First Semester of College Complete!

The first semester at BYU was great and it is done! It's amazing how fast it goes by. It seems like I just barely moved into my apartment. I had taken college classes before, about 70 credits worth. But the classes I took in high school and even the 3 I took on the SLCC campus didn't quite prepare me for my experience at BYU.

Its not to say the BYU classes were extremely difficult, or the SLCC ones were a cake walk, but these were harder than what I'd taken before. And my problem was I didn't work much harder. It's said that for every hour of class you spend in class you're supposed to spend two or three hours outside of class doing homework and studying for it. With 15 credit hours, that's about 45 hours a week studying, not to mention the time your in class, work, church callings, FHE and just hanging out. That's a lot to cram in, and I'm not the best at it. Even after all the classes I've taken I still didn't handle it very well. I also don't really know how to study, and that has caused me some problems. For every test I had, I went to test reviews which accounted for at least half of the studying I did. I relied on those. Without disclosing my grades, I could've done better on a lot of those tests.

I definitely wasn't ready for the financial burden. I did get a partial scholarship for tuition, but I still had a bout $700 to pay. I had rent each month that was just under $300, and I didn't get a job until November. The first couple months I was living off what I had saved, and a credit card I got in the summer. It came down to the wire, so I started selling my plasma. My parents bailed me out, but I'm hoping I can do it on my own in the future. I eventually was able to get a job at Zupas where my roommate works. Making sandwich's and salad's was different than jobs I've had in the past, but its a great job and fun environment. Even though I'm making some money now, it still gets tight and I'm hoping to get a grant for this next semester.


I'm not saying this semester was just hard work; I definitely had some fun. The new environment is also something I wasn't prepared for. Such as living with 5 other girls, having church in the Tanner building, being on the enrichment committee, seeing one of my roommates makeout with her boyfriend on our couch (not BYU approved), having marriage brought up in most conversations and talks, paying for rent, buying my own food, living down the hall from a ton of college guys, and not having to check in with anyone if I'm out past curfew (the last two are not necessarily correlated). The freedom I have is something I definitely love, however I miss my family on occasion and still like to go home and spend time with them. This semester was a great experience and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Good old PoS

Green '94 Ford Explorer. That's my car. My sister, Michal, so graciously let me take over payments until it was paid off and now its mine. (Technically its still in her husband's name, but I have responsibility for it.) It's been a pretty good car, got me to where I needed to go: work, school, between houses; acted as transportation for a majority of the neighborhood.

But I've had quite a few problems with it...

It started last May (about a month after I got the car) when I had to get the brakes fixed. One day all of the sudden my brakes went out, I couldn't stop. I had to swerve to the side of the road to avoid hitting the car in front of me. Scared me half to death. They seemed to be working fine after that, so I kept driving on those brakes for a few days. Not a good idea, I assume it only made the brakes worse. I ended up taking it in to Big O' Tires to have it looked at and fixed. They told me I could've been in an accident at any time and shouldn't've been driving it at all. It's amazing I'm still alive. They fixed my brakes. Don't ask me what they did, I know nothing about cars. All I know is my car stopped when I pushed the left pedal and for that convenience it cost me $593.83. More than what I had. Luckily I have great parents that help out in tough times.

Less than a month later, my car is used to jump start another. I don't know what that did, put it had problems after that. My steering wheel sucked, making a U-ey was more like a 10 point turn. Took it back in to Big O', gave them $87.33 for them to replace my tensioner pulley. I don't know what exactly happened, but my air conditioner stopped working at the same time, and to fix that it would've cost me another couple hundred bucks, which I just didn't have. And now I've learned how to do my hair, so it looks intentionally messed up after driving on the freeway with the windows rolled down.

