Road Rage Anyone?

I'm in a good mood this morning, so why not post a somewhat funny quote? Enjoy.

Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac.

I used to think people with road rage were ridiculous-I mean they can't hear you! But I sometimes catch myself getting a little frustrated while driving..however I do NOT yell ha. This quote seriously is so true. I don't think anyone could disagree with it. My new goal is to remember this whenever I'm driving. Wish me luck! :)

Quotes Quotes Quotes

Through the past few years I have come to realize that I love quotes. I am by no means a creative person and there are many things that I could never put into words. And that is why I love quotes. People who have the amazing ability to make things short and simple and totally make sense get to share their creations with ME:) Even if I don't necessarily think about things in quotes beforehand, when I read them I can still love them. Anything from a simple, funny little saying, to a profound metaphor, to a statement that perfectly describes my life or thoughts, I love quotes.

After thinking about some quotes today, my new goal is to post a new quote every so often. The one I chose for today is one that I found last year and just completely fell in love with. It's nothing extraordinary, but I think that's why it's so awesome.

"To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest." -author unknown

Every one of us has the potential to not only stand alone with enough 'brightness', but also to share our 'light' with others. We just need to quit worrying. Quit worrying about what other people think, about comparing ourselves to those around us, about wondering what could go wrong or if we're good enough. If we can be ourselves and find happiness in the moment, we can be amazingly bright stars. Maybe one day we'll all be able to do that..wouldn't that be somethin'? :)

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Costco is possibly one of the greatest stores.

Every time I go to Costco, I end up searching for a good book rather than helping my mom find groceries. Oops! Most of the time I look around, read the covers of countless books until I find that ONE. The last time I went however, the first book that caught my eye was House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I recently read My Sisters Keeper by her (those of you who saw the movie, I still recommend reading the book. It's totally different), and am always hearing from my sister Curry about how much she loves this author, so I started to read the inside covers.



I immediately became intrigued as I realized that it was a book about a boy with Asperger's syndrome (by the way, my computer shows that is spelled wrong-but its not). This was the extent of my knowledge on Asperger's:
-It is associated with autism.

That's all I knew. It intrigued me because I like reading books that teach me something new. And let me tell you..this book did just that! I am a very and I mean VERY slow reader-I like it that way! :) ha ha. But I could not put this book down. I read it in every class, every second I could, I read it late into the night, I took it to school, to dinner with my family, it never left my side.

I don't want to give any of the story away, so instead of expounding on these subjects like I would love to do, I'll make it brief. This book taught me so much about Asperger's. My current list of what I know about Asperger's would be SIGNIFICANTLY longer than my list above. Jodi Picoult brilliantly uses her story to incorporate these snippets of information on Asperger's. Not just to explain Jacob, the main character, but to explain all symptoms that 'Aspies' have.

That was my favorite thing about this book-gaining so much knowledge on a completely new subject. However, this book has it all. Really. It does. It's got romance, comedy, action, suspense, deep emotions, everything you could possibly ask for in a book. (In one of my classes I actually laughed out loud and the kid next to me looked at me like I was crazy..which made me laugh again ha ha)There is one thing that I am not a huge fan of though:( And that is the ending. Don't worry-it's got great twists, but the end is one of those that leaves you hanging..like you're not told exactly how things pan out. I'm not a huge fan of that. I like closure and a final solution. If you like that kind of ending, then do yourself a favor and read this book!! If not, read it regardless-I still loved it didn't I?

Time Well Spent...

Well the other day I was informed by two wonderful friends that it's time for a new post so..here goes girlies!

I can never think of anything to post about because..well honestly there is not much to tell. This post is pretty random and may seem like nothing exciting, (to any of you out there who happen to read my blog-love you whoever you are-keep reading!) but to me it is. I have this strange habit of watching tv series. NOT on tv however. Instead I watch them all online. The fact this this is very strange was also pointed out to me the other day ;) I am a faithful fan of many series. Gilmore Girls, Friends, The Office, Lost, Greek, One Tree Hill and Smallville. I have seen every episode of most of these shows. Every single one. Is that ridiculous or what?? Either that or I am in the process of watching them all.

