Europe

If I could go back to one place in my life I'd go back to when I was walking the cobblestone streets of Spain and Italy.  I didn't know where I was or where I was going over half of the time, I think that is what I miss most.  The time seemed to go on forever and every day a new adventure awaited.  For once the movies were right.  When you think about the way they depicked Spain and Italy in the movies you'd never think a place so beautiful existed.  But it does! The little coffee shops with tiny espresso shots on every street, the tiny walk in deli's with crustless sandwichs perfectly displayed in the window, and the Nutella...oh the Nutella, you wouldn't think another culture could love Nutella as much as Americans, but you would be wrong! The Europeans go nuts over it! Nutella shops with Nutella crepes and Nutella doughnuts and Nutella sandwiches! They had giant jars of Nutella that you could buy! It was amazing... the streets were all cobblestone, you could see the history in the cracks of the worn out stones.  The tiny cars, the mini scooters and the bikes all used the same street where people walked.  You're probably thinking this was so dangerous and insane, but I liked it.  The people there trusted one another and felt safe walking the same streets where cars drove.  The culture there is completely different...I felt as though I had traveled not just to another country but another world.  You just don't see this kind of stuff in America, you don't see all the culture and history as much as you do there.  I'd love to live somewhere like that some day.  Some place you only see in your dreams or in movies.

12/2

12 places I would want to go with 2 people
1.Greece with Zoe and Aleck
2.Chile with my grandma and my mom
3.Hawaii with my brother and my dad
4.London with my dad and Aleck
5.Paris with Zoe and Aleck
6.Ireland with my dad and my brother
7.Jamaica with Zoe and Aleck
8.Japan with my dad and my brother
9.Bora Bora with my dad and my brother
10.Spain with Zoe and Aleck
11.Italy with Zoe and Aleck
12.Egypt with my dad and my brother

 

12 songs 2 lines

1.Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey

I've seen the world

Done it all, had my cake now

2.Power Trip by J. Cole

She got me up all night

All I'm singing is love songs

3.Perfect Two by Auburn

You can be the peanut butter to my jelly

You can be the butterflies I feel in my belly

4.The Way We Talk by the Maine

Shallow is as shallow does, yeah

Some people never change.

 5.Whoever She is by The Maine

And every day in every way oh she will look the same

 And every care you used to have just seems to float away

 6.Girls Do What They Want by The Maine

Girls do what they want whoa whoa

Boys do what they can

 7.Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson

 When the whole world fits inside of your arms

Do we really need to pay attention to the alarm?

 8.My Stupid Mouth

How could I forget?

Mama said, "Think before speaking"

9.Drunk by Ed Sheeran

Can't rely on my heart to beat in

'Cause you take parts of it every evening

10. A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope

It's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert

But I'm holding you closer than most 'cause you are my heaven

11. I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz

And when you're needing your space

To do some navigating I'll be here patiently waiting

12. Love Song for No One by John Mayer

 I could have met you in a sandbox

I could have passed you on the sidewalk

Movies

My favorite movie would have to be Marley & Me because I love animals and the patients those people had with their dog was amazing.  Their family was so close and cute too.  Marley protected the kids and sat with them when they were sick.  It was a really cute movie and the way they raised their kids and how they started their lives together is similar to how I see myself when I get married and have kids.  I also love Jennifer Aniston so having her play the mother/wife was just a bonus.  I don't really like science fiction movies or movies about wars.  I usually watch movies in my basement with my boyfriend or my family.  If a movie I really want to see comes out then I will usually go to the theatre to see it.  I don't watch movies a lot though, just when I have time or on rainy days. I usually don't eat during movies and popcorn makes me sick so usually all I need is a blanket to be comfy, but that's it.   

My test results:
YOU ARE 25% EXTRAVERTED.
You are introverted, reserved and serious. You prefer to be alone or with a few close friends.

YOU ARE 75% AGREEABLE. You are generally warm, trusting, and agreeable, but you can sometimes be stubborn and competitive.

YOU ARE 42% CONSCIENTIOUS. You are easygoing, not very well organized, and sometimes careless. You prefer not to make plans.

YOU ARE 75% EMOTIONALLY STABLE. You are generally calm and able to deal with stress, but you sometimes experience feelings of guilt, anger and sadness.

YOU ARE 83% OPEN TO NEW EXPERIENCES. You are practical but willing to consider new ways of doing things. You try to seek a balance between the old and the new.
If my life were made into a story I would be over joyed.  I would want to make it into a book first though and then make the movie exactly like the book. 

Dan in Real Life

4.  I don't think Dan was meaning to tell his daughters not to do exactly what he is doing.  I think he just wants the best for them and isn't paying any attention to what he is doing.  My parents don’t do that so I wouldn’t know what it’s like.  My dad tells me straight up that he has made lots of mistakes in his life and he’s given me a different life so that I hopefully won’t do those same things.  If I were to ask him any question about his past I’m sure he would answer me with complete honesty.  He acts very real with me and tries to give me the best life possible.  Sure it’s annoying sometimes when I want to go out and hang out with friends but they won’t let me because they don’t know these friends or it’s too late, they are pretty over protective….but by next year I will be making my own choices and I would rather have the mind set of being more cautious, especially when I’m in college on my own.

