{ketchup}

There is so much to catch up on! First off all, Osama Bin Laden was killed on May 1st. Thank you to all the 10,000 people who posted it on facebook three seconds after it was announced on the news. : p That NEVER gets annoying. Anyways, yeah, so yes, I'm glad he's dead. At least we're still a little bit safer. But c'mon. The man was human. Everyone who believed in forgiveness turned the other cheek to their beliefs right then and there. He was still a Dad. He was still a husband. If you didn't feel bad one bit that he died, then you have no heart. Yes, he did kill a lot of people the day of 9/11. And how did we solve the problem? We killed him. We are total and complete hypocrites. We did the same exact thing to him that he did to thousands of us. That's America for you. Terrorism isn't going to stop with just one person being killed. We talked about this in world history. Terrorist groups base everything on fear. So here's the secret. Ready? If you aren't scared of them, you take away all of their power! WHOAS. And dear Obama, you didn't accomplish one thing. If it hadn't been for what Bush set up a few years ago, Osama wouldn't have been caught. SO STOP ACTING LIKE YOU CAUGHT HIM. K? Also, Obama, stupid move for making alliances with Pakistan. Now we all might die. *facepalm*
My birthday was on May 4! YAYY!! I'm old. : p I got a nice Nikon65! It's a film camera and i decided I won't take many pictures on it. Well I will, but you guys who read this won't see them. See, this camera runs off film. Which makes me kind of excited. It's really vintage. Me likes. I still have to read the manual and all that fun sheesh.
Lancerfest was on May 6. To be honest, it was kind of lame compared to what I thought it would be. But I also have a very overactive imagination. But, it did have a nice little velcroe wall that I tried. I dressed up in a suit and what you do is technically become a human cannonball and launch yourself at the wall. Yeahhh buddy! It was amazing. Adam and I did some jousting. I didn't win. Not at all. Stupid men with their stupid muscles and upper body strength. Ugh.
And my birthday party at Jeannie's was on Friday!! WOO! It was so fun! Klea came and I've been wanting to see that girl for forever!!! I love her! Adam came! Taylor came! All of my loves came. : ) It was amazing. We also got into a huge epic icing fight. It was my cup of tea, if you will. Well, actually, I'm Mormon. I don't drink tea. My cup of orange juice? I like that sound of that. : )
Here are some pictures! Thanks to everyone who came! If you were invited, you are loved dearly by me. I love all my friends and am so grateful for every one of them. They all shape me into the person that I am supposed to be and who I am becoming. I can never express how grateful I am for all of you.

Oh, hey Jeannie.

Our wonderful family stick!

Klea, I love how excited we get when we see each other. You will forever be one of my best friends.

Birthday kids got icing in their face first.

Me, Beth, and Taylor. : )

Beth, me, and Annie.

Jeffrey! What a G!

Jeffrey and Taylor! Haha


Oh, and also, as a side note, my sister Danielle got married today! I LOVE YOU NELLIE. : ) Hope you live a wonderful married life!

{My week...and also, boys are jerks. I hate jealousy...}

So my week went pretty well! It's so hard to believe that it's MAY already. I get out of school in 21 days. AHHHHHHH. Freshman year flew by! My birthday is in THREE days, ehemmmm. I really hope I get my camera!! Today, I went with Cami to go see her new niece, Emersyn Kathlene, at the hospital. She is so adorable! She has the chubbiest cheeks I ever did see. : ) She's going to be a heartbreaker (Andy, that means load the shotgun now). My party AND lancerfest are this friday!! Woot! I get my yearbook! Also, I hope a lot of people come to me/Chase's party. I think it's going to be really fun, but I'm supposed to get cake thrown in my face. : ( hahaha. And a certain someone whom I know (he is a guy), is being a total jerk! It's whatever. I'm trying to be like my friend Jenny, who whenever guys start their little phases of being jerks, you just push it aside and you say, "Guys are jerks. They're going to do this. Don't let them get to you." It's just hard for me. But whatever. I'll be sixteen soon. That means dating time. That means we'll see who'll be laughing then. ; )
Revenge can be pretty cool. : )

{Things that cross my mind from time to time}

• Kate Nash lyrics. Kate Nash knows how to make everything better.
• How much I hate the book Oliver Twist.
• What my future kids will look like.
• Math just keeps getting easier and easier for me nowadays.
• My bed.
• How long some people's eyelashes are. I get jealous.
• Me playing piano in front of a large group of people.
• Learning the violin (it would make my life).
• What would happen if I moved to Mexico and had to speak Spanish. I think I would be pretty well off for a little while.
• My grades.
• What would happen if I deleted my Facebook?
• I often find myself thinking of life BEFORE my facebook. What did I do?! Oh yeah. Right. I had a life. I forgot.
• My future golden retriever dogs Lucy and Hero.
• What color I'm going to paint my nails.
• I normally have the obsession to floss my teeth.
• How different I plan on running my own household when I'm a mom. I don't plan on having my future household being anything like the house I'm living in now...that's not to be mean, it's just I'd like to start my own traditions.
• How much I REALLLLLYYYYY want long eyelashes {sigh}. It's my biggest wish ever.
• The gym. I'm constantly wanting to go.
• Sunlight. I miss it.
• Running. Something I enjoy and have gotten into the habit of doing again. When I run, I think of nothing. It's like I'm flying.
• If gas is 10 dollars or more a gallon by the time I'm able to drive, I'm buying a squirrel suit and flying everywhere I go. Stupid economy.
• How bad of a procrastinator I am.
• How often I stress out.
• How well I can normally rely on myself to get things done and how I can count on myself. Even my mom has commented on how independent I am.
• I really just want my sophomore year to be here.
• I want to go to EFY.
• I think this is going to be one of the hottest summers ever and I'm dreading it.
• I'm constantly tapping my fingers or my pencil. I'm fidgety. I ALWAYS always have to have my hands doing something.
• Boys. Not going to lie. They're everywhere.
• I'm always amazed at how different some people are. At how me and somebody else can look at the same thing and find a totally different meaning.
• Hands. I'm always watching people's hands. Hands fascinate me. They really truly do. 
• How weird I am. I never really fit in with people. I've always been myself, and, well, it's worked out well for most people. I don't plan on ever wanting to fit in. I just do me.
• Nature. It takes my breath away every day. I have to be outside at least once every day. I need to be. I can't take being locked up in a house.

