Powder!!!

Well, there wasn't really a fresh snowfall in the mountains, but I went skiing today anyway. Yay, first time of the season! My brother Tyler took me to Alta and although we didn't ski long, we skiied hard. Tyler made me go down a couple Black Diamond runs and even one Double Black. Hard! The mountain was practically vertical! But I got through it and gained some confidence in the process. 

It felt good to glide over the cool snow again.

Florida!

Hey! Sorry about the long period of no new posts. I heard that someone was waiting for me to write something new! (Megan:) 

So this past week, we went on a family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, Florida! We've never been there before, and I've never been that far away from home. Our flight was five and a half hours, but i enjoyed looking out the window and watching the country pass by beneath us. I feel experienced now, because i've seen the Gulf of Mexico, and all the states in between Utah and Florida. Disney World was awesome too. We went to all four parks, and my favorite is the Wild Animal Kingdom. The weather down there was beautiful, high 70s and low 80s. But i was missing the cold and snow back home, so I was glad to return to Utah. :)

Come See the Show!

I'm in my high school musical, Seussical the Musical! The show opens tomorrow, and goes until Saturday. I've been loving the entire experience of practicing, the dress rehearsals, and today we performed a matinee for middle-school students. I've made a lot of new friends, and I've learned a lot about performing (like which way is stage left!) I can't believe the entire musical will be over next week. I don't want it to end!

Headshots

The entire drama and performing arts department at Hillcrest High School was able to get headshots taken by a professional photographer. It's so exciting!

All's Well in Midvale

Just to let you know, my life is goin' great here in the hometown. Nothing life changing has happened in the past week or two. Or at least I don't think my life has been drastically redirected. Who knows? 

General Conference* was this weekend. I watched it, enjoyed it, and learned a lot. :)

Tyler got his corvette a few days ago. It's in the paint shop at the moment. And as soon as I get my permit, he said he'd let me drive it!!! I'm just cool like that. 

This morning, I was walking around the school with Clint Hubbard, and all my friends were teasing me about it. Haha, I don't care. :)

*For the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The Need for Speed

I just found out that my brother, Tyler, is going to sell his motorcycle and buy a CORVETTE! He just bought his motorcycle three months ago, mind you. Today he drove a corvette that belonged to his friend. And knowing Tyler, he had to have it. And so emerges the afore mentioned plan. Goodbye beloved street bike, hello sweet car!

Normally, there is a strong rule of "no passengers on your bike" in our house. But, since it's going to be gone soon, Mom let Tyler take me on a spin around the neighborhood. It was only the third time I've ever been on a street bike, so I didn't get mad when Tyler said I was a horrible rider. (Apparently you're supposed to lean with the bike, not against it. Forgive me for going with my instincts!) It was fun anyway. I felt pretty cool, because motorcycles have some magical power that automatically make you cool the moment you're on one.  Good times, and rock out biker dudes!

Welcome Home!

This week is Homecoming and Hillcrest High! It's been a lot of fun and definitely very crazy. Each day this week has had a special theme. Monday was Retro Day, Tuesday was Crazy Hair/Hat Day, Wednesday was Pajama Day, and today was Twin Day. My friend Madeleine and I dressed up as twins, (people think we look alike, and we have the same sweater) but we don't have any classes together, so most people didn't know we were twins. Oh well, we knew, and it was fun.

Tonight is the "Burning of the H," the biggest pep rally of the year. It's been called the best experience in high school. I'm stoked! I'm not sure what is going to happen while I'm there, but I do know there will be a lot of screaming, clapping, laughing, and FIREWORKS! AH! I'm so excited, I can't even write about it. I just want to get up and yell! GO HILLCREST!!!

 

On the Road Again

Hey y'all! First of all, I apologize for the few weeks that I haven't written. I've just had so many things going on, and I haven't been very inspired to blog. But now I am! How about that? To answer a question from a reader (You know who I'm talking about) I have been driving lately! Thursday night, to be precise! My brother, Tyler, and I were coming home from Special Needs Mutual, and Tyler stopped at the middle school across the street from our house and told me to drive. So I did. Around and around the parking lots and driveways. I was doing pretty good, considering I was driving a honking suburban! Anyways, it was getting late, so Tyler told me to drive home! (I don't have my permit, mind you.) I only had to drive down two short streets to get to our house, but it was scary. I had to avoid construction signs and parked cars, as well as moving cars. Fortunately, I made it home in one piece. 

And so it Begins...

Today was the opening assembly at school. And Dance Company was in it. We introduced ourselves to the world! (Well, our little high school world, anyway.)We performed our theme dance, "transcenDANCE," the one we have been working on for the past two weeks. It was so fun!

