweet and all that and was telling me what to bring to class and mentioned the "Elmo" lab in the HFAC. She explained how you can go there and play the piano and record what you play and get a CD burned for you. Pretty cool eh? So on my paper I was taking notes on I wrote down "elmo lab in hfac". Interesting name, I thought, but whatever.
Well lesson time comes around (yesterday - went GREAT by the way) and she mentions it again! But she also wrote it down on the paper she was taking notes on: "Alma Lab HFAC"... aw shoot... well I for sure wasn't gonna mention that to her!

All in all, don't be afraid to be wrong. MISTAKES MAKE YOU STRONGER!!!
:)

and by the way, i am LOVING all my classes so far - and i'm on top of my work and sleep (mom!)

Winter semester classes

2011-01-05T19:42:00.001-08:00

So THIS is my schedule for this Winter semester!
If you have any advice on classes, leave a comment!

Why I couldn't concentrate while taking my test

2010-12-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took my American Heritage final exam.
BUT I didn't take it in the Testing Center because some tests they have in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium. Awesome...
So I had to crawl over people and trip and whatnot just to get to an empty seat. And the desks are tiny. It was fantastic.
So I'm starting my test and I'm feeling alright about it. I'm in about 30 mins when I decide to take a mental break and glance around, stretch, and just chillax a bit. And I notice the guy in front of me. And on his neck there is a HUGE. BIG. JUICY. ZIT.
I almost gagged right there on the spot. Like people, this things was BIGGGGGG. And it looked ready to go.
To add to that image, the guy right next to me had really bad breathe and was coughing about every 20 seconds. So I was practically leaning on Megan sitting next to me (which she questioned me about later haha) just to protect my nose and stomach.
Now I wanted to put up a clip from "Osmosis Jones" of when Tom Hank's ginormous face zit explodes onto the lady's face but I couldn't find it. But just imagine it... :)

I'LL BE HOME TOMORROW!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

just a fun list of some big pet peeves

2010-12-15T00:05:00.001-08:00

here is a list of some of my biggest pet peeves:

- when people talk on the phone while using the bathroom. especially public bathrooms.

- when people do not wash their hands after using the bathroom. again especially public bathrooms.

- when girls walk in a way that makes their booty sway. for real? can't you just walk normal?

- girls who shriek and laugh very shrilly and loud.

- people who only talk about themselves. and who bring anything you say back to themselves.

- people who brag.

- people who bail on previous plans made.

- girls who always have to look cute. always. i mean come on! there's gotta be a day you don't wanna take 2 hours to get ready in the morning!

- girls who flirt with any and every guy.

- people who tell secrets and inside jokes around you and won't fill you in.

ummmm i'm sure there's many many more but yeah, that's it for tonight.

fill me in on some of your big pet peeves! :)

Last chance ya'll

2010-12-12T18:13:00.001-08:00

YO YO.
This is my last week here before I come home :) :) :) :) :) :) :) can you tell I'm excited?!
So that means that this week is when I'm buying gifts!
So family (and I guess whoever wants a present who I'll be seeing over break), this is your final chance to tell me what you would like!
I know I got a lot of peoples stuff but if you wanna add something here is the chance to do it.

By the way, I'm super super super super excited to see you all!

<3
ali

An apple a day...

2010-12-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

So today in the Wilk (Wilkinson Center) there were stands of people everywhere handing out nice shiny apples to students and wishing them good luck on their exams. I do not enjoy confrontation so I snuck on by. But later I was sitting and enjoying my lunchable and watching Dave Barnes youtube videos when a man came up and offered me a delicious-looking apple saying "Here's an apple to eat with your lunch! Good luck on your exams!" so I smiled and said "Thank you!" and he left.
This is what I was expecting:

I happily bit into my apple and noticed a little brown spot but thought to myself "I will not be picky and I will enjoy this apple" so I bit into it again. And had to spit it out because this is what I saw:

So of course my next thought is "I wonder what this says about how my exams will turn out... dang it...

A BYU Curse?

2010-12-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

There are approximately 30 million students currently enrolled at BYU. I would say that at least 1/3 of them are either engages or married. Now you may be thinking that I'm going to talk about the curse that this is the "marriage school", FALSE.
The curse I am talking about is the one that affects pretty much all single female students here.
Scenario:
You walk into class and see an open seat by a really cute guy so you sit in it. You introduce yourself and you both start talking. He seems to be a great guy and so incredibly nice you can hardly believe it. Class ends and you are getting up to leave. That's when you notice his left hand. And the little band he has on his ring finger there. DANG IT.

This is the curse. It seems that anytime I meet or even see a cute guy I now automatically look to his left hand to see if I'm even allowed to be attracted to him. Darn you girls who got to them first.

christmas time is here

2010-12-02T12:27:00.001-08:00

hey family,
i know it's mostly you guys who read this anyway so i'm addressing this to you.
because i am poor and i have no means of getting "real" presents, i need some ideas of things you might enjoy receiving.
maybe some pretzels? or gushers?
but just comment and throw out some things you like, whether or not i can get them for you, it'd be interesting to see!

love you all

less than three,
ali

p.s. credit given to bryan for the "less than three"

Oh the trials of life

2010-11-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

College is much harder than I was expecting. And by "much" I mean, it's a lot harder than I was expecting. Classes are (sometimes) interesting and the professors are pretty cool but the TESTS! Oh those tests... make the whole learning experience that much harder. And the tests aren't even that long, usually 40-100 questions, but it's simply the material and the way the teachers attempt to apply that material. So extremely difficult...
BUT as quoted in Galaxy Quest: Never give up, Never surrender.
And as quoted by someone at a devotional here: Exceed your own expectations.
I have learned that while these classes and tests may be difficult and extremely stressful, it can't last forever. I know I'll benefit from them. And I have a fantastic family and great friends who help me through them :)

quick story:
the last two weeks had been very difficult for me academic-wise. i received a letter from a friend on a mission who continued to share his even harder times he was having while out there and he shared this scripture with me that helped me tons --> Alma 7:11-13 :)

(i also recommend reading the praises of david in psalms when feeling down. they're the best!)

NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK

2010-10-18T22:39:00.001-07:00

well everyone. the time has come.
that's right, it's NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK!

and that's all i have to say about that...

FACEBOOK FAST

2010-10-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

i admit it. i have a facebook addiction.

the reason i believe i have it is this: when i wake up in the morning, it's the first thing i open. along with my email, but facebook is always first.

i think i developed my addiction later in high school because i didn't own a cell phone and so it was my only way to communicate with my friends when we weren't all together. it became such a habit that even now, when i do have a cell phone, i still check it constantly.

and so! there is a facebook fast going on this week. from oct. 11th to the 15th. i'm only doing it from the 11th to the 13th because 5 days is too long for me... but i'm super nervous.

so any good advice is greatly appreciated! send me emails to keep me busy, call me, talk to me, anything to keep me from thinking of facebook and what i'm missing! :)

college is cool, by the way. very hard... but cool.

peace out.

