new hair!

I decided to get my hair cut again. I had a little problem with my hair as it was growing. you see, I used to have a rat tail/ jedi braid. When I got my haircut over the summer, I decided to leave it in because I thought it looked awesome. Then I decided to take it out. But the problem was, it wouldn't come out so I had to cut it out myself. That resulted in a nice short chunk of hair. As my hair was growing longer, that sideburn was getting in the way of everything. So, I decided that since it was getting longer, I would just get my hair cut again and have it blended in with the layers. Plus, I wanted my side bangs redone. It looks a lot like my old cut that I got in the summer! People say that they think my hair looks the cutest short. I would agree, but I like it to the point where I can pull it back and braid it. My favorite length is at the shoulders/collarbone. But I do like how my hair looks right now, and it is a great Christmas gift! My new goal is to grow my hair out just to see how it looks.

my old haircut from the summer. see the rat tail?

First Jimmer, now Riley Nelson signed my shirt!

OK. I admit it. BYU Football hasn't been very exciting. In fact, it hasn't really been exciting at all. We either kill people, or get killed (thanks a lot, Utah). no close scores or anything. Jake Heaps, the original starting QB, hasn't been doing great. in fact, he's transferring just because Riley Nelson has been getting all the attention. but Riley is amazing. I mean, look at him. these are terrible pics, but oh, his hair.......

here's the story: as many of you know, my dad is an organic chemist at BYU. he teaches a class, and guess who is in his class? you got it. Riley Nelson. at the time, Heaps was starting QB. but after that major blowout (again, thanks a lot, Utah), they decided to put Nelson in the game. me, being the extreme girly tomboy that I am, I wanted to get my BYU shirt signed (k, not nearly as legit as my Jimmer shirt. but McKay Jacobson, another football player, signed the back of it, so it has some legitness). Dad, being a professor, believed that Riley should focus on passing o-chem. everytime I brought up the subject, he'd say "forget it."

for family night, we decorated gingerbread cookies with another ward family last night. I made a Riley Nelson gingerbread man. today, Mom had a feeling that she should grab my shirt and my cookie and leave. so she did. i had no idea that the Spirit could prompt us with things like that. my testimony of the Spirit's guidance has grown dramatically. before, I didn't really have the understanding. (all of you fellow Latter Day Saints/Mormons, we all have our doubts. just because i didn't understand it, it doesn't mean i'm a bad person.) she walked into Dad's office, and this guy with an awesome haircut was taking a quiz. she told him all about me and how I am a huge fan. my dad was dying. but Riley liked my cookie, especially the hair. the best part.........

he signed it! he signed it! HE ACTUALLY SIGNED MY SHIRT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh, and i can't forget to show you Jacobson's signature. i'm sad that Mom  couldn't check me out of American Studies to meet Riley, but I am still sooooooo happy!

what to be thankful for.

how was your Thanksgiving, everyone? mine wasn't too exciting, but it was good. we started the day off by hiking the Y. if you know me well, you know that i hate don't really like hiking. it took a long time to finish it. but it was still fun. then, we went to grandma and grandpa wendelboe's house. they live, of course, in Provo. everyone was at the wendelboes except Aunt Nanette (Ted's wife) and Taylor's kids (Savannah and Torben). Uncle Aaron brought Ann, his girlfriend. she's really nice and friendly. all we did at the Wendelboes was eat, eat, eat, eat, play games, eat some more, play more games, talk, eat, eat........ you get the idea.

Friday was amazing. I woke up at 4:30 to go to the Buy One, Get One 50% Off sale at Shoe Carnival. I bought 2 pairs of boots for just $30. (ok, ok, i used mom's $10 gift card to make my boots even cheaper.) they were pretty sweet boots. oh, how I love black friday. I went back to sleep, woke up 3 hours later, ate breakfast, showered, and got in the car to go to Salt Lake. we went there for 2 reasons: 1. to see saylor at the hospital, and 2. to go to "afternoon tea" at the Grand America Hotel.
a
t first, I was nervous when I went into the O'Brien's room at PCMC. I was afraid that I was interrupting private time. but it was such a great visit. Saylor and I talked about Justin Bieber, Christmas, shoes, TOMS, how she felt, school, and Thanksgiving. I think we both felt a little better after talking. she is supposed to come home today. you see, Saylor just had surgery on Tuesday and was in some pain when I came to see her. I didn't want to look like "oh you're in pain I can't stand to see you hooked up to IVS so I will just cry and freak out." I think I did a good job of staying strong and making Saylor feel at least a little better. although on Thanksgiving, nothing astounding happened, I was extremely thankful that I got to come and see Saylor. i'm thankful that she never gives up, that she seems to be recovering well, that she's always happy, that she helps me be stronger.
Ann invited the girls to go to "afternoon tea." it was super fun, but it was extremely formal. I was afraid that I would, like, spill everything all over my skirt and not be "proper." i had coconut almond hot chocolate with whipped cream. it was paradise. there were finger sandwiches, scones, and fancy desserts. i loved it, but i felt like i was going to explode.
that night, we watched 17 miracles. i cried.

