Pledge, Party and Pathetic...

Last week was pledge week for the sororities on campus, and I pledged Alpha Phi. They didn't want me, but that's okay, because I can't afford them.  It was kinda fun to do though. We made dog toys for the local animal shelter. It was so much fun. That was probably the best part of it, so I guess I'm not all that bummed.

Last weekend was the family reunion, and THAT was a party! My awesome cousin and his wife, and their cute little girl picked me up from my student housing building right after my last class of the day, and we were able to make it to camp by 3. My mom was there, and I gave her a big hug. We played games, and talked, and just enjoyed each other's company. I really love my family. We had a Family Feud Showdown (made by Harmonie) and my team made it to the finals, but lost, by 30 points, I guess there's no beating Holland. We were called the "Red Lanterns" which is a dig at me, but I'm learning to just laugh along and act dumb when my family makes fun of me (it really works) It was really nice to reconnect with my cousins, they really mean alot to me, and I'm so grateful for my big family.

Pathetic... That's how I describe the state I'm in now... I broke my flash-drive in half and it had my essay (due tomorrow) on it, so now I have to rewrite it! Note to self: ALWAYS save important documents on my hard-drive as well as on my flash! Well, now i need to rewrite, but the good news is that it's fixable, so I'll be able to retrieve the lost info if I get it to an electrical engineering student ASAP.

Well, that's all the time I have for now (I DO have an entire essay to rewrite) So I'll leave it at that.

"Life is better when you can laugh & learn from your mistakes"

-Penningjade

Graduation!!!

I hate how I always begin my blog with an apology about not writing for a while, but that won't end until I become a faithful blogger....

Many things have happened since I last blogged. So I'll give a bulleted list.

• My drama class team went to state, and won, big time, if there was a placement system, we would have taken first. Also, every I.E. piece that we took to state took overall, or straight superiors. High-five to Mrs. Thames for doing that her first year teaching.
• As I mentioned, I had the lead role in my school's spring play, and it was the most fun role in my life. To those of you who missed it, that's okay. If you're just DYING to see it, I have a DVD of the performance, but... please, don't feel like you have to see it, it's over, and I'm moving on in my life. But it was probably the most rewarding acting experience of my life.
• Stage technology class was so much fun! I learned so much, and grew to appreciate the people who work behind the scenes to make me look good in the spotlight.
• Even more important & permanent in my life, my sister had a baby, and he is the CUTEST little boy I have ever seen! I love that they live in the Valley, so that they can come over often, so that I can see my perfect little nephew.
• I got a new cell phone. I am pretty excited about it, it has a camera, so I can take pictures of my perfect little nephew.
• I enjoyed my last trimester of high school, all of my teachers were really understanding, and accommodating with my busy schedule as the lead.
• I graduated high school, a big step, or so I'm told. So now I'm on to bigger and better things...
• I still need a job, so if anyone knows somewhere that is hiring seasonal positions, please, please, email me an application, or a link to an application.
• I dispelled my "cabin fever" by going to the cabin the day after graduation. I took my part-time-brother, Stu, with me to fix the pipes that burst last fall, and I had a blast showing him the beauty of that landscape. There is nothing so satisfying as when you ascend the mountain and see the pure landscape.

I'm sure there was more than that, but I don't have more time, so I will end here

I remain evermore, penningjade

-Crystal Jade

Fast Forward on Pause.

the picture of my life hasn't really changed much in the last few weeks, I'm still not dating boys, I'm still in school, I'm still shorter than I'd like to be, but a few things have changed.

1. i cut my hair. this time it was really a big change, but i thought I'd do something new for Amber's wedding.

this picture is odd, but it was the only one that would upload right...




2. I have gained more confidence, although i have still not mastered it, i am able to stand in front of people as myself without much fear.



There are some things that never change, i guess.

• I'm still afraid of spiders; the other morning i found one in the bathroom, and i screamed for help, and Angel just sat there, ignoring me. I was stuck until Mom came to rescue me.


• i still like boys. i don't know if i want that one to change. but since i was 3 or 4 I've liked many different boys. each time it was the same, i liked him, he didn't know, he found out, and his back as he ran away screaming was the last thing I'd ever see of him. but this time it's different, he knows, and i don't care that he knows, neither does he. we're still friends, and nothing more. :D


• i will never be happy with anything but the best from myself. i have pretty impressive grades this trimester, all A's excepting one C, and one B+, and those two classes are KILLER. but , being me, i am murderously unhappy about the C, and the B+ drives me crazy too...

i guess changes are only changed if i change them, so i should work on that..... well i have run out of time. so i shall sign out from here, although i did want to put up one pic of me from Prom.

anyhow. thanks for reading my posts. :D have a spectacular day!

A virtual miracle

It's the middle of April, sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I've just been too busy, and haven't had anything exciting to write about, but today I am so excited about two major rights of passage that every teen-aged girl should go through.

1. I have now seen Wicked! I remember the first time I heard about it, it was thanksgiving morning, in the year 2002, and I was sitting on my momma's bed watching the Macy's parade. I saw a clip of the musical come on, you know how they stop and do little shows for the news, well I fell in love (it may have had something to do with the fact that I was in A "Wizard of Oz" play that year). Well, the play was worth the 6 years' wait, and the killer migraine that I suffered on my way home from the play.

2. The virtual miracle that I was mentioning in the title to this blog: I got asked to Prom! now, some of you may not be shocked by this happening, I mean I understand that I am perfectly fantastic as human beings go, but with things as they are, and my previous history in the department, I figured that I’d be passed over, again, come Prom time this year. I was asked by my friend Nick, not Angel's friend Nick, or my friend Nicie's friend Nick, but my friend Nick. He’s a pretty cool guy, one of the best as guys at my school go, and he is one of my dear friends. He’s taller than me, by more than a few inches, so I can wear heels! That is something that I have not had difficulty with for a while, but I still remember my first dance when I had to take off my shoes to be shorter than my date.

