My bedroom. Ugh. I wish I had "Before" pictures to show how much of a hassell cleaning it was, but I don't but here's how it looks!
I made it look much more feminine and much less cluttery. It was my brother's room a couple years ago, and I hadn't really altered it other than moving my stuff in. He had 50 SOBE bottles stacked on the top of his headboard. In the place of those I now have this lovely arrangement of trinkets. (I did it myself. :D) And where a giant K-Nex Ferris Wheel had been are now my porcelain dolls. (Sidenote: I originally misspelled porcelain, and I right-clicked to see the possible correct spellings and under the list was "pointless." It made me laugh. Especially since porcelain dolls ARE pointless dolls.)
I also hung some pictures and my jewelry hanger I got for Christmas. It actually IS helpful. Hanging my jewelry on the wall got rid of my jewelry box and earring holder that had been taking up space. So I also uncluttered the top of my desk, so now it looks more
organized. I'm so glad I found time to do this. The room actually feel like it's MINE now, not Matt's. Which is great. It makes me feel more like I belong here. :) I will be spending much more time in here now. I can tell.
It may have been the fact that my presents weren't as great as expected.
It may have been the fact that it didn't feel like Christmas at all.
It may have been the fact that we didn't start unwrapping presents until noon.
...or it may have been the fact that Matt and Rachel weren't here.
Yup, I think that's it. Definitely it.
It's mostly Matt. I miss my brother so much. Yeah, he called. But it's not even close to the same. At least with Rachel we were able to Skype. I know that they are doing what is right, and there is no place else I'd rather they be, but I still miss them. So much.
I did get presents. (Duh. It's Christmas.) I got some things I love, others not as much. I got this beautiful plaque that has roses in the Young Women value colors and says "Elizabeth, Standing as a Witness." Except it doesn't say that. It says "Elisabeth, Standing as a Witness." So yeah. Horrible. Bleh. I got a jewelry rack that I neither asked for nor need. And my mom could tell I wasn't pleased, and offered to return it, but I always feel bad, so I said I'll use it. But in order to use it I'll be getting rid of my jewelry box and my earring holder. I got an awesome video camera that I asked for, and a gorgeous painting that I asked for. I also got Just Dance 3 (YES!!!), and a zebra print/turquoise alligator skin purse with a matching wallet (LOVE IT). I got a scarf and some tights and some other stuff. I'm so blessed, I have no
reason to complain about anything.
But there was just that one thing about this Christmas that didn't make it nearly as special or memorable. Without all of your family, Christmas just isn't the same.
Yay for Christmas Eve! :D Although it still doesn't feel like Christmas. :/ No snow. In fact, it has been bright and sunny for the past week! Poo.
My family sure has been in a Christmasy mood!
That was OOZING with sarcasm, by the way. Just look at this present's tag! Ahaha, Danny is so funny. And what the heck is a "coolhead" anyway? It makes me laugh. :)
Well, I finished all my shopping yesterday... the same day I started. Haha. :) And I've been a mad wrapping machine. The first present I wrapped was for Becca. And wrapping it was a process, but I sure am excited for when she will open it. :) I have ten pictures of each step I went through while wrapping the present. :D And here they are.
<-- The gift. It's a Perry the Platypus shirt. On the front is Perry, and on the back is the back of Perry. Clever, huh? I like it. :)
WRAPPED! ^^^
<-- Then I put the wrapped shirt into the bag the shirt originally came in in the mail.
Oh, Christmas time. :D I love it! But sadly, this year I'm not as excited as I usually am... :/ Maybe it is due to the lack of snow. There is NO snow... :( I've been trying to get into the Christmas spirit by listening to Christmas music. This is my Christmas music collection. :)
Okay, so, people in Germany and Russia who enjoy viewing my blog on a regular basis... please feel free to openly "Follow" my blog! My blog says I only have one follower, and I would really enjoying seeing that number go up! :D (This message does not only apply to the Russian and German blog-viewers, however; I would like everyone to publicly follow my blog!) :D
Jive! It started out a little disappointing, and it still is, slightly. There is so much drama, and there are cliques. It's kind of obnoxious. But I've learned to become friends with everyone (except for a few ((or maybe just one)) unmentionable souls). Yesterday, we had our Christmas party and exchanged White Elephant gifts. It was so fun! Except for the fact that I ended up with a "Malibu Jake Doll" (aka a Ken Barbie doll that has "Malibu Jake Doll" written on it in reference to a guy in Jive (*cough*cough* unmentionable soul *cough*cough*) named Jake who the Barbie doll looked like. The most ironic thing was... there were two Jake dolls, and Jake himself got one of them. Wow. I've tried to become friends with Jake, because I really don't like hating him, but it's difficult when he's such a jerk. So yeah. Oh well!
