AUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

WE LEAVE FOR POINT LOMA IN JUST TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I finished my last expos board saturday, and I still don't have my speech completly memorized!!!!!!!! I hope everyone else is more ready than I am. See many of you all down there!

Merry Christmas!!!

This year for a change, we actually got up early (7:21 to be exact) at the urging of my brother to open presents. What isn't a change is that my dad hopped into the shower BEFORE we opened presents. It never fails. We wake up, open our stockings, and then have to wait half an hour for my dad to get downstairs.

Another change this year, Michelle and I both feel Rotten. (With a capital R) She got sick two days ago, and I got sick yesterday morning. Ughhh...

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

What is Wrong With Me This Year?

Well folks, this is it! Just a mere five days before Christmas. It really snuck up on me this year. Normally by this time, I am begging my mom every few minutes to let me open just ONE present early. Maybe the fact that no presents are under the tree yet has taken some of the wind out of my post-Christmas excitement, but who knows? If you have read Michelle's post, then you are probably aware that Michelle and I often manage to discover one or two of our gifts each year. But this year, I am sadly lacking. To my understanding, Michelle knows of at least three or four of her gifts, but I am in the dark on every single one of mine. Sad, isn't it? A few years ago, I stumbled upon one hidden in the trailer, and another one that was mentioned in my moms email. The year or so before that, Michelle unwrapped one of her presents, and since I was getting the same thing (just different color) I knew what mine was. But this year I am yet to discover a single one....oh wait, I lied. My grandma sent me and Michelle home with our Christmas present last week after baking cookies, and she could see through the wrapping paper. As it turns out, Michelle, Johnny and I will be receiving a children's rhyme book about the history of evolution. Ohhhh dear. Well, thats all for now!

The Lights!

Here is the house! Didn't I do a nice job? :P

Ready to laugh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osgSE5U2_F4

Teehee, this is a video my mom took last year of Beamer getting his toenails clipped. Enjoy!

No Toy Fox Terriers were harmed in the making of this video

Please Sign!

Attention bloggers! This is a petition to force fellow bloggers who have been not posting to post! Names of the offending blogs are as follows:

The Emperor

The Princess of Everything Pink

The Banjo Master

The Black Sun Criminal Syndicate

I am sure that there are many more blogs that are in need of an update, but these are the few chosen. If you are willing, then please sign this petition in the comment box. Remember, the fate of the blogosphere rests in your comments.

Look at the yites!

In case anyone is wondering about my awful spelling in the title, when I was very little I called Christmas light, "Yites!"

Well, however ridiculously early it may be, we put up our Christmas lights today. And when I say we, I mean I. Johnny came out to help me, but in the end, all he did was jump off the roof onto the trampoline and take random pictures of himself. I am still not done, as there are more lights to be put up, but I got most of it done. It looks very nice. There is one slight problem however. Despite the fact that I tested each strand before putting them up, one strand won't light up. I might be able to fix it with my dads help, but then again, I might not. Once all the lights are put up, I will probably put up a picture. Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope your day is filled with food, friends and family. For me, today also happens to be my 15th birthday. I had a wonderful breakfast of toaster strudels, bacon, and orange juice. I also received many nice presents from everyone except Johnny; he hasn't gotten me one yet. After breakfast, my dad, Johnny and I played flag football at a high school event. My team won, and I even scored a touchdown! It wasn't that great or anything, but we were at the one yard line...I think, and OJ. told everyone but me to run left, and I would run right. The plan was that I would be open for the pass because everyone would be over on the left field...and it worked! Amazingly enough, I caught the ball and scored! We would have won without my touchdown, but it was pretty cool all the same. So, once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

I Have Nothing to Say, That is All.

I am at a loss of what I should write about. Other than my birthday falling on thanksgiving this year, nothing exciting has been happening. Do you have any suggestions? I would appreciate any and all feedback on the matter.

Cheers!

Why don't you girls do the dishes?

These were the words that struck fear in my heart every time I heard them. This past weekend, Michelle, Kayla and I all volunteered at HeartStone (Which is a camp near Ukiah) during the Father Son Fishing Trip. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. The only downside was dishes. And when you are cooking food for 50+ people, then there are going to be...a lot...of dishes. Us girls weren't the only people volunteering, we just happened to get stuck with dishes the most.


First day: We arrived at camp at around 4 o'clock, and went to work right away in the kitchen. I helped set up tables and make pizza, and Kayla and Michelle offered to start with dishes. Little did they know how often their hands would be submerged in greasy water. After dinner was basically taken care of, I helped them with the drying and putting away.

Next day: Us three girls were scheduled for lunch and dinner, meaning we didn't have to wake up super early to make breakfast. At around 8 we got up and went to go get breakfast and start on lunch prep. When we showed up, everything was basically taken care of...except dishes. So we donned the aprons and spent the next half hour or so scrubbing, rinsing, and drying while the other three girls finished cooking and cleaning up other stuff. They finished about 15 minutes before we did, and spent the rest of the time chatting.

That night: We did the dinner (which was delicious I must say) and at first, I looked like we weren't going to have to do any dishes, for Mr. Walker and Mr. Regalia were doing them. After they were about halfway done however, they asked if we could take over so they could have dinner. Of course we didn't refuse. Except for frequent bathroom trips on the part of Kayla and Michelle, we remained at the sink and the towel till all was clean. Guess who gets to get up at 6 the next morning??

Third day: We arrived at the kitchen.....almost right on time due to a silent alarm clock, and prepared breakfast. As the time neared for the other girls to show up and help, us three made sure to find occupying jobs so as to not get stuck with another round of dishes...and it worked. When at 8:30 the other three came in, Mrs. Walker set two of them to dishes, and the other girl to helping us with lunch. Ahhh how sweet it was to slice oranges and package cupcakes rather than to scrape off food from mounds of dirty plates. Since this was the last day of the camp, we had to clean up EVERYTHING and pack up for winter.

I and another girl cleaned up the snack shack...Michelle and another girl cleaned out the cabins...And poor Kayla had to help clean up the kitchen, which meant finishing the dishes. It was so cold, I almost envied her with the warm water as I dug can after can of soda out of a refrigerator.

All in all, I had a wonderful time, and if anyone is interested, there will be a workday up at HeartStone this Saturday. I will probably be going, and I would love to see some of you there!

Cheers!

Touché Tourney

Hey everyone, sorry I have not posted recently. I have had a cold all week, and just haven't had much inspiration for a post. How about I talk about the Touché tournament?


On Saturday Touché hosted its annual debate tournament. Holly and I were running the timers booth. All we really had to do was set up the timer numbers each round, and make sure they were all taken for each round. This may not seem very hard, but we also had to sign in every timer. We had a sheet with the names on it, but they weren't alphabetized, sometimes the last name was first, sometimes the first name was first and sometimes the name wasn't even on the sheet! In between each round, I had no assigned jobs, thus leading to near fatal cases of boredom. I hung out with Michelle Kayla and Jocelyn, but they all left before the tournament was half over. I also hung out with Holly when she was around, but most of the time it was just me. Michelle was signed up for the kitchen, but she got permission to leave early. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ortiz forgot that Michelle was the only one scheduled to help in the kitchen in the afternoon. So Madeline and I began working in the kitchens. I didn't mind, and was glad of something to do. So the day passed rather slowly, until came time to announce the finalists. Yay for Patrick and Jonah for making it to the finals!!!! So I watched them debate, and during dinner, Holly taught me how to swing dance. During the awards ceremony, I sat in the sound booth with Michelle and my dad, so I got a pretty nice view. All in all, it was a pretty good tournament, and at times I found myself quietly wishing I was debating. TTFN!!!

