Hannah's Christmas List

Yes, I am aware that it is December 9th, and I never put it up when I was told. Yes, I am aware that my siblings have all purchased gifts for me already. So I guess this will end up just being a list for Mom and Dad. Better late than never, right?

1- An "Incase Neoprene Sleeve" for my 13" laptop. I don't really care what color, though I do like the burgundy.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TU090LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA2Ng&mco=MjQyNjM2Mg

2- The dvd of "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight". Both movies are awesome.

3- Clinique moisture surge lotion. It's the pink lotion in a glass bottle.

4- Pretty much any television series of any show that is awesome. Any Office, 30 Rock, House. Really any seasons, except for the first and second season of Psych. I have those on my ipod.

5- Gift cards to Target, Kohl's, or Aeropostale, especially Target. I shop there a lot.

6- I'd like some sort of cute BYU sweatshirt or any other BYU apparel. I'd like at least one thing from BYU.

7- A set of knives would be great, one like mom and dad's, though it doesn't need to be that expensive. We have 2 knives, which makes it pretty hard to cut things while cooking.

8- If you want me to do even less homework, you could get me a Wii or something. That's always fun, albeit not good for procrastination.

Really, anything for Christmas is great, I don't need that much. And once again, I'm sorry that I'm lame and wrote this so late. Merry Christmas! I can't wait to be home for the holidays!

Girls Fear Me

Well, my (Caitlin) life has been pretty uneventful lately, but last night we had mutual and made bracelets for our Secret Santa/Sister thing. It was pretty fun. But we got talking and someone made the remark that they wished they could play the piano. I said "Me too! All I can play is the flute and I don't even like it."

That's what started it all. My Young Women Leader asked "Oh, you play the flute? Sydney there's another person you can tell your Mom about!"
Sydney is Sister Trotter's daughter and Sister Trotter is in charge of the ward choir or something like that and is looking for people to help in the Christmas Program. When I heard that I immediately said "Uh...no I don't!". She of course knew I was lying and that was that. I told her I hadn't even picked up my flute since about 2 years ago for Young Women In Excellence when I was, once again, forced to learn a song and play it. So I begged Sister Pullan (the one who heard me say I play the flute) to not make me play the flute in front of the whole congregation. I told her I'd only make a fool of myself because I can't play a bunch of notes. (It's not like I don't try, it's that my flute is literally unable to play certain notes and I don't think we're going to get it fixed for a ton of money just to play one song.) Eventually, I told Sister Pullan that I would so much rather give a talk in Sacrament and that she could tell her husband that instead. Brother Pullan is the 1st Counseler in our Bishopric. Then of course a bunch of girl's were like "Oh well you can do both!" and I just kind of got mad and just said "No. I don't want to." Then they kinda just dropped it. I'm very glad I did.

That's why I think a few of the girl's in our young womens are scared of me. I can't blame them. Which brings me to my next story. We were on our way to some convention for BYU for mutual the day after Obama was elected. And there were 5 girls in my car with me. Only one of them knew my political views and she kind of just sat quietly with me. The rest of them were reading Forwards off of their phones about Obama. One said something like "All Caucasian American's need to meet at the cottonfields for orientation. Thanks President Obama." and one said something like "What part of White House don't people get?" So I kind of just sat there, waiting for them to shut up. Then one girl kind of pushed me over the edge by saying "People are idiots! Some people who like Palin said we should elect McCain because then he'll die and Palin will be President. That's just so rude! I mean they don't have the right to say that!"
So I finally opened my mouth. I know I probably shouldn't have, but this is what I said:
"Oh ok. So you have the right to be racist, say racist comments, and make racist jokes, but some people aren't allowed to say that a 72 year old man is more likely to die sooner than a 47 year old man. Huh. I get it."
Then they shut up.

So yeah, girls are scared of me sometimes because I can make a good point every now and then.
Woops.

My 7 things (I got rid of the husband and tagging part)

7 things I can do:

1. Text faster than Amanda even though she has a full keypad.

2. Wrap presents.

3. Find the slope of a line.

4. Legally drive. (Not well, but legally.)

5. Play Guitar Hero on hard.

6. Conjugate the word "run" in Spanish.

7. Give advice.

7 things I can't do:

1. Turn a car without almost killing everyone.

2. Aim.

3. Wrestle.

4. Come up with a good comeback.

5. Go a week without asking for fast food for dinner at least once. (I know, it's sad).

6. Babysit for kids I know are brats.

7. Come up with a 7th thing.

7 things I always say:

1. Holy crap!

2. Friggin', freakin', or frick.

3. "Dad?", "Mom?", "Amanda?" when answering the phone.