<3 ali

byu provo student

2010-09-01T08:11:00.001-07:00

today is my 3rd day of classes,
they are hard.
and have lots of homework.
but i love it.
i love feeling independent.
i love knowing that I have the decision to make it i want to do my homework or not.
or what time to go to bed.
i love my "own place".
i love walking around campus.
i love the AWESOME WEATHER here!
i love my teachers.
i love my new friends i've made, and i love my old friends that are here.

basically, college is a great and fun experience so far.

SCHEDULE!

2010-07-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

so this is my schedule! but i'm gonna try to get a 10am chemistry class :)

AND SUMMER IS GOING GREAT!

Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:00a		NDFS100 - 1 8:00a - 9:15a 456 MARB		NDFS100 - 1 8:00a - 9:15a 456 MARB
9:00a		NDFS100 - 1 8:00a - 9:15a 456 MARB		NDFS100 - 1 8:00a - 9:15a 456 MARB
9:00a
10:00a
11:00a
12:00p	A HTG100 - 71 12:00p - 12:50p 140 JSB		A HTG100 - 71 12:00p - 12:50p 140 JSB	EXSC150 - 1 12:00p - 1:40p TBA	A HTG100 - 71 12:00p - 12:50p 106 JSB
1:00p	REL A121 - 43 1:00p - 1:50p 323 MARB	NURS180 - 2 1:00p - 2:50p 1126 JKB	REL A121 - 43 1:00p - 1:50p 323 MARB	EXSC150 - 1 12:00p - 1:40p TBA
2:00p		NURS180 - 2 1:00p - 2:50p 1126 JKB
3:00p	CHEM101 - 2 3:00p - 3:50p W111 BNSN MUSIC313R - 001 3:00p - 3:50p MRH HFAC	MUSIC313R - 1 3:00p - 3:50p MRH HFAC	CHEM101 - 2 3:00p - 3:50p W111 BNSN MUSIC313R - 1 3:00p - 3:50p MRH HFAC	MUSIC313R - 1 3:00p - 3:50p MRH HFAC	CHEM101 - 2 3:00p - 3:50p W111 BNSN MUSIC313R - 1 3:00p - 3:50p MRH HFAC
4:00p	SFL210 - 4 4:00p - 5:15p B037 JFSB		SFL210 - 4 4:00p - 5:15p B037 JFSB
5:00p	SFL210 - 4 4:00p - 5:15p B037 JFSB		SFL210 - 4 4:00p - 5:15p B037 JFSB
5:00p

COLLEGE!!

2010-07-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

sooooo figuring out what classes to take is a tad stressful!
ESPECIALLY when you see how many people already have classes you want to take but you can't even register for them for another 9 days!!!
crazy crazy.
so i can register for my remaining classes on july 13th and i have to get up at 2AM to do that, YAY ahahhaa.

classes i'm already registered for because of the "freshman mentoring program" are American Heritage (with Patterson) and Book of Mormon (with Stohlton).

a class i had my brother bryan hold for me is Preview to Nursing!! whoop whooopp!!

and the remaining classes i need to register for are as follows: Basic Vocal Skills 111 and Chemistry 101.

HOWEVER that totals to only 11 credits. and i need 12...
SOOO i'm planning on auditioning for a choir when i get out there. don't know which one yet but we'll see :)

so any suggestions on an audition piece? or classes to take?

time to wake up? NOT 6AM!!

2010-06-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

that's right people, the graduation's have BEGUN!

tonight i graduated from seminary. what an accomplishment!
if you really think about how many hours LDS youth spend in seminary and church, it is simply astonishing.

:)

last choir concert

2010-05-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

last night i had my very last high school concert. EVER.
after being in choir for 4 years and then being choir co-president it quite an emotional night.
to start things off, we had 3 of our guys in our jazz choir get suspended for a few days so that had to miss this concert. that right there just made things difficult but we pulled through and had a great performance!

i've a great few years at this high school and the end is coming faster than i expected but i'm pretty excited to move on with my life and face bigger things and more adventure.

what a great ending to a great few high school years!

AND it rained like crazy last night so we played in the rain as a final goodbye :)

roller coaster phobia

2010-05-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

yes that is the true name.
i googled "what is the phobia of roller coasters" and that's what it said. so i will belive google i suppose.

this past saturday i went to hershey park for a choir competition (which we got 1st place in mixed choir, jazz swing choir, and overall high school choir. and these are against choirs from all over the east coast. PRETTY AWESOME)

so anyway, that part was really cool and done and whatnot and then comes the park. i had been to hershey park before but that was with my parents and they don't like roller coaster. and this time i was going with lots of my friends so i knew i was doomed.

so we get to the park and the first ride they want to go on is called "the great bear" which is a roller coaster where your feet dangle over. i agreed and we waited in line. what i did not expect was that we somehow ended up in the line for the very front seat. i was not happy. i actually got my arm bruised cause they were grabbing me and holding me so tight. so i ended up in the front row. i screamed the ENTIRE way. and i think i would've enjoyed it a lot better had i been somewhere in the middle. i also went on "storm runner" which launches you off super fast up a big hill and then straight down. there were some mega G's acting on my body. but i LOVED that one!!

but anyhoo, the main part of this story is this. there was a new roller coaster recently built called the "fahrenheit" which slowly takes you straight up and then comes down at a 92 degrees angle. that's just not natural. i was freaking out the entire 2 hour wait. once i got on i was freaking out so much i was silent. i didn't even scream the entire ride i was so scared. once i got off i was hyperventilating and practically in tears but i was so proud of myself for going on it! and it was kinda fun!!

so here's a note to all you roller coaster haters out there (this does not include the ones who get motion sickness cause that just stinks): JUST DO IT. YOU WILL NOT DIE. TOMORROW WILL COME.

that's the great lesson i learned this weekend at hershey park, the land of chocolate!! and to sing really well and win trophies :)

PROM 2010

2010-05-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

prom this year was on may 8th. the only stinky thing was that mormon prom was on the 8th too! OH NOO!! well i chose the wrong and went to school prom. hehehee. but i had an AWESOME time with a great group! here are some pics:

this was my dress borrowed from a friend. altered by my fantastic mother :)

yes our group had 7 girls and one guy haha. and he's a freshman!

even though this was only the second prom i've been to, it was definitely by far the best one. and the dancing was so much better than usual!!

it was just a super duper night :)

my hair

2010-04-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

this was taken the day after i dyed it so it faded a lot.
but yesterday i re-dyed it so it is nice and BRIGHT again! and a little more purpley... but i like it :)

it's my little rebeller inside.

(another post below...)

weirdness

2010-04-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

ever have a nervous pit in the bottom of your stomach and you don't know why?
it feels a bit funny...

the end of the beginning

2010-04-18T15:11:00.001-07:00

the musical is now over and it makes me surprisingly sad! i made so many great friends and had so much fun dancing on singing on stage that i've decided that i want to do more musicals. maybe they have like intramural musicals or something at byu? or i could even take an acting class or something? that could be fun!
now this show we did is our school's "cappie-show" meaning that student judges from all over come to watch it (we had about 50-60 cappies come on saturday) and then they give out awards, like the tony awards, for best actress/actor, ensemble, pit-band, etc. and because our saturday night performance was our best one, i'm pretty certain we'll get nominated for something! and then there's always the chance of performing the show at the kennedy center which would just be phenomenally awesome.
so keep your fingers crossed for us and maybe i'll steal someones pictures to put some up? maybe even a video??

let the suffering begin...