{Interesting}

Quote I found.
I find it to be very accurate.

"They teach you that the truth is good. And then when you say the truth, everybody gets all offended."

{Urban Dictionary}

So I got bored, and I'm going through this phase where the Internet consumes most of my time.
Wait.
That's my life.
Anyways, I was on Urban Dictionary.com to see what my name means, and this is what it says for the name Tierra:

"A dangerous woman. Her name says it all! To nurture, give life, and flourish. Sadly, she is easily able to do the opposite: destroy, abolish, and completely devastate. If you're ever acquainted with one, be careful. You're not the only one who will be looking for her nurture and you're not the only one she will gladly devastate. Her voice is that of a Siren's, beautiful, but completely deadly if pursued. Her gaze is impossible to resist and her lips are sweet poison. Her skin is perfect (she won't agree) and her laugh can make the stapes, incus, and millius dance with excitement."

Hmm. Here's what I think of this.
I think that some of it is actually true. I do associate a lot at school with other people. I'm well known among my peeps. And when that happens, normally you are given a lot of power. That's how it works at most schools, no matter the grade. If you're popular, you're automatically given power over the rest. Anyone who's at least been through junior high can agree with me on that one. I'm not saying I'm popular or anything. At least, I don't consider myself. But a lot of others do. Which gives me the ability to be dangerous to the people around me. In a mean way to think about it (but in a way that's true), I have the power to destroy someone's social life within seconds. Anyone has that capability, really. But, I'm also known at school as not being messed with. I don't really take people's crap and I'll let them know that face to face most of the time. So dangerous? I could be. But for the most part, this just made me laugh.

Look up your name and tell me what it means. I am oh so curious.

{One of my favorite books of all time}

{Easter & Spring Activities}

Use Easter Eggs to practicer Upper and Lower case letters with little kids. Have them find the letter from a bowl of tiles (find tiles at a discount store) and put them in the egg that matched. Also, have them practice ABC order by putting the eggs in the carton ABC order.

Make Bird Nests!
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme(2 c.)
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 can chow mein noodles (3 c.)
1 c. chopped Holiday plain M&M's

combine marshmallow creme, peanut butter and butter; mix until well blended. Add noodles and 1 cup Plain M&M's. Mix Well. Drop by 1/3 cupfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Shape with greased fingers to form a nest. Let stand until firm. Dust bottoms lightly with powdered sugar. Fill with Peanut M&M's. Makes 10-12 nests.



Decorate Easter Eggs shapes with markers and stickers - another thing any kid loves.

YW Mutual Ideas

• Sidewalk chalk the bishop's driveway...lots of nice notes and creative drawings
• Homemade pizza night - have each girl bring a favorite topping, provide the dough, sauce, and cheese
• Ice blocking! We just need a park with some good hills...

man, I get so bored sometimes.

{Blechh.}

I'm so sick of all my clothes. I just want to throw them all away and start all over.

{Please...}

I don't marry this man, please.
SHOOT ME.
K thanks.

{Phew!}

And I'm back.
No, actually, I really haven't been that busy converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. REALLY. I'm so bored nowadays. And the truth is, I missed you  am hungry all the time, every second, every minute, every hour, every day. Money doesn't buy happiness, but hey, it buys me some marshmallows for my hot chocolate on random cold days like this, which is pretty much the same thing.
Anyways!
Hmmm (taps fingers), what do I feel like ranting about today...? hum de hum de hum.
Oh, I know. How about Justin Bieber, since all the girls seem to like him.
Here's the truth. I've caught Bieber Fever.
Now look, blogger. Before you catch a stroke and my internet connection stops, let me explain. I didn't really have Bieber Fever until maybe two weeks ago. I gradually started liking him. But before I did like him a lot, I never thought he was horrible. Everyone always talks about how horrible he is and I just shrug my shoulders and am like, "Hey, you know he can sing, he's cute, girls are going to like him. That's what makes the world go round." I figured his music really isn't that bad and maybe he'll just get a deeper voice when he's about 15. Well, he turned 17. And I lost hope. But then I listened to a few more songs by him recently and his voice really did change A LOT. And you know, it isn't so bad. I don't see why everybody hates him and wants him to die and all that jazz. He seems like a really good kid.
Oh, here's something really random.
I'm listening to Look At Me Now by Chris Brown and he was all like, "I can't see how you can hate from outside the club, you can't even get in!" And that made me laugh. :)
What else to rant about?
OHHHHHHHHHHHH. America's Best Dance Crew has started and I am happier than a squirrel in a tree. Hahahaha whaaaaa? Squirrel in a tree? What's gotten into me today. Once I stop being lame I'll start typing again.
Alright. I've composed myself.
Oh, I decided when I get older I'm going to have 2 dogs and one is going to be a golden retriever and I don't know what the other one's going to be but their names are going to be Lucy and Hero. :) And yes, Hero is a girl dog. I got the name from my favorite Shakespeare play (at least that I've read), called Much Ado About Nothing.
You know a song I really hate? LIKE REALLY CAN'T STAND? Forget You by Cee Lo or whatever his face is. See, I don't even know his name. I seriously hear that song almost every day, but that's not even why I don't like it. It's just such a freaking retarded song. I think artists are just getting lame nowadays. Get me some Beatles and I'm fine. Better yet, just give me someone who actually cares about what their writing. K thanks.
I think my favorite quote this week is by Wiz Khallifa, a rapper I actually have some respect for. I follow him on Twitter and he said, "If a girl admits she likes you, know that it took her every ounce of courage she has. Don't take her for granted." <--- said by a REAL man, just to let you fellows know.
I can't wait to get older and leave Illinois. I know that sounds kind of harsh, but I just want to travel or go somewhere on an adventure. If I ever end up being one of those people that talks about how much they want to get out of Illinois, but then never actually end up leaving, seriously just kill me.
Oh, also, if you watch the movie Mean Girls backwards, it's about a girl who got so unpopular she moved to Africa. Hahaha. Ohhh, I get so bored.
Um, so really this post has been about nothing but I can proudly say I got some stuff off my chest. Some of that unnecessary ramble that's be sloshing around my brain. I'm happy and I want to write songs about being happy and that'sawrap.

