One Medium Suitcase

If I were going to have to go away for the rest of my life, I would need to pack way more things than I could fit in a 24x12x10 inch suitcase. However, if it was mandatory to condense my luggage, these would be my necessities.

I would have to bring a book. Probably the best one I could choose would be The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder because that is one of my favorite books that I have ever read. It is one of those stories that you can re-read over and over again.

I would also want to bring a few Sketch Books because I love drawing. It would be very important for me to be able to do something that I love. I would not need to bring any drawing utensils, because I could use unconventional methods of mixed media, such as dirt, water, or scratching drawings into the paper with a stick.

I would definitely need to bring something to remind me of Tony as well. I would probably have to bring his Class Ring because it is heavy metal and will not wear as easily as a t-shirt or pair of sweats.

Another thing that would be important for me to bring would be Pictures of my family, friends, boyfriend, and pets. I would not want to forget them, especially my mommy, Tony, my grandparents, and my siblings.

I would also bring a few Movie Tickets with me. Most likely the ticket for pitch perfect, the ticket for G.I. Joe, and Iron Man 3. They are some of my favorite movies and I had a blast going to see those movies with my friends and family.

It would also be important for me to bring InStyle Magazine because they are entertaining to read. I would be able to pass the time flipping through the pages and if nothing else, I would be able to doodle on the pages when I ran out of sketchbook paper.

I would definitely have to bring a Journal because I love writing. It would be essential that I was able to record my life.

Along with the journal, I would bring my Crowder College Trio Pens so that I could write in my Journal. They would remind me of the accomplishment of acceptance to UBMS and provide a utensil for me to record thoughts.

I would also take my Glasses because my contacts are monthly prescriptions and I would need to see. I could make do without them, but it would be much easier for me to do daily activities with my glasses.

The last thing I would need to bring would be a Nail File and Nail Clippers because my nails grow very fast and I wouldn't be able to handle them being untrimmed. I have to have my nails filed because when they are scraggly it bothers me more than almost anything else!

Yellow Star

1. Being Accepted to UBMS - It was very exciting for me to be accepted into Upward Bound at all, but when I found out I was accepted to Upward Bound Math and Sciences I was even more ecstatic. I never thought I had what it took, but now I love both of those subjects.
2. Having the courage to tell my mom I wanted to move - even though it hurt me to have to break my mothers heart, it was a huge accomplishment for me. It meant that I was finally taking a stand for what I knew was best with me and that she had finally trusted me enough to let the reins loose a little bit.
3. Meeting Tony - I know that it sounds strange to say that I think this is an accomplishment, but in a way it is and in a way it isn't. I met Tony by accident, but making him a part of my life was one of the best choices I've ever made.
4. Making the cheer leading squad - I never had a lot of energy in me, nor did I ever have the drive to do something. When I tried out for the cheer squad it changed all of that, and I met new friends and had great times.
5. Achieving my heel stretch, scorpion, and round-off split - it took me a long time to see progress made with my stretching. Repetition was key and it made me feel proud and accomplished when I finally could hit the pose I had been training for.
6. Reading 8 books in two months - I know that I have already talked about this in a previous post, but it really is something I am proud of. Finding time to read is harder and harder to do, even when it is something that you love. I was able to keep up my schoolwork all while doing what I loved and that is a true accomplishment.
7. Teaching myself HTML - it was a very hard and irritating process to try and teach myself how to code websites in HTML. I learned a bit from my Step-Dad but he mostly did CSS. It took a lot of effort, a lot of research, and a lot of trial and error. I finally ended up with products I was proud of.
8. Teaching myself photo-manipulation - Photo manipulation was never something that I had intended to do. It was always something that was just more of a hobby rather than actually doing it. However, I started to post my work on websites and I received requests for specific manipulations from people all over the world. It made me proud and at the same time nervous because I didn't think my work was that good!
9. Special effects makeup - Watching videos on Youtube certainly helped with this, but eventually you have to get off of the computer and go apply what you've learned. I have done effects makeup on myself and my brother. I am very proud of the way these have turned out.
10. Making District Honor Choir - I love choir and I decided to take the step to try out for districts honor choir and I made it. I was very surprised because my sight-reading is pretty bad and I didn't know the song very well.

RANKINGS

1. getting accepted to UBMS
2. Making districts honor choir
3. moving
4. heel stretch, scorpion, round-off split
5. meeting Tony
6. Making cheer squad
7. read 8 books in two months
8. teaching myself HTML
9. teaching myself Photomanipulation
10. SFX makeup

Gone But Never Forgotten..♥

Things I want to remember about myself in 20 years...

