The Perfect Date

I have a dream date. I think every girl does. The date they imagine will surpass all others. It has been extensively thought-out, it is filled with things she loves, and it is with the right boy. In short, it is perfect.

My dream date is this....

It occurs during the wintertime, which I believe is the most romantic time of the year. And speaking of romance! Here is Nicole's top 4 most romantic places..

1) At a ball where the girls wear ball gowns and the boys wear tuxedos

2) Secluded waterfalls

3) Sleigh rides

4) The Eiffel Tower

So this all ties in with my dream date. In this date, he will ask me to a Ball and I will wear the most stunning dress. Afterwards, we will ride in a horse-drawn sleigh.

It will be perfect.

Defying Gravity

Something wonderful happened to me on Monday. I discovered....the stage. Here's how it happened.

I needed to relax. I don't know if you know, but I have a crazy stressful life. At least right now I do. It's pretty much crap. C-R-A-P crap. So naturally I did what anyone with a crap life would do. I sang.

I aide during 2nd period (as many of you already know from my previous posts) and one of the reasons my life is so annoying right now sits in the band room. Mr. Binder. SPEAKING OF CRAP.

But I won't get into that. So basically I have been bending over backwards to avoid any form of communication with....that.... and I finally figured out what I needed to do. So I grabbed the music department keys and hit the stage.

The first day the lights were on and the second day they were too but today, the audience lights were off. I go and sometimes I'll give a brief introduction to my song selection and then I will sing. It is so relaxing and I just love it.

One of my goals for high school is to have a solo on that stage, preferably for the Winter Concert. I don't think that is likely to happen, but at least I've found a way to put on my own concerts :)

English Rant

So today I was sitting in my English class and we got a lovely surprise. A timed writing assignment!

So I was sitting there thinking about how I was going to write how the author uses literary devices to help the audience identify the character of Mr. Allright and Mrs. Wellington (not the right names but whatevs), when it hit me.

Why the heck do I care what literary devices the author uses? No, this is not the first time I have come to this question, but every time I ask it I get the answer that it will help me in college and I have always taken that as a good answer. How naive of me.

Well, since I had no idea what literary devices are, I decided that I could spare a few minutes for productive thought. So I went back to the why question. Why does it matter what literary devices the author uses? Because it will help me in college. My brain had still not stumbled upon the elusive meaning of literary devices so I allowed myself to continue thinking.

What will I use it for after college? Well if I become an English teacher (which is never, ever happening bytheway) I will use it. When else? What if I don't become an English teacher?

.......

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

I won't need it.

How weird.

You could say that this goes for any subject, but you would be wrong. You need math to do simple things like taxes and grocery shopping. You need science. You need it to have your tv, your car, your warm air in the winter. History you need because it is important to not be stupid. History repeats itself, that is such a legit saying.

Core classes in grades 9-12 are English, Math, Science, and History. Strangely enough, out of those four, English is the only one that has four required credits.

As I was pondering this I got more and more annoyed. Really now, in the end who is going to know how to defuse a bomb? A person who has studied the SCIENCE of defusing bombs or the person who had read oh I don't know....Virgina Woolf? If you can't answer that question without a moments hesitation I think its pretty safe to say that you are an English teacher.

Here's another one....

I'm a doctor in a lab and I'm studying the cells of a patient with a strange disease. I turn to my lab partner and realize that she is reading The Scarlet Letter. Well thank goodness! We are just set to get this patient cured.

Not. That book will never be of use unless I'm looking for a headache.

Alright so it might seem like I hate English. I don't. I just hate useless things. Literary devices and crap like that have no value in my life. I could care less about them. I love reading and writing (haha obviously) and being literate will help me in my life. I'll need to read the signs on the road and books when I'm bored. But tell me please how literary devices and prose essays will even smell of use beyond my English classroom.

So as I was thinking about this I remembered the opening scene of The Gods Must be Crazy and the narrator is talking about how humans keep getting more and more complicated and as a result, children have to go to school for long hours and learn everything in order to have a prayer of making it out in the "real world."

That is so true! And I started pondering the origins of things like English and Math. Math is useful. In ancient times people needed it to figure out money amounts and the number of cows they owned. English is the common language that people used to communicate. So why the heck did it all become so complicated? Where did the human race go wrong? Well here's my theory....

Once upon a time, a powerful king was in his Palace when his four kids came home from school. The king had a headache, and when his children all began telling him about their day at the same time, the king felt like his head would explode.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted. He turned to his counselor. "Bernard, I need some more me-time. Send these kids back to school."