{seminary...}

seminary this morning was so FUN! I wish seminary was that fun every day:( since the dessert auction to raise money for girls' camp was tonight, we decided to make Banana Ravioli in seminary instead of really having a lesson. Yes, Banana Ravioli. Before you think, I'm crazy....well....for now you will have to think I'm crazy because I'm lacking sleep. But, it's really good (shake those nasty thoughts from your pretty little heads). So, Adam and I were in charge of cutting the bananas, but then Sister Woolf decided to take over my job so I helped Ryan with the chocolate. Well, I unwrapped it. And he chopped it in half. And then we put them on the bananas and put them in the oven and then we went into her sunroom and watched the sun come up. It was so pretty! And we passed off some scripture masteries. The guys passed off three and I passed off one (I'm ahead of them). We said the last one together. And there was just something so...peaceful...about it. Like, when I was reading the scriptures in that peaceful room with my two, like, brothers, everything just seemed so perfect! The Spirit was totally there and I was focused on scriptures and everything just felt right. I think it felt right because we could see the sun coming up and there was actual light. In her basement, it's kinda dark before the sun comes up down there. So, on Monday in seminary I'm going to ask if we can have seminary up in the sun room from now on since there's only like 5 weeks of seminary left. 5 WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT!!! My freshman year went by so fast. And it's only supposed to get faster. Before I know it, i'll be out of there within the blink of an eye. If we do have seminary in the sun room, we could all sit on the floor, and Sister Woolf could have the chair, and we could all watch the sun come up. I think it's wonderful. The guys can just deal with it if they don't like it, but today they seemed like they really liked it too. It was just a great start to my morning. I wonder how you can start out with such an amazing morning and end with a crappy night. It was just my mom yelling at the computer again, and yelling at Jordan and I about how she always treats us like we're two. Which, we don't act like we're two, we do help around the house when we're asked, and she sometimes doesn't realize that she treats us like we're BABIES and we don't know how to take care of ourselves! She doesn't let us do anything to LET us take care of ourselves, so therefore, we're apparently two. Oh well. Like I said, in 3 short years from now, I'll be on my way to college and it's one less two year old for her to take care of.
Good night, dear bloggers.

{love...}

These are actual children's answers to the question, "What is Love?"


"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody  most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." - Chrissy, 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." - Terri, 4*

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure it tastes OK." - Danny, 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then you get tired of kissing, and you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss." - Emily, 8

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend you hate." - Nikka, age 6*

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day." - Noelle, 7*

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." - Tommy, age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared any more." - Cindy, age 8

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." - Elaine, age 5

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." - Clare, age 6

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt." - Chris, age 7*

"Love is when your puppy licks your face, even after you've left him all day."  - Mary Ann, age 4

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." - Rebecca, age 8*

"You shouldn't really say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." - Jessica, age 8*

"Love is when you can express your feelings and how you tell somebody how you feel about them and love is like having a best friend but more." - Addie, age 8*

I put a star next to my favorites : ) I find these so interesting because...well...it's kind of sad that little kids grasp the idea of love better than teenagers and adults ever could. And I think the reason why is because, even though they obviously haven't felt it, they've seen it. And seeing it, I think, is sometimes better than feeling it because then it's not as confusing. They're opinions of love are so simple, and older people make love more than what it is. They forget love isn't just one BIG thing, it's a million little things compiled together. Love is holding hands. Love is just talking and getting to know one another. Love is smiling at each other and still feeling the same way you first did. Love is forgiving each other and saying sorry when you did something wrong. Love is being best friends. I think sometimes people forget.

{april fool's day!}

And I get out of school at 11:45! Oh, happy day! So, here are some harmless tricks to try at home for April Fool's Day.

1. Tape down the phone button on your home phone so the person who picks up the phone thinks the line is dead.

2. Wrap a rubber band around the kitchen sink sprayer so whoever turns on the faucet gets a big wet surprise.
3. Shrunken breakfast: make a miniature meal: a sunny side up egg atop a piece of cocktail bread.
4. Place a fake cockroach is the slipper of a family member.
5. For wives, rearrange your husband's drawers to make him wonder if he's still asleep.
6. Savory surprise: a mashed potatoes and gravy sundae is a good gag!

Also! I'm back with some crafts! You know me, folks.

