Saturday, August 25, 2012

{ s e n i o r }

IT'S THE LAST NIGHT OF SUMMER! I am going to cry... but at the same time I am extremely ready for school to start! The last week has been so fun!!  School starts on monday! ahhggggggaaa!!! SENIOR YEAR IS HERE. I seriously cannot believe it.  NOW I JUST HAVE TO GET INTO COLLEGE. There is no way I am going to college in less than a year! CRAZY. SO EXCITED.  This week I painted my parking spot! I painted a daisy (just like the TOMS I painted a while ago) now I gotta get a picture of me, sitting all cute in my parking spot, with my TOMS on- it will be "picture perfect".  Seriously.. I have never been this excited for school to start in my whole entire life! ! !  I have 2 off blocks and I am only taking 4 classes. and technically only 3, because one of them is technology and that doesn't really count. I really just want to enjoy this year! Just hang out with friends... not get caught up in a stupid relationship like last year... kinda a waste of time...definitely a waste of time that could have been spent on more worthwhile things! I feel like looking back I was really distracted last year with that whole thing and didn't get to enjoy just having fun!!! WHOO!!! senior's '13!!! BOOYAHHH!!!
   Today we had an icecream social for the girls' swim team!! It was a blast!  yah know.. partly because I had fun entertaining people hahaha love making people laugh. I just had jokes coming out right and left! We had a huge balloon fight with the guys swim team as well which was super fun!! I hit one guy (on accident) right in the balls... whoops... he got me back and dumped a big bucket of water on me haha oh! and a shaving cream fight! I had it ALL OVER! I was definitely the best at the whole thing...by far. I am sad Abby is homeschooling this year :( I won't have my buddy to travel with me on the bus to swim meets!!    
After the icecream social there was a stake youth activity at the lake!! ...I kinda ditched in a way... Hayden brought his jet skiis since he's 18 and didn't want to go to the activity... so i went jet skiing with him a Chubbs!! (Chase Lansford)...chase scared me on themm... Hayden was being a but and wouldn't let me get on with him.. sad :/ hahaa I accidentally threw chase off the jet ski haha funny funny! Afterwards I was going to go paint chase's parking spot...(he's paying me to do so)... but I didn't really feel like it and just wanted to hang out with deezy, but he apparently decided to go hang out with some girl! soooo whatever...  He and I talked at the lake last night.  Well... he talked, I listened the whole time haha. And I finally gave him the temple I drew for him that I started about a year ago. Brother and Sister Nielsen loved it! Hayden of course didn't really have any kind of recognizable expression of extreme excitement on his face, but I could tell he liked it :) He finally took me out on a date! We went to the Dallas aquarium which was fun:) I am going to miss him so much!!! He's basically gone for the next 3 years as of september 6th :/ two weeks left with my best buddy!!!
   I still have some summer assignments to finish up... for some reason I am not stressed about it at all... probably not a good thing, but I know I'll get it done so it's fine! I am taking AP bio, AP english IV, and pre-ap pre calc, and technology as I mentioned earlier.  Pretty big load AP wise compared to previous years.  I am so excited for swim season as well! I am kinda nervous to see Murphy at the swim meeting tomorrow... I havn't swam in a while.. and I kinda sorta lifted weights like he told me to,... but not really as vigorously as I probably should have.  But I got my break, I'm refocused, and excited about swimming again! And that's the good thing! Don't want to ever do something that I don't have 100% of my heart into it! especially something with that much time commitment! NIGHT!:)

Monday, July 23, 2012

{ 1 7 }

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!! I  am so excited! 
I got a BRAND NEW CAMERA!!! It is absolutely AMAZING....


AMAZING!
I love it!! and I have to go get a memory card for it today! 


Lately (as in yesterday and this morning) I have been thinking a lot about the value of friends.   Two of my best friends are leaving for college this fall...and I'm not sure when exactly it will hit me (Hayden and Brooke). As I have been contemplating my friends and who I will hang out with next year I became a little concerned because I felt like I don't really know who my real friends are.  Sure I hang out with tons of people and we have casual conversations, but I want to figure out who I should pursue a lasting and true friendship with.  I also feel like Shannon and I have drifted far from eachother, even though we say we are still close...I feel like she has changed so much and we have not been able to spend much of any time together.. I don't know why.  It's hard to admit that maybe we have outgrown eachother and might possibly be headed down different paths (don't get me wrong, I don't think she has jumped off the deep end, but I also don't think she is making the BEST decisions, just from what I've seen from the people she associates with) She doesn't tell me  anything personal .  Which is weird considering the deep level 3 conversations we used to have. How did we go from level 3 to level 2? I would really like to know. 


