Halloween

I suppose I should post about Halloween.  I will try not to take too much time to do it, but my last post ended up being much longer than I had planned, so...

Halloween made it feel really official that I've been here for over a year.  That's a long time for what we did before that.  We'd move and start talking about moving again a few months later.  Last year I went trick-or-treating with the YW and YM in our ward.  It was so fun.  Who says teenagers are too old to trick-or-treat if we're willing to dress up?  So, we went again this year, but the YM didn't join us until we went to the biggest street for Halloween.  All the houses are decorated amazingly.  Some houses had over a hundred pumpkins in their yard.  They block it off from traffic and it is just packed with trick-or-treaters.  We didn't actually trick-or-treat on that street.  We didn't even look at the houses much.  We just walked down, lost a couple people, then went home because we were so tired and it was so crowded.  I dressed up as Laura from Little House, when she is older.  I had the outfit from trek and I thought that I'd want to be Laura sometime since I love her so much so I was Laura.  We put my hair up and I wore some really pretty, but natural looking make-up.  I actually really looked like her, though no one recognized me, of course.  I told the YW who I was and they started calling me 'Little House'.  It drove me crazy.  I was like, hey, there are so many names you could call me that would be correct, like Half-pint, Beth, Laura, Miss Wilder, even Brown Eyes (which is only used in one episode.  Anyone remember which one?).  But they just kept calling me 'Little House'. :) I came home with a boat load of candy.  Like, a 4th of a pillowcase full.  Two full snickers bars.  Yum.  Anna and Gracie didn't have very much, for some reason, so I shared mine, and Mom made us throw it away the next day...or the day after.  Don't remember.  Really sad.  She said she just can't have the temptation, which, being me, I don't understand.  I have amazing self control (I'm not being sarcastic, only exaggerating ;).

The Saturday before Halloween we had a trunk-or-treat and a dance right after.  So we just left from the trunk-or-treat together.  Sadly, we got there about an hour late and I'm not going into details why because I'm still not even sure why.  It was a dress up dance and instead of wearing my trek clothes, Mom thought I should wear one of her old prom dresses.  So, I wore the one with a black top and white bottom.  I loved it, but I was so excited to dress up in my collar and mid-calf length skirt Laura costume for Halloween.  Much more comfortable.  The dance had the normal songs and dances, but it also had some square dances, like on trek.  It was fun, but not as fun as trek.  I mean, what did I expect?  You really can't beat that trek dance.  It was amazing.  And it just didn't feel right doing those dances in a gym. 

Overall, Halloween was fun.  And I'm so glad that I got to spend it with everyone from church.  I love them. :)  So grateful for them.  So, now it's basically the Holiday season.  I'm not feeling it.  It never really felt like Christmas last year.  Seriously, it's a hard transition going from Idaho Christmas's to California Christmas's.  Especially since we'll be in Utah every other year, which makes it hard to get used to something new when you only do it every other year.  Oh well.

Crocheting Dilemma

First, of all, thank you for the cooking stories, except-two people?  Only two people commented and left stories.  Seriously, what happened to all of you?  I am certain that there are many more awesome/horrible cooking stories out there.

So, this past Thursday I went to a baby shower.  That baby shower caused me so much frustration and grief, and I'm sure that the person the baby shower was for would be very upset if she knew that.  I've mentioned her before.  She's Kip's wife and they have an adorable almost 3 year old girl that I babysit all the time. They live super close so all I have to do is walk on over there to babysit.  And she used to be a YW leader, but she got released because she's moving soon. :( Which I am really sad about.  So, because I've spent so much time with her and love her so much I really wanted to crochet her something special.  Oh, and she's having twin boys so that meant I had to make two of whatever it was I was going to make.  I started probably three weeks before the shower, by googling 'baby boy crochet projects' just to get some ideas.  I found an adorable picture of brown booties with a white stripe and a little football.  But it was on pintrest and since I don't do pintrest I couldn't look at the pattern.  So, then I decided to google 'baby boy booties' and finally found a website that just had links to a ton of different patterns online.  There were some really adorable ones, but my favorite ones were some little sneakers.  So, I printed off the pattern and started figuring it out.  It didn't take long before I realized something was wrong.  Some parts were way to big and it got to the point where I seriously did not know what to do.  I ended up undoing it and redoing it, I think, three times, trying to get it right, before I gave up.  I have a book that has patterns that have always worked out and it had a pattern for some high top booties.  They looked adorable, so even though I wanted something a little more creative I thought that at this point I couldn't really be picky.  So, I hurriedly made the first booty, assuming that it would work out because this book had been great so far.  Somehow, the ankle turned out a little smaller than my fist.  That was not going to work.  I'm pretty sure that this was the Sunday or Monday before the shower.  Mom told me that she got some burp rags with a crocheted edge as a baby shower gift and that she always loved them.  So, on Tuesday at WISH I talked to someone in my ward who crochets (she actually teaches a crocheting class) about how to crochet on fabric.  She researched it, sent me a link on how to do it, and gave me some fabric that she had on hand.  I spent my time alone while Mom was at dance with Anna and Gracie, looking it up, finding a pattern for burp rags and cutting the fabric.  To do it, you basically just poke a hole in the fabric with your hook.  It does work, but it is hard and gets more and more frustrating with each hole.  I couldn't actually start until the next afternoon after my sewing lesson because I needed to serge the edge and my sewing machine was at my sewing lesson.  So, I had to poke holes into the fabric for each individual stitch with a dull metal hook and my already barely big enough burp rags became kind of small.  The holes were uneven and the thick yarn I used for the edge just seemed bulky.  I hated them, the project of making them and the entire situation by the end of it, but Mom said the were cute and the woman a gave them to liked them and the color.  I finished them about 15 minutes before we needed to leave for the baby shower.  The whole thing was a nightmare and as it went on it just got worse because the shower was getting closer and I was getting so frustrated.  The woman from my ward who sent me the link helped me the best she could the whole way.  She didn't have a good booty pattern either and tried to find one for me and she was really very supportive the whole time.  She's going to help me crochet an afgahn for a Personal Progress project.  I'm excited. :)

After this whole thing I thought that I really needed a book full of patterns for things for babies.  Today I went to Micheal's and found an entire section dedicated to crocheting books and half of it was dedicated to crocheting for babies.  I was so excited and looked through almost all of them individually and a couple more than once.  I didn't look at them as long as I would have liked to, though because I was there with a friend that only came with me because we finished book club early (another subject).  There was one book that was awesome.  It had tons of stuff, except it was mostly sweaters and vests and only had three pairs of booties and three blankets, which is probably what I would crochet most.  There was another little book that had 9 pairs of booties that were all completely different and adorable.  I really want that and the other book, but both of them would be about $30 and you can't use coupons on books.  I'll have to figure that out.  But I want them so bad and am getting so excited that I can't think about anything else!  It's such a dilemma. 

A Few Things

Well, I'm not sure what I'm going to blog about.  I had a bunch of random things going through my mind a while back, but of course now I can't remember them.

I went to a mutual activity that was all about Personal Progress and I'm going to start a project as soon as I can.  I'm going to crochet a square quilt with the value colors for my bed.  Right now I'm focusing on making two pairs of baby booties for a baby shower for some twins.  I'm really frustrated with booties.  I can't seem to get a pattern that works.  I had to alter a pair I made recently to make them smaller.  I thought it was because the hook I used was too big, but the hook I'm using now is the right size and it still seems a little big.  I just need a book full of good patterns for babies.  I have already made so many things for baby showers that I could really use one.

I had an idea for story and wondered if I could ask you all for some help.  I can't say much about the story because I don't really have much of a plan, but I need some cooking stories.  Some great and funny stories about messing up or burning the food of yourself or serving food that was messed up and you didn't realize it.  And details about the circumstances and who you were serving the food to would be great, too.  If you could email me I would be so so happy about it!  I need to start writing more and so I'm jumping at this idea I got when I was sweeping the floor the other day. :)

Seminary and Flipped

Okay, it has been so long!  Seriously, I don't know how it happened and there is so much to catch up on.  But my last few posts don't have many comments even though my blog says it has views.  I did send out an email.  We'll see, guess.