Painted Sneakers:

What you need:

Newspaper

Clean canvas sneakers

Fabric or acrylic craft paint

Artist paintbrushes

Fabric paint pens

1. Cover a work surface with newspaper.

2. Using fabric paints and paint, decorate sneakers.

3. Let paint dry for 24 hours before painting another shade on top of the original color.

Finger puppet and flowers:

1. Fold top corner down to bottom; reopen. Fold bottom corner up to middle; refold top down.

2. Fold left and right corners down to bottom.

3. Fold bottom points up, angled, beyond top edges (for bear, fold so ears are short)

4. Fold sides in at an angle, as shown

5. Fold bottom point up to meet the top center point; flip over.

5. Fold tips of center points to the back. Shape ears: For dog, fold forward; for bear, fold tips back; for bunny, leave long. Draw on details.

Names?

- Leila
- Colton
- Kyson
- Reese
- Clara
- Preston
- Emmaline

I've definitely fallen in love with the names Clara and Emmaline. Why? I don't know...

{menus...}

Here are some foods that I've been coming up and foods that my family has actually been eating:) Some are snacks, some are breakfast, some are just whatever! You catch my drift.

• Sausage and Egg Burritos, Fruit, Orange juice (something I recommended for Jordan for breakfast and I made the burritos and shoved them in the freezer so he could pop some in the microwave in the morning. He loves it! He has it almost every morning now).
• Things for the grill: Chicken, cantaloupe, bread, green beans.
• Hot dogs, Mac and Cheese, and Canned pears.
• Italian chicken on rice, green beans, and dessert: Chocolate Silk Pie

• Tacos (ground turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, salsa)
• Roasted potatoes, broccoli, corn, strawberries
• Turkey Quesadillas

Anyways, those are just a few of the meals I've been working on! They're healthy and yummy, just how I like it:)

{Young Women's medallion...}

I got my young women's medallion today!!!! WOOOOO!!!! I'm actually done with personal progress. Which is weird, because it seems like just 2 years ago I started. Oh, wait. It was. Oops. Anyways, I didn't know if I wanted it in gold or silver, but the Bishop called me up and handed me a gold one. And it was perfect:) I'm glad it's gold. Sister Musick asked me if I wanted to switch it and I replied with a quick "No!" haha I love the one I have. I'm going to do personal progress again. It's such an amazing program and I'm going to take advantage of it while I can:) Also, I want to try out for Rising Generation, which I'm so excited for! Nothing else exciting really happened today. I still have English homework to do that I'm avoiding as I type. And I want to paint my nails. But that is all. Bye bye.

P.S. - remember that blanket I started a while ago? I finished it a couple weeks ago!! Pictures soon:)

{Young Women's Broadcast...}

Tonight was the Young Women's broadcast and let me tell you, I loved it. I could feel the Spirit lingering there so much! Joy, Cami, my Mom, and I all went to McAllisters to eat and then we went to the Stake Center. When we got to the Stake Center, there was NO one there. Not a soul. Well, actually there was ONE single soul. Ringo, he's the set up guy. He was there. But at first we were there by ourselves, which was really weird because there were only eighteen minutes until the broadcast started. So we sat there, and then one other family came. Then another. Then another. In all, there were fourteen people. Horrible planning. But the broadcast itself was spectacular. I love the Young Women's broadcast because I love being reminded how important the Young Women are to Zion. I really liked it when one girl said, "I don't feel we have to run from the world, or be scared of it, but we can change it and turn what is dark into light." That really pulled my heartstrings. I also got my hair cut today. It's about shoulder length. I'll post pictures later. And I got fake nails to keep me from biting my real ones. They're doing their job...so far...hehe : )

{if it snows again, i'll cry...}

Seriously. It's officially spring and it snowed AGAIN today and yesterday. I've had enough snow to last me a couple years! Nothing really interesting has been going on. Same old, same old. I'm stuck at home bored this weekend. I hate these types of weekends. I wish I had a car because I could go anywhere I wanted (even though gas money these days are ridiculous. Almost 4 dollars!). I reallllyyy want to see the movie Beastly. Tomorrow is the Young Women's broadcast, and we're going with Cami and Joy to the Stake Center and then afterwards we are going out to eat. Now I just have to survive this evening without officially clawing my face off from me being bored to death...

{ET...}

This song makes me so happy. I'm GOING to learn to play this on guitar. Oh, and sing like her. ;) haha

{bishop appointment...}

I had my appointment with the Bishop today so hopefully I can get my Young Women's medallion soon! It was so nice just getting to sit and talk with him, and with it just being the two of us. We learned a lot about each other and we laughed and had so much fun. He's so wonderful to talk to and one of the best listeners. You can tell he sincerely cares about what's happening, and he also throws in some bad puns in here and there (haha just kidding, Bishop). He's amazing. He asked me how I was doing in school, and I told him I had all A's and one B. He asked me what the B was in and I said English, and he was like, "Whaaaattttttt?! English? I heard your teacher loves you in that class!" I was like, "Where'd you hear that from?" And he was like, "Ryan! He told me that you're teacher loves you and that she doesn't like Kory very much." It was funny! It really was nice getting to talk to him and I just wanted my blog to know that so I can remember it. :)