5. A “hottie” to me would be someone with a nice smile.  I have a weird thing for teeth…  If a guy has nice teeth I often times find him attractive.  Another quality of a “hottie” would be that he has clear or almost clear skin.  A hottie to me would also have to have good hair and smell good.  He would also have to have good sense of style.  I’m very picky when it comes to guys…and of course he has to have a great personality.  He has to be nice and have a funny side.  He has to make you laugh and smile.   

Four to One

 

This is when we were all friends

we all got along

no drama

no fighting

no judging

just four girls having fun.

 

This is before everything fell apart

before the fighting

before the arguing

before the judging

before the complexity of life got in the way.

 

This is when life was simple.

 

This is when we all loved each other

when we would never be afraid

of the secrets others would spill.

 

This is when we didn't know.

Drama didn't exist.

Secrets were secrets.

Promises were kept.

This is not who we are anymore.
All different in so many ways.
But maybe it's better this way.

Changing Each Other

This is the day we became friends

friends before, but not like this

changing each others lives

from this day forward

we will never forget one another

sharing secrets and thoughts

not judging

just listening

we were best friends

and best friends we still are.

 

This is what best friends are for

to be there when no one else is

to comfort you in a time of need

and although we didn't know it at the time

but we would end up needing each other

even with the ups and downs

we could count on one another

trust each other

fight and scream

smile and laugh.

 

This is when our lives changed forever.



The Impact

Cobblestone streets, little coffee shops and delis.  For some reason I always thought the “cobblestone streets” were never streets at all, but merely walking and biking paths.  But yes cars do in fact drive on these streets.  Not just any cars though, tiny, miniature cars.  I never thought that any movie or show could look so much like reality.  I was proven wrong, THIS is like everything you see in the movies.  The little coffee shops with espressos the size of toy tea sets and sandwiches with no crusts.  Little chairs and tables made entirely of metal but very beautifully designed.  Architecture everywhere you looked! Buildings, signs, windows, doors, parks, chairs, tables, the street even! Everything so beautifully crafted and thought out.  Everything so small and compact.  So care free and peaceful.  Everything was such a rush. Such an adventure.  Everything was so antique and yet so precious to the city around it, to the people living here.   Everything had a story behind it, a past life.  Looking around and seeing how different it was here just gives you an entirely new mindset.  You finally realize the town you live in; the people you associate yourself with aren’t the only things that matter in this world.  Your life has meant nothing until you start living in the world you were put on.  Not your own world but other peoples too.  Experiencing, listening, learning, TRAVELING, that’s when you feel it.  When you really feel alive.  When you find something worth living for.  When you have that desire to learn and feel and see things not involved you your world you’ve created.  When you jump and are caught by something unexpected.  The Impact.





The Impact.


Cobblestone streets,
little coffee shops and delis. 
For some reason I always thought
the “cobblestone streets” were never streets at all,
but merely walking and biking paths. 
But yes cars do in fact drive on these streets. 
Not just any cars though, tiny,
miniature cars. 
I never thought that any movie
or show could look so much like reality. 
I was proven wrong,
THIS is like everything you see in the movies. 
The little coffee shops
with espressos the size of toy tea sets
and sandwiches with no crusts. 
Little chairs and tables
made entirely of metal
but very beautifully designed. 
Architecture everywhere you looked!
Buildings, signs, windows, doors,
parks, chairs, tables, the street even!
Everything so beautifully crafted
and thought out. 
Everything so small and compact. 
So care free and peaceful. 
Everything was such a rush.
Such an adventure. 
Everything was so antique
and yet so precious to the city around it,
to the people living here.  
Everything had a story behind it,
a past life. 
Looking around
and seeing how different it was here
 just gives you an entirely new mindset. 
You finally realize the town you live in;
the people you associate yourself with
aren’t the only things that matter in this world. 
Your life has meant nothing
until you start living in the world you were put on. 
Not your own world but other peoples too. 
Experiencing, listening, learning,
TRAVELING, that’s when you feel it. 
When you really feel alive. 
When you find something worth living for. 
When you have that desire to learn
and feel and see things
not involved you your world you’ve created. 
When you jump and are caught by something unexpected.
The Impact.

