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.

[Im]Perfect Life

Finding lines, quotes or stories through the newspaper really gets your imagination going. You make up stories about events and people. I particularly enjoy imagining what a person’s life may be like. By putting together different quotes and pictures from the newspaper I created a story about a teenage girl whose parents have a lot of money, but their job makes them move around a lot. I have a clipping of a crossword puzzle and it’s filled out with several state names such as Hawaii, Alaska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Ohio. I also cut out quotes, one said, “In the end, people are still uptight and nervous…” and another said “talk runs hot and heavy” and the last quote I cut out is set up as though it’s on a computer screen, and it says “We’re retiring to Florida and buying a yacht.” After thinking about what kind of story or life can I create out of these quotes I decided to create a perfectly imperfect life, through a young girl’s eyes. With this in mind I went to the homes for sale in the newspaper and found six homes I imagined this girl and her family had lived in. I picked the million dollar houses, the houses you wished you could live in. Then at the top of the newspaper, where it shows which section and what page you’re on, I saw the word Life with a 5D next to it. After flipping back a couple of pages I saw that it said Life 3D and I instantly cut it out. When I finished cutting and gluing I realized that without even really trying I had made a story, about a teenage girl with a life that seems so perfect to the outside world, but in reality was so imperfect. The imperfectly perfect life behind mansions and yachts….all she saw was the dysfunction.

Quotes

The Sound and the Fury

“Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.” This line is from the novel The Sound and the Fury, which was published in the year 1929 by the author William Faulkner who lived from 1897 to 1962. This author is also known for other works, including As I Lay Dying and Light in August. This novel is about three brothers and a sister named Caddy. After their parents lose all their money their mom leaves and their dad doesn’t really take care of them so they have a black nanny named Dilsey who partially raises the children. Although the three boys look to Caddy as their mother and when she gets pregnant by a strange boy the family goes chaotic. One boy kills himself after trying to trick his father into thinking the child was his, while the other two disown their sister. Her baby girl grows up to be rebellious and ends up running away with a guy she barely knows. I don’t think I would enjoy this book very much because it seems like it is really difficult to follow. It does not seem very interesting to me at all. The whole story itself is not very happy and it ends openly. I like books that have conflict but end well, whether that is really happy or sad I want it to end fully.

Writers as Readers

When I read I love to be as comfortable as possible.  My room is my comfort spot.  I have hanging lanterns above my bed and above the couch on the wall opposite from my bed.  I turn those on and the normal lights off.  I have a big furry body pillow I curl up with or rest my head on.  It has to be complete silence in order for me to focus on my book, I tend to get distracted very easily when reading.  Sometimes I even light incense in order to calm down and focus. 

The genre that interests me the most is probably romantic conflict.  I love romance books but I also love when there are lots of issues with either the relationship or the lives behind the two people. I love Sarah Dessens writing.  All of her books that I've read have some kind of conflict in them.  The girl is shy or has social issues or parent issues and then she meets a boy.  The guys in her books are always mysterious, you never really know what's up with them until about the middle of the book and then the two grow apart or fight and stop talking, but my absolute favorite thing about her writing is that there is always a complete ending and it's always happy.  You don't really have a good idea of what going to happen in her books but whenever I finish one it makes me feel happy and accomplished, as with some books the author doesn't give you much of a real solid ending, you're just left there hanging.  With her books she makes you feel like you are that girl living that life.

When I lived in Utah I was into the Twilight series, everyone was.  Stephanie Meyers was actually from Utah when the Twilight books became popular and all the teenage girls running wild when they started the first movie and times that by like ten! Utah's teenage girls were going nuts! And being one of them I read the entire series faster than I've ever gotten through one book.  I got all of the books as a gift from my grandmother who was also very fond of the series herself.  We always seemed to get along better than my mom and I ever did so I spent a majority of my time at my grandparents house.  When I was home though I would quick finish my homework and before dinner I would go out on our back deck and lock myself in the cushion filled deck box and just read for hours.  It sounds really weird I know, but the deck box was the only place I could get away from any distractions and interruptions.  It was warm and quiet and then cushions gave it the perfect amount of comfort.  I finished all four of my books in that deck box in less than a month and a half. 

