The Secret ...

New Found Obsession

Well I guess it's not necessarily 'new-found' for I've loved fashion for a really long time. It's just now that I'm learning to take risks and try something new. That is the grand thing about college really - I don't have to live with preconcieved notions about myself and what others may think of me. I was stuck in fashion rut in high school, wearing only what was expected of me, but now no one knows me and no one care what I wear. So I kick up my heels and attempt to be daring. (I even went to the DI for the first time from my own free will to go shopping for unique peices that wouldn't break the bank - the scandal I know. I can see the headlines now "Retail Snob Breaks Down To Shop At DI" hahaha).

Dress found at ruche.com. New favorite sites are modcloth.com as well as numerable fashion blogs :)

Been Thinking Lately . . .

I don't really post on my blog, so I was thinking of possibly creating a book blog. But I have qualms about it.
1) I don't have time to write about everything I read (even though I do find the time to read the dang things anyway:D)
2) I'm afraid of sounding completely stupid - I really don't know a whole lot about writing reviews of things
3) Looking at others book blogs sometimes I just get overwhelmed with everything that they do and it feels like I would have to do everything too
4) I want to serve a mission - would dropping off the face of the internet world for a year and half be necessarily a bad thing?

On the plus side
1) I could interact with more book loving people
2) I'd have an excuse to read books for fun - not just boring ol' textbooks
3) I can improve my writing abilities
4) Some book bloggers get free books so I could possibly get free books (but in all reality I probably wouldn't)
5) Whenever people ask what I'm reading - I can just give them my URL and would end up not chatting off their ear for an hour about the lastest thing I had just read

I don't really know. Somedays it seems like a good idea, and other days it just doesn't.
I've also been thinking about changing my emails so I just have one -it's annnoying somedays to bounce in between the two.
Opinions anyone, to help this poor undecisive person?

Political Debates = Bible Bashing

I just decided that I hate talking politics with people. It's not that I don't know what's going on, for the most part I do, but whenever I talk to someone with different views than me it turns into one big bible bash. No one is happy with the other person and contention is sown. Nothing is accomplished and all that's left is hard feelings. To avoid the contention and confrontation (I'm not a very confrontational person to begin with) I'll just keep my political views to myself.

Shakespeare, How I Love Thee

As I'm procrastinating writing a couple of papers for classes that are due this Friday, I decided that I would take a moment (or several) and write about my enduring love for Shakespeare.

I had always enjoyed studying Shakespeare's plays all throughout high school and told everyone that I 'loved' Shakespeare. Man would I get the weirdest looks! Love Shakespeare? Really? People thought I was crazy! But I really didn't even comprehend how amazing the Bard really is as I went through those high school classes. I'm currently taking a Shakespeare class in college and everyday I learn something more about the huge depth and bredth that he had in his plays. Whoever says that Shakespeare is not a genius has never read, truly read, any of his plays. Not only are they beautifully written, but his scope on the whole human perspective is stunning. Throughout the semester my understanding has steadily increased and I look forward to diving into the texts. There is so much more hiding under the surface of those plays. I cannot even begin to say how much I love them. Heck, I'm seriously debating about quoting King Lear in my talk on gratitude on Sunday. How much bigger of an English nerd can I become?

I guess I should go revel in the gloriousness of the Shakespeare paper that I'm writing (it's on Henry V, Machiavelli, and Obama - it's going to be awesome!), but whenever I'm are forced to write something its the something that I least want to think about at the moment:)

Yep, I'm a Slacker

My friend told me that I need to post more - but lately I've found nothing to post on. My life is filled with homework and papers and more homework and papers. Life is fairly boring as of now - but hey RJ I posted!!

Annoyed

People can be so annoying! And when people are annoying and I get annoyed, then I get cross, and when I get cross I get angry, and when I'm angry I'm no fun to be around because I flip out at every little thing and that makes other angry with me, then I get even madder because then instead of being annoying, they're rude and UGH!!! Stupid consequences to actions.