{50's sock hop dance...}

How to describe this dance? This dance was....okay. There have been MUCH better though. First off, hardly anyone showed up. There were maybe 50 people. That's not a lot. Second off, I only danced with like 3 or 4 guys because there were hardly any slow songs. Grrrr. I have to admit, though, I looked pretty good:) I wore a new blue shirt that I got and jean capris (this was a jeans dance, but you don't have to wear jeans if you don't want to. There's only 2 jeans dances throughout the whole year, though, so I took advantage of this) and I wore a yellow flower in my hair. I liked it. I kind of looked like I was from Hawaii. That's always a good thing, right? I think it's just something in the water over there, because those people always pop out of their moms lookin goooodddd. Maybe it's just me. I prefer Samoans, myself;) But the Bishop came to the dance, and it was hysterical. He wore a white shirt with rolled up jeans and he had his hair slicked back! Hahahaha it was so funny! And his wife dressed up, too. She looked really pretty (as usual). I did like how some people dressed up, though. Some girls were wearing poodle skirts or scarfs in their hair and all that jazz. I was going to, but I don't have a nice white shirt or long socks, so I dressed up as me:) People said I looked cute, so that was a plus. Some of the guys had their hair slicked back and long socks. My friend, Conner, came as a jock and he had a letterman jacket on and jeans and it looked like he walked straight out of Grease. It was great. There was also a lot of swing dancing in this dance. YAYYY!! I love swing dancing. They played a lot of Beatles, and that made me very happy times ten. Because if you know me, you know I love the Beatles. It just seemed like there was something from the dance that made it kind of lame. Maybe it was just me again. I'll try and post a picture of me as soon as I can (the pictures were on Klea's camera, so I have to wait for her to tag me). Anyways, today was just one of those days I guess you could say. Interpret that as you will. But, I'm going to get to bed! Goodnight, bloggers.

{tra la la...let's be random}

Doesn't this picture remind you of those awkward moments when you're in a bad mood and you don't know why? I HATE it when that happens, even though it rarely does to me. Normally if I'm mad, there's a reason. Some people don't even know what I look like mad. Which, of course, is a good thing because then they don't see the smoke coming out of my ears, my face turning purple. Ya know. The usual. And part of why I posted this picture is because Lilo is on it. I used to watch that show, all day, errrdayy. I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE HER WHEN I GROW UP. :)

Also.

I had pizza like 20 minutes ago at Fortel's. So, this picture is legit. I AM PIZZA.

Oh and also. I've been in a painting frenzy lately. Kind of like an art frenzy. Well. Actually. I always have an art frenzy. I say, if you have the chance to make something creative, why not take it? Just Tuesday at my piano teacher's house, her daughter Karlee and I were looking for some crayons to color a pretty princess picture, when I come across some water color paint laying on the shelves. Hmmm. What the heck? The kids liked it. Especially Erix! He thought it was SO amazing that he had to put the whole paintbrush in his mouth! He thought he could get away with it until his mother saw a bluish rainbowy mess covering his mouth. You ain't so fly, Erix. I'll have to teach you and prepare you for next time;)

And, while I'm ranting, I would like to add that I'm tired of creepers making facebooks. Go back to Myspace. Suriously.

{think spring, think spring...}

The weather is GORGEOUS outside:)no joke. You're probably wondering why I'm in here, but trust me, I plan on going outside to enjoy this nice weather. You have no idea. I had to take time to document this because we have been having such crappy weather lately. It's a bummer. All the snow and cold weather needs to stay away. It's a good 75 degrees outside. Get this - we actually have our FANS out in our living room! I've been waiting for that for forever! Winter has been going by way too slow. Come on spring. COME ON! New names I like: Caleb, Zoee, and Nora:)

Cousins are comforting.

Today, I just kind of want to talk about my cousin Tyler. Tyler is a girl, by the way! A lot of people think that when I talk about her, I mean a boy, but no, she's a girl. She's the only cousin of mine that I really was ever close to. We aren't so close anymore because she lives in Missouri and I live here. We haven't seen each other since 2007? Maybe Maybe even 2006? Anyways, it's been a long time. But I just started thinking about her because she FINALLY made a facebook and sent me a request. I haven't talked to her in SO long. We can't text because she doesn't have a phone, but every time I think of Tyler, my childhood comes whirring through my memory like a tornado. We've been close ever since I was a baby. She's only 1 year older than me, and since we're so close in age, we're probably the closest cousins in our family. She has an older sister, Halie, but she's 23 and she always hung around my sisters. When I was little, I would visit my grandma's house in Warrens burg, Missouri (it's 4 hours away from here) ever other weekend. We'd leave Thursday night and stay till Saturday night and then be home on Sunday. And every time I went over there, Tyler would be there and that would make me so happy! I remember being little and our moms used to dress up like we were on the show Full House in those embarrassing dresses and whatnot. Back then, we just preferred our good, ol' overalls. No joke. We'd walk around barefoot all the time and when we were maybe 2 and getting close to 3, I remember we would spend hours sitting across the kitchen floor with race cars (my mom would buy me a new plastic, indestructible race car every weekend for 99 cents. HOLY COW. Toys for kids nowadays are what? 20 dollars?! Sheesh) and Tyler would sit at one end of the kitchen and I would sit at the other and we would drive our race cars to each other, back and forth, and back and forth. And we'd just talk about 3-year-oldisms. I remember when we would watch Thumbelina and the Little Mermaid for hours on end! Her favorite princess was always Sleeping Beauty, and I could never stand Sleeping Beauty, so whenever she watched it she would make me dance to all the music with her. Our moms used to make us do the dishes (yes, we had to the dishes at 2 and 3 years old), and we would always make them angry because we would splash water on our ugly dresses. Sooner or later, they just made us wear nothing but our diapers when we did the dishes, so there is a lovely baby picture of us standing on chairs in front of my grandma's sink in nothing but our diapers. Thanks ma. We would always try to play pranks on our Grandpa, mainly because he always played pranks on us. We thought the funniest thing ever was putting his hair into ponytail holders and his hair was spiky and it would just stand up straight. We did that while he was sleeping. Tyler and I would play outside all the time, which is mainly why we liked wearing overalls with just a shirt underneath it, because we could get it dirty all we wanted without getting yelled at by our mothers. We ran around barefoot (and I mean, we ran around barefoot ALL the time. I can't remember us wearing shoes until we were a little bit older and we HAD to) and climbed trees and drank strawberry milk (back when I liked milk by itself) and had burping contests and got into our grandma's makeup. Everyone in my family called Tyler "Shirley Temple." Even on her Christmas gifts, the tag would read From: Santa To: Shirley Temple. She had the brightest red hair that curled into a million little curls. Her sister was blonde, her mother was blonde, and her father was brunette, so we know she probably got the red hair from MY mother. Tyler looks like my mom more than anyone out of our family, and she acts like her too.
Here's a picture: You can't really see her face, but you can see her hair.