The newest of these addictions for me is Smallville. Wow. This show is amazing. I had heard about it from many people, but quite frankly it sounded stupid, but one day when there were no new episodes of One Tree Hill or Greek (both are still currently airing on tv) up online, I decided to go out on a limb. And that was a good decision! Smallville is the story of Superman as he is growing up and using his powers. Like I said, I know it sounds so stupid, but I can't get enough of it. I watch at least 1 episode almost every day.

Anyway, all of these shows are amazing. So whenever you get bored-check out them out!

Can't a Girl Catch a Break?

It all started smack dab in the middle of one frigid February night. Falling asleep had been such a catastrophe since I could NOT get comfortable no matter how hard I tried, but finally, even through my discomfort, I fell asleep only to wake up about 2 hours later when I proceeded all through the night to wake up, throw up, lay back down...get back up and start all over again. By the time I was supposed to get ready for school, I knew there was absolutely no way I was going. So I text Mom-yes-she was in the house, merely a flight of stairs away-telling her that I wasn't going to school. The whole entire day I just consistently threw up. My body ached, I felt awful to say the least. But night rolled around and I was so relieved to learn that it was only a 24 hour bug.

I have always been told that you can only get the flu once a winter, but I am here to tell you that that is false! About two-three ish weeks later I woke up and during my 'get-ready-for-school" routine, I started to not feel well. Sure enough, before I left, I threw up. But I immediately felt better so I figured I was okay to go to school. Again..false. About a half an hour into choir first period I realized that school was a big mistake, so I quickly left class and went home to repeat my lovely day from a few weeks ago. This time I don't think I fully got over it because I still occasionally feel flu-y, and my stomach just hasn't felt right since..

OH but the fun does not stop just quite yet! :( While still feeling sick, I started to develop a bad sore throat and cold. Then at Cailey and Jill's family birthday dinner on Saturday night my voice started to leave and by Sunday morning it had completely vanished. Sunday night the glands in my throat were more swollen than I have ever felt in my life and it hurt so bad to swallow I could hardly eat.

And then today...I wake up and see that sometime in the night a very comfortable and "really really ridiculously good-looking" eye infection has taken over my left eye. BUT, I can't afford to miss yet another day of school, so I brace myself for a very long and agonizing day of feeling sick to my stomach, a sore throat, swollen glands, a cold, and and infected eye. My day went by surprisingly uneventful in regards to my deficiencies in the health department..until 4th period. The very last period of the day! All of a sudden, my ear started to throb. It increasingly got worse and worse until I seriously-not even kidding-almost started crying in the middle of class. Lucky enough class got out, took some pain medicine and since then it has started feeling better.

My body is under attack. And I can't handle it anymore. All I want to is to feel good again and quit being sick all the time! Please please please go away sicknesses! Pretty please?

A Whole Lotta Crying...

Last year I got surgery to remove one of my bunions-yes that's right. I'm 16 and have awful bunions! Lucky me..ha ha. When I got my surgery, all went well. When I woke up from the anesthetics, I automatically started crying. When asked why, I said I wanted to color ha ha! I cried almost all day long after my surgery. Over absolutely nothing. Nothing hurt, nothing was wrong, I was just sad! I could NOT stop crying!