2010-04-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

this is week is what theatre people call "hell week" for us.
i call it "heck week" or "swell week".
meaning that this is the week of opening night.
we open on thursday and tonight we are doing our first dress rehearsal!

"swell week" means we get to stay at school till about 10 or later running the show and perfecting every little thing. then we go home and do homework. then we get up early and come to school for more rehearsal and suffer through classes and tests. AND because this week is the last week of the quarter/term, they are piling on the tests. WOOP WOOP!

let the fun times ROOLLLL!!!!

if you can, come see the show on thursday, friday, or saturday at 7pm!!
email me if you want information :)

is beauty really pain?

2010-04-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

this is a question that always come up in my brain when choosing what shoes to wear.i think the answer to this question is this: it depends.

when wearing shoes, it depends on how long you're wearing them for. like for a few hours when you won't be walking too much, beauty definitely overrides pain.
BUT if you know you'll be walking a lot or fast, definitely go with simpler comfortable looking pair.
and i think that anything above maybe 4 inches is a little psycho.
but i have to say, i absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE high heels.

these shoes are absolutely adorable.

some of my favorite shoes EVER are found here (except for any wedges)

so if you ever need any gift ideas.... :) (i'm a size 8)

BUT ANYWAYS, back to the original question "is beauty really pain?", it depends on the situation and it depends on the person.
for me, i would usually go with YES, beauty is pain.

My Week in UTAH

2010-04-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

Last week was a fantastic one!!
I flew out to Utah to spend my Spring Break with family and friends out in Utah. I got to spend time with my friends Kirsten and Andie and then spend some time with my family members Lisa, and Bryan, Katie, and Olivia!
Here are some fun things I did:
- went to some classes with Kirsten --> 2 sociology classes, an english class, and... something else
- went to these classes with Andie --> music class, ASL class (first deaf person I've met and it was really cool!), american heritage
- ate some goooood food at the cannon center with andie
- went to these classes with Bryan --> physics, chemistry, microbiology, and construction management
- went to work with lisa and ate a whole bag of oreos for dinner and breakfast (1 bag for both, not one for each)
- hung out with katie and olivia and made some cool headbands
- walked around campus with katie and olivia while holding lillies
- dyed part of my hair HOT PINK with kirsten :)
- went to dinner and coldstone with the fam
- played fun games and bryan and katie's

What a great week but it is nice to be home again with my family!

HAPPY EASTER!

traveling's the fun.... flashing by the countryside

2010-03-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

OFF TO UTAH TODAY!!!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MANY OF YOU!! :) :)

btw, the title is a part from the musical i'm in "merrily we roll along"!!

oh the stresses of high school

2010-03-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

some reasons why i am not sleeping and am currently breaking out:

- SCHOOL: AP classes are pulling my eyelashes out, one by stinkin' one. i don't understand ap lit and i don't think i ever will. ap gov is just...stupid. i don't really care that much about the government, sorry to those of you who do. and then math is just pointless; especially with a terrible teacher who you can't understand in the first place.

- MUSICAL: memorizing songs you barely have learned proves to be very very difficult

- COLLEGE HOUSING: i don't get to apply till next week and people are already applying now! where do i wanna live?! i'm thinking heritage halls either tingey or whitney... suggestions?

- FRIEND DRAMA: i hate those people who're like "oh i HATE drama, blah blah blah" and then turn around and create a ton! and then the people who are just overall obnoxious and like to rule the world.

- FAMILY: i love my family, i do. but sometimes i just need to step away and take a breather...

whew, that felt nice to get out.

rain

2010-03-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

it has been raining the last two days and i LOVE IT!
it just makes me feel so happy to walk in the rain and smell the rain (minus the worms).
and sitting inside reading a book gets that much better when you can hear the rain beating down on your safe secure house. sleeping is much more fitful when it's raining too.

love it!!

the power of smiling

2010-03-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

today i had play practice and was pretty bummed; i wanted to go shopping with mom and party, you know?
but i had to go, so i went.
turns out we were learning choreography to a new song! whoopee! (that's sarcasm, btdubbs).
so we're starting out learning these moves which are kinda like charleston moves (but def not as cool as this lady is) so that's pretty cool.
so we're dancing dancing dancing and the choreographer girl was like "GUYS! you all look like you wanna go jump off a cliff, come ON!" i realized i hadn't smiled once. how pathetic.
so i made eye contact with my friend (who wasn't in this dance) and threw on the cheesiest smile i could muster. by the end of that run-through my whole mood was completely flipped. i was happy and smiley the rest of the night all because of my cheesy smiles!

the moral: the next time you are feeling glum and you're like "no, that's stupid. you're stupid. everyone's stupid!!" just suck it up and pretend to be happy, it might really work!!

TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN!!

and as my YW leader says: "a smile is a girls best accessory. and it's FREE!" heehee

hilarious parody

2010-03-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

so a while ago i talked about a new found obsession i had with a singer named justin bieber.

this song is one of my favorites. actually, it probably is my favorite.

THIS is a hilarious parody of the song but it's so well done that i really like it!

LAST TRIVIA

2010-03-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

Winner of Yesterday's trivia: .... nobody...........
Answer: The Milan Conference in Milan, Italy! The deaf were forced to learn to speak orally and if they were caught signing, they first had to wear white gloves and then if they were caught again, they would get their hands tied together behind their back. Terrible times for the deaf.

LAST TRIVIA QUESTION:

T or F The Deaf are better drivers than the hearing.

Continue to stay updated on Deaf Culture throughout this Deaf Awareness Month!

TRIVIA #3

2010-03-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

Winner of Yesterdays trivia: LISA
the answer is: "Dummy" William Hoy

#3 (a little harder...)

Something important in Deaf history happened in 1880.
What was it and where was it?

LEARN TO FINGER-SPELL YOUR NAME!! :) (and for other signs to learn, click here)

TRIVIA #2

2010-03-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

Winner of yesterdays trivia: BRYAN!
the answer is: Paul Hubbard
He invented the huddle to block the other deaf teams from seeing their football plays!

#2
Who was the deaf man who invented the hand signs (i.e. out, safe,...) used in baseball.
(he also hit the first ever grand slam!)

TRIVIA #1

2010-03-01T11:24:00.001-08:00

Who was the deaf football player who invented the American football huddle in 1894 at Gallaudet University and WHY?

Deaf Awareness Week

2010-02-27T13:23:00.001-08:00

Deaf Awareness Week is really in September, but my school teacher is doing it this upcoming week, so I will too!

To advertise Deaf Awareness at school, we are making posters as a class and also advertising on the morning announcements with trivia questions!
This next week, I will do the same on my blog. The first question will be on Monday morning!

But for now, this is a great article I found about the Winter Deaflympics which will be in Slovakia, Russia in 2011.