4. Shut up!

5. "He's a strange duckling" (I usually only say that to my friends)

6. "Well that just makes me want to shoot myself." (This got me in trouble with my teacher during the suicide unit in health)

7. "Stop it!", "Ow!", "Look, it's turning red!", or "Go away!" to dad.

7 things I love to eat:

1. Potstickers, although I haven't eaten them in a while ever since we suspected that I got food poisoning from not cooking them all the way.

2. Panda Express

3. McDonalds

4. Peas

5. Chicken Noodle Soup

6. Potato Bread

7. Goldfish

Christmas Decorating!

So I decided that I really wanted to decorate this week, so I convinced Mom and Dad to start it as soon as we got from Church on Sunday. We're not totally done, seeing as the tree
isn't even up yet, bu we're going to work on that tomorrow. These are some pictures of what we do have done so far.
The first is of a familiar nativity scene with a new, unfamiliar character. I found this army guy at the time I was putting this scene together so I added him. I was a little apprehensive, seeing as he is pointing a gun.
The second is probably my favorite part of the whole house. I really like the banister mom decorated, and all the Santas we have up there.
(I also love the adorable pictures of me and Hannah)















This is just a small portion of all the Santas we have put up these past two days. There are many in this collection, such as the really really old one Grandma Mattson made a long time ago, and the creepy one with the Coca-Cola belt. Good times.











This one of the piano is just all the snowmen we've put up. Dad really wants to put up a sign that says "Santa" under the "Welcome" sign. I think it'd be really cute, but I'm not sure if we're actually going to do it.



This last one is just of a bunch of the nativities we've put up. (Sorry about the weird layout of these, Blogger was being really difficult)
So I guess that's all that's really going on down here, so not much exciting. I'm really glad Mom and Dad let me start decorating so early this year. It takes us so long, why only have it up for a week and a half?
I'm also thankful for Mom and Dad's patience with me as I've listened to "The Forgotten Carols" about 20 times the past two days.

8

No one has posted in a while, so I (Caitlin) decided I would.

8 favorite places to eat
-Chili's
-McDonalds (Sadly)
-Long John Silvers (Sadly)
-PF Chang's
-Panda Express
-Red Lobster
-In-N-Out...I've decided that it's probably not a good thing that 1/2 of my favorite places to eat are fast food restaurants.
-Pei Wei

8 things on my wish list
-Sam to get home soon so I can see him!
-A new camera
-The garage to be fixed
-Go to Disneyland!
-To get 800 miles next season
-To learn Spanish
-To go to college
-To stop tripping down the stairs

8 things I did yesterday
-Went to school
-Made Snickerdoodles in Foods
-Went to the hospital and slept while everyone else saw Sam.
-Tripped over my own feet
-Fell asleep in health whilst watching "The Secret"
-Ate like 3 quesadillas
-Watched dad get mad about the garage door
-Went to eat at Macaroni grill

8 things I am looking forward to
-Sam coming home
-Decorating for Christmas
-Seeing Trevor, Jamie, Hannah, and Kendra soon.
-This stupid show that Mom is watching to be over.
-Thanksgiving
-Christmas
-Finishing my stupid health class
-Getting my permit (crazy, huh?!)

8 TV shows that I watch
-The Office
-30 Rock
-America's Next Top Model
-90210 (Completely retarded show...but I can't stop watching.)
-Scrubs
-Jon and Kate +8 (Another kind of stupid show....but I only watch it if there's nothing else)
-Spongebob. Yes, Spongebob.
-I can't think of any else

One More Thing...(For Caitlin)

I decided that I'd like one more thing for Christmas. I'd really like some of those vinyl letters to put my favorite quote up above my closet like the ones Trevor and Jamie had up above their TV in their old house. I know I'm not very good at explaining it but hopefully you get the idea. So here's my new favorite quote.

"Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Our New President

I know I'm not old enough to even vote, and I'm not the most into politics teenager ever, but I still have an opinion. As soon as we found out that Obama won last night, I got on my computer, and was getting very frustrated with some of the comments people were making about him. I told Dad about it, and he just basically told me to let it go, and let people think what they want. (Besides, I'm going to have to get used to being one of the few Democratic Mormons.)

