June!

My first month as a high school graduate has now come to a close. I can't really say that it's that great being a graduate: sure, I guess my mom doesn't care where I go anymore, but I get yelled at every day to find a job. Yes, I still have not gotten a job, and it sucks, hardcore. There have been some fun moments too, and I guess I should update you on how my month went. Not because anyone reads this or really cares about my life, but because I feel like I've just ranted for the past 80 billion posts, and I like to pretend Sorine and I aren't the only ones who read this.



Like I said, June has been pretty uneventful. Of course there was graduation on the fourth, and my slightly disastrous after party. Graduation's pretty big, and i"m glad it's over with, but besides that, I haven't accomplished much. My typical day consists of me waking up around 10:30, eating while watching Make it or Break it online so I could catch up before the new season, cleaning the house, getting dressed, turning in/getting job applications, more T.V. watching, singing at my piano until my family gets annoyed, cooking dinner for my family, maybe going out with friends, reading, and going to bed around one. How awful does that sound? Let me tell you, it is awful. I'm getting desperate for a job not just because I need money, but because I need something productive to do with my life. I really have lost count of how many places I've applied to and called back, and people just aren't hiring. Or they won't hire me till I'm 18. There is nothing more frustrating than getting denied a job when your birthday is only a month away. :/ I'm still trying though. My mom is making me volunteer at the animal shelter and possibly a rehab center (I wanted to do both, she's just giving me a kick in the pants.) in the meantime, so that I don't completely fail at life.



Speaking of the animal shelter, we adopted a dog yesterday. His name is Scooby and he is part pug, part chiuaua. Sounds awful, right? He's actually adorable. He's Dorie's dog, and KC is pretty jealous.



Although I mostly just have no life, I did do some exciting things this month. Karina, Mary, and I attended a meditation at Dancing Crane Imports, and that was an interesting experience. We also frequented Diva's Coffee a few times to hear these guys sing, and I even did a cover of "...Baby One More Time" with them, which was exciting. :D I also had the opportunity to go to the Chalk Art Festival at the Gateway a few weeks ago. As you probably know, I love sidewalk chalk. I really do. The art that people created on the sidewalk was absolutely incredible! I almost was inspired to start being an artist... and then I remembered I only draw stick figures. But it was so cool! Katie, Ariel, and I also got the opportunity to play with chalk while we were there, and we created some pretty rad recreations of ourselves. :) Katie and Ariel will possibly post the pictures on Facebook soon. When this happens, definitely check them out!

This week was probably the most eventful of my life as a graduate. My family decided to vacation in Park City, and it was a very awful trip up there. Sunday we set out, me at the wheel, armed with my learner's permit. (Hahaha I know. Shut up.) Let's just say there was a lot of screaming taking place between my parents and I, and I nearly ran a semi off the road. It ended up being really enjoyable trip while I was there though. We went to the street fair, and I loved that! I didn't stay for the whole trip because I left to go on a roadtrip with Sorine and Katie and a few of our other friends. (Aubree, Becca, Kristy, and Kendra) We went up to Blackfoot, Idaho to stay at Sorine's grandma's house. Now, before you laugh your head off at this road trip, let me tell you that it was the most killer roadtrip that anyone has ever taken! I personally LOVE Sorine's grandma's house! She has this giant, open, yard and a huge canal behind her house with rapids and everything. (Oh! And a rope swing! :D) Her grandparents were so hospitable, making us delicious scones and forcing us all to perform in a "talent show" for them. I have decided that Idaho is the worst place for food, ever! My reasoning being this includes an awful experience in a Winger's where we had to wait an hour for our WATER, never got popcorn (It's WINGER"S, you're supposed to get popcorn!), and receiving my luke-warm pasta after the restaurant closed...and then they charged Sorine and I forty bucks for our food... Also, we went to a Wendy's and one girl was doing everything, so our orders took forever. They didn't give us Frostys in our kids' meals, and everything on the dollar menu was $1.50 or more except fries and a Frosty. Of course, I can't complete a journey anywhere without injuring myself or breaking something. I didn't make it to the water on the rope swing, and fell like 10 feet onto the hard, hard, ground. I couldn't walk very well for a few days after that. But it really was the best roadtrip ever! I could go on with funny stories for ever, but I doubt you'd want to read them all. Hopefully pictures will be available for you soon, and you'll see me so I can tell you all these stories! Sorine, Katie, and I have agreed to start a fund for our roadtrip to California in a few years. Universal Studios (and Jurassic Park Ride :D), here we come!

