NEW HAIR!

I FINALLY got my hair cut!

I'm really super excited about it! It's a LOT shorter. Even though it may not look like it...

But I got 5 1/2 inches off! And got my bangs back! (YAY!) and I'm really super pumped! I love everything about it, except I wish I would've gotten more layers:/

But, OH WELL!

And now for the pictures!

Before:

It's a little hard to tell, but it went about an inch above my elbow. (P.S. this was at the Mall of America, and I was super excited when I found Bubba Gump's)

After:

That's after I got it cut yesterday! (It's as long as the bottom of the picture, so it's about three inches past my shoulder?)

:D

bracelets:)

So, (geeze Louise! Do I start every post like that?) I wear lots of bracelets. Only on my left wrist (I can't stand them on my right wrist I don't know why, it's just a weird pet peeve of mine) and lots of colors!

I am currently wearing 5. I used to wear six, but I gave up on it, because it never faced the right was (it was made out of shells and was criss-crossed with elastic, but the shells would always flip around, so you'd only see the elastic).

And I wear them in a specific order. Except they never stay in that order, but this is the order I

put them on in:

1. My beaded BFF bracelet with Miranda:) it says Miranda and Nicole Bffs. It makes me smile

with all it's random beads. I made one for Miranda too. They are quite colorfully-tastic.

2. Second to go on is my purple/blue/green/yellow friendship bracelet that Miranda made me. It's totally awesome! It's the second biggest bracelet, so that's why it goes on second:)

It looks most like the one on the far left or second in on the right:)

3. My other seashell bracelet. It keeps the bracelets symmetrical. Because I'm OCD like that. I'm pretty sure I got it for like two dollars at Claire's but, I love it because it is summery:)

That one actually looks like my other one, but oh well:)

4. MY ARIEL BRACELET. I don't know if I've talk about this, but I am Little Mermaid obssessed. I love Ariel! She is my favorite Disney Princess, and oh, I forgot to mention that I am Ariel. She's like, my Hannah Montana.

5. Last, but not least, is my sailor-ish bracelet. It is red, white, light blue, dark blue, and black.

Miranda made it also, and said she was making it for herself, but she knew my obssession with nauti

cal stuff, and thought the colors worked for me:) It's also another friendship-ish bracelt

Nails

Last Saturday, Miranda and I decided to go get our nails done.

She bites her nails, and wanted something to prevented herself from biting them. I got them, because I had dance pictures and I thought it would be cool. Plus, I've had them before, and I absolutely loved them before, so, I decided I get them, and probably keep them all summer for dance recital and senior pictures:)

So, we went to the mall (I drove!) and got them done:)

I love mine. Miranda hates hers. I've been trying to keep them from growing too fast, and Miranda has been biting hers off. She put me on patrol to stop her from doing it. But she bites them anyways. Darn her.

But anyways, mine are here to stay. Hers? I don't think so.

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

So, guess what guys! (quote by Nicole)

I THINK I DISLOCATED MY TOE AGAIN:(

I have NO idea how I did this, but I realized as I was halfway down my driveway, that my foot was throbing. It hurt to put any kind of weight on it!

Let's recall yesterday in any explanation as to how this would have happened:

Woke up at 6:00. Got ready for school, made a PB&J, filled up my sister's coffee mug with milk, and headed for the door. Obviously you know it's going to be a good day when you have a PB&J for breakfast. It's just the physics of life.

I got to school on time, not late like I was on Wednesday. So there was a good sign.

School goes by fine. Nothing exciting or different. Normalness. Completely.

I get home, work on homework. Catch up on everything. It's all good.

Mom picks me up to take me to work, and I even get to drive to work. AND! I get there early (which is rare, because my mom gets off work at 4:30, and I work at 5:00. Plus, there's rush hour traffic, so it takes ridiculus long to get there, because it's kind of on the other side of town).

So, I'm in a good mood. Work isn't too bad, Bobbi and Karly are there, and they're both hilarious to talk to, so it goes by pretty fast.

Here's where I think I did it. Both Bobbi and Karly had left (because I close) and I was alone with these four kids. Both bigger sister and little brother. Their names, Hannah and Luke, and Grace and Jarrett. They're all cute kids and their bigger, so I was letting them do cartwheels and handstands because that's all they wanted to do. The floor underneath the carpet is complete cement. And I thought I'd show them a backwards summersalt. But, that's the only thing that comes to my mind that I could've possibly done that would've hurt my foot. But when I did them, I don't recall it hurting my foot, it hurt my head because of the cement slab of a ground covered by a millimeter of carpet. So, I honestly don't know what I could have POSSIBLY done:(

Show Choir...

So, the show choir lists are coming out tomorrow at 9:00 pm. And I know I am not alone when I say this: I'M SO NERVOUS! Honestly, I know a lot of people aren't quite as nervous as me though, because, next year's my senior year, and it would be kind of devistating. Anyways, I have work to keep me busy up until the moment of truth, but work always goes by slow for me, and I have a feeling that it's going to crawl by tomorrow.

Anyways...until then:/

DANCE RECITAL!

To go along with my last post, DANCE RECITAL is also right around the corner!

Dance recital always coencides with the end of the school year. Literally this is my schedule:

Monday: Last full day of school. Second on-stage rehearsal.

Tuesday: Finals 0-2 hours.

Wednesday: Last of my finals. Third on-stage rehearsal.

Thursday: Going to my middle school to visit old teachers!:) Dress rehearsal until like, 10.

Friday: Work. Dance recital. Sleepover?

Saturday: Junior and Primary dress rehearsals.

Sunday: Junior and Primary dance recitals.

It's crazy.

Like,

complete

utter

chaos.

But honestly, it is the best time of the year.

Not even an exaggeration (yes, I know earlier I said summer is the best time of the year. It's got nothing on dance recital). It's just the atmosphere, and we get to perform what we've worked on ALL year. It's just the best feeling ever! Not to mention, family and friends come to watch you and you feel pretty darn special;)

But anyways, this is the craziest year by far, for me. I'm in nine dances in the Senior show. And troupe performs at Junior and Primary, so, there's also that. Not to mention, Eileen and Katie (a teacher and TA...who a class teach together) won't be there, so I took it upon myself to help that class out during the Primary show (because half the kids in the class, I had in my class last year!)

