Spring Fever

I have spring fever. Symptoms?
1. I am so sick of school it's not even funny.
2. It takes a ton of personal motivation to make me start my homework.
3. I want to constantly be outside.
4. Studying for tests is harder than it was at the beginning of the year.
5. Staying awake in class is nearly an impossible task.
6. I often find myself counting. Example: How many days, weeks, and class periods until school is out.
7. Weekends are my new best friend.
8. I no longer wake up to my alarm. My mom had to physically push me out of my bed to get me up on Friday. The funny thing is, I don't remember the five times she says she woke me up before that point.
9. Procrastination is becoming more and more of a habit.
10. I spend more time finding reasons why I can put off my homework than actually doing it.

I need summer to come cure me. Sooner than later please!

Nursery Rhymes

This guy definitely has talent.

High School

I am terrified, but I am also extremely excited. How can these two words exist in the same sentence you may ask? Easily. It's called high school. I walked right in yesterday to sign up for an audition. I had confidence. I knew where I was headed and what I was doing. Then, I stopped. Why did I stop you may ask? Everyone there looked so BIG! I know, hard to believe with my towering stance of 4' 11"(and a 1/2) but it's true. I looked right up at a very tall, muscular senior, and realized this would be a normal event next year. Walking into the doors, looking at all the tall, grown up, somewhat mature people, and trying to remember the good old days of obsessing over Disney princesses and not worrying about being stuffed in a locker. Yet, every time I think of it, I get more and more excited. I'm going to high school next year! My sophomore friends will be there as juniors, and I won't be at the Jr. high anymore. I will be able to date and drive, and basically, I'm excited! 

You want me to choose one?

Some of my favorite songs:
1. Bennie And The Jets: Sung by Haley Reinhart on American Idol
2. Hey There Delilah: Plain White T's
3. King of Anything: Sara Bareilles
4. I do Adore: Mindy Gledhill
5. Kiss Me: Six Pence None the Richer
6. In Whatever Time We Have: From Children of Eden
7. Mario Kart Love Song: Sam Hart
8. Crush: David Archeleta
9.Elevator: David Archeleta
10. Bad Day: Daniel Powter

Uh....You Wanted Me to Learn Something?

Day 29
What have I learned while doing this challenge?
1. I like lists. Everything is better and more organized in a list.
2. I don't really like to blog on specific assigned topics most of the time.
3. Some topics really force you to get creative (especially if you can twist it in some way so you don't have to write on the assigned topics you don't want to write about.)
4. Some of the topics that seem like they would be the easiest to write on, are actually the hardest.
5. This is a great thing to do if you are coming up with excuses of why you should procrastinate your homework.

Day 28

Last Year

This year

How have I changed? That's kind of  hard one. One year isn't very long. Lets see....I think I am more confident. I'm not as self conscience. I don't really care what people think about me anymore. I've always been really outgoing, but this year I have really expanded my friend groups. I don't think I really would have done that as easily last year. I think this year I have fought more for what I want than in years past, (i.e. parts in plays) even if they don't work out. I haven't been as stressed this year. I think I finally figured out homework will always be there, but it doesn't help to get really stressed over it. I think I understand people better than I did last year. I've learned a little more about why people do certain things and how to deal with it. I have always seemed to be the go-to when people need advice, and I think I give better advice this year than last year as well because I understand people better. I don't know...this was a hard one.

Why the Challenge?

Day 27
My aunt started doing the challenge so I thought, "Hey, cool! A challenge!" So here I am, doing this challenge. Challenges and goals get kind of addicting for me, so I thought it would be fun.

My Buddies

Day 26

What do I think about my friends? I think they are wonderful! I love them so much! I mean look at these pictures! Who else is great enough to do all this stuff? Just my friends.