On the left is my other cousin, Halie, and then in the middle is my Uncle, who sadly, never got the boy he wished for. I think Tyler is the closest thing he will ever get to a boy. Her hair was always such a bright red, and it looks just like my moms. I think this was taken in 1999, so she was 4 and I was 3. Check out the nice overalls, eh? :)

I remember when our sisters would blow up balloons on the couch and then stuff them down their shirts so it looked like they had really big bosoms! Tyler and I thought that was the funniest thing in the world, so of course, we wanted to give it a try. Our sisters would watch old TV shows, like Saved by the Bell. They always thought Zack was the cutest and they would sit there for forever and talk about how cute he was. We thought they were disgusting, and we'd rather stick with our Little Mermaid.
Seeing her just always brings up memories. I can't look at her without remembering part of my childhood. It's like she carries part of it with her, and I'm sure I do the same with her.
I'm pretty sure she doesn't remember as much as she used to. It's been so long since we've seen each other. But seeing her reminds me of the joyful, carefree times we used to have, running around, being scrawny little girls in overalls with curly hair climbing trees and playing pranks on our grandpa. I miss that..

More names I've been interested in lately...

I need to keep track of these so I can go back and look at what I liked when I'm older:)


Logan
Savannah
Dayton
Kaia or Kya
Nolan
Delaney
Ella Madeline
Makenzie
cody
Kendra
Joseph
Maya
Tristan
Lexi
Sienna
Rori
Aiden
Kaylee
Hannah
Olivia
Blakely
Brennan
Klare
Keeley
Jace
Kambryn
Dylan
Brett

People think I like a lot of weird names, but it only matters about what I think and what makes me happy:) I think they're all unique and pretty in their own way.

Favorites:

Logan Daniel
Jace Dylan
Brett William

Delaney Elyse
Ella Madeline
Rori Danielle

Dog names I like:
Girl: Coco & Lucy
Boy: Sam & Koda

My weekend

So, over the weekend, Taylor Daughtrey (I've been friends with her since age 2), was talking to me on Facebook and asked me to come over. So, I was like what the heck, and went to her house! It was a blast! Accept for her little brother, Minden, who's 5, wasn't there, which made me sad :( He has this crush on me and it's so CUTE! Whenever I left, Taylor's stepmom, Lisa said that Minden kept asking and asking when I was going to come over again and he would try to sound so nonchalant about the whole thing! That little 5-year-old Casanova! Haha :) He seriously is cute, though, and I felt realllllyyyy bad because he's been waiting so long for me to come over and the day I come over he's not there. So I told Taylor to have Minden call me tonight! Haha we sound like we're a couple and he's only 5. He has the cutest Canadian accent, though, not going to lie. I think it's so cute that I'm his first crush :) He's going to be a little stud when he gets older. A troublemaker, but nonetheless a STUD. We watched movies and painted our nails and did our hair, then we had pizza, talked about our future and went to bed. The homemade pizza was really good. Then, we decided to take pictures today so we took like 64 pictures, uploaded them on facebook (which took FOREVER because we edited all of them and then had to figure out why her computer was being jank!). But, we took an adventure to the woods, which, for me, was the best part. Her backyard is technically all woods. And it's SOO fun to climb the hills and there was this really long log that was over this nasty creek and we had to balance to get across. And then we walked on this like 10 foot wall that was above all her woods and the view was so pretty. I felt like Pocahontas (whom I wish I was) roaming through the woods, and I felt like I was sneaking around. It was really fun for me! I got the movie Thumbelina tonight. I try to collect Disney movies on DVD because I know, eventually, they aren't going to have VCR's around at all. But I'm going to keep my DVD player so when I have kids I can play all their movies on the DVD player. I want them to watch movies and have part of their childhood, so that way when they ask me when they're older what they're favorite Disney movie was, I can be like, "Beauty and the Beast" or "Sword and the Stone." I'm also scared that Disney movies will disappear by the time I'm older, so that's why I'm collecting them now. Anyways, my plans for tonight are to clean my room, watch Thumbelina while eating Taco Salad, relax, and then wake up for church tomorrow. Daylights saving time starts soon so it's going to feel like I lose an hour of sleep. I'm kind of excited though because it's going to stay lighter longer, which I love. I'm going to stop rambling now and come back later! Bye bloggers!

My recent goals.

So, I've come up with new goals! I hope I can achieve them, and I'm going to work my best to earn them.

- Paint my room orange and purple! (And probably add some zebra, maybe?) Hopefully this can get done during this spring! And if we get that done, then I want to kind of redo my room. Like, rearrange it and get more stencils. Stencils, sadly, didn't work out last time because I lost them, but I saw some really, cute simple stencils at Joann's that I liked a lot!

- For my birthday, I want my Dad to get me a new camera, but like a professional one. I saw one that I like a lot at wal-mart. The thing is, is that it's expensive:( But then again, he spends loads of money for jordan's xbox and wii and whatnot. Maybe i'll get lucky.

- Get good grades on my finals coming up soon!