"But your Highness!" Bernard squeaked nervously. "School is over. They can't go back till tomorrow."

"I don't care if school is out!" the king growled. "Send. Them. Back."

"But-"

"I don't care what you teach them!" The king roared. "Just make it as complicated and useless and time-consuming as possible."

"Right away, your Majesty."

And so Bernard brought the princes and princesses to the evil Yraretil, who lived in a cave and had rotting teeth and disgusting breath.

"Something useless and time consuming, eh?" Yraretil smacked his lips and grinned evilly. "I have just the thing...."

One year later the king looked up from his throne to see his four children stumble into the Palace. They were dirty and tired-looking. "Where ever have you been?" the king exclaimed anxiously. "It's been what, a week?" (he had never paid attention in math class). The princes and princesses all burst into explanations, and the king felt his headache returning. "Bernard!"

Bernard dutifully entered the room and almost fainted with shock at the sight of the princes and princesses before him. "Ye-yess, your Excellency?"

"I want them to go back to Yraretil. He did a very good job." Bernard paled, but he nodded and began leading the children from the room. "Bernard!" Bernard turned back to face the king.

"Yes, your Grace?"

"Send all the children to Yraretil!" The king could not stop the grin from taking over his face. "Everyone deserves a break."

"Everyone but the children and me." Bernard muttered darkly.

"What was that?" The king asked absently.

Bernard straightened. "Nothing, your Regality. I will go make the proclamation immediately."

And so from that day onward children were expected to learn Yarertil's teachings. And no one lived happily ever after.

The End

And there you have it.

Romantics

There is a class of humans called "Romantics." These are people who see hearts around everything. They think the smallest gesture means true love. They believe in love at first sight, last sight, hindsight, whatever. Everything has to mean love! Why ever would it not?

Well come with me to a place called reality and I'll tell you why not.

Love is not hiding behind every leaf on the sidewalk. Sometimes people just don't like other people. Sometimes there are stupid boys and girls reserve the right to not like them. Sometimes it's the other way around.

Here is a perfect example of what I am saying...

Susie is in astrology class with Michael. Michael is very smart, and he loves to throw that into Susie's face. He is always saying snide remarks about Susie's low As and Bs. Susie cannot STAND Michael. He is rude, self-centered, and unkind. But he is cute. Susie goes to her best friend Sally and rants about Michael....

Here is what Susie says: "Ugh I just can't stand Michael!"

Here is what a Romanticist hears: "Ohhh my gosh I am so in love with Michael!"

Here is what Susie says: "He is so full of himself. I can hardly stand to be around him."

Here is what a Romanticist hears: "And his eyes have the most dazzling green flecks in them!"

Here is what Susie says: "I think I will vomit if he speaks again."

Here is what a Romanticist hears: "Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling!"

Susie's friend Sally automatically assumes that because Michael is cute, Susie is just complaining about him because she likes him.

Well that's dumb.

Why, praytell, would Susie like Michael? Because he doesn't quite look like the twin of an ape? Very good. Except for not.

Simple answer is that she doesn't. Michael is stupid and not worth her time. He's mean. And since when does being mean translate to "I like you"? There is an extreemly popular misconception that goes as follows: If someone is mean to you, they like you.

How about we have a standing ovation for the dumbest theory EVER. That is the biggest piece of crap I have ever heard. It's an excuse only available to kindergardeners and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

So sorry, but I'm right.

Personalities

Today I was pondering a certain acquaintance of mine and I was thinking about how all these girls are in love with him and I was wondering why that was? And then I realized that it was because he flirts all the freaken time. And I was like, well what a stupid boy because here are my poor friends and they all like him and he just flirts with all of them and so theyre all confused and like, well who does he like?

And then I thought, well that's not really his fault. It's just his way. It's his personality to be flirtatious. And then I was like, hold up.

How much can I excuse a person based on their personality? Someone who just flirts their way through life is still hurting a lot of girls, personality fault or no. It kinda like if someone breaks your foot and you feel sad and then your friends says, well it's just their personality to be mean. I would be like personality my foot. My broken foot.

So anyway, I decided that this boy is not to be excused. But then I was like, wait. He is really cute. Maybe he's not really flirting, but since he adds a smile to everything he says and people pass it off as flirting.

