National Speakers Association

I am currently sitting on the top floor of Zions Bank in downtown Salt Lake at the National Speaker Association.
Its incredible.

It makes me think a lot about my life and my future. I have a lot ahead of me and I can't wait.

Its only up from here.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."
-Douglas Adams

California Trip--Daddy's Pics

Disneyland/California Adventure

Dad's caption: "'You've got an army?We've got a Hulk.' And she's not happy about Indiana Jones being closed." (I was. I was angry.

Funny conversation had on Facebook :)

Dad's caption: "We're not great at being scary."

Dad's caption: "Midway Maniacs"

Dad's caption: "This is my shy, quiet daughter (?) trash talking the car we just beat."

Dad's Caption: "Anger at the Indiana Jones closure..dissipating..."

Dad's caption: "The Dole Whip Tiki God"

Knottsberry Farm

I love the weekend

Hello (: 

 It's been awhile (only a few days) since I have Blogged but it feels like longer than that.. At least it feels longer than that for me.

These last few days I have been staying busy.

Thursday I went to a movie with my singles ward. There were three choices available. I didn't want to watch "Avengers" but guess which one we watched? You got it. Avengers. 

Friday I went to dinner and a play, "Y Light" with Belinda, William, Ken and Patricia. It was pretty funny. I enjoyed it. After I got home from the play my dad and I watched a movie that was filmed in Six Flags. It was so funny.

Saturday was my date with Aaron. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out being really fun. I surprised Charlie by showing up at his house for a minute. Aaron and I went to dinner at a place in downtown Salt Lake called "Red Rock". It was delicious. We then went to Wise Guys comedy club. The main comedian was hilarious! One of the first things he did was he used one of those temperature measuring things and pointed it at people's crotches. The person with the highest temperature got a free drink. No, my crotch was not pointed at. He did and said a lot of funny things. He ate a hard boiled egg while reading tweets of his that never got favorited/retweeted/replied to. He also told us the story about his first bar fight. Which was so funny. I laughed so hard. He changed the insides of cards and showed us the sleep memos he left for himself in his sleep.

After the comedy show we went for a drive up in the canyon.

I don't know what to think, but oh well. :)

The Return

Hopefully you weren't expecting anything too exciting. I know "the Return" sounds pretty dramatic.

 It isn't.

The return from a vacation sucks. Big time.

There is unpacking (yuck) and so much catching up to do!

Anyways, today was a good day. I got to sleep in (hooray!) I got to see my brother and my dog (hooray!) 

My brother and I went to a movie called "Perks of Being A Wallflower". It was a little mature, especially for a 13 year old, but my brother handled it well. It is a really good book, and they did a good job with the movie. But, if you get a chance, definitely read the book. I will include some Wallflower quotes as my quotes. 

After the movie Danny, my mom and I went out to eat at Cafe Rio. It was delicious. Then me and my mom had some "catch up" time where I helped her in the kitchen and we talked. I like my mom.

Her and Danny are going to San Diego tomorrow. Without me. Lame

I'll miss them.

Wallflower Quotes:

“we accept the love we think we deserve.” 
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won't tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn't change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

“Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Chops"
because that was the name of his dog

And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo

And he let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X's

and he had to ask his father what the X's meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Autumn"

because that was the name of the season
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint

And the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
And sometimes they would burn holes
That was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed

when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it.


Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Innocence: A Question"
because that was the question about his girl
And that's what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A

and a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
That was the year that Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end
of the Apostle's Creed went

And he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
And the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her

but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
And at three a.m. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly

That's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem

And he called it "Absolutely Nothing"
Because that's what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn't think

he could reach the kitchen.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“It's much easier to not know things sometimes. Things change and friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody. I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everybody was, especially me. I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and than make the choice to share it with other people. You can't just sit their and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things. I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is. And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn't do or what they didn't know. I don't know. I guess there could always be someone to blame. It's just different. Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Because it's okay to feel things. I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite. I feel infinite.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I also finished a book today called the Book Theif. It was amazingly written, but very very sad.

California Day 5

Things I am tired of:
1. My dad's music
2. My dad's music
3. My dad's music
4. Only eating one meal a day
5. My dad's music

Yesterday we listened to my dad's ipod the ENTIRE drive from Lone Pine to LA (4.5 hours). I would try to play a song or two from ipod.. Nope. Shot down.
And today we are driving from Six Flags to the airport. Guess what we are listening to? Oldies. Only Oldies. Don't get me wrong, I do like oldies.. But they get old. (See what I did there? ;)

And it doesn't help I haven't eaten in 24+ hours. (I always get cranky when I am hungry.)

We ran around the park today with no food in our system. (We apparently missed breakfast)
We stopped for one second for a coke. And no food. I NEED FOOD. I NEED TO BE FED! (Just a warning)

Ok. I am back. And fed. So I much more pleasant, I promise. :)
Well, we made it to Salt Lake. Driving back to Orem as I type.
What a good vacation I had with my dad!

Six Flags wore me out, but it was a lot of fun. There were three new rides that I hadn't ridden before. I got a spiffy new pink Superman cape, which I won beating my dad in a water squirter game.
Total rides: 24
   yea buddy.
Not really looking forward to real life though its coming whether I am ready or not. Boo.
Oh well. I get to see my dog and my brother and my mommy and my sister. I love them.

Also, as my quote is an interesting picture and quote.

California.. Day 4 (Last full day)

Well today was the last day in Lone Pine. (Last full day in California)

Right now we are headed to Valencia, California. (Where Six Flags Magic Mountain is located)

Today was a good last day in Lone Pine. We got to sleep in (yay!). After a shower, we headed out to the fair in the park and I got some jewelry and I bought my dad and I some "Tropical Shaved Ice". Yummy.

We watched the parade, which was rather uneventful.

Then we made a drive out to the Alabama Hills. Climbed around, took some pictures.. It was a good time.

We had a lunch at a restaurant where my dad used to work when he was in high school.
We left Lone Pine shortly after that and have been on the road ever since! (4 and 1/2 hours is a long drive)

"A girl doesn't need anyone who doesn't need her"
-Marilyn Monroe

California.. Day 3

Guess where I am right now? Never mind, you won't guess, so I'll just tell you.
I AM ON THE SET OF A MOVIE!!!
It is about 10 pm and I am sitting in the famous dirt of the Alabama Hills, just outside of Lone Pine, California.
  The movie is called Morgana, and even when its released you probably won't hear about it.
  It is so cool. Just being on the set is awesome. There is so much that goes into a movie that I don't even think about!
  This morning was an early one. We started the day right on one of Chris' tours of the 'Lone Ranger'. We got to go to famous sites where it was filmed, including the new one they are making with Johnny Depp!
  After the tour, my dad and I drove to Indepence, California where we visited Manzanar (a camp where the US put the Japanese after World War II began. It was really interesting and sad.
  We made it back just in time for a really cool stunt panel at the museum. Two stunt men talked about their days of stunting, especially back with the old Westerns. The things they did with no safety was amazing!! I decided I am going to write a short story about stunt men, or a specific stunt man.
  A big policy change was made with the Mormon church today. The age for missions were changed. Previously it was boys: 19 girls: 21. Now it is boys: 18 girls: 19!! Whoa. This was a really big deal.
  I facetimed Brooke and talked to Richie on the phone for a bit and then after dinner my dad headed out here!
Well, we got to watch them film and it was AMAZING! It was so freaking cool :)
They are probably gonna start filming soon and I pretty dang excited.

In other news, REAL (my soccer team) beat LA Galaxy 2:1 tonight :) OLAY OLAY OLAY REAL SALT LAKE!