Crafts, crafts, crafts!:)

Yes. I know what you're thinking. She has no life, does she? I was just wondering the same thing. It's like we're twins, right? ;) Anyways, as Easter and St. Patty's day draw closer, I was looking for some cool crafts to do (at least, if I had kids, I would do them. I think they're pretty nifty). The first craft is very basic. An Easter bunny mask:) I think EVERY kid deserves to have the experience of making an Easter mask for at least ONE Easter of their life. Here's how to do it:

What you'll need:
1/2 sheet craft foam
4" x 1" strip of craft foam in contrasting color
Glitter glue (pink and white) optional
scissors
12" elastic
Stapler
Electrical tape
Pattern

There's the link to the pattern.

1. Print the pattern and cut it out
2. Place pattern onto the craft foam. Leave enough room on the left side of the foam as you will fold the foam and cut it.
3. Trace the pattern onto the foam.
4. Fold the foam in half so that the left side of the pattern is in line with the fold.
5. Hold the foam firmly so that it does not move around and cut around the pattern. Unfold the craft foam and you should have a full face mask.

6. Cut the eyes out.
7. Use glitter glue (optional)
8. Cut the whiskers from the 4" x 1" strip of craft foam. Glue three whiskers on each cheek.
9. Staple the elastic to the mask, stapling to the back side.
10. Trim any excess and cover the sharp edges the staples with black electrical tape.

St. Patty's Day craft: Handprint Rainbow

What you need:
1 sheet light blue construction paper
Acrylic craft paint: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white

1. Place construction paper on work surface in front of child
2. Have child curve their hand and paint (start with red) the side of the hand along the pinky and down to the heel.
3. Gently press side of painted hand onto the construction paper to form half of the first rainbow ray.

4. Repeat step 2 and 3 with red paint on the other hand to form the other half of the rainbow.

5. Repeat these steps with all the colors of the rainbow, washing hands in between each other. Starting from the top of the rainbow and working downward, the order is: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple
6. When rainbow is complete, have child make a fist, then paint the side of the fist generously with white paint. Press onto bottom of the rainbow to form clouds.

7. Repeat across paper under the rainbow until entirely lined by clouds.
8. Allow to dry completely.

Easter craft: Bunny Ears!

What you'll need:
White poster board
Pink construction paper
Scissors
Pencil
tacky glue or School glue
Tape or stapler
Easter stickers (optional)
Markers, crayons, or colored pencils (optional)

1. Cut a strip of poster board about 2" wide by about 24" long
2. Cut out 2 ears out of poster board
3. Cut 2 smaller ears out of pink construction paper
4. Glue the pink ears inside the white ears
5. Glue the ears inside the band, positioning to fit behind the child's head
6. Let the child decorate the headband with stickers, markers, crayons, or colored pencils if they wish.
7. Tape or staple the band to fit the child. Cut off any excess.

Found most of these at crafts.kaboose.com

I'll post some more crafts tomorrow! Enjoy!!:)

Gone for the weekend!

So on Friday, I went over to my "aunt" Cami's house and stayed there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and I came home today. We had so much fun! It's always nice to get away from home for a little bit and have fun with your friends, but it's also always nice to come home. Cami's sister, Michelle, came over on Sunday, and made some pineapple cake? (my mom says it's upside down cake?). But it was REALLY good! I need to start making that at my house because it was so easy to make. Michelle brought her kids Natalie (5), Julia (3), and her new baby Andrea. It was awesome getting to see all of them since I haven't seen them since I went to visit Michelle in the hospital after having Andrea. Julia is still quite the little gremlin that she was the last time I saw her. But a cute gremlin =) Every time I laid down on the carpet Julia would climb on me and want to wrestle. That girl could wrestle for forever! She loves dinosaurs and dragons, and she's so different from her sister, Natalie. Natalie is much more dramatic, but she tells the funniest stories. Natalie waited so long because she wanted Grandma Joy to dance with her. She kept saying, "I wish Grandma Joy was here RIGHT NOW!" Natalie likes Disney princesses, and movies, and dancing. So different from her rough-house sister, Julia! Also, Julia is a little more naughty from the last time I saw her! Her and Natalie were arguing over who got to spin in the spinny chair by the computer, so Julia bit Natalie's arm and Grandpa Don and Michelle had to put her in time out. They're getting to the ages where they argue a lot more now. Good luck with that Michelle ;D But they're still some of the cutest things on the planet. Michelle french braided my hair and I fell asleep with it in, and this morning when I went to take it out it was a huge mass of waves! But I liked it! Cami and I did each other's hair for Stake Conference, which was Sunday, and we did a pretty good job! We got lots of compliments on our hair. Before I went to Cami's house we went to a party at our Young Women leader's house and just hung out. It was so much fun! We played murder in the dark in their basement and that was hilarious. I didn't think it would be fun at first but it was so cool! I was never the murder haha. Sadly, tomorrow we start school again and this whole English project has me stressed out! Tomorrow I'm probably going to have to go to my friend's house in Belleville so we can start this project, because it's due Wednesday! I hope our group doesn't have to go tomorrow! I also hope that Joy can take me to her house after piano lessons. I just don't know how we're going to do this! Ugh. This is why I hate Honors English. It puts so much stress on you! Our group wanted to do it today, but Caitlyn has to sell her horse today so we couldn't. This would've been the perfect day to do it, too, because no one else in our group had plans. Once this project is over, I won't be as nearly as stressed out. On Wednesday, I have another project due in English as well but that's not as nearly as hard to do. I just need cardstock and glue. But the weekend is over and it's back to the daily grind. Oh joy.

Sara, don't move to Scipio! We love you too much!

Julia:)

Natalie:)

She's such an animal lover!

Fireside.

