Irony

I have had a few very ironic experiences in my life. and I enjoy them. because after the fact, they always make me laugh. always after though, I for sure don't like them in the moment.

example one. the other night I was driving home. that's not the ironic part, hold on. and I was listening to a talk given by Elder Cook. it's a really great talk, you should definitely read or listen to it if you have a minute. here's the link--->Personal Peace

and now for the irony. I was listening to it while driving in my car which I had forgotten to register and there were cops EVERYWHERE. one even zoomed past me with his lights on and I thought for sure I was done for. so my heart and mind were definitely not calm at this point. then a coyote ran across the road and I screamed because my nerves were about to ....um,....something. I was just very wound up, let's say. so, irony. talk on peace playing in the background of a frantic, practically illegal car. and did I mention I have an irrational fear of coyotes? I do.

here is another story from the past. I don't know that this is irony so much as just an interesting coincidence. wait,... anywho, there was this day back when I was going to SUU. it was one of the first warm days we had had in quite a while and I had decided I would try to do myself up reeeeaaal cute and not even wear a jacket. I took extra time with my hair, picked out my favorite clothing articles, painted my toe nails, all the stuff. and I was walking on campus feeling pretty dang fly. now, there is this walkway on SUU campus. it's pretty much a main walkway. it goes right down the center between all these main buildings and everyone has to walk down this cement path at some point in their day. and at the end of the path is a wide staircase, also a very popular walkway. and I was walking up these stairs with a large-ish crowd of people behind me. and I was thinking how cute I felt and how much less self-conscious I was that day. and my flip-flop caught the edge of one of the stairs. and I flew forward, throwing all the books and sheets of music I was carrying. and I landed less then gracefully, scraping my hands and wrists. and I learned something that day. and I've learned it several times since. flip-flops are the devil. just kidding, that's not what I learned. I learned to not get too prideful. and I also wonder how anyone can even be prideful. because I can't be the only one this stuff happens to. right????

I love ironic croc

so why did I tell you these stories? no idea. but peace and blessings!!

Feelin' senti-mental

K so I've been going through some bins I have that are full of old school stuff. Like stuff from school that is old, not "old school". Anywho, it is giving me that sort of heart-achy feeling you get when you start remembering too many happy things that have gone by. I am happy that I went through those things and had those experiences, but I'm sad because I miss those people that I never get to see anymore. I have all these old notes from my friends. Notes of encouragement, get well notes, old pics, quirky gifts people have given me, etc. And I am really missing these people right now. Like a lot. Mary Swank, Dani Harris, Anastassia, it has been waaaaaaay too long since I have seen you and I'm not happy about it!! So I made a little resolution. Whenever I take trips, I mostly only want to go where I can see these people I care about. Sight-seeing and all that can wait, I want to see my people!!

K, that was the sentimental part. Now for the funny part.

My little sister wrote me this little letter while I was away for my first semester of school. This is what it said and her exact spelling and punctuation. She was 8.

Oct, 23, 2008

Dear Savannah,
The best sister in the world!

A few days ago we'll as you know.
I got on the trampoline like I always do,
and the first jump I we'll I got a head ake,
and every single time I went up and down it got worse.
But I didn't want to get off.
Because every single time I get on the trampoline,
I haf to have a good reson to get off.
And that is what I call not a good reson.
So I stayed on with my stuipid friend named head ake.
Once I got on the trampoline and we'll I had to get off
because of stuipid homework.
But, I didn't want to get off so, I stayed on.
The next time I had to get off was worse because
that had a reson that was very bad.
But, now and then I am getting head akes.

Your sister,
Sidney

p.s. I think we are growing alike, don't you?
write back

Bahahaha, love my lil sis :) The "reson" she included that little postscript is because I get "head akes" when I jump on the tramp, so she and Gabe were always upset at me for not jumping with them.

Yep, Sidney, you and I ARE growing more alike :)

Changing up the game plan

Hey guys. So I have been in a blogging rut and haven't known what to do. But I've recently had an idea that I am going to run with and I am very excited! So my blog will be in remodel mode for a few weeks. But stay tuned, and I am gonna need my friends help getting my blog of the ground! Thanks to everyone who reads, I am so super excited about this new plan, I hope it works!!

Mean Girls

This applies to girls mostly.

What's up? I haven't written anything in a while, and I'm not entirely sure why. My comedic juices ran out maybe. Or I was never funny to begin with and I'm realizing that harsh truth. At any rate, I actually do have a topic I want to write about. It's been on my mind for a while. It's something I wish I could change. But it's not up to me and I have very little influence on it anyway. It's kind of a serious thing, and I may share some personal stuff here, so please be kind.

It's about high school. And back biting, gossiping, and just being flat out mean. There's a reason they made a movie about it. It's quite funny, but painfully true.

So um, I was the shy, home-schooled kid in high school. I was so concerned about what kids my age would think of me, that for the most part, I didn't hang out with anyone outside family members. And we moved a bit while I was the high school age. Well there was one place we were in that was a little bit worse than the others. The girls would spread rumors, make up vicious nick names, and be flat out mean even to other's faces. It wasn't pretty.