A couple months later, after coming home from a vacation, much to my surprise, the back driver side window was shattered. I attempted to get a used window at a junk yard with the help of my brother in law, Mike. But that didn't work out so well, so I went to Low Price Auto Glass where they put in a new window for $42.12. They also, so kindly, replaced, for free, my rear-view mirror, which I had broken off about a week before. It was difficult having no mirror, but I could drive just as well as before, except now I couldn't do my make-up in the car. I was glad to have that back. After fixing the window, they didn't put the inside of the door back on correctly; so I ask passengers not to use that one, otherwise they may not be able to close it. Guess that's what you get for getting your window fixed at a cheap place in West Valley.

That was the end of my troubles for awhile. Besides the occasional oil change and fillin' up on gas twice a month, everything was going smooth. But in the last few weeks I had more problems than I was ready for.

I took my car to get it checked to renew my registration at Just Inspection and Emissions. They looked at my car, and failed it. They informed me that the radius arm bushing needed to be replaced. (Don't ask me what it is, I think it has something to do with the axle though.) They also told me not to drive it anymore, especially not fast or far. Well I did anyway. I had places to go, people to see. They, too, are kind people - didn't charge me, and gave me advice on where to fix it and how much it would cost. A few hundred dollars. I had spent that much before, but I didn't want to again. I freaked out. Started thinking about my options.

That's when I heard about Cash for Clunkers from my good friend Bryce. A new government program that allows you to turn in your PoS and get $4,500 off a new car. This was the deal for me. My car fit all the qualifications: low gas mileage(13-15 mpg), old ('94), registered and insured for the past year (although it didn't matter that I couldn't get it re-registered). I researched the program, calling around to different dealerships to get more information. My dad knows a guy, Ross, at the Ken Garff dealership down town. We worked up a deal with him, and before I knew it I was test driving a brand new Nissan Versa. I was getting pretty excited about this. A new car!! But as I thought through it more and more, I realized that I couldn't handle a new car payment each month, especially as a new college student. That bright light of hope I had of a new car dimmed quickly as I looked for places to get my car fixed.

I started calling around for the best deals on getting a new radius arm bushing. I found that Big O' Tires and Clayton Snow's American Car Center could do it the cheapest. I took my car in for them to look at it and get a better estimate. Big O' said about $190, whereas Clayton said $125, so I took it to Mr. Snow. But before, when I had been at Just, they told me my front tire had a puncture and would need to be changed. So while I was in Big O' I asked about a new tire. They were actually able to get me a used on for $26.71. It was the only one they had that would fit my car and would be that cheap, so I jumped all over it (figuratively). Directly after that I went to get the rest of car fixed, well a piece of it. Clayton was pretty confident that he could fix it for a good price, however he did warn me that with a problem like mine another part on the axle could've been wearing and might need to be replaced as well. Sure enough it did. Couldn't tell you what the piece was, but it's something that was supposed to be round and was now oval, not good. So after replacing both those parts, it came to $215.60. That was just about all the money I had at the time, but luckily I have a wonderful father who loves to help me out, and covered this one for me.

Now it had been awhile since my last oil change and I get a free one every now and then at Midas with the two-year maintenance plan my car has. So I took it for the change, and asked for a inspection since my car had been fixed. Much to my surprise, they told me my brake hoses were cracked and that I'd fail the safety inspection if I didn't fix them, and it'd cost me over $200. (What did Big O' fix just last year? I better not need new brake equipment.) This was pretty freakin' frustrating! I called my dad, mostly to get a credit card number to pay for it, cause I didn't have enough on my card at the time, but he told me I was being taking advantage of and to take it back to Just for the inspection. So I got the free oil change, but the emissions cost $25.50. Thanks for charging me for the part I didn't fail. Good to know success in life will cost ya.

And back I went to Just Inspection and Emissions. They remembered me from when I was in a week or two before. They didn't want to charge me for the whole inspection again since they had just looked at it and knew I got the problem fixed. They couldn't find any paper work from the last time I was in (because they didn't give my any), so they searched my car for it and found the receipt from Midas. Then they started questioning me why I went there, as if I had been unloyal to them. Freak, I needed an oil change; give me a break. I assured them that Midas had been unfair and that's why I came back. They passed me and gave me new registration, for a total of $79.50 I don't think I paid for the inspection or emissions but that was quite a lot for renewal. However, I trust these guys. As for Midas, why did I need new brake hoses there, but I didn't at Just? I think one of those companies was taking advantage of a stupid little blonde girl. See if I go there for anything but the free oil change ever again.

