GLACIER

I got back from Glacier 2 weeks ago, but it feels like a month already. and I would've gotten this post up sooner except I worked every day last week, and I was at Bear Lake this week, so I'll try and get this up before tennis tryouts! well, my packing for this trip wasn't great quality. so, while everyone was packing, I was either at work or I was making cookies for my friend Jackson because his mission farewell was the next day. (well, think about it. your family is going hiking for a week in Montana, and your best friend is going to the Ukraine for 2 years and it's your last time seeing him and he loves chocolate chip cookies. I don't know about you, but making your friend cookies one last time is more important than being completely prepared.) also, Provo is pretty hot in the summer, so everyone (except my dad) thought that Montana wouldn't be cold or rainy. well, we were wrong. we packed no rain gear and we got rained on every single day. also, this was our first time taking a really long drive since......Yosemite. and we took that trip when I had just finished 7th grade, which was about 4 years ago. so unfortunately, over these 4 years, our family has gotten used to flying long distances and not driving for very long. and because I'm ADD, I forgot how much I hate sitting in a car for 12 hours and how restless it makes me, doing nothing but sitting there. I can't do anything exciting like reading or watching movies because I get carsick, so it was a new thing, being tortured for 12 hours. but about half of our road trip soundtrack consisted of U2 albums, and you can't go wrong with U2. so, thank you Bono for keeping me alive for at least 3 hours of the driving part.

we finally arrived in Kalispell, Montana 12 hours after we left. we stayed with (THIS IS ABOUT TO GET WAY CONFUSING) my mom's second cousin, Barry Wollenzien. and if any Wollenzien reads this, please do not get offended, but until we planned this trip, I had no idea my mom even had a cousin named Barry who was a park ranger at Glacier National Park in Montana. Planning this trip was the first time I even heard of his existence. Well, they are not first cousins, but second cousins. meaning their grandma's are sisters. and I know a lot of my second cousins, actually. some of them I am closer to than my first cousins. but I didn't even know that my mom knew her second cousins, and I didn't know that they had 4 kids, which were my third cousins. really, third cousins exist?! but we just simply referred to them as our "cousins". Barry and his wife Nancy have 4 kids: the oldest is on a mission, the one who's my age was either at work or asleep the entire time we were visiting so we never got to meet him, and the 2 youngest, Coleman and Reed, were really funny and made friends with my brothers quickly and assaulted them with Nerf guns and showed them how to fish in the river which ran through their property. and WOW their house was so pretty. I could never live out in the country, but whenever we've stayed with people who live out in the country, we love it. the houses are always so pretty, and the backyard is amazing. when we went on our New York trip and went to Philadelphia, we stayed with my dad's friend Bob who lives at least an hour outside Philly, and his backyard was practically a forest. the Wollenzien's backyard wasn't a forest, but it was huge and I heard that they like to shoot deer on their own property. (I only wish we could do that here in Provo.)

the first day, our family and Barry, Nancy, and Coleman (Reed went to play with a friend) drove up to Logan pass to hike the Highline Loop Trail. it took 7-8 hours, and it was 11.8 miles. I hiked that whole thing with an ankle brace on. my left ankle was already weak from a Prom injury (my sweet date Nate backflipped me playing bubble soccer for the day date, and I rolled my ankle while landing), and then I rolled it again in a tennis match. I was 2 games in and I ran forward to return a shot, and instead of hitting the ball, I rolled my ankle. but in the end that didn't matter, because I won the match, 8-6. so I played 12 more games on a weak ankle. (we only played a proset because of time.) well again, since I am so prepared, I had to borrow some socks from Nancy because I only packed ankle socks. in order for the brace to work effectively, my socks needed to go above the ankle. but since i was stupid, that didn't happen. but Nancy was a saint and let me use her above the ankle socks. at first, the weather was overcast and it was pretty nice. it was a bit chilly at first, but once we got moving, we were okay. but then, we started to get rained on, and this wasn't just a light drizzle. it started pouring. and then it was HAILING. and as I mentioned earlier, none of us were prepared except for the Wollenziens, who had raincoats and everything. that day, I decided to wear my tank top that was not made of dry-fit, and it didn't absorb anything. also, my Camelbak was leaking, so I was even more wet. and I didn't even have a jacket, just a long sleeved dry-fit. so I was soaked. Barry let me borrow his huge sweatshirt, which made it look like I had no shorts on. it kept me warm as we hiked to the chalet, which is some cabin type thing where people can stay overnight. they have a clothesline where we hung out our soaking wet clothes, and we just ate beef jerky and sat by a fire until we were ready to get going again. by the time that happened, it was hot. and our wet clothes dried out quickly, and we were all getting tired. but it was such a pretty hike and despite the bad weather, we all loved it. parts of it looked like it could've been in Switzerland or Germany. but no. just Montana.