I think it would be very fun to write a book one day. If I'm lucky enough or good enough maybe I will some day.  If I were to write a book one day I would really want to write one about my life and the lessons I've learned, the people I've met and tell their story as well.  The only problem is I wouldn't want my readers knowing it was my story... I wouldn't even want them to know it was me writing it.  I want to tell the stories I've heard and tell about what my life is like with a little twist on it maybe so no one would guess it was a true story.  I've actually thought about it a lot and I would want to begin my book with a car accident and then the rest of the book be flash backs of events that have happened in my life.  Have a chapter here and there about vaguely seeing the accident and then losing consciousness again...and maybe waking up when medics are putting me in an ambulance or being wheeled into the hospital.  I would love to put a twist on the end too.  I would want to be talking about guys I met and dated and then waking up to a husband and having my readers try and guess who it might be.  I would love to make a fiction/ nonfiction book of my life like that.  I just hope it would be good enough to be published.

I would start writing like no one will ever read it and I would try not to think "someone is going to read this" because I think we write best when we don't think about that.  We write directly from our minds and not worry about what people might think of us or how people might judge us.  If I became a writer this is how I would write.  I would just start typing and keep typing, not really think and just dig into my memory bringing up long lost moments or thoughts and remembers events and situations and feelings.  I would want to write a book where the reader feels like they are living my life and seeing what I'm seeing.  I would want them to read more, not be able to stop reading and not be able to guess what happens next.  I want them to picture a movie going on in their minds while they read every detail.  I want them to be able to relate.  I would love to be a writer one day...

Writers Dream

I have known and still know some very strong people in my life.  One of my friends from when I lived in Utah had a particularly tough life.  His mom had him when she was only 16 years old, needless to say she was not ready to have a child...He never knew his birth father but from a very young age his mother had a boyfriend who he had grown to know as his father.  One day he unexpectedly died of liver failure and his mom was left only once again with a 13 year old boy.  She then proceeded to date another guy who was bad news from the beginning and once again she was pregnant.  She now has a 17 year old boy and a 2 year old baby boy and no father in the picture.  My friend, the 17 year old, has not only taken care of his mother all these years he also takes care of his new baby brother as well.  I hardly ever, if ever hear him complain about his life.  He may just be the strongest person I know.  I could have never gone through what he went through and turned out the way he did. 

I already don't talk very much if I were to completely stop talking like Maya Angelou did I think people may start ignoring me and even yelling at me at me to respond to them.  I know that if I was talking to someone and they were not responding I would get a bit fustrated.  I think  I used to talk too little but I don't think I do anymore.  When I first moved here I was very quiet, hardly ever spoke unless spoken to.  But after my first year of High School going by so fast I decided I needed to open up more and become more outgoing if I wanted to get anything out of high school.   I became more open and started talking a lot more.  I became more friendly to say the least and I made more friends. I'm still not a very outgoing person but by speaking more and coming out of my comfort zone I'm no longer a shy person. I still listen more than I speak, but by speaking more I have come to know more people and build more friendships.

I'm the kind of person who remembers a lot! I remember a lot of details of a lot of places or events.  I like to remember a lot.  I enjoy writing about what I remember.  I mostly remember what I felt at the time and I describe that, or what I saw or smelt.... I feel like when tramatic things happen in my life my senses go into a hyperactive state.  I notice things I wouldn't normally notice.  The way the air smelt or the color of the objects around me or the feeling of the pavement on my feet.  I find it funny how certain smells or objects remind you of a certain memory, one that you may or may not want to remember.  I remember one specific time when I was at my church camp in Utah. It was the first day and I was a counselor, it was the last week I was spending in Utah and after that week I was moving to Missouri, right when camp ended we were heading out.  I was walking with my best friend at the time Sara, and we saw my mom walking in our direction.  When she got closer I could see that her eyes were red, she had been crying.  At that moment I knew something was wrong.  I could suddenly feel, see, hear, taste everything I couldn't before.  After she had told me my uncle had died of a heart attack in his sleep I could instantly feel my legs weaken and my heart skip a beat.  Everytime I think of this moment I can smell campfire and freshly cut grass and feel the gravel underneath my feet, but most of all I can feel that awful sinking feeling in my chest.  Sometimes I enjoy having a good memory but other times I really don't.  I get it from my dad.  He has a partial photographic memory.  I wasn't lucky enough to get that trait but I did get the ability to remember things so clearly I could recreate the moment in my mind.

I occupy my small mind by doing a number of things... When I need to write I normally focus on my fingers typing on the keys, or when I look at the small details in the computer keys or I focus on the letters I'm typing.  When I need to get something done and I don't want to do it right then I normally get onto my phone and do a number of things to distract me.  I get on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, anything that takes up my time so I don't have to do the one thing I'm supposed to be doing. 

