JUNE

Okay! It's time for this month's addition to my lovely life. It's June! Hooray! Mostly Spring, but everyone calls it a summer month anyway!

I graduated. :) It's over! I still haven't comprehended it.. and i don't think i will until i actually start going to college classes.. which will be in the fall, at SLCC. I don't know what I'm going to study, so I'm going to get my generals done. I've thought about elementary education and art.. and music.

So last Saturday I left for powell for my sr. trip, with a bunch of my friends. That first day there were only ten kids there, which was about a third of all the kids. (I guess 'kids' isn't the best word, but i can't think of another word for what we are.. hehe) We got there around 8 or 9 and we checked out the houseboat.

the houseboat. You might think it's weird that I'm putting this into a new paragraph, but you'll understand once you read it. This houseboat was unlike any other i'd ever seen, and i've seen some pretty incredible houseboats. The owners name was Jeremy Johnson, i believe. He's the cousin of Nate and Adam Ruben.. if you know them. This guy is one of the most interesting guys i've ever met. He's 32 years old and he's a multi-millionaire. This houseboat was HUGE. It was basically a hotel-boat. There were 5 bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms, and one more bathroom besides that. There were 4 levels, including the basement. The basement had a GARAGE. The garage could hold two of those jet boat things.. which we also were able to use. The main level seated 27 people comfortably. There was this giant TV that connected to his iTunes... which was basically the entire iTunes store, movies and music. The second level had a nice sitting area and there was an area where a kitchen was being built.. but wasn't built yet. We kept most of our bags on that level.. and they weren't in the way. haha. The last level was basically for laying out. there were quite a few lounge chairs.. and that's pretty much it. However, he wants to build a helicopter pad.. but he has to reinforce the houseboat so it doesn't crumble when he lands. Which leads me to my next story....

The helicopter. I WENT ON A HELICOPTER RIDE!! IN LAKE POWELL!! Trust me, if you ever have the opportunity to do that, DO NOT pass it up, because it was the most incredible thing i've ever seen or done. We flew over rainbow bridge and landed at hole in the rock.. hiked for a little while, and then flew back to the airport. All the time we listened to 80's music, and it kicked face. I loved it.. and i want my own helicopter some day.. haha.

The rest of the trip was about as normal as it can get when you're staying on a 5 million dollar houseboat. I skiied 3 times, but only the first two were decent. I wakeboarded.. which i'd never done before so i was pretty proud of myself. We tubed, swam, played card games, watched a few movies, and ate. of course. :) Yesterday, as we were headed home, there was a lot of wind, and unfortunately we left before another group, and apparently we made it out in the nick of time, because a rope on the houseboat snapped and the houseboat ended up beached. I'm not sure what will happen to the houseboat, so i'll keep ya posted. The other group had decided to stay another night, so hopefully right about now they're packing up and getting out of there. Another group of people invited them onto their houseboat for the night.

I apologize for not having any pictures of my trip, but I didn't take my camera. I figured anything i wanted pictures of other people would take, which they did. I will have those pictures later, and maybe I'll put a few up.

Oh, one other thing people might find interesting.. David Archuleta came and vacationed with us! Even though it was a sr. trip and he's a junior.. we figured he wouldn't get to go on a sr trip and most of his friends are sr's anyway. He stayed on the houseboat the whole time and never once got in the water. :) What a cool kid. Anyway, here goes my list for this month:

• I want to keep my room clean!
• I want to make.. money. haha, for college.
• I want to work harder on a life plan.. i.e. college, career, mission.. that kind of stuff
• I want to get better at guitar and piano.

Well, short list this month.. but that's all i've got. Thanks for reading!

Sunscreen

Okay, so my siblings found this song.. i believe it was chelsey.. and i always loved the message. I encourage you not only to read it and enjoy it, but imagine yourself doing every single thing it says to. Then go out and do it! :)

Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)
Mary SchmichChicago Tribune
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97... wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are NOT as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.

The beginning of the BLOG

Well, I'm finally doing it. I'm starting a blog. I can't believe I'm doing this. It's just another waste of time. Maybe in like, 5 years it will come in handy, when my siblings all live in different states, but right now we all live under the same roof, so i feel slightly ridiculous.

So I graduate this month. Wait, I want to type that again. I GRADUATE THIS MONTH! Yes! High School is almost done with me! That's really exciting news. I'm so ready to meet new people and have new experiences. Hooray!

Christine is engaged. She is almost done planning her wedding, and it's two and a half months away. Can you believe it? She's crazy cool. I'm pretty sure I'll plan my wedding the week before it happens. Heck, I'll probably meet my husband the week before I get married! (Joking...)

I think, at the end of all my blogs, i want to do something interesting. (okay, so really i hope my whole blog is interesting..) I think i'll do a wish list of sorts.. like, a "things i wish would happen this month" or "things i'm going to try to do this month" That sounds like a good plan, right?
here it goes!

1. I want to graduate. :)
2. I want people to realize that I like them to be honest, whether they think i'll like what they say or not.
3. I want to find a sanctuary. (no offense Chris, but sharing a room with you is the most difficult when i'm having a bad day)
4. I want to eat better. That's a big one, trust me.
5. I want to exercise on a regular basis.
6. I want to feel like people love to have me around.
7. I want to start to learn Rhapsody in Blue on the piano

I'd say that's a pretty good list for a month.. so.. now i'll leave with a quote. Considering my biggest news...

"You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act. "
Barbara Hall, A Summons to New Orleans, 2000