2013

If you'd asked me last month, last week, or even yesterday what I thought of 2013, I probably would've said it was a bad year. But after reminiscing and psyching my self up for a play with my best friend and my best co-workers, I've realized 2013 hasn't been half bad.
I lost a lot of close friends, and gained a few new ones.
Here's to 2014 being better (especially because I'm for sure going to Disneyland AT LEAST TWICE *EEP*)

Nostalgia

I've found I'm nearly always in a nostalgic mood, which probably helps explain why today I found myself trying to get motivated to write an essay, listening to "When You're Home" from In the Heights and nearly crying.
The other day when I was working and "When You're Home" was playing, my fellow co-worker Savannah said, "If a boy from my neighborhood sang this to me, I would probably be like 'Let's get married. Now. To the temple!'" I laughed, and agreed.
But really though. Listen to it!
And read the lyrics!

Nina: Life was easier then
Benny: Nina, everything is easier when you're home
The street's a little kinder
When you're home
Can't you see
That the day seems clearer
Now that you are here or is it me
Maybe it's just me
We gotta go I gotta show you all I know
The sun is setting and the light is getting low

and etc. etc. etc.
GAH.

List of Things I Love

Here's a list of things I've been enjoying at the moment. Because I can.

• lists
• Saturdays
• Cross Country
• Seeing people again
• Orthognathic Surgery blogs
• BBQ sauce
• football games
• sparklers
• rain
• tumblr
• the Hale Centre Theatre
• reading
• Oreos
• snapchat (chapsnat)
• laughing

The end.

The Curious Savage

FAIRY: Oh! That reminds me. May we ask you a personal question, Mrs. Savage?

MRS. SAVAGE: They're the only ones worth asking, my dear.

Rainy Days

Rainy day weather just makes me want to jump in puddles, go on a bike ride, get on pinterest, art journal, read old journals, write stories and poems, and listen to my Judy Garland pandora station all at once.

Last Wednesday Night

Last Wednesday Night (which happens to be last night) was possibly one of the best nights of the summer.
Not only did I finally get a brownie blizzard from Dairy Queen, which I've been craving for WEEKS, but I got to spend the night talking and talking and talking with two good friends.
We talked about so much stuff, it's hard to explain it all, but one thing I did take away from all we talked about is that the time has come yet again to reevaluate life.
Recently, I have come to the realization that I am in one of those case studies you read in Young Women's

"Isabel's friends have recently started developing a dirty sense of humor that don't match up with Isabel's standards. What should Isabel do?"

Well.
Isabel has decided to stop hanging out with those certain friends so frequently, and hang out more with the friends who are uplifting and have all their priorities straight!
Therefore, the song of the moment is "Self Portrait" by Stephanie Smith.

Remember This?

Remember this post I wrote on July 6? And how I felt foreshadowing? Well here are a list of big changes that've been going on around town.

1. New Bishop!
2. Acceptance of others growing up and maturing and crap
3. I'm getting my driver's license verrrry soon
4. I have my first job interview this week... eek!
5. And I might get jaw surgery in the near future...

Life is cray.

This is Real, This is Me.

It's kind of ridiculously well I can relate to these right now.

*Except it hasn't been Pinterest, it's been looking at orthognathic surgery blogs

Things I've Enjoyed Today

1. Ice Cream
2. Pride and Prejudice
• The Latter-day version
• The music from the musical version that was at the Scera a few years ago
3. Getting my haircut
• And looking forward to chopping all my hair off in 302 days
4. Being able to play the piano
5. Sitting in the treehouse and browsing the internet
6. This beautiful thing written by someone I know

Yup. It's been one of those days. One of those days you feel like you're stuck in the sad part of a chick flick.

Oh, the Places You'll Go

Seems that everyone is going on these adventurous trips this summer, and I'm stuck in Utah. However, I don't mind.
I like Utah.
I like riding my bike around my familiar neighborhood an infinite amount of times, and running around Provo with the cross country team, and learning to drive on roads I've driven on millions of times, and complaining about how far away my cousin's/Grandma's house is in Orem, and having the house to myself while mom takes the boys to swimming lessons, and texting people while their in foreign states, and mowing the lawn, and checking un-updated blogs while I listen to my jams.
JK, I don't have jams, I just have dorky iTunes and YouTube playlists.
And I also like making progress on my summer homework.