Today we had a fireside at Brother Woolf's house and it was for all the youth in our ward. Bishop McDonald came also. Brother Woolf spoke about hunters or "mountain men" and how, way back in the day, they fur trapped. They would trap the animals, take the fur, and eat the meat. He talked about the various traps. Snares, cages, holes, etc. Then he brought out a fox trap. He took a pencil and put it in the fox trap, and the pencil completely broke in half. It could've even taken off a finger. He said that there are "traps" that are just as deadly out in the world like drugs, immorality, the wrong crowd of friends, violence, bad movies, and so much more! And then he took a sponge, and on one side he drew a happy face and on the other side he drew a sad face. The sponge was so happy at first, just hopping around, but then his friends started tempting him to have just one cigarette. Then to just see one rated R movie. The sponge moved further and further to the trap, and eventually fell in. The trap got a hold of it. But we talked about repentance and the people who are there to always help pry you out of your mess. He talked about how Satan always disguises his traps like hunters used camouflage with their traps. He said that we needed to wriggle ourselves out before "the mountain man" a.k.a Satan could come and get us. I really thought that it was a good lesson. Also, yesterday I bought a calendar and the movie How to Train Your Dragon! I was more excited about the calendar. I'm such a nerd. Who gets excited about calendars? This gal! Organization makes me happy. That's pretty much all I have for you today!

Recipes, recipes, recipes. =)

Crispy Baked Breakfast Taquitos *these are great to make ahead of time and freeze. You can make a bunch and just pull them out for breakfast!*

Ingredients:
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
12 large eggs
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 C grated pepper-jack cheese
1/4 C chopped roasted red bell peppers
1/4 C sliced green onions
16 6" flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean up. Spray with cooking spray or lightly brush oil and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Crack eggs into large mixing bowl. Whisk in 1/2 sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When skillet is hot, add egg mixture to the pan. Using a rubber spatula, gently scrape the bottom of pan and fold eggs over to scramble. Remove from heat when slightly undercooked. Add cheese, roasted peppers, green onions, and gently fold to combine.

Warm tortillas in a microwave to ease rolling process. Working with a few tortillas at one time, place a scant 1/4 C egg mixture into the middle of each one and roll into a cylinder. Place rolled tortillas on prepared baking sheet, seam-side down, so they are not touching each other. When all tortillas are rolled and filled, lightly spray tops with cooking spray, or lightly brush olive oil. bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.

Strawberry Banana Trifle

Ingredients:

5 oz instant vanilla pudding

3 c cold milk

9" angel food cake (cut in chunks)

4 bananas (sliced)

16 oz fresh strawberries (sliced or cut big)

12 oz whipped topping (thawed)

Mix instant pudding and milk. In trifle, layer half of each: cake chunks, pudding, bananas, strawberries, and whipped topping. Repeat layers. Serve fresh!

Creamy Tarragon Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 T. olive oil

1 Small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

4-5 C. of tomatoes 

1 t. tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. Cream 

2-3 T. flour

Sliced mushrooms

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Saute chicken in olive oil until light brown. (I like to pound the chicken to make sure they are nice and tender) Remove from pan. Saute onion and garlic until translucent. Put chicken back in pan and add tomatoes and tarragon. Cover and simmer 30 minutes to an hour. Add mushrooms the last 15 minutes. Lastly, add cream and flour. Whisk until well blended and thickened. Serve over rice.

Hope you enjoy! 

P.S. - here are some more names I like:

Karson

Annie

Lucy

Max 

So much to do!

High school will keep you preoccupied. No doubt. I just can't wait for my sophomore year, though. I can be more organized and whatnot. This year, they didn't even send out a school supplies list, so I pretty much had to guess everything by myself. I have a butt load of English homework to do. I have to write a sonnet (one that is actually decent because I have to share it in front of the class), and work on memorizing my lines for Romeo and Juliet. Next weekend I have to go over to my partner's house to make a video for the project. I wonder how well that will work out, seeing how my mom hates having to find people's houses, and today the van just broke down again. I don't know what's going on with that thing! I keep telling my mom (and I've been telling her from the beginning), that you just need a brand new car. This van that we have was built in 1990, for crying out loud. It's past its prime! It's done! But with the transmission acting all weird, I don't know if anyone would actually take it. All I know is that it is in the shop and my mom is talking to someone on the phone in my room, which is not a good sign because that means it's something that she doesn't want us to hear. Like how poor we are, how we have no money, how are we going to make the house payment, etc. It feels like theres a lot of weight on my shoulders right now. But then I always remember the scripture, "And this too shall pass." So, I guess I wait. At least I finished my biology and math homework and that's two less things I have to do. Man, I just wish I was more organized. No sense in getting new binders and stuff though since it's the end of the school year. Oh well. When we were walking to the bus stop this morning, Adam totally put snow all over Ryan's backpack! Talk about mean. I helped get it off his backpack, but you could tell he was a little mad/embarrassed. Now he knows how I feel all the time! I guess I'll write back to you later. I'm actually on the search for some art projects. Tralalala......

Rainy Days

The past couple of days have been filled with rain. I want spring to get here, minus the rain! I hate cold rain! I hate it when it's cold and then it rains cold rain! But I love it in the summer when it gets too hot and it rains cold rain. That feels amazing. I'm tired of watching raindrops on my bus window. I want the sunshine to stop HIDING! The past couple days have been alright. Accept for today in seminary we were talking about which temple we would want to be married in and without thinking I accidentally said the Italy temple. I was so embarrassed because there is no Italian temple yet! Grr! I have yet to get my English paper finished. And I need to look at scripture masteries. I guess I'll finish math in study hall tomorrow and my spanish homework on the bus. I want sophomore year to be here! And I want the rain to stop! Please, please, pretty, pretty, pretty please!