First, seminary!  I really have been excited about seminary, but then the time went from 6 to 5:45.  5:45!  I could not believe it, that is just so early!  We have some kids in our seminary class that have a 0 period at 6:45.  They are amazing, I don't know how they do it.  When they lean their heads on their desks I do not blame them.  I really don't.  Anyway, it started at 5:45 and then Mom set up for us to bring someone to seminary every morning so that means I have to get up and out of the house even earlier!  Buuuut, despite all that, I love it.  I absolutely love it.  We have a great teacher who really loves seminary.  He's been teaching it for three years so I hope he doesn't get released soon, but because of that he knows all and loves all the kids really well and loves being with us every morning.  He helps us with scripture mastery first thing every morning and is always changing the method so it's not just the same old thing.  I am so surprised at how many I have already passed off!  I'm great with memorizing songs, with all the repition, the music and singing along, but memorizing scriptures has always been hard for me.  Of course, there are still kids in the class ahead of me.  I guess some just like to memorize them on their own to get it done faster.  I really want to actually remember them, though so I'm not doing that.  We only have about 15 kids and that's two whole wards combined.  And there's only 4 or 5 young men.  It's really sad.  But we don't mind.  Once, we were talking about missionary work and our teacher asked, "So, would you like more YW and YM in your classes on Sunday?"  We all said, yes.  "And more kids in seminary?"  Silence.  No one said yes, some even said no.  We just like it the way it is.  So, overall, I love seminary.  Hopefully, my excitement doesn't wear off.  My dad says he loved seminary all 4 years.

Anna's already blogged about Flipped.  I don't know all she said, though.  It's pretty bad.  We were so obsessed.  It's starting to wear off.  It started when I borrowed the book from a friend of mine in the ward.  I read it in 2 or 3 days and would not rest until we got the movie.  It had the movie website on the back of the book and I got on it and watched the trailer at least 5 times over the course of a few days before we got the movie.  When we did we watched it while Mom was gone.  After it was over, I think Anna, said she wanted to watch it again.  Gracie agreed.  So, we watched it again. And again.  And again.  And again.  Only twice in a row, but we watched it about once a day for a week.  We still have it actually.  Mom and Steve were gone basically all day Saturday at a Dave Ramsey thing and we watched a lot of Avonlea.  When Anna left for an activity days swim party Gracie and I thought that the best thing to watch would be Flipped because she had definetly already seen it.  She walked in about one minute before it ended and demanded we watch it again, so we did.  I went up to my loft and did  something else, but it played again, at least.  Then, a few days ago Gracie asked me to read it aloud to them.  So, now I read it aloud everyday and everyone loves it.  It motivates Anna and Gracie to do chores better than anything else.  Mom loves it too.  She laughs her head off during the boy's chapters and almost cries during the girl's.  They alternate perspectives.

Well, I don't know what else I should blog about, but I need to go, anyway.  Please comment!  I'll email you!

A Bit More of Little House

I'm probably just going to ramble on.  We're still watching Little House.  We finished it and then picked out random episodes we wanted to watch.  Today we watched some interviews and that was interesting.  We're watching it now, too.

I feel like there's so much I should be doing.  I have seminary, which kind of kills my brain for the rest of the day because I'm still not used to it.  I'll get it down eventually.  I have school and all my online BYU classes that I'm still trying to figure out.  This is the first year my mom has ever homeschooled a high schooler, especially with a charter school and she's trying to figure it all out, too.  She's apologized several times, "I'm so sorry you have to be the guinea pig."  We'll get that down eventually, too.  I've been trying to decorate my room since we moved in.  I've just now bought the paint for the frames, so hopefully I'll get it done soon.  I haven't read my book in days.  It's not the best book anyway.  It's Eragon, the one written by a teenager.  It's a good book I guess and there are a lot of questions that I want answered, but the characters really just aren't anything special and that is always what keeps me going in a book.  So without good characters it's not much of a book.  

Well, I don't really know what to say more.  We're still watching Little House and I'm very distracted so, till next time.   

Little House, mostly

As usual it has been a while since I've blogged and I don't know what to write first.  We went to Disneyland for the last time for a while, but I can't remember much of it now.  I'll remember and post about it later, but this week my life has been seminary and Little House.  I started seminary this year and have reported to church every morning at 5:45 a.m. this week.  It has been quite an adjustment that is still in progress, we're not quite adjusted yet. :) Mom and I have gotten into more fights this week than we have in a long time.  We thought we could just go to bed earlier, but we're thinking we might need to start taking naps.  Before seminary I could never take naps during the day, but now I could basically fall asleep anytime, anywhere.  Everyday I force myself up for seminary, come home, do school and anything I have to do in order for Mom to let me watch Little House, then I watch it as long as I can.  Like I've said before we have been watching it all in order and now we're almost done.  We've finished the last season just this past week and the last three movies.  There's actually a lot of the last season that I haven't seen.  Pretty much all I remember is Jeb saving Jenny (I ought to, he saves her two different times :) and Laura's baby boy dying.  It's actually a pretty good season.  So, we finished Little House yesterday and I have been kind of depressed since.  I was crying all day yesterday and sobbing during the movies.  It made me sad that we don't get to say good bye to James and Cassandra (or Carrie and Grace, but who cares about them?) and Albert dies and (I know, total bad grammar with all of these ands) they blow up the town and Jeb grows up and his and Jenny's romance completely disappear in the last three movies.  In the one where Albert gets cancer all the kids are hiking up a hill and I said, "Don't you think it would be fitting if Jenny twisted her ankle or something and Jeb had to carry her?"  I think it would be a nice way to rekindle the romance a bit.  I was just sobbing in the one about Albert and the last one when they blow up the town.  I was soo sad.  We even watched the one about Albert twice because Mom left and then wanted to watch it again when she came back and I sobbed both times.  I get very enthralled in the movies I watch.  I've cried during Bonanza, Harry Potter and a lot more.  But Little House really made me sad.  It all happened so fast.  We said good bye to Charles, Caroline, Albert and James and welcomed Jenny, Jeb and Jason and then we said good bye to them too after only a week!  I felt so lonely last night.  I was soo sad.  It was bad.  I can't even describe it.  I walked around the house not knowing what to do with myself and cried whenever anyone from Little House was mentioned.  I even put on my Gryffindor scarf to give me some comfort.  I'm wearing it now, too.  So, Little House is over and we probably won't be watching it as much.  Now I'll focus on seminary and school.

By the way, you need to post people!  And comment!  Where did everyone go?  It's like you all disappeared!  Anyway, love you all!      

More of My Crazy Summer

It's been so long since I've blogged, I can't believe it!  It's been basically a whole month!  I have so much to catch up on and don't know if I'm going to be able to do it all.  I've been on the computer a while catching up on other people's blogs (Lizzie, you need to blog!  I miss you guys!) and I would like to take a break, but then I'll never get back on.  So, first I'll blog about the big events before just summer with seven kids.  I flew on a plane by myself so I could go to Girls Camp in California.  It was a terrifying experience.  The actual flying wasn't a big deal, but everything before that was awful.  Dad wasn't sure if they would let him walk me up to the gate or not so I was thinking I would have to go through security and find the gate and listen for the call to board all by myself.  That really scared me.  Luckily, they let him walk me up there, so he was there until I had to get on the plane.  So, I just found my seat and that was it.  I actually had the same seat both times, by the window.  I was so glad.  Flying was amazing.  It was so cool to see the farms look like a patchwork quilt and see all the tiny houses.  It looked like a bunch of little doll houses.  My favorite was when I could see a football field or a baseball diamond because I knew how big it really was and it looked a couple inches wide, and I could still see the track around the field.  The clouds were also gorgeous from where we could see them.  They were right there!  Right nexy to us.  They didn't even look real.  It was amazing.  On the way back from California I sat by a girl close to my age and we talked pretty much the whole time so that was really fun.  She was flying in for the EFY at BYU.  She brought a Disney coloring book and we colored together.  It was really fun.  Overall it wasn't that bad, I guess.  I could do it again.  But I don't really want to do it with Anna and Gracie.  That sounds really overwhelming to have to be in charge of them and keep them busy during the flight.  We'll see if I have to do that.

