To whom it may concern

This year is almost over.

Where did it all go to?

I've experienced a cold winter with plenty of snow days, wonderfully gray (grey?) spring days where it rained all day. I lived a whole gloriously long summer and slipped straight into school. Fall passed before I even knew it and hung on with its dead trees and bare ground until the day after Christmas. Then it snowed.

The days are long , but the years are short.

Cheers to 2011, I'm ready to do it all again.

Deep, Deep Thoughts :)

I hate it when it rains and all the worms crawl out onto the cement. Uhhhgghh.
I know they would drown in the ground but they will dry up on the sidewalk anyways.


I'm glad it stopped raining and started snowing.


Hmmmm... does that mean that all the worms will freeze?


The worlds sorta sick that way.

Or I could learn how to knit and I could make all the worms sweaters! I could sew them ponchos!


So now I have something to do if I ever learn how to knit.




:)

and I smiled...

Yesterday evening we were watching Little Women. We had gotten more than halfway through the movie and Ruthie loooks around, confused. " So where's the little woman?", she asks.


Valid question Ruth, valid question.

what a wonderful world...

it should be a crime to dislike beautiful things like louie armstrong singing "its a wonderful world".

Basketball and other stuff...

This passed Thursday we (the band) went and played at our boys' basketball game, which was really cool, but we were absolutly trampled by Oak Hill. Gosh dang it guys! Well, I can at least say we fought hard and ddn't lose by as much as the eighth grade. ♪We're loyal to you Elwood Middle...♪

I've had the busiest week ever! For some reason everyone decides to do everything at once: concerts, tutoring ( I'm the tutor), end of semester tests, ISSMA music days,and semester report cards grades going in really soon (five days). On Wendsday I think I spent thirteen hours at school. Whewww! I was ready for the weekend for sure!

But its been fun, and I can't complain. I do sign myself up for all of it and I'm such a nerd that I've been working very very hard for all A+s this grading period. ☺

God be with you till we meet again...

Thanksgivingmas

I had a great Thanksgiving. I love being with my great family and friends. There was very yummy food, and Gretle brought her famously awesome cheesecake! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I love all of you and you are the best!

Now I feel like we're in a time when we're sorta hanging between Thanksgiving and Christmas time. You know, its right after Thanksgiving and just barely before when we would usually start the Christmassy stuff. But I am the type of person that jumps right on top of things and am a girl on a mission when you give me an assignment! So, yeah I've already decorated for Christmas.

Anyways, tommorow I have school again after Thanksgiving Break. UUUGGGGGHHHHH >:(
Its amazing how used I am too sleeping in, staying up late, and well, not having school. Yet therew is always an upside! Three weeks till Christmas Break!!

Oh I'm So Embarassed...

Have you ever done anything that was very, very, very embarrassing at the time and possibly still is? Yep, I'm sure you have, and if you haven't, well, you are one of the few people who have not been scarred by absolute humiliation.

Just recently Emma and I were home cleaning our room on a Thursday night (actually just last Thursday night) while Mom was out with Naomi, Ruthie, and Eli at Eli's wrestling practice. We were goofing off and being real idiots and singing this one song because it was stuck in our heads. Did I tell you yet that it was a Barbie song of all things?

So we are singing this song and a fateful phone call comes that will change the course of my peace of mind.(du du daaa !!!!!)

The Fateful Phone Call

This is the interchange that went between me and the person I thought was my Mom.

Me:(singing) If I could just wish for one thing, it'd be the smile that you bring, whoooowhoooa, two voices one song... (I THOUGHT IT WAS MY MOM!!)

Me: (confused at why my mom didn't cut my song off short)Um...Hello?

Other End: Hello, this is Brother Smith*....

Me:(silent, shocked, utterly embarrassed..)

Brother Smith: Was that a voice mail?

Me: Umm.... Yeah.

That is all that I can remember. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to take a message but I sorta blanked out and just said goodbye really quickly when he was done talking to me.

Oh dear. I am so embarrassed...


*Names have been changed because like I said...I'm still very embarrassed.

I am Thankful for...

1.)Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!
2.)My Momma:)
3.)My Dad:)
4.)Emma
5.)Naomi
6.)Eli
7.)Ruthie
8.)Good food and being blessed with lots of it.
9.)Summer evenings and Spring mornings, and both for different reasons.
10.)New Year parties that last late into the night.
11.)Not to shabby grades in school;)
12.)Chicken Devan. (See number eight)
13.)Crazy, crazy, insane friends!!!! (They're fun too!)
14.)Band Geekiness:)
15.)Goodwill 50% off weekends!
16.)Good health.
17.)Happy people that tend to make my day.
18.)Summer days that start off rainy.
19.)Homemade/crocheted hats.
20.)Wonderfully adorable winter coats! (Hint, hint mom!:)

Today in the Life.....

Today was a pretty normal day, nothing to yell about, but some Notable Events have come to pass.
1.) I started tutoring today! I have three kids, each in the fourth grade and all(amazingly) in the same class. I tutor them only on Wednesdays and during the seventh period. Seventh period is Health, so its not a real crank in my arm to give my generous time. Plus, I just plain like to do it.
2.)Eli and his friend Haden Somethingorother get on Poptropica constantly. They call each other on the phone and do some serious Poptropica secret swapping. You can hear Eli in his very-seriuos-business voice,"Yeah.... uh hu....uh hu.....okay..." ect, ect.
3.)Mumford and Sons rocks. Not that this is any new information or anything. I could rock out to The Cave any day.