Other than those, there are some other exciting things going on. My sister (A) is getting married (I am not sure if I told you this before, but she probably has) they got engaged on my birthday. My other sister (H) is finishing up her first year up at Utah State, and I’m excited to have her home.

I’ve fallen in love with driving, and am not excited to have to worry about riding the bus again, but I have to ride the bus for the next week or so. L

I’ll close with a quote:

“Sometimes you’ve got to hit rock bottom to start making a climb worth your while, and sometimes, there’s someone there to catch you before you hit it.”

Some sort of stress

ugh! school seriously crushes creativity. i'm running on empty in the energy department, and now rather than wandering to la la land (a good place full of happy dreams, and forever afters) i go to nowhere in my mind (lint, and some sawdust) it's really boring, and it won't even incorporate what i'm learning into its self.nothing new here. just la la land's disapperence. i asked a boy to the school dance next weekend, he's a good friend, but he's being really lame, he hasn't answered me yet. (i asked him on friday, so i'll be patient with him for a few more days, but that's all i can promise)

i love life. it's really a great blessing to be alive in this time. I'm so glad i have good parents who care about me, and let me be myself (to an extent).

book is done. should be printing it soon. i'll keep you updated as i am.

parents are painting the house, so it's torn apart right now, so i feel like i don't belong ANYWHERE, so i hope that i can feel at home somewhere soon.

that's all i've got energy for today (i haven't been sleeping well lately, i've been having dreams about terrible disasters that i awake from with screams of terror)
so ttfn!

-Crystal Jade

Nothing to blog about for my last blog of the year....

i really don't have anything to say but i figure that writing a blog is better than sitting on the couch watching the Disney channel all day....

merry Christmas to everyone! (a week late, but all the same).

i love to think over all that i have progressed this year. there are a few things i would have liked to say i accomplished this year, but some of them i didn't.

• i didn't get my drivers license.
• i didn't lose the 20 pounds i set out to lose.
• i didn't write three novels.
• i fought with my sisters way too much
• and i didn't get a job.

it's really my fault with all of these. i didn't get my license because i forgot to get the paperwork all put together before yesterday. and the rest of my goals were a little unrealistic (it's really really hard not to fight with your siblings when you share a bathroom)

but there were a lot of things i did manage to do.

• i got my hours for my drivers license
• i finally accepted that i am not a twig, nor do i want to be a twig.
• i wrote one really great novel
• i have gotten used to the fact that my sisters will pick on me a lot, so i just need to ignore it (much easier said than done)
• and i applied for a job, and plan on applying for more.
• i got a 4.0 for two trimesters.
• i made a friend out of an enemy.
• i went on my first date, and my second one too. (both were setups, still not been asked)
• i learned how to share a cell phone.
• i made a lot of amazing friends.
• i even lettered in academics.

i am pretty proud of my accomplishments. i did a lot of things that i never thought i could have. 2008 has been a pretty great year!

i am, however, excited to get past this milestone. my sixteenth year. wow. i'm almost seventeen!

i hope to do a world of good next year. here's a basic overview of what i want to accomplish in 2009.

• get my license
• get a job
• go to prom (most likely by myself, but i'd love to be asked!)
• get all my classes ready for graduation.
• get into the advanced drama classes for next school year.
• do the school musical for next school year.
• apply for colleges
• get into college.
• and date some boys (that's a carryover from last year's list)

i also have a few major goals that are a bit bigger. they fall into four catagories: spiritual, physical, social, and intelectual. i have mad a goal for those catagories as well as an overall goal for 2009.

• spiritual- write in my journol. i am good about blogging big events, even journoling them, but i need to get better about writing down the little mercies in my life.
• physical- workout 60 min. a week. most years my goal is to lose a certian ammount of weight, or to excercise alot. but in reality, i'm not that into sports and excersize, so i've decided that 60 min. a week is perfect for me.
• socially- tolerate stupid people doing stupid stuff that i catch myself doing from time to time. Hypocracy isn't my favorite thing, but i catch myself doing it alot, so i've decited that it will be eiser to like others if i excuse them of my faults.
• intilectual- study for 30 min. a day increase to 45 min. for test week. i've decided that in 2009 i'm going to try somehting new: studying. i have usually gotten A's with no effort, but lately that isn't so. so i'm going to actually study every day! weird huh?!
• OVER ALL- i've decided that in 2009 i need to learn to like myself better. i need to learn that i have faults, and learn to be okay with that. if i learn to lie me, i can more easily learn to like others. and to accept the fact that people may actually like me!

this year has been great! but lets say hello to 2009 in style!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (a little early...)

School Daze

Other than the very exciting news that my sister had her baby this week (a girl, Evalynn) I have nothing new to report. I am almost done with the editing of Snowdrifts, I would be done by now, but the library at school is closed during lunches for testing, so I have to wait until next Tuesday to get back in there to finish (the only time I really get to sit down without being harassed by someone [or the Internet] is at lunch in the library)

I'm excited for Christmas, and I just wanted to take a little time to mention what I forgot to say a few weeks ago on Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for my friends this year, especially Yazzy and Brooke. I'm also grateful for my sisters, all of them are so wonderful, and they're such great examples for me.

School is a slump right now.... not much going on there..... no boys in my life (to my dismay).... not really acting at the moment, a hard thing to do for me (not act)..... I love music..... I like boys with accents..... and that's enough random things from my mouth before I say too much....

Thanks for reading this week, I'm grateful for you!

Happy Holidays!