But wait. He does flirt. But does he know that he's doing it? Yeah I think he does. But he gets away with it because he just has an insane amount of charisma and charm and he's attractive.

But what's to get away with? What's wrong with flirting? Well I don't know. I just am ranting about this because it bothers me how all my friends are going crazy over this dumb boy.

Oh heyy Kelly :)

Hey Kelly!! :) This one is for you....

Kelly!

I do this in blue because blue is such a mutual color. You could wear jeans with just about anything. This is like Kelly. Kelly is mellow and she doesn't get involved in drama and she is just sweet. Kelly is one of my role-models because of this attitude of hers.

Kelly is very beautiful. The other day in the Band Room during lunch, one of my best friends Seul cut my bangs and someone said I looked like Kelly from the side and I fainted with happiness. Also when I was a freshman and Kelly was a senior people would mix us up and it was very flattering

She is so funny seriously, I laugh allll the time when I'm around her. She does the most HILARIOUS imitations of Dad and she says the funniest things. I love watching movies with her and going places with her.

She likes to do things with me One time I was like, Kelly, wanna go to the mall and try on dresses? And she was like, sure! So we went to the mall and tried on tons of dresses and took pictures. I felt very impulsive :) And I had a ton of fun

She is one of my best friends. Kelly is one of the best friends you could ask for. She is unselfish, caring, nice, and willing to go the extra mile for you. Kelly is always there for me, and that is something I love. She is always telling me how pretty I am or how funny she finds me. It is so nice to hear those things.

Kelly loves me. One time a certain person who I shall call Happy wrote something very very mean on my wall wherein she called me a series of hurtful things, insulted my intelligence, and then tried to come off like a rose. I love this story only because immediately after it happened Kelly texted me and asked if I knew what Happy had written and was I ok? I had not seen what she had written, but when I did I was very sad. Kelly enlisted the help of her friends and they all wrote wonderful, nice, sweet, thoughtful things on my wall and it really is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.

Sooo there's a ton more I could say, but I'm writing this during aiding and class is almost over sooo.... yap! ybab!


And that is why I love Kelly <3

Aidingg

I love aiding. Second Period every day Ketty and I aide for Concert Band and it is slightly fabulous (I really do mean the slightly. Sometimes it can be a real pain). Here is what we do every day..

~ Whatever Dubbs tells us

~ Nicole make-up time!

Ketty comes with me and we sit in front of a mirror and do my make-up. It's so cute because Ketty doesn't wear make-up because she is one of those lucky girls who doesn't need it and she thinks its cool to watch and it always makes me feel special :)

~ Change of outfit?

Maybe. Sometimes I'll bring in a different shirt and I'll change. Ketty will critique my outfit (she is always nice) and I am ready to go

~ Toast Time

Sometimes I'll bring in toast that I didn't eat for breakfast that morning and we'll warm it up in the Music Department Office and eat it. Yum!

~ Homework Catch-up

Mostly English. Big piece of crap ugh.

So there's aiding for you. It's a new adventure every day!!

Yeah no.

I need to vent.

So sometimes a certain person in my family goes on a major need-to-feel-the-power spaz attack and they block youtube, facebook, and lots of other websites, take my phone, ground me, ban my brothers from video gaming.... I could go on, but thats not the point of this post.

That certain person is on one of those right now and so facebook and youtube are blocked and my phone has been taken since like, the 2nd week of school.

How do I feel about this? Annoyed. Quite frankly it's annoying to see all over the place how much you're not trusted to use self-control. Plus, I am also angry. Without my phone, I have no ones number and I can't text. Without facebook I can't talk to people either. This can be a problem for things like group projects or assignments that I don't really get and need help on.

Now I'm not gonna lie and say that I only use my phone and facebook for schoolwork. I am a teenager. I love socializing. I love hearing that hottie Enrique Iglesias or Ne-yo sing to me when I get a new text. I love signing onto facebook and seeing all my notifications. I love getting inboxes about SEN10R stuff. Whenever I pull an all-nighter (something that, sadly, I do far too often these days) I love knowing that the 53 other people on facebook chat are in the same boat as me. So yeah, I love facebook and my phone and the fact that I can socialize and talk to my friends outside of school or church.

And it annoys me how much of a crime that seems to certain people.

Listen, I can be the best student ever. I will do all my homework, I will read the entire textbook chapter, I will take detailed, color-coded notes, I will ace the test. But to do all that I need to be motivated.