Girls Camp was great.  I'm so glad that I got to go with them.  Our Stake divides the girls up by year, so all the 1st years sleep in a cabin, all the 2nd year sleep in a cabin and so on.  Last year there were probably twice as many as this year.  There were seven of us this year and two of those girls got there the second day.  So the first day there were only five of us and two of the girls didn't like to participate very much.  But oh well.  Girls Camp is so fun.  I love the songs and the activities and the devotionals and the meals.  I love it all.  My relationship with everybody is kind of interesting.  They're nice to me and we're all friends, but it doesn't take much for me to get pushed to the last priority.  That's kind of how I am everywhere.  I'm just not loud and pushy enough.  I got along pretty well with the girls in my cabin though, so that was good.  Whenever I come home from a church activity like this I talk when I get home.  This was how I was at Girls Camp last year and the trek.  I got home and talked and talked and talked.  I was alone with Mom this year because Anna and Gracie were still at Dad's and Steve was at work and I was talking to Mom about an activity we did.  It was the iron rod activity.  They had a plastic rod for us to hold on to and we had to hold on to it and walk while we were blindfolded.  All along the way the YCLs would be the tempters and told us to stop or let go or that there was a hole that we had to go around.  It was the scariest thing I've ever done.  Some of my best friends in my ward were YCLs this year and when they told me to let go it was awful not to listen to them because I would always trust them.  At this point in the story all of the nights of getting 5 hours of sleep and the sun and everything hit me and I started to sob.  I was sobbing.  I could not stop and I didn't even know why I was crying.  The story wasn't that dramatic.  It's amazing what camp does to us.  Yesterday, we were at Diane's mom's house with a bunch of the boys' cousins and one of them (he went to EFY too) had gotten back from Scout Camp that day and he fell asleep on the couch.  It was really funny and totally reminded me of Girls Camp.  Anyway, Girls Camp was fun.

Now for EFY.  I don't know what to say first!  Well, first of all I didn't go to the I kind of have mixed feelings about it.  I was kind of lonely the whole time.  The way I would describe the first day of EFY is going to Disneyland and trying to remember everyone's names.  The first day was very overwhelming.  All week it was a battle of feeling alone and wanting to go home, feeling the spirit and thinking it doesn't matter if I'm popular and actually feeling included, because I was sometimes.  All week I was battling with myself about whether or not I liked EFY and wanting it to be over so I could sleep in, but I didn't want the last day to end and when it did end I really missed it.  The day after it ended Nathan and I sat around all day and did not know what to do with ourselves.  At one point we both sat down on the couch and I said, "I don't know what to do.  I'm so bored."  And Nathan's like, "Amen, sister."  We still talk about EFY all the time.  In the middle of a conversation I would say, "You know what that reminds me of?" and Nathan would be like, "EFY!  I can't believe it's over!"  It was really fun doing it with him and two of his cousins.  One of them was in my group (the one who fell asleep on the couch), but Nathan and his cousin were in different groups, so we didn't see eachother too much, but we drove half an hour there and back everyday and even though it was three boys and me, I was able to keep the conversation going most of the time.  So, that was fun.  So, overall I liked EFY and I am definetly going again next year.  Even though it won't be the same.  You know the people over it all?  I think it's called the directing couple.  Ours said that they 'adopted' us for the week.  But our 'mom' got sick half way through the week and had to stay home.  But our 'dad', Brother Little, was the best.  He was so hilarious and serious about the gospel at the same time.  He had the best stories about his kids at home.  He had this one about him and his 8 year old son (give or take a few years).  They turned on the TV and watched the last hour of Free Willy.  After it was over and they were watching the whales during the credits his son asked, "Dad, what's that TV made out of?" and Brother Little said, "Well, the screen's a piece of glass." And his son's like, "A piece of glass.  How long did we watch that?"  "About an hour."  "Wow, that's a long time to stare at a piece of glass."  There was more to the story, but I don't remember it.  I just loved listening to the stories about his kids.  He had a lot more stories and fun images and stuff, but I can't write about all of them.  So, it won't be the same next year without him, but I'm sure it'll still be fun.  Especially since I know what to expect so I won't be so scared about everything.

So, back in Utah with seven kids.  It's crazy.  We went to the eye doctor yesterday.  All of us.  It was a long appointment.  We were there all afternoon and we took up the entire office.  It's crazy, but I love it.  I love it when we're all together.  I might not if it was any other family of all boys.  I went to a friends' house the other day and they had a lot of boys.  It scared me.  I was only there for a couple hours and when I came home and saw how calm the boys were it was so amazing.  Today everyone went to Trifalga (it's a theme park?), except me.  I was in bed when they all went.  They all came back right around the time Diane's visiting teachers came.  We were all starving and ready for our late lunch so while Nathan made us pancakes we all sat and watched him.  I'm sure it would have been a sight to see; seven kids crowded around a small counter watching the oldest brother make them pancakes in a very echoy kitchen with women visiting teaching in the next room.  It was kinda funny.  So, I love our full house.  It's fun.  But, I am looking forward to going home.  I miss my small youth and my little loft and my walks that I went on daily to prepare for trek.  I think I'll keep doing those, though it might not be everyday.  We go to Idaho one last time this summer next week and then we go home.  

Another Catch Up!

Okay, it's been forever since I posted last!  I'm at my grandma's in Idaho right now and we'll be going back to Utah on Saturday. Then on Sunday I fly back to California for Girls Camp!  Which I'm actually really nervous about. But right now I don't know what to post about!  I went on my trek, but I told everyone about it at the reunion! Except Megan!  Well Megan, it was a blast.  I loved it and missed it when I came home.  I feel bad that I'm not telling you everything that I've told everyone else.  When I came home I talked and talked and talked about the trek.  I'm so glad that I got to go. It was nothing like the treks you guys went on.  I could not do it if it was only girls.  It would be physically impossible and a lot less fun. :) Anyway, I could be able to go to my dad's trek in Utah this week, but that sounds so hard so I'm not going to go.

Well, since leaving California my sleeping schedule has gone biserk and I have consumed a lot more sugar than I have in a long time.  I never have good sleeping schedules here because I sleep in and then can't go to sleep early that night.  But we have scripture study late anyway so it wouldn't really matter.  I do try to do better, but it is just so hard for me to get up in the morning. Especially when I don't have anything to get up for.  If I'm going to be late for something I'll get up, but otherwise it is so hard for me!  Sometimes I wonder if it is harder for me than for anyone else in the world.  It really does feel that way.  Mom would be appalled about how much sugar and white flour we eat.  Since I've gotten into this healthy eating thing it has become a regular part of my life.  So, I'll be talking and say something bad about sugar or good about honey and it opens a conversation.  I have had quite a few conversations about sugar with my dad and I must say that I am going to try to not have any more.  We just don't agree.  He thinks that it's okay to have sugar as long as you have other good things.  He does not agree that honey is much better for you than sugar, which is what I think.  Oh well.  Also, when we come to Idaho we watch way too much TV.  I am so into Bonanza!  I've even dragged Anna into it, but she only likes the ones with Little Joe in them. :)  I get so into them.  Grandma has said that the Cartwright men always end up alone.  "Don't they ever get married?" I asked.  She responded, "I don't think so."  That made me so sad.  Last night we watched an episode where Little Joe almost got married.  He loved her, she loved him.  They were so close, but it didn't happen.  It made me so incredibly sad.  I was pretending to cry and going on and on about how happy they would have been together and getting angry at the people who wrote that episode.  It was just so painful.  I bet you all would have laughed if you could have seen me. 

Another show (or... movie) that I love is the musical Newsies.  If you don't know what that is you need to find it and watch it.  It's got Christian Bale in it from Little Women.  It is about a ton of teenage boys that sell newspapers in New York in 1899.  And yes, the fact that it is all teenage boys and that there are literally three girls in it is an obvious reason for a teenage girl to like it, but that is so not the only reason.  They sing and dance and it is just so amazing.  And hey, I'm a sucker for singing boys, but whether you're a teenage girl or not you should see it. :)

Oh, I finished my Gryffindor scarf!  I love it so much and I can't wait for winter where I can where it all the time.  I can't take pictures now, but I promise I will.  I think ideally the squares would have been wider and the yellow a bit darker, but anyone could see that it's a Gryffindor scarf so I'm satisfied.  I just need to figure out what to crochet next.  It is so hard for me to watch Bonanza without crocheting something.  We used to watch House Hunters, but Bonanza has kind of booted it out. 

