Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only 17

well, I've officially been 17 for a week now. Crazy isn't it. This year, I wasn't really anticipating my birthday like I was last year. (I mean, I was turning sixteen. I had been looking forward to that since I could remember.) I was still pretty excited, but if I anticipate things too much like I used to do with Christmas, I find that I don't enjoy them as much as I would have if I hadn't been over-anticipating it. so, I literally had no expectations for birthday presents. I didn't even go shopping until after my birthday, and I found out that I liked that a lot better. This year was my best birthday yet, and I promise I don't say that every year!

Friday, January 23, 2015, I turned 17. I woke up like it was any other day except I actually did my hair so I guess it was a special occasion. I drove to school, parked in my normal parking spot, and as soon as I parked my car and locked it, people started telling me "Happy Birthday!" which made me feel really happy. I got more birthday texts and tweets and Facebook wall posts than I ever have in my life, which all made me super happy. All I can say is that I have the best friends in the world who really know how to make my day! In 3rd period, Ms. Baker, my favorite teacher in the world (she was my AP World History teacher last year, and she loved me so much she let me TA for her last semester) announced on the intercom that it was my birthday. The only time they ever announce birthdays is when it's a teacher's birthday. but now all of Timpview knew it was my birthday, and people I barely even knew were telling me "Happy Birthday!" and I don't think I had ever been that happy in a long time. my classes were still hard, and my math class likes to torment my math teacher and sing "Happy Birthday" to her every day (because she won't tell us her real birthday, we like to assume her birthday is everyday.) well, a few of my friends start singing, and my math teacher says "STOP IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!" and my friend Lindsey says, "But it's not your birthday, it's Miriam's!" it was pretty funny, but getting through that class was exhausting.

my friends Grace L (blonde one) and Grace V (brunette one) came over for lunch at my house to have pasta salad and cookies. what a change it was from last year's birthday lunch. I had like 60-70 people at my house that day; this year, I had 2. but the real celebration would be in the evening instead, so this was our special little pre-celebration. also, last year my friend's mom had to pick me up and drive me to my birthday lunch, and most of my friends needed rides from their parents or older people. but this year, I drove myself and my friends to my own birthday lunch, and it just shows how being 17 is so much more fun than being 16!

the real celebration happened that night. there was a basketball game at 7, which Timpview won, 76-51! (so good way to spend my birthday at a winning game), and I left as soon as the buzzer went off in order to drive home as fast as I could and get the house ready for all the people who were coming over! instead of doing another lunch, Mom and I decided that since my birthday was on a Friday, we would have a dessert party thing at our house after the game. Mom drove herself crazy baking cookies! We had lemon, peanut butter chocolate chip, chocolate mint, normal chocolate chip, and miniature chocolate mousse, all baked by Mama Castle. at first, there were like 5 people here (only 1 besides myself was a girl) but as soon as it was 9, more people started coming and they all enjoyed the treats! I guess a lot of my friends had Jr. Jazz games after the real game, so they all came at 9:30. by then, who knows.. about 50-60 people came in all? actually maybe less. but who cares about the number. all of my best friends were there, and it made me so happy to see how many people came to support and tell me Happy Birthday and eat our treats! the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies seemed to be the top favorite, which isn't surprising since they are mine. some of my friends were extra sweet and brought gifts! My friend Grace S (I have so many Grace friends) got me a gift card to Cafe Rio, and I wanted to cry of happiness. my sweet tennis friends, Kea and Kali, brought balloons and Swedish Fish and Diet Coke. everyone knows me so well!

the next day, I had a great time going to lunch at 180 Tacos with my mom and grandma, and did all my birthday shopping. I also took treats to my best friends who weren't able to make it over last night so they didn't feel left out. they were all so happy, which made my "after-party" so much better. and to this day, 1 week later, people are still asking how my birthday was and how it feels to be 17. it feels amazing, let me tell you!

 trying to throw up a "17". Grace had to help me get  my hands the right way

and a special thanks to Mama Castle who birthed me. congrats on being a mom for 17 years, and thanks for making all the wonderful treats. you are actually the reason I have friends, is because you always make good food at our house! (also the fact that I have a license helps)

for the love of....what?

so, I changed the name of my blog.... again.

I just didn't feel like being "must I even explain?" anymore. I created that name in 8th grade, after having some other names like "the blog of legitness" or a few worse titles. so, now, after a lot of not careful brainstorming, I have come up with the name "for the love of good times". 

I have wanted to change the name of my blog for a long time, but I couldn't think of anything good. I was even considering using some Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics as the title. (if any of you are familiar with RHCP, you are aware that a lot of their lyrics are random nonsense that doesn't make sense, but 1. that stuff is catchy, and 2. there are some of their songs that despite some random nonsense, have some sort of beautiful meaning to them.) but, "can't stop, addicted to the shindig" isn't the greatest name for a blog, mainly because it doesn't make any sense, other than the fact that it's a line from one of my Top 5 Favorite Songs of All Time. so, that idea was canned. (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, please look up "Can't Stop" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. it will change your life.)

well, one day, I was taking a shower and I found myself thinking of things I love to do. of course, tennis is the first thing that comes into my head, mainly because I can't exactly practice consistently right now. and I was thinking of tennis terms, wondering if I could incorporate some tennis humor into my blog title. and that's when I got it.

for the love of good times.

"love" means "nothing" or "no score" in tennis, but really, who cares. and whenever I play tennis, I have good times. and i realized, even though half my posts are nonsense ramblings, the other half is about all the good times I've had on vacations, playing tennis, doing whatever the heck I'm doing. I looked back on journal entries, and I realized I sign a lot of them with "good times." and that just makes me really happy for some reason. so, I decided to incorporate that into my title as well. who knows. I might change it again to something either really stupid or more clever. but for now, here it is.

good times,