Stay tuned this week for more fascinating information into the Deaf world!!

singing telegrams

2010-02-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

so at our high school we have this thing called singing telegrams. it's when any group any size (but not too big) can get together and audition to go around and sing to people for valetines day. it's a great fundraiser idea!
so this year, a few of jazz choir people decided to get together and sing some songs. so we auditioned and made it! so we went around today and sang to people because valetines day was sunday and we had school off the whole next week. only a few people bought us cause they didn't know about us but it was super fun! we went around to our friends classrooms and sang to them even if they didn't buy us.
we also went to my little brothers classroom and i swear he is gonna beat me up when he comes back from school but i just couldn't resist singing love songs to him :)
this is our school commercial for us (that they never played!! another reason why nobody bought us) : http://www.schooltube.com/video/b242723e611db14c6f7c/Jazz-Gone-ACAP
(and i know my hair is super goofy, it was having a bad day)

2010-02-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

this isn't everybody but it is most of us!

THAT'S US ON THE BOARD!! :)

**look at below post

Jazz Choir at the Kennedy Center

2010-02-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

This is a performance of our Stone Bridge Jazz Choir at the Kennedy Center on February 22nd 2010!!
It was super dee duper fun and awesome that it was broadcast live and put on the internet!

ENJOY

http://kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M4137&type=A

(it's being a little silly with uploading right now, but hopefully it will work soon...)

FINAL DECISION

2010-02-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

BYU it is!!!

So i'll be using all of you (bryan and katie especially) for class, housing, meal recommendations in the near future.

What made my final decision was this: I just could not see myself attending Utah State. It was the weirdest thing. I was trying to picture myself at both schools to see which one I liked better and I just could not see myself going to Utah State. And it's not that I forgot what it looked like or anything.

So I guess maybe i'm supposed to go to BYU!

BUT if I don't like BYU or something after my first year, i'll consider transferring to Utah State :)

decision made?

2010-02-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

so i think i've made my decision on where i'm going to go to college.
but i'm not gonna announce yet.
i'm gonna wait till i know for sure.
so i will announce my final final decision like sunday night.

thanks for everyone's support!

NOW FOR THE DECISION

2010-02-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

I GOT INTO BYU-PROVO!!!!

So now the real difficult part begins. Here are some pros and cons of both school I am struggling between:

BYU-Provo

Pros: excellent nursing program (if I got in), family surrounding me, friends I know who are already there and who I know are going there, great school, cute mormon boys

Cons: no scholarships (that I know of), following the standard mormon traditions :)

Utah State

Pros: scholarships adding up to about $16,400 for tuition and housing, somewhere between $2000 and $2500 in cash to spend (because of scholarships), get to know new people, the aggie ice cream, good nursing program through Weber State, also has a great education program if I wanted to go into teaching, cute mormon and non-mormon boys

Cons: don't know anybody (I mean, I know a few people, relatives and some friends but nobody close you know?), cold weather, the "typical" college campus (i.e. drinking, smoking...yadda yadda)

Any suggestions or other pros and cons for either school??

snow storm of 2010

2010-02-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

one word: WOW
it all started the week of february 8th. we already initially had no school on monday so we had school on tuesday. that night, the first hint of snow came so school was canceled for wednesday. thursday was back to school but the snow started around 4:00 canceling all after-school activities. later that night we found out school was canceled friday as well. what a great weekend!
now friday was the mega day. throughout the entire day we accumulated around 30 inches and on into saturday it continued.
that weekend was gloriously filled with food and movies and tv. approximately 10 hours total of tv/movie time was accomplished for those few days.
saturday we found out that they were already canceling school on monday and tuesday because of the extreme amounts of snowfall.
tuesday we found out that they were canceling school for the rest of the week because of the continuous wind and snowfall. just imagine my ecstatic-ness!!!
there is no school on monday because of presidents day and we are expected to get around 2 to 4 inches on top of the ice and snow we already have. no school tuesday??? :)

a new found obsession

2010-01-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

as many of you know, i tend to obsess over many things.
and as many of you know, i tend to obsess over one artist (music) at a time and continually listen to the same artist for weeks.
well i have found a new obsession.
his name is..... JUSTIN BIEBER.
now for those of you who may know him, don't freak out. i know he's only 14 years old, but he is REALLY GOOD. and it's not just his looks :)
when i first heard him i was like "yeah, he's good. whatever" i figured they just "automated" his voice or whatever to make it sound like it does. but then i heard THIS and realized that he really is very very talented! and i have since then become thoroughly obsessed with all of his music.
the only funny thing is that he's canadian, white, and young and he's singing about love and uses lingo like "shawty" (for those of you who know what that is) and basically just tries to be a G (gangsta).
but i love his music anyways.

a tempting offer....

2010-01-25T16:31:00.000-08:00

so today i got a letter in the mail from Utah State University.
i had already received my acceptance letter so i was curious as to what this would say.
i took it to my room to read in private and upon opening it found out that i had received the "dean's scholarship" which is a 2 year full out-of-state tuition scholarship.

woah...

i was pretty excited. mom even started crying.
so this is a huge con in my scale balancing between usu and byu-provo (saying i get in...)

we'll see what happens.
OH and i'm taking pictures tomorrow for sure of my hair so they will be posted very very very soon!! :)

what a happy day!

and now exam week begins..... blegh

Coulrophobia (REALLY not for the easily scared)

2010-01-19T17:57:00.000-08:00

Definition of Coulrophobia: Fear of Clowns

Many people in this world are afraid of clowns. I happen to be one of those.
Now I'm not talking about "ooh oooh they're so scary!" type of afraid. I'm talking more the "Holy crackers get me out of this place my bladder is bursting!!!" type of afraid. Even seeing a creepy picture of a clown sends shivers up my entire body.
So to have my older brother, Bryan, scare the living daylights out of me with clown pictures was enough to send me over the edge:

a long long time ago i was telling my darling brother bryan about how i don't like clowns and how having a dream about one would scare me. he decided to plan out how my dream would commence. and this is how it went: "you are asleep. you wake up for some odd reason, so you are laying awake now. you see a shadow go by your window. 'that's strange' you think. so you close your eyes to try and fall asleep. you open them again because you feel a little thud. at the end of your bed you see a figure. yes, it's a little clown. 'hello,' says the clown 'my name is mr. marbles. catch the knife!' and that's the last thing you see." now imagine being a young innocent child and hearing this. yes, it scarred me.

AND SO...

around the year 2005, we were all living happily in our little townhouse. then one day, it all changed. bryan knew that alison did not like clowns, but decided to scare his darling little sister anyway. for those of you who know bryan well know that he is an exceptional artist. which can be both good and bad. in this case it was bad. bryan drew a creepily good picture of this fated mr. marbles and placed it under her blankets. so when dear alison pulled back the covers to get into bed, boy was she surprised when she saw a scary clown grinning evilly back at her. she grabbed the paper and tore it to bits crying the whole time and screaming. apparently not enough though. for alison's little brother decided to staple the picture back together which only made it that much more frightening. what evil brothers this poor alison has.

so all in all, clowns are not a good thing.

p.s. i was going to put up some pictures to illustrate why people should not like clowns but i think i am going to have nightmares from looking at them so i will not pass that on to others. i highly recommend NOT typing anything about clowns in google images unless you want nightmares.

THIS however, is hilarious and inspired this entire post.

