Book 8.

Have a Little Faith, by Mitch Albom.

"'Mitch,' he said, 'faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe."

"He had a way of looking you in the eye and making you feel the world had stopped and you were all that was in it. Maybe this was his gift to the job. Or maybe it was the job's gift to him."

"When you come to the end, that's where God begins."

"Happiness in a tablet. This is our world. Prozac. Paxil. Xanax. Billions are spent to advertise such drugs. And billions more are spent purchasing them. You don't even need a specific trauma; just 'general depression' or 'anxiety,' as if sadness were as treatable as the common cold. I knew depression was real, and in many cases required medical attention. I also knew we overused the word. Much of what we called 'depression' was really dissaatisfaction... If pills could help, pills were taken. But pills were not going to change the fundamental problem in the construction. Wanting what you can't have. Looking for self-worth in the mirror. Layering work on top of work and still wondering why you weren't satisfied - before working some more."

There are tons of other good quotes in this book too, these are just a few I like a lot. This guy is the same guy who wrote Tuesday With Morrie. This book is about a man who has left his religion behind, but one day is asked by his pastor if he will give his eulogy at his funeral. Mitch decides he needs to get to know his pastor better as a person before he gives his eulogy. Over the next eight years after he is asked to do this, he grows to love and appreciate this man. This was a great book and really made me reflect on life. It was really really neat, posing great questions about God and life and such. I would definitely recommend this book, it was very touching.

Book 7.

Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman.

This book... Let's see. I really really like how the author writes. There were sooo many different literary techniques and different writing styles in this book, and it was really neat and fun to see those different kinds of writing. But overall, this book swore SOOO much. I wouldn't recommend it just because of how much it swears. But yes, it was really cool how the author used so many different types of writing. My two favorite chapters were 1. A chapter where it was a conversation between two people and it went like this: what she said.... what she really meant... what he said... what he really meant... it was so funny, and so true! 2. A chapter where the teacher asks each of the students to think about the book they are reading and then it says: what was really on each student's mind... and proceeds to list off what each of the 27 students were thinking about, none of which was the book. It was so funny. Interesting book, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I'll be out of my mind, and you'll be out of ideas pretty soon.

My two summer goals:

1. Earn enough money to go back to school and to study abroad in France.
2. Catch up in my journal.

Why only two goals might you ask?

Theses two tasks are HUGE feats in themselves. First off, I have about $700 in my bank account right now. What does this mean? Yes. $4480 in tuition needed. Not to mention I need a place to live and food to eat. Add $1785 in rent, $225 in utilities, and $675 for food. Fun budget = $0.00. Total amount needed, $7165. And that is just for school. France is another $5000 itself.

So, how will this happen might you ask? It is clearly impossible to earn $14000 in one summer. Luckily I have awesome parents and grandparents who are willing to pay one semester of tuition for me and $200 a month towards my life. So that takes out a good amount, leaving only $3525 to be earned. Plus, Rebbie is amazing and is going to help me get this grant winter sememster which will give me $4000 to pay for tuition first and second semesters. So cross your fingers I can stand living in the library and survive 3 chem classes and get my GPA up stinkin .1... Yeah, a measly .1 away from getting the grant right now. Boooooo.

So... with that help, I simple will need to early $4525. Which entails 625 hours of work at Smoothie King, my current employment at $7.25 an hour, which means working 48 hours a week for the next 12 weeks of summer. Clearly this isn't going to happen, so pray hard that I will be able to get registered as a pharmacy tech please!!

But yes. My mind is set. I'm going to do it. I'm going to live, study, breathe, speak, do everything french for a month and a half. In FRANCE. Once I put my mind to this one, nothing is going to stop me. I've already dreamt about it a handful a times. And after all, a dream is a wish your heart makes, and I've been wishing on stars that this wish will come true.

Secondly, my journal. Ever since the 10th grade, Mrs. Westover inspired me to keep a journal. Therefore I have my whole high school rollercoaster in 4 journals. It is great. Unfortunately, August 14th, 2009 was my last journal entry. I fell apart. College got to me and I didn't write ONCE my freshmen year. I'm ashamed to say the least. But I did write down what I did almost every day, so it is my goal to use my brilliant, cough cough, memory to recapture my freshmen year for posterity, but mostly for myself years down the road.

So, with theses two enormous tasks to accomplish, this summer is going to be full of hard work, that's for certain.

And I knew that you meant it.

Me: "I have to floss my teeth tonight! Then I'll have done it three days in a row!!"
Mom: "Great! Only 18 more days til it becomes a habit!"

So it takes 21 days to form a habit.

The following are habits I want to form this summer:

1. Morning prayers daily
2. Flossing every day
3. Washing my face every night
4. Do something thoughtful for someone every day
5. Say I love you to family more frequently
6. Running daily!