My a-MAZE-ing Night

Last night I had an awesome time up in Ukiah. Our high school went up to this guys house that makes a big maze out of different stuff each year. And it isn't just some ordinary maze; it has tunnels, slides, secret doors, stairs, a rope swing and more! A ton of youth groups came out for this, and we had an absolutely amazing time. After we finished the maze (my group was one of the first ones out!) we listened to a guy preach for a little while, then did the maze again! This time it was much easier, but it was still fun. We left at about 11. Erin McAllister, a girl named Karen, and Cassie (Our pastor’s wife) were all really thirsty, so we stopped at Cassie's parent’s house in Ukiah for something to drink. Her mom was awake, and we got sparkling cider and pumpkin pie. Not bad! We ate and drank for a while, then left. By this time, our car was way behind everyone else, but we didn't worry too much. As we were going along on the highway, suddenly Cassie stops and pulls over. I then realized that there was a cop right behind us with flashing lights! Uh oh.... we were in trouble! Apparently, she was going 80 with a 60 speed limit, and one of her headlights was out. We already knew about the headlight, but Cassie was surprised at the speed, because it was set to a certain thing. She thinks her speedometer is off or something. Fortunately, he let us off with a warning. So we finally got home at one in the morning. I should have slept soundly, but I didn’t. Instead, I was up almost all night battling a stuffy nose and a sore throat. This morning, I slept in instead of going to church, and I basically feel awful right now. So I probably will not be at Journey tonight. Hopefully I will feel better soon!

Where is She?

Ok, so last night, I let Lucy out to play on my floor while I got ready for bed. I usually just let her run around with my door closed while I brush my teeth and wash my face and stuff. When I went into my room, she didn't run over to sniff my feet, like she normally does. I closed the door and sat down, calling her name. No Lucy. A little concerned, I checked behind my drawers in my dresser. She got back there once and got stuck, so I figured she was just waiting for her mommy to rescue her. She wasn't there. Beginning to panic, I called her name over and over again, while looking everywhere! This actually wasn't very easy, because my room is a mess. But normally, she will come running over to me if I call her. I wondered if a cat had gotten into my room and... But of course not. I had already looked everywhere, and there was no cat. I called my mom, dad and Michelle and told them I couldn't find Lucy. My dad said she could have crawled under the door. This really scared me, because with two cats, a dog and a big house, a rat could be anywhere! We began a rat hunt, looking all over the house calling her name. My mom rounded up Beamer and stuck him in Johnny's room. Apparently, he was concerned about her disappearance. Yay, he does care! After several minutes of searching and calling, I grabbed a flashlight and shined it under my dresser, just in case I had missed something. Suddenly, Michelle who was on her stomach searching screeched out that she saw Lucy! All that time she had been hiding behind some stuff under my dresser! I still wasn't done worrying, though. She NEVER just hides from me; she loves to be with people. And when we tried to bring her out from hiding, she would just scoot back under. At last, my mom managed to bring her out, and we put her in her cage. She had a sort of wild look in her eyes, and sort of darted around the cage nervously. We are pretty sure something scared her really bad for her to be acting this way. This morning, I held her for a bit, and she seemed fine except for some reddish goop coming from her nose. This is a bad sign for rats, and I am really worried about her. Please keep my adorable little rat in your prayers!

Left and Right

Well, no one seems to be checking my blog (yet again!) so I am at a loss as to what I should write about. Sooo... here is a little thing I wrote last year for my journal writing.

It is odd, when you think of having a right hand, and a left hand. Why is it that one is better then the other? Why are some right handed, and some left handed? I have puzzled over this for many a day, trying to unlock the mystery of the right/left hand. I know part of it has to do with your brain, but why does your brain do that? It really is hard for me to figure it out. Plus, some people are both right handed, and left handed!!! I suppose that would have its disadvantages as well as its advantages. For example, what if you broke your wrist. You wouldn’t have the wonderful excuse that you couldn’t write anything because you hand was broken! Also, you might be put in a freak show were people could make fun of you for being able to write your name with both hands! This most likely wouldn’t happen, and people probably wouldn’t call you a freak for having two right hands, but it could happen. I am trying to get my left hand as strong as my right. If I succeed, I shall have the advantages of both the right/left hand people, and the people who have two right hands. I believe that people with right hands are smarter, because it is the RIGHT hand to have! I wonder why people say right and wrong, when is should be right and left. Oh well, not all right handed people are as smart as I am. Someday, when I have equally strong hands, I might rule the world, but I know a kid who already wants to do that, and I must say, listening to him list off the way he will execute his different enemies does cause one to look toward world peace and freely elected democracies with a kinder thought. Oh well, if in about ten years the world is owned by a man named Jonah, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Beware, The Monoblog!

For some of my adoring fans, the following post will make no sense whatsoever. But for others, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

When I go onto the computer, there is little I enjoy more than new emails, and new posts. Unfortunately, there are some of you who think it is fun to create a new blog, post once, and then completely abandon it. Imagine the tragic feeling in my heart when I click on a blog link in hopeful expectations, but then realize that the post in front of my eyes is the same I saw three months ago. I am not saying any names, but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Those of you who have blogs with many posts, but don't post very much anymore, you are free from my criticism. See all you Touché people on Wednesday!

Oh dear...

For everyone that saw the singing penguin here on Life of the Teen Drama Queen, that was Michelle. Yes, my little sister put up a ridiculous post on my blog without my permission, damaging my reputation and possibly putting my blog in jeopardy. It was not me, it was Michelle.

A Tribute to Rain.

I like the rain. That is all.

Lucy Again!

Sorry I have not been posting for a few weeks. No one was commenting, so I figured no one cared about my blog anymore. (Jk) Actually, I got kinda busy, and got grounded from the computer for a week, and just wasn't very inspired. But now I am inspired!

I suppose you all are wondering how my rat Lucy is doing. She is absolutely wonderful, and we have been having lots of fun. But I got worried that she didn't have enough to do in her cage. This led me to the decision to surf the web and find ideas for rat toys. I came across this AWESOME website that has tons of ideas for rats. The link is at the bottom for all you rat lovers. (That means you Holly!) One of the ideas they had was a rat piñata. No, you don't fill a cardboard box full of rats and whack it senseless; it is merely a piece of paper towel filled with Cheerios or other small treats tied up in the cage. The trick to keeping the rat occupied is making the piñata with a few layers of paper, so the rat won't chew through to quick. Soon, I had a cute little bundle of Cheerios hanging in Lucy's cage. She was instantly interested, but I had to go upstairs for a minute, so I didn't get to see what she did next. When I came back down, my cousin (who was staying at our house) told me that instead of tearing through three layers of paper towel, Lucy simply snipped the string holding it, and brought it into her little house to demolish the piñata there. This led me to the conclusion that..................... Rats are smart!!!
http://www.dapper.com.au/toys.htm

~Catie

Talk Show... Part Three

Welcome back to this weeks episode of… Talk About Something Exciting, or LEAVE!!! Yes, thank you, thank you very much. Man we have a great crowd today, can I get a camera on these people? Yes, there we go… FIVE, people in the audience today. That’s a record, isn't it? Yeah, I think it’s a record. So, anyway, our guest speaker today is Billy B. Bob, let’s give him a hand folks!!!!

Oh garsh, ah am Exhilarated to be on this here show. Yup, ah watch it near bout’ every day after ah’m done feeding tha hogs out in thar pen.

Interesting, Very interesting, so let’s hope what you will be talking about today is just as exciting, or else you will have to LEAVE!!!

Well garsh, ah sure don’t wanna leave, so ah better git to ma talking. Today, ah will be giving all you folks animal impersonations. Tha first one is ah sheep. BAAAA. There we go, and tha next one will be ah little ole’ Billy goat. BHAAA. Now then, ah will move on ta the next one which is ah-

DING DONG!!!

Oh dear Billy, it appears that the ding dong complainer just rang.

Weall now what does that mean?

One of out spectacular audiences has a complaint to make about your talking. Ahem…yes…..oh yes, I see. She wants to know what is the difference between a sheep sound, and a goat sound? They both sounded the same to her.

Ya see, the sheep sound is ah B-A-A-A-A, and the goat is a B-H-A-A-A-. There is a slight difference in the sound. Sure is hard to tell, but when ya live on’a farm, as do I, it is nigh well obvious.

DING DONG!!!

Wha now?

The audience is not satisfied with your explanation, which means you get to play the comparing game.

Ah, ah do?

Yes indeed. See that dunk tank over there?

Yes, ah do.

Well you will be seated in the dunk tank, and will do your animal impersonations into the microphone inside. If the automatic decider decides they are truly different, then you will win ten dollars. If they are the same, then you will be dunked, and have to leave. But you will not fall into water. You will fall into a delicious steak sauce. Are you ready?

Weall now just wait one cotton picken minute. You expect me to- WHO, hey I can walk just fine, now OUCH! OOF!!

Start impersonating!!!

Well, uh… BAAAA. BHAAA………AUGHHHHH!!!!!

SPLASH.