But I love it. I've known that place since I was three (actually even earlier than that, because my mom's been teaching at Donna's since she was prego with me...hahaha) and the atmosphere of that place, and how warm it gets and how it smells, it's just one of those childhood connections I have!

But here's the schedule for whomever might want it:)

Friday June 11th: Senior show at 7:00 pm

Sunday June 13th: Primary show at 11:00 am (I believe...)

Sunday June 13th: Junior show at 4:00 pm

:D

IT'S ALMOST THE END OF THE YEAR!

Okay. As of today, there is officially FOURTEEN days of school left! (Except for some people like me, because I don't have any finals on the last day of school YAY!)

:D

Anyways, after AP tests, classes basically become bogus. Because seriously, teachers are sick of school too! Here is what today consisted for me today:

0 Hour: Movie.

1st Hour: Worksheet.

2nd Hour: Read/Work on project (with the option of going outside).

3rd Hour: Presentations/Not really paying attention/catching up on homework/sudoku.

4th Hour: Singing (choir...and only for half the hour).

5th Hour: Catch up on homework (study hall...LAME).

6th Hour: District test/that test doesn't count for anything.

See? teachers don't even want to teach anymore! (Who blames them? I'm sick of being there, and I'm sure they feel the same about me...hahahaha) :)

And honestly, the classes get filled with more and more free time. AND THE MOST ANNOYING THING ABOUT THIS IS: If the Cedar Rapids School District was as smart as the Linn-Mar School District, we'd be out even a week earlier. And you all know what I'm talking about.

WE LIVE IN GOD FORSAKEN IOWA! It snows sooooooo much here! We need more than two built-in snow days. Linn-Mar is smart and build in AT LEAST a week's worth of snow days, so they're out close to on time, or even earlier! Now those people got this right. Think about it, when we got snow days, we could just be happy all-round, because we're not in school until half-way through June!

That's all I'm saying...

Anyways, minus that minor detail, I'M SUPER STOAKED! I mean, summer is LITERALLY, right around the corner. HOW EXCITED ARE YOU?

Cause, I'm pretty darn excited:)

Single Ladies Tribute:)

Jonas

Glee

SNL

Beyonce

Sickness....EWWWWW

So, I always get sick in the winter. But, I mean, EVERYONE and their brother gets sick in the winter. We're all bundled up in at home, with no communication to the outside world, and practically begging the germs to come find home in us.

But here's a change, I'M SICK NOW!

It is quite annoying...and depressing.

SO, we had dance pictures on Sunday, and I'm sitting there at Read, and sneezing every five minutes multiple times. It was the first decent day outside in the past month, and so I figured it was something inside there, or possibly outside.

Oh, boy, was I wrong.

It progressively got worse and worse until I was absolutely miserable and wouldn't sleep Sunday night. I took some NyQuill, which usually knocks me out in a half hour.

No. Nothing. Not a thing. All it did was make me even sleeper.

I hate my life sometimes.

Not to mention, I woke up every half hour, and then couldn't fall asleep for another half hour, so I basically got four hours of sleep...wooo.

NOT!

Come yesterday, I was so miserable and tired that I ALMOsT fell asleep in AP Lang (Mr. Ayers said I could lie my head down and rest as long as I listened to the video, which I'm proud...and surprised...to say I did).

Come, fifth hour, my right ear had sharp shooting pain in it. Like someone was poking it with a thumb tack. It was getting worse. By sixth hour, I couldn't hear out of it, or concentrate on my algebra two quiz...honestly my life fails sometimes.

Luckily, I texted my mother during fifth hour and asked her if there was anything for ear infections, because I was pretty sure that's what I had, even though I hadn't had one since I was like, eight. She was awesome and scheduled me for a doctor's appointment at four, so I went home (skipped my voice lesson, because I couldn't have even hoped to sing) and layed on my bed and rested. My mom came at four and we went to the doctor's.

They looked at throat, listened to my heart, etc. etc. etc. and guess what! I HAD A EAR INFECTION!

Who was right? Oh yeah, I think that was me!

Booyah.

Anyways, the day just got better and better, because I spilled dinner all over my work clothes, and then had a baby spit up on me at work. How wonderful is my life? Awesome, I think.

The only good thing that came out of yesterday was that I got off a little early. And went home, ate popcorn (yuuuummm) and took NyQuill, took a shower, and so by the time I was ready for bed, I just collapsed on my bed. I was out within ten minutes. A record for me, because I can never fall asleep short of an hour.

And I am still sick. A fraction (maybe) better. But I can't hardly hear anything out of my right ear. The only thing keeping me going is the fact that I'm taking DayQuill and Ibprofin every four hours.

I actually fell asleep in the sun, outside in AP Lang today. I'm that miserable.

Grrr.

Though, my dad was sick before me, and he said by day four, I should be feeling a lot better.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

DRIVING!

So, last Tuesday (it's been exactly a week!) I got my driver's license (FINALLY!)

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

you have no idea! Except, I don't get a car! :(

BUT! I get to drive my mother's all summer long, and don't have to spend a penny on gas!

You may be thinking, "Geeze, you're going to be 17, like soon." (In August to be exact). And here's what I say to that:

MY MOTHER was supposed to sign me up for driver's ed LAST JULY. A month before I turned 16, you so everything could be honky dory, and everyone would be happy.

She never did.

STORY OF MY LIFE!

So, as one of the few people in my grade (and one of three friends who didn't get their driver's license until recently...I was the last out of all of us) I had to catch rides places (or even better, have my parents drop me off) and wait until this Spring to take driver's ed.

Driver's ed is a whole other story within itself. The class was made up of mostly freshman, a handful of sophomores, and TWO (count with me here, ONE, TWO) juniors.

Fail.

But, I had my friend Sarah, and her friend Mackenzie in there with me, so the class was actually quite amusing. I had Mr. Brown, and if you have ever had him as a driver's ed teacher, you'll know what I mean when I say that I got a kick out of the lessons.

BUT! Alas, Sarah and Mackenzie were driving partners, and I was driving partner-less. But, luckily, God shone a light on me, and Alexa, a girl who goes to Lisbon, and could only drive weekends (which was basically the only days I could drive...all together with me now: "HALLELUJAH!") so we were partners. The bonus was that she wasn't that shabby of a driver, and she was nice and funny, so we got along well:)

SO NOW! I've had my license for a week. I got the car Friday night, and got to drive and jam out and have fun on my way to work, and then hanging out with friends afterwards. It was quite exciting. No seriously, I was so excited, you have NO idea. Seriously.

