Zyrtec, My SpringTime Best Friend

   You know what's funny? I am not allergic to anything but I have super bad allergies. Zyrtec is a spring time staple for me as it seems that it's the only medication that brings me relief without putting me into hibernation.  
  I guess I will have to put up with itchy eyes and runny nose for the rest of the season but Zyrtec (my springtime best friend) will make it so much easier.

Water Makes Me Feel Like a Champion

   We have this joke around our house, "Water makes me feel like a champion," but I've always wondered about water. How can this clear liquid be so healthy for us? Why can this tasteless liquid, taste so good on a hot day? I just don't know.
    But what I do know is, water makes me feel like a champion.

Violaters of Signs

     For every stupid sign somewhere, there was a stupid person that caused the need for that particular sign.
   Every time someone with no common sense does something dumb, someone else has to make a sign to prevent this from happening again. This must happen more than we'd think (judging from all the signs.)
   Now, I play a game with myself. Every time I see a stupid sign, I think of the stupid person that made the need for these horrible (and seemingly useless) signs.

Undesirable Desk Partners

   Even if you are no longer in school, We've all had an undesirable desk (or seat) partner, whether it be at work, school, or even on an airplane. In middle school, I have encountered this quite a bit. This is because I have eight classes a day and we often change seats. I have come up with a plan, called A.I.M, to help tolerate these people. .

 A- Act like you can tolerate them sitting next to you
 I- Ignore when they do stupid/annoying things
M- Make the most of it! even though you're sitting next to someone unwanted, doesn't mean you have to stoop to their level and be jerk-ish back to them.

   These steps should help you deal with your unwanted desk partners
     

You Betcha'

   On our summer journey of 2012, We made a quick trip to Canada. We stopped at Niagara Falls and ate at a small diner for breakfast. Our breakfast consisted of syrup and lots of Canadian bacon (Ok we also had pancakes and eggs.)
   We were there for a very short time but it was still cool. Would I go to Canada again? You Betcha'!!

Xylophone Gator

   When I was a kid, I had a xylophone that looks like an alligator. I don't know what was so enjoyable about hitting the colorful metal keys with the plastic yellow mallet. It might be the high pitched ringing or the vibrating after the initial strike, but it was fun and one of my favorite toys.  
   Along with my fuzzy pink princess telephone or my pink princess cash register (with a REAL conveyer belt!) Not to mention my ball popper, which had a blue handle and when you pushed/pulled it, the little colorful balls would pop up and hit the clear dome with a satisfying "POP!"
   Even now when I think about my childhood toys, my first thought is always about my xylophone gator.

Summer of 2012

I thought I would write a list of some of the main places we went during our journey in summer of 2012. This is not a full list (nor in order) but some some of it:
*Maine
*Michigan
*Conneticut
*St. Louis
*Memphis
*Illinois
*Porta-potties
*Arkansas
*Tennessee
*Missouri
*Graceland
*CANADA
*and MORE!!!!

Things That Annoy Me

    There are many things that annoy me. One of which is liars, as stated in a previous entry. (Also hypocrites and cheaters.) But it is usually the small OCD-ish things that drive me crazy. Such small things make such a big difference to me. the small things seem so easy to fix, yet so annoying. Here is a list of small OCD things that make me crazy.

• Uneven hoodie strings
• Unsharpened pencils
• When someone's jeans are rolled up just too high
• CHIPPED NAIL POLISH
•  A single smudge of un-erased color on the white board at school
• Stray hairs in the hairbrush
• And much MUCH more.

ROADTRIP!!!

   Roadtripping is not as fun as you might think. I am lucky enough to have spent a month roadtripping this past summer.
   What really happens is that you're stuck in a car with smaller siblings that have to pee all the time, you run out of activities to do, you get tired of fast-food, and you get sore from being in the car for hours on end.        
    Don't get me wrong! This past summer was the best summer of my life. I just recommend that you skip the roadtrip.

Quadriceps and more

  Do you know what's funny? You know the body that we've lived in all our lives? The one we're born with?     
 Well, I'd bet that you don't even know what half of your body parts are or what they do. (or where they are in the case of the quadriceps.)
   Here's some examples of body parts that fit this description: coccyx, glabella, vestibule, quadriceps and more.

Party for a Dollar

   One of our hobbies as a family is to have little parties. There's no guests at this party (except for us) but It's ok because its themed.
   We go to the dollar store and choose things to go with our theme. (previous themes include hearts, princesses and redneck themed parties.) These parties are more fun than you would think.
   Half the fun is going to the local Dollar Tree  and looking the assortment of cheap junk and choosing only the weirdest things (sure to never be used again.) Ok, so it doesn't sound that fun, But trust me. It is.

