HOME!

I got lucky this year, my first year in college. You see, I don't have to take any official finals. With two English classes and two professors who didn't want to give a final, things ended up to where I only have to write papers. I got to come home MONDAY! That is a full week sooner than a lot of people. Even though I've got a few papers to work on while I'm home, I'm quite happy that I'm here.

So, if you didn't already know this, my family is insane. More specifically, my brother Mitchell is a nerd. I came home and decided to go and play the piano. While I'm in there he comes in, holds up the cow from one of our nativity scenes and says, "Sorine, this is a cow. Kiss it." and he then puts the cow right in front of my lips. He proceeds to do this with the sheep, the horse and the baby Jesus. When he gets to Mary he bursts out laughing. "SORINE! KISS MARY!" he shouts. I was still trying to play the piano and he was starting to get on my nerves. "Mitchell! I'm playing the piano. I never get to play a real piano. Can you wait?" I thought that was a calm way of telling him to leave. "You hate me!" He said. That is his favorite saying. He is constantly informing me that I hate him. I don't hate him. He just knows that saying this makes me feel bad and I'll do what he wants. Somehow he got to where he wanted me to teach him to play the piano. He didn't want me to teach him notes or how to read music, he just wanted me to teach him how to play one hymn in the super simplified hymn book so he could "impress the ladies in seminary." We tried several songs but ended up playing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet." He didn't want to learn hand placement either. So he plays the song with one finger, plucking out the top hand one note at a time. He sings while he does this and it is quite entertaining. As I taught him he would randomly pick up Mary and shout "SORINE! KISS MARY!" and then burst out laughing again. I would follow this by picking up a wise man and shouting "MITCHELL! KISS THE WISE MAN!" and then I'd burst out laughing. Oh, I love hanging out with him. Julia came in a little while later and sat on the chair and watched as we playfully made fun of each other. He started to push me around, shoving me off the piano bench, hitting my arm, etc. I told him he was hurting my arm so her pushed harder. "It is a good thing you are left handed!" he said as he pushed my left arm again. "I'm left handed? Since when?" I asked. I'm not left handed. I'm not really capable of doing anything with my left hand. "Since tomorrow." he said. So now that is our joke. Since tomorrow. :)

My car is broken so my mom had to drive down and pick me up. Somehow Spencer convinced her to let him join. When they got to my apartment I pulled Spencer aside and asked how he got my mom to let him skip school. "Well," he said, "I pretended to be really mad and I cried and I stopped talking to her." That never worked for me, but somehow he ends up getting his way most of the time. I'm still not sure why he wanted to come. He slept in the car and while he was at my apartment he didn't even watch TV, he just sat there. I think it was more of an excuse to get out of school, not to come and see me.

For the Christmas party on my Mom's side she is in charge this year. She decided that we needed to make masks. Those fancy ones... I forget what they are called. Anyway, so we go over to my grandma's house to make these masks. I'm not creative. Not in the slightest. So I play around trying to make my mask look good while Julia makes hers look amazing! She cut hers and made it look more like a mask than a black piece of plastic. When I was done with mine, Mom looked at it and said "I think Julia should cut your nose out." So I yell, "JULIA! Mom wants you to come cut my nose out!" Ha ha! Everyone was a little confused. Of course I didn't want my real nose cut out, just the one on the mask.

While we were there, Mom remembered she left some feathers in the garage and she wanted me to go and get them. I asked where they were and she said over by that window. So then me and Julia both put our arms up like chickens, flapped them, bobbed our heads and sang "Stack it up and block the window, stack it up and block the window." My mom rolled her eyes, but she still got the joke. :)

Anyway, this is getting much longer than I originally planned. I just like talking about my family. If you don't know them or appreciate inside jokes then this probably was very boring. I apologize. But, if you do know them you probably (hopefully) enjoyed this. I did, at least. I hope you all have a very wonderful magical Christmas! :D

Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck...