After all of that I have a car that gets me to where I'm going, for which, I am grateful. I just hope it keeps getting me there, for at least a couple more years. And now my car is mostly fixed. I still don't have air conditioning, one of doors is falling apart, there are holes in the fabric of my ceiling, and the 'check engine' light just came on...better get that looked at.

My Second Home

*A tradition had been started many years before I was even born. This tradition became apart of my life, made me who I am. But it didn't start out as such a big deal. It began with my parents wanting a simple family vacation (my mom had wanted to go somewhere like San Diego, for the beach.). After doing some research they decided on Bear Lake, "one of the largest natural lakes in the Western United States".That sold it for my parents, and we have gone to Bear Lake every year since.

I have been to Bear Lake every summer of my life. I look forward to it, expect it. One year there was talk of not going, and that just about killed me. Luckily, we went. One of my first memories of being there was my older sister telling me about the bear lake monster. Of course the monster is just a folktale, but as a young child you believe everything you hear. My sister pulled out an old newspaper article that told about the Bear Lake monster; it even had a picture of it. I couldn't believe my eyes. At first I hadn't believed her, but once she showed me the picture it was as real as Santa Clause. I knew the Bear Lake Monster was real and it terrified me. That year I hardly swam in the lake at all. I was convinced that I went too far out it was going to eat me. So I stayed in the most shallow water and played on the beach almost the whole time. It wasn't until the next year that I found there was no monster in the lake, it was all made up.I then cleverly told the story to my younger siblings who were now afraid to go swimming in the lake. The pattern would go on for the rest of the siblings.

As I mentioned before, this was a tradition. Well, after many years of doing the this I noticed a pattern of our little trip. We began by loading into the van, and with 16 of us that's no easy chore. Of course, we took two vehicles, but with all the luggage it's still a squeeze. We stay at Bear Lake for about a week, and with all those people we couldn't very well eat out all the time. So about half way there we stopped at a local grocery store in Logan, to get our weeks worth of nutrients: cookies, chips, burritos, hot dogs, etc... Then, with all that crammed on top of all the people and luggage we headed onward towards our destination.

Driving into the mountains is one of my favorite parts of the drive; it meant we were getting close. It’s a beautiful drive as well: green hills with lots of trees and flowers. But the best part is reaching the top of the mountain; just over the horizon, seeing that first line of blue. Bear Lake has the bluest water I've ever seen. Some call it the "Caribbean of the Rockies" because of the turquoise tint of the water. From that point it was only about ten minutes until we arrived at the O.R.E. resort, one of the nicest in Garden City. This resort had its guests living well with nice grassy lawns, barbecue grills, playground, mini golf course, convenience store, and private pool. We had stayed at these condos ever since I could remember. My siblings and I always referred to them as “the brown condos” since all you can see are dozens of identical brown buildings when you first pull into the resort. Even though they are all exactly alike, I could still tell 'my condo' apart from the others. It was about ten over from the left and had a crooked tree in front of it.

Now it was time to unload all the groceries, luggage, and children. With all the helping hands it only took a few trips to get everything up and into the condo. After putting everything in their proper places-throwing the luggage on the floor-we changed into our swimming suits and headed for the beach. This was one of the nicest beaches in Bear Lake, and it was reserved for O.R.E. residents only. The beach had the best sand in the world (perfect for making sand castles and burying little siblings) but as many people know, the water is freezing! We always go in August so the lake has had all summer to warm up, yet it stills takes at least 10 minutes before we can completely submerge under the water.