Oh, I am sorry, the automatic decider did not think they were different, so you have to leave. Tune in next week, to see another person talk, OR LEAVE!!! That’s all folks!!!

Talk Show... Part Two

Welcome back to Talk About Something Exciting, or Leave! I am your host, Allan P. Sherman, and today we have a very exciting plan. We will have Miss Ally VonShuben as our guest talker!! Lets give her a hand!!!

Oh thank you! I am absolutely thrilled to be talking today. I love to talk. Talking is my passion in life and when I heard about this show, I-

Yes, yes, that is very nice. So, you may begin TALKING!!!!

Oh, very well. But it is very rude to interrupt me when I was talking. After all, this is a talk show, and I am the guest talker, so when I am talking- oh, yes… I am supposed to be talking about my subject I prepared? Oh very well. Today I will be talking about how to get rid of stains. The first stain I will be discussing is wine. And we all know how hard it is to get out wine stains. The way you do it, is by letting the stain sit undisturbed for 24 hours, then lightly scatter rose petals over the stain. Afterward, sprinkle with salt, let sit for 15 seconds, and PRESTO! No more stain. I remember one time, when I had an AWFUL wine stain, and I tried everything! Except for the rose petal and salt trick. My mother told me about it, but I had to go to a party, and they had the BEST cocktails, so I ate some, then started to dance, when-

BEEP!!! BEEP!

I am sorry, but you started to get off topic, which means you get to play, THE STAY ON TOPIC GAME!!!

Oh dear, what is that? It sounds dreadful. I don’t like dreadful things, why just last week I-

The off topic game is not dreadful. You must simply walk across the topic bridge while talking. If you stay on topic, you win ten dollars. If you don’t stay on topic, then you fall through a trap door, and land in a pile of uncooked spaghetti, and leave. Annnnnnd START!!

Well, um.. the second stain is the ink stain, and when you… OH MY!!! I just had a horrible thought! I forgot to brush my teeth this morning! They must look- AUGGGGG!!!!

CRUNCH!!

OH, im sorry, you didn't stay on topic. Sooooo… YOU MUST LEAVE!!! Tune in next week folks to see another person talk, or leave!!!

Talk Show... Part One.

This is a random little thing I wrote for my journal writing last year. Expect more to follow!

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to… Talk About Something Exciting, or Leave!! Thank you, thank you very much. On today’s episode, our speaker is Mr. Joe Shmoe.!! Let’s give him a hand folks!!!

Thank you!! Thank you all very much. You know, I am HONORED that I would be accepted on this very wonderful-

Yeah yeah, we all know that junk, now get talking, or LEAVE!!!

Ok, weeeelll, the topic I will be talking about today, is the benefits of random thoughts.

Sounds, exciting, let’s hear it for Joe Shmoe!!! Nice name by the way.

Oh um, thank you. Now, when you hear something totally random, there are several different possible reactions. For example, the other day, my cousin and I were talking about how many pounds of edible fungus can be grown in Arkansas in one year, when she suddenly asks me if I like spaghetti! I stopped, stunned for a second, and then asked what made her think of spaghetti, when we were talking about fungus? So as you can see, one of the more common reactions to randomness is the stun movement. The second one is-

BING!!!!!!!

What- what was that?

EERRRR!!! I am sorry Joe Shmoe, but it appears that one member of the audience did not think that you are talking about something exciting. And we all know what happens next.

What?

YOU GET TO PLAY THE EXCITING TALKER GAME!!!!

What’s that?

You see that small swimming pool filled with chocolate pudding?

Yes…

Well, you must step on that platform, and continue talking into that microphone for one minute. If the automatic exciter decides you are exciting enough, you win ten dollars. But if you are not, you fall in the pudding, and LEAVE!!!

But, I don’t want to- Hey stop pushing! Ouch… ok, here we go. The second common reaction for randomness is the burst-out laughing-technique, and when this is applied the person who started the randomness usually,-

BEEP!!! BEEP!!!

Hey, why is that red light flashing, what’s going on? HELP!!!!
SPLOOSH.

Oops, looks like you weren't exiting, so you have to LEAVE!! Tune in next week to see another person talk, or leave!! THAT ALL FOLKS!

Rat Pictures

Ok, here are the pictures of Lucy, the rat. Enjoy!

MY RAT!!!!!

Well folks, day before yesterday was the big day! I received my own rat. I had just walked outside to take out the trash, when I happened to glance in the direction of the driveway, and imagine my joy when I discovered a strange car was parked there. I was even more overjoyed when, upon further examination, there next to the car was a girl with a large wire cage in her hands. After I had thrown out the trash, and pieced together the clues, I deducted that this, was in fact, Katie Donovan and she had come to give me her rat! (Of course I knew all this immediately! Mrs. Donovan came out and we went over a few guidelines, and instructions for care. After they left, I made haste to bring the cage and it’s occupant up to my room, where I had prepared a place for him to stay. Except of course, Michelle and I found out that Ratatouille, was a she. I decided to name her first Rheumy, then Lint, and finally Lucy. She is absolutely adorably! Even though she is not as cute as hamsters, you can do a lot more with her. She found and old cloth dog house, and kept crawling into it. This led me to the decision to put the dog house into her cage for the night. Next morning my mom discovered she had torn through it and removed the foam padding inside! So much for the cloth dog house. We took her cage downstairs, and let the other pets get a look at her. Beamer and Squiggy were fascinated, so much that Beamer didn’t even go into the kitchen to finish his breakfast. Unthinkable! Jinx didn’t really think much of her, and ran off instead to fight with Squiggy. Oh, our funny pets. I think we are going to really enjoy my little rat. She even has a tiny harness and leash! But the best part is, she doesn’t really mind being held, so long as you support her and are gentle. I am thrilled at the thought of finally owning my own rodent, something I have wanted long before I became serious about my campaign. Once again, to all you rat haters out there, even my mom likes Lucy. That is saying A LOT. So you all need to come over and see how cute and sweet and funny Lucy is. That’s all for now!!! Tootles!

I will be putting up some pictures shortly. At the moment, it is not convenient to do so.

A Pet, at Last!

Howdy ya’ll..........enough of the hick accent, lets move on. Most of you know that for the last 9 months or so, I have wanted a hamster. Originally, if I could keep my room clean, and display overall responsibility, I could get one. Everything went great….except for the clean room. And now, nine months later, my dream is finally coming true……………. Except I’m not getting a hamster. I am, in fact, getting a rat. A RAT!?!?!? Now, now, now…. Don’t get all upset or anything like that. I know most people turn their noses up at rats, but please don’t for this one. A family in our church was looking for someone to take their pet, Ratatouille. He comes with a cage, food, toys and more, and it won’t cost me a cent. Plus, according to Michelle, he is EXTREMELY cute, and loves to be held, something hamsters don’t appreciate so much. So, I am willing for the reasons above to get some experience in the care and keeping of rats, and then, after his life is at an end, I can decide if I am up for getting a new rodent companion, or am not quite ready to have a pet in my room. If you still wonder why on earth I am going to get a rat, then obviously you are not a rodent lover, and can’t be reasoned with under any circumstances. I pity you. Tootles!

Our Friends...

Hello friends! This is Catie, your host for as long as you wish to remain at my blog sight, and I hope you have a great time!

In my last post, I promised to write about two of our very good friends from Hollister. This Hollister happens to be a town near Gilroy, (home of garlic, I might add!) And is in no way, shape or form a popular clothing store. Emily and Kelly are two of me and Michelle’s best friends, and we have known them since before I can remember. (Kinda odd to not remember meeting you lifelong friend…) About four years ago, their dad found a job in, or maybe it was near Hollister and they had to move. I was heartbroken of course, but then, it really wouldn’t make sense for their dad to make a three hour drive twice a day to go to work, and then come back, so there was really no escaping their moving. Many a day did Michelle and I go to their house, whether to play house or dress up or to walk up to pollywog pond and catch…you guessed it, pollywogs. (We named the pond, and I haven’t the slightest idea what its real name is, if it even has a name!) (And none of our pollywogs ever lived by the way) Some of you may remember the Whitelys. (Did I mention their last name was the Whitelys?) So anyway, they moved, and in the first year of their absence, we went up and visited them quite a lot, about once a month I recollect. (Oh, and before I forget, Johnny came on one or two of our hikes when the Whitelys lived here =D) Good times I tell you, GOOOOD times. The Whitelys have always been animal lovers, before they moved they owned two dogs, two cats and a bunny. As of to date, they own one dog, two cats, one bunny, two miniature horses and a dozen chickens. Quite a farm, don’t you think? Sadly, one of their dogs passed away, she was only a few months younger than me!!! They are soon to get a new one however. The new house has… I don’t quite remember, but I think it has a few acres, giving them plenty of room to care for and abundance of animals. Kelly, the younger of the two friends used to want a pot-bellied pig, but I think she is past that, and has now devoted her love to chickens. Emily, the older is fonder of the mini horses… I think. Michelle and I always get quite the farm experience each times we go see them. Just this last visit we… Mucked out the stalls, collected eggs, rode and groomed horses, feed the chickens and more! So, despite the distances, us and the Whitelys have managed to stay close. But before I go, I forgot to mention we even got baptized the same night. Pretty cool huh?

