"Um, can I have my cart back??"

I haven't posted in a few days, so I figured I'd post a funny little story from our adventure in Sam's club. As you may have guessed from the previous sentence, we went to Sam’s Club today to taste samples, and pick out food for the 3-day vegetation in front of the projector after Christmas. We went to the bathroom (we being Audrey, Emily, Zach, the two neighbors Jolene (8, Emily’s BEST friend), and Damaris (12, her big sister), and me). Emily and Jolene got out before the rest of us. They were kinda tired, so they were resting on a practically empty cart, when I say resting, I mean they had their arms in the cart while they were leaning on it. Damaris was standing a few feet away. Suddenly, a man walked up and stood very close to Jolene, tapped her on the arm and said, “Can I have my cart back?” They hopped off and ran into the bathroom to tell us the story. I thought it was really funny, the looks on their faces were priceless. Maybe it was one of those you had to be there moments, but I had a good laugh.

My surgery

For my little adventure of the day, I had minor surgery on my elbow yesterday. Very minor actually. Apparently I had a cyst with a few cysts growing on that cyst in my elbow. From the outside it was just a bump on my elbow. Anyway, I was more afraid of getting the shot than having the doctor cut into my elbow because I was numbed for the cutting obviously. Well, I have a super sweet bandage on it right now, I'll remove it later tonight, and reveal my stitches; I know, super exciting. Anyway, that was my little adventure, maybe I'll post pix later. If I ever remember to get them off my phone.

Dresses

So... the Mia Maids and Laurels tried on dresses... I will get to the DC Part 3 soon... I promise. But here are some pix while you wait!

Happy Thanksgiving

I never really had a Thanksgiving post... so I guess I'll do that now. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I guess I have a lot to be thankful for at this point in my life. I have a loving family, I have great friends in a few different schools, I'm allowed to practice my religion because I live in a free country, and my dad has a good job that can support my family. Thanksgiving is more than a time of turkey, it is a time of gratitude, and all too often, other than the typical "go around the table and say what you are grateful for" tradition, most of us don't take too much of a pause to think about what Thanksgiving is all about. Anyway, I'm happy that I could take a little bit of time to think about "the reason for the holiday."

Tag!

So apparently I've been tagged! This is going to be interesting...

5 things I was doing 10 years ago

1. I was seven
2. I hung out w/ Kelli
   
3. Played Pokemon
   
4. Lived in AZ
5. Second grade
   

5 things on my to-do list

1. AP English Homework
   


2. College Writing Homework
   


3. Newspaper Deadline
   


4. AP Psych paper
   


5. Read Scriptures
   

5 snacks I enjoy

1. Popcorn
2. Chips and Salsa
3. Nachos
4. Pumpkin Cookies
   
5. Anything Yummy
   

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire

1. Buy a sweet house
   
2. Pay for college
3. Buy an AMAZING 2010 Mini Cooper that looks like this in British Racing Green (http://blog.wired.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/09/minicooper.jpg)
4. I'd donate to JDRF
   
5. Save up in case of economic meltdown (... no explanation necessary)
   

5 places I've lived

1. Twin Falls, Idaho
   
2. West Valley. Utah
   
3. Mesa, Arizona
   
4. Gainesville, Florida
   
5. Payson, Utah
   

4 things I'm passionate about

1. Writing
2. Family
   
3. *ahem* RISE AND SHOUT THE COUGARS ARE OUT!!!
   
4. Religion

4 things I say often

1. "POR QUE?"
   
2. "Por que no?
   
3. "Si"
   
4. "I don't believe in homework"

4 things I want to do before I die

1. Graduate from college
   
2. Have kids
3. Get married in the temple
4. Go on an Asian or Australian cruise.
   

4things I want/need

1. A hair cut
2. To be married in the temple someday
3. My homework to be done
4. My homework to be done, without me doing it.
   

4 places I want to see/visit

1. Australia
2. England
   
3. The Moon!!! (Actually, I'd be terrified, but it'd be sweet!!)
   
4. Lots of other places
   

4 TV shows I can't live without (I can live with out these I just like them)

1. Office
2. HANNAH MONTANA!!!! (j/k, but sometimes it is fun to mock, hehe)
   
3. Biggest Loser
   
4. I'm changing this to NCIS
   

4 things you don't know about me

1. I am sitting on a green chair
   
2. I absolutely love trying on big poofy Prom Dresses, they are pickin' sweet!
   
3. I adore all silky things
   
4. I want to get married just after summer so I can have an awesome, natural tan!

Tag: Wayne, Audrey, Mother, and Tiph

DC Part 2

Okay! Here is part two! I've decided that I am going to post pix and explanations of the days first, and after the pix are done, I'll post funny stories about what happened while I was there!

