I Bet My Bottom One Too Many Times...

Daily Gratitude Shout-Out!!!

Thank you California for your beaches and the sand between my toes!!! California makes for a grrrrreat vacation!

I'm All Done!

It came! The end of school and beginning of summer came! Graduation was so crazy for me as I was busy preparing for my speech. I guess I wouldn't be "Me" without keeping myself busy until the last moment of school. Anyhow, the ceremony was amazing and all the speakers were just so so good and truly inspiring. It was fun for me to sit on the podium facing all my classmates throughout the ceremony. I remember looking and going through each row naming everyone I could, remembering how I met each of them. Then when we all threw our hats up together, I remember feeling this huge sigh of relief come over me and this weight leaving my shoulders
. It was an incredible feeling, leaving me so happy I danced with my friends out of the ceremony and out of the stadium. It was such an amazing experience.

The ceremony was followed by a million pictures with friends and dinner at Olive Garden with my family. Then the sports mall for "Grad-Night" with food, games, and prizes until 4 in the morning. So great. I was so tired the next day, but brightened back up when I found the $40 I won in my pocket. Ah... Sweet sweet moments... :)

A couple days after graduation I left for NYC with a few kids from school and my theatre teacher as sort of my "Senior Trip." Needless to say it was SO much fun! While I was there I got to see shows, meet famous actors and do everything there is to do in New York. It was so much fun, and truly inspiring for me. Every time I saw a show I had such an overwhelming feeling that this somehow needs to be a part of my life. Wherever life takes me, I hope acting is in there somewhere with it.

I Bet My Bottom One Too Many Times...

A few days ago, the day after I got home from New York, I had the sudden urge to go rollerblading. As some of you know, rollerblading is my "go-to" when I need to get outside because it's a lot like skating. And being such a close resemblance to skating, I looooooooove going fast!

Every time I go rollerblading I always go the same way home: past the lake, around the roundabout and down the hill. The hill is my favorite part, as I can just glide down and feel the fast wind going past me. Now, usually I break enough to make the turn at the bottom of it, but this time I didn't. So because of the speed, the turn was too dangerous; it was too sharp for how fast I was going. I went to turn and as I curved, my rollerblades skidded side-ways, I lost control and flew forward. I remember in that moment thinking, "Not my face!" so I flipped around causing me to land straight down on my bottom in a sitting position, skidding down the road, and ripping up all the skin on my back-side and upper thighs. It was great. I remember feeling so embarrassed and so shocked, I hadn't started feeling the pain yet and slowly got up and skated on home. My mom was then greated with me coming into her room saying, "Mom... I think I hurt myself." I turned around to show her the damage. Behind her eyes I could tell she was extremely worried and panicky, but instead of yelling and freaking out, she calmly said, "Um... Alright. We're taking you to the doctor." I slid into the car face first onto my stomach for the ride over. By now I was feeling both the pain, and the nausea due to the shock. The doctors treated me, trying several different cleansing methods and numbing agents. By the end of the three hours spent in the procedure room we established that I needed a Tetanus shot, to keep the wound clean and wrapped, and to lay face down for two weeks. I guess my recklessness caught up with me once again... But anyone who knows me can say, "It's probably about time."

This recovery process has been hard on both my body and my emotions. It's hard not really being able to do anything myself or without pain. But thank goodness for family! My mom has been my savior throughout this process. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. And the rest if my family has been so willing to help. I'm so grateful for them.

Whenever I have nasty things like this happen to me, I always think about the reason. And even if there really isn't a reason for something, I like to think there's at least something we can learn from them. As I lay on my stomach for two weeks, it's hard to find more enlightening reasons other than the obvious: don't be stupid. But the other day my dad said something that I have never thought about in any situation like this. He told me that maybe what happened, and what is happening, to me is not for me to learn things, but also for someone else; to help someone else. Maybe my children or a close friend will face something similar to this and not know how to handle it or know what to do. But now I do! I guess my main message of the day is this:
So many people say, "Think about how your actions or choices will affect someone else before you do them." But often do we think about how our experiences affect other people? When something hard in our lives happens directly to us, it is easy to feel like "the only person this is teaching is me." But I think everything in our lives can help someone else in the long run. So next time you fall and scrape your knee, go through a nasty breakup, get in a car accident, get gum stuck in your hair, or anything, just remember what you go through can help someone else. :)

Relaxing.