But I read this thing my friend posted on her blog a few minutes ago, and just thought "Thank goodness someone finally came out and said it." So here's the gist of what she said. She said that she is a Republican, and she voted for John McCain, but the worst thing we can do as citizens is be bitter and hateful towards our new President. What we need to do is keep on living, we'll still be alive tomorrow. She said that we are lucky to live in this country and have to freedom to practice whatever religion we want and that Obama isn't going to change that. She said that we can say what we please, but our freedom isn't going to be taken from us at the snap of his fingers.

I'm really glad she said this, because I think she has a good point. While watching McCain's speech after McCain won, at the mere mention of Obama's name, people booed him. Personally, I think what she said goes perfectly with that. We can't do anything about him being the new President but support him.

Caitlin's Halloween

So this Halloween, the Cross Country team went to region. Both teams did really well, and we're both going to state! The boys got 3rd behind Palo Verde and Centennial, and the girls got 2nd between Centennial and Arbor View. I'm really excited to go to State to see everyone run this weekend.

About two hours after I got home, Mallory gave me a call telling me that she had gotten sick from her mom and that she couldn't go. I got the same call from other friends, telling me they had also gotten sick from siblings. So I was kind of by myself, so I decided to stay at home with Amanda. This is my first Halloween ever staying home and handing out candy. Amanda rented a tv show called "Pushing Daisies" and we watched that, and I really liked it. In between handing out candy, I made Amanda a bowl of Pops, in which I found a Pedometer.

This Pedometer was obviously really cheap, sporting the 3 characters for Rice Krispies. I put it on, and counted the steps I took going back and forth between the door and the couch. According to this little piece of junk, I took 2,660 steps. I feel a little bit lied to, but whatever. I got kind of sick handing out candy to a bunch of 17 year olds from my school, and Amanda often gave the comment "Don't sound too excited" when I sat back down from handing out candy. But overall, it was a really fun night. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Amanda this weekend.

Christmas List - Sam

So, it looks like Sam will be here for Christmas, so it seems only fair that he gets to have a Christmas wish list, too. Here are some things that he really wants:

Obviously, this is a stim-mobile! He definitely wants one and he doesn't want his mommy to have to make him one from scratch. You can purchase one from http://www.liveandlearn.com/stimmobile.html . They also have some at other places, but this one is the original.

He also wants this Pack 'N' Play so he can sleep in his parents' room or downstairs. This is by Graco, and it is called the "Catalina" model. He really likes this one.

Sam would also like things that you think he or his parents might absolutely need for him during his first few weeks at home.

My New Haircut

So, here it is. I was really nervous about getting it done, but my hair was getting so gross and unhealthy, I decided I needed it done soon. So i went today, and got it done like Amanda had her hair a while ago. What do you think?

Mentored Research

I know that I'm supposed to be putting up a Christmas list, and I know I'm almost the last one to do it, but I've been wanting to make this blog for a while. So I am working on a Christmas list, and it'll be up soon. But everyone has asked me on several occasions just what I do for this research that I'm doing. It's really as simple and boring as I make it sound, but people have a hard time believing this. So I went and took pictures of every step, just so you can see what little I do.

This is the lab/converted storage closet I work in. It's actually fairly clean on this day; and the day before they fixed the light. It used to only have one working light, which made it pretty creepy and more closet-like.

Step 1: I go over to the "box o' crap" as I like to call it, and pick out whichever bag I feel like. If you see that garbage can in the corner of the first picture, that is filled with bags that have already been ground. I'm pleased to say I did a lot of those.

Step 2: I empty out the bag that I picked. Inside are lunch bags filled with different plants. (Side note: those plastic bags tied to the side are filled with unknown plants [i.e. the researches need to find out what the plant is named before it can be ground]. I don't touch those)

Step 3: I organize those bags according to plant species and whether the plots are random or regular. As you can see, I have 6 different sections (3 plant species, each with two plot types)

Step 4: Now I label the the vials that the ground sample will go into. I write down the location, date, plant name, and the plots.

Step 5: I take one of the vials and the samples that go with it. I pull out an equal amount of plant sample from each of the lunch bags and place it on our fancy shmancy stolen Cougareat tray.

Step 6: This is the best part of the whole process. The actual grinding!