Once upon a time Sadie borrowed my laptop. While she was checking her email and such, I became extremely bored. So what did I do? I flipped my head upside down and put a pony tail on the top of my head. Of course I didn't want to be alone in this so I convinced Sadie and Kendra to join me. We took pictures, sang, danced, and made a few movies...most of which will be for our entertainment only. ;)

Now I am trying to load those pictures (plus ones from previous adventures) and one of the videos onto facebook. But of course this is being WAY slow. And I find myself writing a blog. Which is all I do lately. Haha! :D

In case you were wondering, this morning after I picked up Sadie to walk to class I found a lucky penny! And so of course my day was amazing! I found out I get to go home on MONDAY! YAY! I'm very happy about this. Also, all my finals are take home finals! Oh, and Katrina informed me that she saw Landon in the library today and she said hi. He said hey in response. Today has been a VERY good day. :)

A Story by SKAS...ie

Two people run across the apartment to see what the TV was playing on Friday. My brother was eating Popsicles, green jello, and purple butterfingers. I jumped over him far enough to see the people walking hand-in-hand away from the TV. Once the jello set, Melissa yelled "SNOWMAN!" and opened the front door. Running dinosaurs cried while laughing because she didn't actually talk like humans wanted her to. Robin loves my brother's helicopter, but he never takes me shopping or on the helicopter. Robin hates me when I try to eat jello through the straws in pajamas. Melissa wrapped candy with her snowman, but it got hot so the snowman melted. She cried hysterically. Robin tried jumping in jello when Melissa cried "STOP!" Robin didn't stop. She kept jumping because jello tastes funny when you laugh and cry at melting ice. Most of all my brother woke monkeys when he sneezed. They attacked TVs and little girls, but the people threw jello at monkeys before my brother ate bananas. This monkey wasn't mad, but he felt guilty so everyone cleaned bathrooms until the sun set on the month of May. That next day we sucked suckers, slept on concrete pillows, and built new blankets made of cow hoofs. Those cows were mourning the loss of pigs who flew from barns in Canada where helicopters crashed. My brother Tim cried because Melissa ate his finger. Robin puked up jello. Once Robin finished puking she laughed because the jello was now orange. We puked because we ate moldy butterfingers. Ryan is nerdy when he studies girls because they scare monkeys. The end.

EXPLANATION: in case any of you are wondering, SKAS...ie = Sadie, Kendra and Sorine...ie. We took turns saying words to write this story. It doesn't have a plot, if you couldn't tell, and the meaning is hidden deep. But there is a meaning. Hope you enjoyed it.

A Chance Encounter?

The following story may or may not be true.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Katrina. She was attending college in a small town and therefore spent most of her time on a small campus. In between her classes she would go to the library and study, people watch, or just read a book and relax.

Every day the same boy would come into the library and he would sit near Katrina. Of course she noticed him. He was tall with brown hair and brown eyes and wasn't bad looking in the slightest. Oh how Katrina wished she could get the courage to talk to him. It was pathetic, but she went throughout almost the entire semester without saying more than "Oh, I'm sorry" when he almost hit her with his bike.

Through means that we don't need to explain, Katrina's friend Katie found out that his name was Landon. Katie was determined to get Katrina to talk to him. The end of the semester was getting closer and neither one of them wanted Katrina to miss her chance.

Every day as Katrina sat in the library she would think of ways to talk him. She imagined herself casually dropping her pencil, or pretending her pen ran out of ink. She imagined that she wouldn't even have to talk to him first, that he would rush into the library and say, "Excuse me, miss, but I have been dying to meet you. And I must know, will you fill the empty seat on my bicycle for two?"

But Katrina knew that it wouldn't happen that way. Nothing ever happened that way. She knew that if she ever wanted to talk to this boy, she would have to make the first move. She started seeing Landon everywhere. Katie and Katrina would see him at Wal-Mart or at a function or just on campus. But no matter how hard she tried, Katrina could not get herself to talk to him. In fact, she almost had herself convinced that she would rather just admire him from afar.

But Katie had other plans. One day at Friday Forum Katie and Katrina ended up sitting right next to Landon, only an isle way was separating them. Katrina, of course, didn't talk to him while the lesson was being given, but she had decided that that was going to be the day. She was going to talk to him.