I don't know why-maybe it's the adreneline- but I'm always nervous the few hours before I perform, but when I actually get on the stage and just dance, it's so much fun and all my nerves are gone! It's weird, but I guess it's a good thing. Anyway, I love to dance, and I really tried to convey that while I was on stage.

I'm a Smiling SOPHOMORE!!!

I'm not going to monologue about every little detail of my first day of school (as a SOPHOMORE in HIGHSCHOOL!!!!) but I just want to say how good it feels to see my friends. As I've mentioned before, I hardly saw any of my friends over the summer, and I missed them something awful. Heck, I didn't just miss my friends, I missed everyone. I just wanted to see someone I recognized. I figure that is one of the things that makes me very happy; seeing someone I know. Therefore, the crowded hallways today were bliss. Everywhere I turned, I was like, "Oh! Hi! I know you!" It seems like I'm finally coming out of my shell! In the words of Josh Peck: "[Mindee] is no longer a social caterpillar. Uh-uh... she is a beautiful butterfly!!" : ) Peace out.

Dance the Days Away

The pictures on Friday were way fun! We went to the Salt Lake City library and the Conference Center; just played around mostly, looking for cool sets to take pics. On the balcony of teh Conference center, we had to dance and move while the photographer did her thing. It was an awesome feeling, but the ground had been baking in the sun all morning and when our bare feet met the blazing hot stone, we all but cried in pain. So hot! It felt like we were dancing on a skillet.

So anyways, now it's Tuesday, and we are currently undergoing the "last-week-of-summer-worries." Only a few more days until school starts! and questions keep running through my head: Have I done all my school shopping? Who's in my spanish class? What should I do if I can't find my classroom? Am I really going to high school? (YES!) What do I need to do the night before to be completely ready for Monday morning? What am I going to say to my friends when I see them? What am I going to say to the stranger sitting next to me in English class? AAAHHH!!!!!! Stressful, exciting, and still the best feeling in the world. Almost.

Along with all the school worries comes the dance worries. Every day this week, Dance Company has practice from 12:30 to 4:00 to prepare for our performance in the opening assembly, in front of the entire school. Translation: We have two weeks to learn and clean an entire piece! Dancing so long and hard is exhausting, but it's worth it. I'm having the time of my life.

Did I Forget How to Dance?!

My mom came into my room this morning and woke me up, saying, "Get up, you've gotta dance!" The information packet for Hillcrest Dance Company (which I am on!) came in the mail today. And today was our first practice! I was so excited, but so scared too! I haven't danced all summer, and I didn't know what it was going to be like with Heidi Clark as my teacher. But, I swallowed the nerves and was in the dance studio at HHS at "10 o'clock sharp!"

I am so lucky that I have friends on the company also! Alicia, Taylor, Zoey, and Savanna were on the Union Company with me, and so I have someone to run to.

But, our first class was fun. Hard, fast, and somewhat confusing, but fun. After an hour or so of dancing, Katie Baker-Bonnie Story's daughter-came in and layed about two minutes worth of choreography on us! Then, we had to audition the new dance (to Rhihanna's "Take a Bow") in front of Heidi and Katie. They were apparently chosing the girls who would perform at Homecoming. I don't think I made it, though, because I had almost forgotten how to dance! I was so off balance, it was embarrasing, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't loosen up. I felt so stiff. So, I don't think I'm going to perform at homecoming! Oh well, I didn't really want to.

Before we left, we got our first costume. It's quite modern-looking. Very loose kind of stuff. I was excited. We get to go downtown on Friday and take company pictures. And we have to wear our costumes.

Looks like I'm going to have a ball in Dance Company this year!

Harvest Days

Saturday was my town festival type thing. Harvest Days. Mom and I ran in the 5K in the morning. I felt like I was going to die, but I ran the 3.1 miles in 35 minutes. That was my goal. Yay! And despite the burn in my lungs, I smiled because my friend Bryce cheered for me as I crossed the finish line.

There was also a parade through the neighborhood, and my family had a "float"-if that's what you want to call it-in the parade. It was just our truck filled with the bears that mom and dad carved. Dad and Tyler carved in the trailer as we drove down the road, past the people, waving. It was pretty cool, everyone loved the bears.

After the parade, everyone went to the park for food, music, and games. At seven o'clock, Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband gave a free concert, and then there were fireworks in the park. Good times. (Despite the pouring rain, it was still fun!)

Run, Run, as Fast as You Can!

This morning, mom and I went running again. We ran a little over three miles around our neighborhood. We started off, and I soon found out that it was garbage day; rotten stench blasted my nose every time we passed a driveway. The thought of getting away from the smells encouraged me to keep going! There was one house, though, that smelled heavily of lemons. I guessed that the occupants had scrubbed the entire exterior of their house with Pine Sol! Citrus-y!