This has been, yours truly, Drama Queen.

I sewed my finger!

Well, thank you all for your ideas for my blog. For this post, I shall go along with my mother’s idea about.....

SEWING MY FINGER

Last night, I was sewing a skirt for one of my smaller dolls. (Yes I sew, and I still LOVE dolls) all was going as well as could be hoped for, until after one stitch, I noticed that in trying to pull the thread, it tugged slightly on one finger. After further examination, I realized I had passed the needle through a tiny bit of skin on the side of one finger. (There was no pain at all.) After showing my mom and dad how cool it was, I tried to pull the thread up and out of my skin. But the needle was in a little deeper than I realized, and it took a tiny bit of effort, but in the end I succeeded!

There, now you know about my sewing of my finger. Tomorrow Michelle and I are going to the Whitley’s, our best friends who live in Hollister. (The town Hollister, not the store.) I promised months ago about doing a post on them, and I will SOON! So stay put and come back in about a week or so, and hopefully I will have a new post up!


And one last question: Who is Lightsider???

Just a little brain dead here...

AUGHHHHH!!!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD WRITE ABOUT!!!!! HELP ME! HELP MEEEEE!!!! I NEED IDEAS FAST!!! Ok, now that that is out, if anyone would like to suggest an idea for my next post, that would be great. I'm not going to just pick the first one to comment, cause then no one else bothers to share their ideas, and I might miss out on a simply FABOULOUS idea for my simply FABULOUS blog!!! So.... the sooner you comment, the sooner you post!

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Squiggy. Isn't he the cutest!

hmm... I think I will call this post........ The Really Short Quick and Boring Post.

Ok, this will be a really quick little post, I just wanted to let everyone know I am very much back from Spirit West Coast, and it was awsome!!! I might go into more detail in a later post, but if not you can either find me and force me to tell all, or check Michelle's blog, I think she has some bits about it. Tootles!

Ok, I am Posting Again...

OK everyone, really sorry about not posting. July has been really busy for me (as the post below clearly describes) and I just haven't found the time. Also sorry for not commenting. Some months I can whip out 20 posts and others about two, like this month.


OK, apology done, now on to the fun! (Hooray! A rhyme for me!)

This year for the fair, I entered a few small choice items with medium high hopes for some, and lowish mediocre hopes for others. When we went last Tuesday, I was mildly disappointed to see a simply splendid pair of bobby pins with bead and cute beaded butterflies on them receive a third only, but that didn't matter, for I got a................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BEST OF SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made this cute little dress for a Kelly doll I had, and hoped she would do well. Turned out, she got me my first best of show!!! The really funny thing is, this year my mom got a best of show also, and she has never gotten better than a second! (remember, adult category is MUCH harder than the Junior category) So all in all, it was a good fair to remember. That’s all for now!

My busy Month!

This is a picture of my great grandma Della when she was much younger. Yesterday was her one year anniversary. On July third, she would have been 97 years old. If you never got to meet her, then you missed out. She taught me so many things, including how to make the best apple pie ever, from scratch. Happy re-birthday Grandma!!!!!

now on to the rest of the post

Good heavens, July 11 already??!?!? My how time flies. Before you know it, summer is over and we will be doing school again!!!!!!!! Anywhoo today I will be going on a short little camping trip with my high school group. It was SUPPOSED to be a houseboat trip, which I was very much looking forward to, but not enough people signed up, so it got reduced to a two day river thing-a-ma-jigger. I think it will be fun. Before I sign off, I just HAVE to share with you all how busy my July has been. July 1-6, we were up at HeartStone family camp. (more to come later) then the next day, my mom realized all our fair entries had to be turned in that evening, we had a busy day finishing projects, yet still managed to go see pirates 3! (Which though wasn't amazing, was better then the second one, but I didn't like the ending.) Then on Monday, I went to a practice for VBS skits, and discovered I have to have about three out of five days’ skit scripts memorized hopefully by Friday, which is the day after I come back from camping. Then I have a rehearsal, and the next week is VBS in which I am yet again, COMPLETELY busy. (Ok, this is cool. I am in the skits for VBS this year, and in the first one, I fall down a water slide backwards!!!) Oh and one more thing, I have a new blog. To access it, simply click on my profile and it should be there on my blog list. If you somehow do not see it, then you must simply assume it was not meant to be, and continue on with life.

Hamster Dance

Hey all, just a little video I found featuring one of my favorite songs, with pictures of cute little hamsters to go along with it. Most people probably will think it is the stupidest thing ever, like my brother, but I like it. Enjoy!

I'm Back!!!! And With a Good Excuse Too!!!

Ok ok ok... I know what you all are thinking. My wonderful readers are all wondering..."WHERE ON EARTH IS CATIE AND WHY HASN'T SHE POSTED IN 18 DAYS!?!?!?!?!?" Well my goodness! If you would just give me a chance to explain, I would do so! How rude indeed to go shouting in my face like that, when I intended to post about- oh yeah, that was me shouting up there. Um... let me just explain my absence. In my last post, I promised to not post anything else, till I did my next day in the Utah series. (Series, man that sounds cool! to be doing a "Series" doesn't that just have a cool little sound, as if this blog is really worth something???) Anyway, the little journal that had my days recorded in it is currently missing in action. Rumors that it was last sighted at our computer desk have been floating around, and a search party is currently underway. So as you can see, I could not post because I could not find my journal, and I couldn't break my promise, which I just broke anyway and now Holly has to come and glare at meeeee!!!!! Speaking of which, I am sure most of you know Holly. (Who doesn't?:D) Anyway, she just got back from nationals at Texas, and on their way back, her mom got hit by a taxi, and was injured. (Nothing serious, as the reports tell me.) So be keeping Holly and her family in your prayers!!! Ta ta for now!
~Catie

Poor Short little post... *Tear*

This will be a short post, and then I PROMISE that if I post anything besides my next day in Utah, I will gouge my eyes out and cut my fingers off!! :[ .......... onnnnn second thought, maybe I will just let Holly come and glare at me... yeah, that should do it.

OK, I am sure everyone can guess, but this will be an almost pointless post. Sadly, there will only be one purpose for this little post. I understand how hard it must be for a post to be honored enough to make an appearance on my blog, and then serve such a small purpose, but then again, its getting awfully hard to find content posts these days, no matter what purpose they serve! Sorry, I am getting off topic here. Just wanted to let you all know that last night, I officially became a highschooler!!! Yup..... That’s it. Told ya this was pointless. Nothing more to say. Absolutely nothing. So I guess this is good- WAIT!!! I JUST REMEMBERED!!! Last night I had a really weird dream. If you want to find out what it was, go to Xanatos on my links, click comments on the first post at top, and read the last comment by me. There me dream be. Well what do ya know? This post had more than one purpose after all!

~Drama Queen

S.P.A.M.

Once again, I apologize to my readers for my delay in posts. I know you all have been anxiously waiting the next day in Utah, but a more urgent post awaits your eyes. What is it??? Read on to find out!

Yesterday, I got back from a really fun camping trip in Yosemite. It was my last junior high trip I will ever have, because this was the eighth grade final hurrah!! Now, the drive up normally takes about four or five hours. However, this trip happened to take place on Memorial Day weekend, and we were on the road for EIGHT HOURS!!! Fortunately, the only people in the car I rode in were Atalie, Emma, Claire, and Mr. Bailey. Compare this to the other car with... never mind. Most of you wouldn't understand what a big mistake it is to travel with the people in that van. It makes me shiver just to think about it! Anyways, we did get there eventually, and the background was amazing!! Yosemite is probably one of the most beautiful places on earth. Now, I could bore you all with a bunch off little details, but I won't, because the second half of this post is going to be dedicated to one thing in particular.