Bajillion.) Young Womens is in a half hour. Bye!!!!

Oh Happy Day...

Today we had Stake Conference, and I gotta say, I was pretty pumped. I LOVE Stake

Conference. It is just so wonderful to see so many members of the Church gathered at

one place. It builds me up and reminds me of all the support we have, even though we

may not know it. Every time we sing a powerful song, my heart soars.

You see, my branch is small, small, small, and when we sing songs like The Spirit of

God and Praise to the Man it is sometimes rather quiet. When we gather as a Stake we

sing with gusto and pride. What a wonderful, wonderful blessing to be a member of

this glorius work...

Late Night Thoughts ( and i still have to get my homework done:(

I'm getting ready for a musical fireside on the 20th.... I can't even remember where it is, but, you know. Remember I play the flute?....I'm playing the flute for the fireside. Anyway, I've been been looking through about a million hymns and have been freaking out and I already said I'd do it and I can't find one I like and I am freaking out! Abide With Me? Nearer my God To Thee? Come Thou fount? Help me!!

p.s. I have a playing test over Instant Christmas Concert tomorrow morning during second period._. Wish me luck!

p.p.s. the picture means nothing and is slightly random:)

The DERBY!!!

Last night there was the first ever Elwood Branch Pinewood Derby and it was a BLAST! My dad is the scout master of our fairly new Cub Scout program. The derby wasn't regulation because it was for the whole branch and Dad just wanted to show the boys what one would be like. We ended up making like five cars, half of them Eli's.
And here they are..

Cute, right?
Well, anyways, after the Branch Thanksgiving dinner we all adjourned to the Primary room where we had set up the derby track the night before and began the Children's Division.



After a couple elimination rounds my cosin Boston was declared The Grand Champ of the Children's Division. Go Boston!!!
We also then moved on to do The Adult's races. Emma and I both raced in the adults races. I didn't get to build a car of my own, so I used the good old pink car, which had proven itself to be pretty fast in the other division when Naomi and Ruth raced it.


And guess what?!? I actually won out of The Adult division!:) I got a little trophy and everything. Very nice, right? Well the Pinewood Derby was TONS OF FUN, I loved it
and know that everyone really enjoyed it!

Hi Guys!!

Oh joy!! I love fall, best time of the year and the time when I gain like 50 pounds through Halloween and Thanksgiving. But then again, I'm more of an early fall person,you know? I'm not sure I can really "Oh,Joy" the weather that little Elwood is receiving right now. It is very, very, very, very cold and rainy today.
Anyway, there have been some interesting developments since I last blogged in ummm... November of '10? Whatever it was, I have some exciting and severely belated news!
1)I'm in YOUNG WOMEN'S!!!! Yaaaay!!
2)I finished the 6th Grade...
3)I played 2nd base in softball:)
4)I GOT A PIXIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

Can you see it in this picture? Sorry if you can't, there are barely any newer pics of me. I actually tend to take the pictures. Which by the way leads up to the next one....
5) Mom and Dad got me a camera for my birthday! Oh what fun...
6) I am a seventh grader!
7)I also made the 7th Grade volleyball team. Go number 10 (moi)!! We also, by the way, were the runners up to the CIC, respectively defeated by Madison Grant:(
8)My report card came in and I got all A's and two A+'s!
9)Oh yes, and have I told you I've been playing the flute in Band for the past year? Well guess what...I am.
10)And last but not least....We have a dog.

His name is Frank. Isn't he precious? He is a long haired dachshund and is one year old. He's a smart little guy and sure loves treats. Now we've seen him have a little bit of health problems but nothin' bad. Just to clarify he is "Emma's dog". She entered him in 4H this year and got runner up. Pretty good right?
Well there you go, talk to you later:)

It lived
and it sprang,
in the festoon
of the
days
That have
leaked through our
fingers and into
the
graves.

Awhile of wandering

through unforgiving skies,

How I wish to fly,

How I wish to fly.


Dawn will ring grey

an' sweep me away,

How I wish to fly,

How I wish to fly.

Juna’s Dance

Juna dances to a moonlight song

That carries her a’ far away,

To the river over and under

And down the Luna Path she strays.

Like the petals that glide around her

In a dreamless sleep she stays,

Lighten sprites usher round her,

A single night in many days.

November Rains

January hums a whipperwhirl wind,

February snows the torrenter’s thought,

March blooms the icy dusk,

April breezes cool blue,

May dances to robins songs,

June dreams slowly through the light,

July sparks the dark for home,

August gives a meal to the wayfaring winds,

September twists the ribbon strings,

October breaths the ice through downy feathers,

November rains,

And December is the song played by the stars.

The Window Room
I watched it from the window room,

The rain that fell,

Drowning worms and

Spidery things.


Padding against the windows are

Angels’ tears,

Or remnants of lost souls

Knocking to get in.


I watched it from the window room,

The storm that passed

A while ago…