Warm Fuzzies and a Christmas to Remember

Okay, scratch what I said about "ample opportunities" to write blogs. I have been SO BUSY!! This happens to me every year; during the week prior to Christmas/Winter Break it seems like two weeks off school is SO MUCH TIME. Then the break comes around, and POOF! it's already half over!! and I haven't done anything! Well, anything that I needed or wanted to do, anyway.

The holidays were different this year because my brother wasn't here. Our family traditions seemed (and were) a little messed up, and there were a lot of things that just didn't feel quite right. It really helped that he was able to call and talk to us (YAY) for over an hour, even if he did keep us waiting for four hours up until then. All five of us were squished together on our three-person couch, anxiously waiting. :) We did really good! We didn't even start bawling until after he hung up!

The first part of my week was spent decorating and cleaning up for Christmas. It was really fun because, as I said in an earlier blog, I've been really REALLY excited for Christmas this year. I wasn't worried about getting what I had asked for, because I didn't ask for anything. It turned out pretty good! I got two super comfy blankets, both green; an awesome jacket; a BEAUTIFUL blue cotton scarf from Iain, straight from Montreal (I'm assuming...?); and a collection of talks by one of the coolest speakers ever--John Bytheway :).

Now to the real topic of this blog:

One of my favorite parts of this whole month is how my family made this a Christmas to remember. We decided the best way to do that would be to help another family have the same experience. We picked a family in our ward and did a "12 Stories of Christmas" kind of thing. Each night someone in my family would run the package (a Christmas story we had picked along with an object that symbolized something in it) to their front porch, ring the doorbell, and run to the corner of the street as fast as we could without slipping on the ice to the "Getaway Car". It was so fun! One of the earlier weeks at church, one of the kids came up to my mom and asked if it was us that was doing ''that Santa thing". They were mumbling, and they were asking kind of hesitantly, so it was easy for my mom to act as if she had no idea what they were talking about.

It gave me warm fuzzy feelings to think that even if they hadn't seen us, they had considered us people that might have done something like that. I know this will definitely be a Christmas to remember, whether it is because it's our first Christmas that we're not all home together as a family, or because we decided to make it special and exciting for someone that we knew would have had a hard time otherwise.

I'm exceedingly glad (that's #9!) that my family was able to do this service this year. I know it helped me to appreciate the strength and closeness of my own family, as well as the blessings that come from service.

A[nother] Review!

Okay, so I know I haven't done any real POSTS lately, but all I've really been writing about are essays for term projects and such. Now that it's the break (YAY) I should have ample opportunities to write blogs! But for now, here is my Rhapsody term project - A review on Mannheim Steamroller :)

For my birthday this year, my dad said that he would take me to a concert of my choice. I spent months looking up performances at Abravenal Hall, Kingsbury Hall, and many, many others. Finally, around the beginning of November, I found in the newspaper that Mannheim Steamroller was performing their 25^th anniversary tour on the 18^th and 19^th. I was so excited! I had never been to one of their performances, but I love their Christmas music and I had heard a lot about them! I told my dad my idea, and he was just as excited as I was. So, on November 18, my dad and I made our way to our $70 orchestra seats in Abravenal Hall.

We couldn’t have asked for better seats. We were smack-dab in the middle of the audience. We had a perfect view of everything on the stage, and when the musicians came on, we could see their facial expressions perfectly; their visuals and stage presence were phenomenal. The program was arranged in such a way that you never fell asleep or thought your ears would burst from so much sound. The composition of the music was exhilarating and beautiful.

Before the performance started, they had a huge screen pulled across the stage that had a projector showing a pretty indoor Christmas-y scene. When the concert started, they began with Hallelujah. It was an awesome way to start because it was energetic and they had lights flashing everywhere. It got everyone really excited and pumped up for the rest of the concert. I loved watching the violinist; even when she wasn’t playing she was getting into the other’s music. Throughout the concert she and the pianist were almost having a miniature “battle of the bands” between the two of them. It was really fun to watch!

At some points they went really over-the-top with the visuals; they would pull the screen across again and show some video while they played their music. With some, like Deck the Halls where they just showed some pictures from past performances in the background, it wasn’t hard on the eyes. In fact, the ones where the visuals were just small were actually very entertaining. But on other songs they would project entire performances right in from of you, and it was hard to watch. During the second half of the program they performed God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, both a more traditional version and again with a more modern feel. It was the longest and most boring part of the whole performance. They pulled the screen across and showed what felt like a ten-minute reenactment of what a Christmas feast would have looked like during the Renaissance. It would have been pretty cool if it had been about five times shorter. The good thing was that they recaptured everyone’s attention with their next songs.