I've only had two incidents, and I'm not even sure about the second one...

1. Woops...Friday night I forgot to turn on my lights as I was leaving Culver's. But thankfully, my friends, Tyler and Austin, were right ahead of me, and pulled over to tell me to turn them on. Thanks guys:)

2. And I think I MIGHT have cut off a guy going down Collins. I saw the car coming, but he wasn't even close to the intersection, and when I looked in my rear-veiw mirror, he was on my tail. But, looking back on it now, I think that guy MIGHT have been in the turning lane behind me. Jerk.

Anyways! I'm super excited, and guess what! I've been told I'm a good driver. Obviously, not the most awesomest driver to walk the Earth, but still.

:)

RAINBOOTS!

So, on Saturday, Miranda and I (and she is still annoyed with me about it) when out. We went to Target, because I saw some rainboots there that I wanted. This all started when my cousin, Kirby, and I were hanging out last Wednesday (after my grandpa's funeral) and we went mini-golfing and then over to Target. He need new sunglasses, and I was gonna help him pick out a pair. We walked around and went past the shoe aisle, where I saw THE CUTEST rainboots EVER! I basically flipped. Kirby laughed at me while I freaked out. But, we weren't supposed to go anywhere except Family Fun Center, so I couldn't buy them:(

BUT!! then Miranda came to save the day! After I had work Saturday we hung out and drove around. We went to the mall, where I lost my mind a bought a $25 keychain (which Miranda made me return...I didn't complain). We went to Target, where I realized I had no money in my bank account (which is where we went back to the mall, and returned the keychain) and then went to the gas station for a bite to eat. Believe me, I was pissed that I did that, and I was rainboot-less. And so Miranda (fed up with my moppy, depressing-ness) took me back to Target to get the rainboots.

AND NOW I'M HAPPY!

(I love Miranda Neff!)

:D!

The Aftermath of MinnesOta

Well, it truely was an interesting weekend.

FRIDAY
It started off with getting out of school, and packing. My friends Chase and Tyler came over after school while they were waiting for Austin and Michael to get done retaking a test after school. They stole my magazine and read articles, and watched TV, but it was fun!:)
Then, my mom came home, and it was sprinkling, and we left for Minnesota. We took a longer route there, that was straighter, because I was going to drive, and she wanted me to drive a straighter route there. She drove for about an hour and half before we stopped at a gas station/Subway and switched. I drove for three hours, into Minnestoa, before we got onto the crazy highway and swtiched again. The scariest thing that happened, was getting stuck inbetween two semis. I was passing one, and the other one was SLOWLY passing the other one. Needless to say, I was freaked. They're literally one of my biggest fears. We got to the hotel (and it was still raining. And we checked in and went up to our room. I'm a loved child, so I got the bed to myself, and my mom and sister shared, because I was competiting the next day, and they weren't. Me and Christine then went down to the pool where some of the girls from dance were. We all hung around there for a while, until we had to eat and go practice.
My mom and one of the other girl's dad went to the Mall of America (which was literally just down the street from the hotel) and got me Panda Express. I was SUPER excited. And then we went to practice. The room we practiced in, was just like a dance room, mirrors, barres, and all. Except with carpet. Here is where issues came. We had been practicing, when me and Jenna decided to practice our duet. I had changed some parts in it, and I wanted to do the beginning full out (turns+carpet=disaster). I got to my turn and my pinky toe got caught on the carpet, and my foot kept going. It cracked sideways, and then went under my foot. It hurt. Really, really hurt. I feel over, and I shook it off. We got done and I sat down. My foot had started to go numb, and I thought nothing of it, because I have really bad circulation to my feet, so I thought it was just the same.
I later talked to Jenna, and asked her if she thought I might've broken it, because she broke her big toe when we were in middle school. We figured that that's probably what happened, and I got really nervous. I mean think about it: you break your toe, the night before a huge dance competition. This couldn't be good. I went back to the hotel room, using minimal pressure on my foot. I then talked to my mom about it, and we decided to wrap it with the tape I was going to use for my toenail I bent backwards.

Dance in MinnesOta

Okay, so this blog didn't post again! :(

So, now I have to start from scratch again...(I wasn't smart enough to write it in a word doc, and the copy and paste it...)

SO, (there I go again) we have a dance compeition in MinnesOta (that's for Jenna, since her mom's side of her family's from there) on April 24th! We're all SUPER excited, and our goal this year is to get golds, since last year we got all high silvers. This is the most prosegous dance compeition we go to all year. The dance competition is held in downtown St. Paul, and there are AMAZING dance studios around there. Like these people spend from 4-9 at the dance studio every day after school, and probably their entire weekend at the studio. These guys are ridiculous (in a good way!) They amaze us. These are a like the compeitions that people you see from So You Think You Can Dance go to. They are absolutely phenominal.

The dance competition is called American Dance Awards (ADA). It's a national dacne compeition, and they have winners (in all division) get accepted to go and comepte in their national competition each year. Obviously, we're not THAT good, but we just think of it as a great experince. We don't do it to really compete against these other studios (because that's just not quite possible). But we do what we can. We do our best, and go out there and have fun!

Last year, we went, it was on Sunday (this year it's on Saturday). Of course, with my luck, I had work Friday, and a driving test for driver's ed on Saturday from 6-8 am, so I could be done early ebough for us to leave and have plenty of time to rest before the compeition on Sunday. OF COURSE the compeition got moved, and I had to take work off (woo...NOT!) and then switch time with two boys. It was quite annoying. BUT I'M STILL EXCITED!

The reason I had to take Friday off, was because OF COURSE we're practicing at the hotel Friday night. Luckily, we have a half day, so I don't have to miss any school to be there in time (because it is a 4 hour drive there!) But I realized I'm behind a lot of hours for driver's ed, so I have to drive on the interstate, to get all my hours in....

ahhhh. This will be an interesting weekend....