Marry Poppins Bag

Day 25
I just emptied out my bag/purse and this is what I found:
1. Lip gloss and chap stick
2. Travel Size Hairspray
3. Brush
4. Bobby pins
5. Camera
6. A picture my little sister drew for me.
7. Phone
8. Ipod
9. Wallet
10. Notebook
11. Pen and Pencil
12. Lotion
13. Breath Mints
14. For The Strength of Youth book.
15. To do list
16. Key to my house
17. The movie "Taming of the Shrew" (Ok, that one isn't usually in there)
18. Hand Sanitizer
19. Ibuprofen
20. Flash Drive
21. Tissues
22. Blank Thank You note
You know, I carry all that around all the time, but my bag really doesn't look all that full. Maybe it really is a Marry Poppins bag!

A Letter

Day 24
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank you. I really don't know what else I could say. Mom, thank you so much for everything you do. You are my example of what love and service really is. Also, thanks for putting up with me. I know sometimes I can be kind of irritating. You can only listen and try to help me with 16 measures of an audition so many times before you go insane. Thanks for helping me with all my monologues and scenes and plays you help me memorize. Thanks for giving me the confidence to keep doing them. Thanks for playing taxi and driving me around so much. Just one more year of that :) Thanks for listening to me and giving me therapeutic mommy talks. Thanks for supporting me in all I do. You were at all my gymnastics meets cheering me on, (I know they were about 8 hours long and I only performed for about 10 minutes of that) and now you are at all my play performances still cheering me on. You have never missed a single event that is important to me. I love you so much!

Dad, Thank you for everything you do. Thank you for listening to me and giving me advice. I know most girls don't tell their Dads everything, especially when it comes to boys and girl drama and stuff, but thanks for listening and helping me through it. I know I can always come to you. Thank you for showing me what loving and really living and applying the scriptures is all about. I really admire that. Thanks for helping me understand my scriptures. You have taught me so much! Thanks for supporting me. Thank you for taking work off to be to those things that are important to me. That means so much to me I can't even tell you. Thank you for always building me up. You always make me feel like I am important and special to you. I love you so much!

Love, Allie

Tag, You're It!

Blogger tag. I didn't know it existed. But apparently, I'm it. Thanks Lesh, love you too. So here's how it works. You open your pictures to the fourth file, then you post the fourth picture within that file. Then you have the joy of trying to explain it.

Explanation: This is Parker. We were at Audreys house....playing dress ups. All I can say is we were really tired, and really hyper. "My jaw is too masculine for my crown!" Haha, good times, good times.

So here's the best part! (Yes, humiliating Parker was fun, but this is even better!) I get to tag two new people now! I choose Audrey and Mandy. Tag, you're it!

Cravings

Day 23

I love brownie batter. Especially the kind you make from the box. Unfortunately for me, my mom won't let me eat just the batter. Therefore, I often make brownies just to lick the bowl. Pathetic, I know.

Day 22
"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." ~ Dr. Seuss

I like lists. A lot actually. So here are 50 things that combined make me different than anyone else.
1. I can't stand having my toenails not painted. I don't like having my fingernails painted though.
2. I could read novel after novel for an entire day without stopping. I love to read!
3. Acting is my passion.
4. I love, love, love to sing! (That doesn't make me good at it)
5. I didn't know I was a good dancer until December of this year.
6. I play the violin.
7. I love music, and I love it in almost any era or genera.
8. I love to go boating, and I  love to water ski.
9. I'm kind of a blogging addict.
10. I am very opinionated.
11. Molly Mormon :)
12. I love cute romance novels.
13. I have a really spoiled Yorkie who my whole family treats like the baby of the family.
14. I love colors! I like them on walls, I like them in pictures, I like them in clothes, I just love colors!
15. I'm a very artistic person, I just can't draw. (Drawing is not the only kind of art believe it or not)
16. I want to be a teacher when I'm all grown up.
17. I would love to be an interior designer on the side.
18. I like to be in charge.
19. I have a 4.0 that I guard with my life and I don't even think it's nerdy.
20. I love pretty dresses.
21. I love to take pictures. I would love to do photography someday.
22. I'm excited to start growing up.
23. I could spend hours playing "Just Dance" on the wii.
24. My brother and I are best friends.
25. I love anything and everything that is girlie.
25. I say "My dear," "You're a peach!" "Don't worry about it," and "My love" a lot.
25. I love boys who sing and dance.
26. I don't like running long distances, but I love to sprint.
27. I think technology is really cool.
28. I am 4'11" and a half, and I have recently decided I'm ok with it... I like it even.
29. I did gymnastics for a lot of years.
30. I like to watch movies,especially with my family.
31. I like to sleep in until 10.
32. I have a secret desire to be serenaded with "Out of My League" by Stephen Speaks.
33. I write in my journal every night.
34. I love to write and I want to write a book this summer.
35. I like it when I'm getting my haircut and they wash my hair.
36. I absolutely adore little kids.
37. I could hold new born babies for hours and not get bored.
38. I like to just sit and talk to people. I don't like to do something every minute of everyday.
39. At lunch, I hate just sitting when every ones food is gone. I have to be walking.
40. I like to go on walks.
41. I like words.
42. I love quotes. I have a cute little notebook I write quotes I like in. When I have spare time (which I rarely do) I look up quotes.
43. I like hands.
44. I have 6 pictures/statues of the Salt Lake temple in my bedroom.
45. I have spent 3 years now decorating my room and it's almost done. (I do have to admit, it is very pretty)
46. I think burns are the worst kind of pain.
47. I will soon have 10 poison dart frogs in my living room in a glass coffee table my dad made.
48. I love to tease people and be teased back.
49. I love loose hairdos but I can never seem to get them to work myself.
50. My favorite dessert is brownie batter not baked straight out of the bowl.