The Cat Named Trouble

There once was a dog named Spot.  Spot lived in a small neighborhood where everyone knew one another and got along.  There were lots of cats and dogs that lived in the neighborhood with Spot too.  In fact Spot knew each and every one of their names by heart.  One day Spot noticed something some what peculiar.  He noticed a new scent in the air.  He went exploring for this scent and found out shortly that it had been coming from the vacant house next door.  After exploring a little more Spot realized there had been some kind of commotion in the house recently.  He was proven right the next day, the new family was moving in.  There were moving trucks everywhere and big, tall, built men carrying large boxes and furniture into the house, but it wasn't until the next day the Spot saw the family had officially moved in.
Spot went over the next day to find out if they had any pets.  After peeking into the backyard he was heading back to his house when he heard a faint meow.  Looking around Spot saw nothing.  Then he heard it again and again.  Trusting his powerful nose to find where this noise was coming from, Spots head shot to the ground and he started sniffing.  The sound plus the scent led him right to the blue garbage bin on the side of the house.  Hearing the sound once more he peered into the bin and to his amazement there was a black kitten stuck in the bottom of the bin, unable to climb out.  Spot proceeded to rock the bin until it fell over and the kitten was free.  Spot later found out this kittens name was Trouble, very suiting, and they became the best of friends from that day forward.  They did everything together, they went on walks, they played with tennis balls, they even ate together.  They were inseperable from the day they met.  Trouble always somehow got himself into trouble and Spot was always there to rescue him.
One day Spot went over to Troubles house to start their daily walk down the street to the bakery where they would always get special treats, but Trouble wasn't in his usual place on the porch when Spot arrived.  Spot searched everywhere for him but could not find him.  Suddenly he heard the faintest meow.  Looking around Spot saw nothing.  Then he heard it again, a little louder but still strained and frightened.  That's when Spot looked up.  He found Trouble trapped in a very tall tree, too tall for Spot to climb.  He dashed off to the neighbors house and then the next house down and the next, telling every dog and cat what had happened and letting them loose.  After going to every house on the street Spot joined the animals underneath the tree and all at once they all started meowing and barking trying to get someone's anyone's attention.  Finally people started walking out of their houses confused.  Then they realized all the dogs and cats under the tree and rushed over to find the problem.  Seeing Trouble stuck in the tree they instantly called the fire station.  Not too long after that the fire men appeared with a latter.  They climbed to the top of the latter where it was touching the tree directly below where Trouble hung on for dear life.  They quickly got him down and safely on the ground.  Spot was right there comforting him the second he hit the ground.  Spot saved Trouble once again and he will continue to keep Trouble safe for the rest of their lives.

The Polar Express

Author: Chris Van Allsburg
no authors bio
The cover: There is a train on the front with steam coming out the top and snowflakes all around, with one head light shining through the dark winter night.
Number of pages: 29
List of characters: The conductor, the boy, Santa, the children, the mother and father and Sarah(the boys sister)
Settings: The book takes place in the train and on Santas sleigh, each place has a happy and joyful atmosphere showing the Christmas spirit everywhere.
This book has animals but not as characters, it teaches a lesson, it has kids as characters, and adults as characters.   It has great illustrations and color, it has a sentimental tone and has a good amount of words per page.
My favorite sentence in the book is "Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe."
I think this book would be great for any age.  Even if a kid can't read it would be a good book to read to children.  It has a lot of spirit and detail.
I didn't read it as a kid but I know I would have really liked it because it has a lot of really good pictures and detail.

Friends

When I think of childhood I automatically think of Wisconsin, and my home there. I remember in the summer when every day brought along a new adventure. I remember our neighbor’s just two houses down from us was where my best friend lived, Collette. We became instant friends, spending every waking moment together. We had the same Barbie toy laptops that we would sit and play on for hours on end. I remember running from the pool in her backyard, to my house for food and to run in the sprinklers, then running back over to her house to swim again. We had the best time in the summer. Chasing down the ice cream trucks and biking up to our elementary school where we would make up games and ride around until the sun went down. And sometimes one of our other friends Nichole who lived just down the street from us would join us. She was a little older than we were though, so she didn’t hang around us much. Instead, she hung around this boy that lived across the street from her named David. He was one of my brother’s best friends so he would always be at our house, which meant that a lot of the time, so was Nichole. One memory I have of her is when she invited me over to hang out and we hung out in her room and sang to the music playing out of her radio all afternoon. She acted so much more mature than Collette and she was so much fun to be around. She made you feel important when you were around her. She would tell me how annoying she found Collette to be and how I shouldn’t hang around her so much. For a little while I listened to her, and I only hung out with her and David. One day I told her I liked David, which didn’t sit well with her for some reason. She told me she liked him too and that she thinks he likes her back. I didn’t care that much about it because the fact was David probably did like her more. That fall David and I were invited to her birthday party and before I went over to her house I was supposed to go to David’s house and walk with him to her house, at least that’s what she told me. When I arrived at his house I heard laughter across the street and as I turned around I saw Nichole and David running into her house turning around and laughing at me. I knew she had told him I liked him. Embarrassed I went home. The next day I saw Collette outside playing on her Barbie laptop and I went over to her with mine and sat down next to her. She treated me like I had never left her. We were best friends until I moved away a couple years later. The day before I left I said goodbye to her, but that morning when I was leaving I felt like this may be the last time I ever see this house, or this neighbor hood, her house. I ran over to her front porch, set down my Barbie laptop and ran back to my house where just minutes later we pulled out of the drive way heading to Utah to start our new lives. Collette showed me what a real friend should act like and how you should treat your friends. From this memory, I realize that childhood experiences can impact how you deal with situations, for the rest of your life whether you notice it or not.