"The Lion's Roar" by First Aid Kit
"Ghosts" by Laura Marling
"In My City" by Ellie Goulding

Let me describe to you how this day has gone so far.
I woke up at 6:30 and laid in bed for about 10 minutes before I decided I could really get up and get ready for cross country.
I got ready for got cross country, and was about to run out the door, when I got a bloody nose.
It was the worst bloody nose I've had in a long time, lasting about 30 minutes.
Incapacitated, I decided it'd be best if I got on pinterest. And then checked some blogs. A lot of blogs. While listening to my Judy Garland pandora radio station.

A list of thoughts from my blog-stalking:
hipster is overrated
I like school
I like people
I'm really glad I have feelings
I just want to be a good friend to everyone
pretty sure I'm half extrovert half introvert
I agree with the quote by Dorothy Parker "I don't like writing, I like having written"
I don't need to like a boy
Last winter really wasn't too bad, so methinks I can survive this upcoming one
Maybe I look too much into the future
Oh dear.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go mow the lawn.

Popsicles

2 hr 13 min til piano lessons
7 hrs 13 min til mutual
1 day til a Nicholas Sparks marathon
2 days(????) til I get my driver's license(!!!!)
3 days til Henry's birthday!
7 days til Abby's birthday! And pioneer day.
but
5 days til Abby's birthday party.
34 days til I get more homework. Gross. Sick.
167 days til New Years!
316 days til my birthday/I get my haircut!
? days til certain people stop being moody
? days til I watch either Cheetah Girls or the Lizzie McGuire movie (that's all I want to do right now)
? minutes til I eat another popsicle
Life is winning.

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time, my mom told me we were going to see Les Miserables at Orem High. I was but a wee eighth grader and thought "What the heck? Why not?  I like plays! And my cousins will be there." Little did I know, seeing that play would birth a supernatural obsession within in me. It was the start of something new. The beginning of an unearthly passion.
My mother had had to explain the plotline before hand, so Henry and I would at least somewhat understand what was going on. By the time the first act was over I was liking it! During intermission I went with my Aunt and cousin to get my cousin's glasses, because she couldn't see what was going on on stage. By the end of the of the play, I was ready to see it again! I had decided, if I were to ever be in a production of Les Mis, I would either be Fantine or Eponine. Preferably Eponine, because I felt I could relate to her best (but back then, I wasn't exactly into boys, so I don't know why I felt that way).
I spent much time listening to the music. Learning the main songs from the Original London Cast recording we had. We bought the piano music, I mastered every single song.
I tried to watch the 25th anniversary video tape we had, but couldn't sit through it. I couldn't understand why there wasn't a movie.
When the movie was announced I don't remember being particularly bummed (like some people, who thought it would be ruined). Or excited (like some people who thought it would be the best thing ever). I thought "Oh. Cool." But when I watched the 50th anniversary, I started feeling the Les Mis juices flowing. People started pinning stuff on pinterest, my cousins talked a lot about it and soon after Christmas, my mom and I planned to go see it sometime after new years, but before school was back in.
I sobbed.
It was the probably the first time I ever cried in a movie theater.
I saw it again with my dad, I didn't cry, because this old lady was sitting on the other side of me WHEN THE WHOLE FREAKING THEATER WAS EMPTY. Just kidding, not the whole theater, but really. She could've sat somewhere else.
I saw it again with Kari, Mary, Tressie and Jacob. Kari had already seen it once, and was enthusiastic as I was. It was Mary's, Tressie's and Jacob's first time. Mary was ROFCE by the end. (Rolling on the floor crying enthusiastically). Tressie and Jacob weren't very impressed, but that didn't matter. I loved this movie and I was ready to exclaim it from the top of some place very high!
And then we bought the DVD.
I bought the movie soundtrack. I relearned the songs. Kari and I spent many a time singing the words in ASL. Our teacher had to tell us to turn the music off when we played it. All of our letters at the time had at least one line from the music (Usually it was more than one line). Every word someone said sparked an impromptu Les Mis musical number. When we would play Nertz, we would sing it at the top of our lungs. When Kari told me not to mock her, I broke into Fantine's solo "Monsieur, don't mock me now I pray. It's hard enough, I've lost my pride. You let your foreman send me away, yes you were there, and turned aside!" Which sent Destinee into a fit of giggles. When I went off my phone, TV, and computer for a week, I asked my dad to make me a Les Mis CD to get me through the week. This musical was my language, love, and life.
This was January and February.
And then, the unthinkable happened.
I started to get sick of my true love.
I had seen the movie 4 times. Listened to the music a countless number of times. It was old. Mary Kate and I were in Annie, so my focus shifted towards that. Les Mis lay forgotten by the wayside.
Until now.
A few weeks ago, I decided I wasn't sick of Les Mis anymore.
I was babysitting Henry and Phinny, and as I emptied the dishwasher, I put on a playlist that included some Les Mis music. I had told Kari to come visit me (because I was bored out of my mind) and she did. When she heard "One Day More" she told me that it had been a while since she had listened to Les Mis too. We reminisced of the days when Marius was our phone backgrounds. Then I found Ricky in my laundry closet (which is a completely different story) and the topic of Les Mis was put away again.
Yesterday, I decided I wanted to watch Les Mis.
And I loved it. I almost even cried.
I have so much love for this musical.
Almost the same amount of love that I have for Disney.
But not quite.

