Hey, Chicago, what do you say...

...The Cubs are gonna win today!

My busy summer has started. The first 3 days after graduation, Tashi and all her friends were still in school. So I stayed home helping my parents with house and yard work all day while they worked. Grandma and Grandpa S. were here too, so we helped them load up a moving truck full of stuff. They were working hard! I got a letter from my cousin Stephen too! He's on a mission in Japan. I can't wait for him to come home in September!

Anyways, I was feeling a little trapped at home. I wanted to get out. Our senior trip was on the 27th, but I felt like I wasn't going to have very much fun because Amber and Amanda decided not to go. But I ended up having a great time! I had never been to Chicago before.

(^ right out side Union Station ^)
Only about half of our class went. We met at the school at 5:30, rode the school bus 45 minutes to the Am track station, rode the Am track for 4 hours, walked 6 blocks down the grimy part of Chicago past Sears Tower, and rode the subway to Wrigley Field. I got to talk to Kerr Daddy on the Am track, which was a good start to my trip.

(^ walking down the 6 blocks to the Redline ^)
One kid had to wear a Cardinals jersey just to be a rebel. We told him he was going to get beat up in Chicago, but he actually got a lot of compliments on the street, and a school bus full of kids driving by booed our cubs jerseys. You never know.

Tokyo still beats Chicago, though. By a long shot. Still, I missed the big city. I felt like I was in my element. Our teachers told us not to make eye contact with anyone because the crime rate had gone up recently. Haha. People were freaking out about the sewage smells, people being mean, all the stop lights, the crowds of people, the stale air and all the people touching them on the subway...I was enjoying it! I'm not saying I want to live in Chicago, but you know. Everyone wanted germ ex the whole time. I told one teacher that it wasn't bothering me, because I grew up in a big city, and she said "well, if you don't know any better..." Any better? Hey now. I guess you guys don't know any better than the manure smell and racism from your little town. Wow people need to get out more.

(^ at the subway station ^)
Because travel time took so long, we only had time for the Cubs game. I had never seen a professional sport live before. And I'm not really in baseball, but I actually had a lot of fun. It was against the Dodgers, and the Cubs won 1-0. Sounds like a hockey game, right? Haha It was still 0-0 at the end of the 7th inning. So it was really boring up until that point. Nothing was going anywhere. Then all of the sudden, Mike Fontenot made it to third base, and Tyler Colvin drove him in. The Dodgers just kept striking out after that. So the Cubs won! Go, Cubs, Go played, and we all wanted to sing along, but our teachers rushed us to the subway again. Two boys got conned into giving $3 each to a man they thought was homeless. The teachers told us not to make eye contact. But they had to be nice because everyone in the country is nice, right? Hee hee

( ^ sitting by Kerr Daddy at Wrigley Field ^)
It was beautiful weather, but we were sitting in the shade and it is called the Windy City, so we were a bit cold while we were watching. Everything was so overpriced in Wrigley Field, it was insane! I did buy a really cute vintage looking Cubs v-neck. It was the cheapest thing (and the cutest) so I lucked out. And I promise I wasn't wearing my sunglasses the whole time. Just every time they snapped a picture haha. So now I admit I am a Cubs fan. And I'm really glad I went. Next time I want to walk Lake Shore Drive and go to the shopping area though. And definitely see a musical or some other show.

( ^ ♪Go, Cubs, Go! Go, Cubs, Go! ♪ ^)
We almost missed our Am track train home. It was really scary. This lady working at the station gave us the wrong directions. So we ended up in a really crowded place that was really crazy. They wouldn't let us through because we didn't have tickets. We tried to explain that our teachers were already on the train with our tickets...but you know airport and train station workers. They treat you like crap. We were calling our teachers and they weren't doing anything either. You could hear all the panic in our voices. I almost started crying. Because a new train probably wouldn't come til the next morning and we would have to buy our own tickets, find a place to stay for the night...it was horrible. But finally we found out we had the wrong directions and started running for the train. The same lady who gave us wrong directions stopped us and asked us where we were going because we were running. We told her, and she said we were late and holding up the rest of the train. Ya, no thanks to you, lady. But we were fine and I got to sit next to and talk to Brooke the ride home.

Listen to Go, Cubs, Go! It's catchy!

(You have to admit this picture is hilarious. HSM will never die!)