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaance:)

So, (have you noticed that I start every blog like that?) we had a dance compeition on Sunday in Iowa City at the Marriot. This is the local dance compeition "Statewide" that we always take almost our whole studio to. Donna, the owner, took over 100 students by herself. Not to mention, my three dance instructors, Joise, Kyanne, and Rachel took almost every dance they teach (if not every one). Every single one of my dances went (including my duet with Jenna).
In the morning, I woke up at 6:00, to leave at 7:00, so my sister could be there at 7:30. Her first dance was at 9:30, and my first one was at 9:45. Since I was the first one to roll out of bed, I just decided to do all my make up and get dressed, so I could just chill when we got there. But, mine and Jenna's duet had a conflict, because we were supposed to compete with that at the same time were supposed to compete with our tap dance in the other room. So, Jenna and I got there early and danced at 8:30. It was the best we've ever performed it. Our song is "Mad World" and we're supposed to be tormented by each other. We do two completely different styles, and wear two different costumes, do our hair differently, and wear different shoes. I do ballet, and she does a more modern-type style. At our last compeition, in Davenport, when we performed, the judges were confused by why we were wearing two different shoes. We did completely different things throughout the whole dance, and the one thing they commented on was our different shoes. We weren;t sure whether or not we should keep everything completely different, but that was the reason behind the whole dance, so we kept it different, and if they didn't get it at this one, we'd think about changing it for our last compeition...We haven't gotten back the comments yet, so I don't know if we're changing it for the last one or not.

Our next dance we did was modern. This was our least-beast dance (? I don't know how to quite word it right). We haven't had everyone there to really work on it and clean it as well as we could, so we took a risk and did it. In this one part of the dance, I actually fell, and my friend fell on my ankle, and now it's a wonderful shade of blue. It hurt really bad, but all the people watching said that it looked intentional, so we don't think it was as bad as it could've been.
After modern, we had a while to rest, and then we had jazz. This as with troupe. We were all really nervous going into it, because we had STIFF compeition, but we were all pumped to go out there and blow wake up the judges. Our jazz dance is the most physically demanding dance I've ever done, and at 10:30 in the morning, that dance will take a lot out of you. After we performed, we walked off feeling like we left everything we had on the stage. We had nailed almost everything in that dance, and everyone felt completely happy with their performance.
Then, after jazz, we had lyrical, which is by far, our best dance. Our goal is to move everyone, and make our mothers cry. As terrible as it sounds, it's the point of the dance. It's about growing up, and how we don't have childhood anymore. Sarah, our only senoir, almost always cries at the end with her solo. It's so sad, and great that we got a diamond (which is like a platinum...a first FIRST place) for it at our last competition, so we felt very solid about it.

Then we had a quick change and did our pointe dance. It's to the song "Ramalama Bang Bang." And if you know that song, you can picture how tight this dance is. We wear black and white lacey, tool and ribbion tutus, with lace gloves and black tights. We try to be as creepy as we can, and apparently it worked! Jenna's TA class watched it, and said they were kinda freaked out.

Then we had tap, which went really well, for those of us who aren't very good at tap *cough cough* myself *cough* And we hadn't done that dance in two weeks!

Then we had five and a half hours of nothing before we did our production number. So I currled up in the corner of the dressing room that I had taken over with all my crap, and took an hour nap. It was wonderful!:)

A lot of the girls went to the mall, between the break, so there wasn't a lot of us around. But we all met up again in the dressing room at 5:00, so we could warm up. We practiced our dance outside, on the bricks, because there was no room anywhere else to practice! That was probably the weirdest thing we did all day.

Then we went and performed our production, and did the best we've ever done on it! It was really successful, and Kyanne (who cleaned it) was really proud of us. For half of us, we had ballet a little bit after it, and this was the one I had been dreading all day. I was so nervous for it, because my dance teacher had me do 12 flags (turns with your leg out) and a double in these little foot paws (they cover half your foot, and aren't really good for doing a lot of turns in them) I was actually really upset she wouldn't let me do the dance in my ballet shoes, but I had no choice. I couldn't think of anything else during the performance, but when it came time for me to do the flags, I nailed them. But, I actually did too many turns. I did 13 flags and a triple (I didn't find that our until after the performance, when Rachel said she counted how many I did). I literally fell over off stage because I was SOOOOO happy! Everyone said they were worried for me to, and knew that I nailed them, because everyone cheered afterwards. I WAS SO HAPPY!

And here's the awards we got:
Duet (with me and Jenna): High Gold

Modern: Gold
Jazz: High Gold
Lyrical: Gold (we're still confused about why this one didn't do really well...)
Pointe: High Gold
Tap: High Gold
Production Lyrical: High Gold
Ballet: High Gold

But, sadly, no Platinums. Last year, we got all Platinums...they basically handed them out like they were free water. But this compeition was three times as big as it was last time, and the competition was phenominal. The judges were tough, and actually gave out Platinums to the deserving dances. There actually weren't that many Platinums handed out, so we felt really good about our performances!

:)

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

No, I'm not talking about the winter with Christmas right around the corner! I'm talking about how wonderfully beautiful it is outside! This is seriously the best time of year. (Well, everyone knows summer is the best, but this is definitely a close second) school's almost over, you can go outside and the sun warms you up. You can go for a jog or even a walk and just see how beautiful the neighborhood is. It's in the 70's and 80's, with just a touch of humidity. You don't feel gross and sticky like you do in the summer when it's 95 degrees and humid as can be. You can open your windows in your house and listen to the night as you're falling asleep. It's just absolutely wonderful!
I love this time of year, because dance and show choir are coming to an end (as sad as it is, they start up in just a few months...again!) Dance recital is always the last day of school, with dress rehearsal the second to last day. We get to go over to Wash after school and dance around their awesomely huge stage for practice. It's always nice and toasty in there, unlike our auditorium. It's just a fun and relaxing time! I can drive around with the windows rolled down, and listen to some AC/DC or oldies rock that I love (they really are the soundtrack of my summer!) Looking up into the trees with sunlight coming through...It's just a wonderful feeling. Have you ever heard those songs that just make you think of summer? They just have those end of the school-year/summer sound? You know what I'm talking about! It's those songs I listen to ALL the time now. I just close my eyes and think of how relaxing my day is, where the only thing I worry about is: work, chores, making plans, dance, show choir, and sleeping in late...maybe even getting a tan...we'll see how well that last idea goes. You go to baseball games, as good or as bad as they are, we all just love the atmosphere of them.