 Coleman and Justin were inseparable on this hike

for dinner that night, Barry cooked my favorite thing in the world: STEAK. I LOVE STEAK. it is my favorite food and I have no idea why girls don't really like steak and why they eat chicken instead. because I LOVE STEAK. while I was eating dinner, I noticed that on the fridge, they set up some sort of shrine for their son who was on a mission, and there was a list of songs he should listen to when he got back (he wrote at the top: "ex. Scar Tissue by RHCP", so seeing that he likes Red Hot Chili Peppers like I do, he probably expected the suggestions to be just like that). well, the 2 songs on the list were "Happy" by Pharrell, and "Pompeii" by Bastille. well, Bastille is good. Pompeii might be a bit overplayed.....ok, a lot overplayed now, but their other hidden gem songs are SO GOOD. but Happy?! That song was good for maybe.....3 days. so I added a bunch of songs to that list, and I don't know if the parents appreciated it, but their missionary will definitely appreciate it when he gets home!

the next day was a hard day for all of us. we had to leave the Wollenzien's house and drive all around the park to lookout spots and small, shorter hikes, but the whole east side of the park was under construction. also, it was the day that my friend left on his mission, and even though this trip was a pretty good distraction, I was still really sad. but before we had to deal with road construction, we went to a hidden spot that Barry told us about, Lake MacDonald, and we literally......skipped rocks. for about a half hour. and it was so beautiful, and we all had a good time.

we did NOT plan this by the way.

after going to a few lookouts, we went to hike to St. Mary's falls. but all the parking lots were closed because of road construction, so we had to take a shuttle and they only ran every hour. we didn't have to wait that long to ride it to the hike, which was nice. and it was super pretty. we got to see 3 waterfalls, Virginia Falls, St Mary's falls, and an unnamed waterfall which Wesley insisted on naming "Wesley Castle falls" and Justin insisted on "Wesley Castle Memorial Falls, because that's what will happen to him after he tries to jump off the cliff into the river!" well, whatever it was named, it was super pretty. 

after the hike was when things started going completely downhill. we were all hungry, and everyone in my family gets hangry (hungry+angry) when we haven't had food for a while, but especially Wes. well, we walked back to the shuttle station, and there were loads of other people waiting too. the shuttle came after about 15 minutes, but it was already packed, and unlike Japan, where they cram as many people as they can fit into a moving vehicle, they can only fit as many people as they have seats for. my dad was going to sneak on, get dropped off at the parking lot, and drive the car back to pick up the rest of the family. but he got kicked off the shuttle. so he tried to hitchhike, and he failed. so then, my mom had her running shoes, and she would run to the parking lot, find the car, and pick us up. so she took off, and Wesley was getting very hangry, and he decided to climb a tree. well, you can't climb trees here, and my dad was trying to get him down, but since Wesley is hangry and he is a 14 year old boy who is missing some brain cells (as many 14 year olds are; I was in Japan when I was 14 and I had a few bad meltdowns out in public) and he is stubborn, he starts to argue and climb higher. well, since my dad is also stubborn, he won't stop arguing until Wes gets down. but then it turns into a full blown fight, Wesley accuses Dad of having a "sissy upbringing" (because Mom's cousin Barry did not have a sissy upbringing and was allowed to hunt sage hens and light Nerf balls on fire and throw them around as a teenager), and then my dad grounds him, he chucks a rock at either me or Justin but thankfully it misses, Dad punishes him more, and he just starts crying and lies down on the rocks. now mind you, Wesley is a normal 14 year old boy who just gets hangry and if he doesn't eat, he goes crazy. well, finally my mom comes back, we pick up 2 hitchhikers, and finally, we go to our hotel. Well, the hotel fire safety rules wouldn't let 5 people share a room, so my parents got their own, while I had to be in charge of my brothers. I thought it would be okay because we did this all the time in hotels in Japan, but no. Wesley was still in a bad mood, and Justin was scared that someone would break into our hotel room and rob us, I was just sad and tired, and none of us got to sleep quickly. but when we finally did, it felt so good, because we were ready for the next day.

the next day, we hiked to Grinnell Glacier, which was the first real glacier we got to see. and it was so pretty. but we didn't know how cold it would be that day, and since we didn't really pack well, Mom had to buy us hats. we had to take 2 boats to get to the trailhead, but the lake was so pretty and our boat tour guide wasn't too bad looking either

 I promise I have shorts on!

well, as you can see, the glacier was so pretty. and so was the lake that this trail overlooked. well, at the top, it started drizzling lightly, but we didn't really care, and eventually it stopped. however, about 20 minutes from the bottom of the trail on the way back, it started pouring. and hailing. and it was so bad, it soaked through all our clothes, and our shoes were wet, everything was wet, and it was freezing. and mind you, all I have is my Timpview Tennis warm up jacket. when we finally got to the bottom, we just stayed in the shelter while we waited for the storm to pass so the boat could run again. we waited for about a half hour, returned to the lodge, and sat by a fire, tried to dry out our clothes, changed in the bathrooms, and headed out to Helena to stay in another hotel. it rained for a while, but when it stopped, we were driving on the freeway, and this bird is flying, but our car is going too fast for the bird to move, so it crashes into our windshield, bounces, hits it again, and dies. it left its imprint on the windshield, and some of its feathers got caught in our windshield wipers! eventually, they came out. but that was pretty funny. 

well, it was a great vacation, even though we weren't very prepared for the weather. and it was so pretty and the pictures don't even do justice. you have to see it in real life. and we took loads more, but these ones were the best ones. so, if any of you nonexistent blog readers want to visit, please be prepared for ALL WEATHER, especially rain. then you will be fine. but dang. it's beautiful up there, and I've never seen anything like it. and I ate more beef jerky that week than in my entire life!