As Friday Forum came to a close and the chairs were being stacked, Katrina began to doubt herself. Maybe talking to him wouldn't be a good idea. What if he rejected her in front of all these people? What if he wasn't as nice as he seemed? What if he saw her coming and ran the other way? Her mind was filled with doubts and she began to rethink her decision to talk to him. Although Katie was disappointed with Katrina, they left without talking to him.

The two girls walked back across campus towards their apartments. Katie talked on the phone while Katrina thought to herself. She decided that she could still be happy; a boy wasn't going to determine whether or not she had a smile on her face. She skipped, danced and sang to herself, waiting for Katie to get off the phone. She wasn't really paying any attention to her surroundings and as the turned a corner Katie suddenly got really excited and hung up her phone. "Katrina!" she yelled. "It is FATE! You have to talk to him!"

Katrina was confused. She looked around and only saw one guy - someone she had never seen before. He gave them a weird look and walked away. Katie was still freaking out so Katrina looked around again. And then she saw him. Landon was right there. Fate had brought them together. Or something like that. Katrina's heart sank and even though she was nervous, she wanted to talk to him. He walked just a few steps behind them and she tried to think of a way to say something without making it awkward.

"Do you want me to say something first?" Katie whispered.

Katrina couldn't think of another way to go about it, but she didn't want to miss her chance. It was going to happen. She was going to talk to him. "Yeah," she whispered back.

Katie quickly turned around to face to Landon. "Hi," she said, "I'm Katie." 

And do you know what happened next? Landon introduced himself.He wasn't rude. He didn't quickly run away. He just introduced himself and waited for Katrina to do the same. Katie walked on ahead, leaving Katrina and Landon to awkwardly have a conversation as they walked across campus. When they came to the corner they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Katrina was more than happy. She skipped and danced and sang all the rest of the way home.

Was it chance that brought them together? Will they talk again? In the library later on, will things be awkward? Stay tuned to see what happens next.

Smile! :)

Life has a way of getting you down. At least, this is true for me. Especially through these last couple of weeks, I have been very down. It is hard for me to be away from my family. I miss just being able to actually see them. They honestly are my best friends and I've hated not being able to laugh with them every day. I've been sick, also. I know, nothing new. I get sick way too much. School has been stressful, with finals getting nearer. And then there is my lack of wanting to do anything but sleep. I was stuck in a rut and I didn't really care to get out.

The problem is, once I quit caring about one thing I quit caring about everything. I got to where the only class I really wanted to go to was institute (sounds a lot like high school...) and it was also the only class I was keeping up on. And of course, keeping up on institute is a very good thing. :) But, not keeping up on my other classes isn't a very good thing. I could go on about how I was stuck in this rut, but what will that do? It is how I got out that matters.

Last Sunday Kendra and I read a section from a book (for the sake of us not being made fun of, the title will remain unknown to all you readers) about how to start being happy. It said that we can either change our thoughts to change our actions or change our actions to change our thoughts. Smiling is the key. By smiling we give off the impression that we are happy. If you keep smiling, before you know it, you will be happy! Your actions (smile) will change your thoughts (attitude). Plus, the book said that it is impossible to be unattractive when smiling. ;)

So on Monday I smiled. Now, it isn't like I wasn't smiling before, I was. I just only smiled when something made me happy, I wasn't smiling to be happy. By the end of the day I was in the best mood ever! I felt confident, at ease, and happy.

I tried to keep this going throughout the week, and it worked. Even though I was sick and didn't want to move, I smiled and was happy. On Friday, I went to Friday Forum. Can you guess what the topic was? Happiness. I needed that talk. One of the things that was said was that blessed means how happy. I got thinking about all the blessings I have and I thought, well, I should be happy, I have no reason not to be. I am blessed.

So I challenge all you out there, the few actually reading this, to smile. Even if things aren't going the way you would like, keep smiling. It is possible to be going through trials and still keep a smile on your face. After all, you're never fully dressed without a smile! :D

2 Nephi 9:39 "Spiritually-Minded Is Life Eternal"

I'm Thankful For....