Lexi graduated. We went to the other ward because graduation was right at the same time our church started. We only went to Sacrament meeting and then came home and took pictures. I wore a vintage dress from the 1960's that my mom fixed up for me, some new silver gladiator sandals, a necklace from my YW president that happened to match my dress perfectly, and some earrings that happened to match the necklace perfectly, made by Jamie. My hair and makeup didn't turn out the exact way I wanted, but oh well.

Grandma and Grandpa S and the Rodenbergs made it for the graduation. My gown was white and I was able to keep the rose secret from my parents and grandparents. The chorus had to go early to practice. I got really nervous when we got in line. I was the last couple to walk in. I got to sing with the whole chorus, the senior chorus girls, and get recognized on stage for being an honor student. During the slide show of our senior and baby pictures, we gave the roses out to our families. My friend Amber sang a solo - "You Raise Me Up" during this slideshow. My mom was bawling. It was 90 degrees that day with lots of humidity. It was very hot in that gym. But it was WAY hotter outside and I almost passed out in my gown that made my skin not able to breathe. We took a cool hat toss picture though, and I went to a couple of graduation parties afterwards. The ceremony felt so long, but it was still a shock when it was over.

I was so exhausted from that weekend. It was very emotionally draining. My graduation party went well. Me and my dad worked for days and days on the yard. My mom made some gourmet food. And we got a lot of help from people. It meant a lot. I had a really good turnout and I knew every person there, unlike some of my friend's parties, where most of the guests were the parent's friends.

I feel weird now. I'm not working yet, I'm not leaving on vacations, getting new cars or laptops, or getting engaged like the rest of my friends. I don't even know where I'm going to school yet. Gah. I wish I knew where my life was headed.

And now that I'm reading through this, I realize it's very choppy like a list and it doesn't flow at all. But I'm too lazy to fix it!

♪ I got a lot of things I have to do, all these distractions our future's coming soon. We're being pulled in one hundred different directions, but whatever happens I know I've got you ♪

Getting ready to graduate

(Yes, i know my bangs look horrible in this picture. They have been cut since then)

Wow. I am officially done with highschool. Yesterday was my last day. I just feel like I'm on a break from school. Yes, I was counting down all year, but the month of May felt like 1 week. A little too fast.

One of the lovely things about our school (there are few) is seniors don't have to take their May finals if they're getting an A in the class. And now we've just been watching movies in every class. So I basically didn't do too much at school after prom. It was very nice for my senioritis. I saw Avatar way too many times though. I hate it now.

I also got to see Robin Hood this weekend. I absolutely loved it! I recommend it. And now I'm really excited to go see Iron Man 2.

I'm the last couple to walk for graduation. And I'm happy who I'm walking with. I get to be recognized on stage for being an honor student, and the senior chorus girls are singing a song during graduation.

It has been a rocky year, but even the bad stuff influenced me for good. The night before the last day of school, I said a prayer dedicating my senior year to the Lord. To be a better missionary, really study my scriptures, and to be an example to other people. I don't think I've been very successful at all, but I do feel like a new person. I feel like I've matured a lot. Which isn't a very mature thing to say, and Tashi and Noah have both made a comment today about how immature they think I am...but still. I have a long ways to go, but I feel a lot more confident about going to college now.

And everything that I didn't have an opportunity to do during my sophomore or junior year, I did this year. I pushed and worked hard. But if things didn't work out, I had to give it up to the Lord. I am still very proud of myself.

Things I won't miss about high school:

1. school lunch
2. P.E.
3. rednecks talking bad about Mormons and black people
4. drama
5. all the rules
6. favoritism of certain students

Things I will miss:

1. my friends
2. teachers
3. learning about music and history

everyone says I'll miss it. I don't think so. I was a little bit sad, but it's over now! Now for my graduation party tomorrow and everyone else's parties to go to and GRADUATION on Sunday!!! HOORAY!

The Sad Week

So this is where I'm at with the college thing. I did get a 28 ACT score that qualified me for the big scholarship. My school counselor was calling SVU everyday for a week to get updates because we had our awards night coming up. They said they would try to let us know before the awards night. Well this was a crazy week. Everyday was agony wondering out if today was the day...or not. The awards night was on Wednesday. Monday the jazz band played at a town meeting. Tuesday I had to help YW get certified for Girls Camp. I could've spent a lot more time on it, but it still took quite a bit of time. And I was starting to come down with something (and it was that lovely time of the month), so I was super tired. Wednesday was the last day....