junior "graduation speech"

as of yesterday, my junior year officially ended. and in some ways, it was the best year of school. in other ways, it was the worst year of school. the end of this year has been quite bittersweet. there was some celebration and tears of joy; there was some lamentation and tears of sadness. I did have friends who were in my own grade, but a lot of my friends were either sophomores or seniors. it had been that way since I was a freshman; I became close friends with a few sophomores, and then when I became a sophomore, I wanted to keep my junior friends but also be an example to the freshman and be that friend to them that those sophomores were to me a year ago. well, it didn't really occur to me while I was a sophomore that my junior year, all my older friends would be seniors, and it would be their last year. and that the year after that, I would be a senior. I know that after high school, we move on to bigger and better things, but the friends that I have right now, I don't really want anything bigger or better than them. but this year was my last year with many of my friends, and next year will be my last year with all my friends. so, this year, I tried to make the best of it.

the summer of my sophomore year was also my first year on the tennis team. someone showed up to practice and I thought she was a senior, so I introduced myself and asked what her name was. she replied, "Miss Baker." then it hit me. she would be my AP world teacher that year! I told her that she was listed as my 7th period and she and I were put on opposite teams for a drill. I ended up getting her out, and sure enough, she remembered on the first day of class. I guess it clicked from there, because she became my favorite teacher ever, and I ended up loving AP world history, and I guess Baker loved me too, because she let me TA for her a semester of my junior year. sadly, I could only do it first semester because I needed to get more elective credits, and second semester I had seminary that period, and I didn't want to miss seminary because I finally had a good teacher and a few really good senior friends in my class who I might not see after this year. but seminary ended when the seniors graduated (which was a week before school got out), so I went to Baker's classroom to say goodbye to the students I TAed for one last time. she asked me to give advice to them for next year, and some kid asked me to stand on the desk. so, I did. if anyone wants to see it, she posted it on her Facebook, and it got a lot of views! (1,233 to be exact), and if you aren't friends with her (which you probably aren't), I shared it on my Facebook. and if you don't have Facebook, then there is no way.

I only had 3 minutes, so I chose the very best things to share with them. but here is an extended version with all the important things I learned in high school this far. and I'm not saying everyone should read this, but if 1,233 people have watched my pep talk to Baker's class, then.....this gotta be pretty good. so, here is My Speech To Baker's Class Plus Additional Advice.

to put it simply, junior year can really suck sometimes. it's the year before your senior year, which is when you apply for colleges. so junior year, the counselors come in and talk about looking at scholarship options and how to prepare yourself for college. and it hits you that you really are getting to be that old. how did this happen? no one knows. and you HAVE to take the ACT that year at least once. I took it twice. I really want to go to BYU because I get half tuition since my dad's a professor there, it's close by so my dorm won't be too far from my family, and it's a great school. well, it's not the easiest to get into. my dad, being a professor there himself, said that the average ACT score is 28 and I don't remember what the GPA was, but pretty high. so, I was under quite a bit of pressure to get a good ACT score because I didn't want to take that test 5 times. it is TORTURE, I tell you. both days I took it were the longest days of my life (besides my aunt's wedding and the day we went to Japan and flew 12-14 hours-ish). the first time I took it, I got lower than a 28, so my dad enrolled me in the prep class before I took it the second time. and I thought it wouldn't help at all, but turns out, it helped me get more familiar with the test, and when I took it for real, it was still hard, but it was a little bit easier. 3 weeks later, I found out that I got a higher score than a 28, something that seemed unrealistic the first time I took the test. so, tip number 1: TAKE THE ACT PREP CLASS. 

junior year is also way stressful because that's when a lot of AP classes are offered. I took AP US History and AP English, and I could've taken AP Calculus, but there is no way I would ever take an AP math class, so I got out of that one and took College Algebra/Trig (there's not very many options after taking Pre-Calculus your sophomore year). I was also in Honors Physiology, so between those 4 classes, I had a lot of homework. and in addition to that, I was on the tennis team, taught 3 piano students, practiced piano 1-2 hours a day, was in choir, and wanted a social life. I also wanted sleep. I was busy all the time. AND I have ADHD, so I could either find my motivation and get stuff done quickly, or my ADHD would kick in and I couldn't focus whatsoever. but no matter what, do your homework. grades actually matter. high school is really important. I've seen a few of my senior friends who are so talented, so smart, and so capable of getting into any college, but they slacked off and decided they were too tired to do their homework, never did it, didn't go to class, and didn't get into the college of their choice. DO NOT LET THIS BE YOU! so, if you're tired, just find that motivation to at least start your homework. if it's after 12:30, then it's too late for me and going to bed wins, and don't even think that you can get it done in the morning. it is impossible. but at least try to get it done. you will feel so much better knowing got something done. so pretty much, just DO YOUR DANG HOMEWORK.

a really unfortunate trend at my school is skipping class, or as Utahns call it, "sluffing". if you didn't do your homework on time, here's a simple solution: SLUFF CLASS AND GET IT DONE AT HOME! (or, more frequently, GET FOOD WITH YOUR FRIENDS!) have a test in class that you didn't study for? here's a simple solution: SLUFF CLASS AND STUDY IN THE LIBRARY! (or forget about it and get food with your friends!!)
no. no. NO. NO. do not do this. it isn't worth it. my parents check my attendance records every Sunday, so I know that if I sluff class, I'm screwed and my dad takes my car for a week. but for those whose parents don't really have rules about that, don't do it. you will always be in catch-up mode, and you will have twice as much homework as you would have had before. and if it's the day of a test that you didn't study for? if you didn't finish your project on time? ADMIT YOU ARE A SLACKER AND COME TO CLASS! I've had to do that this year, and going unprepared is better than not going at all. and it's a really bad habit to get into. I've seen it, and it's sad.