Happy Making

I love being happy. It's one of the best feelings in the entire world. Life is way good right now; it's so Happy Making :)

So Unfair

I will admit to totally being a sucker for pretty things (i.e. clothes, hair accessories, shoes, etc.). Which makes me think that it so unfair that the UK and the US have different covers for books and movies, especially since the UK covers are so much more pretty! For example (UK is on the right, US is on the left):

Does anyone else find this completely unfair? I know I do!

I Love the Jonas Brother's!!

Enough said.

New Obsessions

The trends lately have had more of a 70's/80's vibe and I have to say, I'm obsessed. I love the cool chic look that everything has with that bohemian edge. Mostly, though, I'm obsessed with this:



I have this on my shirt right now, hugely splattered across my stomach. My best friend, her sister, and I have matching peace sign bracelets, I love it! Why? I really don't know. Another trend that I have fallen in love with is tie-dye. My best friend and I had a tie-dye party once and now I where those shirts all the time - they are my favorite! Why has this sudden craze come over me? Every single time I see a new peace sign or tie-dye, whether on shirts, skirts, dresses, scarfs, jewelry, I WANT it!!

Simple Pleasures

It's not that I don't love my family - I do - but I've spent the past two weekends stuck in a trailer to spend time with both sides of my family. I have to say that I missed the simple pleasures of life, even though both weekends were fun. I missed having my own space to move around in without bumping into beds or tables or bathrooms that contain themselves in 30 feet. I missed my computer for various reasons. I missed walking with my best friend in the morning. I missed having a bed all to myself (my sister says that I'm a wild sleeper). I missed showers. I missed that I couldn't sit down and watch the new movie I bought from Amazon. I missed being home.

I know there is a God

And my soul delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish.
For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time.
2 Nephi 11: 6-7

Attempt at a Book Review: The Hourglass Door

Lately I haven't been sure what to blog about since I find myself becoming repetitive in my posts, so I thought that I would attempt a book review (thusfar reading has taken up a huge portion of my summer), after the style of my esteemed AP Lit teacher this past year.

Synopsis: Abby's senior year of high school is going according to plan: good friends, cute boyfriend, and college applications in the mail. But when Dante Alexander, foreign-exchange student from Italy, steps into her life, he turns it upside down. He's mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she's ever met before. Abby can't deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Soon Abby finds herself drawn into a mystery whose roots reach into sixteeth-century Florence, and she uncovers a dangerous truth that threatens not only her future but the lives of those she loves.

Review:Emily Watts, a bestselling author, said, "Move over Edward - Dante is bound to eclipse you." For that quote I picked up this book at the bookstore and immediately started reading (I'm not a big Twilight fan, in case you didn't know). I did find myself making comparasions to Twilight throughout the entire book. There is mystery surrounding Dante and Abby starts to dig to find out what it is. The bad guys are the same 'type' of person that Dante is (never fear, vampires have no place in this book), and the romance that ensues between Dante and Abby. But that's where the similarities ended. Abby was a strong character who wasn't about to wait around for Dante to come and save her, unlike Bella and Edward. In fact, Abby ends up saving Dante. I loved Mangum's characters in this book, they felt real to me and made mistakes and had to learn and grow throughout the novel. The book was really quite fast paced and a quick read; it was really enjoyable as well. Unlike Twilight though, I really loved this book. It was detailed and beautifully written with interesting circumstances that were totally belieable, even though they couldn't possibly really happen. I'll eagerly anticipate the second book (which promises to be nothing like New Moon) that will be released in 2010.

Hopefully as my first book review it wasn't terrible :)

Nostalgia

Ever wished for a time that has been, but you know you can never go back to? Even though that time was scary and new, it was one of the happiest times of your life and now out you go to uncharted waters where you are afraid you might drown? I'm nostalgic for years past *sigh*, and I can't seem to get out of that rut.