Monday morning we went to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. We broke off into our workshops. (I was Bus 1 Workshop 2), and we talked about Jefferson, his views, and his significance. Then we got to walk around and look at the quotes. Afterward we discussed what we thought Jefferson's opinion would be on current issues.




Here's Mr. Thomas Jefferson himself, with one of his quotes behind him; on a side note, some of the quotes were from the constitution.






This is Taylor (my roommate) and me in front of Thomas Jefferson! She didn't realize how short I am until this point, because she was standing next to me with her arm around me, it became glaringly obvious, especially since she is tall.








The Air and Space Smithsonian Museum was a blast (pun intended, haha)! Here is a pretty spiffy astronaut space suit... I just thought it was a great intro to the museum!!









Look... I am holding up the moon w/ my head! Ha ha ha!! Yeah, I wanted to be underneath it and have it on my back... but I'm kinda short... so it wasn't working very well, so I settled for my head.





So this is kinda what old seats in airplanes used to look like. Freaky, huh? Actually, planes used to be considered to be so dangerous, that some actors actually had a clause in their contract that said they could not ride a plane while working on the movie. Eventually they became popular, obviously...




Okay, it is hard to tell... but this is the Franklin D Roosevelt Monument, I thought it was pretty cool... we walked through four "rooms," but they weren't really rooms...






This is a statue of the bread line ... it's from the Great Depression.








There was a series of waterfalls in each "room" each one more magnificent than the last... this is the third or fourth. My camera gave out... so I'm not sure.






This is Wednesday morning... I forgot my camera on Tuesday... so I'll post pix when I get them from someone else. Anyway, there was no vanity mirror, so Taylor and I took pictures of each other's hair in order to see if it was done in the back.





Just to give you a taste of what's to come... This is the Capitol building *under a bit of construction to prepare it for Jan. 20th* I had a tour of it... and I took a ton of pix!

Applications

Okay, I know I have a couple of people who are dying to see more pix... however, I haven't chosen which ones to do yet. But I do have something to post... so I will!! I have officially finished both my BYU and USU applications. Sorry Utes, no U of U application for me. Anyway, I'm waiting for the acceptance or rejection letters... I just thought I'd update everyone on my current predicament... anyway I'll leave you all on this happy note:

Rise, all loyal Cougars and hurl your challenge to the foe.
You will fight, day or night, rain or snow.
Loyal, strong, and true
Wear the White and Blue.
While we sing, get set to spring.
Come on Cougars, it's up to you!

So Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out
Along the the trail to fame and glory.
Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out,
As you unfold your vict'ry story.
On you go to vanquish the foe
For Alma Mater's sons and daughters.
As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.
We'll raise our colors high in the blue,
And cheer our Cougars of BYU.

DC Part 1

Saturday, November 1-Sunday, November 2
If you follow my mother's blog, this is the same post... exactly, except for this sentence.
Okay, so I promised that I would do this... so I'll start it... this will have to be a continuing thing.
So, on Saturday, the twelve of us who were going, met w/ Mr. Alexander(adviser going with us) and Mr. and Mrs. Ford(Vice principal and wife, they drove the suburbans). It was exciting, and we were all chatting up a storm of course. We went through security (which of course I had no idea I would have to repeat EVERY time we went into a building in DC), and we waited to board the plane. We flew to Denver, had a layover, and then went on to DC. I had a window seat and I saw the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building as we flew it at around 9:59 DC time. We checked into our first rooms before the actual program started, and we stayed up WAY too late. The next morning I had my first experience w/ the metro. Here is a picture of what the escalator looked like, I'm probably just over halfway down at this point.
Anyway, it was huge. After we purchased our passes we got a group picture, it's not the greatest quality, but it will have to do.












I'll start in the top left. Taylor (my roommate), Mr. Alexander, Hayden, Morgan, you can kinda see David's big poofy hair by Morgan... I'll post a picture of him later, Matt and WAY over there is Steve. second row is me, Liz, Katelyn, Hailey, then Candace.
Our stop was Rosslyn on the blue and orange line, we stayed at the Keybridge Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

Our first stop was Arlington National Cemetery. It was amazing. We saw the changing of the guard, Kennedy's grave, and of course a million other things like the burial place for the astronauts on the Challenger, etc. Here are a couple of pictures to show you some of the things I saw.


This is just the sign w/ Matt and Steve hiding behind it.








This is just to show the massive amounts of graves everywhere, I can't even describe how many there were.