I am motivated by college. I want to go to BYU. Being a good student is insanely important if you want to get in. I am motivated by the good feeling I get when I have finished everything and have done it right. I am motivated by my friends. I am motivated by the idea of success. I am motivated by a lot of things.

However, when someone tries to force me into something; anything from buying a certain product to studying to smiling, that motivation from the want to get into BYU or whatever else gets cancelled out. If someone tries to back me into a corner and offer their idea as the only way out I will never take that idea. I refuse to be pushed around. It doesn't matter if you're right or if you're wrong. It just matters that you approached the situation in an ignorant, forceful way and I might've listened to you once upon a time but you had to go all dictator on me and until you can fix that you've lost your chance for ever getting anything from me.

I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions. I'm not a five-year old who needs you to hold my hand and walk with me step-by-step all the way through. I happen to be over 3 times that age and I have a fairly sensible mind that wouldn't say no to the opportunity to make its own choices. And it might come as a surprise to some that the decisions I make are good, smart ones. Again, I am capable.

So I sound unbelievably bratty right now, but I'm not a brat. My best friend Julia calls me stubborn, and I've always hated that word. But all the same, I am stubborn.

I've noticed certain patterns in my behavior. When someone tries to force me into agreeing with them or doing something that I don't want to do I purposefully stop doing all the things that they want me to do. I can truthfully say that in the past few months whenever my phone is taken I do not rush to do my homework or seminary make-up work. I sit there and while away my time doing anything but those things because I do not want to send the message that that is in any way going to work. Or I do the things required and then I wait. I won't tell you that I'm done, I wait until you are driven by your curiosity to ask.

It doesn't help me and it certainly doesn't help you, so congrats on helping me waste five weeks of both yours and my life.

So I miss my phone and I want it back, but not more than I want to see you squirm and get frustrated with my lack of effort despite your best attempts at forcing me to do what you want.

Two can play this game. You have something I want (my phone, etc.) and I have something you want (the work completed). So I can dangle the possibilities in front of your face too and don't think I won't.

I am a smart girl. If I know I need to ace a test or I need to go to seminary or whatever I will do it. I don't need extra motivation. At all.

Especially not the stupid kind of "motivation" that involves you taking things from me. That just makes me mad and not open to listening to you and your ideas at all. They aren't important to me. I will go temporarily deaf until you stop and listen to me first.

This may sound like I'm one of those people who are firmly in the mindset that I'm right, I've always been right and no, you're wrong. Well I'm not.

My experiences with people like that have made me more determined than ever to listen and have an open mind. I love hearing sides of arguments. I think it's interesting psychology how two people can see the same situation so differently. So yeah, I listen and my opinions are subject to change. I am willing to admit when I'm wrong. I know that everyone is wrong at some point. And I'll apologize if I've done something wrong.

But as soon as you whip out the whole I can take your phone or I'm in this class so I would know or whatever card you want to use in order to force me into agreement, my open mind has become shut and airtight, and nothing you say or do will change my conviction that you are wrong,

wrong

wrong.

Even if you are right.

Because the best points are those made through simple, irrefutable evidence. Not blackmail.

Note: This is not talking about any specific person. It's in general. However it was prompted by the actions of a certain individual.

Bytheway, this post is Exhibit A of what I'm talking about. This time around I was supposed to be doing homework. I was all ready to go, and was having difficulty with an english assignment so I signed onto facebook to talk to my fellow APers who I know are up doing the same thing. And it was blocked almost immediately after I signed on. So, supposedly the blockage of facebook and youtube is going to make me work faster and more efficiently, but actually I prolly would've been done with english and anatomy right now if I hadn't decided to write this. So congratulations to all parties involved. You are all winners in a losing game.

A Cinderella Story = Fabulous.

One of my favoritest movies in the world is A Cinderella Story starring Hilary Duff. It is funny, cute, and romantic. But most of all, I love the fact that Chad Michael Murray is in it. He is fabulous.

So here is Nicole's top six quotes from A Cinderella Story....

1. David: Why don't you look for her in the yearbook? Maybe you missed her.

Austin: I didn't miss her.

Ryan: Maybe she's foreign exchange. That's hot.

David: No that's like, la hot.

2. David: Oh wait, late entry.

Mrs. Wells: David you stop that right now. You are a bad boy! And that is a terrible shirt. Go back to class all of you. Hi Ryan.

3. Fiona: There's something I've always wanted to tell you and I think you're ready to hear it. You're not very pretty, and you're not very bright. Oh, I'm so glad we had that talk.