Their program was very cleverly arranged. They would alternate between faster, more energetic songs and other slower ones that would give you time to calm down and relax. You were never bored (except, of course, for God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) because they would finish with a calmer one and start the next one right off with an explosion of noise!

One of the things I loved most about Mannheim Steamroller’s music is how original and unique it all is. Even with this concert where almost all of it was just remakes of traditional songs, it was like hearing the songs for the first time. It was full of energy and so fun to watch!

I have always loved Mannheim Steamroller’s CDs, but nothing can compare to being there in person! The acoustics in Abravenal Hall are absolutely amazing. The sound reverberates around you so much it almost makes your head start to spin. Because their music is considered “18^th Century Rock-n-Roll”, the bass seems to make the whole building shake. The energy of the musicians are very contagious!

Letters About Literature!

Here is the essay-in-letter-form that I wrote for the Letters About Literature contest I entered. It wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped, but I was already late in turning it in.... I don't think I even did it right, as they said it shouldn't be a fan letter, but I really couldn't help it! I'm a fan!!

Dear Mr. Riordan,

I have always loved reading, but it wasn't until I started writing more on my own that I began to appreciate how difficult it is to come up with original ideas. That is why I really enjoyed reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Your writing is original and creative. I really like how you are able to retell classic myths with a modern-day twist, and I absolutely love your sense of humor.

I have started hundreds of stories within the past few years. I have never finished any of them because I realize halfway through my story that it's almost exactly the same as other books I've read. This has been very demoralizing for me. When I heard about your series, I was amazed. I could not believe that there was such a great idea that no one had written about before. It gave me hope for my own writing, especially after reading them and seeing how well written they were. Everything was obviously well thought through, and written with amazing imagination. I has encouraged me to realize there are lots of new ideas out there if I just keep working at it.

Probably one of my favorite things about your books is how accurate they are to the original myths. We just finished our unit in mythology in my english class, and I understood so much more after reading your series. I had a lot of fun talking about the myths in class because in the back of my mind I could see each of the characters in your books. We read parts of the Odyssey in class, and one of my favorite parts was reading about Circe and seeing the guinea pigs from her island spa in the Sea of Monsters. The way you picked up on the gods' characteristics and placed them in a modern world was absolute genius. Poseidon in Bermuda shorts and sandals, Zeus in the expensive pinstripe suit, and Ares in the black leather biker clothes. It was hilarious to picture the gods as you had described them, and it was surprisingly easy. It was so believable!

So many of the situations in your stories are completely unrealistic (like time stopping in the Lotus Hotel), yet you put the characters in situations that we can relate to and make them believable. How many kids completely lose track of time while playing video games? The ideas that the ADHD trait in kids is really their battle reflex, and dyslexia comes from having a brain "wired for ancient Greek" was genius. I loved the irony of the main characters being the underdogs in their normal life at school and home, but that they were really the ones saving the world. It gives us normal people something to work for! We may not be the best at sports or the smartest in school, but who knows? Maybe one day we'll be the ones saving the world!

All of the creativity and humor in your books made me want to be a better writer. I want to give others the same pleasure that I had reading them, so I decided to take the Creative Writing class taught at my school. I know that if I had not read your books I would not be so dedicated and enthusiastic about writing as I now am!

Thank you for all of your hard work! Keep it up!

Thank you, Tylenol!

I hate headaches with a passion. I really do. They make me grumpy, even if they do make for really interesting blogs....

It feels like my thoughts are running around inside my head banging drums against my skull and eyeballs. I'm at the point where I want to run outside and stick my head in the snow, then the freezer, then then a bucket of water, and run back and forth until my head is frozen (it's the new Water Cycle!). I'll be so numb I can't even feel my thoughts running around. In fact, their feet will be frozen to my skull, so they won't be able to run, anyway. Muahahahaha! My plan is complete!

Or, at least, until my head defrosts....

A Christmas-y Kind of Mood....

In past years, I've felt like the Grinch. It's seemed like I've done all I can to prevent Christmas up until December 1st. But for some reason, this year has been quite the opposite!