I will give you a hint or two. Think about the most disgusting thing you ever ate, and then multiply that by five. Now imagine the worst name ever given to a "Food" product. OK, now picture in you mind a flat pinky object looking like a cross between a piece of salmon, and a cow pie. If you still don't know what it is, just peek up at my title, and you should know by now. That's right, it is S.P.A.M. Not Spam, S.P.A.M. Want to know why I spell it that way? It cause it is not a name, it is four letters describing it, and they just so happen to spell something. Slimy, Putrid, Awful Mush! And THAT is how the name spam came about. Most people don't know this fact, mostly because I made it up... but it needs to be made known!! So by now, you may be wondering how I got from camping to spam. It’s really quite simple. Spam was brought along on the trip as a food source, and people actually ate it!!! I can not believe why anyone would want to put something so revolting into ones mouth. you ask my friend Holly how she feels about spam, I am pretty sure the answer would end up much like this post. Some may think, "Aw, its not that bad!" But may I remind you, that when you get a weird message in comments, what is it called? SPAM!!! That’s right, they needed a name for junky messages, and spam fit the bill! So now all of my reader know more about how I feel about spam then they will ever wish to know. I call that a job well done!

Oooo... The Suspense! Did I get the Job???

Ha ha, I love this picture!! I think my cousins baseball team was the dogers, so after the season was over, his family burned the hat!!! Ahhh... wish I could have been there. Back to the real post!

Well hello everyone, and welcome back to LIFE OF THE TEEN DRAMA QUEEN! There isn't really much to write about... oh yes, I do have one thing. You may remember back in April when I applied for a job at Oak Park. If you do not remember, then you obviously are not being faithful in reading my blog, and should be punished severely! Jk... So they finally got back to me, after I called twice and showed up to question when I could hear back........ I didn't get the job. BUT, that is only because they already had everyone they needed for that year, and the lady told me that I should try again next year, and I looked promising. So please, no comments saying, "Oh I am sooooo sorry, you must feel awful!" Cause I do NOT feel awful! I am perfectly fine with my current situation, so no sympathy cards!! (which reminds me, Michelle was going to give my debate partner Tim a sympathy card for having to put up with me at tournaments!! she never did though ;D) So I guess that’s just about it for now... stay tuned for more Utah journaling soon to follow!

~Catie!!

Gone. (Like yesterday is gone, like history is gone, just try to prove me wrong, and pretend like ur immortal!)

Hey ya all, welcome to Life of the Teen Drama Queen! I am Catie Rowlands, your host for today, and I hope you enjoy yourself thoroughly! As I write this, we are getting ready to leave for a father daughter retreat, and I will be gone till Sunday. So if I am not commenting on any simply splendiferous posts of yours, do not be dismayed, and think I am not interested. Just gone, that's all. Last year, it rained half the time, and we even had some thunder and lightning! Oh, and if you haven't read Michelle's blog recently, we just started taking horseback riding lessons. I didn't really enjoy our first lesson, cause I was on the verge of starvation, but I cant wait for the next one. So that’s pretty much all that’s going on in my life, so ta ta for now, and see you all sometime or another!
~Drama Queen.

P.S. In case you didn't know, the title comes from a song.

Day Five at Utah

This dog is our host familys dog.

Ok everyone; sorry about the delay... here is what you all have been waiting for.

DAY 5 AT UTAH

I woke up early, and couldn’t get back to sleep! We couldn’t find the leftover cinnamon rolls, so cereal for breakfast again. Last night, Michelle got to ride her host family’s horse bareback! She has a great family, as do we. Today, we passed out doorknob signs instead of flyers. It was FREEZING today!! And when I say freezing, I mean freezing! It SNOWED on us twice! Just tiny little flakes and they melted really fast, but still! Snow I tell you, SNOW!!! (The previous was unedited from my journal; to show you how furious I was with the weather) I have a nice warm fluffy jacket back at the house...sigh. Some people wore flip-flops... poor them! Nothing much happened the first two rounds. We stopped at a gas station for a loo break. I got a French vanilla cappuccino, and it was warm and wonderful. So we got round 3-4 done, and piled into a car. We had so many people, that some were hanging on the sides. Except for the cold blasting wind, it looked fun. I lost count of how many rounds we have done. We are going to lunch now, thank goodness! I am SO getting something warm. It was an awesome Mexican restraunt. We got to choose what went on our meals. It started to snow while we were eating. It was more like balls then flakes, so I called them snow dots. They were really cool. Once again, another long noisy car ride coming up. We stopped at a giant hunting store, and I got some cool stuff. Rachel got a giant stuffed fish, it was funny! Next we went to a place called thanksgiving point. I milked a fake cow! But water came out instead of milk thank goodness! Elise Michelle and I split an ice-cream Sunday. It was pretty tasty. A funny thing to eat on a cold semi-snowy day. Our ride to our next destination was very long and boring, as well as loud and annoying. We went to a collage coffee shop. They had two cute dogs. After a quick tour, we sang and had a little Bible study. The topic was people who did great things for God, I think... after that, we bought drinks, talked and played X-box 360. Elise was terrible at the games. I did ok, not to good, not to bad. So now we are back in the car. You probably could guess by now, but we have a van full of caffeinated hyper juinor highers. As it is 9:48 at night, this can bring no good. Sigh... sometimes I wonder if it is physically possible for some of them to be semi-quiet for five minutes! They probably even talk in their sleep! Can’t wait for tomorrow, I will be SURE to bring my big coat.
~Catie

Coming Soon!

DAY FIVE AT UTAH: Stay tuned for more exciting Morman filled Utah style fun, soon to air here on Life of the Teen Drama Queen.

Curtosy of yours truly, Drama Queen.

Intruders!

Last night started out as any ordinary night, except for two things... my window was open, and my dog was under my covers. Interesting... anyway, in the middle of the night, I was awakened to hear Beamer barking and growling on my bed. I did all I could to shoosh him, worrying that he might awaken the rest of the household. Normally, when Beamer begins barking randomly in the night, he will give up suddenly, and nose his way back under my covers, plop down on my feet and give them a good washing. (My feet, not the covers) But this time, he did not calm down and insisted on growling every five seconds, despite my well aimed whacks on his rear. After this had gone for a while, I heard Michelle's door beads jingle, meaning that someone was either leaving, or entering her room. At first, I was relived, thinking that Beamer was growling at Michelle, and she had probably just gone to the bathroom, and after she was back in bed, Beamer would calm down. At the same instant however, I also could not help but picture a knife wielding man leaving her room after finishing the job, and was coming for me next. Obviously I was not thinking clearly, being the middle of the night. So with this in mind, I was really quite relived when Michelle thrust her head in my room and loudly whispered, "We are being T.Pd!!!" I jumped out of bed, grabbed Beamer and hurried to my parent’s room, where Michelle was informing them of the news. I was also praising Beamer for his warning, even though I hadn't believed him. My dad was getting out of bed, and Michelle told him to get his new automatic airsoft gun. To my relief, he obeyed. We crept downstairs and peeked out our front door window. Sure enough, our front yard was sparsely littered with toilet paper, and there, working on our car, was a tall girl. My dad burst open the door, and fired a few rounds into the air, while shouting something, though I am not sure what. The girl began to run, and I followed, at the advice of Michelle to get the license plate number. I repeated the number out loud a few time to remember, while the girl hopped into her car and speeded off. As I hurried back to the house, I immediately forgot the number, as Michelle called out to me that there was another girl hiding behind the car. And there she was, with a hood held tightly around her head, preventing me from identifying the culprit. I called out to my family that, "Some person" was back here, and she began to run. I followed, but not to get the license number. I was curious as to the identity of the scoundrel. As she struggled to unlock her car, I managed to pull off her hood enough to tell that she was our neighbor and friend, Bethany Benson. BUSTED!!!!! Whoo ya, we caught her and her little friend whom I do not know red handed! Turns out, all the seniors were T.Ping all the juniors, which in this case, would be my brother who slept through the whole thing. So I returned once again to our home, and cleaned up a bit. Fortunately, our culprits were amateurs, and used extra strength T.P, which is very easy to clean up. So next time anyone decides to T.P. the Rowlands house, keep in mind a few tips.