Today we sang at Old Navy. We utterly failed at a few of our dancing numbers. This is mostly because we tried to flash-mob-ify our choreography, and we had never practiced it that way. But the costumers seemed to enjoy it even though we failed. And we did really well on our just singing numbers.
After singing at Old Navy, a few of us went over to Best Buy (right next door) and pretended that we worked there. SO FUN! :) Below is a picture of some Jive members in their Jive shirts, and when we perform we wear the shirts with khaki pants, so we pretty much look EXACTLY like Best Buy employees. The employees there mostly just glared at us, but there were a few who just kept laughing. :D After going to Best Buy, we went to the mall and walked around. (There were still five of us.) We looked so stupid (in a hilarious way) walking around the mall looking like matching weirdos. Needless to say, I enjoyed it. :)
Here is one of our Jive Christmas numbers. :)
Oh! And one last Jivey thing. On Thursday while dancing during Jive I jumped and then landed on my foot awkwardly. It hurt. And it popped. And since then my foot has been hurtful to walk on and swollen. Ouch. But it's been feeling better. (But it only looks worse.) It is still swollen, AND it's turning purple. Yummy. :/ I even walked on a crutch for half the day yesterday because it hurt to walk, but I gave up because I looked like an idiot because I don't know how to use crutches. :P So I just dealt with the pain.
As you may have noticed, a few days ago, I changed my blog. I kinda wanted a little change. :) I even changed the name. It is now "The Best Me." Ever since I changed it, however, I have realized that I'm not even being the best me! I can do so much better! I have so much to be thankful for; I have no reason to complain.
As said up there^ ... today was on icky day. Almost nothing went right. At all. It started out alright, I was able to sleep in! Hallelujah! I didn't wake up until 7:35, outta bed at 7:50. On Wednesdays, we have late start; school doesn't start until 8:25. ...I never get that, though, because I have voice lessons at 7:30 AM on Wednesdays. Today, however, I had my lesson at 11:30 because I no longer have a fourth period class. Thank goodness that Calculus is OVER! So, I had happy sleep this morning. :) Ever since then, the day had gone down hill. English was bleh, as usual. I forgot my cello at my house, so I was late to seminary because I needed to run home and grab that. Then I remembered I needed food for Chamber Singers (Christmas party), so I stopped by at Walmart. (Where I saw my ex-biology teacher. He was on his prep. It was kinda strange.) Then I had a test in History. It was an open-book/take-home test, so better than most tests, but a test nonetheless. Then I quickly bought a bagel for lunch, then quickly drove over to my voice lesson. After that, I went over to Twin for my second half of the day. I went to the bathroom and discovered that it is that unpleasant time of the month. Then in Chemistry I realized we have a test tomorrow on something that I barely even know anything about because I was gone on Monday (taking my Calc final). Then in Chamber Singers for our Christmas party people voted to watch the Grinch. For one, I don't even like that movie very much. For two, I will be watching that movie next week in Chemistry. Bah humbug. While watching the Grinch, I started to feel like crap. Stupid periods. Ughh, cramps, headaches, etcetera. (Plus, the guy I sorta have a little crush on called me Rachel, grr. I wish people would just call me Elizabeth, and not mix up my name, EVER!) By Jive I felt like I was gonna die. My insides were exploding. I took some ibuprofen, but that didn't help right away. Plus, I was exhausted. We worked on choreography, and I looked like an idiot because I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing. Apparently, I also looked like I was going to pass out. Swell. I just wanted to go home and sleep. But after school I had a cello lesson, and by the time my lesson was over, the ibuprofen had kicked in. Which is good, yeah, but then I felt like sleeping wasn't a priority. So I didn't go to sleep when I got home. Then Kendall called me and asked if he could borrow my history notes. I said I'd drop them off on the way to mutual and pick them up on the way back. I was running late for mutual because we were going caroling and my mom made me change clothes to something 'warmer.' (What I was wearing at first was warmer than what I changed in to. I got to Kendall's house and called him to tell him to come get my notes, but he wasn't even at his house. I was frustrated and in a hurry, and I couldn't understand what he was saying, so I just threw my notes in his driveway and drove off. Caroling for mutual was freezing and boring. After mutual I went back to Kendall's house to pick up my notes, and (here comes the "Pinch of Joy") he gave me a plate of cookies. :) That totally made my day. :D But then I went home, and my mom yelled at me. A lot. So yeah, icky day with a pinch of joy. But I know that I have many reasons to be happy and thankful, and there are many people who would look at my crummy day as an incredible blessing of a day. I think I'm just really hormonal and stuff. :/ Sorry everyone, I'll try to be more pleasant.