It drove me crazy when my older sister would go through the house whistling 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' as loud as she could. But now that she's living up at USU, I've actually missed her whistling! Or when my little sister would play 'Up On The Housetop' on the piano; I would ask her as nicely as I could without exploding to PLEASE play something else. Now I actually sing along. Christmas music is stuck in my head constantly (no thanks to Rhapsody.... "There's a brand new Christmas dance, it's the latest sensation..... JINGLE JINGLE! JINGLE JINGLE!) but it makes me smile! It used to drive me crazy, but now I'm like, "break out the hot chocolate! Put on White Christmas or Frosty the Snowman and let's go play in the snow!" It's been so fun! I've been totally and completely giddy for about 2 weeks now! I can't wait to get out the Christmas decorations! I want to go outside and make snow angels! Or paper snowflakes!

This new fall of snow has me bouncing off walls. When I looked out the window this afternoon and saw that it was snowing, I ran to get my dog's leash and took her on a walk. Without an umbrella. Just my super-puffy burnt-marshmallow coat (that's what my little sister calls it - it's really squishy and it's black. Thus the name Burnt Marshmallow Coat).

That's something else I've been excited about. I LOVE the cold! I don't like being cold, but I like it when the weather's cold. If I have a warm blanket or coat, and my face is cold, I am in pure bliss. Which is why I love jacket weather :) My idea of a perfect day is a rainy or snowy one. I've decided I'm going to move to either Montreal or Seattle, where it's either raining or snowing every day. I don't like the heat, and those two cities only have a week or two of summer :) Now THAT would be fun!

I can't wait for the winter break. I mean, five days off for Thanksgiving is going to be a BLAST, but we get like 2 or 3 weeks off for Christmas! I keep thinking about all the movies I need to watch (LOTR marathon for New Years! Helena, you know you're jealous!), all the candy to make, the jam to deliver to neighbors, the parties with friends and family, all the beautiful lights and decorations, all the concerts...... Christmas is an amazing holiday! :)

Eeeheeheehee :D I feel like Rhino from Bolt (HmmhmmhmmhmmHMM! I'll go get my ball!) I'm so GIDDY! Which also means I'm making no sense! Sorry if you're confused! If you are, don't worry about it! If you're one of my friends and I'm still confusing you, SHAME ON YOU! You should be used to it by now!

(by the way, the new colors on my blog are in honor of Christmas and hopes that it will hurry up!)

HELP!!

Okay, I'm going to need everyone's help on this. This is a super-duper-ally-ooper rough draft of my Mythology Paper, and I need help editing. This was written VERY late, and I most likely made a million typos and the like. I also need help with the title.... I can't quite come up with the right word to describe him....

King Minos: A (Self-Absorbed/Arrogant/Egocentric/Selfish) Father

What would you do if your child had the head of a bull and a body of a human? Throw it in a maze, of course. The story of King Minos and the Minotaur illustrates many common themes in Greek mythology. The gods often interfere with mortal life, whether it is wanted or not. Emotions, like shame and pride, often get in the way of rational thinking. Heroes are always popping up and killing monsters.

The gods often interfere with mortal life, whether it helps the situations or makes things worse. Poseidon sent the bull for Minos to prove he was king. Poseidon turns the next child into Minotaur because Minos did not sacrifice his bull. This is similar to when Hera interfered with Hercules’ tasks because she was mad at his existence. Often the ways that the gods interfere are irrational because they are acting on their emotions and impulse.

It’s human nature to act without thinking, and that has caused many problems both now and during mythological times. The gods, even though they are immortal beings, often act in very human ways. For example, Athena was jealous of Arachne because she was a better weaver, so she caused her to become guilty and depressed which ended in her suicide. Luckily, Athena felt bad about what she had done, and she brought Arachne back to life in the form of a spider. Minos was greedy and kept the bull given to him by Poseidon for himself instead of sacrificing it. He thought he could trick Poseidon and give him a different bull instead. Poseidon’s anger caused him to punish Minos by targeting his wife, Pasiphaë. There are many instances of these irrational actions causing problems that only a hero can solve.

The need for heroes is a very common theme in mythology. Problems caused by the interactions between humans and gods are as numerous as the sands of the sea. A prime example of this is when Theseus set out to kill the Minotaur after Minos had put it in the Labyrinth. Bellerophon killed the Chimera after Iobates had thought it impossible and had set up the trick to kill Bellerophon. Perseus had to save his mother by slaying Medusa. Each of these heroes completed very difficult tasks that were results of the gods and their actions.