Even though this resort is incredible, that isn't why we came. We came for the Lake. We'd spend as much time as possible in the water. At least every year my dad would take all the kids would were adventurous enough to swim out to the buoy. There are a line of red and white buoys 100 yards from the shore, marking the no-wake zone for boats and jet skis. The first few years I wouldn't dare go out there. The first time I tried I got terrified and turned around before the water was even passed my shoulders. But I remember the first time I actually did make it all the way. What an accomplishment. It wasn't easy to do; the current and wind are pushing you back in, water is splashing in your face, and the sun is beating down on you. I felt like Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to cross the English Channel. Of course her feat was quite larger than mine, but nevertheless mine was a feat.

Another tradition we have is renting a boat and riding to the other side of the lake. We call it our laguna. Its a place where no one else goes; where we can't see anyone for miles. We 'park' the boat and jump into the water. If you are unwilling to jump, my dad will push you. I suggest just jumping. There's no beach, just a deep drop off from the side of the mountain. The bottom of the lake can't be seen there. Who know whats swimming beneath you, maybe the Bear Lake monster.

The wonderful tradition of going every year continued on, but it changed a little. My parents, who grew to love it so much up there, bought two condos in Harbor Village, just a few miles up the road from the O.R.E. resort, and it had the most beautiful view of the lake and the city. We could now go up to Bear Lake any time of the year we wanted to. So we did. Any weekend the family could get off we packed up all our things and stayed a few days in our condos. This was like a dream come true. With all that time spent up there Garden City became very familiar to me.

Garden City is a little town on the south side of Bear Lake. When I say little town I mean it. The population is approximately 357 people and the city sits on about 4 1/2 square miles. Most of the shops are personally owned by the residents and run all year round. It is famous for the festival Raspberry Days and the Raspberry Shakes, which my family get every year. Pure vanilla ice cream and raspberries swirled into a smooth cup of heaven. There were numerous shops that sold these and I took it upon myself to try them from each place. I came to find it didn't really matter where I got them, they were delicious anywhere.

My father would take all the kids on a drive around the lake, across the Utah-Idaho border and around the 50 mile perimeter. This really gave me a feel for the lake and all its surroundings. I learned that the south side of the lake has much better beaches than the north. My parents picked right from the beginning. But it was wonderful to see all that the lake had to offer. It was continuously beautiful all the way around, the water as blue as ever. On one of those drives we took a road off of the main one and went back into the mountains. We found something we had never known about, what we came to call "the secret valley." Hardly any homes were back there. It had wide open spaces with rolling green hills and little dirt road that took deeper and deeper into the mountain. We all planned that we would one day build a house there and have a our own little secret get away.

Garden City and Bear Lake became more than just a vacation spot. It became my second home. Going there every year became something I look forward to and long for. It is a dream of mine to have my own home in Garden City and become part of the 357. Bear Lake has become apart of me forever, and who knows, maybe one day I'll buy a little cabin right on the beach.

*This was a paper I wrote for my English class. It is 99% true. I dressed it up a little bit to make it a more interesting paper.

Real Salt Lake

This past weekend I went to a Real Soccer game. I got invited last minute by my friend Andrew. We also went with his friends Missy and Daniel. I didn't know much about soccer. I didn't know it was split into two 45 minute parts and they keep the clock running constantly, and I didn't know many of the rules. Luckily Andrew explained most of this to me and I have since gained respect for the game.

We had pretty decent seats, row 20, considering we got the tickets for free. This was the sold out game of the season; although, it was kids night. Apparently all kids got in for free or cheap or something. Seriously, tons of kids everywhere. There was a little girl's soccer team sitting in front of me the whole time. And of course their fanatic soccer coach with them, who still wishes he was in the game. The girls were either chanting Real or singing Hannah Montana songs. It got old quick, but I tried to pay attention to the game. It was actually quite interesting.