"abbrevs" and other lingo

2010-01-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

from my last post it has become clear to me that many of you out there in this world may not be familiar with the "new and hip" lang that we 'kids' have these days. so it will be my privilege to update you all.

first, there is text language. meaning that you basically take out the vowels of a word to shorten it or take the first letters of a saying or sentence.
examples:
lol = laugh out loud
btw = by the way (also b.t.dubbs for fun)
brb = be right back
rofl = rolling on floor laughing
lylas = love ya like a sister
and many many others

second, there is a language called "abbrevs" meaning abbreviations. so basically you abbreviate every word you say.
the most common word used is "TOTES" as in totally.
some more examples are:
obvi = obviously
lang = language
and any other word in the english language that can be shortened. it's really quite fun.

annnnd don't worry, pictures will be coming up soon of my new hair!! :)

b. t. dubbs

2010-01-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

i totally got my hair cut. nicole siri cut it but i wanted it shorter so i had mom cut it even shorter when we got home. i had to practically force her to.

i used this picture for reference and it's about like this and i really really like it a lot. it's soooo much easier to handle now and i wear it down a lot more! maybe i'll put up some pictures or something soon. i haven't done that in a while....

anyway, there is another post beneath this so keep reading :)

more collegiate junk

2010-01-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

i got into UTAH STATE!!

now i am working on getting on my scholarships and stuff in and let me tell you, it is not as fun as i was hoping.

also, audition for byu-i = not cool. i have to send in a video of me singing two songs. so scary. and it has to be there by feb. 1st so i need to get a move on!

:)

A New Year

2010-01-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

2010.
what a large and significant number. things to (hopefully and maybe) happen this year:

- GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL!! thank goodness...

- get a haircut. i'm thinking short... suggestions?

i really like this length and style of hair, too short? (this is a girl from One Tree Hill who's hair i have admired ever since i first saw the show)

- get muscular. i have never really ever "worked out" before but now that we have a treadmill, i am hoping to run more and maybe get my health up.

- go on the trek for youth conference. i hope we get to chop off chicken heads and wrestle pigs!

- either go to "take your child to work day" or go on a business trip with dad. he goes to really cool places and i want to go with him sometime.

- get my $500 for not kissing any boys in high school

- start college (don't know where yet though...)

- visit utah over spring break!! for a whole week :)

Now for some goals I want to accomplish:

- already mentioned, but i want to get more fit.

- pass my AP courses with at least B's and maintain my GPA

- sing a solo in choir. or maybe a duet... but if i do a duet, i want to sing this song

well that's basically it.
what are some of your new years goals?

the TRUE stories of my love life...

2009-12-24T07:15:00.000-08:00

boy #1
age: 6
gave me a kiss in front of my mom. don't know if mom saw it or not... he was the tiniest kid in the class, about up to my waist. i never really liked him though.

boy #2
age: 7? 8?
i was in love with this kid. his dad was the computer guy at school. his name was jason, my favorite guy name. too bad his teeth were very yellow.

boy #3
age: 8
oh michael. we played baseball together. he was adorable.

boy #4
age: 7-12
everyone who knows me probably knows who i'm talking about in this story. our families were great friends... he was my age... curly hair...
i made a deal with him one day that if i told him who i liked, he would have to give a reeses peanut butter cup. he agreed. i told him it was him who i liked. he ran away. i had to tell him mom in order to get my reeses peanut butter cup. luckily, we're still friends.

boy #5
age: 13ish
fell in love with this kid for about 3 or 4 years. that sounds so sad. we "IM'd" a few times and i thought we were in love. turns out he's stupid. i still see him around school and feel extremely awkward even though this happened in middle school hahaha

boy #6
(we'll stop the age thing now...)
fell in love freshmen year when he was in my study hall. he was in the perfect position i could watch him throughout the class (not that i did or anything...) i never ever talked to him though. he was a fantastic singer and played the guitar. then he graduated.

boy #7
this one is a sad story.
i think i will only tell it to people who personally email me because if i tell it here, mom will know who i'm talking about and that will make things VERY awkward.

so there you go.
the TRUE sad stories of my failed love life...

...can't wait till college!!!

idaho

2009-12-20T15:26:00.001-08:00

so i've officially applied to three schools and have so far gotten into one!
yay for byu-idaho!!
who knows where i'll go?
the other two are byu (in provo) and utah state.
oh the joys of senior year...

The Teacup

2009-11-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

This is a story I had to start for my english class. We had to write the beginning of a Gothic Novel soooo yeah. this is mine.
please don't make fun of me...

THE TEACUP

The carriage pulled up to the Acton Burnell Castle and Diana Norridge caught her breath; she had never seen anything as majestic and beautiful in her entire life. It had been a lengthy ride from Tenbury Wells, but she now realized it was well worth the entire trip. Diana was accompanied by her dearest friend of 3 weeks, Amelia Parrington and her brother William, whom she met in the pump room back in Tenbury Wells. Diana and Amelia had spent many walks talking about fabrics, books, and men. But now Diana’s entire attention was spent on this magnificent building before her eyes.

“Are you prepared to journey into this stunning structure my dearest Diana?” Amelia’s voice questioned from the seat across from her own. Diana glanced up at her friend with an excited smile that matched Amelia’s and nodded eagerly. William chuckled at the two love-struck women for he could not see the wonder of the castle, and was greeted with a glare from his sister.

“All right, let’s get on with it, shall we?” he exclaimed as he jumped out of the carriage and helped the women out.

They walked around the castle, marveling at the stone and gardens that surrounded them. Continuing inside, Diana imagined what must happen within these walls when they were occupied.

“Go on ahead precious Amelia and William, for I wish to walk on my own a little while.” Diana pleaded with her friends. They obliged and continued on ahead. Diana carried on in walking through the castle and then headed to the gardens surrounding her. The clouds above showed signs of storm, but Diana was not worried -- she was sure they would get out in time before the rain commenced. She continued walking the gardens when she noticed a glimmer in the distance. Curiosity arose within her and she went to go search out the shining object.

What she found was a disappointment for it was simply a small glass teacup. However, the disappointment did not last long for she observed that the cup was sitting on what seemed to be a grave stone. Gently blowing away the dirt, she read aloud what was written: “My Dearest Susanne, May Peace Be with You” Diana was touched by the intimacy of this gravestone and she sat contemplating who Susanne could be when she began feeling raindrops.

“Oh dear!” She cried as she ran back to the castle, attempting to avoid the drops of rain but was unsuccessful. It wasn’t until she slipped in a small puddle and fell that she noticed she was still carrying the small tea cup.

“Oh I must return this darling cup to poor Susanne” thought Diana. And so she struggled her way back to the gravestone. By the time she arrived at the grave, night had arrived and the storm seemed to be getting stronger. The flashes of lighting lit her pathway back to the castle.

It was quite a while before Diana realized she had been going the wrong way but she was simply too exhausted to continue on, so she sat in the mud and wept. It was then that she saw a glimmer of light through the woods.