Daydreaming

They say you remember your dreams because you are waken up in a certain stage of dreaming where your brain remembers it, otherwise you forget.  Because I am such a deep sleeper I’m not woken very easily.  I don’t remember most of my dreams.  I am constantly making stories in my mind though.  Constantly thinking about my future and what could happen to me which leads to who could my husband possibly be which gets me to thinking what kind of life is he living right now… I’m always making up stories about what he is like and what his history is, if I’ve already met him or if I’ll meet him tomorrow.  I think about what kind of family I will have, what my children will be like or what I may even be like!  Sometimes instead of thinking about my future I even daydream about my past, all the little details my brain has stored away for me to remember in the future, the houses I’ve lived in, the places I’ve been, the friends I’ve made and people I’ve met.  I just daydream constantly.  It’s probably my favorite thing to do.  I love making up stories, I love memories.  Seeing pictures in magazines and/or photographs I’ve taken myself, reminding me of something that has happened or just making up a story that goes with the picture is something I love doing. Imagination and creating stories to go with everything you do or see is what makes life interesting and exciting.  I may not always remember my dreams that occur while I’m asleep, but I will always daydream and have memories to fill my mind and the pages in my journals. 

Dream Thread

I was running from a herd of wild horses...running through a very large, open, grass filled field just beyond my backyard.  Living on a farm in the country we had lots of land and freedom to spread out as far as we wanted.  I lived in an old farm house, big and full of secrets. I was running in the direction of our bright red barn.  This was an after school tradition ever since I could remember I would get off my school bus at 3:30 everyday and run through this field making the same clicking sound with my mouth and these majestic horses that seem to come out of no where would follow me.  Running to the barn they would wait outside to door neighing like no other until I came out with the basket of fresh red apples my mother had picked from our orchard that morning.  I would give each of them an apple.  They would all wait patiently for their turn to get their apple.  I had known these same horses my entire life, to me they were part of my family, being the only child I considered them my siblings.  I'd do my homework in the barn on top of the piles of hay watching them play in the field until the sun went down and it was time for me to go inside for yet another one of my mothers delicious home cooked meals.  This place I had grown up on was a dream.  I felt as though as long as I stayed here, in the barn, watching the horses I would never age,  never die. They were so free, yet so tame and gentle at the same time.  When I looked into their eyes I could see my reflection. I'm standing in one place watching my whole life, past and the future to come, fly by...and I never died, I ran with the horses forever.

Pink

They had the True Royal Love of the century.

She wore a Bright Fuschia Fizz dress.

It was Valentines day in 1996.

Time for Sugar and Spice and everything nice.

Lovely Silken Ribbon tied around her small waist.

Their Young April love of last year.

Alyssa was her name.

Alyssa Pink.

Budding Romance, How Sweet It Is

How sweet it can be,

To have a Budding Romance,

That lasts forever. 

Life Behind the Turquoise Door

     Newly weds of 2 months buy their first home right outside the city.  They wanted a house with character in a safe neighborhood to start their family.  The woman is already pregnant with their first child.  When they saw this house they fell in love instantly.The turquoise door with shutters on either side of it and a bleach white porch.  The small porch light on the left side and the gold mail slot in the door put an old timey look on it.  Not to mention the beach was right in their back yard.  They lived in a small town where everyone knew each other and took care of one another. 
     Two years later the young couple have two children one boy and one girl.  The baby girl just born in September and the boy being a year and a half older than his baby sister is already very protective over her. 
     Through their life the siblings become very close and become each others best friends.  She goes to every single one of his baseball games and football games and he goes to all of her volleyball games and dance recitals. 
    The not so young couple anymore are still madly in love.  The woman is a very successful interior designer and the man is in the medical field.  They spoil their children to death but at the same time teaching them respect.  The time comes when the boy moves out and goes to college and the girl isn't far behind him.  Going to different colleges but calling or texting each other every day the siblings stay close.  They call their parents just about every other day and go home every holiday.  Living in the small town they did the family stayed very close through the years and eventually the boy and girl started their own lives and own families.  The family stayed very close, visiting every holiday or vacation.  The mom and dad still lived in their small house on the beach.  Growing old behind the turquoise door they stayed madly in love until the day he was diagnosed with cancer.  With only a couple of months left to live they decided to travel the world.  On a late October night he passed away in his sleep.  She wasn't alive for more than a week after him though.  Passing away from heart break she left all her belongings and house to her children. 
    The children came back to the small town to take care of their parents belongings and with children of their own they fell in love with the sandy beaches and the sound of waves in the morning all over again.  They both moved back with their families and splitting the money from their parents belongings they bought houses not even two miles apart from each other and in memory of their parents they painted their doors the same turquoise color.  Thus beginning and ending their lives behind the turquoise door.