Step 7: Our finished product gets put into a ziploc bag and I clean the machine using a shop vacuum. Then I pick up the next bags and repeat, and when I finish with that, I pull out another bag from the box o' crap and the process continues!

That really is all I do. It's definitely one of the most mundane things I've been doing at college. However, on Saturday I get to be involved in dissecting a turkey in order to collect tissue and muscle samples, which is both disgusting and exciting. Now that you understand what I do for four hours of the week, it might be easier to see why I'm excited about something different, no matter how gross it is.

I am easy like sunday morning!

Okay so Jamie finally got me to do this. I really don't know what to ask for. I have been thinking about it for awhile and this is all I could come up with
1. I guess I would like an I-tunes gift card.
2. I would also like a season of a show. Any season of the Office would be good, except the first, I have that one. Or the second season of 30 Rock, I also have the first of that one on my i-pod. Also any season of Seinfeld is good, except 5 and 7.
3. The movie Get Smart, I don't think it is out yet but it should be by christmas.
4. I could also use a zip up sweat shirt, my Element one is getting holes. Element, Quiksilver, or Hurley are good brands. Shirts by these brands are also always good.
5. A wii would also be nice if anyone wants to go crazy!
6. Anything that looks fun.
Other than that I really can't think of anything that I want or even need. You know me I am easy like sunday morning, don't look at me, don't look at me in the eyes!!!
If I think of anything else I will be sure to let you know.
Trevor-

Christmas list- Jamie

I have been bugging Trevor FOREVER to do his on here, because I don't even know what to get him! So get on him to do it! :) Here is my list:

* I would like these three books 1. The Ruby by Jennie Hansen 2. Don't Cry Wolf by Clair Poulson 3. Backtrack by Betsy Brannon Green

* I would like a new brown leather watch that looks somewhat like this: One of them is from Kohls, the other two are from fossil, but it doesn't have to be from there!

* I would like a new brown or black purse and wallet

*I always like gift cards to Aeropostale, Kohls, Target, pretty much wherever!

I can't really think of anything else at the moment. You don't have to get any of this if you don't want! Just some ideas! Now Andee, Hannah, and Trevor I am waiting for your lists! I have no idea what to get you! Mark and Steph I already have an idea of what I'm getting for you, but if you make a list I might change my mind!! :)

The Doctors

This is one of the quality television shows I now watch on a daily basis. Not many people know about this show, so I am taking it upon myself to educate you on it. The show is kind of like The View, but with a medical bent and doctors hosting it. They usually pick a couple of topics to discuss each day and then they spend the rest of the show either answering questions from the audience or people who have e-mailed in. There are four doctors: the ER doc who thinks he's hot (he's the Barbara Walters of the group), the pediatrician (who is probably the most normal of the group), the smarmy plastic surgeon, and the only female, who is of course an OB/GYN and the go-to "expert" on women's issues.

Here are some of the things I've learned so far from the show:

• Genital warts are disgusting. I hope I never get them. Not that that is something I am worried about contracting but still. They're gross.
• It is not normal to gain 50 pounds in your first trimester of pregnancy. I kind of figured that already, too, but just in case you didn't know, it's generally frowned upon.
• If you're getting breast implants, it's better to place the implants under the muscles in your chest rather than on top.

I can't think of much else I've learned. Sometimes they do little surgical procedures on the show. The smarmy plastic surgeon usually does those. Minor cosmetic procedures seem to be the only types of things they can do on live TV.

It is riveting television.

I'm no quitter

Lately I've been hearing a lot of things about teenage years. Ever since 6th grade I've heard people say that being a teenager means finding out who you are. And when people say "I'm not really sure who I am yet" it confuses me. I've never really thought about it, and I've never really sat down and thought about "who I am". I've always thought it was rather self-explanatory. I've never really understood why people say that they have to find out who they are. I pretty much think I "know who I am" and stuff like that. I'm Caitlin Mattson, I'm 15, I want to become a photographer, and get married in the Temple. But yesterday I went to Divisionals for my Cross Country team--even though I'm on crutches-- and cheered people on. At that race, I learned one thing more about 'who I am'. And I realized that it is extremely hard for me to quit.