and please, do the work yourself. I'm not saying don't ask friends for help. I do that all the time. but don't have them do everything for you. it will not help you on a test. when I took AP world as a sophomore, we had to write our own flash cards. I think I made over 250. maybe even 400. but I wrote down every single word and every single definition, and this was my sophomore year. I just finished my junior year, and I still remember most of them. so, IF YOU DO YOUR OWN WORK, YOU WILL DO BETTER.

this was my pep talk to Baker's class in more depth. well, now's some more advice that I couldn't mention in that. and this stuff is also really important, and every high schooler should know this stuff.

it's okay if you change friendships. my best friends in elementary school weren't my best friends for a while. in junior high, we drifted apart, and somehow, junior year, I became close to them again. and I am so grateful for that. in other friendships, we drifted apart and never came back. you just have to learn that it's a part of growing up, and that people change, interests change, and friendships change. and the best friendships are those that are still strong, even after tennis season ends, even after you aren't in the same classes. I met one of my very best friends my freshman year while he was a sophomore. we had one class together, and then after that semester, I didn't really expect to see him that much anymore. but he kept on going out of his way to talk to me, and I really appreciated that. we were good friends when we had that class together, but after it ended, we became even better friends. we maintained our friendship my sophomore year, and I asked him to Morp my junior year, and now, he's graduated and has a mission call, but if we hadn't kept on talking to each other even after our class ended, I wouldn't have become such close friends. and sometimes, friends who you thought were good friends start making bad choices, and you don't have to support them! just be kind to them, and if they stop making an effort, then you don't have to, either!

school dances taught me a lot of lessons. I didn't get asked to Homecoming in the fall, and I definitely didn't expect that. I thought that since I was talented, I knew lots of people, I had lots of friends, I was part of the tennis team, I was sophomore homecoming princess, and I was pretty, I would get asked. but that didn't happen. I had been looking forward to getting asked since I was sophomore homecoming princess the year before, and I even got a dress and everything. but the boys just didn't ask me. now, I could've just said "screw boys and dances, if they aren't gonna ask me, I'm not gonna ask them!" that is not the way to handle it at all! I figured that if they weren't gonna ask me, I was gonna ask them anyway and prove to them what a good time I am and that I deserve to get asked. as soon as homecoming ended, a bunch of girls started asking to Sadie Hawkins, but I wanted to wait. well, the top 2 boys I wanted to ask, got asked within the 3 days after homecoming. so this leads to lesson number 2: if you know who you want to ask, ask them ASAP. don't just wait until the last minute. so, I had to hurry and ask someone else, and I picked someone I had only talked to a few times. and I ended up having a GREAT time, and we became pretty good friends! so lesson 3: it can be fun to go with people you don't know very well.
after Sadie Hawkins came Sweethearts. so, I had already learned my lesson with homecoming, but lesson number 4: don't anticipate getting asked to a boys choice dance. this doesn't mean being a pessimist, but it makes getting asked a lot more exciting, and it makes not getting asked a lot less disappointing. I didn't get asked to Sweethearts, and I would've liked to, but since I wasn't expecting it, it wasn't too hard. and back to lesson number 2: I had already picked out who I wanted to ask to Morp, and I asked him the week before Sweethearts. he answered me 3 days later. some girls weren't too happy because I asked "too soon", but since I knew who I wanted to ask, I just went ahead and did it. and I'm glad I did it when I did, because instead of focusing on not getting asked to Sweethearts, I focused on how excited I was for Morp, which ended up being the best date I had so far. when Prom rolled around, I still hoped to get asked, but I wasn't anticipating it because I hadn't been asked to the first 2 boys choice dances. but LO AND BEHOLD, I got asked to Prom, and a lot of my Prom group was also in my Sadie Hawkins group! so, lesson 5: PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE. if I hadn't asked to Sadie Hawkins, I wouldn't have made friends with the boys in that group, and I wouldn't have had a Prom group to go into. but getting asked to Prom was 100x more exciting because I wasn't anticipating it. and I'm glad I got the opportunity to go to the 3 dances I went to this year, because they were 3 of the best nights of high school.

MORP 2015: Lance and Jaysi, Jackson H and Hally, Maloy and Annie, Jackson R and Emily, Micah and Fielding, Regan and Scott, me and Jackson B, Kaitlyn and Chandler

finally, let's talk about change. this is my Morp group from March 2015. at the time, only Maloy had his mission call to Little Rock, Arkansas. but all the boys in my group were talking about starting their mission papers and how excited they were, and it hit me that all these boys would be leaving sometime this year (except Fielding who's in my grade). so, while I was on that date, I tried to enjoy the moment as much as I could, because in just a few months, my date would be going somewhere foreign to preach the gospel for 2 years. and it's a hard change. I've had a few of my older friends leave, and it's not easy to say goodbye to them, and just thinking about saying goodbye to these boys makes me really sad. now, all of them except Scott (who doesn't turn 18 until later this summer) and Fielding (who's in my grade) have their calls: Lance got his first, to Jacksonville, Florida, Spanish speaking. a month later, Jackson R, Chandler, and Jackson B (my Morp date) opened their calls on the same night: Jackson R to Charleston, West Virginia; Chandler to Atlanta, Georgia; and Jackson B to Dnepropetrovsk (ne-pro-pe-TROVSK), Ukraine, Russian speaking. and a month later, Jackson H to Eugene, Oregon. looking back on this picture gives me so much nostalgia because all of these boys were talking about preparing, and now, all but 2 have calls! it was so exciting watching them opening or hearing the good news, but it's also been very hard for me. I mean, these are all my friends, and they're all going stateside except Jackson B, who is going all the way to freaking UKRAINE. at first, I was just excited because he had been anticipating the call so much, and we were just relieved to know that it finally came. but the next day, it hit me that Ukraine isn't the safest or happiest place in the world. Russian is a hard language. and do I really want one of my best friends going there? but I just had to tell myself that Ukraine needs the gospel right now, and out of all my friends, Jackson is the one who needs to teach it there. as the departure dates get closer, what gets me through is just knowing that it's better if they go than if they stay, and that all of these places need the gospel, and that they are all doing the right thing. and I'm not ashamed to admit it, I've cried about it a few times, and the change is going to be hard for me. I'll be at school without my best friends. but while they're gone, instead of staying home and crying all the time, I will still put myself out there. if I'm going to write them, I need things to tell them about! so, I will try to make my senior year the best year I can and hang out with more people, get more involved in school activities, and have a good time!