The country is the best place to be during the summer. It's absolutely beautiful. Everything is green and warm. You can see everything for miles around and the noises of the out doors. There's little creatures hiding and eating and enjoying the weather just as much as you are. It's the most wonderful thing in the entire world! It's what we all dream of after the first foot and a half of snow has fallen, and we think, "Man, I really wish tomorrow's a snow day, but then again, that'll just cut into my summer..." We can all wake up at 12:30 and grab some lunch and head over to a friend's house in our sweats. No one cares how cute they look, because we're all just happy and comfy. But seriously, is there any summer clothes that aren't comfy?

Seriously, it really is the most wonderful time of the year!

So This Kid Is Bascially...AMAZING!

So, I've been hearing about this kid everywhere. His name is Shawndell Young. He's from one of the local middle schools, McKinely Middle School. He's in their show choir "Classic Edition." The first time I heard about him was at our show choir invatiational. I was hosting another middle school, Taft, and McKinely performed right before them. My job at the time, was to sit backstage and make sure they were under control while they waited. My dad's job during the day was to sit backstage and help out with whatever the show choirs needed help with. He looks at me as I walk in and says, "Did you get to see them?" I said no, I hadn't, because I was helping my group out with their warm-up. Then he says, "Did you hear their ballad?" No, I hadn't. Why? "They sang a Michael Jackson song, and the boy who sang the solo was...phenomenal." Really? That's cool, how good was he? "Well, let's just say that Storm is going to have to do some serious recruting to get him to go to Kennedy." First, Strom is Mr. Zigeler, the varsity show choir director at my school. Second, that is a bold statement from my dad, because Mr. Zigeler takes what he'll get from our school, and won't whine about it. Our school is chalk full of talent, and he hates not taking kids into Happiness. So, I highly doubted that. But saying my dad is show choir OBSSESSED is a bit of an understatement, so I had to take his word for it.
Then, a couple weeks ago, my sister told me this kid was going to be on the Oprha and Ellen DeGeneres shows. Okay, I thought, he must be what it really is about. Seriously, you have to be amazing to catch the eye of Oprah and Ellen. Then a week or two later, Christine found a video of this kid. Honestly. In my opinion. He's BEYOND amazing. He would give Michael Jackon a run for his money. NO exaggeration whatsoever.
And here it is for you.

My Friend Chase:)

So I'm sitting here in study hall, in the IMC, not knowing what to blog about, and I turn to my friend Chase (a different one then the last time I blogged) and asked him what I should blog about. He dramatically drew his hand across his chest and said, "Your's truely." This Chase is one of my sophomore friends from show choir. We've had study hall and choir together all year and we usually go to the IMC together during study hall, so I can blog, and he can do...whatever it is that he does.

So this Chase is a complete goof-ball...kind of like the other Chase. He's a really good singer and got a solo for our show choir ballad, and is basically amazing. He actually started the term "Chase Face" which we use a lot in practices. He also gives the best hugs on the face of the earth.
On one of our show choir trips, we got into a a music arguement. We were fighting over the fact of who had a better, and more varied taste in music. Of course, I won. In all categories, except for longest song. In which Chase beat me by 20 seconds.

"You should write about the sheer awesomeness that oozes from every fiber of my being."
-Chase Prouty

We Are the World 25 For Haiti

This was so good, despite all the controversy that goes with the signers, I felt like I should share this. My sister downloaded the song the other day, and I liked it a lot, but I didn't know who was all it, so I watched the music video, and it's very moving.

:)

Women Pay All...Part Two

(So this post didn't post, so that's why it's late...I have no idea how it happened, but it did...)

WPA went really good! We had a ton of fun. Getting ready was a lot of fun, because we had six girls there, plus Katie who did my hair (thank you!) We sat at the kitchen table and did our make-up in a big mirror. I did Miranda's hair with curlers (and we yelled at each other the whole time, and burned my fingers and her neck) but it was fun!

Our group consited of Jenna (who's house it was at) and her boyfriend Nic, Miranda and her friend Evert, Amanda and her boyfriend Aaron, Me and Robert, and Michael and his girlfriend Kara (she goes to Xavier).

Then mom's started showing up. Amanda's w

as the first to show up, and then Miranda's and her sister Isabel, and lastly my mom and my sister, Christine. The boys had not yet arrived, so we took pictures of the girls in the basement with all the mom's taking pictures. The funniest part was that Jenna's older brothers and their friends were hanging out watching tv where we were taking pictures. Then Nic and Michael showed up and they took pictures with their girlfriends. Next Aaron showed up and got pictures with HIS girlfriend. Me and Miranda, are the rejects, obviously. Our dates both showed up late, of course, mine showed up the latest. He's freaking track star (had track practice) and had to drive from the Wash district to Riobins...it took him a while. Then they forced us out into the cold and the wind to take pictures...how terrible. So, all the cute pictures of us, we all look freezing cold!

Everyone was complaining about how cold they were since Robert showed up late (that loser...not really, no one cared). So we went to Perkins, where everyone vegged out. I GOT QUESIDILLAS! I was so happy! Robert got enough food to feed a third world country, and was stil hungry...oh yeah, and he ate beforehand. That loser. Everyone was happy then, so we went to the dance.

It was a lot of fun. Miranda's date ended up...(hate is a strong word...) hating her, because she wouldn't dance with him...hahaha! But other than that it was fun. It wasn't hot, and the ceiling didn't sweat (like it does at homecoming), so it was good overall!

Here's some pictures!

The group.

Nic, Jenna, Evert, Miranda, Robert, Me, Aaron, Amanda, Michael, and Kara.

Then there's me and Robert!

Women Pay All

Chase gave me this idea to blog about WPA. I couldn't think of anything to blog about, and tomorrow is WPA. I asked my best friend, Robert, who goes to Wash. We've know each other for probably something close to 10 years. We've grown up together going to the same church. We sang in choir together, he comes to my dance recitals (this year his sister will be in my show, so he'll come to watch both of us) and performances, and we also have competed against each other in show choir.
Anyways, after me and Jared broke up, I thought it would be fun to go with a friend who I got a long with and would have a good time with. I got my dress off of amazon.com (which turned out to be too big, so Jenna's mom had to take it in for me). I'm really excited because I have a big group of friends I'm going with that I know will be a lot of fun to hang out with. We're going to Perkins (because we're cheap girls, and don't want to pay a lot of money). I'm still not quite sure what I'm going to do with my hair, I think I'm going to crimp it and braid my bangs.
My dress is crazy and fun and I love it! It's black with purple, pink and teal flowers and some green. (website to see it: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=438283&CategoryID=26681).
I don't know, I'm pretty excited, I think it's going to be a ton of fun, especially since my best friend, MIRANDA NEFF, is going with us. I'm pumped.