“Oh! I hope they are kind-hearted” exclaimed Diana as she began walking again. As she reached the small cottage however, she saw figures through the window and felt her heart seize within her. She was certain these beings would be either murderers or robbers but continued on anyways for the thrill of adventure clasped her in its grip. Knocking softly at the wooden door, Diana held her breath as she heard footsteps approaching.

OOOH SUSPENSE. well yeah, hopefully you enjoyed that.

should i continue and finish the novel??

VMEA

2009-11-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

so last year's jazz choir was selected to sing at this really important conference. but it was this year. so this year's jazz choir got to sing there yesterday. and it was awesome.
it was the VMEA conference (Virginia Music Educators Association [or of america, i don't know]) so there were teachers and directors from all over virginia.
so this was my day yesterday:

4:45 - WAKE UP!
6:00 - be at the school
6:30 - start the drive
9ish - stop at a gas station for a quick bathroom break and leg-stretching
9:15 - continue the drive
11:00 - brunch at applebee's
12:00 - arrive at The Homestead
12:30 - change into "costumes"
1:15 - start warm-ups
(i don't remember what we did for a few hours here...)
3:45 - perform for 30 min.
5:00 - change back into "comfy clothes"
5:30 - drop the honors choir kids off :(
6:00 - head back home
8:something - stop at cracker barrel for dinner (YUMMY!!)
rest of the bus ride - watch the Fellowship of the Ring and sleep
12:15 - get back to school
1:00 - get home and sleep

WOW what a crazy and awesome day.
and we got a standing ovation which our teacher says never happens there. we were all so happy it was kinda crazy.

also, we had a mini performance of all these songs the night before that parents could come to and we have some of that taped so i'll maybe put some videos of that up.

for anna

2009-11-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

because anna has been a big help to me lately (with an english essay), i've decided to fulfill her REQUEST of me writing about my "love life". so here goes:

THE END!

FAIL for me

2009-11-09T11:43:00.000-08:00

i have failed NaBloPoMo.
but whatever, i'll still write.

the washington mormon choir sang at our stake center yesterday and they were really good!
and now for the big news.....

I'M GETTING GLASSES!
i couldn't see the board very well in school so now i'm getting glasses. they're super cute though but now my tradition of being the only lewis kid without glasses is over. (my pink harry potter ones do not count!)

that's all folks!

stupid teachers

2009-11-04T14:25:00.000-08:00

i do not understand why teachers have to be STUPID!!
do they not realize that every single teacher in school thinks they are the only important teacher in school, therefore giving out sooooooooo much homework from all of the classes!?!?!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
this is a conversation that happened between my physics teacher and me today:

mr. teacher dude: "okay class, turn in your problem sets!"
me: "...... what problem sets?"
"they were online"
"you didn't tell us that"
"just because you didn't hear it doesn't mean i didn't say it"
"...."
"it's due by 4 today, you can turn it in"
"okay, can i print it off real quick?"
"not with my paper"
"... oh.... okay...."

so then i had to print it off in english and do the whole thing in math and gourmet foods. kill me!
but i turned it in with 10 minutes to spare but he gave me a "silly girl" look.

THEN in that same physics class, we got to change seats because it's the beginning of a new quarter. well i sit next to the only two juniors in the class and mr. teacher dude said they cannot sit next to each other anymore so they both had to move. and then nobody sat next to me.... i almost cried. and mr. teacher dude pointed me out "LONER!" and started laughing. *sob* i hate high school.
i can't wait to get out of high school and virginia.

oh what a night...

2009-11-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

so last night was crazy.
i was driving to go pick up the little squash from his friends house at 11. for those of you who know virginia, i was driving down belmont ridge road (scary scary scary!!) and i seemed to be the only car/van driving. so naturally, i turned my bright lights on. so i was driving driving driving, when SUDDENLY a deer jumps out into the road! i swerved into the other lane and was soooo lucky there were no other cars around. i pulled to the side of the road to calm down a little and then saw a bicycler pull up beside me. he got off his bike and knocked at the door. i rolled down the window a crack.
"are you alright miss?" is what he asked me. i just nodded my head a started rolling the window back up. then he motioned to his bike and i glanced back and noticed he had one of those little carrier things in the back. did he want me to get in? what the heck?? so i just sped away. i finally got to the little squashes friend's house and rang the doorbell. turns out, it was the wrong house. DANG IT! so i apologized for waking this old woman up and went to find the right house. luckily, the ride home was uneventful.

then i woke up. hahahahaha that was for you, chris :)

but really, this less-interesting story is true:

on thursday we had our first choir concert! it went really great actually. afterwards some choir kids were getting together at mcdonalds to celebrate so i was heading over with my co-president in the car. the parking lot at mcdonalds was PACKED but i saw one parking space up ahead. so i pulled into it, but was at the wrong angle so was going into reverse to try and fix it. so i was going in reverse and i hear this awful sound and realized i just scraped the car next to me. MEGA DANG IT! so i put the car in park and jump out to inspect the damage. it really wasn't too bad but i was freaking out. to make matters worse, there was a whole group of baseball players from my school who saw the whole thing. they started yelling at me to run away and that they wouldn't tell. but i was like "NO! i'm not gonna be bad and run away from this" (they thought i was insane. they probably weren't far off) so i decided to figure out whose car it was and go talk to them.
so i go into mcdonalds and start looking around. the place is soo packed it's hard to move. the car i hit had my high schools soccer sticker on the back so i knew it was someone from my school. then i see this kid who's also in choir and plays soccer so i go up to him and ask what kind of car he drives. it was his. i told him what happened and he said it was fine because he had a bump on the other side anyways. that when i started bawling. i was just so stressed and relieved that i was sobbing in the middle of mcdonalds. so i ran out of there as fast as i could. funny thing was, i was smiling and laughing while i was crying. that must have been weird to see...
so our jazz choir went to a different mcdonalds and sang to the people there and then sang through the aisles of giant. by the end of the night, i was feeling much better!

"meow"

2009-11-02T05:32:00.000-08:00

so i'm going to copy everyone else in the family and do the NoBloPoNoLoTo month thing. This is gonna be difficult cause i usually don't write on my blog very much, and like Katie i like comments but i'm gonna have to deal with rejection and sadness in my life so why not start now? we have school off today and tomorrow for election day tomorrow! whoop whoop! it's my first election i can vote in and i don't know anything about the candidates. yet. haha
tomorrow i also have all-district choir auditions. our audition piece is "Shenandoah". super pretty. we had to sing it in class in front of everyone and it was super scary. i almost burped while i was singing! well that's it.
just so you know, the blogs this month might get a little boring if i'm posting everyday cause i don't have a baby or an interesting job or anything. that's your warning....

I'M A SENIOR

2009-11-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

so i got my senior pictures done the other day at hapers ferry and i'm going to post some of them.
visit amy's website at: amyberringerphotography.com (she's FANTASTIC!)

halloween

2009-10-30T11:47:00.001-07:00

happy halloween (tomorrow)!!
our ward's trunk-or-treat is tonight! it's like "trick-or-treating" but we go around to car trunks that have been decorated! FUN FUN! all the youth get to help out with games too. laurels are in charge of the cake walk!
for my costume, i am going to be army barbie!!
.... well that's it.
ENJOY YOUR HALLOWEEN!!

p.s. HI BRYAN, KATIE, BOLIVIA, AND DADDY!! have a fun halloween party!! (oh, and you too lisa and chris and anna and soapy and snaggles and mom) heehee

slacker

2009-10-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

geeze i am a mega slacker.
here's some more news that's happened lately:

1. i auditioned for senior honors choir and am an ALTERNATE!!
800 people audition from all over the state and only 150 get chosen. our school had 10 people audition and 6 were chosen with 2 alternates, which is really good!! my teacher is hoping someone gets the swine flu so i can go haha.