The following are habits I want to 100% solidify this summer:

1. Say meaningful nighttime prayers DAILY
2. STUDY scriptures every day
3. Keep in touch with friends
4. Not judge people EVER
5. Share my testimony when I have the opportunity

21 days here I come.

Sing me to sleep tonight, sweet Juliet.

My addiction and guilty pleasure these days is Family Search Indexing. I find it so calming and methodical, so fun to decipher the names, and heck, it's even worthwhile! I've now indexed 1047 names since the beginning of the summer, so in a month. Hooray! It is so much fun, you should try it sometime!

"Family history, I am doing it, my family history..."

I always get sooooo bored on the topic of family history and genealogy during church and such, but I never get bored doing indexing! It is a fun and simple way for me to get involved in family history, which I know is very important for me to do!

Book 6.

The Map Thief, by Heather Terrell.

I definitely liked this book the most of all the one's I've read so far this summer. It was a book seeking to find an answer to a real life mystery through fiction. It was really interesting, and very likely actually. This author helped me really feel the emotions of the main characters, the book felt very real. It was really neat! I would recommend this book.

Book 5.

Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Akpan

This book was really really depressing. It was five short stories put together, each told in the point of view of a child. Each child lived in different, but each dismal, circumstances in different countries in Africa. Each of the stories ended in the death of the child, or someone very close to the child. It was very very sad. The saddest part is I know these things really do happen in Africa.

Baby come back.

I was feeling moody and down the other day. I was feeling like I didn't have any friends or people that cared about me. I then realized I was being a bum. Because there are so many people that I am friends with and that mean a lot to me! Therefore, this post is mostly for myself to remind me of all the great people I've met and grown to love even more this past school year :)



Alex Wright - aka the best fhe dad ever!!



Bishop and Sister Armstrong - suuuper classy people.



Bencois. What a great kid :)



Blake "Stoneface" Lord. I like it when he wears dark jeans.



Bro. Davis is soooooooo great!



Brennan Leavitt is a cutie with a cute smile!



Carly is the bestest younger sister eva.



Chalay! I just like her a lottt.



Chris "bestie" Perfili! He was a hoot.



Oh Christine. The fun times we had!



Dear Clarka. It was a pleasure to be his sidekick.



Collin! From beginning to end, great friends.



Daniel's a cutie :)



David challenges me to do hard, but good things. Like dominate mancakes.



Don!! A great chatting buddy.



Emily Eckley is darling in every aspect.




Grantie Panties!! Good times.



Ian Ian Ian. Great kid.



Jam-es! You're so cool :)



Jared! I miss his crazy ways. And seeing his bedroom light on driving home.



Jay! Tell me story? haha.



Jerlier! Future roommates! Woooo!



Oh Katie. You are so silly. Hope Cali is warmer than Utah ;)



KLEE!! Come back from Idahoooooo :(



Kolby is so much fun!



Oh Kristen. Living with only children makes me laugh.



Kylo!! I miss him sooo bad! BFF!



Kylie!! I love her so much. Best roommate ever!!



Oh good ol' elementary school best friends :)



Parker! I love Parker hugs.



Rebbie! She's a great girl and a great friend!



Ryan! This picture just describes our relationship.



Sammie! Such a great boy.



Oh Shawn. I know you think I'm psycho.



Spencer! This right here is one classy boy.



Sterling! He gets me through hard days.



I can always count on Trevor for a laugh or two.

I'm feeling like a star - you can't stop my shine.

Oh yeah, last week I cut all my hair off. So... here it is :)
10 inches shorter, 10 minutes to do it, 10 times lighter!

Before...

After...

Book 4.

Postcards from No Man's Land, by Aidan Chambers.

"Some people say falling in love is a kind of madness whenever it happens. If that's so, all I can say is I would rather be mad than sane."

I was sooooo happy when I read this quote. We are like kindred spirits.

"He remembered Anne recording in her diary how she longed to be kissed... and sympathized, kissing, in his opinion, being among the best of pleasures. But why, he wondered... was such a comic action as melding your damp oral membranes with someone else's so desirable? Where did sure an impulse come from? What on earth could it have to do with evolution and human survival in the Darwinian circus that it should be so widespread and wished for?"

True that, double true.

This book was definitely not one of my favorites. I thought it was going to be a cool World War II story, but then it ended up being a love story that I didn't really like or approve of really. And there were just some really unnecessary things in it that could have been left out and made the book much more enjoyable and not random. I wouldn't recommend it.

Book 3.

The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart.

This book is the legend about Merlin. I liked it because most of the time it is the legend about King Arthur, and only briefly mentions Merlin and such. But this book went into his life, from being a bastard child to finding out his real heritage to his great prophesies and doings. It was a cool book! I'm sure glad I don't live in medieval times! (PS that is a very tricky word to try and spell.) I might have to go find the other two books in the trilogy now!