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!