Most of my immediate family knows that Cross Country this year was really hard for me. I was constantly feeling sorry for myself, and I didn't really take it too seriously. I was always just focusing on the bad parts of it. The aches and pains I guess you could say. And because I was always feeling sorry for myself, I didn't get any better. My coach had a few talks with me and told me if I really wanted to be on the team, I needed to step it up. At this point I was really discouraged. I was telling everyone I wanted to quit, and I was seriously considering it. I was even coming up with the speech I would give to Coach to tell him I didn't want to be on the team anymore. But I decided to try to make it to Laughlin. I did, and I had a really good race. I finished my season to the best of my abilities, and now it's over.

I guess the biggest reason I didn't quit is because I was too afraid to see the look on Coaches face. I was too scared to see my team members and answer the question "Why did you quit?" a million times. I guess my quick-to-be-embarrassed personality saved me. I'd be too embarrassed to see everyone and let them know that I quit because of my own self doubt. I'd be too embarrassed to think to myself that I'd given up.

Another example of this is the Track season last year. I hated it. I hated it a lot more than anything else my Freshman year. But I couldn't quit. I'd be too ashamed to see my teammates in the hallways and let them know I quit. Another thing that has saved me in both these situations is my respect for Coach Fitz. He's the Coach for both Distance Track and Cross Country. I couldn't let him know that I gave up. I guess any respect I have for anyone saves me from quitting, too.

I guess I do have a lot more to learn about myself, but for now, I'm glad that I know that I'm no quitter.

First day

So, I got crutches for my ankle or whatever...and my first day was not very fun. So here are a few pictures from it.
This is after school. Some dude spilt on my shirt.This is before school. I was pretty happy.This is after school....I was much less happy if you can't tell.
The worst part about the first day was my armpit pain. They hurt really bad. So I iced them, along with my ankle. I call it my ice party.

Kendra and the hose

This is Kendra when she discovered the hose a few weeks ago.

My foot

So last night, I'm not sure what happened, but my foot just decided to be difficult. I woke up this morning at about 3:30 and it really really hurt, but I thought it was just asleep, so I just kind of fell back asleep. I woke up again at 5:00 when my alarm went off, and it was still really hurting. I got up and turned my alarm clock off, and fell over. Once again, I thought it was just asleep and I waited a few minutes. I tried to stand on it again and it hurt really really bad. I was still kind of delirious, so it didn't really get through to me that something must be wrong. I just walked--or limped--to the bathroom, grabbed a chair so I wouldn't have to stand on it, and got dressed. Finally when I was doing my hair, it hit me that my foot was really actually hurting, so I went to Dad and asked if he could look at it. He did, and he said my foot was swolen, really rough, and bruised. When he touched the rough part it barely hurt, but when he touched the less swolen part more where the bone is, it hurt like no other. I'm having a lot of trouble walking without pain, so Mom and I decided I'd stay home and she'd get an appointment with the doctor. So, I just got the call from Mom telling me that it was at 2:00.

I'm not so bummed that I have to go to a doctor, or that my foot hurts a lot right now, but I'm mostly just bummed out that I can't run my last race. It was supposed to be today at Faith Lutheran, but the bus leaves at 2:30, if we don't ride the bus with the team we can't run the race, so obviously, I'm not going to be able to run it. Either way, I'm not in any position to even walk down the stairs--much less run 3 miles. So I'm pretty sad about it. Well not pretty sad...I'm actually really upset. I just wish I could make it. Maybe if the swelling goes down, I'll be able to get to Faith Lutheran to support the team.

A couple tries...

So I decided to try to touch up that picture that Amanda put up a few days ago, and here are a few of what I came up with. They're not all that great, because I don't have a very good photo editor on my computer, but nevertheless, here they are. What do you think?
This is just the original copy.
I just warmed the colors up in this one
And tuned them down in this one
And this one is probably my least favorite, but yeah.

Christmas List-Caitlin

As all of you know, I really love gifts. So when I saw Amanda's Christmas list, I immediately decided to post mine. I don't really have pictures, partly because I don't have super specific preferences, but mostly because my computer is being difficult. Ok so here it goes.

1. I would really like a new camera. I got the one I have now 3 years ago, and I really want one kind of like Hannah's, with a big screen thing and I definitely want something faster. I'm not sure which I'd rather have--a regular digital camera, or one of those fancy ones like Amanda and Andee. I really like their camera, but that's more of something that Mom and Dad would have to get. But I I'd like either.