The story of King Minos contains many common themes of mythology. Gods can’t resist meddling in human affairs. Gods and humans alike often give in to irrational thinking based on their emotions. Everyone looks to the heroes to solve the problems caused by everyone else’s actions. A hero a day keeps the monsters at bay! It’s these common elements that make mythology so fun to read!

Fortune Cookie Writer

"Try a new hairstyle tomorrow."

Come on! Is that the best you can do? That's EASY. I should be a fortune cookie writer. I could give people great advice:

"Never do that again."

"Turn that frown upside down!"

"Dream your life or live your dream." (Credit goes to Destrie on that one)

Actually, just tonight I was eating a fortune cookie from last night's take-out (Gourmet Garden! Woot!) while I was trying to come up with blog ideas (this blog is the result): "Work on ideas that are creative and can bring fine results." I could not stop laughing! I had just been telling my mom how I could not for the life of me think of anything to blog about! (In fact, that's what got me on my Murphy's Law blog, too. It's so weird when these coincidences come up!)

Anyway, I just thought I would share with you my FORTUNE COOKIE MISFORTUNE.

Sorry.

I was just thinking about how awesome of a mystery title that would make.

(I called it! It is now [not] copy writed!)

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Of all the laws in the world, I think Murphy's is the most accurate. Thomas Moore once said (that sounds cheesy, I know):

I never had a slice of bread,

Particularly large and wide,

That did not fall upon the floor,

And always on the buttered side.

It's surprisingly true. It's almost like watching something in slow motion. You watch something like your bread falling and think 'Just watch, I'll bet it falls on the buttered side....' and then it does. Thank you, Mister Murphy!

But I'm not here to talk about bread and butter!

Let's talk about turtles instead!

Yes, I said turtles.

Picture a turtle stuck on its back, with its legs floundering in the air, trying to right itself. That's how I often feel during awkward situations. I'm stuck on my back, trying to figure out what to say in order to get myself back on track and on my feet.

Have you ever been at a party where after a lot of talking, there is a really looooong, awkward silence? It lasts forever. No one knows what to say, and everyone fears that they will make fools of themselves if they open their mouths. After about five minutes of this, everyone decides to say something at the same time. It's really weird! And very awkward!

That very thing happened to me when I was about nine years old. My siblings and I were eating our lunch and it was DEAD. SILENT. None of us said a word (which was really weird because, if you know me, I talk all the time). Then, my brother and I said simultaneously, “Well, this is awkward."

And it certainly was.

But it was a good conversation starter! We all started laughing and that got us talking.

I want to hear about awkward situations that have to do with Murphy’s Law. Have any good ones? Please comment! :)

I have ONE NERVE LEFT and YOU'RE GETTING ON IT!

Sevvies.

They drive me crazy.

They get all these weird ideas about what you're supposed to do when you get into junior high. Like dating.

Last year, I was in the girls' bathroom before school. There were two sevvies in there that were giggling and squealing. This was a long time ago, so this isn't word for word. But it was so funny I remembered more than I usually can. And I'm not exaggerating with the whole Valley Girl stuff. Their conversation went something like this:

"Oh Em Gee! You won't BELIEVE who just asked me out!"

"I bet I can guess his name; was it 'James'?"

"YES! How did you know??"

"Well, you've been flirting with him all week. How could he not ask you out after all that??"

"Oh Em Gee you are so right!! Anyway, we're going steady now."

"Oh Em Gee! Did he say that?"

"No, but we will be soon!"

"Oh Em Gee! So have you made out yet??"

"No, we are after school. We're meeting at James' locker."

I went to class just laughing because I couldn't believe how idiotic they both were. After school that SAME day, I was waiting outside for my mom to pick me up. I see the two girls surrounded by a posse of other sevvie girls. The girl from the bathroom was bawling. The rest of the girls were patting her back and giving her hugs and crying and and saying things like, "Don't worry; he'll see how much of an idiot he was to break up with you" and "You poor thing! You must feel terrible" or "I don't know how you'll be able to come to school tomorrow and face that jerk"...... etc, etc, etc......

