january happenings {part 2}

this is the last january happenings post. I should give a long speech to Dad, but his birthday was pretty uneventful. oh, and the wedding I don't have any pictures. but this post is for....... you guessed it, Miriam Elaina Castle!

my birthday was on January 23. my parents didn't want to buy me any clothes, so on the saturday before, Mom took me shopping. i got a dress from XXI, jeggings, a shirt and some camisoles from Aero, and a sweater from Downeast. my surprises were a pack of gum from Justin, a Milky Way from Wesley, a JB calendar :), lotion, and clothes from Dad's parents! I tied balloons to my backpack that day, and everyone either sang to me or told me happy birthday. It was great!

 no pictures please! oh, and that is the dress from forever 21.

on Friday, it was my party! oh, that was a fun night. a lot of people came, but some people were busy. But my friend Jace (one of the busy ones) actually came by and dropped off my present. that was super nice. we ate, got high off of muddy buddies, watched Never Say Never, and talked and laughed and sang the whole time! like everything I got was from XXI. my friends must know that it's my favorite store. ever. here's what I got:

 a ton of feather earrings (which I love), neclkaces, and hair flowers from forever 21

 bath and body works lotion

oh, and I can't forget these:

 me and callie!

 my stache-tastastico necklace (thanks Nicole.) oh, and that last pic is of Nicole and me playing with our necklaces!

happy birthday to me!!!!!!!!!!!!

January happenings {part 1}

January has been a really busy month. we had 3 birthdays, 2 parties, a wedding, and a new semester. well, this post is dedicated to Justin. we made cake balls, went ice skating, and he got tons of angry bird stuff! (but really, Mom is the addict.) i took my friend Beth to the ice skating party. we skated, got excited at every song we heard, and told juicy secrets!

Justin, you are my favorite brother. ever. (besides Wesley, of course. but I love you both the same.) i love how we get on my Facebook and stalk all of my friends. I love our conversations about Jimmer. I love how you tell me about all your friends and how you always play football. Love ya!

 the kiss was a joke. mom made me do it. I have never kissed anyone. ever.

 cake balls!

2011 wrap up

Guys, this has been such a great year. I learned a lot: who my friends were, how to survive being a sevie, do your homework, how to flirt without being akward, getting better at tennis, controlling your temper, which teachers are good, how to put make-up on without looking like a clown, becoming closer to family members, and a ton of other stuff! There's been a lot of high and low points this year, but you learn to never give up and to always try to improve yourself each day! Well, here's my year in a nutshell.

January: turned 13, got a phone, started to make more friends, got bangs. Pretty uneventful month.

February: Justin got baptized, Valentines Day problems, made more friends. Could go into more detail but I am choosing not to.

March: Jimmermania was a huge part of this month. "March Madness." Tons of BYU basketball games, and we made it to the Sweet 16! Oh, and Jimmer signed my shirt. I also had some struggles with grades, but that's not important.

April: I got my very first surgery in my entire life. It was on my feet. My tendons had to be clipped because I had crooked toes. I had to wear these bandages for a whole week and it was not pleasant! Other things: Provo Beach Resort, rain, student body elections, and the Daddy Daughter date for standards night!

May: testing, testing, testing. Accompanied in the last choir concert, and my lovely page turner messed up. But everyone said I did good, and it was super fun. I also got braces. This picture was the only picture from May that I could find. (From left to right): Lola, me, and McCall. We're still pretty good friends!

SUMMER!!!! Oh, how I love summer. I'm warning you, this is going to be a looooong wrap-up. A lot of things happened this summer: Yosemite, Girls Camp in Santaquin, and Bear Lake with the Castles were the only big trips we did. The Pass of All Passes was legit, and we went to Seven Peaks a ton. Played tennis every day with Mom, which was also legit. I loved the little pink tennis balls and sexy tennis skirts! Oh.....and babysitting, Surf N' Slurp after mutual, So You Think You Can Dance, new haircut, started to really wear make-up, Aunt Sarah had a baby, and the fun came to an end when I got my school schedule. which brings me to...

End of August/September: School started. Peer tutor was fun, Geometry...not fun, met tons of new friends, Wesley's birthday, American Studies was awesome, and started taking piano lessons at a real studio!

October: butterfly for Halloween, end of Term 1, was a really warm month except for those 3 awesome days that it rained, played tennis for the last time, and made that hat!

November: won a piano competition, had Thanksgiving, went to the Grand America for a Tea Party, met Uncle Aaron's fiance Ann, got the Justin Bieber Christmas CD, and visited the O'Briens after Saylor got surgery. Pretty fun month.

December: made tons of Christmas cookies! Mock trial month. Listened to a ton of Justin Bieber, spent a ton of time with the Wendelboe side of the family. No snow at all. Didn't really do anything for Christmas break, but I did get tons of clothes, an iPod touch (not an iPhone but still pretty awesome), Toms, pajamas, and a book about New York City. Went to my very first Multi-Stake New Years Eve dance (even though I'm not 14. but they still let me go because I turn 14 on January 23). It was so fun! I mostly spent time hanging out with my school friends and my ward friends. No dancing with boys, but I did get to see a few of my friends that are boys. It was so awesome!

Resolutions: not be "popular" but to have a lot of friends, be well-liked, and make people happy. Control my temper, turn in assignments, and not get grounded so much! ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.