An Adventure

It seems as though everyone is obsessed with "adventures" right now.
What is an adventure?
According to the dictionary it is an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.
I think it can be something as daring as venturing from your typical daily routine, like trying new food. Going to a new store. Complimenting a stranger.
Yesterday, I went to my cousin's ward because it was his homecoming talk (from his LDS mission). The man who talked before him talked a little bit about adventures. Scout camps, travelling etc. But he said the ultimate adventure is a mission.
I want to go on a mission!
I want to go on the ultimate adventure.









And then eventually I want to get married.

Cliché

Dear Blog,
Lately, I've been feeling I want to be cliché. Or at least stereotypical. I watched Julie and Julia today (because it was the only thing worth watching while stuck in the hotel during a rainstorm) and I decided I just want to be another one of those mormon girls who gets married and blogs a lot about food and Pinterest.
But then again, not really. I want to change the world somehow, but in a special way. I want to inspire others, like how I'm inspired by others.
And then again, I want to be in a Nicholas Sparks movie. I just want to know who my husband is, but not get married yet. Can't this be ok?
And then again, I can't shake the feeling my family might be moving soon. My parents sure talk about it enough. I like the idea of moving, but just thinking about it gives me extreme anxiety. I hate thinking that I'd have to leave the 12th ward, but then again, they're all leaving too. I think I have some sort of attachment problem.
I like the idea of travelling to a foreign country and just having at it, but I think I'd be too chicken to actually do it.
If someone asked me to go on an adventure with them right this very second, I think I'd say "Yes. Just let me get dressed. I'm in my sock monkey pajamas."

Love, an indecisive Isabel

"The Show" by Lenka
"This is the Beginning" by BOY
"Keep Breathing" by Ingrid Michaelson

P.S. I know, this post is unorganized, just like the rest of these totally dumpy teenage blog posts.

A New Beginning

Several things have been hinting at a new beginning lately
#1. Starting a new journal
#2. Travelling to a place where I know no one! (Except my fam)
#3. Skin shedding (gross) due to a nasty sunburn
#4. Various dreams
I feel as though these things (among tinier others) are hinting that something big, something grand, something monumental is about to happen...

Maybe I'm just crazy.
But I'm not gonna lie, it would be so cool if I predicted this and it was right!

A Surprise

"What an unexpected surprise!"
"What other kind is there?"
-Urinetown

There is now such thing as an expected surprise.
-Me

Lover's Eyes

Nothing in my life is more accurate than this right now.

"Setting my course for adventure, but my mind is not on any romance"

Current Song Obsessions

"Anna Sun" by Walk the Moon
"Blue Hawai'i" by Elvis Presley
"Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley
"Just Wanna Be With You" from High School Musical 3
"More than the World" by Mindy Gledhill
"Needing/Getting" by OK Go
"Peace in the Valley" by Elvis Presley
"Reminder" by Mumford & Sons
"Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato
"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" by Judy Garland

Meaning

So life has more meaning than it did last week,
(I can't say life's meaning just didn't exist last week, because life always has meaning, I'm not depressed.)
Yesterday, cross country started, driver's ed started, I babysat for the first time in FOREVER, it was Judy Garland's birthday, and I got to see Urinetown with my aunt and cousins.
I'm really mad that I just started cross country this year. I wish I would've started sooner, and I was going to start last year, but my toe broke... so XC was a nada.