i am thankful for the time that i spent with my family and with saylor this week. i am thankful for all my friends. my house. clothes and shoes. singing. tennis. all the miracles in my life. my family.

well, now i guess this means that Christmas is coming. i have to admit that i am a bit sad about that. i love the fall. i love drinking hot apple cider and watching the leaves fall. i love the colors. the smells. everything. and now, it's leaving me. i like listening to Justin Bieber Christmas music. playing Christmas music on the piano (except i do have a huge recital soon and i'm not prepared for it). driving around the Riverbottoms (the wealthy area in Provo) and looking at all the wonderful Christmas lights. decorating the tree. celebrating our Saviors birth. but everything else..... it just happens so fast. don't be offended at all, but Christmas day is one of my least favorite days of the year. we open the gifts...... and everything's just over. it's not exciting. after Christmas, all we really want is for the snow to melt. the decorations to go. to sleep. i like the Christmas season, just not the day itself. but that's just my personal opinion.

11-11-11. oh and some obsessions.

So. Today was 11-11-11. I know, isn't that legit? It all happened in that wonderful 4th period known as Geomecrap.

I had arrived like 1 second late to Mr. Kelemen's classroom. He told me to get a book. So I did. Then the kid behind me started counting. I had no idea why, but then I remembered. 11-11-11. and it would be at 11:11:11! So I started counting, and when that legit moment happened, we all cheered, screamed, and partied. Mr. Kelemen looked at us like WHAT????? I have no idea if he even knew the significance of that day!

So guess what. I will be talking about obsessions now. The first one is....
Pinterest! I never thought I would be an addict. But I am. Please follow me! it has EVERYTHING on there.

K. enough about Pinterest. The second thing is... Justin Bieber Christmas Music!!! I know, I have lost it. i used to be an anti-bieber. then I turned into a "i like some of his songs." then I turned into a "i like his music, just not the bieber fever." now, I am addicted  to his Christmas songs! Like this one..

and this one...

Next is Coldplay. I have had a Coldplay obsession for a loooooong time. But their new album, Mylo Xyloto, is just fantastico. So is this song. but the video is really strange.

Next thing: Bruno Mars. I've had this obsession for a long time. But I am addicted to him. Same with Adele and Christina Perri. All their songs are just amazing!

More stuff: Yoga, doodling, taking pics, Photobucket, pretending that I am a professional photographer, writing, singing, tennis, piano, attempting to run....... but you already knew these things!
Ciao!
PS. please pause my playlist so you can hear the songs.

I freaking HATE drama!

So, if you've been wondering what I have been doing, I don't really like to blog about everything going on in my skool life. This blog is supposed to be somewhat of a journal because I hate journal keeping, but there are just some things I don't like to post about, like I feel like they are a bit too personal to go into the exact details. So, I hate homework. I honestly hate it when people ask if I like school. No one likes school! Today I had to take this practice ACT, and it killed me! It took 3 and a half freaking hours! Some parts weren't too bad, but I'm telling you, it's good to be home. I also got my braces tightened, and I am in a ton of pain. I have been dealing with boy drama, girl drama, homework drama, and just a ton of junior high drama!
Boy Drama: I don't really like to talk about this stuff, but to give you a basic idea, I am rather flirtatious. I am actually a pretty good flirt because I can flirt without boys knowing that I am actually flirting (sorry if I'm confusing you). But once in a while, I overflirt and that one boy I like has no chance of liking me anytime soon. I am trying to get over him, which isn't too easy. But hey, I'm trying. I wish that I didn't overflirt and then I wouldn't be in this mess. But I don't really want to go into details right now, and I probably never will on this blog.

Girl Drama: This is pretty un-avoiadable in middle school, sadly. I freakin hate the feeling that you're too grown up, but not grown up enough. It is also hard to keep both old friends and new friends because the old friends get sort of jealous because I eat with my newer friends. I still say hi to them, but it hurts to know that they're jealous of ME. I say that it's good to have a lot of friends, but they don't really agree with me. Newer friends are good, but sometimes I feel left out because I don't have as much money, I only have 2 pairs of TOMS, and I have to pay for my own clothes now. They're nice about it, but still... Also, the feeling that you don't want to be popular but you want to have more friends is really bugging me. Well, junior high is all about finding yourself. My friend actually wrote in my yearbook "Miriam, you know who you are, you're always happy, and that's what makes you special!" Well, I am starting not to always be happy. At school, I try to be happy because if you see me grumpy, that's not something you'd want to see!