Oh Thanksgiving: the turkey, the potatoes, the family. This is definitely my favorite holiday. :) I love how everyone starts to get into the true holiday spirit. :) Oh how I love people. ♥
I had Thanksgiving with some of my cousins. :D The Ashbys, and the Ashbys. Haha! How great! We went to American Fork, Utah. After eating food we played games and bonded as family loves to do. It was so fun, and I saw my clone. Well, okay, she looks nothing like me. But she is my cousin Elizabeth Ashby. And she's only 6 weeks younger than me. I love her guts to death! (That is, if guts could die.) Even though our names are identical, Lizzie and I look nothing alike. She is FAR more gorgeous than I will EVER be. :) Oh the joys of having a cousin with the exact same name as you. :D
I would like to take this Thanksgiving(/Christmas... because my blog post is a few weeks late, but I fooled you by changing the date on the post) season to share what I am thankful for.
(In no particular order.)
1: Friends.
-All of them. They are always there for me, no matter what.
2: Family.
-They make me happy. (Most of the time.) And when they bug the heck outta me they teach me patience. :)
3: An education.
-I might hate school. And I might never do my homework. But I AM thankful for the opportunity I have to learn and gain an education.
4: Being well off.
-This isn't meant to be a braggy post. I'm serious. I am so thankful to have a father who works hard at a well-paying job to support my family and still has money left over for the fun stuff. There are so many families that don't have this blessing, and I am truly sorry for them.
5: The gospel.
-I am so grateful to have the true gospel in my life. It helps me get through hard times. It lets me know that everything will be okay. :)
6: Music.
-Without music, I would be lost in this world. Music brings everything to life. Feelings, truth, gospel... music is life. I'm thankful for choir, Jive, orchestra, and all the music teachers I have ever had. Thank you.
7: My talents.
-This goes hand in hand with music, but encompasses more. I so thankful for all the talents God has given me.
8: The leaders of the church.
-I am so grateful for the apostles. I love those cute little old men. :) They are so funny, yet wise. I know that they always speak the truth.
9: DVR.
-Without DVR I would never be able to watch all the many shows I love.
10: Missionaries.
-Not only are the male missionaries the most attractive men I have ever seen in my life ;), but I know that they are doing the Lord's work. I also know that having two missionaries in my family has blessed us greatly.
11: Modern technology.
-Yes, it has it's downs, but for the most part, technology is a great thing. It speeds up and simplifies communication and finding information as well as makes things such as blogging, pinning, and Facebooking possible.
12: Food.
-Yum. I love eating, cooking, and baking food.
13: Temples.
-Not only are they gorgeous, but when I am there I feel the spirit so strongly.
14: Attractive, funny, nice men.
-;) Well, men/guys. (Some of these guys aren't quite 'men' yet.) They are fun to look at and to talk to, it's like a double win!
15: Being me.
-Sometimes I feel like it sucks to be me, but in reality, I love it. :) When I'm sane, I would never ask for anything different than just to be me.
16: Having so many things to be grateful for.
-Many people don't have as many things to be as grateful for as I do, whether it is because they don't view certain things as blessings, or because they just don't have as much.
"Sadie Hawkins Dance! In my khaki pants! There's nothing better. Oh, oh, OOHHHH!" ...How true that is! (Well, the "nothing better" part. I didn't even wear khakis.) Yesterday was Sadie's. :) I asked my Kimbo friend Zack Mulberry. I've known him for like two years and have wanted to go on a date with him the entire time, and finally, it happened! Yes! :) He is so nice and funny! (Not to mention attractive.)