I wish I could make this blog deep and stuff, but deep isn't really my thing.

A List of Reasons

I'm starting a list of reasons of why I'm not a weenie.
But so far, I've only got two, and they both involve hiking

1. I hiked up the front of Squaw
This means not up the traditional through Rock Canyon way, and I had taken an allergy pill on an empty stomach which = no bueno. And I did it with some super pro-hiking young men from my ward... so I'm pretty proud of myself!
2. I hiked 3 miles on a broken toe
Oh the things you do at Girl's Camp for certification...

Feeling

I have a feeling I don't know how to describe... my family always says "There's probably a German word for that" and ya know... maybe there is? Good thing I know so much German (yeah... hahaha nein.) So let's try describing this feeling in a few words, shall we?

I feel lonely
Do you want a list of people gone from my life right now?
1. my brother (at Camp Big Springs)
2. Kari (in Hawaii)
3. Abby and Paige (in San Diego)
4. Emma (in New York)
5. Clarissa (in Germany)
and the young men (including my dad) go on a campout next week. If one more person leaves... I think I'll scream. And die. But whatever... I'm taking all this in stride. One day at a time, and slowly, people will come back!

The chorus of "Quiet" by Demi Lovato describes this feeling (even though the song is supposed to be about a boy)

It's much too quiet in here 
I want to disappear 

I'm hearing myself thinking too clear 

It's too quiet in here 

Make it all go away 

Why can't we break this silence 

Finally 

I feel angsty (is that the right word?)

I'm very worried this summer will be a total flop... but I think if I can last til everyone gets back, summer will start to pick up. Last year there was girl's camp the first week of June to start everything out and get the summery juices flowing, but this year there's been nada. Not even one night of night games... geez. NOT EVEN ONE NIGHT OF NIGHT GAMES. That is so odd.
I feel reminiscent
I've been reading a lot of old journals lately, and thinking about the past, but you know what they say, don't dwell on the past! And also, the future. That little thing is rough. I'm getting less afraid of it though, in 8th grade I was so afraid of getting to be 16 and dates and dances and driving and all that stuff, but I'm getting through it all one day at a time. Living in the present is just so hard. I just gotta YOLO it.

So I guess the moral of this frozen time period is... One day at a time.
And I had something else to say, but now I can't remember, so maybe it'll come to me later and I'll be able to update this post, if not, this is it!

May 20

So every year (for the past 2 years) I've done this 7 things thing, but I kinda missed the deadline by 4 days (just like I missed my math late work deadline by 3 days urgh...) but I can still do this (even though I can't turn in my math urgh...)

7 Things (No, not that stupid song by Miley Cyrus) (2011)
No. 1 I am so itching and my skin is peeling off like a banana peel. GUESS THAT SICKNESS! (Answer at the end of this post)
No. 2 I got an award at the awards assembly today! It made me so happy!
No. 3 I GOT AN IPuHONE!!! WOOOOOOOO!
No. 4 Hunger Games: Barbie Edition has exactly 5,149 views as of right now.
No. 5 IT'S FRIDAY FRIDAY GETTIN' DOWN ON FRIDAY EVERYBODY'S LOOKIN' FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND WEEKEND!
No. 6 Like a good neighbor State Farm is there! (With a big fat panda bear)
No. 7 My. Birthday. Is. In. 9. Days. EEP!
(My sickness is SUNBURN! Did you guess it right?)

(2012)No. 1 I am much tanner than most Utahns right now. That is both good and bad.
No. 2 I have an A in Biology with 103% I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!
No. 3 We finally finished reading Les Mis in English so I can read any book I want to!
No. 4 Hunger Games: Barbie Edition has exactly 103,382 views as of right now.
No. 5 Only 3 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!!!!!
No. 6 Today we had a fantabulous ward conference today. I LOVE MY WARD too much for words.
No. 7 My BIRTHDAY is in 9 DAYS!
And extra credit No. 8 is that I rearranged my room on Saturday! I like it.