1. Never come on a warm night, windows WILL be open.
2. Michelle does not sleep well on warm nights. (She didn't discover the crime because of Beamer, she heard people outside!)
3. We have an alert little dog, which will spend almost every night snuggled down by my feet, and he likes to bark at intruders.
4. Don’t use thick toilet paper, that stuff is SOOOOO easy to clean up, use the thin stuff.
5. We WILL find you, whoever you are, and we WILL seek revenge!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!

How Many Times do I HAVE to go Over This???

Picture above has nothing to do with the post, I just thought it was cute.

Hello everybody, I am back! I hope no one got to wondering where on earth is Catie Rowlands, and why hasn't she posted, but I have a worthy excuse for my absence. Since Thursday, and up till Wednesday at noon, I have been gone at a speech tournament, I came home Saturday night, and then the next day at one I left for a debate tournament. The results of my tournaments will be posted in a later post. After all this, I was utterly exhausted, up to the point I was unable to post till today.

There you have it, a 100% fully legitimate excuse for my absence. However, it is not I, but YOU who should be giving the excuses. Yes indeed ladies and gentlemen, there is a serious problem here on Life of the Teen Drama Queen!! What is it? YOU’RE LACK OF COMMENTS!!!!! Come ON peoples, we have been through this before! Do you realize that in my last FIVE posts, three out of those five have TWO COMMENTS!!!!! And the others have five...and three. Something is wrong here, dreadfully wrong, and I expect full explanations for each and every one of you out there who have neglected their duties as commentators. You may be saying, "But you have not commented on MY blog," But I have an excuse, you do not. Ok, sorry about the obvious fury, I will try to control myself. With that being said, I will be obliged to discontinue my Utah series until further notice.

One more thing before I am done, my linking thing-a-ma-jigger is going bonkers on me, so if your blog has not been linked, and you are a regular commenter, I apologize.

Day Four in Utah

Ok everyone, sorry about forgetting to put a picture in my last post. I forgot, but will try to do better this time.
Day 3
We had an AWESOME breakfast today. Sausage, eggs, orange rolls, cinnamon rolls, juice and more! Oh my goodness, our family is sooooo nice, and they have a long history of pets. At the church, Derrick gave us a talk about the day, and we were off! Another loud car ride…. Sigh. Our first round, nothing of interest happened. Kayla Danielle and I were a group together, and we all stuck little flyers advertising Derricks church, and a Christian book store on peoples door mats. Who knows what will happen with these flyers. (Actually, God knows!) I was terrified that someone might open the door as I was leaning over to stick a flyer under a mat, but no one ever did. So after three rounds, I was starving!! (Despite that big breakfast) still nothing exciting, except when Kayla tripped and lost her shoe. Now, the way this all worked was: Derrick would drop off a group or two at a street, show us a map and give us instructions, and we would walk down, and stick a flyer under a door mat, or through the door handle. After round four, while Kayla and I were making our way to the back of the van, Derrick gassed the car and it jerked forward a bit. I was already partly seated, so I just thumped down a bit, but Kayla was still standing, and she went flying down on her back into an empty row! My goodness she looked funny, feet in the air and all! Fortunately for her, we were the only ones in the van. Round five was nice and peaceful. On our street, it was our group and Michelle's group. Plus, the weather cooled down a little, which felt very nice. By now, I was VERY thirsty. Next, we went to the church for a little bit. After a race to the loo, Michelle invented a fun new game. Plus, I got a drink from the drinking fountain. Water at last… we had lunch at Chilies. It was very tasty. While getting into the van, Michelle tore her jeans on a place an arm rest had broken off! The funny thing was Max did the same thing coming in after her! So after driving forever, and after walking forever, we took a tour at the Brigham Young University. All we did was walk around on a roof and a guy explained what the different buildings were. My feet were tired of standing, so the tour wasn’t that great to me. But we did learn that Mormons paid less than non Mormons. Interesting… When we went home, we had a wonderful meal. It filled me up! This is a picture of Morphy by the way. After that, we played with Molleigh, (the daughter of the daughter who lived downstairs… she is nine) and did her dolls hair. This little girl is more mature than the rest of us! She has such patience with her little brother. Ttfn!!!
~Catie

Stay tuned for more Utah stories, here on Life of the Teen Drama Queen!!!

Day three in Utah

OK, time for day three at Utah!

Day 3

I scared Danielle this morning!! Ha ha!! (You will have to ask me what I did; I don't feel like writing it down, as it was not recorded in my journal) For breakfast, I had cereal and milk, but not together. The parents came home this morning, and were very nice. (OK, kinda complicated situation, but the mom and dad drive a truck most of the week, one daughter is married and living in the basement, (which is really nicer than the top floor) and another daughter lives upstairs and is getting married) In the car, we found Stephanie’s camera. We all sang, "Happy Easter" to the tune of happy Birthday in the camera, so that when she checks her photo's she will find a video of us! (At the time I wrote this, she didn’t know yet, wonder if she ever did find it...) The church service was great...they had coffee and cookies! Oh no, caffeine... So after the service, we went to lunch. I had enchiladas, but they were cold. So then we stopped at all the houses so we could change into casual clothes. I went like lightning! We then went to Wall-mart and played a fun game: everyone got one dollar, and the goal was to buy as many things as you could with just that dollar. I only got three colors of embroidery thread, so I lost by far! But they were pretty colors, and I will use them. Back at the church, we played hide-and-go-seek, and apples to apples. After that, we all just talked for a while. Boring, I know. For dinner, we went to sonic. They had tator tots!!! In everyone’s mad race for the coveted 'back seat' max got pushed down a ditch! Oh dear, I think Aaron was the culprit. Back at the church, we listened to testimonies of different people. They were awesome! I am sooooo hyped about tomorrow!
~Catie

My First Job!!

This will be another short, almost pointless post. Before I go into the specifics, you all may have been noticing how often I post nowadays. In the beginning, I would on average do one or two posts a month! My very first post actually stated that I would probably never be able to do one every day, but more like once a week. No, I am not trying to demonstrate my superior frequency in posting, I just happen to read my friends blogs more. And now that I actually READ blogs, I can fully appreciate a frequent poster. Now I will move on to the real reason for this post. Today, I filled out an application for (Hopefully) my first real job! You may be thinking what kind of job can there be for a 14 year old. I landed mine at a nearby swimming pool and tennis court area called Oak Park. If I do actually get the job, I will be working in the snack bar, maybe not the best job in the world, but it would be my first one and I am really excited that I might get my first job before Johnny gets his first job! Plus, Oak Park is really close to our house, so I could ride my bike there. I will let you all know if I do actually get the job. If not, I still have babysitting to earn my cash.

Day two in Utah

I was unable to get a picture in, so just use your imagination.

For today's post, I shall give you the second day of my Utah trip, straight from my journal, with a bit added, and a bit removed for full clarity among my fellow bloggers, and readers.

Day 2

I woke up with a cat on my ‘bed’! Our host family has three cats, one of which is a kitten. This cat, named Morphy, was very cute. I wasn’t very hungry this morning, having eaten a rather large dinner the day before, so I had milk for breakfast. (Sorry to bore my readers with pointless details, remember, this is from my journal) We were second to be picked up of all the girl groups. Don’t know (or care) where the boys are. So all the girls got picked up, and we met at the church for a quick overview of the day’s events, and we were off in the vans again. Our first destination was a lady who used to be a Mormon, and she told us all about the different things about their religion. When she showed us the outfits for temple marriage, I wanted to laugh out loud, they were so ridiculous! After we were done, she let us take some free pamphlets about different things relating to Mormonism. After that, we went to this creepy place called Hard Rock Café, with weird pictures, weird music videos, the place creeped me out! After lunch, we went in a mall for a bit. I sampled a hand lotion that smelt like cinnamon, and quite honestly, I loved it! A few of us girls went into a fancy clothes store, and Elise, Michelle and Kayla tried on some fancy dresses. Kayla was the only one who fit in her dress, (cause the others didn't realized there were zippers on the sides) and she looked beautiful in it! Next, we went to Temple Square, where the big Mormon ‘HQs’ are, in a way. We took a tour from two nice ladies. I felt bad whenever they mentioned things that I disagreed with. After the tour, we saw some brides and grooms after their weddings. The brides all had lovely dresses, and it made it hard to believe they had been dressed so ridiculously earlier. We saw one couple dressed before the wedding, and I just couldn’t believe how silly the would look very soon. We drove to a gas-station next, and got drinks. Many people got and drank energy drinks with two servings in them! EEEKK!!! We ate at another mall for dinner. I had Subway, and it was gooood! Some of us girls went ‘shopping’ but we only had ten minutes, and not one spent so much as a penny! For the car ride to our host homes, at least the boys were in a different car…peace at last! So we got home, watched the end of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the end of Pride and Prejudice, and the beginning of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Time for bed!
~Catie

A short meaningless post

This will be a very quick post, having nothing to do with my Utah trip. Sadly, the only purpose this post has in life is to inform you that I finally figured out how to have fun with my blog settings. To the well trained eye, and a faithful reader of Life of the Teen Drama Queen, it is possible that you might notice the different colors and design, the font for posting, the picture of a cute little hamster when I comment, even the color of the font!!!