I'm Yours/ Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Straight No Chaser

I heard this song and kind of fell in love with it. Its great!

A Picture of Summer

Day 21

This is a picture of summer. It also happens to be a picture of a lake which makes me pretty happy too. Summer is a time of no stress. It is a time for soaking up as much vitamin D as you possibly can before the sun is lost for seven months. I am tired of school. I am to the point where I really just do not want to do anything. I am ready for summer. Luckily today is the start of spring break, which  I need. Unfortunately, teachers are under the impression they should give us huge projects the day before spring break that are due the day we come back. Ridiculous! My brain is fried. I'm ready for summer.

Prince Charming

Day 20
Prince Charming. Definitely Prince Charming. What? He doesn't really exist!? Ok, well then I don't know.  What I do know is I'm a total dork and I keep a list of traits that I want my future husband to have. Here are a few off the list (Not in any particular order):
1. Tall, dark, and handsome of course!
2. Someone who will sing to me and dance with me.
3. RM
4. Someone who can, and will take me to the temple.
5. Someone with a strong testimony.
6. Someone who likes to have fun and joke around.
7. Someone who loves me for who I am.
8. Someone who doesn't have a temper.
9. Someone non-dramatic. I'm sorry, but guys should not be more dramatic than girls. It just doesn't work.
10. Someone who doesn't mind just sitting and talking.

My Name, but Different

Day 19
Allie: My real name is Allison but that is long, and formal, and Allie is cute and girlie.
Als or Al: Apparently Allie is occasionally too long, so most of the time my family and friends shorten it further.
Alligator: My Parents called me Allie-Allie-Alligator when I was little.
Allicat: My mom still calls me this all the time. It also came when I was little as a joke but the name stuck.
Albert: The only person I will allow to call me this is my grandpa Van Tassel. He has called me this ever since I can remember, probably since birth, and he will probably continue to use this name into the eternities. I can't ever remember him calling me anything but that except when he gives me blessings.
Smalls: No one calls me this anymore, but it was what everyone, including a few coaches, called me at the gym.
Tinkerbelle: Long story. Don't worry about it.

Plans, Dreams, and Goals

Day 18
I have so many plans, dreams, and goals. As I said before, I am so goal oriented it's not even funny. Goals are often the only way I can encourage myself to get things done. I also like plans. I plan out everything, and I do mean everything. I plan out what I'm going to wear for the week, I plan what I am going to do when I get home from school during 4th period, etc. I do have some bigger plans too, like college plans, but I think everything through. I have a whole notebook of to-do lists. I have a lot of dreams as well. I am not afraid to dream big. In fact, almost all of my dreams are huge. I am definitely a dreamer. In order to save you from listening to me drone on and on about things you really don't want to hear about, I will just share one of each, not that you really want to even hear one, but for blogging purposes, you will have to endure.
Plans: I have a very large, elaborate, thought out plan of how I am going to get through high school and college and eventually get married. As I have shared before, my plans never work out. However, I am always glad they don't in the end. Since this is a very long plan and most of it is based on things I have no control over, I can almost guarantee it won't work according to plan, but there is definitely a plan.
Dreams: I would love to act in a professional theatre. Not just high school and community stuff, but places like the Hale Center Theatre, or other professional places. Maybe even Broadway if I work hard enough and the chance comes around.
Goals: I have a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon between the months of May and August.