Photobooth

Breaking Dawn-Unbreakable!

BREAKING DAWN IS OUT AND IT IS GOOD!!!!! 

The fourth and final book to the Twilight trilogy has finally been released--but I'm sure anyone who cares already knows, and has it!  Breaking Dawn!!!!!!!

 On our way up here, to grandma's house in Idaho, mom and I stopped at the Idaho Falls Mall and picked up Breaking Dawn. I was so excited! 

We continued on to Rexburg, Idaho, for our Clark family reunion. It was at a park, and I knew no one except for my few cousins that were there. My cousin KaeLee also had Breaking Dawn, and we sat on the lawn together and read. There was also another girl there that read with us. KaeLee haven't stopped reading for more than an hour or two since yesterday. It's such an amazingly surprising book! I'll write a review of it when I'm done, but beware, there will be spoilers!

Subltle Highlights

My uncle Roddy is a hairstylist, and today he did my hair as sort of a birthday present. He gave me "sublte hightlights, so that I will look like a just spent a week in Maui," he says. I really like the new "color." He also straightened, thinned, and trimmed my hair. I love it! (I'll try to get a picture on here as soon as I can, so you can all see my "sublte, awesome hightlights!")

"The Grocer in Your Neighborhood!"

I think you would be surprised by how many times my friends and I have hung out at grocery stores. For example: On the opening night of "Enchanted," the show my friends and I were planning to go to was sold out, so we walked to Macy's and read birthday cards for entertainment until the next show. Today... Britt Svendsen and I went to summer seminary in the afternoon. Brother Schmidt had left everyone a "lesson" in the mailbox. We read over it, and then hung out with everyone there for three or four hours. There was about ten of us, and we were thirsty, so we walked to Harmons, ("The grocer in our neighborhood") for complimentary water. Then we walked around the store and unintentionally blocked the aisles. Oops! It was a random place to hang out, but it was way fun. I hadn't seen any of my friends in at least a week, and I desperately needed the social interaction.

Picture Perfect

I just uploaded my pictures from trek onto my computer! Check 'em out! ( The formatting got messed up, so bear with me.)

This is me and my brother, Tyler, at four-thirty in the morning. No expression. The bus to Wyoming left a six AM, and we had to be at the church by five. Ugh.

People tried to sleep on the bus,

and you know how uncomfortable

school busses are, right?

There were some pretty wacky

ways people moved in search of

a comfortable position.

The two girls in the tent are

my "sisters," Connie and Shawntae.

And that's Whitney on the right.

Look at the beautiful sky in that picture!

(And don't forget to glance at the

man behind her, he's got an

awesome hat!)

This is the rest of my trek "family." Left to right: pa, ma,

and my "brothers," Jared and Clint.

Here, we are trekking. You can also see some of the landscape

around us. As ironic as it may seem, pulling the handcart was

actually a lot of fun. I enjoyed trek very much.

"Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked

........AND WALKED!!"

Lack Of...

I'm bored out of my mind! I haven't hung out with any of my friends since the last day of school, and...and...I'm just so bored!! For the past few days, all I've done-practically- is read. ( I've gotta stick a plug in here for Stephenie Meyer. She is by far, my favorite author of all time! I'm reading her book, "The Host," and it is so awesome! Check out her website at stepheniemeyer.com to learn more about her and her books!) Anyway, let's all hope I find something to do soon, before I go insane!

Darren the Fish

Hey y'all, I'm back from trek and it was the best thing I've done all summer! It was so awesome, I want to go back. Even if it means driving for seven hours to Wyoming.
Today, I went to "Summer Seminary." Brother Schmidt taught us and after the lesson, we just hung out in the seminary building and ate Otter Pops. YUM! I wore a necklace-that I made last night- that has a fish charm on the end. I named the fish Darren, after Brother Schmidt. Schmidt liked it. I knew he would. Now, when I wear this necklace, I will remember seminary! It'll be like my CTR necklace!!

"Weren't We Here Yesterday?"

As before, my mom and I woke up this morning at six to go jogging. We took Savannah along with us, too. We went along the same road as yesterday, but today, we walked all the way to Macy's and back; 5.4 miles! As we walked, I said, " Weren't we here yesterday?" We were. And we were back again. Deja Vu!!

I just got done packing for Trek, a pioneer-reenactment activity in Wyoming. I am so proud of my bucket (acting as a suitcase of sorts) because nothing is crammed in and it's all organized. I feel so good about it! Now, I'm excited to go. I leave Monday morning, and get back Wednesday night. You may not hear from me until then, so. Goodbye?