4. Sam: Terry? You're nomad?

Terry: Nomad? Indeed. I have traveled through time and space to find you. Now join me in the mating dance of Zion!

5. Sam: I know that the guy who sent those emails is still inside of you, but I can't wait for him. Because waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought, useless and disappointing.

6. Shelby: What can I get here that has no carbs, no calories, and no sugar?

Sam: Water.

7. Fiona: People go to school to get smarter, so that they can get a job. You already have a job, so it's like skipping a step

8. Sam: You know what Fiona? I quit. I quit this job, I quit your family, and I'm moving out. And you can mess with your nose and your face, you can even mess with my Dad's diner, but you're through messing with me.

Rhonda: I quit too. And the only reason I've stayed here all these years is because of that girl. And now that she's gone there's nothing to stop me from kicking your butt.

Fiona: Oh please not my face it's new!

Best. Movie. Ever.

D.A.N.

aka David, Allie, Nicole.

For the opening set of our marching band show I stand in a line with David Shea and Allie Warrick. At the beginning of the show we have this 48 count hold and it gets reallyy boring. So a long time ago Allie and I started this game where we shoot each other with our instruments. It is so fun. A couple weeks ago David shot Allie just as she was about to finish me off for good, so in gratitude I gave him superpowers. And he has been invincible ever since.

Sometimes Allie and I decide to gang up on David, but then I remember that I shouldn't be doing that because David is my ally. So then I have to give him more and more superpowers to make up for his near-death experiences. Sometimes we all band together and David has to give both Allie and I superpowers.

Through it all Allie and I can't help but get the vibe that David is kinda ashamed to be seen playing such an immature game. So we have decided to show everyone in the world that he secretly is weird too.

We have a plan. The next time we are all in marching band Allie and I are going to do a tribal dance around him while giving him magical powers and everyone will see. Hehe :)

So anyway that is one of the things that keeps me going to marching band.

The Adventures of Heather and Nicole

Okay so, two years ago my older sister Heather was a senior and I was a sophomore and we had adventures together :)

One such adventure occurred one day after school. As usual I was settled down, doing my homework, when I heard a pathetic "Heeelpp! Oh please! Heeeelpp!" As usual. I got up and trudged up the stairs and into Heather's room. As usual.

"Nicole," Heather asked sweetly. "Could you get me a s'mores bar and an italian ice?" Not an emergency at all. As usual.

"But Heather," I groaned. "What is so hard about getting up yourself and getting it?" I naively asked. As usual.

Heather's face immediately took on a pathetically hopeless and sad expression. "But...please Nicole. I need you to. Please! I simply can't do it." As usual.

I sighed. "You know, what you need is a freezer just for you in your room so you don't ever have to bother me again."

Heather blinked. This was not usual. Usually I would be down in the kitchen, getting the Princess her italian ice and s'mores granola bar, not pointing out that a personal freezer would do her some good.

Heather recovered and instantly went back to her sad face. "But Nicole, I don't have my own freezer..But at least I have you!" She beamed and I rolled my eyes.

"Heather, maybe you don't have a freezer, but we do. In the basement we have that mini fridge. Heather!" A plan was forming in my head. "That's it! We will take that freezer and hide it in here. No one uses it anyway."

Heather's eyes were bright with excitement and I took that as encouragement. "Mom and Dad aren't home! We have to act NOW if you ever want your own freezer."

"Let's do it!" Heather exclaimed. We bounded down the stairs to the main floor and then down more stairs to the basement, our eyes scheming and broad smiles forming on our faces. Heather's happiness was derived from the idea of endless italian ices and s'mores easily at her disposal, and mine from the prospect at never having to hear Heather's plaintive wails for more italian ice and still more s'mores granola bars.

It was like Christmas had come early.

Once in the basement we wasted no time in extracting the mini fridge from its proper place and beginning our ascent up what was basically Mount Everest. After several minutes of puffing and pushing and lifting we finally made it to the first floor. With the end in sight we practically ran up to Heather's room, where we were faced with our next dilemma.

"Now where do we hide it?" Heather panted.

We finally decided on the back corner of her room inconspicuously inside a box filled with blankets and pillows and many random things like binders and stuffed animals and textbooks and markers all with a large blanket on top.

We are masters at disguise.

We then proceeded to fill it with all the italian ice a girl could ever ask for, and place a box of s'mores granola bars close by. Heather was set for life.