Last night we went and saw He is We at Kilby Court. Oh my gosh, I have so much to say about this show! It wasn't my favorite, but it's up there in my top. To start off, none of us bothered to get the address or had been there before, so we got a little lost....but we found our way and I instantly fell in love! Seriously, Kilby Court is the best place on earth. :) I want to live there. The opening acts were The Glass Gentlemen and Jessica Basset, both local acts. They were both great! Jessica gave off a vibe like she really didn't care about what she was doing, and that bothered me, because she was really good. But The Glass Gentlemen.... :) They were so great! I don't know how many times I turned to Kaitlin and was like "Oh my gosh! I'm in love with Blue! I know he's so small (and you will see in the pictures of us, I am twice his size), but I love him!" His vocals were impressive and he sang with just so much pure emotion. I was so inspired. We had the opportunity to meet them after the show, and we ended up talking to them for a good 45 minutes. I was thoroughly impressed with how genuine and funny they were.. and they were just as star-struck as us. We ended up getting both of their numbers, having them agree to play a show at my birthday party (blog readers, you are ALL invited!), and having them offer to let me use their recording equipment and offering to audition me for their band. They were so friendly, and please, please blog readers (if there are any) support them. Their album and EP are available for free by following the link on their Myspace. The main act, as I have already stated, was He is We. If you don't know my love for this band, I will tell you: He is We is incredible! I love them SO much! I couldn't see them for most of the set because there were like, four super tall girls right in front of me, but I eventually got a really good spot. I didn't know how their live set was going to turn out, but they impressed me. A lot. :) However, their set was super short... only six songs including an encore. We got to meet them afterwards, and got pictures with all of them. Trevor was off on his own, so we had to get pictures with him separately. He was so funny, and made sure to compliment all of us, which I thought was super cute. He was wearing a white shirt, unbuttoned pirate-style. So during our picture he says to me "I'm really sorry if my boobs are hanging out in this picture... it's just so hot out here." and I was incredibly close to blurting out "That's okay. Maybe I'll just let mine hang out too." but I didn't. Ha ha I was thoroughly impressed.

So that's my June! It wasn't very exciting, but it wasn't that bad. What's in store for July? Well, volunteering like I told you, and hopefully getting a job. I'm going to several concerts this month, and I still need someone to attend Silverstein with me on the 14. If you want to go, hit me up! Also, I'm going to a family reunion where I will finally be reunited with my dearest cousin, Lowery. :) And, of course, I'm having the most amazing birthday party ever! :D I'll keep you all posted. Also, I recently had people comment on some posts. Please keep the comments coming.. I absolutely LOVE them!

Songs of the blog will of course be my recommendations from the show. From He is We I recommend "Pour Me Out", "Our July in the Rain", "Radio", "His Name", and of course, "Happily Ever After". By The Glass Gentlemen, I really recommend you download their albums... I'm listening to them right now. But you should definitely check out "Blue Whales", "Alarms", "Night Sleep Maybe", "Not Enough" (Sorine's Favorite), and "Our Winter Goodbye" (My favorite). Give them all a listen, it'll improve your lives! I love you all, and hope you are having the most amazing summers of your lives!

Graduation Reflection

So it's a Friday night, and I'm home sick, so I figured now is as good a time as any to post a new blog. I know, it's been like, a century and a half since I wrote anything, but I haven't really had any inspiration strike me. I'm not very inspired as of right now, but we'll see how this goes. Just in case you're ignorant, I'm graduating in exactly two weeks from today. That's right: the big end to high school. D: I've gotta say that I'm not worried or scared, though. I made up my mind a long time ago that high school just isn't my favorite thing in life. Don't get me wrong- I love the experiences and opportunities that I've had and the wonderful friends I've made! However, I'm definitely at the point where I need something different. I can't wait to finally start my own life. It's not looking like that exciting of a life: Working and then attending BYU-I in January (and NOT marrying a farmer), but at least it's something that I want to do, not that the state requires me to do.