Seriously, people?? Coming into junior high does NOT mean that you have to being going out with someone! Do they think they need to do that to keep up with the Smiths and the Joneses of the school? Why do they think the Joneses' standards and ideals are even worth keeping up with? Junior high romances are just silly and they never last anyway!! I mean, look at that! That lasted for ONE DAY. And then they broke up. Pathetic.

Who can even understand sevvies' mentalities? This is my theory on what MUST be going through everyone's heads:

5th grade and below - dating is a no-no and boys & girls still have cooties.
6th grade - minor crushes, but no dating. It's still just stupid.
7th grade - DATING DATING DATING. IT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL FIT INTO JUNIOR HIGH. We both like each other, so now we're 'going steady'.... etc etc. Everyone pairs off and actually goes on dates OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL, like to the movies and stuff.
8th grade - Wow. We were idiots last year. And tiny idiots at that. No more dating outside of school, but a few people pair off and are 'going out', but only at school.
9th grade - WHY ON EARTH ARE THEY GOING OUT??? THEY'RE SUCH IDIOTS!!!! SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!! YOU ARE WAY TOO YOUNG TO BE PAIRING OFF!!! Very few 9th graders pair off anymore, but there are always the groups of friends that will hang out together. It isn't considered dating.
+10th grade - not sure yet. we'll see when we get there.

Don't get me wrong, I like dating. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to meet wonderful people. It has its place, just NOT in junior high!

Anyone agree? Disagree? Tell me what you think! (please! I like comments!)

Bottled Emotions....

Have you ever wished with all your heart that one moment could last a lifetime? Or that pure joy was an emotion you could keep saved in a bottle, to be opened whenever you needed to be cheered up? Or even that you had savored those moments and that joy just a little longer?

Regret is a powerful thing.

I can already tell on the night of our last performance for the Rhapsody Musical Revue that these are moments I will cherish for a lifetime. These are moments that I wish could be saved in a jar, and these are moments that I know I will wish I had treasured just a little more.

I have made some amazing friends in Rhapsody. I have discovered things about myself that I never would have dreamed of. Rhapsody is by far the highlight of my day. It's one class that 80 minutes can't be long enough. It has brought out the best (and sometimes scariest) parts in all of us.

Today is our last performance. After tonight we can say goodbye to Guys and Dolls, Grease, and Newsies. After months of exhausting and very long practices (many after school and even on Saturday), we have three nights to perform it all and show everyone what we can do. I think I'm going to cry. It's something I just don't want to stop.

Lessons Learned at The Ranch...

So this weekend, my family went up to our ranch to help my grandparents. We were working out in the pasture cutting the herd (separating the calves from their moms and sorting them - not actually cutting them, for you animal protection activist people....). It's a really tough job - My grandpa decides ahead of time which calves he wants to sell, and our job is to go and find them all. And that's AFTER getting them all in the pasture! (That part is actually pretty fun! I get to drive around on the 4-wheeler chasing the cows through the ginormous field :D)

My grandpa seems to have every cow memorized. I'm not just talking the different tag numbers. He remembers who the mom was, who the mom's mom was, when it was born, WHERE it was born, any health issues, and how each one looks. (That's pretty impressive when they're all solid black angus!) "...270 has a small head but good shoulders.... She's had really good health but her mom was the one that had that prolapse...." It's really quite scary how much stuff he can remember!

Anyway, the first part of the day went something like this: get up from our warm, comfortable beds at 7:30 am and get about ten to fifteen layers of clothes on: jeans, two or three pairs of wool socks, sweat shirt, another sweat shirt, puffy winter coat, scarf, wind breaker, thick leather gloves, another scarf, a beanie hat, jacket hood, chaps, cowboy boots, galoshes, etc etc etc.... You stagger outside under your 50 pounds of newly-gained weight into the below-freezing Wyoming air. Great way to wake up, isn't it?

We get out to the garage where the trucks and "Buggies" (4-wheelers - not sure why my family calls them that) are parked, and my cousins go saddle up their horses. I throw one leg over the side of one buggy and nearly fly right over the top. Those galoshes get a lot of inertia built up when you swing them that hard.... If you've ever worn them, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't... Well, I can't say that you're missing out on anything....