We played the Kansas Wizards. (their small section of fans sure did have some spirit. They must've brought a smoke machine, I thought they were on fire until the smoke kept going the whole second half and no seemed to care.) We lost 2 - 0, but made a valiant effort. We almost made three goals, but unfortunately they like kicking it at the posts instead of the goal. No, I'm sure the Wizards were just great competitors. It was a very interesting game to watch. It is amazing to me how fast they can run, and I loved seeing the ball fly across the field. Its quite a long distance. And they can kick and hit it with incredible accuracy. Aren't athletes amazing. I have a new deep respect for soccer.

Sternutation

"What the heck is that?" you may ask. It is a sneeze. And if looked up on Wikipedia the following definition would be given: a semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth, most commonly caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa. Well put. Sneezing really isn't that interesting of a thing. Everyone does it; it is quite common.
What I do find interesting are the rumors about sneezing. Such as, if you look at light it will make you sneeze. I'm not sure if this is true or not but my trusty research companion Wiki told me that this may be believed because some people have photic sneeze reflex. This is a genetic trait that causes you to sneeze when you see a sudden bright light. Approximately 37% of individuals have this trait. So looking at a light does not work for everyone. Another myth says that your heart stops. This is not true. The pressure created in your chest during sternutation cause the rhythm of your blood flow and heartbeat to change slightly. This may make it feel like your heart skipped a beat, but it did not cause it stop.

Other interesting facts:
You cannot sneeze at night because during REM your motor neurons are not signaled to send the reflex to your brain.
The world record for sneezing is held by Donna Griffiths from Worstershire in the UK, who sneezed for 978 days in a row.
A sneeze can spread up to 5 feet and exits your body at 100 mph.
What I find particularly interesting is the belief that if you don't close your eyes while sneezing they will pop out. It seems like such a preposterous idea. Could the force expelling the tens of thousands of droplets from our bodies be enough to rip our eyes out of their sockets? And could the action of shutting our eyelids be enough to fight that force? It doesn't seem likely to me. But, a few weeks ago I had a cold and was sneezing quite often and I had the idea to experiment sneezing with my eyes open. So every time I felt the urge to sneeze I placed my index finger on my top eyelid and by thumb on the bottom and stretched my eye open. Not a very comfortable or attractive position, but it was for the good of science, and when is a sneeze comfortable or attractive? Every time I did that nothing happened; I couldn't sneeze anymore. It was quite odd and bothersome. When you gotta sneeze, you gotta sneeze. Its the worst feeling when a sneeze won't come out. My body must've known I was forcing my eyes open and consequently wouldn't let me sneeze as to not let them pop out. This may or may not be true, but thinking about it, sneezing is a difficult reflex, using most of your upper body to do it:diaphram, lungs, esophagus, mouth, and nose. Closing the eyes may make it a little bit easier to accomplish the task. I believe it is just apart of the reflex and don't think my eyes will fall out, at least I hope not.

Thank you for calling Massage Envy, Not Carl's Jr.

I work at Massage Envy. Its a great job, can't complain...well I could and I will, but only about one thing. It is one of my responsibilities to answer the phone. I answer the same way every time, "Thank you for calling Massage Envy in West Jordan, this is Grace." (except one time I forgot I was at work and just said "Hello" and the conversation was kind of awkward after that). So we occasionally get calls from people who think they're calling Carl's Jr. Their number is listed as ours in the directory. Its quite annoying. Obviously people do not listen to the introduction we give when we answer the phone, or else they would know that we are not the ones who messed up their order. We just do massage. You wouldn't believe how many calls we get telling us they just went through our drive thru and are upset with what they got. I've had people carry on for several minutes yelling at us for the bad service or food or whatever. Of course I tried stopping them, I don't like listening to them complain, but they were quite persistent. Once I am able to tell them that they have to wrong number, they are usually embarrassed, and either apologize or just hang up.

All these calls are complaints, but wouldn't it be nice if someone did call to say thank you for the delicious Six Dollar Burger they received. Not going to happen. I feel bad for who ever answers the phones at Carl's Jr. They actually have to deal with these angry people. As for me I let them vent some of their frustration and after they've hung up, just laugh.