So there's my before thoughts. I'll get back to you afterwards and tell you about my afterthoughts:)

iPod on Shuffle...Part Two

You may remember some posts ago that I set my iPod on shuffle and wrote about the songs that came up. I am going to do it again! Same rules apply: no skipping songs, write about what comes to my mind until the song is done! So let's get started shall we?

1. Dumb by Nirvana (from In Utero). I actually really like this song. The think I love the most about songs Kurt Cobain wrote is just the lyrics. He always sounds like he doesn't care about what he's singing about (especially in this song) but when you listen to the lyrics you can really tell he DOES. This is one of those songs he worte that confuses you no matter how many times you listen to it. It's one of those songs you wish he was still alive so he could explain everything about it. 2. Honkey Cat by Elton John. I love this song! I actually love every song by the amazing Elton John, but who doesn't? One of the things I love about Elton John is the fact that not a single one of his songs sounds like another one. Not like Kiss or many other bands where you know it's them because it sounds like another song by them. I love how he has so many different instruments in each song. This song sounds like it has one of those Chinese or Japanese instruments (I wish I knew what those were called...) It always makes me picture some of those pretty Asian pictures with all the flowers and the fascinating calligraphy (I think that's how it's spelled...) I think this song in general is just really neat and different. Not like a lot of the other songs then OR now. I know I haven't heard a song quite like this!
3. Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. I actaully used to hate this song! And I don't know what changed for me, but I love it now! I mean, yeah it's super repeatitive and annoying, but who doesn't love singing along to this song? I actaully used to listen to a different version of this song when I was little (on one of those children cds) and me and my mom would listen to them on car rides to Omaha or Sigourney and sing along. She actaully made up her own lyrics and sang "Purple Windabego."
4. Blue Jean by David Bowie. Not one of my favorite songs by David Bowe, but definitely not his worst. This song has actually grown on me quite a bit since I first heard it. I actually don't quite know what to write about it, because I haven't listened to it a lot, but jsut listening to it now, I realize how much more I like it now then I used to! I love the background music, with the brass and saxaphones. This song sounds like a cross between Pink Floyd and Elton John. That's probably why I like it so much!
5. Dixieland Delight by Alabama. I LOVE this song! It's one of those songs that make me think of summer in a pickup truck driving down a gravel road with the wind blowing wearing a tank top and shorts in the 90 degree weather in Sigourney, Iowa. One of my favorite things ever! This song is like the definition of summer for me. Relaxing, without a care in the world, just happy because it's beautiful outside and you feel so close to nature. I listen to this song and I immeditaley relax. No matter how bad of a mood I'm in, if this song pops up on my iPod, I'm automatically a little happier, if not comepletely better. It makes me think of so many good memories. I just love it!
6. Fur Elise by Beethoven. Here's the definition of a "classic." I actually know how to play this song on piano. I used to take piano lessons, and played this for a recital (and kicked butt!) Here's some triva for you: Did you know Beethoven wrote this song FOR ELISE, his piano student who was having problems playing octives (much like I did, hence why I learned it). Many people think that Beethoven loved Elise and that was the reason behind why he wrote it, but really, she just had issues reaching octives with her hands. And this song really focuses on that!
7. Patience by Guns N' Roses. I actually like this song a ton from the first time I heard it. Like "Dixieland Delight" it's one of those summery songs that make you picture the countryside. I love how his voice sounds in this song. Very calm. A song you could fall asleep to. You can hear that this song means a lot more to him then a lot of their other songs. You can tell he cares a lot about the person the song is for. He tells her that she just needs patience until they can be together. This (like "Blue Jean") is one of those songs you hear it the first time and you're like, "well that was alright" but the more you listen to it, the more connections you can make with your life, and the more it means to you personally. It's one of those songs that's powerful in it's calming way, like your heart tries to keep tempo with the beat. That's what my heart is doing right now! It almost feels like half adrenelne, half anxiety attack, but it's a good feeling. I love the guitar part towards the end, it's quiet and soft so you have to listen for it, but it's really cool!
8. In a Second by Aly and A.J. I love this whole cd by them! I love how they sound together. I think it's because they're sisters, but they are MENT to sing together. Their voices sound perfect together. I love how they write all their own songs too. For as young as they were when this cd came out, they sing about very cool things that anyone can realte to. I don't know what to write about this song! It's just perfect. I have two of their music videos on my iPod (downloaded by my sister?) and I picture them just singing together. I love their harmonies and the pictures their songs paint in my head. I think they're one of my favorite artists.
9. Viva la Vida by Coldplay. This is another one of those songs that does weird things to your body. I love the whole orchestra in the background and how his voice sounds. This is probably my favorite song by Coldplay, just because it's amazing! If I could dance to any song, I would definitely pick this song. It's one of those songs that you just can't sit and listen to. It makes you want to move and do something important or see something beautiful, like go to Europe and see the beautiful castles and landscapes or swim in the ocean with the tropical fish. It's one of those songs where if you were one of those places and you were in a movie, this would be the song playing in the background. It's awesome! I really love this song, like you don't even understand! I wish I knew the meaning behind the lyrics though, they're kind of confusing, like you should figure it out yourself.
10. Natural Thing by UFO. Here's a band you've never heard of. One of my new favorites. I love the lead singer's voice. And I love the chorus of this song! My favorite thing about this band is the piano that's always playing in their songs. Honestly, that just makes their songs. Not to mention they have one of the best guitarists I've ever heard! (Chrous plays again! I love it!) And seriously, the piano is my favorite! And then there's this awesome guitar solo that ROCKS! Like he goes: "Here's what I can do. Awesome right? Now I'm done. See ya later. I rock." It rocks my world.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a :)

This is for Miranda and how this song gets stuck in her head.