 

Daily Gratitude Shout-Out!

Thank you comfy clothes for always being there to do homework in when I get home.  You make me smile.

CALlies

Last night I attended my annual high school CALlie awards!  For those of you who don't know the "CAL" in "CALlie" stand for "Change a Life," which is our department's theme.  The CALlies are my high school's version of the Tony's.  It is where people are nominated for and receive awards, perform, and even announce the next year's theater season.  This year I was nominated for a few things, but I took home one award last night, best featured actress, which was amazing. It was a fun way to end the theater year and seeing everyone all dressed up was so great.  I'm going to miss the CALlies and every moment of my high school theater experience.

Relaxing.

Life slowing down towards the end of this school year has been SO nice.  In fact, it almost seems... too nice.  Sometimes I have too much down time!  I have time to actually do what I need done after school and at home and still be in bed at a reasonable hour.  It's incredible!  I guess getting to sleep before the next morning is good for me... so I guess I'll learn to live with the change.

School ends in a little over a week.  Can you believe it?  I can!  I feel good about it, and it feels about time for it to be let go.  It's a bitter-sweet feeling to think about leaving what I love at school, but going on to bigger and better adventure.  I've gotten to know some of my roommates for school, and already I am so stoked to be with them.  I kinda love that I have no idea who I'm living with.  It's like a blind date! ...Except with a year long contract.  It's awesome!  I'm also very excited to be at school with my siblings, which I've never done before because of the age difference.  So I guess it'll be a new adventure for more than just me in my family.  You know what they say... "Let the good times roll!"

Hello All!

Daily Gratitude Shout Out!

Thank you lovely Harmon's Grocery Store for providing the most delicious pineapple I've ever had today.  You just made my weekend!

Senior Dinner Dance

Yesterday I had my last dance concert of High School.  Oh man... I'm going to miss that.  It was so fun!  I was in two pieces:  the first I choreographed (it was about Alzheimer's Disease. Watch it here! ), and the second was a Bollywood number choreographed by my lovely Indian friend Namisha.  It was so fun; all of our hard work paid off and it was a huge success!  Great way to end my high school dancing life.

Below you will see a picture of me and my Bollywood-babe, Namisha, who choreographed with me in the dance concert.  Love you girl!

Today my brother and sister-in-law, Dallin and Mariel, left for DC for the summer.  My brother got an internship down there so they'll be there for a few months.  The stinky part about that is they won't be here for my graduation, my birthday, or my family trip... which is poo.  However, I'm so proud of my brother and very excited for their journey!

I'm cutting my hair!!!  No, I'm not chopping it... but I am doing something kind of different.  I'll have to post a picture afterwards, but only if it turns out!  I'm nervous... I've never really gotten what I want out of a haircut before so I'm scared I'll look so different after.  But I need one because I look like Hagrid, so I'm going to have to buck up and take it like a woman!  Wish me luck!

Later tonight is my Senior Dinner Dance! I'm going with a bunch of girlfriends since it's a "non-date" dance, and we're going to have a ball.  This is the final dance of the year and ONLY for seniors.  Seniority rules! We're going to get all shnazzed up and get some good groovin' on.  I'll make sure I take plenty of pictures!

I Have a New Address for Fall!

Daily Gratitude Shout-Out!

Thanks to the stage crew at my school.  Without them, our show would be nothing! 

The Wedding Singer!

Our wonderful production of The Wedding Singer opens this Thursday and runs through Saturday.  Show starts at 7:00pm, so if you're in the area come and check it out!  It'll be a fun show for a great night out!

More News!

So as I might have mentioned before, I will be attending BYU in the fall.  This is wonderful because it made me eligible for scholarships, of which I received a merit scholarship for Theatre!  How exciting is that!?  On top of that, I finally got my new home for the fall last night! It's crazy. Time flies so fast at the end of your senior year.  I hope with the show opening and all of my senior activities, the rest of my year year will keep moving and all of my final fun days will make it all worthwhile. 

Tah-tah for now!

Catching Up

Daily Gratitude Shout-Out!