During Christmas break, my mom woke me up and told me to get ready-Curry called and had an opening at her office, so an hour later we were there and about a half an hour after that, my wisdom teeth were out!:) It went really well, nothing too exciting-so said Curry. But as soon as I woke up..there came the tears again! I have come to the conclusion that anesthetics make me cry. Plain and simple. The next day after fully coming to, I watched the videos that my mom filmed of me when I woke up..and I could NOT stop laughing! I remember bits and pieces of it, but other parts I have no recollection of whatsoever. Anyway, I thought I'd share my funny video in hope that it will provide some good laughs!:)

Appreciation '09-'10

This school year is half-way over. Already. I can't believe how fast life seems to be moving this past year or so. 9th grade FLEW by, and at the rate that this year is going, I'm afraid I'll blink and miss it all. High School I decided-like most things-is overrated. Everyone says how Junior High was the worst thing ever and how High School was so amazing. By no means am I trying to put down High School because, it definitely is great! And maybe it's just because I had a pretty great Junior High experience especially during my 9th grade year. This school year has brought many changes in my life and I am so grateful for the path my life is taking right now. Sure I have my moments, my days, and my weeks that I turn into the famous, stressed to the breaking point, and anxiety ridden 'OCD ya later', but overall..I have quite an incredibly blessed life and couldn't be happier.

Semester 1 of sophomore year...
-Starting in a new school filled with a lot of new, fun people!
-Sophomore home football games with Mechale and McCall and varsity home games with the whole gang.
-A great class schedule(although sometimes slightly, no actually extremely overwhelming) that is going to be hard to compete with.
*Algebra 2 Honors: I didn't have any close friends in the beginning, but I grew to become friends with many people in my class and the math has come pretty easily so far:)
*Biology Honors: Great class! Mechale, Hannah, Adam, Jack and I had some good times that I sure am going to miss.
*Fit for Life: I thought I was going to hate it like I always have with gym classes, but I really enjoyed it! McCall, Tyson, Adam and I had some good laughs in this class together.
*Seminary: Out of all my classes, this is the one where I made the most friends and got to love so many new people!
*Photography: My saving grace. Without this class I never would have completed any of my AP Euro or English homework! Hannah and I laughed consistently..sometimes to the point of crying.
*Health: "Merlynn and Berlin":)) Health started out dull, but it definitely grew on me. Without this class, I probably would never have gotten to know Bri like I have..and I love that girl!
*AP European History: A lot of work. Mrs. Brinkerhoff is one of my very favorite teachers however, and with Adam, Hannah and Mechale, the class has actually been pretty great. Homework wise-this class is a killer. Notes, reviews, test once a week, paper every 3 weeks. You think a certain flow would sink in and I'd be used to it but..nope. At least not yet!;)
*English Honors: Another killer. Thinking back, I honestly can only remember a few days (all of which were the few days before the last day of 1st and 2nd term) that we didn't have a test or a quiz. EVERY single stinkin' day! Test or quiz and some sort of homework due. Most of the things I have learned though have been pretty interesting and beneficial.
*All in all-my schedule for 1st semester rocked! I'm gonna miss this..:(
-Curry and Cody getting married and moving home. I love love love having them around and it's going to be really hard to see them leave here soon.
-LATE START FRIDAY'S: one of the incredible aspects of High School-don't know what I'd do without them!
-Turning 16 and being able to drive-another of those overrated things I mentioned..-however it DOES bring a sense of independence and self-sufficiency that I love.
-Watching..a LOT of movies!
-Amazing family trip to Hawaii that I will never forget.
-Strengthened relationships with all of my family that I am so so grateful for.
-The first year that I didn't dress up on Halloween:(
-My first High School dance that was a definite success.
-Getting to see the incredibly beautiful lights at temple square.
-All home and away Sophomore, JV and Varsity basketball games with Mechale, Natalie and Hannah. I have loved being able to hang out with these amazing girls more often thanks to boys basketball:)
-An..unforgettable Christmas with my awesome family.
-Wisdom teeth removed and the confirmer that anesthetics make me cry.

There are so many more experiences and thoughts that I could add to this list. The first half of this school year has been one of crazy ups and downs, but when I look back at it all, I see a time of my life that I will always cherish and never forget. Today being the last day of the semester, it hit me how much I'm going to miss so many parts of it and how lucky I have been. I am grateful for all the amazing people and influences in my life. I am also grateful not only for the 'up' experiences, but also the 'down' ones which have taught me to be more appreciative.

Thank you '09-'10. This semester has been amazing.