Haunted Mansion

     It was mid April and raining outside, I lie awake in bed, motionless.  I was listening to the rain from outside my window.  The rain hadn’t stopped all day.  I was trapped in this dirty, old, creepy house with only my parents to keeping me company.  Some company they were though…always working or busy, they never had time for me.  Being an only child my parents got me a dog for my 12^th birthday a couple of years ago and since then he’s been my best friend, and my only friend at that. 
     When we moved into this house I was only 9 years of age.  We got it for a bargain because of how old it was and the real estate agent had told us the owners of it had strangely disappeared.  He said they were known for leaving without an explanation though so nobody was too worried about it.  I found it a little odd that someone would leave such a mansion of a house behind though, and not to mention everything they owned inside. 
     When I first walked in the double doors in front of the house I remember seeing cobwebs and dust everywhere, like someone hadn’t been inside for years.  I remember seeing the two rows of staircases on either side of the foyer hooking around to the dark top floor.  If you took an immediate right as you walked into the front doors you would find yourself standing in the overly sized living room and if you took a left you would find yourself in a large out-dated kitchen.  Going upstairs we found lots of bedrooms and in the middle there was another living room a bit smaller than the one downstairs, but it was still very big.  We only saw glimpses of each of the 7 bedrooms, the courtyard with not just an empty and dirty fountain but also a pool, and the giant covered porch wrapping around the entire courtyard with 6 white cracking columns on each side creating 5 arches between each of the columns.  Without a second look my parents said in unison, “we’ll take it.” 
     So now here I am 5 years later and still living in the same old house.  We fixed the cracking columns and cleaned out the pool and the fountain, filling them and then admiring them from the now clean porch with chairs and tables all around it.  Of course we hired a cleaning crew to dust off everything, vacuum, and sweep, and then we hired an electrician to fix the electrical in the top floor but we still had trouble with it to this day.  It constantly made strange noises and with the tiniest thunder storm it would all go out.  My parents still were busy all the time and we constantly had people over from their work, we had their work parties here every year too.  Christmas, Halloween, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Labor Day! Any holiday you could imagine was always hosted at our house.  It got old… all the parties, all the noise and people I didn’t know.  I usually hid out in my room with my dog, trying to sleep or occasionally doing homework. 
     So now in my warm bed I lay awake listening to not only the rain, the lights of the hallway struggling to stay lit and of course the loud commotion of yet another party being hosted in the house this time because of the weather conditions.  I couldn’t sleep so I decided to count how many seconds after a crash of lightning it would be before I heard the growling of the thunder follow it, then I would count how many seconds it would be before the lights went out, which was never delayed very long.  With my dog at my feet I heard the biggest crash of lightning I heard all day and as soon as I heard it I started counting, 1..1000..2…1000…3…1000…and then there was the grumbling thunder shaking the floors and my bed, 1..1000…2..1000..3…1000..4…1000..5….and there go the lights. 
     I woke up the next morning to the sound of chatter in the kitchen downstairs.  I slowly pulled the warm blankets off my body and swung my feet down to the hard wooden floor, standing up I could feel a tension in my neck and a scratchiness in my throat.  I must be getting a cold or something.  Walking down the giant staircase to the trashed foyer and then walking through the foyer to the large now updated kitchen, I noticed something quite unsettling…the kitchen was empty.  Yet the chattering of my parent’s voices and others continued.  I went into the living room to try and figure out where their voices were coming from but I found nobody there either.  I walked back into the kitchen where I walked to the back door, opening it up to the courtyard where I then again find no one.  The chattering of their voices continues but this time they are growing louder in my head.  I search the house running around franticly trying to find them, but they are nowhere to be found.  I shout their names, I scream their names I cry out their names but there is no response, just the chattering of their voices in my head.  I run up to their bedroom, struggling with the door knob for my hands are shaky and clammy, finally opening the door I find my parents in bed...  The voices in my head stop as I see that their bed is stained with blood.  I walk over to their bed side to find that their throats had been slashed.  In shock I run to my room slamming the door behind me.  I run to the corner of my room and find myself in the fetal position on the floor.  I can’t breathe, I can’t move, I just lay there helpless and scared.  Suddenly I stop breathing all together for I have noticed something disturbing.  Someone is in my bed.  I stand up, walk over to my bed and look down at the blonde headed blue eyed girl in my bed.  I look at her throat that has also been slashed.  I look at the blood stained covers on top of her.  I stumbled back in horror; this girl I was looking down at was me.  I reached up to touch my neck.  I felt the deep gash where my throat had been cut.  I look down at my feet to find they were no longer touching the ground.  I looked around the room, confused and scared.  I saw that the door to my room had been opened and in the door way were my parents, but it was as though I could see directly through them.  We were all dead; our souls had left our bodies.  We were now ghosts and not the only ones at that… Going downstairs with my parents I couldn’t now see what I hadn’t been able to alive.  I saw all the spirits that lived in this house before us, and all of my parent’s party guests.  The trash in the foyer I thought I saw when I walked down the first time was now blood…it was everywhere.  All the families and married couples just lingered in the house.  I saw the previous owners of the house, they were floating around the house as if it were still theirs, not even noticing the rest of the spirits around them.  They were all trapped here forever, and now we were a part of them.  The house was cursed.  The spirits living here were too much for any human to survive here.  Within 5 years the spirits will have had enough and gotten rid of whoever lived in their home. 