This is a ship's mast, I can't remember exactly which one it is, I took a picture that said it's name somewhere. But it is a grave site for all who died on that ship.





That is me, on a sweet stone chair. this is where they hold official
funerals that you see on TV when they bury someone here I think... I'm not 100% positive...









This is the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. He walked in perfect timing back and forth...









This is the tomb... every war since WWI I think they have put a soldier whose identity is unknown in this tomb.







This is where they walk... they are so precise that it wears their footprints in the carpet and cement!!







This is the tribute to the Mormon Battalion.




I really do have a lot more pictures; however, if you want to see any specific pictures, you can ask me, and I'll see if I have them.

After that we went to the Holocaust Museum. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of that, but rest assured that it was amazing. They did a phenomenal job of portraying the horrible things that were done in those concentration camps.


After the Holocaust Museum we ate and then went to the old, old, HUGE post office. Inside it has been turned into sort of a food and shopping place, but on the tenth floor it has a lot of really old, really huge bells, and there is a looking point up at the top on the tower that isn't in the picture where you could overlook DC. Here is a picture of the outside of the building. It really is super massive. We went to the top and got an excellent view of DC... but I didn't take pictures... I did from the top of the Washington Monument, but that is for another day.

That night we started the actual Close-Up program. I met my other roommate Shemijah, who we called Shem. I don't have a picture of her, so just imagine Emily Osment (Hannah Montana's best friend) and you can imagine her. After a fabulous dinner (we had McDonald's for Breakfast, but it was kinda cool, because the McDonald's building was there stories high, and our lunch was kinda gross, it was just pizza at a little shack place across from the Washington Monument), we went to the Iwo Jima (sp?) monument. As workshops 1 and 2 rode on our bus (I was in workshop two), our program instructors told us to look out the window. We did, and it looked like the soldiers were rasing the flag. It was all about angles, but it was really cool. I thought it was a great monument to start off the program. It was night so the pix aren't great, but here are a couple.

Uncle Eric

Okay, I will post about DC soon, I really will. I'll have pictures and EVERYTHING. Anyway, My Uncle Eric posted this on the Miller family blog when we had not posted for a while, and it made me laugh... so I thought I'd repost it.

If anyone reads this or maybe you are reading this at some future date and figured out how to open a file with XP, I just want you to know that we once had green plants and trees and the oceans were blue, filled with all sorts of flora and fauna. The birds sang and people danced. Then they came up with this thing called a blog and no one interacted anymore except by way of the computer. Then............suddenly it was all quiet. Quite freaky yet kinda serene. Anyway, if you are reading this, try to make contact by anyway possible. The date is now September 18, 2008 measure from the time of Christ. And I now bid you, God Speed.

Everything happens for a reason, even if I am the reason.

Lately I've been trying to have the attitude, "Everything happens for a reason." Sometimes I just get so convinced that if I fail it is because I didn't do enough. I often think that the problem is entirely with me. Sometimes things do or don't happen because things were meant to be a different way, and I need to learn how to accept that, which of course, I am working on. However, I think it is also important to realize that sometimes I am the reason. Too many times people don't take responsibility for their actions, and when they fail they blame it on something else. For example, I'm applying to BYU soon, and I may, or may not be accepted. *crosses fingers* If I'm not, I have to take responsibility for not working hard enough to get in, but at the same time, I need to realize that if I did my best, it probably wasn't meant for me to go there. Ahh... the joys of being a senior. Anyone else freaking out about applications?

Go Payson!!

So, for those of you who have not been paying nearly enough attention... PAYSON FINALLY WON A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Wasatch. 15-0. Sad day for them. It really was a fun game!! I was with Heather, Cynthia, I can't spell their foreign exchange student's name, April, Wayne, and Ashley. We had a great time. It was kinda cold. It was crazy, I didn't think that we would win. Can you blame me?? Hopefully we'll do well in our next few games, and we will do well in other sports.

Reverting to Childhood

Okay, I recently have had an obsession with TV shows/Movies from my childhood. For example, I DVR Gargoyles so I can watch it even though it is on at 2:30 AM. I am currently obsessed with Disney Cartoons. I can't get enough of Hercules! I keep quoting random phrases such as the following:
"He comes on with his big, innocent farm boy routine, but I could see through that in a Peloponnesian minute. "
"So did they give you a name along with all those rippling pectorals?"
"I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this. Have a nice day."
"I'm a big tough girl. I tie my own sandals and everything."
"Are you always this articulate?"
"Somebody call IX-I-I!!"