We take our lumbering army of about 15 out to the cows in the field. We surround all sides of the herd and push them toward the pasture. (I'm going to give you a really quick lesson about cows, because you'll need this knowledge for the rest of my story.) The concept of herding cows is fairly easy: look at where you're standing in relation to the cow's shoulder. If you're ahead of the shoulder, it will turn away from you. If you're behind the shoulder, it'll move forward. Get right in front of him, and he'll (hopefully) stop. Pretty easy to remember, right? Of course it is!

So why do I keep messing up??

That's what I was asking myself almost all day yesterday. Grandpa would shout out the tag number of the calf he wanted, and we would scan the herd looking for it. When we did find it, we would call everyone over, cut as many cows out of the way as we could, and form a "fence" behind the cow. This is done by everyone spreading out evenly in a straight-ish line, covering all ground between the cow and his way to freedom. This way, if the cow decides he doesn't like the idea of being separated from his buddies and tries to make a break for it, we move in front of him as swiftly as we can under all our protective gear (is that how a quarter back feels? hmm....). The cow will usually stop when he sees you in front of him. (Unless it's like the particularly rebellious cow we did last, where he just bolts past you anyway, even if you're whacking him on top of the head with all of your heart, might, mind and strength!)


.....again, this is one of those posts that I'm still writing past midnight the night it's due.... I've reached the word count (exceeded it, actually), but I'm not done with my story.... Methinks (yes, that's a real word!) I'm going to have to finish this later..... like, tomorrow, when I've gotten a nap....... zzzzzzZZZZZZZ...... good night!

Self Esteem....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWNYndqFTR4&feature=response_watch

So this is something I saw a while ago, but I think it's awesome. I think every guy should be like this! (No, this is not a video about Edward. He's overrated and ugly. hahaha) But seriously, really cool clip. take a few seconds to check it out, and hopefully it will change how you look at people.

Two 'Wallflowers' and An Awkward Barrier....

Since my last post, I've been thinking a lot about silence, but not only along the 'cow' train of thought. So......... I'm dedicating this blog entry to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Joelle :D I'll bet you anything that when she reads this she will start laughing, and probably get mad at me the next day at school, but oh well. She deserves this, so it's worth being killed for!

Joelle and I met under interesting circumstances in seventh grade. We were both shy little sevvies who didn't have anyone to talk to during lunch. We would both wait out in the commons, hoping the bell would put an end to our little bubble of embarrassing silence in the middle of all the commotion. We always saw each other in the same spot, but would never say anything. We would pace back and forth, both trying to come up with something to say without sounding like an idiot. (Which, in junior high, is very important, especially as a seventh grader.) After over a week of this, I plucked up the courage to introduce myself.

"I'm Drue."

....and that was it. Nothing else. We smiled at each other briefly, then went back to looking at the floor. The next day was the same way. An insanely long awkward silence, and then one question. This time I asked what her name was. (little secret here that you don't even know, Joelle: I knew what your name was before I asked you :D I could see it on your lunch box, but I needed a conversation starter. haha!) When she answered, I asked her what grade she was in. (Looking back on that as a ninth grader, I can see how lame that question was. We were amongst the shortest of people there, and nobody but a sevvie could POSSIBLY look as lost and confused and lonely as we did. But like I said before, I needed conversation!) So when she said she was in seventh grade, too, I was ecstatic! Because I was one of maybe five people from Kaysville Elementary, I didn't know anyone at Fairfield. I was so excited to learn that Joelle was my age.

After a couple of days of that same kind of conversation (silence, question, smile, silence, maybe one more question....) we started to branch off to different topics, such as classes and family and such. I'm not sure how long it took, but eventually we started getting whole conversations in. (WHOLE CONVERSATIONS! NOT JUST A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS SPREAD THROUGHOUT A WEEK!) Some how we got talking about birthdays. This is where it starts getting really weird: we have the same birthday. And I'm not talking a year apart. I mean we were born within hours of each other.

I think that's what really broke that awkward barrier. We would start giggling and talking with more enthusiasm. Aren't books wonderful? What books have you read? Have you read *insert book title here*? Aren't boys so annoying? How many boys are in your family?....... And we would go on and on.

I remember writing several journal entries around that time: I'm so glad I have Joelle to talk to.... She's exactly the kind of friend I've been wishing for.... I've been so lonely and now I have someone to sit with at lunch.... I found out today that Joelle and I have the same birthday! How crazy is that? I wonder what other similarities we'll find! Maybe we're really twins that were separated at birth. Well, except for the fact that we look NOTHING alike..... There were many entries like that. That sort of gives you an idea of how excited I was. Every day I would come home and tell my family what Joelle and I had talked about.