                Years later someone else bought the house, with the cobwebs and dust.  Once again moving in, they thought they got a bargain, when in reality they bought a death wish.

New Life

My favorite Halloween was the first Halloween my family and I spent in our new house.  I remember it being so fun and laid back.  It was a perfect beginning to our fresh start in a new place, new house, new school, and new friends.  The only thing that wasn’t new was my crazy, loveable, and tight knit family.  We had spent months trying to find a house we all liked and that was in our price range.  Although we found plenty of houses we could never find the perfect one.  The way my family works is we have to all agree on something if it’s something that will affect every one of us.  Before moving to Missouri we considered moving to Kansas.  My dad hated the job he had and needed one that paid more.  After searching for a job that better fit him in our area of the Salt Lake City Valley for a while we decided we needed out, away from the enclosed valley, away from the busy city life and most of all away from the critical, judgmental people of the valley.  We all agreed we needed to move.  But we didn’t all agree on moving to Kansas.  So we didn’t.  Then my dad was offered a job in Missouri.  One that paid a lot more than the one he had in Utah and one that better suited him.  After he got the job we all started to work.  Going away party planning, packing, selling the house, garage sales…we got rid of just about everything we had.  Stuffing everything we had left into a small Pod and truck.  We wanted a fresh start.  Go somewhere nobody knew who we were and start from the beginning.  And that’s exactly what we did.  A three day road trip and we were beginning our new lives, remembering the old ones.  We lived in an apartment for 6 months when we first moved there, but waiting to start our lives until we moved into our house.  Everything good happens when you aren’t looking.  After looking through countless homes with my parents and brother, we found one.  Coming home one day to my parents telling my brother and I they had bought a house was a shock and I was honestly a little upset to find out they bought a home without my brothers and my opinion on it.  But when we arrived at the house to look at it we instantly fell in love.  A medium sized house with a beautiful rock exterior and neutral colored interior giving it a relaxed feel it was the perfect house for us.  And the biggest surprise is when we opened the back door to the large covered deck overlooking the pool surrounded by concrete and then an area of grass for our two dogs.  This was the perfect house that popped out of nowhere.  We moved in immediately and got to spend Halloween in our new house.  I remember getting the strobe light out and putting it out in our garage while my brother scared the little kids coming to get candy, my parents sitting on the front porch with the bowls of candy laughing and giving the frightened little kids extra candy.  I was sitting with my dog in the front yard watching everyone, storing this feeling in my memory to later remember what it felt like to have a crazy family who loved you, remembering the feeling of knowing nobody knew who I was.  I could be whoever, whatever I wanted to be.  The feeling of starting a new life was the feeling I wanted forever, feeling new and fresh, mysterious and secretive.

Lost Love

 

We kissed, I fell under your spell

They say I'm caught up in a dream

They tell me I'm too young to understand

I never hit so hard in love

It slowly turned, you let me burn

All I wanted was to break your walls

All you ever did was break me

And now, we're ashes on the ground

And I'm not proud of my address

So wake me up when it's all over

Journey to Myself

 

Didn't know I was lost

But I know where to start

We jumped, never asking why

You could be my luck

Don't you ever say I just walked away

I will always want you

I know that we'll be safe and sound

I can't tell where the journey will end

All this time I was finding myself, and I

Music Questions

What music or songs reminds you of your childhood?
Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Assley--Mrs. Stephens
Songs by Jessica Andrews--me

Who is your favorite singer or group or song and why?
Barry Manelo, his music touches my soul.--Mrs. A
The Maine, their music never gets old--me

What music reminds you of someone you love? Your child? Spouse? Parents?
I'm Gonna Miss Her, reminds me of my husband--Mrs. Lord
Jack Johnson reminds me of an old childhood friend--me

Do you go to concerts? Which concerts are memorable to you? Why?
No not really. I've been to one concert in college and it was the Blues Travelers.--Mrs. Lord
Occasionally I go to concerts. I remember going to the Macklemore concert this last April because it was most recently.--me

What radio stations do you normally listen to in your car? Do you song along?
Yes classic rock. Tom Petty mostly. --Mrs. Wyrick
I mostly listen to music off my phone like Ed Sheeran and Somo. --me

Which music or artist was "controversial" or "offensive" to some when you were growing up? Is any music offensive to you now?
Milly Vanilly, Madonna, Boy George, Ozzy, Biggy, Tupac--Corn
No music is really offensive to me... I just don't like metal so I don't listen to it.--me