Homework Drama: I already talked about this in another post. Don't want to say anymore.

One of my friends in high school said that she loved her experience at CMS and she misses it terribly. Well, that isn't true. A YW leader said to make the most out of teenage years. But it's not easy. Really. Hopefully, I will still be that happy, friendly person the people love instead of a jerk!

Me, myself, and I

I got bored.  Finished homework and piano, DONE with guitar lessons (happy day!), and there's nothing to do.  So I thought that I'd just blog.
A lot of you wonderful blog readers know me pretty well, but I thought that I'd post about me, myself, and I.  Don't ask why, I had nothing better to do.  I will post a bunch of random facts about me that might be useful sometime later in life.
1. I am really short.  I am 13 and an eighth grader, but I look like I'm 11.
2. I have 2 brothers, and they sometimes bug the crap out of me! *sighs* but I love them anyway...
3. Tennis is one of my favorite things ever!  Really, it's amazing.  It helps me think about stuff, calm down, and just let all the stress go.  Teenagers need to hit things sometimes...
4. I really love to sing. However, I HATE choir classes!
5. I have been playing piano for.......let's just say a LOOONG time!  I love it but I hate practicing.
6. I want to be an interior designer when I grow up, and I love vintage stuff.
7. I love sewing, cooking, and being crafty!
8. I guess that I love to write.  I am not a good fantasy writer.  I attempt to write fiction stories, but they end up being too realistic.  Most of the time I end up throwing a "work-in-progress" away.
9. CONFESSION: sometimes I can be really pessimistic.  Sorry!
10. I have ADD, so I often space out during school and church.  Don't worry. When you are talking, I will listen to you.  But in school, it is so dang HARD sitting still and trying to listen!
11. I am in advanced classes at school, but sometimes I procrastinate and get "not-so-good" grades.
12. Sometimes I talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk....OK, you get the idea.
13. I might want to be a special ed helper when I grow up, but being a teacher would be too hard to handle.
14. Goooo BYU!  I am a True Blue Cougar fan, and I have: met McKay Jacobson (football player) and gotten a shirt signed by him, gotten a picture with McKay Jacobson, gotten a shirt signed by JIMMER FREDETTE, shaken Brandon Davies's, Kyle Collinsworth, and Noah Hartsock's hands (all ball, met Harvey Unga (football), and met Jake Heaps (football).
15. love to swim, but I hate waking up early so I don't do swim team.
16. I love taking pictures of random stuff.
17. I am obsessed with maps.  I know this is really nerdy, but yes, I love maps!
18. My favorite music right now is Adele, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Brooke White, Carrie Underwood, Sarah McLachlan, Paramore, Evanescence, 80's music, and whatever's on my playlist. I don't like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber (I like his songs, I just don't have the Bieber Fever), or Country music (except Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and The Band Perry).
19. The Hunger Games trilogy is my favorite book series.  Read them!  Team Peeta ALL THE WAY!
20. I have an obsession with socks, like really wild knee-socks.
21. I also have an obsession with mustaches.
22. I don't really have a favorite color. It has been red forever, but now I really like orange.  So, my favorite colors are red, blue, and orange.  I don't like pink or purple.
23. I really like beachy and nautical themed stuff.
24. Like every other girl, I have an obsession with shoes! (wonder where THAT came from...)
25. I hate camping, hiking, and fishing.
26. I am not much of a girly girl, but I don't know if I'm a tomboy either.  I'm just a Mimi.
27. My real name is Miriam Elaina Castle, and most people call me Miriam or Mimi.  Either way is fine.
28. I like to fool around with friends and walk to the SnoCone shack, watch a movie, ride bikes, hang out after Young Women, or just chill in my room and listen to music.
29. I love to sleep in and stay up late!
30. I am never "gooey-sweet" nice.  I am nice, but I am blunt and I am not afraid to share my opinion.
31. I used to play guitar, but I stopped taking lessons a week ago.  It was really hard, and it just wasn't my thing.
32. I am NOT like either of my brothers, so don't expect me to be like them! (Sorry, but whenever I meet people and they meet my bros, they always say "You are a lot different from your brothers!"  Bugs me to death!)
33. I am obsessed with baby names.  I have the complete book of baby names, and it is amazing.
34. I dress in a "cute but casual" style, and even though I dress like most people, I hate skirts and dresses.  I'm just a trendy-casual dresser, but I do like to stand out (like my socks).  I also like huge sunglasses.
35. I love to blog.  Enough said.