My 25

1.I am in love with the mountains, especially the Wasatch Front. I don't think I could ever move away from them.

2. Astronomy is fascinating to me. I would love to join a star gazing club and have nerdy guys points out all the constellations to me.

3.I took piano lessons for 8 years, stopped about a year ago. I love playing, but mostly just play hymns and such.

4.My favorite teachers have always been guys: Mr. Edwards, Shute, Bustin, Banks, Rand, Barton, Titus, Hemming , except my kindergarten and first grade teacher Mrs. Harmon, she'll always be #1.

5.I traveled to 9 different countries in one year. (2007) I went seven countries in Europe (including Vatican City, and yes that counts) on a three week tour, went to Canada with my family and Israel for two weeks with AIFL.

6.I'm a hypocrite, try not to be, but still am.

7.I have a huge family. 13 siblings, 16 of us total. Twenty years between the youngest and the oldest. I'm in the middle: number 8, ten years younger than the oldest and ten years older than the youngest. 8. I took ceramics and pottery in 11th grade. I wasn't any good at either of them, everything I made was very amateur. But I absolutely loved pottery. I went into a whole new world when I threw that clay on the wheel and molded it with my hands.

9. I sucked my thumb until I was about 7 or 8. Probably a little too old, but it was a comfort to me. I finally quit when my dentist convinced me it would mess up my teeth; and it did. Good call doc.

10.I talk to myself sometimes. When I was younger I would make up stories in my head, like a movie. Creating characters, a story line, with a problem/solution. It kept me occupied for hours.

11.Traditions are incredibly important to me. I want to bring all my traditions into my future family. My husband better let me. I'll take some of his, but I need all of mine.

12. I have a bad habit of copy the way other people talk, mostly accents. I think I get it from my mom. We'll catch each other doing it. The worst is when you copy someone right in front of them. Like my Spanish teacher in 9th grade. He's from South America and was awful at teaching Spanish, so basically I'd just copy/make fun of him all period, and one time I copied him while he was talking to my friend right next to me. Embarrassing, I felt so bad but I continue to do it anyway.

13.Every time I write, type, or text the word Beautiful I have say to the letters B-E-A-U and tiful. Its not a hard word to spell, its just kinda habit and I sometimes get the order of the vowels mixed up.

14. I sometimes enjoy the smell of cigarette smoke. I don't like or support smoking, and I hate when its too strong. But a subtle whiff of smoke is pleasant, because it reminds me of my uncle, and of the 'T' in Boston(the underground train. I love the subway and such public transportations in big cities.)

15.I love the Native American culture.

16.Bear Lake is like my second home. I have taken family vacations up there since I can remember. When I was young we went to Bear Lake every summer. A few years ago we bought a condo up there and now go up several times a year. It may just be my favorite place on earth.

17. I have bad handwriting. I say its because I'm going to be a doctor, and everyone knows doctors have bad hand writing. I believe the reason for this is that there's a lot going on their brain and they can't write quickly enough to get it all down. So basically if you have bad handwriting, its because you're smart.

18. I write in my journal every week. I got my first journal on my 8th birthday, and went crazy. I have about 10 journals so far, and I'm still going strong.

19.My best friend is Michelle Dyer. We've known each other pretty much forever. Our parents have been friends since college, but I think we've been friends since the pre-mortal existence. She lives in Alabama, but I see her almost every summer. Her family usually comes up here for a few weeks, and I've gone down there twice.

20. I was named after my mother. My first name is actually Katherine and I go by my middle name Grace.

21. I really enjoy reading. I try to read the book before seeing the movie. Doesn't always happen, but the book is always better. Its a fact.

22.Rascal Flatts is my favorite band. Gary LeVox is amazing!

23.Quotes are one of my favorite things. Quotes can express ideas so well. I try to memorize the quotes I love, but often fail at it.