1. How it feels to go horseback riding. I hope that horseback riding is never not a part of my life.
2. How it feels to be young, because I want to remember how I felt at this age so that when my kids are growing up I can offer them the best advice possible. I don't want to be a Debbie-Downer mom who doesn't let her kids do anything because they don't remember that they were the same age at one point.
3. My baptism, even though it was done when I was in the seventh grade.
4. How it feels to truly love someone. If I am with the same person I am now in the next 20 years, I want to always remember how I feel about him today, right now, right this instant.
5. All the books I've read and how they've changed my life. I have yet to read a book that I don't enjoy, and I never want to forget the life lessons I've learned.
6. Cheer leading, because it is important to always remember the little things. It didn't make me homecoming queen, or school president, but it made me who I am and I made a lot of friends.
7. The times that I've laughed until I cried. I never want to lose the child part of me that makes me my own person.
8. Cherish the quiet days spent snuggled up with Tony on the couch just watching stupid movies and arguing over silly things and how happy they made me.
9. Remember the way my voice harmonizes with the other kids in my choir, especially Whitney Turner's.
10. How it feels to not want to do something, and the feeling of finishing that task.
11. Always remember my bucket list and try to complete it!
12. I want to go to a uni in Florida and work at Disneyland for a summer
13. I want to take my mother to Ireland with me
14. Remember how short I cut my hair freshman year and how much I hated it
15. Remember how true love found me when I didn't try, because that's how the universe works
16. I never want to forget my love for math and science
17. Remember of my dream of going night swimming in a bio luminescent cove or bay
18. Keep in mind the huge accomplishment of reading 8 books in two months
19. Never forget to push yourself, and to encourage your family to help you
20. I want to always bear in mind that my beliefs are different than others, but never change them

Personal Metaphors

If I were a/an ____ I would be a/an ______ because.....

• 1. Animal
•  Scorpion, because I'm pretty to look at but get pissed when I'm touched
• 2. Car
• Older Mustang because I'm sporty but not flashy about it
• 3. Article of Clothing
• A bra because I support my friends and family
• 4. Day of the Week.
• Saturday because no one does anything on Saturday's and I'm really lazy
• 5. Food
• Chocolate Mousse because I like chocolate mousse and it's squishy and I'm kinda flabby idk
• 6. Color
• White because my skin color is pretty much transparent
• 7. Movie
•  Mean Girls because I quote that movie ALL THE TIME
• 8. Fragrance
• Vanilla because I like cupcakes
• 9. Type of Building
• A temple because they're pointy and pretty
• 10. Plant
• A Venus Fly trap because you don't see those everyday
• 11. Musical Instrument
• The bagpipes because they're the most annoying instrument I can think of
• 12. Geometric Shape
• A diamond because they're a gem and gems are kinda related to metals and I like silver not gold. Diamond is closer to silver
• 13. Piece of Furniture
• A couch because that's where I spend 98% of my time.
• 14. Song
• Colors of The Wind from Pocahontas because I love nature
• 15. Appliance or Machinery
• A washing machine because I'm a woman and we wash dishes
• 16. Television Character
• Sheldon Cooper because I'm so smart that it irritates everyone else
• 17. Season of the Year
• Summer because I love the heat
• 18. Natural Phenomenon
• A wildfire, again because I love the heat
• 19. Cartoon or Comic Character 
• Iron Man because someday I will be a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist minus the playboy part because I'm not that desperate.
• Word
• Defenestrate, because it means to throw out the window and I'm kinda irrational like that

Synetics

•  Which is wiser? a pen or pencil?
• a pencil, because it is equipped to fix it's mistakes
• Which is easier to forgive? a street or a sidewalk?
• a sidewalk, because nature destroys it while man-made machines destroy a street
• Which is smarter? A clock or a calendar?
• A calendar because it cannot break
• Which is easier to teach? a question or an answer?
• A question, because answers are constantly changing
• Which is like a contest? a cloud or a sunset?
• A sunset, because there are thousands of colors fighting to fill the sky at one time
• Which is more fearful? new or old?
• Old, because of the new
• Which is like a promise? Mathematics or science?
• Science, because promises can be broken, and science is forever updating itself
• Which is more difficult? a dream or a nightmare?
• A dream, because a dream is a peaceful lie, while a nightmare is a brutal reality
• Which is braver? an hour or a year?
• A year, because it holds more within it than an hour can
• Which is easier to close? a road or a map?
• A road, because a road can end while you forever study a map
• Which is like a legend? A mirror or glass?
• A glass, because you have to look at it in just the right angle to see what's truly inside
• Which is more suspenseful? rain or snow?
• Rain, which brings sorrow while snow brings joy.
• Which has less charm? a signature or an autograph?
• An autograph, which is scribbled wildly without care. 

Creating a list. Checking it twice.