But this experience taught me a lot of things I want to share with other girls.

1. A lot of the time, I let circumstances outside my control keep me from being happy. I couldn't control how people acted, yet I still would feel sad and hurt and alone. But that wasn't their fault, it was mine. I would say to young girls going through high school right now, please don't do this to yourselves. Do what you love, wear what you love, be what you love. You will be so much happier. I didn't learn this until after high school. but I did learn it. No one can stop you from enjoying every possible second of your life. It's a fight sometimes, but it is possible.

2. If I hear "news" about someone else, I will not spread it, no matter how I think it will go over. Girls, we struggle with this A LOT. We just love to talk, and that talking usually leads to talking about other people. But other people most likely don't like their business being discussed, and things can get twisted until the truth is lost in a mess of exaggeration. You never want to look at the people around you and feel like you can't trust them. So be someone other people can trust. Let the talk stop at you.

3. Be nice. When it seems almost impossible to greet some girls with a smile, do it anyway. Being kind always makes me feel 10 times better than the most elaborately planned vengeance. Not that I ever planned vengeance, ha. ha. Seriously, there are things I did that I'm not proud of in response to what went on, but there are also good things that I am so glad I did. As a quick example, there was one girl who seemed to dislike my very presence. So I made her cookies. Haha, at the time, my motives might not have been ENTIRELY pure, but the intent was mostly good. And I didn't even put laxative in them!!

4. Speak nicely. Don't just act nice, but keep your mouth in control. I still struggle with this a bit. But there is seriously such a difference in how people react to unexpected loving words as opposed to something sassy or sarcastic.. Since I don't speak loving words much, I notice the difference a lot.

4. As cliche as it sounds, you are NEVER alone. Even if you think not even your parents can understand what you are going through, you have a Heavenly Dad who loves the heck out of you!! And He knows exactly what is troubling you. ANNNNDDD, you can talk to Him literally ANY time. So talk to Him often. Don't let the harshness of life turn you away from real love and concern. Up until this point I was mostly saying "I", but now I am saying "you" because I am talking to whatever girl reads this.

Life can be happy, even in the rough, dramatic, painful time known as high school. I'm gonna be cheesy for a sec, but I know it's tough and if there is so much as one teenage girl who reads this and is going through some nasty crud, just know that I know how you feel, and things will be okay, I promise.

 You can be happy :)

24

In honor of my aged-ness, I decided to type the top 24 life lessons I've learned.

24. NEVER  assume there is toilet paper in ANY bathroom.

23. DO NOT believe your brother when he tells you to do some crazy stunt and promises you won't get hurt.

22. Always look both ways before emerging from a grocery isle at Walmart.

21. If you live in the desert, expect to trip over snakes.

20. Even if your number one activity is playing piano, you can still get injured. A LOT. Just check out my bruised shins and knees.

19. It's too popular to be your own person, now you have to be your OWN own person.

18. Laughing and crying sometimes feel like the same thing.

17. Never offer to give rides to large groups of people when you own a tiny car.

16. Don't tell your best friends about any physical deformities or weaknesses or intolerance's you may have.

15. Buy that piece of furniture in Junkees before you see it riding away in the back of someone else's truck on the highway.

14. Being a janitor actually ISN'T the worst job on the planet. But it's preeeeeettttttttyyyy darn close.

13. Never say what your favorite restaurant is. People will expect to eat there with you until you die, and it will no longer be your favorite restaurant, and you will probably die while eating there.

12. If you happen to share a room with younger siblings, make sure your beds aren't too close together. You WILL wake up suddenly by them whacking your face "in their sleep, they swear."

13. NEVER, I repeat, NEVER,  use the bathroom after someone else who has just made it, um, smelly. Someone will inevitably be there waiting for you after you use it and they will think you did the stinky.

12. Being an adult is not as fun as you thought it would be when you were a kid who couldn't do grown up things.

11. No matter how old you get, loony toons will always be hilarious. Especially Wile E. Coyote.

10. In a lot of ways, children are braver than adults.

9. Liking a band that someone else already likes is so uncool, almost like wearing the same outfit as them to a party.

8. For some reason, whenever people list off reasons for why being a short person is handy, they always include the ability to hide in more places. Like we as adults play hide n' seek all the time or something. You short people can probably attest to this.

7. No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to keep up on the latest technology. First of all, the cool stuff is in Japan. Second, you will go broke. Unless you are already rich, in which case you might be able to keep up and that's cool for you I guess. But vintage is cool now anyway, so keep your little 4th generation ipod nano and use that sucker up!!

6. Sometimes the things that cause the most anger are not the things you should be mad at. Such as the chair you stub your toe on over and over and over again.

5. There is ACTING cool, and then there's BEING cool.

4. No matter how hard you try not to, you will always fit into at least 5 stereotypes. It's a messed up world.

3. The internet is a lonely place.

2. Your car will drive you from point A to point B no matter what it looks like. You OWN your car, don't let it own you :)

1. Never get involved in a land war in Asia.