Okay, so along with my quoting fetish, I randomly burst into song all of the time!!! My poor family... I really can't sing, so I have no idea how they are handling this. Sometimes it is Disney, sometimes it is Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flats, it really doesn't matter, I'm just singing all of the time! I think I may be going crazy!!

Anyway, back to the point of the post... What were some of your favorite childhood TV shows/Movies, cartoon characters... Anyone like Power Rangers?!

The duck incident from years ago, hopefully this will explain it all

Raspberries and Traditions

This is a picture of my raspberry picking experience. I went with my family for FHE, it was fun. All the way home I was eating raspberries, so I had my mom take them away, I just couldn't handle it! The boy in the picture is my little brother, Zach.

Anyway, so the point of this is to tell you about my brother Zach, he has a bit of an obsession. Power Rangers. We watch Power Rangers Jungle Fury with one purpose in mind. To make fun of it as much as possible. It is just one of those crazy things we do together. Any crazy sibling traditions? Any favorite family traditions??

My Future

I'm so excited to graduate. I have my countdown, I think about it all of the time, and college, wow, THAT excites me. However, lately I've been thinking about the scary part. Money. There is a crazy amount of stuff we have to worry about. Housing, food, tuition, insurance, clothes, car, gas, taxes. It is insane, and quite frankly, terrifying!
I've also been thinking about the election, even though I can't vote. This is such an important election! The country is in such bad shape right now, the new president could make or break our futures. I mean come on, with the stock market, and Bush's 700 billion dollar plan, our country is/will be in some major debt! Along with half of America! It is scary to think that social security won't be around for us, even if we have to pay, and there is talk of another depression, talk of war. That's some scary stuff. It makes me wonder how different life will be for me and my future family in comparison to my life now. I guess all I can do is work hard in college, so I can have a good job. Anyway, that is all I have to say about that right now. Anyone else freaking out about the future, or is it just me?

Random Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot of random thoughts lately, mainly because I am obviously not sleeping enough to think straight. My latest thought has been about colors. Does everyone see colors the same? Is the blue I see the same one you see? Weird!! I've also thought about email... teenagers are GREAT at it, we see an email, we respond if necessary. Easy enough, right? WHY CAN'T TEACHERS MASTER THAT CONCEPT?! I sent an email out to 26 or 27 teachers, and I have received 3 replies. Ridiculous huh?

I know...

I know, I know, I am SUPER bad at this... I just don't post very often. Um, I went camping at Jordanelle... that was cool. Lots of boating, it was sweet. Um... I went to Girl's Camp, SeaWorld.. PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, the Tuachan, Breezy moved, super sad. I'm a senior. Editor of the paper, NHS President. Um... not much going on. LOTS of English homework... I'll tell a funny story next time, if something happens, I doubt it.

Wow...

I haven't posted in a VERY long time... Let's see... I've been to EFY, camping, Idaho, I took the ACT, June passed by, i went to a leadership conference at USU. It's been crazy. I'll just tell you a little about each trip.

EFY was nothing short of AMAZING. I liked my other two years better, but it was still amazing. I met some great guys, and great girls. We had fabulous lessons. Bro. Larson was probably my favorite teacher. It was really cool. If you want any more details you can talk to me, because I really don't like typing it all up.

Camping was tolerable, but playing with the canoe was a blast and a half. I didn't like being dirty but it was fun. My family went with the Ballamis family from down the street. Lots of games, and fun I suppose.

The ACT was nothing short of evil. I studied *I know shocking* and my daddy gave me a blessing before I took it. Everything ended up paying off. I received a 30 as my overall score. I had a 32 on English, a 29 on Math, a 34 on Reading, and a 25 on Science. Guess which section was hardest for me?

I went up to Logan for a leadership conference at USU with Emily Greenwood and Caren Rawlinson. I ended up getting a terrible sunburn from the ropes course, I beat my record in bowling, *previously my non-bumper record was 20*, my top score was a 79!! Yay!! I learned a lot from excellent teachers. The highlight though was meeting Elder L. Tom Perry. He gave an amazing speech.

Idaho was fun, I stayed with my cousins, Sarah, Jared, and Rhett. They had two Germans staying with them Annika and Niko (sp?). We played in the pool just before 11 p.m., and during the day too of course. We went boating, and we had our usual 4th of July celebrations. It was a load of fun.

Oh, and I went boating for mutual. I ended up doing a back flip off of the four person tube and landing on my neck! It was soo much fun! that was the last activity I had with my old YW leaders. My new ones are fun too.

Anyway, that is most of my summer so far...