So this was just a fun way to count my blessings. Of course, some of these are cheesy because of the letter or for lack of a better way to describe it. Also, I wasn't planning on explaining everything, but I felt some needed an explanation, so I had to give all of them one. I am thankful for many other things as well. I am so blessed and at this time of year I can't help but just be happy.

I am thankful for:

Apartment – I can’t imagine not having a place to live. Even though everything seems to fall apart, I’m grateful for our little apartment.

Blankets – Snuggling up in a blanket and watching a movie or just going to bed has got to be one of my favorite things ever!

Christ – I don’t know if I can even express how grateful I am for Christ. He has done so much for me and I don’t know where I’d be in my life if I didn’t know this.

Dinosaurs – I may sound like a little kid, but I love dinosaurs! (Even though a pterodactyl dropped my sister over the Grand Canyon) ;)

Eeyore – I hated when Eeyore was sad and I always wanted to make sure people weren’t sad like him. I hope I still stick to that. I’m grateful for that example.

Family – My family is crazy, but they are the best. There really is no way to describe them. I’m grateful for them and the memories I have with them.

Gospel – This is also one that I have a hard time expressing. I am so glad I have the gospel in my life and that I know where I am headed.

Hot chocolate – Over the last month I have had more hot chocolate than I think I have had in my entire life. Not only does it warm me up, but it tastes wonderful! :)

Imagination – I am grateful that my imagination hasn’t left me and that I can still enjoy the imagination of others.

Journals – I LOVE going back and reading my journals! I love the memories they contain and the stupid drama that went on. It is fun to see how I’ve changed.

Keyboard – I’m not very good at the piano, but I always play to help calm me down. Of course there isn’t room for a piano at our apartment, so I’m glad we have a keyboard.

Little kids – This kind of relates back to the imagination thing. I just love playing with kids and becoming one myself.

Music – Well, music is just amazing! Without it, I’d probably go insane.

Nickels – This is kind of an inside thing, my sister wants dimes to go to the Nickelcade. So in a round about way, I’m thankful for the weird inside jokes I have with my family.

Optimism – The glass is half full, unless it is of something gross like medicine, then it is half empty. I’m glad that there is always a bright side.

Parents – My mommy and daddy are the best mommy and daddy out there. They do so much for me and I’m glad that they are in my life. :)

Quiet – It is always nice to find a quiet place to read or relax or just let your mind work itself out. Also, having quiet makes me appreciate the noise. ;)

Roommates – Oh, man! I love my roommates! Haha, refer to last post.

Siblings – Like I said before, my family is crazy. And my crazy siblings are my best friends. They never judge me and they always love me. :)

Testimonies – I am thankful for my testimony and the testimonies of others. I have learned so much from testimonies and I love how happy people can be because of testimonies.

Underwear – Self explanatory.

Vines – At my old house there were grape vines that went through our fence. We would go out there and try to steal the grapes without our neighbors knowing. :)

Words – I think it is amazing how the same words can describe something as intense as a battle scene or something as calm as a sunset. I just love it! And when people mix up their words and say something stupid or funny, it just makes it even better. ;)

X-rays – Well, without them how would we know when we broke a bone or something? I have broken both of my arms (luckily at different times) and without an x-ray it probably wouldn’t have healed the right way.

You – I’m thankful for people. Just everyone in general. For being examples to me, for giving me a smile, for everything.

Zippers – I am just glad that I can zip up a sweater or something to keep me warm. Haha.

 

My Wonderful Roommates (and Half Roommate)

When I started planning for college and all that, everyone warned me about roommates. I heard all sorts of horror stories - from chicken broth showers to kool-aid towels, from clean freaks to pack rats. I heard every story out there. And once I told everyone I was rooming with one of my best friends, I heard even more stories. I was warned that we'd end up hating each other within the first few weeks.