Here are some of my realizations: 
Friends are not to be used to gain social status, or to make others feel inferior, or to bombard everyone on facebook with your life in pictures and the "fun" you just had.  Friends are fragile and should be cherished. Rather than counting the quantity of friends I have, I have made it a new goal to determine the quality. As terrible as it sounds I feel like often times I have used people to be noticed in some way shape or form.  I want to start living in a nonjudgmental world.. at least in my mind.  Where I will hang out with who I please and we will have fun in the moment, without worrying about what pictures we have to take only to load them up to facebook, twitter, or instagram.  I mean really? What is the point of that. I don't want others to see my personal life! hahaha  **What I want to start doing is still take pictures, but then print a couple out to give to my friends! I think this would build relationships more than an upload by actually giving them a tangible gift that they can hang up/ do whatever they want with it and see. (Plus it adds the gift aspect, which shows effort and has a more intimate feeling) I Love this idea! now to get the photo paper and ink! or maybe CVS will just become my best friend.**
Sometimes I feel like I chicken out of building friendships with girls...actually I don't know that that is true, I think I am probably just a lot more picky with my girl friends because I am extremely aware of "drama mamas".  I try to stay far away from those that seem to constantly be caught up in some kind of argument. However a couple of people do come to my mind that are good wholesome girls and a lot of fun, who don't get caught up in drama at all.  {Jenna, Kim, Fran}
I need a good solid group of girlfriends.  Something I feel like I haven't had since Shannon and I have become some distant. I need to start pursuing these relationships and become close with these girls.  All of them have some kind of quality that I wish to have and can help me become a better person.  They would all be a positive influence on me, plus they are all a TON of fun! So that's my new goal! Become extremely good friends with Jenna, Kim, and Franny!!!  Time to get started! :) 


Question's to ponder:


-How good is the relationship I have with each of my friends? 
-Do I make an effort to care for this person? 
-Do I like spending time with this person or would it be better if I let them go? 
-Am I able to be myself around so and so? Are they able to be themselves around me?
-What can I do to be a friend towards others?
-What  can I do to give in each relationship I have?
-Do I spend more time taking or giving?
-Who are my TRUE friends? and am I spending time with them?
-Sometimes true friends are the people you least expect

Sunday, July 22, 2012

{ f i r s t }

Hello friends! :)  


I can't wait to start using this!! Kinda like my own personal journal-except a lot more efficient! I hope there is some kind of way to print all of this out so I can make a tangible journal of it one day!! I am so excited!


This whole week I have been babysitting for mom and dad while they were on their annual Charity Harley Ride up in Yellowstone National park! Yes, i held down the fort for an entire week! CRAZY.  It's been a blast! Can't say we have been extremely productive around here, as it has been kind of nice taking a bread from what I call the "constant state of panic" this house functions under.(I think I've watched more movies in the past week than I have this whole year).  Mom did give us some jobs to do around the house while she was gone on her trip; painting the huge fence along the side of the house, watering, planting plants around the new pool, and getting the house ready for a wedding reception Mom committed to host at our house in a couple of weeks (hence the panic to get everything done and in perfect condition).  Always something to do, NEVER boring, and never quite!  But I love it and I can't wait for Dad, Mom, and Abby to get home later tonight! Abby was at Dive camp up at BYU for the whole week and ended up in the hospital Thursday night because of stomach aches from the lack of gluten free food I'm sure she had to choose from.  She is all right now!! 
It was a blast getting everyone up bright and early for church today...
I'm not used to getting Owen dressed for church since Dad usually takes that over, so it was a bit of a struggle trying to figure out what he was supposed to wear and where his shoes were etc... We did survive church though! DIdn't even have to take owen out of sacrament meeting!  I need to get started on dinner- lemon chicken and pasta!! YUM! I love cooking and don't know why I don't do it more! It's kind of nice trying new things instead of mom's dishes that she rotates through (that are absolutely delicious don't get me wrong).  I made a headband today out of an old shirt that I cleaned out of my closet that no longer fits me!! I love it! Pinterest inspired :) 
Tomorrow is my birthday! and I can't believe it! 17!! :o one more year until I'm off to college.... not sure how I feel about it yet..
Dad and I are going wakeboarding early in the morning and then Hayden and Dallin are taking me out for a birthday breakfast! Payed by them and everything.. AMAZING! Most likely payed for by Dallin since Hayden is so up tight with money haha (not necessarily a bad thing!) After breakfast Sterling asked to take me to lunch! I hope Mom and Dad don't mind me being gone for the beginning of the day!  
I think I found my birthday present.. Mom is absolutely TERRIBLE at keeping my presents a secret. TERRIBLE. She either tells one of the girls who always end up telling me, or asks/hints at what I'm getting!  This time she called me while she was in Utah saying she was looking at new cameras since i told her the one we have for family use is a little bit outdated. (I have recently become extremely interested in photography). She asked me to research a camera one of the sales men was trying to sell her and told me to get back to her by the end of the week so she could go back to the store and buy one.  I researched the cameras yesterday and called her to tell her which one to invest in.   A couple hours later Erin brought in the mail with a huge box from target, I told her to open it thinking it was was some new plates mom had ordered (that's what the twins thought it was). Anyway we open it and Erin pulls out the camera mom and I had discussed earlier in the day! I just stood there.....and said "yeaup! that's definitely my present!!!" I am so excited! But still really bummed out that I will have to act surprised tomorrow after she gets it all wrapped up.  I had erin go put it in her room and told the twins not to tell mom I saw it! I asked mom later that day about which camera she decided to get... She said she still had to go back to the store and get it! hahaha NICE TRY MOM!