• People who have influenced me
1. My mommy
2. All of my teachers
3. My grandparents
4. My friends
5. My siblings
6. Too many authors to list
• Places that make me happy   
1. The lake
2. The beach
3. Farms
4. Libraries
5. Book stores
6. Coffee shops
• Places I would like to go 
1. Romania
2. France
3. Ireland
4. Egypt
5. Japan
6. Poland
• Things in people that I like 
1. Sweet personalities
2. Reserved
3. Intelligence
4. Quiet personalities
5. Sarcasm
6. Quiet but audible voice
• Things in people that I dislike 
1. Obnoxious-ness
2. Irritability
3. Sassyness
4. Mouthyness
5. Ridiculous accents
6. Pretending to be overly nice
• Things that worry me 
1. The environment
2. The ozone layer
3. War
4. The economy
5. Endangered species
6. The world population
• Things I would like to know how to do 
1. A press handstand
2. Draw hyper-realistic portraits
3. Code in HTML or binary
4. Fishtail braid
5. Crochet
6. Cut layers into my own hair
• Things that have moved me 
1. The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3. The Blind Side
4. A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
5. The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
6. The Sky Is Everywhere Jandy Nelson
• Ideas that intrigue me
1. The "near-death-experience" caused by dimethyltryptamine
2. My father's views on religion
3. How the Amish manage to keep a simple way of life
4. The Illuminati
5. Life in other solar systems
6. The Higgs Boson particle
• My personal favorites 
1. Coffee flavored ice cream
2. The color teal and baby pink
3.  Reading curled up in a warm blanket
4. Tropical scented candles
5. Sparkly nail polish
6. Vans shoes

Valuable Lessons

1- don't screw with bees
This is probably the most valuable lesson which I have learned over my lifetime, considering the fact that ever since I learned this I have never been stung again. Once when I was little I was kicking a rock over an underground beehive and then kicking it off just to tick the bees off. Then, the bee decided that it had had enough and two bees stung me at the same time. That sucked really bad but I've never messed with bees ever again ever.

2- take math seriously
When I was in the 8th grade, I had algebra I, but I decided that I didn't have to take it so I dropped the class and retook pre-al. This really messed me up once I got into high school, since now I have to take College Algebra and Trig/Calc in the same year instead of being able to space them out.

3- You don't have to be nice to people for them to like you (or be a jerk for them to dislike you)
Okay, so this one is kind of a mean thing to say. Either way, there are plenty of people who will hate you for no reason, and there are plenty of people who will hang around you even when you're mean to them.

4- Weird kids are the funniest
This one can also probably be taken as a mean thing. Nonetheless, weird kids are usually the most interesting to be around and the funniest. However, this does depend on the person.

5- Chill.
The worst thing in life you can do is stress yourself out. To be honest, I still stress out almost every single day. But I do know from experience that if you just calm down and don't even care about anything for awhile, then life gets 1000x easier.

6- You're not gonna care about all this tomorrow
Maybe not "tomorrow," but there's going to be a point where you just don't give a crap about that girl who called you a name in the 10th grade. End of story.

7- Knowing people and having connections WILL get you places
My academic coordinator for Upward Bound Math and Sciences laid this one on us in an early meeting. She pretty much said that if you know a CEOs kid, and someone else doesn't, and your resume's are the exact same (or the other person's is slightly better) then you will still get the job. Moral? Be popular. Sounds conceited, but do it anyway. It will get you class president, school president, jobs, maybe even president of the US. Maybe even president of Czechoslovakia, I don't know.

8- There is no such thing as gender equality. Sorry, ladies
Okay, yeah, some people view males and females as equal. Let's be honest for a minute though. NO ONE watches the Lingerie football league because they're good athletes. To be completely honest, I'm not even sure anyone DOES watch the lingerie football league...

9- Parents, teachers, and family members DO play favorites
The less you tick them off, the more privilege you will get. This is the truth. It is also true that they will never admit to it because that's immoral.

10- The less friends you have, the more people will tick you off
This is just something I've kind of figured out myself. I don't have a ton of friends, and yeah, a lot of people grind my gears. I just have a lower tolerance for my peers than people who choose to deal with them do.

Likes and Dislikes

Likes!

1. Reading
2. School work that *doesn't* suck
3. Horseback riding
4. Cheer leading
5. Tumbling
6. Cats
7. Listening to music
8. Puppies
9. Sleeping
10. Pasta
11. Parrots
12. Penguins
13. Awkward Animals (sloths especially)
14. Drama club
15. Video games
16. Visiting my mom in NC
17. Going to the beach
18. Going to the lake
19. Wakeboarding
20. Shopping

Dislikes :(

1. Bacon
2. Skateboarding
3. Roller Blading
4. Running
5. Waking up before 11am
6. Dealing with idiots when I don't feel good
7. Migraines
8. When food burns your tongue and you get that weird feeling on it
9. Centipedes
10. Millipedes
11. Leeches
12. Ticks
13. When you touch something when you think your nail polish is dry then it isn't and it rubs off
14. When you run out of hot water in the shower
15. When you pour cereal and then there's no milk
16. When you get a scar from scratching a mosquito bite way too much
17. Well done steak
18. Golden Corral
19. People that don't brush their teeth
20. When you try to put ketchup on your hotdog and then weird pinkish ketchup water comes out but no ketchup