Our final task was placing a decoy minifridge in the basement in order to not arose suspicion. A large bin flipped long-side-up fit the bill, and although it was the most obvious thing in the world that it was not a mini fridge we didn't think it would be a problem.

All that evening I expected our parents to announce that our mini fridge had been stolen, but it never happened and we went to bed giggling to ourselves at our parents cluelessness.

The next morning Heather and I were getting ready for school when our father announced gravely that should a policeman come we were to direct him downstairs because our mini fridge was gone. Heather and I exchanged looks of shock and sadness but encouraged our father to let it go.

"There will be other mini fridges, Dad." I said consolingly.

"All the same, a policeman is coming to investigate. This is a serious crime girls." And our father fixed us with a serious look accordingly.

Heather's and my sad faces immediately changed to slightly panicked looks and we silently agreed to come clean.

"Heather took the mini fridge!" I blurted.

Heather's mouth fell open. "Excuse me. We both took it..but it was Nicole's idea."

"Only because you're always-"

Our argument was interrupted by the sound of laughter. We found the source down the stairs on the landing. Our Dad. "We knew it was you two. I was just kidding about the police."

Heather and I exchanged sheepish grins. Friends again.

"But really," Dad continued. You need to return it."

And thus ended the happiest days of Heather's life and the most peaceful days of Nicole's.

And things went back to usual.

Coming up!

Nicole and Heather don't let locked doors stop them! A look into how the sisters get into their home when those pesky locks get in the way.

200 years ago my life would've been perfect

Yes it would've been thank you very much.

Today I came to the realization that I really should've been born 200 years ago, in the 1800s. Oh but Nicole back then they didn't have facebook or education for girls or toilets or air conditioning or cars or tv or WAIT!!!!

I don't care.

Okay, I love being a girl don't get me wrong. And I think women's rights are fantastic my hat is off to those feminists who worked so hard to get us rights. You guys (oops! girls :)) rock. Really.

But sometimes I find myself aching for those days.

Honestly, how bad does sitting around in a pretty dress, going to balls with GENTLEMEN, being helped out of carriages, wearing pretty gloves and glittering jewelry sound?? Because right now that sounds WONDERFUL to me.

Maybe it's the fact that college aps and senior year are taking up my entire everything and I hate the fact that I have so much crap to do and so much depending on my every grade and score that I would leap at the chance to have no other responsibilities than to be pretty and get married.

Anyway.

So I was thinking about this and here is how I picture my life (and my friends lives) if we lived 200 years ago....

Me

A Duchess. As the third daughter in a family of 7 children I would have to endeavor to be as breath-takingly beautiful as possible so that I could marry well as to not be a burden to my parents.

I would spend much of my time in the library reading about history and riding my horse, Snowflake (who is actually a black Arabian). My firm opinions and stubbornness would send the Ton (the most important members of British society) into a tizzy, but I have a feeling my 1800 aristocrat self would not care.

Seul

I was gonna make Seul a Korean Princess, but then I realized that if I did that then we wouldn't know each other cause I would be in England and she'd be in Korea. So I'm slightly lowering her status and making her the daughter of the Ambassador of Korea.

The fact that she is from the Orient would attract much attention and she would have a very adventurous life because there would be many kidnapping attempts on her in order for various bad guys to force Korea into different agreements. But never fear, for Julia and I would make sure she is not touched.

Seul would be the expert on dresses. We would all go to the same dressmaker and bring Seul along with us in order to get the best, most fashion-forward dresses. Many trends would be set by Seul.

Seul's romantic tendencies would make her the most fun to discuss our various suitors with, and I can only imagine how hilarious it would be to hear her describe anything from her first dance in her coming-out Season, to her awkward carriage-ride with one of her many admirers.

Julie

My sister. She would be ridiculously popular because she's so pretty. Her dresses would always be either green, blue, or red (the colors that look most stunning on her). Her sweet way with children would attract the most sensitive boy and they would become engaged before the end of her first Season.

Julia

Julia would be the Belle of the Ball. She is soo gorgeous and it would be difficult to visit her especially during the Season because of all her callers.

I think Julia would absolutely die if she lived back in the 1800s because of all the art opportunities. Julia's family would live on a large estate to the west of my family's estate and she would spend much of her time painting the beautiful, scenic views.

Julia would be one of those girls that would never ride a horse and would prefer to keep her feet firmly planted on a carriage floor.

It would take awhile to sort out the good, worthwhile guys from the bad ones, and so Julia would not marry until she was at least 20.