Too Obsessed With Image

I have a friend who I was talking to the other day and she was telling me about her new diet. Her new one. Meaning that she has had several others before this one and she is only 17. I shake my head slowly; I really don't understand the urge to count calories obsessively or survive only on egg whites and pineapples for the fact of staying skinny. I believe that you can still be chunky and be healthy at the same time. Fat does not equal unhealthy and skinny does not equal healthy. Each person is different and so you should take in what your body needs and not everyone elses. I do believe in being healthy and eating things in moderation with exercise to balance everything out though. Denying yourself foods because calorie/sugar/carb/whatever count is too high will only result in disaster. That's where moderation comes in. If you are craving that chocolate, having a single piece and stopping there is fine. It will not throw off your "diet" and you can continue on with life. However if you deny it entirely and break down and have a piece, then you throw your diet to the wind and you might as well eat the rest of that chocolate bar because your being bad anyway. *Sigh*. I know I need to work on this stuff too (darn you exercise *shake fist*), but life shouldn't be controlled by the foods you eat. I think that we should go out and enjoy life without worrying about the food that we eat. Just eat less, eat better, eat in moderation, and exercise. As long as we are healthy, I think that we are happy.
*btw: I do love you my friend, we just have very different opinions on the matter of dieting and being healthy*

Words are just too impossible to find . . .

"Sign my yearbook."

Ah, the dreaded words.

What does one say to good friends that they have had throughout all four years of high school? How can you possibly express how much you care for them and how amazing they are without sounding completely redundant? This is possibly the last time that I will see all of these people but I cannot possibly write down all that I feel and all that we have been through in a measly five line shout-out in the blank white pages of a yearbook. Words are just too impossible to find. Too impossible to adequately express. I'll admit that I started to cry when I read through them today knowing that high school is forever over and friends are moving away and continueing on with life. An ache came into my heart as I read over my best friends and knowing that she will live in another state and I can't have long conversations with her anymore or movie nights (I really started to cry then). I can't believe it's over, but I'm glad for a new chapter to begin.

Another Random Piece of Musing . . .

What does the word 'GOSSIP' inspire you to write about? (Daily Topic)

I hate to say that I'm one of those base people who tend to dawdle in gossip but sometimes there is little else to be done. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people. However I tend to disagree. What is ideas and events without people? I know she most likely meant the discussing of people to be negative or derogatory, but I'm sorry, sometimes you just need to get things out of your system on how you feel about certain people and certain things that you do. However a line must be drawn. Spreading nasty rumors is just too nasty and mean and should be avoided at all cost.

I have had several 'gossip hours' (as we have so dubbed them) with good friends as we sat around and just talked about random people and things they do. They are, in fact, very cleansing for the soul as you get all that negative energy out of you and you can move on with life instead of holding out on all those negative thoughts. Ugh . . . that sounded very hippieish (for the lack of a better word), but I really do think that way.

What Genre?

Music is a funny thing. Taste changes from year to year and my taste in music has significantly changed through the years. When I was younger it was all oldies that my parents listened to such as Bryan Adams, Styx, Queen, and Collin Raye. When my opinions started to take more shape my music became teenage pop like No Secrets, Jesse McCartney, and Hilary Duff. Then came the alternative rock, R&B, hip-hop, Michael Buble phase, instrumental, only Broadway, country (well . . . only Rascal Flatts really), to where I am now. My new favorites are artists like Regina Spektor (thanks Reuben for the awesome CD), Ingrid Michaelson, A Fine Frenzy, Jason Mraz, Matchbox Twenty, Josh Groban, Imogen Heap, Taylor Swift, Keane, David Archuleta, Sara Barielles, Colbie Caillat, Fray, etc. It's interesting to see where I've come from and different phases of music that I've been through that has affected my tastes now. When people ask what genre of music I like, I can honestly say all but rap (never had much of a stomach for it).

Birthday Reflections

It's strange to see yourself become older, even if you don't feel like anything has changed. Especially when you know things will become crazy within the next year and now there is no escaping it. Even though growing older has its advantages, sometimes I wish I could stay 14 because then I was barely in high school and I didn't have the stress and the decisions that I have to make now. I could sit in my room all day and read if I wished (I wish I could do that now). But I'm glad at the same time. It's liberating to become older and become more independent, and whether I want it or not, I've just gained another year.