So as you can probably guess, I was really nervous about meeting my roommates. Not only was I worried about all the horror stories, but also I was worried because I'm just not good with meeting new people. I'm shy and it takes me a while to warm up to people. After I moved in, I spent the first couple of weeks up in my room with Kendra. Even though one roommate was my cousin, I just wasn't feeling comfortable with them and I was just really shy around them. But then it happened. One night I spent way too long in my room working on a paper and I had to get out. Kendra and I went outside to play volleyball and our roommates saw us at our normal stage rather than our shy stage. Ever since then we've all gotten along really well. I'm lucky I don't have any stories to add to the horror category.

I also have a half roommate, Sadie. She lives across the little grassy area but you would think that she lived with us. Somehow, I have become best friends with this crazy girl. I'm always over with her or she is always over with me. The only problem is that her and Kendra like to "fight" and I'm in the middle of it, literally. This resulted in Sadie whacking me with her arm while walking back from the play the other night...my head is still pounding. ;)

I am so happy that things have turned out the way they have. I have the best roommates ever! I know that I can turn to them for anything and they'll be there to listen. They've been there already, as I've had several breakdowns. Haha. I'm so glad that I got out of my shy stage and got to know these amazing girls. I don't know what I'd do without them. :)

Looking Up

About two weeks ago my brother Mitchell decided to see how tall I am (or how short in my case). The result was five feet and one half of an inch. This was exciting news for me! The last time we checked I was five feet and a quarter of an inch. Sure, another quarter of an inch isn't that much, but it still shows that I am growing! :)

I've always been short. Well, not ALWAYS. I remember once in elementary school we lined up shortest to tallest for our class picture. I was like three from the back. I felt so tall. (Okay, I'll be honest. I was wearing heels. haha!) And, I remember being taller than some people who now make fun of me for being short.

Being short means that I have to look up a lot.  I'm looking up to see in the mirror, I'm looking up to see in the cupboard, I'm looking up to see above the steering wheel, but most of all,  I'm looking up to look at people. Sometimes, I want to go and stand by really tall people and just laugh. In fact, I did this the other day. Kendra took a picture and we laughed about it forever! The guy was 6' 8" and that is a lot taller than me! She sent the picture to tons of people and they all laughed about it too. I'm glad that my height is bringing others such happiness. ;)

I've spent a lot of my life looking up at people. And I'm thankful for that. I'm glad that I am short and can look up to people in more ways than one. I've thought a lot about how everyone has something to offer. It is kind of lame, but being short and having to look up at people has made me try to find was that I can look up to them in the sense that I learn from them.

Everyone, even the few shorter than me, I've looked up to. I'm so grateful for the examples I have in my life. Without even realizing it, all of you (especially those who take the time to read all of this) have made a difference in my life. You have taught me how to have faith, how to be happy, how to grow, and how to believe in myself. Thank you for daring to be you! :)

Marge and Stewart

On the way back to Ephraim tonight I got bored and decided to write a story. I wrote it in about ten minutes and it really has no point to it. But I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Once upon a time there lived a fair maiden. This fair maiden went by the name of Marge. In the same town there lived a farmer boy named Stewart. Stewart and Marge were best friends. Marge didn’t know it, but Stewart was in love with her. He didn’t want to tell her because he was worried that not only would it ruin their friendship, but also it could quite possibly ruin his future career as a farmer. Marge’s father owned the biggest tractor company in all the land. Stewart knew that if he ruined his friendship with Marge he would never be able to buy his own tractor.

But he couldn’t help it. One hot summer day, Stewart let it slip to the town gossips that he was in love with Marge. So, of course, Marge found out. Marge approached Stewart and said, “Stewart.”

And Stewart said, “Marge.”

And Marge winked at Stewart.

Stewart thought she had a twitch. “Do you need a banana?” Stewart asked. “Because, you know, bananas have lots of potassium and when you need potassium your eye twitches. So, since your eye is twitching I thought maybe you might need a banana. But, do you even like bananas? Because . . .”

Marge wasn’t listening. “Stewart,” she said again (this time without the wink).  “I heard you are in love with me. Is this true?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Okay,” she said.

And that was the end of their conversation because Marge skipped away.