So, I have complained about the sleeping and the sugar and the extra TV, but I am having fun.  It's fun to come back and smell the fresh air.  I can literally tell a difference in the air here and the air in California.  I am serious.  The air in CA is hot and smoggy and trapped in the cities by all the big buildings.  The air here is cool and fresh and always moving.  We walked out of church on Sunday and Gracie's like, "I smell something good."  And I said, "That is called fresh air.  We don't get that in California."  Dad thought that was really funny.  But it's true.  Gracie said she smelled something good and there was nothing to smell.  It was just the air.  But now I'm not complaining about CA either.  I love it.  Don't worry.  Church was really great.  Everyone has grown so much.  All of the boys that were previously a head shorter than me are a head taller and I can't even recognize their voices at all.  Even the girls that were little sisters of my friends are in YWs now.  It's crazy.  Of course everyone thought we had grown up a lot, too.  The Sunday School teacher (who totally knew me) didn't even recognize me.  He asked me to introduce myself and I said, "I'm Aliese."  His mouth actually dropped and he's like, "You're Aliese?  I didn't even recognize you!  The last time I saw you you were so little and now you're so tall."  Everyone in the class just laughed.  They hadn't appeared to recognize me before, but they acted like they did then.

Well, I think I'd better go.  It feels good to catch up.  Love you all!  

Lot's of Stuff

Okay, I've got lots of  things to write about.  And I've got some pictures.  I'll try to remember everything that I've wanted to write, but we'll see.  I think I'll just write a bunch of random things and hope to include everything.

Lindsey, Steve's daughter, came to visit.  She was here for about two days.  She got here on a Wednesday and left Friday night.  On Thursday we went to Disneyland.  It was really fun.  We went on all of the big rides for Lindsey.  She informed us that she does not like the kid rides.  I still do. :) We got there not too early (I don't remember when) and left around dinner time.  It was kind of weird because we always leave after it gets dark.  Plus, it was also a bummer because I was such a grump all morning (seriously, ask anybody in the family and they will tell you how awful I was) and I was in such a good mood by the time we left.  I was skipping and smiling and everything you should do at Disneyland.  It's sad that I couldn't do it in the morning.  I am such a night owl.  I'm always like that at Disneyland. 

I have not gotten any reading done lately.  It's so sad.  I've always been the girl who finishes her book within a week, that picks up the book every spare moment she has.  Well, I haven't been like that lately and I am seriously feeling depressed about it.  It's not that I'm not reading a good book.  In fact this is the second time I've read it so it has to be good.  It's called Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.  I always got inspiration for my stories that I write from reading other stories so I also haven't written anything lately.  I've just been slacking it.  Now that school is out this is the time to do the things that were pushed to the bottom of the priority list during the school year.  The things that weren't as important as math and such.  But all I have done is watched tons of Little House, played tons of Paparazzi (Anna has mentioned that. I am learning Cruella Devil now, though, so I won't play Paparazzi as much) and done a lot of sitting around and thinking, "I should get up and do something."  I just need to tell myself that I can't get everything done and just do what I can.  I seem to also spend a lot of time feeling sorry for myself because I can't get everything done.  So, it's this huge cycle that I just need to break.  It reminds me of something in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.  How the dad, Johnny, explains to his daughter that he drinks because he has two children that he can't support because he can't get a steady job.  So, he drinks.  He had this whole long explanation that just made no sense because he can't work to support his family because he drinks, not the other way around.  And speaking of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, I never posted about it.  It was a really good book.  I think overall I really liked  it.  There were just some parts that I really didn't like.  There was an entire chapter dedicated to the rapes in town.  I did not like that part.  But at the same time I found myself quoting that book a lot.  Mom and I will be talking and I'll say, "Well in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn-" because it is so relatable.  There is always something to relate to it.  Do you know what I mean?  It just has a lot crammed into that book.  A lot of good characters. A lot of cool relationships between the characters.  I talked to mom all about how Neeley was different and the same as Johnny.  Sorry, if you don't know who I'm talking about.  It doesn't really matter.  Anyway, I've gotten really carried away, I want to start reading and writing again.  As soon as I finish Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry I want to read the Aragon series.  Is that how you spell it?  Steve's niece mentioned it and it sounded really good.  She was here last Saturday which brings me to...

    Mom and Steve's sealing.  It was so nice.  A ton of Steve's family came.  That night and yesterday for dinner one of Steve's brothers and his fiance came over to hang out, along with his daughter Aubrey and her husband.  Steve's sister Sherri was also here because she stayed here for a night.  Aubrey was here before for one night in March.  She is so fun.  I just love her.  She is way into Disneyland and Harry Potter like we are.  We played Harry Potter Scene It? with her in March and she beat us.  She wore Cinderella glass slippers to her wedding.  She also loves to read.  She came up and sat in my loft to look at all of my books.  Anna and Gracie ended up coming up and the four of us sat up there and talked about books for a while.  She is just the coolest.  Steve's sister Sherri stayed with us for a night and went to church with us.  It was so fun having her here.  She had an ipad and Anna and Gracie really enjoyed taking pictures of themselves with the weird settings.  Some of them changed the color, but most just made your face look all twisted.  We watched Calamity Jane with her last night, which by the way is our latest favorite movie.  We had never seen it before and Steve got it for us for their anniversery because he kind of married us, too. :)  I sing the songs all the time.  I love it. 

I took out my cricut the other day.  It is so not fair that I have a cricut and four fun cartridges and I never use it.  I have a blast every time I do, but it is just such a pain to take it out and put it away.  So, I asked Mom if I could keep it on a table that gets bigger if you pull it out.  So I used it for Father's Day cards, I just did a fun little card yesterday and Anna wants me to help her with a birthday card today.  I'm excited about it.  About using the cricut more, I mean, not Anna's card. :)

So, after I posted about how amazing my scripture study is I kind of slacked a bit.  And whenever I do that I love scriptures more the next time I read them.  But I've noticed that the more days I miss the more I allow myself to miss.  If I'm in the habit and it's been days since I've missed then I don't want to miss any, but the more I miss the less of a deal it is that I do miss.  That's a lot of misses I just wrote down.  But I don't know any other way to say it. 

We have been watching Little House from beginning to end for a while now.  I've talked about how it takes up my time like it's a bad thing, but I love it.  It's so cool to watch them grow up and watch the order that all of the things happened.  We just welcomed James and Cassandra into the fun this morning.  They are both so sweet and fit right into the Ingalls family.  :)

We went to Disneyland with Lindsey, as I said, and I actually bought three things.  I have saved up my money for Disneyland forever.  Since we were in the stores there was so much more that I wanted to buy than I could have.  Before, we could always just come back.  But Mom said that after our passes expire in August that we're going to take a break for a while to try other things.  In the stores I would point to things and say I want to get that sometime and Mom would say, "If we have passes."  That thought just made me so sad.  To not be able to have passes to buy things and see things at Disneyland.  At first the break was for a while.  Then Mom said when she can afford to buy one meal at Disneyland every time we go.  Then she said when Gracie is brave enough to go on all the big rides.  She just keeps pushing it farther and farther away! :(

This is a glass cube that has engravings on the outside so you can see the picture when you look at it.  The corner on the bottom is flat so when you turn it there are three different pictures on three different sides.  Get it?

Sorry, they're not the best pictures.  The lighting in my loft isn't the greatest.  I did something on picasa and they look a lot better than they did before.

This is the wallet that Anna found for me.  It has three pockets and the blue matches my purse that Danielle made me perfectly.  I love it.

This is the Cheshire cat that I bought!  I love him, except his eyes are a bit big and bright for my room. :)

My friend Carrie came over and we made the most delicious chocolate mint cookies.  We used the homemade oreo cook recipe, only we rolled them up when we put them on the cookie sheet and we used coconut sugar.  The chocolates on top are Hershey's Bliss.  They are chocolate with some kind of mint in the middle.  The chocolates were so melty on top and it was so rich.  It was heavenly.