"Thank you" goes out to my sister, Brianna, for the fun night we had last night together catching up!  We had dinner together and saw Water for Elephants, which was great.  Love you Bri-Bri!

Where Have I Been? 

Sorry it's been a while!  I was gone for a week in California with my performing arts group.  We performed in Disneyland and took an amazing workshop in Hollywood!  It was a beautiful trip.

After that I've spent this last week staying busy with homework and rehearsals.  Our show opens in about two weeks so rehearsals are getting later and later.  Also, AP and IB testing starts this Tuesday so everyone's been busy prepping for that.

News!

I have so many announcements!  First announcement is that I graduate in a month! Woo!  Speaking of which, I was selected to speak at my graduation which is a huge honor.  I was also accepted to BYU where I will be attending school in the fall and I cannot wait!  I will be rooming with one of my best friends, Clarissa.  Then my brother, Matt, received his mission call to San Diego, CA!  How amazing is that!  I'm so proud and excited for him!

This week...

This week things are going to pick up again as rehearsals go an hour later than usual and my IB testing starts.  I'll try to keep you posted along the way!

Much love! 

Happy Birthday to My Sistah!

Happy Birthday Bri Bri!

It's my sister's birthday today!

Daily Gratitude Shout-Out!

Thank you Brianna for the many wonderful years together!  Thank you for being an amazing sister, best friend, and example to me.  I couldn't ask for a better sister. I hope your birthday is a memorable one.  Love you Bri!

Wow.  Today the "craziness" finally kicked in.  YARG!

Well, that "crazy" I was talking about earlier finally hit me.  I have so much to do!  I was having panic attacks all day, but my day started out stinky from the very beginning.

I woke up with a migraine and a terrible sore throat, had a horrifically bad hair day, my breakfast spilled ALL over me in the car on the way to school and I almost died while trying to clean it up, and after hitting every single red light I arriving late to school.  At this point I accepted that I had a horribly bad day ahead of me.  Then, at lunch I needed to run out and grab something out of my car.  I run out there and see that my keys are inside my LOCKED car.  Called my mom and started hyperventilating as I tried to tell her about my keys, which turned into me bawling in the parking lot to my mom as I vented about everything going on.  It was crazy.

Then in my next class, something hit me.  I remembered my post from a few days ago!  "I decide whether my day is good or bad."  Duh!  So I wrote down everything that was bugging me or that I  needed to get done, ate some chocolate, splashed my face with some water, and was brilliant.  After that my day started getting better and better.  Came home to my sister's birthday party and had yummy cake.   Made everything better.

But then, I looked at my list of things to do, and realized... I have a heinous amount of things to do!  Not only throughout the next couple days, but during Spring Break nonetheless!  That's just rude.  But I'll make sure I keep chocolate with me at all times, so in case I need to "decide" to make my day better, I'll have a plan of attack.

State!

Tomorrow is my State Theater Competition!  Woo!  I have an all day event for our One Act portion of the competition, and then the next day I compete in three rounds for my monologue event.  Wish us luck!

 To Bri, 

Here's a virtual birthday cake.  Yummy!

Full of Crazy.

Daily Gratitude Shout-Out!

"Thanks" goes to rest and chicken noodle soup.  Thank you for your comfort and healing properties.

Waiting For the Crazy to Kick In.

Nothing much is going on so far.  This week is scheduled to be SUPER busy and crazy, but over the weekend I made a promise to myself to take this week one day at a time.  And it's working!  So far all the craziness hasn't kicked in!  It's great. So I hope to keep that up.

As far as craziness goes...

Remember that competition piece my school did of "The Laramie Project?"  Well, our team competes this weekend at State!  So that is exciting.  But that's not even the craziest news...  due to those "important faces," I mentioned before, showing up to our Showcase, we were just invited to perform "The Laramie Project" at a district-wide principal's meeting on the 27th!  Crazy huh?!  Bah!  Everything's "crazy" right now!  On top of that, I might have to get my tonsils out.  Definite no bueno.  But, nothing's official yet.  They're still watching the little suckers, but I'll let you know when I get more information on that.  Hopefully I can keep them! 

That's all for today! I'm gonna go eat some more soup.

Stay healthy!