2. GLEE started!!
such a good show but i'm not allowed to watch it anymore.... darn darn darn. the singing is phenomenal though!!

3. first jazz choir performance!
we sang at the "hispanic heritage month night extravaganza" it was pretty good. we didn't get into it very much though... but we sounded pretty good.

4. I FOUND A NEW OBSESSION!!
nick pitera is a new mega-heartthrob of mine. you may think his voice is a little creepy and "off" at first but trust me, you get used to it.
HERE

5. i am almost an adult.
3 days!!!! then i'm gonna go buy some cigarettes and lotto tickets. hahaha i've already registered for the upcoming governor elections. *woot woot*

haven't posted in a long time - here's some news

2009-09-12T05:52:00.001-07:00

because i haven't been on here in a long time, here is some news that has happened:

1. niece Olivia Ann was born

2. school started. my last year in high school, thank goodness!

3. niece Sophia Jane said her first word! "NO"

here are some cool things that happened over the summer:

4. visited 5 college campuses

5. saw kirsten and visited with her at her dorm at BYU

6. went to the lake with my choir co-president, abby!

7. went to bed at 6:00 AM after watching One Tree Hill (i am a tad obsessed with it)

DISNEY WORLD - where all your wildest dreams come true

2009-08-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures from our adventures in Disney World! we had the privilege of being "escorted" by lisa's awesome roommate shelley and we had a super time!

the princes and princesses!

yes i rode rollercoasters! and loved them!

poor me and david

THE CASTLE!

the phone booth

asian peace!

singing haha

hunting the tiger

YAY FOR DISNEY!
i have more pics too. maybe someday i'll put them up?

my crazy crazy summer

2009-08-02T16:55:00.001-07:00

here are some events that have happened in my summer (so far):

1. EFY

we were called "Night of Darkness" and we were pretty much the coolest group there. this was my 4th and last time going to EFY and the 1st time i had random roommates. doing random roommates was really awesome!!

2. GIRLS CAMP

my group was called "TMNT" - teenage mormon ninja turtles. hahaha. it was really awesome. also my last year of girls camp (not too sad about that). our tent got flooded this year and i got the most wet. but it was fun!!

3. HILL CUMORAH PAGEANT (aka best 2 weeks ever)

(not everyone made it to this picture)

this is my cast team. overall there were 20 people (6 girls, 14 guys = amazing). we were in the Y8 cast team meaning only 17 yr. olds.
i was cast as a lamanite campfire dancer meaning i was WICKED!! and i had to do this cute little tribal monkey-looking dance around a campfire. that was it. but at the beginning i also got to do this tribal dance wearing capes that looked like wings. it was really cool!

the sun was super super bright and it was hot and no one wanted to do this position but we did anyway

working on a pyramid.
you can't notice (maybe you can) but after this picture was taken the pyramid totally collapsed with me on top and it was very painful. but i was laughing too hard to notice.

4. DISNEY WORLD

lisa's awesome roommate (shelley) works at disney world and gets three people in for free SO me, my mom, and my brother drove down to orlando and went to disney world for three frickin' amazing days! the 1st day we went to the animal kingdom and went on a cool safari and i went on Expedition Everest - a huge rollercoaster - twice. yeah that's right. i went on it twice. i was pretty proud of myself. the 2nd day we went to mgm studios (where i tried out for american idol = scariest experience of my life. didn't get in. whatever) and then we went to the epcot center where we visited tons of different countries from around the world. on the 3rd and last day we went to magic kingdom (!!) and saw the castle and peter pan *sigh* and went on splash mountain and thunder mountain. fun times.
(PICTURES COMING SOON!)

so that's the point i am at now. here's what's yet to come:

5. BETHANY BEACH

for mom's birthday we always go to the beach so this year we are going to bethany beach for two days! yay!!

6. UTAH

for katie's baby!!!!!!!!! little LOL. and i am also going to go on some college campus visits to BYU, UofU, Utah State, Utah Valley, and maybe Weber. pretty exciting fun times! and because i have to be home by the 3rd, david and i are flying back alone!! without mom!! i'm really excited for that.

so that's been my crazy crazy but yet awesome summer!!

what time is it?

2009-06-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

what time is it?
SUMMERTIME
it's our vacation!
what time is it?
party time!
that's right! say it loud!
what time is it?
time of our lives,
anticipation
what time is it?
SUMMERTIME!
SCHOOL'S OUT, SCREAM AND SHOUT!

(click here)

flight

2009-06-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9iZwX-aV8k

i am in love with this.

summer is upon us

2009-06-16T12:54:00.001-07:00

summer is practically around the corner.
finals are this week.
then i go to efy.
then girls camp.
then palmyra.
super exciting times!
dad got me a shirt from a D.I. somewhere and i was gonna wear it today but when i put it on i almost threw up cause it smelled like a big sweaty burrito. just so you know.
i got a 97 on my math exam which is practically a miracle for me.
history was a bit harder.
it's really humid here right now and i smell kinda bad.
i just finished "second glance" by jodi picoult. the 5th book i've read by her in the past 3 weeks.
had breakfast in seminary this morning - pancakes and fruit. there was sausage too but sausage is food of the devil; a heart-attack in a circle
i made a little "how well do you know me?" quiz on facebook and the girl who i will be choir co-presidents with next year got a 12%. my neighbor across the street (who's mom's age) got a 75%. how is that??
i'll go study now

Celtic Woman

2009-06-10T15:38:00.001-07:00

as stated here, i love Celtic Woman. and for last christmas, dad got me some tickets to go see them in concert at Wolf Trap!!! So we saw them on monday and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
i almost cried at every song their voices are gorgeous.
now we weren't "officially" allowed to take pictures but i took some cause c'mon, i HAD to! so the quality is really bad.... but that's okay.

(Chloe is the one in blue)

go to www.celticwoman.com

some prom pics

2009-06-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures. they are kinda embarrassing but awesome.

yes there are lights inside the van :)

streamers AND lights

THE END.
prom was awesome. i hope it's just as awesome next year.

buy the mystery by the mystery!!

2009-06-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

there is no real mystery, it's just a catchy title.

butttttttt, PROM was on saturday!!
i went in a group with 24 other people. talk about CrAzY!! there were some couples and some single peeps. i was one of the single ones... but it was SUPER fun!! two of my friends and i decided to decorate the van (because our group didn't get a limo or party-bus, thank goodness cause it was so expensive!!). so we bought some car window paint stuff and streamers. we painted things on the car like "prom-mobile" and "HONK if you need a date!" and other funny cheesy things like that. then david helped me hang lights inside using a converter-box thing. so that was awesome. and then we hung streamers all over and balloons. basically, we were the coolest looking car there. i don't have any picture yet, but i'll put some up momentarily.

time flies when you're having fun

2009-05-18T13:32:00.001-07:00

"Crazy For You" is now over. sad day.
But it was AWESOME!!! here are some pics from the last day:

yes i know, it's a really GROSS DRESS!