While I'm really excited to move on with my life and become my own person, there are a lot of things I'll miss from high school. I'll really miss just being with my friends every day. I'm not disappointed at all with how my senior year turned out, and there are several people who were a gigantic part of making it fantastic. This year I really learned how to be a good friend, who is learning not to be so selfish. I learned not to discount the people who are always around to support you. I broke past my ideas of what people were like, and learned to really get to know them. I allowed myself to trust people, and to show people the true Alora. I learned that I don't care what people think of me, and that I love the people who still stick by me despite seeing my true colors. There are some people who I won't be very sad about never seeing again (sad, but true), but there are those few people who I want to be in my life forever because of the impact they've made on my life. I really hope high school won't be the end for our friendship.

This year was definitely a year of change for me. I started out the year miserably, hating every minute of school. Reflecting back on that now, things are so much better. The situation I'm in definitely isn't better, but I have a better outlook on things. I'm not bitter at life anymore, but am open to change. My testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ has grown immensely. I've been able to see God's hand in so many things throughout my life and have come to trust him in guiding me. Like I said earlier, I learned to not care what people think about me. This year my life became less about doing what I though other people wanted, but what I expected of myself. I've discovered that music is what I love more than anything. I started writing songs, and it's become a lot easier for me to express myself through them, not that they're really all that good yet. I'm not so scared to sing in front of people anymore. This year I learned to trust people. That might seem so cliche or what not, but it's true. Those of you who know me well know that I'm secretly really shy, and I guard my emotions like they're the Sorcerer's Stone and Voldemort is trying to steal it to ruin the world. (Wow, nerdy moment there. I blame my illness) This year I opened myself up to those I care about, still not as much as a normal person would, but I'm slowly becoming more normal. I learned that it's not that bad. Some people deserved my trust and helped me through a lot of things and made me feel better about myself.... and some people didn't give two cents and completely let me down. I don't really regret anything from this year or my high school experience, because they've made me into the person I am today, and I think she's pretty okay. :)

There really aren't that many teachers who I will miss, but there are a few. The teachers I loved the most were definitely Madame Baigue, Dr. Pearce, and Mr. Brusatto (Shh.. don't tell him!) They all taught me so much, and I plan on visiting them all sometime after graduation (maybe).

I have so many favorite memories from my high school experience, but here are just a few:

Totally weirding Emerson out on the first day of Sophomore year by yelling "Hey! I'm Alora! Remember me?" across the room.

Forming the FHB

Having a toga party

Getting anonymous sing-a-grams on Valentine's Day

Going to football games with my face painted. And winning region championships.

All the inside jokes I've made with people.

Singing in Mads over Christmas. Our carpools were always... interesting.

Singing in the seminary talent show with Emily and Braden this year.

Telling everyone about Ken and Katie and their elbows.

When Katie fell down at the DI.

Being "late" to every play practice this year.

Singing "Going to the Chapel" with Mary in French

All of the dates I've gone on.

All of the concerts I've gone to.

All of the pictures Jonathan drew for me.

Pulling the all-nighter with Mary.

English and Aerobics last year.

Conquering.

Most of the dances I went to.

Proving Sorine's existence

All the musicals I was in

Gosh, there are just so many things I really liked about high school, but you're probably tired of reading about them, so I'll stop. :) High school was good, and I'm definitely looking forward to having more adventures in my new life out of school. Hopefully sometime before I go up to Idaho, I can learn how to drive. That'd be good. haha June, 4, here I come! :D

I don't even know what the song of the blog should be today. I've just been in kind of a free-for-all mood when it comes to music lately. I guess I'll go with "My Baby's Better Than Yours" by Meg & Dia. The lyrics of this song are so great - I'm absolutely in love with them! This is one of their really old, lesser-known songs, but it's absolutely great! I like their old stuff best anyways. "Step over, step over that clever line-gotta figure out which side is right. Choose a destiny to live for - if you wanna live, or die, or fight. And only one side wins, and what I think of this I don't know. It's not that I'm afraid of dying, it's just I'm so afraid to live." I think that's very suiting for a blog about moving on from high school. Give this song a listen, you'll love it! :D

Welcome to My Blog!