And my counselor got an email from SVU saying I didn't meet the criteria for the Marriott Scholarship. That printed off email was like a death sentence in my hands. Yes, I cried in the next class I was in. Me and my counselor figured out it was my GPA. I needed a 3.8, but I had a 3.79. We thought we had explained to them that my GPA was supposed to go up to a 3.8 by the end of the year. I guess we didn't read the fine print that I was supposed to have a 3.8 of my 7th semester. I felt pushed to my limit and felt like I had wasted so much time. And we figured out I could only afford to get one B this semester to get a 3.8 - which is hard when you have major senioritis. And I was borderline A- B+ in 2 classes. And finals were coming up that could doom my grade (if you're a senior and you're getting an A in the class, you don't have to take your May finals). Well I was sitting in this math class crying (this was one of the borderline classes). And my math teacher had said earlier that because I was so borderline, I wouldn't have to take it. But she had to ask the principal just in case and he said I had to take it. So I had to take a final that could affect my GPA that could affect the scholarship.

And to make matters worse, I bled through my pants during that class. What the heck? That never happens to me. Nobody saw and luckily I had brought extra clothes for the awards night that I could change into. But seriously. I'm 18. Not 13. That shouldn't be happening. And then I only got one tiny local scholarship at the awards night. Even though I worked so hard on a million of them. That was a huge waste of time too. And I didn't get my Marriott Scholarship handed to me that night. It did get announced that I was going to SVU that night though. So then all my classmates were like "WHAT? I thought you were going to BYU???" And I really wasn't in the mood to explain and I couldn't say where I'm going for sure yet. I so envied the girl that had a full ride somewhere. Her future was decided. And her or her family didn't have to pay for anything.

Well I got very sick the next day (probably from getting so upset). And we had a chorus concert that night - and I had a solo. My throat felt like it was on fire. And the scholarship upsetedness had carried over from the day before. Well, before the concert, they practiced and started without me. So I was running down the hall in dinky heels and tripped at the top stair. I'm usually clumsy and have trained to catch myself. I did...but my heel fell off and my tights made me slip down the rest of the stairs to the tile below. I was in shock and just laid there for a few seconds. People thought I was unconscious. When I sat up, everyone was staring at me. Hooray for me! Bleeding through my pants one day, tripping down the stairs the next day. What else could I do to show my maturity as an 18 year old senior? I held the tears and pain in during practice, but as we were trying on our robes, I broke down. Which made my face nice and blotchy. But it did feel good to let everything out. And my solo wasn't bad.

Well I felt very forsaken. It was a horrible week. I had to say no to BYU (because of a deadline), and the scholarship from SVU I was counting on didn't work out. I applied for colleges really early and thought I was ahead of my game and that I was going to get more local scholarships. I felt like a failure not knowing what I was going to do this Fall.

But now I have two jobs secured this summer that will give me as many hours as they can (and they're both church members so I won't have to work Sundays and I can ask off for churchy things). And SVU said because they could tell I really wanted the scholarship, they're making a special exception and they'll wait for my 8th semester grades. So I won't find out where I'm going still til at least after school gets out. But that looks a little better and I got an A- on my math final...so things are looking a little on the upside. I have less than a week of school now. And we're not even doing anything. The time is going by so quickly though. It feels like there's 8 hours in a day.

So as of now, I'm still saying I'm going to SVU. And that's what I'm making my senior poster on. I hope all of this made sense.

Prom 2010

Well, Prom was absolutely fantastic!!! Much better than last year. It was a very lovely day. We all had lunch together, and then I went to Amber's house to get ready. I borrowed my dress from my friend Gina's sister. Me and my mom did the alterations and fix ups. So that saved hundreds of dollars on my dress and alterations. I didn't go tanning, I did my own nails, my own hair and makeup, didn't go buy new shoes, and I used the vintage jewelry my mom got for me last year. And Quentin paid for all our flowers. I didn't spend ANY money! It was so nice. Our group was also much better this year and I had a way more positive experience.

I didn't mess up at promenade this year and all the decorations and planning that went into it was much better. Tashi and Quentin were on prom court and escorted each other onto the floor when their names were announced. I was very happy with the prom court this year. And I'm very happy with the people that won king and queen. They deserved it.

I really enjoyed my date. The dinner was wonderful (Tiramisu in Q town). We saw our math teacher there and she gave us all hugs. The dance was SO fun too. I was so tired last year, I didn't want to do anything. I really wanted to go t o Afterprom, but I was a good girl and went to church. And Quentin brought me home a shirt and CD from the Roxy store at Six Flags. So I was a happy girl. It was the kind of Prom you dream about. Lovely, lovely.

I can't copy off the site, so here's some pictures from the actual dance:
dance picture
dance picture