2. I really want a new bedspread. I'm kind of trying to change my room theme from all pink and white to more like pink and brown without having to paint all over. I have plenty of furniture and things to hang on my walls, so I'm pretty much set on that. But any cute bedspread that's pink and brown would be nice.

3. One of my favorite things are gift cards. I love shopping for clothes, so any gift card to any sort of clothes store like Hollister, Kohl's, Aeropostale, etc. would be awesome.

That's kind of all I want, so yeah. I think you guys should all post what you guys want, it'd probably make things much easier.

Christmas List - Amanda

Okay, I hope you all don't think this is dumb (although you probably will), but I thought that it might be a good idea for us to post some things that we want for Christmas this year. That way everyone can at least get some ideas. So, here's some stuff that I would like:

This necklace. It is at Deseret Book.

This book, also from Deseret Book.

This awesome CTR monkey necklace. Just kidding, I don't really want this. I just thought it was funny and I felt you all should see it.

Here's some other stuff that I might like as well:

• I would really like a picture called "Young Mother" by Jean Keaton. I tried to post it on here, but I couldn't because it is protected or something.
• I would also like to have my hallway painted.
• I also would like a new headboard.
• Any baby stuff would also be good. It looks like Sam will be here for Christmas. I don't have any specific requests. We literally have nothing for him, except a few outfits. I don't know how or when I'm going to be able to get stuff for him. So, pretty much anything would be good.

So, those are the things I can think of. You don't have to get me anything on this list, I just thought I would give some ideas since Trevor was asking the other day. I would like it if other people would post some stuff because I don't think I'm going to be able to just go out and shop around this year. Except I already have gifts for Hannah and Caitlin, so I don't care about them. (Just kidding--that I don't care. But I do have your gifts already.)

Weekend Pictures

Here are some cute pictures that Caitlin took of Kendra over the weekend. A lot of the pictures featured her throwing a tantrum, but I decided not to include those. Although I did put in a picture of her pouting. I'm not sure why she was so mad at that point...


Dad was trying to fix her Mickey Mouse airplane thing, so maybe she was mad about that...


I think these pictures are really cute. I thought about touching them up somehow, but then I decided not to. Maybe Caitlin can do it.

Because it's Utah... Utah!

Apparently I am destined to write only blogs about Utah. The only other blog I've written was about the Shakespearean Festival last year. Anyhow, so that I get the reputation of "non-blogger" off my back, I thought I'd post a little virtual tour of my life at the moment.

First, this is Darby and I on our first day. She suggested we take a picture and I'm glad she did. I have trouble remembering to take pictures, and as of right now Madelynn has alluded all cameras. She's pretty crafty. I'll have to work extra hard to get a picture of her.

Here is a picture of my room, now furnished with a poster of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and a much smaller one of "Singin' in the Rain". I decided to splurge and buy them so that I didn't have to stare at my blank wall anymore. By the way, I just barely cleaned today. It isn't usually that nice and organized.

Up next is my calendary for the month of October. As you can see, all of the blues are assignments due in a class, the greens are tests, and the black is anything that has to do with class that doesn't fit into the other two categories. I'm pretty busy except for the strangely empty 15th. I'll have to have a party then or something.

These are all the dishes I finished washing just a few minutes ago. I was going to do a before and after shot, but frankly I just forgot about it until after they were already finished. I really hate having to wash dishes. It's probably the worst thing about living in this apartment. That and the spiders. We have a serious spider problem.

And finally, here is a picture of the mountains outside our house turning colors. It is very, very beautiful but it makes me nervous. I know that once the colors of the trees start changing, it's only a matter of time till it gets cold. I hate the cold. Still, I can enjoy it for now.

That's all I have right now. It's time for me to do some muchly avoided homework. I have to write a 4 page paper on tragedy and drama for my western humanities class. I'll try to take my camera to school and take pictures of my school life as well. Hope everything is great in Nevada. It's awesome up here because it's Utah!

Under the Desert Sun

Okay, okay. I probably know what you are thinking . . . what happened to that tree? To be honest, I have pondered this very question myself! But to make a long story a little shorter, it was me. I happened. I came, I saw, I chopped! After that I chopped a little more, then a little more, then I must admit a lot more until the final result which is what you see in the photo. 