Wii Fit

So, my parents got it in hopes that we would all be less lazy... it's actually quite fun. I've discovered I have horrible balance, little strength (well, i guess that was basically common knowledge anyway), and I enjoy step aerobics. Who knew? Anyway... has anyone else experienced the wonder which is wii fit?

It's coming...

The end of the year is coming... and it seems like everyone is leaving, whether they are graduating or going to Salem. After that, I'm going to college. Creepy, huh? I vote we all have a HUGE end of year party. Probably the week after we get out... something... amazing! Opinions? Ideas?

Oh my goodness...

Oh my goodness... I can't believe you people!! Well, some of you anyway. Do you have ANY idea how paranoid I was? Bree is the only one who can answer yes on that one. For those of you who are kinda clueless right now, I was answered. Thomas got me back in a sneaky maniacal way. He allowed me to get paranoid. I was constantly on my guard, I was told to clean my room, which took FOREVER, and I had the constant flood of grins around me whenever I walked into a classroom... Then when he hadn't answered me, but asked what the plans for Friday were. I told him, you don't get to know until I am answered smart one. To which he said, what? I've already answered... I did... you didn't get that? Was that not your house? I'm like... what? do you know where I live? and he said I thought so... He looked so worried, and I'm like... oh this isn't good. Eventually he just grinned and said just kidding! The answer is yes! How scared were you? Well... it was ridiculous how worried I was. I was just waiting for policemen to break down my door!

Cheap Labor

As most of you know, I absolutely hate cleaning my room. I have NO idea how it gets so messy. I'm never even in there! Right now it is basically a disaster. However, I have received a warning from my mother, she said that I might want to clean my room... and I saw Thomas' number on the Caller ID. Now I'm a reasonable person and I don't want him to see my room in its current state. On the other hand, I didn't want to make the effort to clean out under my bed. I don't know why everything ends up there, but it does. Anyway, my little sister Emily is eight years old, and she likes to help me clean my room if I pay her a quarter. So I went to her and said, "Hey Emily, I'll give you a quarter if you help me clean my room." I usually have her just clear everything out from under my bed and I'll give her some little assignment to make her feel special, such as carrying the dirty clothes basket upstairs, organizing my stuff into piles, etc. She actually enjoys it. But today she wasn't going to come as cheap. "Four quarters," she told me. I was shocked, we always go with the one quarter deal, it's tradition! Plus, anything that I don't want that she does, she keeps. So I told her "One quarter, one dime, and one nickel." She wouldn't settle for that either. Eventually we settled on three quarters and getting to use Squiggles (my blue hippo stuffed animal) for one night. She decided she wanted to sort my clothes, so being the kind person I am, I let her. She kept holding them up to herself, and trying to act like me. It was rather interesting... Then she saw my candy stash. I really haven't eaten much of my Easter candy which shocked her, because hers is usually gone within a week. I guess I haven't had Heather and Bree over often enough... After she hopped off to go watch American Idol she left me with strict instructions. "Okay, your room has to be clean for one whole week, or I'll never help you again... even if you pay me. Every night make sure your clothes are put away, and whenever you use something, put it away right after you use it! Is that clear?!" Wow... what has this world come to... Anyway, I guess I'd better get back to cleaning that room, this could take a while.

Chemistry Issues

Anyway, here is my first little story. I was in Mrs. Walter's AP Chem class... (I love the teacher, love the students, HATE the subject) and we were learning (sort of) something new. I was not getting it (as usual) but I could regurgitate any information she told me, and I could explain it to someone. I'd give analogies, examples, the works, but I had NO idea what I was saying. So I kept asking questions, Mrs. Walter thought I was just trying to stall for time. She thought if I could explain it so well, I MUST understand... which is a reasonable assumption. However, I was not trying to stall (for once) I honestly did not understand anything about what I was saying. She was just flabbergasted. We also realized one of my biggest problems, on tests I could answer the questions, because I just knew where the numbers went, but I had NO idea what it meant in the end. I could tell you how to do PV=nRT problems, and I could tell you how to solve of k=[A]^m x [B]^n, but I had no idea what it meant when I said that m and n equal the order. So we decided that from now on, whenever I explain anything, she'll have me break it down and tell her what it really means. She said she's never had a student like me, who she honestly couldn't get through to even if we are both trying. Yeah, I'm messed up... if only we had realized this earlier in the year, maybe then I'd have a shot at the AP test. Eh, maybe I would have even signed up for it! Oh the joys of science.

New Blog

Hurray! I have finally joined the realm of bloggers... I'm kinda new at this so I'll see how this goes. I'll post random little stories and fun stuff on here... Enjoy!