Which music or artist do you really dislike or refuse to listen to?
I don't like new country music like Tim McGraw.--Mrs. Wyrick
I just don't like metal.--me

My Music World

When I listen to slow or softer music I feel peaceful and at ease.  I can usually think best when I listen to slower music.  I get irritated and annoyed with people pretty easily on some days but when I listen to music I tend to be more patient and calm.  When I'm in a good mood I tend to listen to faster music.  The kind that makes you want to dance.  I also associate some music with different seasons.  One of my all time favorite bands is The Maine and I remember when I was first introduced to their music about 2 years ago.  It was in the summer when I first heard them so I associate their music with summer and hot weather.  When I listen to John Mayer, another one of my favorite artists, it reminds me of autumn because when I lived in Utah my family and I would go camping in the mountains with our little camper and for that entire week all the music we would hear would be by John Mayer.  My dad and I both loved his music.  Jack Johnson's music is so peaceful it just reminds me of the warmth of my room in the middle of the winter.  And the freshness of spring reminds me of Jayme Dee's music because it's so upbeat and cheerful.  I connect music to so many different events and places.  The song Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band reminds me of my Uncle.  At his funeral my dad put together a memory video with lots of different pictures and he put that song and Toes as the background music.  When I hear the song Skater Boy by Avril Lavigne I remember when I was a little girl just moving to Utah and meeting a boy that just so happened to be a skater.  I would listen to that song on repeat and just imagine what it must be like to have a boyfriend.  My friends taste in music has not always been the same as mine.  I've very rarely found someone who likes to listen to The Maine as much as I do and John Mayer.  I don't have one friend that likes another.  They are all very different and have very different tastes.  I like it that way though.  I like a variety of music, listening to the same things day in day out would get boring and bland.  Without music in the world there wouldn't be any sense of direction or flow... no differences and nothing worth listening to.  Everyone has their own style and taste.  Everyone is different in one way or another.  They all like different music and that's because they connect with different things.  All music should be tolerated even though you personally don't like it.  It's there because someone else does.

Six Words

"Another place. Another story to begin."

Memorable Windows

I saw majestic mountains towering over everything in the closed in valley

I saw the paved street sloping down the hill to a dead end

But I can no longer look out this window

Instead I can only see it in memory

And once a year I have the opportunity to look in

When looking in I sometimes see people

Perfect strangers walking on the floor I once knew to be my own

I remember loving to look out this window when the mountains were painted with orange, yellow, red and brown

The dry summer had passed and the autumn air was here

When I would look hard I could see the ski resort's chairlift

When I would look even closer I saw the shadows of mountain ranges behind the one I lived in for so many years

Giving me a taste of the world beyond the valley

Poem Paintings

The master piece of a 23 year old
Say to have been done by someone else
The angry Michelangelo set them straight
In the deserted night
He snuck in to see his own sculpture
Taking a chisel he carved
The next day people saw what he had done
Michelangelo's name was etched in Mary's sash
Proving a 23 year such as himself could create something so incredible
No one ever second guessed his work again
But he always amazed people regardless

A 4 year long painting
So many different stories in millions of brush strokes
Taking stories from the Bible Michelangelo puts it all into paintings.
Famous for sculpting though Michelangelo refused
Forced by the Pope he painted
Still in existence today
The ceiling of The Sistine Chapel is easily one of the most beautiful things man has made
4 years on he laid on his back, day in and day out
Michelangelo created something that will forever be timeless

European

This picture that we studied in class the other day reminded me of when I went to Spain and Italy this last summer.  It reminds me a lot of the restaurants we went into.  Every night we would  go to a really nice restaurant and be served about 3-4 courses of delicious food.  A lot of the time we had no idea what we were eating.  We were always really hungry by the time dinner came around.  They eat really late in Spain and Italy.  They eat around 8.  The way you are served is also very different there.  You pick a certain combination of food like pizza or pasta and salad or fries.  A lot of the options were a lot like america but they made it a lot different.  The salad had a vinigarette on it and the fries were always freshly made.  The pizzas were made by had with a thin crust and amazing sauce.  The pasta was always al dante (tender) and the sauce made from scratch.  They served an entire group like ours by bringing huge tubs of pasta out and putting it on everyones plates that ordered it and the same with the salad and fries.  It was always very relaxed and fun to go to the restaurants and I miss it a lot.  I will never eat pasta as good as the pasta we had in Italy again. 