Hair Cuts

Here's the issue: my hair!

It's long, blonde (I get it highlighted now because it decided to turn brown on me), straight (naturally), and thin. Terribly, terribly thin. It does not hold a curl to save it's life, no matter how many products I use and how many times I re-curl it. It just does whatever it darn well feels like. (Here's kind of what it looked like freshman year...with maybe not so many layers...and a little shorter)

My freshman year it was really short, just past my shoulder. I loved it that long because it was so easy to take care of, it dried quickly, and there wasn't such a thing as a "bad hair day." The drawback was that I couldn't fit it into a low ponytail for dance without using half a bottle of jel, about 1/4 a can of hairspray and approximately 20 bobby pins. It was just a hassle! So, I started growing it out. I loved my side-swept bangs so I kept those, but only got trims when necessary. By sophomore year, I was able to fit it in a ponytail, no problamo. But the bangs were just annoying me when it came to show choir hair. We parted it on the side and slicked it to the side. This created headaches for me, because I was back to half a dozen bobby pins (or more) to keep my bangs from falling out during performances. There went the bangs.

(Here's what it started looking like, minus that many layers...pretty close though)

Now it's been growing out for a year and a half. It's about two inches from my elbow. I love how long it is, because I've never been able to have my hair healthy enough to grow it this long. I also can pull it all back into a ponytail (high or low) and it won't fall out. This is the nicest thing for dance because I'm not worrying about tons of hairspray or bobby pins. It's also nice for show choir for the same reasons. Though there is a drawback: there's so much of it. It gets into things (like my food sometimes) and it takes forEVER to dry. The other day I woke up before church (at like eight) and took a shower. By the time church was over (like noon) it had finally dried compeltely. It's a little ridculus. Also, if I go to bed with my hair wet (which is almost every night, because I shower at nights after dance and show choir) it will be a complete mess and sometimes still wet. It's so annoying.

Here's what it looks like now (except not curly like that) :(

And here's how I want to cut it (I'm so excited!) :D!

Dresses!

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been really girly. I literally thought I was princess for the first four years of my life, (my mom says that I still think I am). When I went to elementary school I wore a dress everyday to school. I didn’t own a pair of pants (well, I did, but I thought you had to dress up at school). I loved being girly and wearing dresses made me feel pretty.
Ever since middle school I wore jeans and tees. It was the style, no one wanted to be a little girl and wear dresses. We were all too cool for that. I didn’t miss my dresses, but I wasn’t quite myself without them. Come freshman year, I didn’t own a dress that was really appropriate for school. They were more for church, or a wedding or funeral. But last year I found a lot of dresses at the mall that I really liked. Now, I probably own five or so. I really like some that I saw at the mall this weekend, and I decided I’m going to get a lot more. Partially because it was a part of childhood memories, and partially because it’s just me.
Another goal is to find some cute sailor dresses. If you know me, you know I have a small obsession with nautical things: lighthouses, anchors, red, white, and blue striped things, etc. etc.

Time for Funny Videos Again!

if you haven't seen this video yet, you're missing out on a part of life!!!
:)

Stamana

To go along with my last blog, I'd been having issues with stamana at dance and show choir practice. Since I work at a gym, my mother told me to get on the tredmill after work and run for about ten or fifteen minutes. Lately between dance and show choir, I haven't worked for about a month. This has caused issues for my stamana because I don't really have time to go in and run. Luckily, lately, I've been practicing so much that my stamana has been getting better.
The biggest issue with my stamana is that my heart starts over working, almost like I'm having an anxiety attack. I have to stop, sometimes I put my hand on my knees, and take deep breaths. I'd been worried that I might've had a heart problem (because my family has had issues with bad hearts in the past, and I've had other health issues) but my mom said it's probably just low satmana.
I didn't believe her at first, but just recently, I've been feeling A LOT better when I'm at dance and show choir practices. It's only when we start dancing hardcore without really warming up and easing our way into it. Thank goodness for my mom and all she knows about the human body!
:)

injuries, sicknesses, and bad joints

We had our first dance compeition yesterday, and did really well! Our lyrical and tap dances got silvers, our jazz and large group contemporaty got golds, we got a judge's choice award for "best energy" for jazz, and got 5th place overall in large group, 4th with tap, 2nd with lyrical and 1st with jazz overall in the teen category. It was a very successful dance competition if I do say so myself!

Unfortunately, on many different parts there was tears and drama, more than usual for a dance competition. It started out with tap, which we were all really excited about, and did really well with. Then we had jazz, where I messed up really bad (later to be told that I did amazing, and they only noticed me come out of a turning sequence and beat before everyone else...it was actually much worse than that) and my friend who had pneumonia and athsma couldn't breathe halfway through the dance. I was so angry at myself for messing up so bad that I stormed off stage and a second later my friend Rachel ran after me telling me we had to find Eileen's inhaler, I immediately forgot my issues and ran down to our changing room (which was actually a bathroom/locker room) to find her inhaler or mother, whichever we found first. We got her her medicine and sat her down, and let her calm down. After ten minutes she her normal, funny, sarcastic, and perky self.

Then came along lyrical, where me, my friend (who has extremely bad knees) and two other girls do a trick to the ground where we land on our knees. I told my friend Jenna (the one with the bad knees) to wear her knee pads because she was going to hurt it. Of course, she did not listen to me, and did the trick with only a little prewrap and brace. After the dance we supported her down the stairs, where at the bottom she sank to the ground and started crying. I ran to the cooler that had ice packs and got one for her. My mom found us and got her mom to comfort her. I sat there with her until her mom came and tried to make her feel better, laugh, or just take her mind off the pain. Next time, I will force the knee pad on her whether she wants it or not.

An hour later we performed our large group number which kind of turned out to be a little bit of a disaster, but besides that went pretty well. As we were walking offstage, one of the girls cut her toe open on a piece of metal. I attended to it (it was NASTY) I grabbed the band-aids and helped her clean it out. Luckily, it was our last dance, so we were done with the bodys getting hurt.

Unfortunately, for me, later that day I started to feel pain in my hip flexers (the muscles in front of your hips). I was sitting in the car as it started hurting more and more. Today I feel really sore, and I'm wondering why, because I stretched well, and I never feel that much pain from my hip flexers. I DO have bad hip joints (along with my shoulders...the joints catch pretty bad when I use them in certain ways) so I'm a little worried about that, but hopefully it'll just pass!