(2013)
No. 1 I'm tannish... but more on the paler side.
No. 2 We played volleyball in english today. LOVE IT!
No. 3 I went to a cross country meeting yesterday.... and I'm so pumped!
No. 4 Hunger Games: Barbie Edition has exactly 267,727 views as of right now!!
No. 5 It's Friday. And it's a long weekend. And there's 2 more half days of school!!!!!!!!!!!! AH.
No. 6 I helped pass out yearbooks after school today. Woot.
No. 7 My 16th BIRTHDAY IS IN 5 DAYS. OH MY HOLY CRAP.
And extra credit No. 8 is that I haven't gotten sick of Judy Garland yet. I STILL LOVE HER.
And extra credit No. 9 is that it's been over a year since I broke my toe! (CRAY CRAY)

For the Sunshine

I love peanut butter, roller skating, fall, hipster glasses, milkshakes, smoothies, DISNEY, my friends and my family! I'm a blogaholic, so you should keep calm and read on about my crazy, ditzy, awkward, and sunshiney life!

Lactose

I wrote a poem about my milk allergy. My milk allergy was realized in February-ish of this year. I had been lactose intolerant as a baby, but out grew it, so my childhood was full of ice cream, milkshakes, yogurt, and cheese (yeah, you know, cheese!) So when I realized a few months of sick stomachs had been because of delicious cheese and crackers, butter, and milkshakes, I was very sad. Anywho, my haiku about my milk allergy:

Milk intolerant
Lactose is overrated
I want a milkshake

Poetry is the best.

3rd Term

3rd term of my sophomore year is over!
No more stress...
I'm as free as a bird!
Kinda.
Except it snowed today (two days after the first day of spring)
So third term is officially history.
That means basically, end of year testing and then I'm an upperclassman!
I'M GONNA BE AN UPPERCLASSMAN.
Oh freak.

Thief.

So... um. Well. I dunno how to break this to you....

but Timpview High is full of thieves.

At the beginning of school (the warm days) someone stole a bag that was in my bike basket that had a few Day's receipts and about $3 in change in it. Psh. Pathetic.

During the play someone stole a pencil bag (had all my pencils, a few pens, bobby pins, a pack of gum and $20 in it) from my backpack, and I thought it was someone in the play who did it, but recent events lead me to think otherwise. I think someone in choir did it.

I think someone stole my calculator last Friday. And I think it was in choir. And I'm very irate. Because this calculator was my pride and joy.

Also in my life, someone stole my bike from my neighbor's yard.

I can't wait til I become a policeman and arrest all thieves in the world.

Hello Blog.

It's been a while... I always come here intending to write... but then end up looking at my old posts... oops.
Lately: life has been full of:
Questionable drama?
Unwanted snow.
Of Monsters and Men.
Track.
Frankenstein.
Student teachers.
Lolling
Lolcats
Churchball (watching and playing... LOVE IT!)
and I just started watching Pretty Little Liars. Everytime I watch an episode I'm pretty sure I say "Kill Yourself" about 50 million times.
Also, I've been trying to get myself to stop getting mad at people... so I find myself chanting "Everyone's a child of God" a lot.
CHILDREN OF GOD!
And in musical theatre we're doing Annie. I'm Tessie the orphan... which means I have lines! I say "Oh my goodness" about a million times!

These Things Do Happen

Look. and This too. And this. Here too. One more. It'll save me a lot of explaining.
If you click on that link and watch the video there, I can name most of the people featured.
I don't know if I ever talked to Parker, but I know I had at least a few classes with him in past years. Plus he was in my stake, so today our stake high councilman talked about it.
You hear about things like this happening at other schools, but you never think it'd happen at your school, until it does. And then you cry a lot.
Parker's death makes me want to be so much nicer to so many more people.
It makes me want to smile all the while, because I'd say Parker's smile went more than a mile, I'd say it covered all of Timpview's boundaries. Everyone says one of the things they remember about Parker is that he was always smiling.
It makes me think if I were to die next week, what would people remember me for?
I can't wait to go to school tomorrow and see all the blue ribbons, and everyone in Sunday best.
For now, I'll just be here singing hymns and listening to VocalPoint and Bring Him Home by myself, crying.

Wow.

It's been a while, readers (who don't exist.)
The last month has been filled with:
Les Mis,

Danish pastries,
freezing cold weather,
crazy fog,
Monk,











Judy Garland,



















basketball games,
piano piano piano,
a week off technology
musicals,

books,

weird people,
my emotions going cray. (I cry at almost every touching moment I see)