Quotes

Sorry, this post is an accident. But, as long as I'm here, I might as well write something. Such as a few of my favorite quotes and questions.

" Doesn't expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?"
" A word to the wise is unnecessary."
"Proofread carefully to see if you any words out."
"Only in America do we have drive up ATMs with braile on them."
"Whoever said nothing is impossible never tried slamming a revolving door."
"OK, so what's the speed of dark?"
"If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would it be called Fed UP?"
"Who's cruel idea was it for the word 'lisp' to have an 'S' in it?"
"Why do companies offer you 'free' gifts? Since when has a gift NOT been free?"
And finally, " If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?"

Feel free to try to answer any of these questions and leave your findings as a comment. Thanks to funnysayings.webs.com/quesfunnysayings.html for the quotes!

Independence Day

Happy 4th! This morning, my mom and I went jogging with Savannah Jensen, my young women's leader, at six in the morning. ( What a great way to celebrate, huh?) We went up to my school and back, making our walk 3 miles long.

In the afternoon, my family went to Kung Fu Panda. It's HILARIOUS! You've got to see it. The animation is really good and the script is so funny. I could watch that show all day long. I love it.
And, of course, there were fireworks tonight! The Jensen's came over, and we blew up an entire package of Black Cat fireworks. Lee Jensen modified the tank fireworks by adding firecrackers inside them. His face was priceless when he watched his invention blow up.

Update

The past week has been quite busy! Just for a quick update, here's a list of past "weekly" events:

• Monday: At Megan's house (my cousin/best friend) I videoed Megan stuffing cotton balls into her mouth and trying to talk. So funny, that our mom's actually laughed! We're trying to get it on YouTube.
• Tuesday: I babysat the neighbor's baby girl, Emilee. For a treat after, my neighbor took me to Macy's for an ice cream cone. Score! After, my sisters and I slept outside on our trampoline.
• Wednesday: A "mini family reunion," my cousins and my second-cousins (and I, of course) went swimming in Bountiful. It's a nice place, but a little extreme. Lifegaurds sit by the door of the pool, and don't let you through until you take a "cleansing shower." Weird, huh? Later that night, I spent close to two hours weeding in the garden. Supprisingly, it was entertaining.
• Today: Megan and I rode TRAX (by ourselves, scary) downtown to meet Uncle Ken, her dad. Ken took us to lunch at the Lion House, then we volunteered at his work, the Utah State Archives. It was way fun; Megan and I sorted old business documents into chronilogical order. The best part was, we planned to dress the same, so we looked like twins. It was awesome!

pOoL TiMe!

Guess what is in my backyard?! Judging by the title, I would hope you guessed a pool, and if you did, you're right! A swimming pool is in my backyard! But not just any pool... a gigantic, above ground, fifteen foot diameter pool!!! And the best part is that it was free! One of my dad's customers didn't want it anymore and gave it to us! How great is that? My whole family was just outside admiring it. And cleaning it. A thick layer of dirt was left on the bottom from being stored over the winter, so we scrubbed and soaked it to get it clean. When we finnished, we turned the hose on to fill it up! It takes a whole night to fill, it's that big! I'm so excited, and I told my parents that the new pool is going to change my whole summer! My sisters and I are planning to jump in and swim first thing in the morning!

Grandpa's Coming Home!

Two weeks ago, I think, my Grandpa and Grandma Sharp went on a trip to Washington DC. While they were there, my grandpa fell and cracked his skull, and there was internal bleeding. He was taken to the hospital, and wasn't able to leave until today. My Uncle Kelvin is flying to DC tonight to help grandma bring grandpa home. (He still has problems walking.) This evening, my parents drove me and my sisters to their house where Aunt Celine and her kids had a poster for us to sign. It said "Welcome Home, We Love You" all over it, thanks to us. We're all so glad they can come home.

My Type of Miracle!

If you know me, you know that I'm always coming up with plots, characters, and settings which could eventually be turned into a best-selling novel (At least, that's how I see it.) But, you also know that these stories never actually happen. I start writing the first chapter, reach the second page, then get major writer's block for two or three years. Then it starts all over again!

To my surprise, I went outside with a notebook and a pencil, and next thing I knew, there was a complete story line sprawled out across four pages of college ruled paper! I was so excited! There was adequate character development, a clear picture of the entire setting in my mind, and even an obstacle for my character to overcome! To my amazment, I had written the tiny details like what my characters liked to do in their spare time! And, best of all, there was an ending! I've never planned that far ahead before! Now, that was my kind of miracle.

Coming Soon!

New and interesting details of my life are soon to come! But first, I have to find something new and interesting about my life. : )