So today my friend Sorine and I were hanging out, and we looked through this book of 101 Things To Do Before You Graduate that we have been working on since the beginning of our senior year. We decided it was time for us to determine what we still have left to do in the next four months. Among all of the things we haven't done, one was "Become involved in journalism". Sorine is the editor of her school newspaper, but I on the other hand, have absolutely no interest in getting involved in journalism. So, we decided that I could just start a blog instead. I have absolutely no clue what the point of this blog is going to be yet, so if you're reading this, I would greatly appreciate suggestions. This will definitely be an adventure!

I guess I might as well tell you what else was on the list of things I still have to do before I graduate. Maybe some of you can even help me cross some of them off! :D

Things I Need to do Before Graduation!

Make exercise a habit

Tell a teacher "Thanks, you made me think!"

Welcome mornings

Don't drink soda

Play flashlight tag

Make a hot air balloon and put a message in it.

Go cosmic bowling

Eat ice cream for breakfast (must be done with Sorine)

Temporarily dye my hair

Fill someone's room with balloons

Plant a flower

Conduct a clothing inventory

Go on a blind date with no expectations

Plan a graduation vacation

Take advantage of extra credit

Learn self defense

Walk to class a different way

Reward myself each week

Make a playlist of my senior year

Make an address book

Open a savings account

Stay up all night and talk

Become a filmmaker

Start a blog (x)

Watch Casa Blanca (with Sorine)

Have an all-chocolate day (February 12)

Have a picnic (with Sorine)

Become a secret admirer

Be "all there"

Have a late night snack buffet

Watch the sunrise

Howl at the moon

Make a treasure map (possibly place inside hot air balloon)

Read the entire Book of Mormon

This is quite a long list of things to accomplish in four months, but I want to do it! I think it'll be super fun, and at least I have a lot less than 101 things left to do.

One of the things we crossed off on the list today was "try every flavor of jelly bean and share some". Jelly beans are my absolute favorite candy ever, but Sorine absolutely hates them due to a traumatic childhood experience. We made a trip to WinCo (which we seem to be doing a lot lately) because they have quite an extensive selection of jelly beans, and while we were there the power went out, and it was pretty scary. Luckily we were on our way out when it happened. However, the traffic light was out, so we had to take a detour home, which turned out to be exciting. We saw a guy walking a camel on the side of the road! A camel! It basically made my whole day. When we got home, we had to face the plethora of flavors before us. Some of them were not so bad, and some were delicious. There were some (Dark blue soap, light blue soap, black licorice, light coffee, extra strong coffee, laughing gas banana, window cleaner, and pee) that were absolutely disgusting! We made sure to stock up on those flavors to share with people we don't like (lol)! I am very glad I had Sorine there for support, and I'm pretty sure she is glad she had me for support, or we would've never made it through all of the flavors. I'm so glad we are friends and can do stupid things like eating pee flavored jelly beans together. :)

Also, I am very excited for The Bachelor tonight, it's the top 6! (:D) Maybe I should start a blog about The Bachelor? I have a lot to discuss (like how annoying Aly is! Ugh!)

I guess I should have a song of the blog. I'm listening to my sister's music, and I don't really have a particular song that describes today (unless anyone knows a song about jelly beans). So I'm going to go with "The Horror of Our Love" by LUDO because it's been stuck in my head all day and I haven't listened to it in forever, and it just barely came on, so it must be a sign or something. I'm not going to get started about how great this song is (maybe I should start a music blog?), so I'm going to end this now. I hope that if anyone is reading this it's enjoyable, and any suggestions would be amazing and I will love you forever! Have fun! :D