Well, I'm kind of tired of typing and everyone is begging for the computer so I'm going to go now.  I would promise that I am going to be regular from now on and that there will be no more of these catch up blogs, but I don't think that's gonna happen.  I'll always dream of being one of those bloggers that can do it regularly and everything, but I'm  probably always going to be trying to get there.  Plus, next week I have my trek and after that it's crazy for a few weeks.  So, I'll have a long catch up post about that.  But I will post again before my trek.  Love you all!

Three Things

Three things: my musical life, my healthy treat life and a funny experience with Mom yesterday.

My musical life.  Anna and Gracie hate all of the songs that I play on the piano because I play them so much.  Of course, Anna is not one to talk.  She has this one song that she has played so many times.  I asked Mom the other day how long she has known it and she said, "I think a year."  So imagine how often she has to play it in order to keep it memorized for a year.  They also hate it when I sing.  I can get really carried away when I start singing.  I can't even sing when I do the dishes because I can't concentrate enough to get them done.  So, whenever I sit down at the piano or start singing both Anna and Gracie exclaim, "No!  Aliese, seriously, you've been singing all day!  I haven't even gotten on the piano.  Just stop!"  I never do, though. :)

My healthy treat life.  Mom, Lizzie, Danielle and a little bit of Amy are really into this healthy treat thing.  Mom and Lizzie will talk and exchange new recipes.  Mom does not make treats with sugar anymore.  She replaces it with coconut sugar, maple sugar, date sugar or honey.  She is always making new changes.  She also loves different grains.  She has been experimenting with spelt and she even made rice pancakes this morning (they had kind of a gooey texture).  And when a recipe is really great, like a brownie recipe with half spelt, half whole wheat and all coconut sugar, she has to change it again and add a bit of honey because it is cheaper than coconut sugar.  I have gotten into it, too, actually.  In fact, Mom had this idea to open a booth at a farmers' market where we would sell healthy treats.  We got really excited about it.  We talked about how we would have information about the grains and the replacements for sugar.  We really thought we would do it until we went to a farmers' market and talked to the people in charge about getting a booth.  You have to have a commercial kitchen and several different licenses.  Plus we would have to wait to get in.  They said it might take years.  So, oh well.

Okay, so now I've talked about how much Mom is into healthy treats, she was making some Texas sheet cake for a friend that she was going to go visit teach.  This friend is not into healthy treats so Mom made it not healthy for her.  So, she put in two whole cups of white sugar and two whole cups of white flour in.  It was so hilarious watching her measure it out.  It looked like she was cleaning up vomit or something, there was such an awful grimace on her face as she put the sugar and white flour in.  She just kept saying, "I feel like I'm poisoning them.  I'm supposed to be helping them."  It was really funny.

So there's the three things.  We have a busy week.  Lindsey is coming this week (Steve's daughter) and we will be going to the beach twice and Disneyland once so I'm sure there will be lots to post about!

Catching Up!

Oh my goodness!  It's been so long since I've posted and there's so much to post about!  I'm always thinking about things that I should post and then I sit down and I can't remember them!  So, I'll probably forget something important and not write about a lot of stuff.  But I'll do my best.

School's out!  For Anna and Gracie, anyway.  I have to do math and geography during the summer.  :(  But, I'll survive.  We went to Disneyland to celebrate yesterday, which was really fun.  We brought a friend from WISH and it got kind of crazy towards the end.  She really liked to fall asleep when we were walking (not really, but she wasn't paying attention) and she'd walk into things and people and we'd laugh even though I didn't think it was funny.  And when we were waiting for World of Color we met Jonathon, who you can read about in Mom's last post.  I wanted to buy a cheshire cat stuffed animal, but all of the stores got closed off early because of some special party that night.  But we're going next week with Lindsey, Steve's daughter, so I'll just buy it then.  

I want to crochet a Harry Potter scarf so bad!  I just need to buy the yarn.  I don't know why it is so hard for me to buy things and get things done.  I have been meaning to buy gold paint to paint some frames for my room ever since we moved here and for one reason or another I still haven't bought it.  So, I need to get on that and post a picture when I'm done!

My scripture study has been so much better lately.  This book I've been reading it amazing.  I actually enjoy scripture study.  Because sadly I didn't really enjoy it before.  For a while I just got this really depressed feeling when I thought about scripture study.  And now that I'm reading this book I've realized that it's because I didn't know how to do it.  I mean, there's no right or wrong and everyone does it differently.  But you need some guidance and advice, at least.  The book I'm reading has taught me so many things.  How to use the scriptures for missionary work, how to use the aids (like topical guide ect.), what to look for, about one-liners, about principles and so much more is ahead.  I'm not even half-way through it.  There are some amazing stories about scripture study, too.  It's just amazing how different my scripture study is.  I'm so much more comfortable with them and I really love my scriptures now.  I am so so so grateful for this book.  It has changed my life.  I don't know if it's just because this is the only book about scripture I've read and it's the first one to open the doors or if it really is a really good book.  But it's been really good for me and I love it.

Oh!  I am learning how to play Greyson Chance's Paparazzi on the piano!  Do you remember I posted about him a while ago?  I'm a big fan. :) It's so cool to play it, though.  I was just curious and looked up tutorial videos and found myself trying it out on the piano.  Watching a video is not the best way to learn something to play on the piano; it involves a lot of walking back and forth between the piano and the computer, but it might be better for pop songs.  Because when you use music you get caught up in the teds and jellies and pop just doesn't work very well with it.  But anyway, I'm loving it.  I think I'm going to try to learn how to play another one of his songs, Waiting Outside the Lines, when I'm done with Paparazzi.  Anna and Gracie hate Paparrazzi, now.  I think they liked it before, but now that I've played it so much they really don't like it.  :( Which is kind of sad.

But anyway, I had some pictures to put up, but I can't find my camera!  So, I guess I'll find later and put them up then.  I hope this post was satisfying!  It's kind of random and I'm sure I've forgotten something important, but I posted! :)

This Weekend

Grandma Arnold gave me and Mom tickets to Time Out for Women this weekend and it was amazing!  On Friday night Mom and I went to an evening session where we sat together and listened to the same speakers.  Laurel Christensen gave a talk on waiting.  She has written several books for Youth and is really awesome.  She talked about getting through the waiting when you are waiting for something in your life to happen.  The examples she used were like waiting to get married or get pregnant or something, but it could relate to anything.  She said there are four Waiting Principles.  The first is to feel your feet.  She said that once she decided to be a runner one day and she got some advice from a more experienced runner who said to feel your feet.  When you walk or run just focus on each step.  Feel each step.  Feel your feet.  So when you're waiting for something you need to just stay in the present.  Focus on one day at a time.  It reminded me of something Pres. Monson said at the YW broadcast last month.  He said, "A yard is hard, but and inch is a cinch."  The next principle is to trust God's math.  He is bound by law to to reward us if we do what He says.  So as long as we follow the commandments we will get what we need.  The next one is to live as if.  She talked about the story of Nephi and when he and his brothers were getting the brass plates.  Lehi and Sariah thought they were dead and Sariah was angry with Lehi.  And Lehi said that "he had obtained a land of promise." He was promised a land of promise and he knew he was going to get it.  He was not worried.  He acted as if the promise had already been fulfilled.  The last on is God waits, too.  He might just be waiting for us to be ready.  That was a really cool talk.

I can't talk about all of the talks in the detail or I'll be typing all day, but I'll name some pointers.  Brad Wilcox also talked that night.  He talked about all of the different names of Jesus and what they mean.  It was really cool to hear about it and talk about it in that detail.  One thing that he said that was really cool was when he was talking about improving.  He said he has a friend who thinks he doesn't need to change because God loves him just the way he is.  And Brad Wilcox said that he has two adorable little granddaughters and that he loves them just the way they are.  But that doesn't mean he doesn't want them to learn to walk. Or read or talk.  We've all heard about how He loves us the way we are, but we're always told to improve and that was just a really good example to show what it means.