so, sorry this was way long. but the take home message from this post: do your dang homework. don't slack. don't skip class. it's okay if friendships change, but they don't have to end just because you don't see them anymore. it's okay not to get asked to a dance, but don't let that define you. ask to the ones that you can get asked to, because it increases your chances of getting asked in the future. if you know who you want to take, ask ASAP. and change is hard, but try to make the best of it. if your friends get mission calls, just try to remember that they are doing the right thing, and that it's time for them to bless other peoples' lives, not just yours (did that sound cheesy? sorry about that). so, it's been a great year. it's been a hard year. but, now, school is out, and I can play tennis whenever I want and eat ice cream and go on bike rides and hang out with friends and try to get a job and sleep all day and attend mission farewells and try not to cry about it too much!

Junior Prom with Nate the Great

I know, all I ever post about is dates on my blog now. Well, get used to it. Because this girl went to her first boys choice dance ever last night!
so, a little brief introduction. every date I've gone on my junior year has either been with someone named Nate or someone who's dad is named Nate. well, I went on a date with another Nate! Also, remember how half of my Morp group was named Jackson? well, there was another Nate in my prom group. and to make it even funnier, it was the Nate that I went to Sadies with back in November! and if it isn't already crazy enough, Josh my sophomore homecoming prince was in my group. so, 2 homecoming royalty people in the same group. this year, my prom date Nate was junior homecoming prince. and 2 years ago, when I was a freshman, Jackson my Morp date was sophomore homecoming prince. I kid you not. I am not making any of this stuff up. and it's not like my school is small or anything. there are at least 500 people in each grade. it's just funny how it all happens.

also, on a side note, congratulations to Jackson my morp date on getting called to the Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine mission! (he can't even pronounce the name of his own mission.) and to Jackson R in my morp group on going to Charleston, West Virginia, and to Chandler also from my morp group on getting his call to Atlanta, Georgia! they all opened their calls the night before Prom. AND Lance from our morp group got his call a month ago to Jacksonville, Florida, Spanish speaking. (and Maloy ALSO from our group had his call before the dance, but he is going to Little Rock, Arkansas.) WE LOVE MISSIONARIES!

anyhow, this is supposed to be about Prom, not missionary shoutouts. about a month ago, the doorbell rings on a Friday night, Justin answers it, and yells, "MIRIAM, YOU JUST GOT ASKED TO PROM!"

well, boy am I excited. of all the people he could've asked, he chose me. Nate is one of the most well-known, well respected guys in my grade. He wrestles, plays football, all his brothers played for BYU, is on athletic council, and is well-liked by everyone. every girl who found out that he was my date said, "no way, I wish he was my date!" well, sorry girls. he asked me.
I have never answered a guy to a dance before, so I wasn't very creative and I took no pictures. but I got bag of Cadbury eggs, said "Prom would be EGG-scellent with you!" and got Justin to leave it on the doorstep. and then, I just let Nate and his friends plan the shindig, and it was nice to relax and not be in charge.

for our day date, we played bubble soccer. I didn't take any pictures. but it's where you run around in inflatable bubbles (they have straps inside that you put over your shoulders, you aren't rolling around), slam into each other, and play soccer. my mom gave Nate permission to knock into me as hard as he could. which, he did. it was pretty funny at first, but running around in bubbles can be really hard and exhausting. after we lost interest in soccer, we played sharks and minnows (and Nate being a huge football player won). and then, we decided to knock our dates over!
except Nate knocked me over.
The first time, not much happened. the second time, I flew into the air, did a double backflip, and landed safely. it was AWESOME. but the third time, I did the same backflip, but i landed on my ankles really weird. and it hurt! I couldn't get up for a few seconds, but I stood up and said, "I'll be okay!" and walked it off.

well, after I picked up my boutonniere, my ankle started to hurt again and it wouldn't go away. there was no way that I would be able to wear heels and walk around all night. in fact, my whole body was hurting. my mom said that she would get my home teachers to come over and give me a priesthood blessing before Nate picked me up. (my dad was running errands and couldn't make it home before my date picked me up.) but SURPRISE, Nate arrives before my home teachers, and right as my mom is taking our picture, my home teacher arrives, looking all confused. and BOY am I embarrassed. my date already felt bad for knocking me so hard I messed up my ankle, but the fact that my mom wanted me to have a priesthood blessing? he probably felt even worse. but in order to save embarrassment, I just told my home teacher to say a prayer for me instead, that I would rely on my faith and ibuprofen and I would be fine. so, we left and drove to Josh's beautiful house to take pictures and eat a wonderful dinner catered by La Jolla Groves. it was delicious, and I even got invited to play the grand piano while everyone ate their salad. my date had never heard me play before, and he said, "I had no idea you could do that! that is amazing!" then I just said, "thanks, you're sweet" and went straight for the food.