Ben

Our closest guy friend. Ben would be a distinguished Duke and if ever we were having a very distressing time at a ball, he would instantly notice and step in and make us feel better.

Ben would be the epitome of a gentleman, and we would all be very grateful to have him around. Ben would be an expert horseback rider and would participate in very dangerous horseraces that would upset Seul, Julia, and I and we would refuse to go to them.

Even though education of girls was not allowed Ben would secretly teach us mathematics and fill us in on the latest in politics and science. We would have a secret place in a stable that would lie on the borders between Julia's and my estates where we would meet for our lessons.

Ben would be simply the nicest suitor and he would always bring us gifts from his many travels as a Duke. He would find the perfect girl and marry her at the age of 26.

Ketty

Ketty would be another beauty of the orient. Her sweet attitude would melt many hearts, and she too would experience many suitors. However Ketty would not marry until 23 because she would wait for her true love.

Although Ketty would not mind riding horses she would usually find herself in a carriage because her parents thought that was the best way to attract gentlemen.

Ketty would sometimes attend our secret lessons, and when she wasn't there she would be concentrating very hard on refining her harp playing and cross-stitchery.

Ketty would sing many songs from her native land and would be asked to perform on a semi-regular basis.

She would be a personal favorite of the Queen of England, and would receive many wonderful gifts from her majesty.

Veronica

Veronica would be an accomplished pianist and would grace such places as Buckingham Palace with her lovely music. Veronica's happy smile and kind nature would make her a very good public figure.

Veronica's unique interest in giraffes would be very well known and, in an attempt to woo her many young men would buy her peacocks, because they were cheaper and easier to transport. Because of her immense popularity the party invitations and suitor callings would reach ridiculous numbers, and often times Vee would find solace in her peacock field. However, one day a peacock would attack her and Veronica would spend the next three months giving out peacocks to anyone who remotely looked like they wanted one.

Her heart would be stolen by the one guy who knew that she could never be satisfied with a garden of peacocks. Her true love would surprise her with two giraffes (a boy and a girl) and then propose. Of course Veronica would accept and they would live happily ever after with their steadily increasing giraffe herd. How romantic!

Gina

Gina would be a crowd favorite. Her peacemaking attitude would ease many tensions not just among friends but also internationally. Gina would single-handedly halt an attempt on the Queen of England's life simply by smiling and speaking practically to the bad-guys. Thank goodness :)

Gina's love of animals would lead her to Nicole's estate and often the two could be found riding their horses (Gina's named Midnight, and a white Arabian) or else cooking up some very unhealthy foods and bringing them to their closest friends.

Out of all the girls Gina would be the most free and she was often just wherever she wanted to be and her parents were perfectly fine with that.

Gina would be very rich and she would have a huge inheritance awaiting her once she came of age. Gina would have many men seeking her hand, but she would not be swept away by their foolish talk. Gina would finally end up marrying a dashing knight who would save her one day from being run over by one of Veronica's giraffes.

Anyway so I have many more people to add to this but I have a ton of homework and studying to do so I'm cutting myself off. Although I prolly won't be able to resist and will undoubtedly end up here again tonight.

Chipmunkia

This is a story about Chipmunkia, a town of chipmunks :)

Once upon a time there was a chipmunk named Vaila. Vaila was happy! She had many wonderful friends and a fantastic family. Her underground home was one of the finest in Chipmunkia, and there was always berries and nuts galore. Life was good.

However, there was one thing that bothered her more than anything in the world. Vaila hated hypocrites.

One chipmunk in particular rubbed her in the complete wrong way. He angered her so much that every time she thought about it she felt like throwing up (which her parents and teachers encouraged, because one day she would have to regurgitate food for her kids and it was good to practice). This chipmunk's name was Randy.

Randy was a good chipmunk, don't get me wrong. It wasn't that about him that bothered her. Vaila thought good boys were just that, good. But the thing about Randy was that he knew he was good, and, as her best friend Paula put it, "we need a head deflator over here ASAP."

Vaila tried to simply ignore Randy, but that was kinda hard given the fact that she had to see him every Leaf and Walnut (in human terms, every Tuesday and Friday). Much as she tried to avoid him, it was not entirely possible. So Vaila had tried to be Randy's friend. But he mistook her kindness for infatuation and quickly shut that operation down. But not even that angered her more than the day that Randy gave Sylvia the cactus.