The next day Mom and I went to separate rooms and listened to different people.  I went to Time Out for Girls and it was so awesome.  It was really catered to Youth.  There were several songs where we were encouraged to stand up and clap and during one of them girls even got up on stage and danced.  I was not one of those girls, but I did stand up and clap.  But anyway, we listened to Laurel Christensen and Brad Wilcox again.  And a woman named Carmen Rasmusen Herbert who was on American Idol 10 years ago.  But she was  just Carmen Rasmusen then and she got to the last 6.  She sang and talked.  She had a beautiful voice.  She has some songs on itunes that I'm going to check out.  She was on American Idol and after that she was totally out there.  She was walking red carpets and going on tours.  Then she got married and had kids and everything stopped.  Now she has two little boys.  It was cool to hear about  motherhood from someone who had lived both lives.  Out there and just as a mom and she said being a mom is so worth it.  I also heard from Sandra Turley, who was on Broadway and also has an album on itunes.  She sang most of the songs on it and I definitely want to buy it.  She also has a gorgeous voice.  Another singer I heard from was Hilary Weeks.  She talked about our thoughts.  Once she did an experiment where she had one of those clicker things that keeps track of the number of times you click and she kept track of all of her negative thoughts.  She had read in a book that we think an average of 300 negative thoughts a day and she wanted to see if it was true for her.  She did it for a week and at the end of the week she felt really depressed.  Just really depressed.  So, she decided to switch it around and keep track of her positive thoughts.  She found herself thinking positive thoughts just so she could click and one day she got over 1000 positive thoughts.  She had some clickers for sale and Mom and I each got one.  An author we heard from gave a cool talk.  His name is John Hilton III.  Can't forget 'the third'.  I bought one of his books.  It's on scripture study and so far it's amazing.  He's very entertaining and has some really good points.  At the end of each chapter he has two assignments to help you learn the topic of that chapter better.  So far it's not actual reading assignments, but different ways to study.  Like praying before and after and stuff like that.  It's called Please Pass the Scriptures From Reading to Feasting.  I would totally recommend it.

I'm pretty sure that's all of the people.  Overall it was just such an amazing experience.  So amazing that I somehow got myself up to talk about it in testimony meeting yesterday.  I actually did.  Even as I was walking up to the pulpit I was telling myself, "No, you're not going to do it.  You're not going to do it."  And when I sat back down I could not remember what I said.  But it really was amazing.  I felt the spirit all day.  It was so inspiring.  If I could go through that everyday I would be the most righteous person on earth.  Thank you so much, Grandma!

Well, yesterday was a million people's birthday.  Mom's, my step brother Nathan, one of the four YM in our ward named Toby (he turned exactly the same age as Nathan), a few people in Diane's family, a boy named Dwight who was our neighbor in Ammon (Anna remembered that) and someone else that I don't remember.  But I only texted Nathan and celebrated Mom's.  Anna and I made breakfast and dinner and bought her a silhouette of us from Disneyland.  She asked for it and knew we got it for her.  But even if we all knew that she knew we still pretended it was a secret.  I made a delicious (if I do say so myself) healthy, sugar free cake.  It was two layers of brownies in cake pans with chocolate mousse in the middle and ganache on top.  It was rich.  I honestly almost felt like I was eating the chocolate cheesecake.  And there was no sugar or white flour at all.  Amy, you should totally try it.  We can give you the recipe if you want.

I think that's it.  I'm reading a Little House book right now with Laura's journal entries and stuff.  I'm almost done.  When I'm done I'm going to read a book I bought at Disneyland called Fairest of All.  It's about the queen in Snow White.  Oh, I don't have time now, but I need to do a post about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn sometime.  Gotta go! :)     

New Beginnings and Lately

New Beginnings is the YW activity at the beginning of the year when we welcome all of the new YW into the ward.  There is usually a program or something that is really great.  Last year I was in Redlands and the leaders did a skit for us.  This year we had a real live broadway singer come and sing to us!  Her name is Heather Pond.  She was in Les Miserables and the Jersey Boys and has a Tony and Grammy award.  She gave a wonderful talk about her journey in Broadway and sang us two songs.  The whole thing was absolutely amazing.  The spirit was so strong.  She was a wonderful missionary on Broadway.  She said that some people hated her in the beginning just because she was a Mormon and when she left some of them were her best friends.  There were some amazing stories.  One that was really funny, but not really about missionary work, but anyway.  She was really good friends with Nick Jonas!  He was the little kid (probably about my age or a little younger) in Les Miserables.  She was good friends with him and Nick's parents really appreciated her because she was such a good girl and example for their son.  I guess they were really dedicated Christians.  So, that was kind of funny.

But there were some really cool missionary stories.  She said that someone, I don't remember who-it wasn't another singer-it was like a producer or something, anyway, this person would ask Heather every Sunday what she learned in church that day.  And Heather would tell her, like really tell her.  Not just briefly.  When she told her about the atonement her friend was like, "Wow, that sounds kind of depressing." and Heather said, "Actually, it's really amazing and makes me really happy."  She asked Heather what she learned in church every Sunday and now, when she is married and living in Sierra Madre, Heather still gets texts every once in a while saying, "So what did you learn in church today?"  Isn't that amazing?

In Broadway, since they have to perform on holidays, they always celebrate them together.  It was a really big deal.  So, once they were used to her they asked Heather if there were any Mormon holidays they could celebrate.  She's like, "We're Christian.  We celebrate the same holidays that you do.  Just Easter and Christmas."  "But there must be something."  "Well... there's Pioneer Day."  So they celebrated Pioneer Day.  Heather wrote up flyers about the pioneers with pictures of Brigham Young and put them up all over.  There was a potluck and everyone wore bonnets and she even wrote a song for it.  It's on youtube.  We watched it.  It's hilarious.  She's playing the ukelele and everything.  And when you watch it you can just tell that she is really comfortable about who she is and about talking and representing the church.  But don't get the wrong idea about her voice if you watch it.  She has a beautiful voice.  But that song was just silly.  They celebrated Pioneer Day every year after that.  

The whole time she was there she was so real and genuine.  Mom said that you can pick out a singer in the crowd just because they have a certain full of themselves way about them, but Heather didn't.  I loved her.  It was kind of funny.  The girls that are coming in this year asked her, "So, are you like... famous?" And one of them asked her to just touch her necklace for her.  She signed three autographs.  No, I did not ask for one.  :)  The whole night was just a blast.  We had breakfast food for dinner and I even got recognized as a new YW because I just moved in.  We all said that it was weird calling me up because it felt like I had been there for a long time, but they gave me a torch necklace and one of those mini For the Strength of Youth pamphlets.  We're supposed to get those when you go into YWs but I never did, so it made me feel really good.

We had our last day of WISH today.  We actually had our last day of classes last week and there's a picnic next week, but today was our last week at the building.  All day we watched the different drama classes and a Flashmob and Glee club perform.  I was worried we would be bored watching play after play, but it was not boring at all!  It was amazing.  All of them except one were comedies and all of them except one were fairytales.  There were ones that made fun of fairytales and changed them and it was just hilarious.  Anna and Gracie were in different fairytale ones and were awesome.  The last play was done by my age group (I wasn't in it) and was about an hour long.  It was a Murder Mystery Comedy.  It was hilarious.  The star was a girl named Sophia who played the Investigator with a french accent.  So, she introduced herself as "Ze Investuhgatol!" Do you get it?   She had a totally goofy character and she did an awesome, thick, french accent.  I loved it.  I loved them all.  It was laughing all day.  It was great.

So, I've been frustrated with my acne lately.  My cheeks are fine.  My forehead is as bad as it had always been, but I've been getting it on my upper lip lately.  I hate it!  It's so weird.  We bought Crunchy Betty's (we got the Oil Cleansing Method from her blog) e-book all about oily and acne prone skin and I'm reading through it.  I have only been doing the OCM at night and just rinsing it in the morning.  So after reading part of her book I think I'm going to do a honey wash in the morning.  I guess it's supposed to make your skin just glow.  We'll see.  The OCM was supposed to work wonders and nothing has changed for me.  We'll see.

Well, that's it.  As much as I love WISH I am glad it's done.  No more homework and I can crochet!  I haven't been able to for so long because I've had to work on my embroidery, which I have to take a picture of.  I will work on that. :)

Where we live.

We live in the amazing California.  We lived in Idaho for years, which doesn't really have anything special about it.  Never would have guessed that we would live here.  I remember visiting Lizzie and wondering how she does it.  I mean, Palm Springs is way hotter than Pasadena so I still wonder that when we visit there, but I understand it more now.  It's amazing how we adapt.  In Idaho it could be in the 40s in May and that felt warm.  In the 50s we would go out in t-shirts.  Now, we are such babies.  But I think I already blogged about this so moving on.  