front row: Nate R and me, Josh and Megan, Erik and Cami. 

middle row: Adam and Dathyl, Nate A and Liza, Levi and Ingrid

back row: AJ and Lindsey H, Seth and Susie, Michael and Lindsey C

 back row: Megan, Dathyl, Liza, Ingrid, Lindsey C, Lindsey H.

front row: me, Susie, and Cami

Lindsey and I

after a wonderful meal, it was PROM TIME! prom was at the Provo Library in the ballroom, and I had to set up that morning because I came up with the theme, A Night In New York. Nate had a great time telling everyone, "my date is famous! she came up with the theme! this was all her" and that just made my day. Levi in the prayer at dinner said, "please bless us that we will not fall at Promenade." well, that prayer must have worked because none of us tripped down the stairs! but it was raining like crazy. the school was so sweet and provided us umbrellas. after Nate and I walked out, our parents took pics and after my parents told Nate's mom, "we're Miriam's parents!", his younger brother said, "and Justin's parents too!" that was pretty cute. our younger brothers are in the same class at school, so even cuter.

so finally (FINALLY) we go inside and we dance. the library looks beautiful, and the music choice isn't great at first, but after Uptown Funk came on, the ballroom came alive! and we danced. we actually danced. we didn't just stand there and watch people, we got all into it. and my favorite was when every boy wanted to talk to Nate, and he said, "this is my date, and she is the funniest person I have ever met!" so did I have the best date? YES I DID. and it was so fun to see everyone in all their dresses!

we actually stayed at the dance until we were told to leave. after we left, we were supposed to go to Seth's house for the afterparty. only problem? no one in our car knew where Seth lived. so, we pull over into a BYU events parking lot, and Erik (who was driving) starts calling every boy in the group. no answer. I call every girl in the group. no answer. just as we are losing hope, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey comes on the radio, and we started believing. right then, Josh calls Erik, Ingrid calls me, and we get an address. THANK GOODNESS for Journey! then we drove to Seth's house safely, had dessert, watched funny videos, and just laughed until we lost our voices.

so, this was a pretty successful date. I got some air, did a few backflips, ditched the heels, ate delicious Prime rib, took rainy pics on a golf course, didn't trip at all, came up with the brilliant theme, serenaded the group at dinner, did off-key duets with Nate during slow dancing, screamed Katy Perry songs in the car, started believing once Journey came on, laughed all night, made some new friends, and had the BEST TIME EVER. thank you, Nate for being the greatest date and for being a gentleman and making me feel really happy all the time. seriously, before the dance, I knew I was lucky to go with him, but after actually going with him, I realize why every girl said they wished he was their date. because HE WAS GREAT.

and my feet are still attached to my legs, and I can walk. 

SERVING others, or just serving myself?

ever since the beginning of high school, I have always wanted to be on student government. I thought it looked really fun, you got to plan things, everyone seemed like they were always having a good time, and you were recognized by the school for doing good things. I love being in charge of things, and I thought that if I was on student government, I would use my genius ideas to make the school a better place. I thought I had all the qualities of a typical, cookie-cutter student government kid: I get pretty good grades, I take AP classes, I attend all football and basketball games, I don't regularly sluff class, my attendance is pretty good, I'm social, I'm outgoing, I am a natural-born leader, I like to take charge, I'm organized, and I'm pretty well-liked. The student government advisors have both been my history teachers, and I love both of them. One of them even let me TA for her this year. So, I thought I was in pretty good shape.
my original plan was to run for Social VP, the person who plans the dances. I admit, I didn't have a lot of experience with dances. I had never been asked to a boys choice dance, and the 3 girls choice ones I had been to, I loved them. I had so many ideas of how to make them better, though. I talked to the current social VP and asked if I would be well-suited, but she said, "if you even want to think about tennis next year, please go for a smaller position. it's a lot of work, and you would never miss practice to plan an assembly." so I decided to go for Northeast Justice. at my school, justices and senates are based on a mock-government; you run based on where you live. there are 2 senates for each area, a boy and a girl, and one justice per area. Justices are in charge of upcoming elections and other things. well, the majority of people who like to run for student government also live in the northeast area of the Timpview boundaries. so, I knew i was in for some competition. but that didn't stop me.
so, in order to run for student gov, you need to complete 5 hours of service and attend 5 activities from february to march 20. I went to every basketball game, orchestra concert, softball game, and boys tennis match that I could during that time. I also joined junior council, a committee of juniors who do my dream job, which is PLAN PROM! they wanted a "city" theme, and in the back of my mind, I got an amazing idea:
A NIGHT IN NEW YORK.
the advisors liked it, the junior council presidency liked it, and BOOM.
my idea became the actual legit theme for Prom.
so that meant I would help out a lot with the decorations and stuff.
(a few weeks later, it got even better. I got asked by one of the nicest, most attractive boys in my grade. I've had so many girls tell me, "I wish that was my date!" anyhow, I'm getting off subject.)
so, I was approved to run after that. but I needed a good campaign.
a lot of people wanted me to use a castle/princess theme, but I just thought that made me look soft and feminine, which is not the most accurate description of me. and my original idea, "don't be an (something that rhymes with Castle), vote Miriam Castle!" wasn't school appropriate. so, I called up one of my friends, and we took these pictures.