Stewart didn’t know what to think. He went to his stacks of hay bails and sat on the very top. A few hours later Marge came back with some sort of old parchment all rolled up.

“What’s that?” Stewart pointed to the parchment.

“I found a treasure map.” Marge began to climb the bails of hay.

“A treasure map?” Stewart asked. “Where did you find that? Is it a pirate treasure map?!?”

“Why, yes.” Marge had reached the top of the hay bails and was showing Stewart the map. “I think that we should find this treasure.”

“But what about my farm? I can’t just leave it!”

“Don’t worry,” Marge said, “I’ve got it all figured out. Once we find the treasure we will have enough money to buy a tractor from my dad and live happily ever after.”

And so they did.

The End.

No More Standing Back

EFY has always been something I look forward to. I have gone every year I possibly could, even multiple times. This past summer, being 18, was the last summer I could attend EFY as a participant. I want to be a counselor next summer, but I don't know for sure if that will happen. So, with the possibility of this being my last EFY experience EVER, I wanted to make the best of it.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into it. I had such high expectations of what would happen and I kept comparing it to other sessions I had been to. I kept trying hard to feel a connection to my company and everything, it just wasn't working.

One night, during scripture study, I said a prayer asking my Heavenly Father for help. I had been near tears all week, wishing that I could just fit in. (Sorry, I'm sure I'm sounding like a loser. This really was a big deal to me though.) I open my scriptures to Hebrews chapter 2. What stood out to me the most was just the first part of verse three. It says, "How shall we escape, if we neglect . . ." I realized that I couldn't get through this if I just sat there expecting something to happen. I had to do the work.

It is funny how we often say we believe things or have faith in things or know things, but we hardly realize when these things are happening in our lives. I've always known that I have to do my part. The Lord will help me, but He isn't going to fix everything or take my trials away. Reading that scripture reminded me of this. I couldn't just sit aside and watch things play out. I needed to take action. So I did. And EFY turned out to be an amazing experience. Maybe some day I'll write another blog about all that I learned and how much my testimony grew.

Last night I was reading about this in my journal (yes, I'm a journal nerd. A very big journal nerd). Once again I realized I need to take action. No more standing back! I don't want to be the shy quiet girl in the corner. I don't want to be the one no one remembers. I'm not saying I am going to become loud and obnoxious (in a way I already am), I'm just saying I want to let people see me. From here on out I'm going to speak up. I'm going to get to know people.  I am standelfish no more!

Well, that was my attempt at being deep. I had big plans when I started writing this morning. But it is not the morning anymore. Oh, and in case you are wondering, here is what is going on in my apartment: Teri Ann's friend came over and they carved a pumpkin. He decided to make a pumpkin burger with the guts. Now it smells disgusting.

The End. :)

Lumps vs. Empty Spaces

I live in an apartment with five other girls. When one of us starts to cry, we all cry. We have ice cream parties way too much. We talk about everything and never shut up. We can’t just be doing our homework, the TV has to be on and so does music. Chocolate has become one of our main food groups. We make way too many trips to Walmart. This list could go on forever. And I’m not complaining. I love my roommates! I love the stupid things we all do. It’s just that hanging out with girls 24/7 can cause some problems. That many girls in one place at a time…yeah.

Anyway, this is about lumps and empty spaces, not spending too much time with girls. You see, I was talking to Alora and something you have to understand about us is that our conversations are the most random things ever and if you don’t know us you’d think we were on drugs (Example: this morning we talked about watching a beautiful turkeyfall and making turkeymen and going turkey sledding. She also told me to snuggle with a turkey). We ended up talking about how she has a lump (no, not a lump on the back of her neck that has teeth and is her twin).  

A lump is someone who just sits there and doesn’t really take action. Initially, lumps sound really boring. But, when compared to an empty space, lumps are great! (In case you are really ignorant, an empty space is an area that has nothing in it. Ha ha!)  Alora’s got the lump; I’ve got the empty space.

The more I think about it though, empty spaces aren’t that bad. They have potential. They can be relaxing. And really, my space isn’t all that empty. Like I said before, I’m living with five other girls. :)