Warning! In the very near, or very far future, you may experience blog changes within, or without. Do not be alarmed! These are all normal and necessary tests to determine the authors likes and dislikes of her blog.

My Marvelous Mission

I am quite sure that my fans out there are aware that I went to Utah over spring break for a mission trip. I had a wonderful time. I am also quite sure that you all are DYING to know how the trip went, and as I am not one to keep others in suspense, I shall gratify your ravenous desirer to learn about our mission trip. And so the story begins…….

On the trip, I kept a journal of each day’s events. The following several posts will most likely be excerpts from my journal for each day, with little bits added and removed for better understanding by my readers who would otherwise have no clue what I am talking about. Not that you don’t already……… anyway, before I begin the trip account, I must first cover some details that must not be underestimated in their worth for clarity in posts.

1: this trip took place in Utah. (No duh!)
2: Utah is almost completely inhabited by Mormons. (Or also known as LDS, (latter-day-saints))
3: Us little juinor highers, (There were 12 of us, eight girls, and 4 boys) were all paired up with a collage student. (Did I mention this was a collage/juinor high trip?) In a big bro big sis sort of thing.
4: Kayla, (My friend) Elise, (my arch nemesis) and myself had one collage girl between us, her name is Daniel.
5: we went to help out a church whose pastors name is Derrick smothers… he used to go to our church years and years ago.
6: I think that’s all the important details for now… so this time, the story will really begin!

Day One,
I woke up at six thirty, but didn't actually get up and shower till seven. My breakfast was scanty: String cheese, and a glass of milk. Michelle and I rode to the airport in the McAllister’s car with Elise Erin and Leigh. (All friends of mine, in a warped way…Erin is my best friend, but neither she nor Leigh went on the trip, as neither of them are in juinor high) we had a very musical ride. For lunch at the airport, Kayla, Michelle Elise and I ate at burger king. Elise had the most disgusting looking burger I had seen in eons… or maybe just months. We finally got on the plane. Kayla, Chelsea and I were in one row. I tried playing an in-flight trivia game, but alas! I am not gifted in the skills of trivia. Or in other words, I stunk!!! Michelle was better than me for crying out loud!! The flight was very short, and before we knew it, we were in Utah! A few of our cheap matching Utah
bags

broke during the flight. Poor Michelle was one of the unfortunates. All of our non-rolling duffle bags weighed a TON!! My poor shoulder was red before long, but eventually we got all the bags loaded in the cars. The ride to Springville took about an hour and I must say our van was far from quiet! Finally, we arrived at Derrick’s church, he gave us a talk about the next day’s events, and after that we were off to our host family’s houses. Me Kayla and Elise were all with Danielle. Michelle was all alone with her collage sis. Actually, she and Elise had the same collage sis, but Elise was with us for housing. So here we were watching sound of music on TV. Long day tomorrow!
~Catie

Stay tuned for more Utah stories, right here on LIFE OF THE TEEN DRAMA QUEEN!!!

To Scream or not to Scream, no Question Bout' That!

Some of my wonderful fans out there may be wondering a great many things at the moment you read this post. Maybe you wonder why I have been linking infrequent commentators, or what has been going on in my fun filled life? Allow me to try to answer them all in one post.

Starting with the linking. I got fed up with my rules about commenting, and I hate math, so now I will just link whenever I feel like it. If ur link is not up there yet, it most likely will be soon..... Or maybe not so soon. I don’t have all day ya know to just LINK LINK LINK!!!! I have a life here, so don’t worry.

Secondly, what has been going on in my life? To start out with, Johnny got his permit, and has started driving. The next two lines will now describe how I feel for his accomplishment.
AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There, now you know how I feel.

Also, this past weekend was a speech tournament for myself, and the self’s of others in speech clubs across California. All went well right up till the final round, in which I participated in. I had made it to finals in my speech on puppets, and as soon as I finished speaking, my voice started to drop. By the time I had finished packing up my speech stuff and was waiting for dinner in the gym, my voice was so bad I couldn’t even scream. I COULDNT EVEN SCREAM PEOPLES... DO YOU KNOW HOW DEVASTATING THIS IS TO A PERSON LIKE ME AT A TOURNAMENT WITH AN AWARDS CEREMONY AT THE END?????!!!?!?!?!?!? Since I still can not scream as I write this, I will now give one short yet loud scream in writing. Cover your fingers peoples, this could hurt. EEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! there, a strange scream in writing. Any ways, during the awards, while everyone else was screaming and clapping, I was left to: CLAP! Ya. CLAP! Ya. The WHOLE time. This tore me apart. And the worst part is, all my friends think it is wonderful that I can temporarily no longer be able to exert my voice to such lofty heights. Woe is I, the silent screamer. I can be thankful however that my voice wrecked after my last speech, which took fifth place I might add. Not bad really, two spots away from qualifying for nationals. However... this is NOTHING compared to some other peoples. My friends Holly and Tim qualified in their due, and Justin Willis at his first speech tourney ever, qualified. Yup, we all had fun. if I don’t comment or post for a while after this, its cause I am getting ready to go to Utah on a mission trip this Friday. That’s all folks!!

once again, this post is about snowboarding...

once again, the picture has nothing to do with the blog. i wanted u all to see our cute little pup.


After a short break in the blogershpere, I am back in the business. I suppose many of you are wondering about how our snow trip went. To cover the basics, no broken bones, temperatures very high, severe sunburns on arms and faces, snow very slushy, run away snowboards, and a narrow experience with the ski lift! After reading the above, you may be DIEING to know what happened with all that. I might be evil, and not tell you. Or, I might be nice, and describe my most memorable moment to you all………………….. ok, since you all have been SO good about commenting, then I shall tell you all about my harrowing experience with the lift. This was the second day, and us snowboarders were getting pretty good. Well, kinda good. Anyways, our moms suggested to come on the lift that leads to a bunch of intermediate and difficult runs. We agreed. Since the lift was a little bigger on this side, my mom said we should all three go together, instead of two on one, and one on the other. We decided that we would try it. I volunteered to be in the middle and we started down the line. As the chair was coming around and we were about to sit down, Michelle and Kayla, who were on each side of me, both sat down inward, leaving me nowhere to sit. If fell over, and since the lift did NOT stop, I twisted around and managed to grab the chair as it continued to move. I held on as it went higher, and higher, and finally they stopped it. By that time, my feet were dangling about four or five feet off the ground. In this tense situation, my mind was focused on two things only. 1: HOLD ON!!! DON’T LET GO!!!!! 2: this is really funny, I think im gonna laugh. I vaguely remember Kayla bursting into laughter and at the same time grabbing on to my hand and screaming that she would pull me up. I also saw some people running out after the lift stopped. One managed to grab my very high waist and scream for me to let go. I didn't hear this command for a little while. Partly because of my zoning brain, partly because of Kayla’s incessant laughter. I finally let go, and they helped me to an empty chair, and the lift finally started again. Some very important lessons were learned from that experience.
1: never have three beginner snowboarders on a small chair at the same time.
2: if the chair does not stop, don’t grab on to the chair.
3: beware of lift operators in conversation. (I mean, they should have stopped the lift as soon as I fell down!!!)
And so, you now know my most memorable and perhaps most embarrassing experience on that trip. Oh yeah, on our last run of the day, as Kayla and I were getting on that same lift, the lady operating it told me with a big smile on her face to not fall off. J That’s all folks!!!!