 "she's #1"

so, most of these pictures were turned into some sweet looking posters, none of which are saved on my computer. but most of them said "SERVING you as Northeast Justice- vote Miriam Castle". so of course, I had to put some tennis humor in there. my friend who usually takes my pictures moved to Highland, but she still agreed to take my pictures and let me borrow her Disneyland crown (there is no way I was going to use the Castle theme seriously. the most I would do was wear the crown). a lot of people complimented me on my posters.
but WAIT.
one of my opponents was one of my very own teammates. I admit, I did not want her to win. I mean, last time I played her in tennis, she beat me. so, maybe this could've been my revenge. but we were friendly with each other and never trash-talked. but it wasn't what I wanted to do, run against my teammate and friend.
OH, and a sophomore boy was also running against us. both juniors and seniors can be elected as justices, so I had to worry about 2 people now.

but I thought I had a lot of support.
I guess the sophomore boy had more though. (and his campaign was also really good.)
what I think happened, was my friend and I split the junior vote, and the sophomore boy got all the sophomore votes, which makes sense. and in a way, I felt a bit better because I didn't like running against my friend and teammate. I didn't want to beat her, but I didn't want her to beat me, either.
but I lost. and I don't like losing. a lot of my friends made it on, including my prom date. but not all hope was lost. there were still 9 appointed positions. you had to interview for them, and they were tough, but of course, because I thought I was qualified, I could be one of the 9 people......out of around 30.
(my interview even went really well!!)

and of course. you can already tell, I didn't get it. at first, I'm just telling myself "why, you were so qualified to this!" and then "I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck" and then finally, I realized that if I was the one choosing people, then I would look at someone like me and notice there are a lot of good qualities, but also a few flaws. like:
1. I am blunt and honest and straight-forward. some people really like this quality, and in some situations, it is very good. but say, you are on a planning committee with others, and you don't like their idea, and if you're anything like me, you skip all the sugar coating and straight-up say, "this sucks." not appropriate for student government. I really try not to do this, but sometimes, I have no filter and I worry less about pleasing everyone and making them feel good and more about getting what I want.
2. I am a bit sassy. Again, I really try not to do this. But at the wrong moments, I come across as rude. Is this good for student government? Not necessarily.
3. I really hate to admit this, but sometimes, I take the role of being in charge too seriously.

and YES I JUST ADMITTED MY SHORTCOMINGS. that is a hard thing for me to do. really, it is. I had never even considered them until after I lost. am I happy? not really. did a lot of my friends (and my prom date) make it on, and I didn't? definitely.
but, is this a learning experience? of course.
and can I use this to become a better person in the future? dang right, I can.

some things, I feel like I just can't change about myself. truthfully, I will always be an honest, straight-forward person. but I'm working on not saying what I'm thinking all the time. and I'm trying not to make everything about me. I did genuinely want to help out my school and make friends and be involved. I do have good intentions, but sometimes, I think more about what I want and have a difficult time agreeing with others.

and really, the fact that I actually put myself out there and ran for something, that is an amazing thing itself. it was so dang scary.

I should probably be reading The Grapes of Wrath right now, so I'm gonna end this here.
goodnight.

MORP 2k15: now...HOW many Jackson's are there again?

well, out of all the many (3) dates I've been on now, this one has got to be my favorite. hands down. (sorry to the other 2.) MORP is just one of the best dances. It's near the end of 3rd term, which is probably the worst part of the year, so it gives me something to look forward to. it's in March, the weather is good, and both years I've gone it's been semi-formal. AND the girls get to ask. Well, a lot of my friends are seniors, and this would be their last girls-choice dance to go to. so, I asked one of my very best friends, Jackson. His sister Kate and I are also really good friends, and she told me, "if you want to ask him, then go for it! but if I were you, I would ask a lot sooner than later!" so, 5 days before Sweethearts (HEAVEN FORBID I ask to Morp before Sweethearts is over!!), and 2 days before Sweethearts, he answers me (some really weird girls thought the whole thing was crazy.)

this is probably the best thing I've come up with. so, Jackson and I both play tennis. actually, we've played each other for fun a few times and he always beats me. once, he played with his left hand and he still beat me! either he's way good or I'm way bad. but he did tell me that I have a great serve and I'm very consistent, so I probably wasn't as bad as I thought I was. also, that was almost 2 years ago, and I've gotten a lot better. also, if you think I'm not classy or anything, don't worry, Jackson thought it was funny. the poster says: "JACKSON- it took a lot of BALLS to ask...MORP? (name is on balls)"

3 days later, this shows up on my doorstep:

"can I? YES!"

well, I got myself an answer 3 days after I asked, I got myself a date, I got myself a dress, and I got myself a group. sounds great, right? well, it's not quite that simple. whenever girls have to plan dances, they go psycho on each other and NOTHING is ever okay. there's always a problem with the food, the time, the plans, every little thing has to be perfect. I decided that since I was the only junior besides my friend Kaitlyn who wasn't even going on the day date, I would try to cause the least amount of problems I could. but it was pretty stressful getting plans changed on me all the time. Long story short, I had to call up Jackson the morning of and say "plans changed, I'm picking you up in a half hour." and he said, "thanks for letting me know, I need to get out of bed!" so I got our day date snack at Kneaders (we order the exact same thing, turkey bacon avocado on foccacia, so that wasn't even a problem), picked him up, and drove to the house we thought we were meeting at. well, guess what? as soon as we get there, someone calls me and tells us to meet somewhere else instead! and that place was, what do you know, right by Kneader's where I just was! but what can we do. not our fault.