Jello, thank you for your friendship! :) Throughout french class, Yearbook, 8th grade english, girl's choir, and all of our after school adventures, your friendship has meant the world to me! I would never have gotten through school without you there to laugh through it all with me, especially 7th grade! Thank you for everything! May you find your Mr. Ferris and live your life to the fullest! ;)

Moo?

So, lately, I've been thinking a lot of deep thoughts, but for the life of me I can't think what any of them were.... If I shared any of them with you, please tell me!! There were quite a few that just made me stop and think "wow! This would make a really good blog!" But now.... *sigh* I'll just go with whatever pops into my head....

Let's start with silence.

And cows.

At our family ranch in Robertson, WY, we have a herd of about 2oo head of Black Angus cattle. There will be times when we are working the cows (herding, tagging, branding, giving vaccinations, etc.), when at the peak of all the ruckus, there is a moment of complete and udder silence. (sorry, bad pun there - couldn't help it) All 200 of them will suddenly stop mooing. This silence only lasts for about five seconds, but it's rather unnerving all the same. Is there some kind of disturbance deep within the earth that only cows can sense? What is it that creates this strange phenomenon?

I know I might sound a little weird, and a few of you may be wondering why I am not in a mental hospital. But I promise, if you have spent as much time as I have around cows, this would be strange and slightly creepy to you, too. Have you ever heard 200 cows all mooing at once? It's LOUD. It's so loud you can't hear yourself think. But just when you think you're going to lose it because it's so noisy, everything goes silent. It's almost as if someone pressed mute on the TV.

I still like my older brother's interpretation: He says the cows are in a movie, and all at once they forget their lines. The director reminds them, "moo!" and they all start up again. (the silence is usually broken when one rebellious cow moos really loudly)

I can just see everyone scrambling for the phone book, wondering where the nearest asylum is. But seriously, people, where's the fun in that? I want to know what everyone thinks about silence. I might make a poll about this, but if I don't, just comment and tell me what you think :D

I am part of all I have met.........John Donne

My family has always been very culturally alert. My dad went on his LDS mission to Taiwan, my mom to Honduras, and my older brother will be in Montreal, Canada in about two weeks. I love foreign music, and everyone in my family is at least bilingual. But I still think I like the food the best!

Even now, I can tell that one of my favorite childhood memories when I get older will be the smell of my dad's Chinese cooking. He has exposed my family and I to the language, the music, and the food he would buy on the streets of Taiwan. Sometimes we go with him to the Asian markets in Salt Lake City. He buys ingredients to make what he would eat in Taiwan: guodz (GWOH-dzuh), or "pot stickers"; Ma Po Tofu, a rice and tofu dish; Dan Bing (DAWN bing), which is a fried egg wrapped in the Chinese equivalent of a crêpe; and a Vietnamese hot sauce made of chilies called "Sriracha".

On top of my dad's cooking, my family goes to a LOT of international "Ma 'n Pa" restaurants. We like these better than the "Americanized" restaurants because they serve authentic food. I'm not talking Taco Bell or Little Orient. Those places all buy their sauces from the same place, where as Gourmet Garden or Mandarin Cafe make their food from scratch, with recipes straight from their home countries. My family goes to international restaurants about once a week, ranging anywhere from Indian, Spanish, French, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, and even Peruvian. I have come to love spicy foods (Sriracha, Tabasco, Wasabi... The spicier, the better!) and I always look forward to trying new regional flavors.

My dad's favorite radio station is a community radio called KRCL 90.9 FM. Their website describes it really well (so check it out and tune in!). They said they have over eight different languages, representing the minorities of Utah. Some of the programs are "Ethno-Sphere", which is music from all over the world; and "Jumbo-Africa", which is all African music; and "Voice of the Vietnamese". They have volunteer DJ's from their respective countries that know the culture and music. I love listening to their accents and what they talk about; they always have the coolest stories in between songs. It's so interesting to hear what they have to say!

My older brother, Iain, took six years of French throughout his schooling, so we all thought it was hilarious when he was called to Montreal, Canada to speak Mandarin Chinese!

Hmm. So it looks like I'm running out of time to do this.... I might come back to this particular post some other time, because I would really like to keep talking about it....

Blog Post #1

Hello, world!! :D