:)

This Girl Is Like Ten

I saw this on my newsfeed on facebook, and I think this girl is absolutely amazing, and crazy, and I can't hope to do half the stuff she does, and she's like half my age.
So prepare to be amazed.

Texting

On Tuesday, as you all are fully aware, we had a snow day. My dad had been bribing me and my sister with new phones and texting if we cleaned the whole house. We were orginally going to get them on Friday (today) if we kept the house clean and did all the chores he asked us to do. But lucky enough for us, we had the snow day, and my show choir practice got cancelled. We were getting our land line disconnected the next day. It was like destiny. (Wow I'm a loser!) Anyway, the novelty of texting has worn off, and I'm now getting paranoid, but it's okay, because I'm no longer out of the loop.

Anway, I'm happy so we're all happy si, si?
:)

My Bruises

Over the past two years I've really improved as a dancer. My dance teachers have noticed my ability to do tricks and turns and have had me do them in our dances. This is awesome for me, because I've been praciting and stretching and working on my technique to become the best dancer I can be. My dance techer, Rachel, has put me in the front of our competing dances when we do turns, has had me do tricks, and has me to hard floor work. I feel really good about how far I've come as a dancer. Concidentailly, I've gotten bruises all over my body. I have bruises on my elbows, knees, legs, feet, and wrists. These don't really bother me, minus the fact that outside of dance class, I have absolutely no grace. I run into corners, trip upstairs, fall down (who knows what else I am capable of?) Today I have managed to hit my bruise on my elbow three times (because I sit with my arms on my desk in class) I have wacked my knee on my desk twice (moving around).

Anyways, I will post pictures of my bruises and we can all laugh at my pain together (I laugh at it too, so don't feel bad laughing at me)

:)

Animals A-Z

So, I was sitting here trying to think of soemthing intresting to talk about, when I started thinking of Omaha, (where my Grandpa is currently undergoing surgery :'( he has blood clots in his legs!!) and I was thinking of all the things I LOVE about it! And BAM! It's was the zoo! So I thought I'd talk about all the cute animals that I love (and maybe hate) that start with every letter of the alphabet. I'll look up some intresting facts about them too so we can keep it pretty intresting too!

Here we goooooo!:)

Armadillo! This one's so cute! Did you know that "armadillo" is actually Spanish, meaning "little armored one." (Aww!) They also sleep about sixteen hours a day! Beluga Whale! Since beluga whales live in northern waters, their white color helps them blend in with icebergs as camoflauge from predators:)
Camel! Actually, camels don't store water in their humps, they store it in their blood, which allows them to go several days without water. Their hump is actually a resivoir of fatty tissue. Duck! (I just copied and pasted this one, I think it's so cute!!) "Did you know ducks are very social animals and suffer if they don't have companionship. If ducks have been raised alone they start to believe that they are part of the flock that is around them. This means that if a duck is raised by a human they start to believe that they to are human."Elephant! (My personal favorite!) Even though they are the biggest mammal on land, they have excellent balance. They usually sleep standing up, and sleep between 4-5 hours a night.
Flamingo! The average lifespan for flamingos is 20-30 years. They also have few netural preditors.Giraffes! (Another personal favorite!) Baby giraffes are approximately six feet tall and 150 pounds.
Hippopotamus! (I took this as a direct quote again...) "The hippo’s yawn is not a sign of sleepiness or boredom but is actually a threat gesture, displaying long, thick, razor-sharp canine teeth, or tusks, with which it is capable of biting a small boat in half." Scary huh? Ibis! (I've actually never heard of this animal, the name just sounded cool!) It is native to Africa and Asia, and migrated to Australlia and Southeastern America.
Jaguar! "Jaguar" means "a beast that kills its prey with a single bound." Kangaroo! There are over forty speices of kangaroos. Llama! (Another personal favorite...yet another direct quote). "Llamas are very easy to train and learn new skills readily. Llamas have excellent survival skills and their thick coats help them to thrive in extreme climates." Meerkat. Meerkats are naturally immune to scorpion and snake poison. Nene (yeah, I've never heard of it either). It's actually the Hawaiian Goose, but they eat: leaves, seeds, berries and flowers of grasses, herbs and shrubs. Ostrich! Since ostriches can't fly (scientists believe this is because their wings can't support their weight) they result to using their legs. They are actually one of the fastest animals on Earth. Penguin! (This one's for my sister...another direct quote...) They eat fish and krill. They don't drink water, but eat snow. They have a gland in their nose that takes the salt out of the ocean water. They swallow ocean water when they catch fish. Quahog! (A type of clam?) Also known as cherrystone, littleneck and hard-shell clam. They have a dingy white shell about 3 to 5 inches long. Rooster! Today nearly 6.5 billion chickens are raised each year in the United States alone. Seahorse! (YAY!) Seahorses differ in color, some are orange, red, yellow, green and even grey.
Zebra stripes and spots, are two patterns that seahorses come in. Turtles! They live on every contient except Antarctica. North America contains a large variety of turtle species, but Europe contains only two species of turtle and three species of tortoise. Uromastyx spinipes! (I don't know what they are either...let's find out!) Also known as the Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard. (There's actually not a lot of cool facts about them...darn) Velvet Swimming Crab! It gets its name from the fine velvety texture of its carapace. The rear legs are flattened for swimming, but it is more typically found hiding in crevices. Wolf! There are 4-36 wolves in a pack and their territories can range from 130-13,000 km. You can tell wolves are friendly ,when they roll over and show their bellies. When they want to play, they put their paws down and wag their tail. When they want to fight, they show their fangs and start growling. When they want to stop they put their ears back and lay down. Xenopus! They are also known as African Clawed Frogs are one of the world’s most unusual amphibians. Unlike most of the world’s other amphibians, these aquatic animals are equipped with claws. They use these claws to tear apart large pieces of food. Yellow-tailed black cockatoo! is native to the south-east Australia and is the largest of the cockatoos and of Australian parrots. Zebra! Zoologists believe that the black and white stripes in zebras serve the purpose of camouflage. The color blind predators get confused between the stripes and the grass blades. Another reason is the personal identification, as the pattern of stripes in one zebra cannot exactly match the pattern of another one.