So, now that you know the answer to your first question, you may be asking; "WHY"? This question my be somewhat more difficult to answer. And in light of the horrific amount of ridicule that has already been heaped upon my aching shoulders, I would rather not answer your inquiry outright. Thus, I feel it best to give you several scenarios and then let you decide-

Scenario #1 - In my advancing years, much like the memorable Don Quixote I had a lapse in judgement, and perceived the tree to be a monstrous giant that was attempting to destroy our home. In full regalia, I attacked and defeated the gruesome beast by hacking its limbs into useless kindling!

Scenario #2 - The large and spreading branches of the tree had finally nearly blocked out the sun in our front yard. Missing the rays generated by the yellow orb that we circle yearly I maximized the sun's efficiency by minimizing the ray blocking branches to the max!

Scenario #3 - During a summer breeze (and you need to know breezes in Las Vegas are similar to hurricanes in many of parts of this fair land) earlier this year, the main trunk of the tree splintered and broke. This left me no choice but to top the tree off, leaving only branches that had been growing outward from the main trunk, rather than upward. Being the typ

e of desert tree that it is, and as demonstrated when the main trunk broke, the branches that were growing out could no longer support their own weight, and were beginning to break as well. In an attempt to lighten the load for these branches, it was necessary to totally cut what was left away.

Scenario #4 - Being a big fan of Homestar Runner, I was hoping that if I made my own stick, that maybe, just maybe Strongbad would meet me by it. After all; "What is it you don't understand about meet me by the stick"?

So, it is in your hands now. I'm sure the ridicule really won't be abated much by 

my explanations, but at least I tried.

P.S. - Strongbad helped me draw a picture of the tree before it met its untimely demise.

Not the best I've been.

Our whole team has been getting sick this week/weekend. And now it's my turn. Yesterday I got really sick during 7th period, and now I'm sitting at home. So I decided I'd post a few things about this weekend when the Cross Country team went to Laughlin.

I feel that my race overall was really good, and I'm really excited about it. I haven't been doing the best lately, and it felt good to get back on track. So here are a few pictures from the weekend.


This is on the way up to Laughlin. Coachie kept trying to get a picture of me smiling, so I did this. She got kind of mad.


This is me on the way back from Laughlin. It probably doesn't look like it, but this was really comfortable.
This is Me, Brooklyn, Sydney, Alexa, and Katie sitting by/in the jacuzzi Friday night.
These are the people I sat with at the buffet. Unfortunately, I was the only one who didn't know there was a picture being taken.
This isn't us at Laughlin, but I found this picture, and this is the day we had a water balloon fight after practice.

Ward Split

So our ward got split this past week, and it kind of sucks. They didn't do much to the Silverstone Ward, but they cut a lot of our Iron Mountain ward and made it into a new ward called Shadow Ridge. As all of you know, I'm very boy crazy. And now all the boys in my Sunday School class are in the new Shadow Ridge ward. Plus, there are no new boys coming into my class.

But that's not really the reason I'm so sad about this. Most of my Young Women Leaders are now in the Shadow Ridge ward, and I also got released from my calling. It sucks because I really liked our Young Women leaders and I really enjoyed being President while it lasted.

But, lots of things are changing, and I'm OK with it. Sometimes changes are for the better.

Caitlin's School Year.

I know I'm like the only person who ever posts on here anymore, but I'm going to write about my week anyways. So I started school last week, and so far it's been alright. I like most of my classes and most of my teachers, so that's always a plus.

My Spanish teacher kind of reminds me of Donny Osmond, which may seem weird, but true. I'm mostly understanding that class so far, and I'm very proud of that because last year my Spanish 1 teacher was.....less than competent.

I'm also taking Broadcast Journalism, which is a really fun class. Today we actually filmed for the first time so that's always exciting. I think I'm going to like that class and learn a lot.

Cross Country so far has been alright. I had trouble the first couple days of practice out in the heat, but I eventually got used to it. I'm really improving, although my first race wasn't the greatest. Actually, to be completely honest, I sucked. My second race was much better, and I felt like I did a better job. The past two work outs we've done have been really tiring. I'm really sore and my energy is completely drained by the end of the day. In spite of all the tough stuff, I'm excited for this season.

So my upcoming year so far seems pretty exciting, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Just a Few...

Here are just a few from when we came to move Hannah up to Provo. These are from when we went to the park while Amanda and Hannah got their hair done!
This is Kendra before we started swinging her high. We were afraid that she'd get scared so we barely pushed her.


And these are after we started pushing her high. She enjoyed it much more.