24. I will have my Associates degree by the end of the summer after my high school graduation. I then plan to have my bachelors by 2011 from BYU and go on to Medical school at the U. That's my plan, lets hope it works.

25.I believe strongly in the law of attraction. I will bring into my life what I envision. I try to think positively all the time, so I can have the best life possible.

DAVID ARCHULETA!!

I went to a David Archuleta concert last week with my friend Kate. Loved it! I had only been to one other concert, and that was Alan Jackson. That one was out doors, this one was indoors. That made a difference to me. In the enclosed area with an incredible sound system, I could feel my heart jumping along with the bass. I don't think thats very natural, but I sort of enjoyed the feeling. I thought that my voice would've hurt from screaming, but rather my ears did. You wouldn't believe how loud the shrills were from the thousands of girls. They did more damage than the music, but the sore eardrums were well worth it. I loved the concert.

Now of course I love David, he's amazing, but his first opening act, Benton Paul, was phenomonal. (yeah, there were two opening acts. The second one, some girl with a weird name and weird voice, was not enjoyable. Granted we were all anxious for Archie). Seriously, I could've listened to Benton all night. I loved his voice, lyrics, style, face, everything. I was more excited to meet him after the concert than David (I didn't meet either of them, but I wanted to).

So after about an hour and a half (the opening acts) David finally came out! Boy, did those girls go crazy. I would've plugged my ears, but that would've looked stupid. I didn't know many of his songs, except Crush. I realized that its more fun when you know the songs. I probably enjoyed the last fifteen minutes the most when he sang Crush and his own version of other popular ones like A thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton, which of course he played on the piano quite beautifully.

David is probably the nicest, cutest kid I've ever seen. He thanked us for coming to his concert after just about every song. And he made clear just how excited he was to be performing his last concert of the tour in his home town. He sure does love us. Thanks David! He even took of picture himself with us. Apparently he does this at every concert and is going to scrapbook the pictures? Not sure, but heck he can do whatever he wants with it, he's David Archuleta.

The Po-Po have got it in for me

I'm driving down the street just humming to the radio when I notice a white Dodge Charger hiding in a neighborhood. I quickly hit my breaks, trying to slow down to the correct speed, but its too late. The red and blue lights start flashing, I curse under my breath and pull to the side of the road. The officer slowly walks up as I roll down my window. He then asks, "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

I hate that question. Yes, I know why I was pulled over, must've been doing something illegal(speeding in my case). Lets get on with this. After taking my licence and registration he looks at my file for what seems like hours. Lets be quick about it, I was speeding because I'm trying to get somewhere (and I also like going fast). Finally he brings it back, hands me the ticket and asks if I have any questions. Whether I do or not I'm not asking. I just want to leave, I've been here long enough. I pull onto the road carefully and with my blinker of course, hoping to never go through that again.

Those coppers have got me 4 times, 3 of those I got tickets, luckily 1 was a non-moving violation. Yes, 3 tickets within 1 year. Its not a good record. And they won't even let me go to traffic school to clear it. The first two times I felt like such a bad person, getting caught by the authorities. The last two times, I just brushed it off. No biggie. I just hate paying those darn tickets. But I have resolved to driving more carefully. I'll have to, if I don't want my licence suspended.

My very first blog...

This is my first time blogging. For the longest time I didn't even know what it was, or understand why someone would want to do it. It wasn't exactly my idea to blog; it didn't interest me much. My friend, Bryce, is the one who introduced me to it. He told me to read his and encouraged me to start one of my own. And here I am blogging (that's a strange word to me). I've actually become quite excited about it. I've even made a list of the topics I'd like to blog about. In no time I could have novels on my blog...but, probably not. I've been writing in a journal since I was 8 years old (you could probably call those novels, poorly written novels). I like writing, informal writing that is. I hate essays, I'm not good at them. But free style writing is very enjoyable to me. I think that is what blogging will be like. It will act as a creative outlet, freeing to my soul. This could be good... On to blogging!