The Insecure Italian Artist

Born on March 6, 1475 and dying on February 18, 1564 of almost 90 years old Michelangelo was one of the best artists this world has ever seen.  Creating a lot of his pieces at a very young age.  His mother, Francesca Miniato del Sera, died when he was only 6 years old leave his father, Ladovico Buonarroti Simoni, alone with 4 other boys not including Michelangelo.  At age 7 Michelangelo went to school but often snuck away to draw.  He was so in love with art he fought his dad for years about it and when his dad finally gave in at age13 Michelangelo became an apprentice for the Ghirlandaio brothers, a very respected family of artists.  Michelangelo created some amazing pieces in his lifetime.  He was a sculptor, painter and a poet.  He started his poetry in an older age while sculpting at a younger age.  Some of his most famous pieces include Pieta, David and The Sistine Chapel ceiling.  Pieta is the sculpture he created at only 24 years old of Mary holding her dead son Jesus.  He was so young when he created this magnificent piece some people were saying it was another artist who created it. This made Michelangelo frustrated so late at night he snuck into the place he kept Pieta and carved his name into Mary’s sash.  The statue of David is probably one of his best known pieces world wide. He started this piece at age 26 and finished it at age 29.  This sculpture stands 17 feet tall and is of a completely naked David standing in a position symbolized the defense of civil liberties with his eyes facing the direction of Rome as a warning glare. They had an attachable leaf they would put on the statue when Queen Victoria would come visit. Another famous piece of his is the ceiling of the Sistine Capel.  Before this extraordinary painting he only did sculptures out of marble and when requested to paint the ceiling of the all time famous Sistine Chapel he refused and ran away.  The pope at the time sent people to search for him and bring him back.  After a while they found him and brought him back where he was forced to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  He spent 4 years on his back painting the ceiling.  He started painting at age 33 and finished at age 37. 
Although Michelangelo was never married he had a long term relationship with a woman named Vittoria Colonna.  She is known to be a muse for several of his pieces but it has never been proven that it is she was the inspiration for the pieces.  She died in 1547 when Michelangelo was 72, he spent the rest of his life alone.  My favorite pieces by him would have to be the Sistine Chapel and Pieta because when I went to Spain and Italy this last summer I got to see them in person and they are really amazing.

The Lost Field

When I first got this picture I didn’t really like it honestly….but after looking at it for a while I started falling in love with it.  It reminded me of when I would go camping with my family.  I loved it when we would go camping.  Its where I became really close to my dad and where I could just be myself and not have to worry about who I might see or what I look like.  I loved being away from the real world and this painting reminds me exactly of that.  The place in the painting reminds me of a place I would run to every day after breakfast.  I would just start running into the woods, dodging rocks and fallen trees on my way I would find myself just running until I could find something new.  One day I was running but this time I ran the opposite direction I usually ran and found myself in a large open field in the middle of the forest.  It was beyond gorgeous…surrounded by trees and little purple flowers, I found a large boulder to sit on and I just sat there for a while and took it all in.  I loved this place so much that the next day I ran in the same direction and found it again and the next day I showed my family and this became a daily routine.  The next year when we went up to the camp site we found that the water in the lake had risen so much that a lot of the places we used to know were now under water and when I went to find field it was gone.  Covered by water I realized I would probably never see it again, except for in my memory. 

 

 

Crisp mornings, Cool nights

Scenery like a mural

Memories so clear

I will never forget the

Feeling of being so free



Pillows

When I moved from Wisconsin to Utah we drove and on the way we took our time, stopping a lot on our way.  All in all it took us about six days to get to our new apartment.  We would start driving a little later in the morning and end at around dinner time in order to find our hotel and get settled in.  We also drove from Utah to Missouri and now being a little older we spent more time in the car, getting up early and driving till later.  There wasn’t much to do in a car for 10-14 hours so most of the time my brother would watch movies and I would listen to music and play with silly putty or play dough.  And we would both sleep, a lot.  On these car rides there would always be pillows and blankets covering the floor of our van.  The pillow in the picture reminds me a lot of these car long car rides.  They were always being thrown around and stepped on it looked as though someone had a pillow fight right there in the car.  But no matter what the pillows seemed to be everyone’s favorite thing, it comforted you, not only in the physical way but also in the mental and emotional as well.  A pillow is an object you sink your head into after a long stressful day.  You cry into it, laugh into it, you use it as a head rest or even a table, it’s always there, no matter where you go.  It’s the last thing you see before falling asleep and the first thing you notice when you wake up.  Because of this I love pillows; I probably have about ten in my room today.  I use them as decoration mostly.  I love being comfortable and warm and a pillow is the first thing I think of when I think of comfort. 

Thoughts of the Future

I thought that the lady that came in to talk about the art institute was very interesting.  I would love to go to a college like that.  I love the idea that you don't have to take all your gen ed classes your first year, its spread out through your college years.  I also love the fact that the gen ed classes would still somehow be about the subject you wish to study.  I really think I would love the environment there and all the art different students have made.  It sounds really fun and exciting I just have no idea what I would major in if I were to go there.  I really enjoy interior design but I've heard its hard to get a job in that area of study.  One question I would have for her would be how many students have graduated studying interior design and are now successful in an interior design company?  If I could I would absolutely love to go to school for interior design and make that my profession.  I would like to see myself graduating from college and be really good at what I do so that I can get a job easily and I want to love what I do.  In 10 years I would like to be successful and stable maybe engaged or married.  In 50 years I hope to have a big happy family and be successful.   More than anything I just want to be as happy or happier than I am today, I don't want to stress about stupid things, I just want  to work hard and I'll be successful if I do that and if I do what I love I'll be happy.