our day date plans were to go razor riding west of Eagle Mountain, which is west of Lehi. so pretty much in the wilderness, about 40ish minutes away. well, I had no idea how long it would take to get there, and all of a sudden, I really had to pee. I tried to hold it as long as I could, but finally I decided I was desperate and told the driver "I really have to pee. I mean, really." so Jackson H, our driver (not my date, who is Jackson B) just pulled over and there were no bushes, so I had to jump into a ditch and let it all out. not what everyone expected. and I'm already feeling bad because I'm the only junior on the day date, so I already feel like the baby. and I made them pull over. but that stuff just happens, and it made for an exciting car ride!

for those of you who have no idea what razor riding is, that thing behind me and Jackson is a razor. or a rhino. or a who knows what. but pretty much, you drive these things around in the desert and have a gooooood time. it's pretty much just off-roading. and it is SO MUCH FUN. I had never done razor riding prior to this date, and I am sure glad I hooked up with this group because Jackson and I were having the time of our lives out here! we were in a 4-seater, and we took the backseat because I'm not experienced enough and I didn't want my date to kill me. So, the other couple, Emily and Jackson R (yes, there were 3 Jackson's in this group. it was pretty funny when someone would yell, "hey Jackson!" and all of them would say "which one?!" and no, we did not all get together and say, "hey, let's all ask people named Jackson!" it just so happened that way. but I really like that name Jackson and apparently so do tons of other people) sat up front and other Jackson was a great driver and didn't flip us over, and we made it out alive! it was quite an adventure! 

the girls. front row: me, Jaysi, Micah, and Hally. back row: Emily, Annie, Regan

our group: Jaysi and Lance, Maloy and Annie, Jackson R and Emily, Hally and Jackson H, me and Jackson B, Scott and Regan, Fielding and Micah

also, HUGE thank you to Jaysi and her dad for bring up all the razors and making this possible! 

all too soon, we had to pack up and Jackson H and Hally drove Annie, Maloy, me, and Jackson B (aka Jackson my date) back to Kneaders, we all got in our cars, and drove our dates home. we would see them again in less than 2 hours. my really good friend Haley told me she would curl my hair with a wand, and it turned out great. my hair is really thick and usually refuses to curl with a clamp iron. but Haley is a hair genie and knows how to work her magic wand, and it looked so good! as soon as she was finished, I got back into my car, chose my new "MORP" playlist, and picked up Jackson once again. the first thing he said was, "bad news. I thought your dress was black, not navy. and I'm wearing all black. don't kill me!" and I just said, "of course not! you look great!" and his sweet mom took a few pictures of us, and then we drove back to the Riverwoods for like the 3rd time that day to take real pictures and eat dinner!

and Jackson, being so sweet, even got me a corsage.

 left to right: Lance and Jaysi, Jackson H and Hally, Maloy and Annie, Jackson R and Emily, Micah and Fielding, Regan and Scott, me and Jackson B, Kaitlyn and Chandler (Kaitlyn had dance all morning and couldn't make it to the day date, but we are all so glad she was able to come to the dinner part!)

 the dudes: Jackson R, Jackson H, Fielding, Scott, Jackson B, Chandler, Lance, and Maloy (the King)

 Emily, Micah, Annie, Jaysi, Hally, Regan, Kaitlyn, and me

we had a wonderful dinner at La Jolla Groves. it took forever for any of to choose, because everything looked so good! Jackson went with a chicken alfredo pasta, and I went with beef sirloin medallions with mango chutney. it was so good,and I wasn't even stuffed, which was good because next up, was the dance!

the theme was "Once Upon a Time", so it was perfectly fitting that the dance was at a castle park in Lindon. this place is usually used for receptions and stuff like that, but I guess for 1 night, it turned into a Timpview High School dance party. some people took the prince/princess theme seriously; most of my group did not. but if I say so myself, Jackson and I were definitely the best looking couple there. we had a great time "dancing" (Jackson just standing there watching me get into it), going to the photobooth, and then, there was slow dancing... Jackson almost twirled me into some other couple a few times, but other than that, we were probably the greatest dancers there!

after about an hour, we drove back to Jackson's house so he could change, and then we drove to my house so I could change and pick up some cookies to bring to Regan's. she had a bonfire going in her backyard, and a really cool swingset on the side of a hill. I guess I have no life because I do not like swinging. the motion just makes me a bit seasick. but Jackson proved to be an entirely different case. he saw the swingset and went running for it, hopped on a swing, and was squealing and laughing and having the time of his life! finally, he convinced me to join him so I could "feel the magic of the swings! Miriam, you gotta admit, it's pretty cool. it's like......you're flying!" well, okay, Jackson. I guess I gotta admit that. but he was enjoying himself a lot more than I was. I was perfectly content just watching him and eating smores and cookies. we all talked by the fire a bit, and then all too soon, we remembered it was freaking DAYLIGHT SAVINGS the next day, and he has early church. so, at like 12;50 AM, I drove him home and we just sang every word of every song together. I love it when people like my music, especially boys. Jackson and I have pretty much the same music taste, and it was nice to have someone (with a really good voice too!) to sing along with me. this was definitely the most fun date I have been on: we had great food, great music, great people, I went razor riding/off roading/whatever works for you and didn't die, I went flying on a crazy swingset, sang good songs, and had the sweetest date. 

PS. the subject of graduating and missions came up at least 10 times that day. why am I not a senior? or why aren't all my friends juniors? why are they all leaving?