Switch Places?

Day 17
If I could switch lives for a day with anyone, I don't think I would. Sure, there are things I absolutely wish I could do, like sing on Broadway, but I don't think I would want to be one of those people without doing the work behind it. Many people want to switch places with sports stars, but let me tell you, the work it takes to get there is really hard. A lot harder than people realize. The life of a sports star is not all that its cracked up to be. For example, in order to work towards the Olympics for gymnastics, you have to be 100% dedicated. You have to be home schooled giving up most if not all of your social life, its a possibility you have to move out of state, if not out of the country, you have to ask your family to make sacrifices for you, you have to be at the gym at least 25 hours a week if not more, you have to travel a lot, you have to put up a huge fight in order to not compete on Sundays sometimes, its tough. It takes a lot of work, and people at that level are not well rounded because you have to spend so much time in one thing. You are basically an expert at one thing and one thing only. Since I have "retired" from gymnastics, so many doors have opened up to me. I learned to do things I never thought I could because sure, I wasn't doing double backs off the bars or layouts on the beam anymore, but I had time to become well rounded and try new things. I started learning to sing, and I transferred some of my gymnastics into dancing, I learned how to act, I learned to cook, I could help around the house more and I wasn't always so tired. I actually learned what the term "free time" is. I think when people want to  switch places with extraordinary  sports stars, or actors, ect., they don't realize the sacrifice behind it. They don't realize to be at that level, you have to give up so much more than I think it's worth. Its a hard choice to make. I wouldn't trade all those years in the gym, they taught me some important things and skills, but I wouldn't trade my life like it is right now for anything in the world.

Summer

Day 16

          This week has been happy and sunny. I wore shorts to school and it felt great! I was looking through boating pictures of my family this morning and when I found this one it made me super duper happy because it finally feels like summer is on its way and this will soon be possible once again. I sat day dreaming of swimsuits, boating, cut off shorts, water skiing, being tan, cliff diving, sleeping in until 10am on a Wednesday, and jumping off the docks of flaming gorge. Then I looked outside. Its snowing. Mother nature, this isn't funny anymore! I am physically in pain! I need summer! Every time I open a text book I  have this huge pang of unbearable longing for summer. I don't think I can bare the 8 more weeks of school. Summer is not coming fast enough.

Shuffle

Day 15
The first 10 songs my ipod plays when on shuffle:
1. Choose the right- The Mormon Tabernacle Chior
2. If I Had Eyes- Jack Johnson
3. 1 Nephi 1- Book of Mormon
4. Preparation Brings Blessings- 2010 April General Conference: Bishop Keith B. McMullin
5. Mosiah 13- The Book of Mormon
6. Arrise and Shine Forth- Jenny Phillips
7. Our Perfect Example- 2009 October General Conference: Henry B. Eyring
8. The Remedy- Jason Mraz
9. Kiss Me- Sixpence Nnone the Richer
10. Falcon In the Dive- The Scarlet Pimpernel

The first 10 songs my ipod plays just from my favorites playlist on shuffle:
1. Love Like Woe- The Ready Set
2. Breathe- Anna Nalick
3. A Thousand Miles- Vanessa Carlton
4. I Run to You- Lady Antebellum
5. Fearless- Taylor Swift
6. Don't Stop Believin'- Glee Cast
7. King of Anything- Sara Bareilles
8. How to Save a Life- The Fray
9. Love Song- Sara Bareilles
10. Stuck Like Glue- Sugarland

My Family

Day 14

Me and my bestie! Isn't she cute? I love her.

Possibly one of my favorite pictures taken of all time!

My family! I love them so much!