Blackout writing

The House on Maple Street

It was the best feeling in the world...it was finally here; crisp mornings, the crunch beneath your feet of all the changing leaves that hide all of your summer secrets, apple and pumpkin everything! Knitted sweaters, tall comfy boots, yoga pants everyday and warm scarves covering your neck. Cornfields, hayrides, Thanksgiving, Halloween! Frosted windows and spiced air. Long bike rides on relaxing Sunday evenings. Blankets, hot chocolate and movies that never gets old. My favorite season and favorite time of the year where everyone has calmed down from their summer blasts and got back into the routine of school and it's almost as if mother nature knows when it’s time to cool down...warm days with a gentle breeze, the most perfect weather. With the occasional rainy days we all love to spend inside relaxing. So perfect and peaceful, but what I remember most of this beautiful season is where it was the best...it was in this house that I remember it being this wonderful. It was so comfortable, big and spacious, with the smell of Autumn everywhere. It wasn't anything fancy or expensive but it’s the one I remember most and the most clearly. Probably even my favorite. It had character to it. It had a comfortable basement, with old couches and a large TV in the corner, a tiny bar area in the back where we would set out snacks and drinks for the parties we had. While the upstairs consisted of a very large kitchen and living room. There were windows lining the walls in these two rooms, but in the living room there was a very large window, going from almost the top of the high ceilings to the carpeted ground. It had to be as wide as it was tall; taking up almost half of the wall this window looked out to the most beautiful mountain around the valley. Like a mural this window showed you one of the most gorgeous things natures given us. That was probably my favorite thing about the house itself, but my all time favorite thing was the backyard. There was a gravel drive way leading to a barn just behind the house and next to this barn was a horse pasture with, of course, horses living in it. In front of the pasture and the barn was a small grassy area where our dogs would run and play, and in the middle of this area was a huge tree that my brother and I would climb every day. I spent most of my time in the tire swing which was attached to the tree by a thick rope. I went there to think or just be alone and away from the world. This was the house I spent most of my childhood in. Growing up here made it my favorite place, I just didn’t know that until it was gone… thinking I wanted something bigger, something better, more expensive and nicer than that. When I got what I thought I had wanted though I finally realized it’s not what I wanted. I had just wanted what the rest of the world wanted. Now I want what I don’t have, what I can’t have. Its weird how that tends to work out, people wanting what they can’t have. Knowing this now I’m going to embrace what I have while I have it because I never know how much it’ll actually mean to me until it’s gone or passed. This idea, this thought, it was the perfect lift off for the rest of my life. Having this idea in my mind I’m a happier person, a more positive person and although I know I will I’m going to try my best to not take advantage of things that won’t always be there. Notice things others don’t and take it all in while I can because life keeps moving whether you’re ready for it or not. No one wants the house on maple street, they want the memories inside it. The memories that remind them of the feelings, the smells the thoughts they had in their favorite place.

The Catcher in the Rye

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody." This line is from the novel The Catcher in the Rye, which was published in the year 1951 by the author J.D. Salinger who lived from 1919 to 2010. This author is also known for other works, including Nine Stories and Hapworth 16, 1924.

This book is about a boy named Holden who has a number of issues. He never did well in school and after being kicked out of a nice private school because he loses fencing equipment on a bus. He proceeds to go live in a hotel and begins to think about girls. He meets one of his friends Sally and invites her to run away with him but she declines. After that he decides to head home to see his sister who he is very close to. He sneaks into his parent’s house in order to visit her and tells her about how he pictures himself as the sole guardian of a group of children running and playing in a huge rye field on the edge of a cliff. His job is to catch the children if, in their abandon, they come close to falling off the brink, to be a "catcher in the rye." Because of this misinterpretation, Holden believes that to be a "catcher in the rye" means to save children from losing their innocence. He leaves the house when his parents get home and later that week returns telling his sister he is running away and when she asks to come too he declines her and she becomes very upset which results in him not leaving. Later on he takes her to the zoo to cheer her up and when she’s riding the carousel he sees her laughing and smiling which makes him very happy. At the conclusion of the novel, Holden decides not to mention much about the present day, finding it inconsequential. He alludes to "getting sick" and living in a mental hospital, and mentions that he'll be attending another school in September; he relates that he has been asked whether he will apply himself properly to his studies this time around and wonders whether such a question has any meaning before the fact. Holden says that he doesn't want to tell anything more, because surprisingly he has found himself missing two of his former classmates, Stradlater and Ackley, and even Maurice, the pimp who punched him. He warns the reader that telling others about their own experiences will lead them to miss the people who shared them. I would like to read this book only because it is so famous otherwise i find it kind of boring. I think that it would have a very boring middle. I feel like it would be one of those books you're glad you read when you're done reading it.