TGI Fridays!!!

on a secret mission....

PEACE! eating food

I'm hoping that for the next play, they do Hairspray so that i can be Penny Pingleton!!

wouldn't i be an awesome Penny?!

MORMON PROM!

2009-05-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

i'll just put up some pics :)

opening night

2009-05-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the night! And it went pretty awesome!! The crowd was great and very responsive and we only had a few mistakes.
So come see it May 9th, 15th, 16th at 7:30 and May 9th and 16th at 2:00!!

WE FINISHED!!!

2009-05-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

we have finally finished the puzzle that we got at christmas!!

actually, i finished more of it but i got some help from mom and david.
we finished it over the weekend of general conference and now it is going to hang in the basement! i hope you are glad katie...

PUZZLES RULE!

stinkin dangit

2009-04-24T20:35:00.001-07:00

THERE YOU GO!

do you think...?

2009-04-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

do think it's possible to change the color of your eyes permanently?

(this kid has pretty eyes. i'm not sure if they're real though...)

could they "dye" your eyes or put in permanent contacts or something?
i mean, if they can tattoo your eye, maybe they can do anything now right?

and indeed they can. click the eye for more information!!

this website was kinda cool as i was looking around. click here

and this is just totally awesome.

(i think i will have nightmare's after trying to look up a cool picture of a tattooed eye so i will not put any up. you have been warned... they are creepy)

thanks anna

2009-04-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

so i just wanna say thanks to anna because i am using one of her poems in english class.
we have to write a compare & contrast story about two poems written by authors who are alive. and so i decided to use anna's poem about reversing continental drift and then another one about continental drift (but the deeper meaning is about love or something). but it's really not gonna be that good (sorry anna) because i STINK at writing essays. i just overall do not enjoy writing. i'd much rather read.
talking about reading,
i am currently on a mary higgins clark obsession and have so far finished three of her books in the last week. so good. but i have learned that you should never read her scary books before you go to sleep because then you will have some creepy dreams... i won't expand because they are a bit gruesome.

63 my pictures never work

2009-04-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

here was the picture of me and the dog

busy busy week

2009-04-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

this is my crazy week!

1st: i got my wisdom teeth out on tuesday!! awesomeness. it actually didn't go that bad. they gave me some laughing gas and then stuck me with the IV. didn't hurt that bad. and then the next thing i knew, i was waking up and seeing double. it felt really fun to be on drugs. so the rest of the day i just slept, read, and watched movies.

this was basically me minus the dog cause mom and dad won't buy me one.

2nd: WE WENT TO NEW YORK!
it was awesome! on the way we stopped at amanda's house (from germany) in new jersey and visited with her and her boys and baby girl. my mouth was still pretty swollen but it was nice to see them. we got to the hotel that night and i just stayed in bed and watched tv. mom, dad, and david went out and about and went to a asian place for dinner and had octopus (thank goodness i wasn't there). AND they saw the naked cowboy!!! but they didn't have a camera so they didn't get a live picture. but this is him:

then on thursday, dad went to work so mom, me, and david walked around central park and went to the natural history museum. it was really fun! we also rode the subway for the first time! then that night we went to the broadway show "39 steps". it was really funny and dad "LOL"ed a lot.
then on friday dad went to work for only a little bit so mom, me, and david went to the sony place (?) and then went shopping at h&m for a little bit. and that night we saw "the marvelous wonderettes" which was really cute! it was basically just a whole bunch of 50's songs sung to no real plot but it was really cute and we in the absolute front row!

then on saturday we left for the drive home, got home around 4:30 and then left to pick nathan up at the airport at 5:30! so he's home! coolness!
well that was basically my week.
no school tomorrow! and the play (crazy for you) is coming along great! come and see it!!

spring!

2009-04-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO SPRING!!

just click on the snowman if you want winter to end and spring to come!
when you come to the black screen, hold down your curser and move it around!

goosebumps

2009-03-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

have you ever realized how funny goosebumps are?
your skin just rises into little bumps and the hairs just pop up!
and when you have goosebumps, your arms always feel so delicate like they are when you're sick and it feels sore to touch them.

AND THEN,
have you ever wondered what gooses (geese, i know) get?
if humans get goosebumps, then do gooses get humanbumps?
that would be pretty awesome...

saddddddd

2009-03-22T17:59:00.001-07:00

well that was a cheesy post.
i hate blogs.
i can NEVER get the sizing on my words right.

:(

L . O . V . E .

2009-03-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

L
is for the way you look at me

O
is for the only one i see

V
is very very, extraordinary

E
is even more than anyone that i adore can

LOVE is all that i can give to you
LOVE is more than just a game for two
two in LOVE can make it, take my heart and please don't break it,
LOVE was made for me and you!

have you ever had the feeling of complete, utter love for somebody or something?
a love so strong you feel you can't live without it?
a love that when you experience it, it feels like your heart is about to jump out of you and start dancing?

i want to hear about it!

coolness.

song dedications

2009-03-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

I was listening to some songs and I decided to dedicate a song to each member of the family.

David: "One Step at a Time" by Jordin Sparks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzyys6kW8yg

Nathan: "Ladies' Choice" by Zac Efron from Hairspray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SWJrvToes0

Bryan: "Someone to Watch Over Me" by George Gershwin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTrlX_M7_LA

Katie: "Katie and I" by Kill Paradise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCUD1pokTAo

Chris: "JG Wentworth Opera" by JG Wentworth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCUD1pokTAo

Anna: "Quando Quando Quando" by Michael Buble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aln-zOWc9mg&feature=related

Lisa: "I Hate Myself for Losing You" by Kelly Clarkson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pky53dbYa6s

Soapy: "Fat" by Weird Al Yankovic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqz1ojIQTBk
hahahahahhahahhahahahahahahahahhaahhahahhahhahahahahha

Mom: "Home" by Michael Buble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcvAUMyGAPw&feature=related

Dad: "Rapcat" by Rapcat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjfbS_Kj-J0

if you have any questions about your song or someone else's song, let me know.

FUN FUN!

shhhhnnooowwww

2009-03-02T12:16:00.000-08:00

it finally snowed last night and this morning and it's cRaZy!!!!
six inches!!!!!!!!
and so because virginia is wimpy, of course we get off of school!
i am so happy

opinions

2009-02-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

okay so i have a dilemma.
mom and dad are thinking about going somewhere sometime and want to leave us home. well they also want to get us a babysitter! i mean, honestly. i am 17 1/2 and david's almost 15. we're old enough to stay at home for a few days!! mom says she can't leave us at home cause i'm not an "adult" cause i'm not 18 yet. but i'm stinkin' close enough!! oh and the potential "babysitter" is my friends sister who just got home from a mission. but my friend happens to be 3 months younger than me! so how awkward would that be if his sister is babysitting me?!
so yeah, i wanna know what you think.