To Link or Not to Link...that is the Question

At last, I have finally figured out how to link! Actually, my mom kinda showed me how, but still! From now on, you shall always see those cool little blog names instead of some weird stuff that was on previously. You may notice I changed Johnny’s blog name a little, but surely you agree it was for the better. I mean, am I the kind of person who would lie about a name? NO, I am not. Some of you may also be wondering why your blog is not listed with the others. Here is why. YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN IGNORING MY FABULOUS POSTS!!!!! Here I have to newish posts, and the only ones to comment have been Michelle, my mom, Megan, and Stephanie!!!! Come on people, what is so hard about writing a short encouraging message to myself? And so, in light of this, my rules for linking go as follows:
Family members in my immediate family automatically get a link, despite how often they comment. In a prolonged absence of commenting however, I may be compelled to alter the name slightly.
Outsiders only get the COVETED privilege of having a link on my blog, if they average at LEAST a comment on every other post that I post, for about six posts. In the absence of comments for more than three posts after receiving a link, I may be compelled to alter the name slightly.
Lastly, if I happen to be a frequent reader of a blog, and LOVE it to death, I might, as a figure of my gratitude, link that blog. None of the commenting rules from above would apply, but if the blog started going down the tubes, I may be compelled to alter the name slightly.

I hope that now that you all are aware of my linking/commenting issues, my average comment number will increase. As I write this, my average comment per post is six. With your corporation, I hope to raise this average in the next, say two months to eight over a one week span after each post. Don’t make me come commenting on my own posts just to raise the average, I need help. And your the one to help. Plus, u get a link to boot! TTFN!!!!!

what i do when i am bored.

note to my readers. the picture to the right has nothing to do with my post. i was just bored, and thought the picture livened things up a bit.

Today is a boring day. Thus, I have nothing to say. Hey, I made a rhyme! Kool. I know that’s not how you spell cool, but its Kool to spell Kool that way. Well now, where was I? oh yes, I am bored today. Why? BECAUSE I AM EXCITED SILLY OVER GOING SNOWBOARDING NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!! Just to let you all know, our family RARELY gets out to the snow more than once a year. And to let you all know again, this will be our THIRD time!! WAHOO!!! THIRD I TELL YOU!! The first time, I just went skiing. The second time, I learned how to snowboard. (See previous post below, way below) and THIS time, Michelle, my mom, and Mrs Benson and Kayla Benson will all be heading out to the snow on Wednesday! We will go night skiing on Wednesday, and day skiing the next day. We will be spending the night at my aunt and uncles house, cause they live real close to where we are going. There, I let it all out. Now do you all know why I am bored around her? If not… THEN GET A LIFE. Jk, obviously you already have a life, or else you wouldn’t be reading this blog. For one thing, without a life, you kinda have to be dead. And another, only people with REAL lives would read my blog. So don’t get a life, just reread the above, and by now, you should understand why I am so bored. Yeah… so, Oh yea, Michelle will be teaching Kayla how to snowboard. That should be interesting, since this will be our second time ever… oh well, pray for no broken bones. Knowing us, I think we will NEED those prayers. Well, what else do I say? I have told you all you could ever want or need to know, and yet I must continue to write. WHAT CAN I SAY? WHAT CAN I DO? WHAT CAN YOU READ THAT IS SO INTERESTING THAT YOU JUMP IN THE AIR AND REDEDICATE YOUR LIFE TO COMMENTING ON MY BLOG?!?!?!? Ok, I feel better know. Sometimes, it is good to just let it all out. Oh man, I feel sooooooo good now. I guess I have nothing more to say, so… ta ta for now!

SnowboardingEXCLAMATION POINT

For some reason, the blogger thing won't let me do exclamation points, so bear with me EXCLAMATION POINT.

Well, its finally happened. After years of skiing, I have learned the intricate art of snowboarding EXCLAMATION POINT, EXCLAMATION POINT. *Pauses for applause* it is not an easy thing, to switch from skiing to snowboarding, especially since snowboarding is harder. Maybe snowboard to skis, that might do… but it takes the truly amazing one in a million special kind of skier to learn to snowboardEXCLAMATION POINT. And that truly amazing on in a million special kind of skier is me. EXCLAMATION POINT. *Pauses for a second round of applause* yes I, the great Catie Rowlands have snowboarded. Well, maybe its not as hard as all that, I mean Michelle and Johnny learned too, but it still is not nearly as easy as skiing. When you ski, all you have to really do is keep you feet from tangling, and learn to zigzag on the steep parts. But when snowboarding, you have to learn to lift your toes and heels to turn, how to stop, to get off a ski lift without crashing, (which is harder than it looks, trust me) and some other stuff. The hardest part definitely is going straight. The way I mostly do it, is a sort of zigzag, with my board almost completely long side forward. In fact, when a part got too steep, I would simply plop down on my bottom, and slide a little. I could pick up some good speed that way, sometimes better than snowboardingEXCLAMATION POINT. Then, when the hill wasn’t so steep, I would get back up, and continue down the hill in a more dignified fashion. I had some preeeeety good wipe outs, where one minute I would be sliding along controllably, and the next minute, I would find myself spinning out of control, my board leaving the snow, my back would go down and my feet up and I would end up lying down in the snow. Altogether, I had a blastEXCLAMATION POINT.

Lately, I have started thinking about the mistakes, goofs, and misfortunes in life. Most of the time, all of the above end up being unhappy embarrassing events, but I have experienced a few in my life that have actually worked out all right.

Mistake 1: a few years ago, Michelle ordered a toy horse barn for our friend’s birthday. This friend just so happened to live in Hollister, 3 hours away, so having the barn come on time was important. It didn’t come on time, so the company just sent it to the friend’s house instead while we were there. Then, as an apology, they sent us another one free!

Mistake 2: my mom put in an order to a makeup place, and they accidentally sent her a ton of makeup that she didn’t order! She called, and they said they would send someone to come pick it up, but they never did. So she ended up getting lots of makeup free!

Mistake 3: About a week ago, we went to starbucks. I ordered a chi frap, but they accidentally made me a different kind of frap. They said I could keep the wrong one and see how I liked it while they made me the right one. Turned out, I liked the wrong better than the right! Not to mention I got a free drink.

Misfortune 1: last month while we were in Disney land, the Indiana Jones ride stopped while we were on it, and it took about ten minutes to get it fixed again. When the ride finally finished, the people working it asked if we like the ride, and if we wanted to go again? So we all got to go on the ride a second time with out waiting in line!

So even though not all mistakes end up benefiting us, there are the occasional times were you end up getting more for your money... or time.

Once again, I apologize for my long inexcusable delay in posts. What with Christmas, Christmas vacation, Christmas presents, Christmas food, debate tournaments, and my mom’s birthday, I just couldn’t find the time to let you all know about what’s going on in my life. Currently, my latest interest is in hamsters. But not just any hamsters, Dwarf hamsters. In the past, I would suddenly and spontaneously ask my mom for a pet, normally in the rodent category, ranging from rats to rabbits. The answer was, of course...NO! This time however, I took a new approach. Rather then just asking for a pet, and then giving up after the first refusal, I
persisted valiantly. I promised all sorts of tempting offers, such as paying for the hamster and all it needs myself, and paying her to watch over it when I am away from home, or paying someone else to, keeping it in my room, and feeding it and cleaning its home every day!!! Unfortunately, my mom has gotten pretty stubborn over the past 14 years, and once she has made up her mind, it generally stays that way. So after about 17 NO!!!'s, I tried my dad. When the question was thrust upon my next victim, he stated he loved hamsters, but not in his house. Even though I promised to keep it in my room, and never let it out, the answer remained, and I was left to find a new tactic. Some of you may be thinking how I could keep a hamster in a house with two cats and a dog, but I have that all figured out. in my room, I have a large shelving unit, with 16 box shelf’s all joined together to create on large box/shelf thingy. in one of the top boxes, I would place the hamster cage, and then attach a removable screen to that box, thus protecting my hamster within. This idea however, met with ridicule from my family. finally, I drug out the real fact my parents don’t want me to have a hamster. they don’t think I am responsible enough!! The nerve of them!!! >:( They told me if I can prove myself more responsible, then a hamster would be considered. *Sigh* so now, all I can do is dream about hamsters, and be painfully responsible. I was wondering if all my readers could vote on whether or not I should get a hamster, and any advice concerning my dream pet. Many thanks, and don’t expect another post anytime soon!! I will be too busy being responsible.