When a boy gave a girl a small cactus it meant that he liked her. Randy was mean mean mean to the girl chipmunks in the neighborhood and no one honestly expected him to give a cactus until after he had made his own hole in a different town. In fact, Randy publicly said many times that he would never give a cactus to anyone until he had moved out of Chipmunkia.

Which was why it was so very shocking when everyone found out that Sylvia had received a cactus from Randy!

There was whisperings about it everywhere. Chipmunkia was nothing less than stunned.

But then Randy decided he didn't like Sylvia and he moved on to handing out cacti to every girl chipmunk that crossed his path outside of Chipmunkia.

It was a scandal.

The girls in Chipmunkia could not help but feel slightly insulted. They had, after all, been there the whole time and they were fun, pretty chipmunks but Randy had never so much as said a nice cheep to them ever. What was so great about these foreign chips(munks)??

But that was not what made Vaila mad. Despite the obvious breaking of his own rule, Randy continued to walk around as if he had his own hole and it was full of walnuts. There was no change to the regular lectures he graced them with about the dangers of the giving out of cacti before you had your own hole. No change to his self-righteous attitude. It infuriated Vaila.

"He thinks he is such a squirrel." Vaila vented to Paula one day. "He thinks that he's so much better than everyone else."

Paula nodded sympathetically. She knew she would be there for awhile.

"It's insane how much of a hypocrite he is." Vaila continued. "Who does he think he is? to talk to us about excessive cactus giving?"

Vaila was silent for a bit, her angry thoughts turning and twisting in her head like an agitated rattlesnake. Paula let out a small sigh of relief and began to get up from the flowerbed in which they were laying. Venting session over.

" I'm surprised there are any cacti left here, the way he gives them out." Vaila continued.

Paula sat down. Not over.

"He hands out those cacti like sugared pecans on Halloween!" Vaila exclaimed. "Halloween only happens once a year. Randy needs to calm the heck down because he thinks that Halloween is EVERY DAY."

Paula nodded. Sometimes Vaila gave very unusual analogies. Here was Exhibit A. But Vaila thought they were immensely clever so Paula would simply nod or offer some well-chosen words of praise. After all, a happy friend was better than a frustrated one.

What a good friend Paula was. :)

Unfortunately this story does not have an ending..yet. But I'll say it anyway.

The End

Qdoba

Today I went to qdoba for the first time and it was very fun. I went with Gina and originally it was just Gina and I and Veronica but by the end we had met a series of people that we both knew before and some who we met just today.

So we were sitting there and this group of three girls comes up and they were like, hey can we sit with you? and I honestly didnt know how to respond because it was just so random to me. Gina recovered before I did and we pushed some tables together. Their names were Kristen, Kelly, and I wanna say Katie haha but thats prolly wrong :P.

Anyway so then Jenna and Sabrina came and Jenna knows Kirsten and Katie but i dunno bout Kelly and then lots of their friends came and said hi and Vee knew most of them from middle school and this guy Mike sat with us and then Thane and Kaylie (ehh i dk if thats right =/) and then Sam and Peter were eating at Pei Wei and they came and chatted for a few minutes and Chels and her little sister showed up and in the end it was much bigger than three people :)

And it was just so fun to meet new people because I feel like as a senior there arent really new people. Like a couple scattered but really its just the same people that you've known since middle school or elementary school or freshman year. I first realized this in my math class and it kinda made me sad.

But then we made three new friends today and it was very fun :) And apparently we're going to the movies on Monday to see Love Happens and I'm super excitedd.

But anyway those girls were such a good example to me of courage because they were just like, hey you look nice lets eat and talk together. And Kirsten was talking about religion and it was very interesting to hear other peoples beliefs. And then at the end we all held hands and said a prayer and I said it.

That was the second time I've done a public prayer with friends who are not Mormon so far this school year. The last time was a couple weeks ago after a marching competition and a group of us went to this Mexican restaurant whose name I will not say for fear of butchering it :) And we were all saying little private prayers and then someone was like, lets say a group prayer and David Shea said it. Just a few months ago I would've been too nervous to do that, but I'm realizing more and more how important religion and prayer is in the lives of my classmates and it's bringing out a whole unknown side of them that I like.

Lessons learned today....

~ qdoba is supergood for meeting new people

~ music department people are attracted to other music department people. Seriously like, I swear every single person there was in the music department

~ Religion is important to my classmates! :)

~ qdoba is very yummy and filling

What a good day :)