Steve went to a show last weekend, I think, and asked us which celebrities to keep an eye out for.  He has seriously seen celebrities around there.  Not any that we would know, though.  

Speaking of celebrities, we know one.  You have all seen Napoleon Dynamite, right?  Well, Kip is in our ward.  He's Brother Ruell.  It's so crazy because Nathan (oldest step brother) quotes that movie all the time and loves Kip, but I haven't even seen it.  After Mom found out, we had to watch the movie so we finally watched it.  It's pretty funny.  Sister Ruell, his wife who is in the movie for about one minute, is one of my YW leaders.  They live within walking distance and have a daughter named Merine (not sure how to spell it.  I call her Mimi).  I babysit her all the time.  If it's during the day I walk.  If it's dark it's not far to drive.  It's really nice.  It's just funny because Nathan has always been a fan of Kip and the movie and I, who have never seen the movie beforehand, am the one who gets to go to their house and see them all the time.  Does that make sense?  Anyway, it's just funny. :) 

Oh!  And this has really been bugging me.  So, I'll just say it and forget about it.  I didn't think I would like all of Greyson Chance's songs so I just listened to them and bought the ones I liked.  Which turned out to be all of them (every single one) so instead of buying the albums I spent (not wasted) about $5 more than I needed to.  That just really bugs me because I am so careful with my money!  But he's worth it, I won't do it next time and now that I've put it out there I can move on.  :)

What a family...

For Gracie's birthday she asked for two (specifically two) chocolate pies.  When we had it for her birthday with the candles and everything we only finished half of one of them.  Steve was like, "I don't know how we are going to finish these.  Why did Gracie ask for two?"  "We're Arnold's," I said, "We may all be really skinny and all, but when it comes to chocolate there are no limits with us."  Both pies were gone within 24 hours.

Yesterday it was raining and Mom thought it would be fitting to make brownies.  So, I made one cake pan (the 8x8 pan was being used) of brownies.  They were really good brownies.  They weren't too rich for me, who likes cakey brownies and they were chocolatey enough for Mom who prefers the rich ones.  We didn't have Steve, but we had Cami, a homeschool friend, over.  So we ate the brownies.  We all got a decent piece.  I wanted more, but tried to go onto something else.  It didn't take long before I couldn't take it anymore.  So, I made another batch of brownies.  I could have made a double batch and used all the same utensils. But instead I decided to take twice as long and dirty up a bowl and measuring cups, put them in the sink, then dirty up more the second time because I didn't want to wash the first ones.  Oh boy.  What I will do for more chocolate.

Now, this one isn't about chocolate.  Last night I walked up to Steve and Mom, who were sitting on the couch, to say goodnight.  I picked up a Snow White Polly and Steve asked, "What is that?"  

"It's a Polly," Mom answered.

"But it's a princess. How can it be a Polly Pocket?"

"It's not the Polly Pocket brand.  Disney made it, but it's still a Polly.  It's just like with Barbies.  They have princess Barbies, but they don't call them Barbies."

"I don't know how they can get away with that."

"Steve, they aren't Barbies.  They don't call them Barbies, but they're still the same doll so we call them Barbies."

"So, they're not Barbies?"

"Yes, they are.  They are the same doll.  You play with them the same."

"If it's a princess doll it's not a Barbie.  You don't call Snow White Barbie."

"They don't call them Barbie.  They call them different names.  Barbie was the name of a doll like 60 years ago!  Now it's just the kind of doll."

This went on for a while and Mom eventually got up to get a princess Barbie and a normal Barbie.  She's really worked up now.  Maybe even yelling.

"Do you see?"  Mom asks holding up the two Barbies.  "They're the same!"

"No, this is Barbie.  This is Snow White."

"But they're the same, Steve!"

"When you went looking for this you asked the girls where Snow White was.  You didn't ask for Barbie."

"They don't call them Barbie, but they're still both Barbies!"

This doesn't do the conversation justice.  It was the most ridiculous conversation ever.  And it went on much longer than this.  But can anyone picture this?  I have some things mixed up, like what they are saying, but you get the idea.  The conversation just went around in a circle.  Steve was calm and really didn't care how things ended.  Mom was worked up and upset about it.  Steve does this all the time.  I've had conversations with him like this.  I honestly feel like I'm in court or something and I am trying to convince him of something, but he always has something smart to say.  He'll even change his story half way through, but he never gets upset.  It's so annoying.  Mom got so mad.

What a family.

Life

When did I post last?  I don't remember.  I don't think it was that long ago, but I don't know what to blog that has happened since my last post.  Anna's latest obsession has been Jane Austin.  We already watched Sense and Sensibility and she is now watching Pride and Prejudice.  I just did something to make everything on the screen so small that I can hardly read what I am typing.  Mom isn't back yet so I'll ask her to fix it when she is back.  I've thought about so many things to blog about, but now that the time has come I can't think of any of those things.  I'll do my best.  

There are so many things that I want to finish.  I have been telling myself everyday that I need to work on decorating my bedroom.  It really would not be that hard.  All I have to do is buy paint and magnet board, paint frames and eventually Steve will hang them up.  Buying the paint is probably part of my problem.  I also need to decide if I really do want to do vinyl lettering in this one spot or do something else.  I just need to figure it out.  It's always hanging out in the back of my head. Then, I try to embroider and crochet, which is surprisingly hard to do.  I have one project for WISH that has to be done by next week so then I'll be finished with that.  I have sewing classes on Wednesdays.  I have WISH on Tuesdays which give me English homework.  Right now I'm working on a paper for Great Expectations.  Finished it, by the way!  I really liked it.  Don't think I'm going to read it again anytime soon, though. :)  Then, I try to do Personal Progress and scripture study for while everyday.  Plus, I like to read and try to write a bit too.  It doesn't seem like a lot and it's probably not, but all of that and dishes, school, just extra things we need to do during the day make it harder.  I am doing good though.  I finished The Princess Bride the other day.  I loved it (minus the one chapter of Buttercup's Baby that some books have) but it was one of the more frustrating books I've read.  For those of you who have read it know what I mean when I talk about him abridging it and everything.  The author pretends that he is abridging and old and long classic.  He has the story and then stuff in italics where he is talking.  He'll say he cut out a 60 page part about Florinese trees or something and then talk about it for a page and all I want to do is get back to the story!  At the very beginning of the book there is a large section of just him talking about how he ended up abridging the book.  Anyway, loved it and want to own it, but it gets a bit frustrating at times.  Soon WISH will be over so that will take out the homework and embroidery.  I'm looking forward to that.  Next year, being in high school (yikes!) I will have more school work so I'm not going to take any academic classes at WISH.  

So, that's what's happening now, for what happened Easter was great.  The Easter Bunny hid our entire baskets instead of just our eggs so we had to look for them before church.  I had no idea where mine was.  Gracie and Anna had already found there's and I didn't have time so I did not get a single piece of chocolate until after church.  The highlight of Easter for me (the candy part, I do think about the Savior) is Cadbury Mini Eggs.  Some people like their creme eggs of M&Ms.  Our teacher at church says he loves jelly beans, but my favorite is the Cadbury Mini Eggs.  Always has been.  It's my favorite candy of all the candies.  They're amazing.  So, I traded half of my jelly beans with Anna and Gracie for more of those.  Plus I got a solid chocolate bunny.  So, I think I got enough chocolate.

Yesterday I had sewing and I finished my skirt for my trek!  I had already finished my bonnet at a stake thing so Mom and I were all excited about only needing to make bloomers and then be done.  We're just going to buy bloomers at the thrift store.  But we looked at the list again and it said I need two skirts and an apron.  We really thought about it and thought it did make sense to have two aprons.  Do you think brown is too dark?  We already have some brown fabric, but I'm worried it might be too hot.  Anyway, it's only April so we have time.  Thank goodness for Isabel, my sewing teacher, we would really be in trouble without her.  The skirt seemed a bit too long so we just did a little tuck that made it look a bit prettier.  Hopefully it's still not too long.  I'll take a picture of me in the whole outfit when I've finished everything.

Sorry the picture isn't turned.  I'm not in the mood to do that right now.

  These are the hand warmers I made!  I didn't exactly follow the directions so they're a little big, but they work really well.