The date was so fun! We had been planning to go to the CSI ropes course, but the weather was windy and snowy, and the indoor course was closed due to basketball, so we went bowling instead. I honestly think I had more fun at the bowling alley than I possibly could have had at the ropes course though. :D The first game we bowled normally, and the second game we drew M&M's before our turn, and whatever color we got represented a different way we had to bowl. It was so hecka fun. :) The highlight of my day was when Zack drew brown and had to bowl backwards. And right before he went, his brother's best friend's family walked in and they were watching him and laughing. Then when he bowled the ball went straight into the gutter and then bounced into the gutter of the other lane. It was super funny. :D
For dinner we needed to order everything, including utensils and plates. The problem, however, was that the entire menu was in code, so you ordered three things randomly but had no idea what you would get. Zack's first course was a dessert plate, spoon, and napkin. It made me laugh that he didn't even get any food. :) My first course was a plate, red vinegar salad dressing, and milk. But I didn't have a cup, so I drank my milk from off my plate. (I left the dressing there, cuz I'd rather NOT just eat it plain, thank you very much.) After our three courses of confusion (although I watched to see what other people got and what they ordered so made a giant logic problem out of the meal and knew exactly what I was ordering by the second course... heh, yeah, I'm a nerd), we were allowed to actually order the food we actually wanted and use cups and silverware and such. And the food was DELISH.
Here is us painting the Party Bus! (AKA, my van.) I drove the group around in my family's van. I hung Christmas lights up inside of it (too bad I didn't get any pictures of those, cuz they totally rocked), and we painted all the windows. Zack is the Justin Bieber fan who wrote "Bieber Fever" on the back of my van. McKenna didn't like that, so she wrote "NOT!" underneath. I don't think McKenna even ever
realized that I later crossed out her contribution. I kinda like JB, you know? Plus, I felt like I should support my date in his choice of music by young male pop artists.
Our group: Emily Cotterell, Kendall Hall, McKenna Thompson, Dan Plant, Me, Zack Mulberry, Tori Arritt, Bryant Foster, Annie Romney, and Jared Berry
<---This one's my favorite! Don't we look so cute together? :) Man, I love this kid! It's so hard to believe he's a senior! Now that swim season is over I'm almost never going to see him anymore! And then he's going to leave for college. :( Swim team will never be the same without him yelling "Hey Wizzles!" all the time. Yes, he sometimes calls me Wizzles. Don't ask me why. I don't know. My mom thinks it's cute, but I think it's annoying. But I do kinda like it a little in that "well, he's my friend and he's trying to annoy me because he's my friend" kind of way. Plus, I'm not gonna make him stop cuz I totally have been crushing on him for forever, and so I really don't mind what he calls me as long as he keeps talking to me and remains my friend. :)
I really like this one too. --->
I'm bigger than Zack, so I didn't want to get on his back and crush him, but I did want a piggy back picture... like really badly. So I told him to get on my back! We had to move a few more steps up the canyon, though, because in the other pictures there was a cliff directly behind us, and the first time Zack tried to jump onto my back I collapsed, so he was afraid I was going to drop him off the cliff. (But I'm totally strong enough that I would never do that.) He obviously didn't trust me, however, (like, seriously! He was wrapping his arms around my neck and choking me he was freaking out so much!) so we traveled away from the cliff, so there isn't as much of the river in the background of this picture as there is in the others.
Here are the backs of our shirts. Zack looks great, but I look like crap! I wish someone had told me that my hair was all messed up! It'd look so much better if my hair just flowed down and didn't get caught on my shoulders. And my shirt looks off-centered, but I swear it isn't! Part of the many hours I put into making these shirts included me measuring them to make sure the they were centered. It must just look crooked because of the way I was standing or something. But my OCD isn't a big fan of this picture because of aforementioned reasons.
All in all, yesterday was an amazing day. :) Between the date, dinner, and dances (we played Just Dance 3, went to the school dance, and went to the stake dance), I had so much fun! And Zack said he had a lot of fun to, so that's good. The biggest thing I worry about when it comes to girl-ask-guy dances is impressing my date. I don't want him to think I'm lame! I'm pretty sure I impressed Zack enough, though. :)
I made it look much more feminine and much less cluttery. It was my brother's room a couple years ago, and I hadn't really altered it other than moving my stuff in. He had 50 SOBE bottles stacked on the top of his headboard. In the place of those I now have this lovely arrangement of trinkets. (I did it myself. :D) And where a giant K-Nex Ferris Wheel had been are now my porcelain dolls. (Sidenote: I originally misspelled porcelain, and I right-clicked to see the possible correct spellings and under the list was "pointless." It made me laugh. Especially since porcelain dolls ARE pointless dolls.)
I also hung some pictures and my jewelry hanger I got for Christmas. It actually IS helpful. Hanging my jewelry on the wall got rid of my jewelry box and earring holder that had been taking up space. So I also uncluttered the top of my desk, so now it looks more
organized. I'm so glad I found time to do this. The room actually feel like it's MINE now, not Matt's. Which is great. It makes me feel more like I belong here. :) I will be spending much more time in here now. I can tell.