I'm still doing the Oil Cleansing Method thing with my face.  From reading all of the comments I think I've been expecting too much.  I don't know if it's been two weeks yet, I don't think so, but I don't see any difference.  My face is still oily.  I've actually given up cover up makeup because it doesn't convince much and it probably doesn't help the acne anyway.  I feel bad for my future children.  Both my mom and dad had acne, now I do and they probably will too.  I'm saying sorry in advance.

Piano has been going good.  I'm doing really good on I am a Child of God.  The only problem is I'm really bad at playing in front of audiences.  If people are just in the room I can play, but when they're sitting still and listening it's hard for me.  I've messed up on pieces for family night that I haven't messed up on in days.  Just thinking about playing hymns in YWs makes me mess up on I am a Child of God.  I'm serious.  I don't know what I am going to do.

Anyway, on that note, I think that's it.  Love you all! 

Finally Posting!

Okay, I'm finally posting!  Our computer wasn't working for a while.  We went to Disneyland for Gracie's birthday and after that I don't know what my excuse is after that, but I'm here.  I'll do a bit of an update but then just go on to what's going on now.  So, I'm trying to think of what's happened since I blogged last.  We went to Disneyland for Gracie's birthday.  There was Conference.  We met Lizzie in the middle on Monday (so sad you couldn't make it, Amy!) and spent the day at the park with her.  We all got sunburns.  Just on my nose for me, but Mom got it pretty bad on her neck and arms.  I'm trying the new Oil Cleansing Method, I don't know if Mom has said anything about it.  It's really interesting.  You mix certain amounts of certain kinds of oil together and rub them on your face (with or without makeup).  There's more to the process that I don't want to explain right now.  But I think the address to the blog that we got it off of is crunchybetty.com.  What it does is cleanses your face of the dirty oils and replaces it with clean oils instead of just stripping it of everything with face products.  There were such amazing stories about having clear faces within two weeks and seeing differences after just a few washes.  I haven't seen much difference, but haven't been doing it for long.  I also tried to do the homemade shampoo thing that Mom blogged about, but I stopped.  I had dandruff and my hair was greasy and it took forever to dry and it just didn't work so I went to normal shampoo.  Mom's still doing it and if it works for her I'll try it again and stick it out.

We went to WISH on Tuesday without Gracie.  She was staying at Lizzie's house for a couple of days.  On Wednesday night Mom and I sat down and promised ourselves that we would figure out my ipod.  I still didn't know how to use it and only had a few songs on it.  We sat there very confused for a while.  We ended up making a new apple account.  Mom took the few songs that I had on my ipod off.  I was a mess until we watched some tutorials.  It was so amazing.  I then made new playlists and everything and even bought a Greyson Chance song.  I only had time to buy one song, but I bought the rest of his songs the next day.  Do you guys know who Greyson Chance is?  I didn't until Sunday when Steve showed us some youtube videos of him.  He was just a normal kid in Texas, I think, and he sang and played Paparazzi on the piano at a talent show.  The video was put on youtube and Ellen found him and had him on her show.  Now, two years later he has, I think, two albums, he's been on a tour and he's really famous.  I'm not exactly sure how famous.  Not everybody knows who he is, but isn't that crazy?  He went from as normal as me to famous in two years!  We watched the video of him at the talent show.  He was only twelve and all ready had an amazing voice without any vocal training.  You would not expect it looking at him.  We also saw some videos of him at concerts after he was famous and all the girls were screaming.  Crazy.  Anyway, I bought all of his songs except for one he wrote (I might buy it later) and Paparazzi.  I listened to them all and was disappointed, but listened to them again and bought the ones I liked one by one.  Before I knew I had bought basically all of them.  It's too bad because I bet an album would have been a bit cheaper.  Oh well.  I've been listening to his songs today and I love them!  As far as what kind of music it is.  I don't know.  It reminds me a bit of Taylor Swift, but my ipod says it's Pop.

Well, that's it.  I'll post pictures next.  Love you!  

Little Update (now I'm doing updates:)

So, don't have anything in particular to post about, but I felt like it was time for another post.  We went to Idaho and visited our cousins and grandparents.  I feel like I have gotten closer to Grandma Leslie ever since we moved.  It's weird.  I've learned to crochet and we like to do that while watching TV together.  Normally we watch House Hunters, but this trip we got into Bonanza.  Can you believe it!  I wanted to see it at first because Charles was in it, but then I really got into it.  It's so funny.  When Dad came home one night I was sitting in the family room watching it all by myself.  I just started laughing because it's just so funny that I like it!  I've had the theme song stuck in my head ever since we watched it.  One day I was humming it all day and everybody started hating it.  It's just kind of funny.  

I crocheted some hand warmers because I am always freezing at WISH.  We are switching buildings so hopefully it won't go to waste.  I'll post pics when we get back to California and I have my camera.

It's so cold here.  I can't believe we actually lived here.  I feel like I'm going to freeze every time I go outside.  It's amazing that before when I experienced much colder weather earlier in the winter this felt warm.  I remember it being a big decision to decide if I should take my coat to school or not in the spring.  It would feel warm, but I might regret not bringing it later.  Now, in California, 60s are cold and 50s are freezing.  It's amazing the affect of what we expect has on us.  

I got a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble from my dad for my birthday and didn't spend it because the Barnes and Noble closest to us is really small so I spent it in Idaho.  Mom also pointed out that tax is better there so that's another bonus.  I bought Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.  It's a classic I think that I've read before and I remember I really liked it.  I don't remember it, but I remember liking it.  So I bought it and think I'll read it soon.  I also bought The Tales of Beedle the Bard!  It's pretty cool.  It was translated from Ancient Runes by Hermione and has commentary by Dumbledore.  I've read two stories so far.  It's going to be fun having a few more choices for read alouds at night.  And these are stories that we don't have memorized all ready.  Plus, it's Harry Potter, so that's makes everything cool. :)

Today we got hair cuts, or just trims.  I got rid of probably two inches.  Gracie thinks she cut an inch, but Dad told her to cut about an inch and held his fingers about four inches apart behind Gracie's back.  It looks so much better and is still long.  Anna got rid of about the same as Gracie.  She was very upset for a while.  Saying that mine was longer than hers and that hers is so short now (not true).  Anyway, I'm glad we got trims.  My hair was so gross.  

That's pretty much it, love you!

Frustrated with being sick.

Well... we are in Utah at our dad's right now and I don't want to do anything.  I feel awful.  I have this weird cold.  I had a sore throat for a day, a stuffy nose for a day and then a cough for a day or two, then I got better. I was good for a few days and then it came on again all at once.  Steve got it a few days before me and it was the same with him.  I've heard of a lot of people that have had it.  It's so weird.  Plus, my foot isn't feeling any better.  It was a week ago yesterday that I fell and it feels the same.  It just hurts.  It's not swollen or anything so it couldn't be anything really wrong, but it's just a pain.  Literally.  It got better for a few days after I basically didn't walk on it.  It got this numb feeling so I didn't really feel it at all when I walked on it, so I walked on it and then it got really bad again.  Now it really hurts unless I've taken ibuprofen.  When I went to church last week it hurt so bad when I got home cause I was wearing high heels and everything so I wanted to stay home tomorrow, but Dad won't let me.  I just wish I could be waited on so I would get better!  When I walk on my foot and go about life as usual I doubt it helps.  I'm sure it will get better eventually no matter what, but I'm also sure it would get better a lot faster if I didn't walk on it!  I'm just frustrated.  I'm so tired of not being hurt or sick enough to stay in bed, but being hurt and sick enough to feel awful, but still well enough to go places and do things.  This is the kind of thing that you feel stupid staying home and asking for people to do things for you, but if you do you get better so much faster.  Know what I mean?

Well, I think I'm going to go read now.  That's another thing I'm frustrated with.  I don't have a good book to read.  I'm reading Great Expectations for WISH and I really like it, but if I read to much of it then I zone out and the language starts to confuse me.  I'm also reading A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.  I don't really love it, but I have to keep reading to find out what happens!  I hate it when that happens.  So I don't even have a good book to distract me from my sicky stuff.  Well, so long!

P.S.  It's so cool that the italics work.  They didn't work before blogger changed. :)