Ogunquit: somewhere over the rainbow

   In Maine, we visited footbridge beach, in Ogunquit, ME. This was a beach where the only entrance was a 4-ft wide footbridge.
  It was a cloudy day so we were expecting to not see many people. We were walking towards the beach on the footbridge, and a guy was walking towards the parking lot (the opposite way.) This guy had very short cut-off jean shorts and orange skin. He was short and his curly hair flopped onto his forehead in a way that looked like he had a helmet made of hair.
    He stops in front of us, looks at me, and in an Irish accent say "You have very pretty eyes if I do say so myself." I nodded awkwardly and thanked him. I cringed as he walked away. My dad laughed and we finally made it to the beach.
    When we got there, we admired the beach for a few seconds and then started walking to the left of the bridge. There was Mr.Leprechaun man, pacing as if he was a robot doing exercise. I poked my dad and his eyes widened in disbelief. How the the world had he crossed the thin bridge without us noticing? Well, he couldn't.  It was impossible.
    We were very creeped out. We tried to get away from him so we zig-zagged through the deserted beach. It seemed like no matter how far away we walked, he was always just 10 feet from us. We were sill trying to get away from him when it started raining.
   Since we were already planing on getting wet, we just decided to stay and wait a little bit before going into the water. As we waited, we were drawing in the sand. When I looked up again, there he was...taking off his shorts...and he was wearing a bright blue speedo.
   At this point, we decided to leave. Later that day, while looking at pictures taken, we noticed that he was in 75% of our pictures. (Creepy)
   Now this will probably be a story we will laugh at for years to come, but at the time, it was very scary. I will always remember that place as Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

New Books

This might sound a little weird but smelling new books is kind of  guilty pleasure of mine. 
  I love smelling the paper and feel the risen edges that follow the black ink. I like looking at the crisp pages and thinking about what adventures might be in store for me inside.
   To some people this might sound weird but for those of you that have tried it, You know what I'm talking about when I say: A story's too short to not stop and smell the pages.

Maine, land of fun and great fudge

    Over our summer 2012 journey, one of our stops was Maine. We lived in a mobile home that was parked in a lot near the beach. We stayed in Maine for a week and I enjoyed every minute of it.
    The streets were lined with shops ranging from popcorn shops to fortune tellers. From an ice cream store to a fudge shop. It was great!
   Our activities consisted of going to he beach, going to the fun-o-rama (an arcade that also had bowling), and at night we would choose a special dessert and walk along the beach.
   If you ever have an opportunity to come here, then do it. I have cleverly named this magical place: Maine, the land of fun and great fudge.

Liars Annoymous

   If there is one thing that I can't stand, it's liars. I just don't think its fair (to themselves or others) that people have to deal with the lies.
   It also annoys me that while the rest of us work VERY hard to be good people and they can go and lie to all of us good people that just sit back and take it. I sometimes wish that I could show them that being a good person is very rewarding, but I'd rather not talk to them.
  The more I talk to liars, the more I feel my nice,calm personality crumble away, being replaced with mean anger that is entirely pointed towards them.

Killer Whales

    I think killer whales are so interesting. I guess I have a fascination with all aquatic creatures. Anyways, up until a few years ago, I thought Shamu was one whale.
    I don't know maybe they had special whale transportation services to drag this humongous animal across the country. All I knew was that it would be utterly ridiculous to have hundreds of whales named Shamu.        
   Impossible! To name these magnificent creatures after one another when they should each have a unique name that fits each whale's personality. It's astounding! Almost as unbelieveable as these beautiful creatures.

JukeBox Kids

   One of my favorite restaurants is Babe's (a family-style place that has juicy fried chicken and homemade sides.) 
    One of our particularly bad experiences was when we were seated by the glowing loud juke box. Wild children were swarming near our table. The worst part was that that the parents did nothing about it. Here they were disrupting our delicious meal (and probably bugging everyone else) and their parents were sitting above their lit phone, eyes glazed over from the bright screen.
    Moral of the story: Keep your kids under control!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

    On our 2012 summer journey, one of our main stops was in Short sands beach in Maine. This place is great! Just  off the beautiful beach, there are streets lined with gift shops and places to get yummy treats. Our nightly tradition was to get our choice of a dessert and eat it while walking up and down the beach. 
     One night, our chosen treat was ice cream. We had finally gotten to the beach, Mia's face already coated in sticky pink liquid from her strawberry cone and Caleb trying to lick his chocolate ice cream off of his elbow, and we decided to go check out the large hole we dug that day at the beach. Our parents refused to "walk all the way over there" as it was on the other side of the beach.  So we started off without them.
      At some point, Mia had gotten misplaced in the tangle of children playing tag in the dark. We retreated back to the bench that was occupied by two very worried looking parents. We told the short story of our predicament and we ran towards the last place we saw her.
    As we frantically searched the beach we heard a a woman asking us if this was our child. And surprise surprise, she had Mia's sticky hand in hers. We hugged the worried child and thanked the annoyed woman. Once the lady went back to her business, all the anger was pointed at Mia.
    As we walked back through the semi-deserted streets, Mia explained how she found us. "I told her what you guys looked like. I said that mommy has blonde hair, two blue eyes and smiling teeth. I told her that daddy has a bald head, a beard, and a frowning mouth." We all tried choking down our laughter, but failed. Well at least she knows what to do in case of an emergency.

Hurricane Hannah

    Recently, I have been studying hurricanes in science class. We all know about the eye of the storm but what I have only just discovered that hurricanes have an eye wall.
    The main idea of an eye wall is that it is the absolute worst part of the storm, right before the calmest part.
      The first thing I thought about after reading this is: life is like a hurricane. It can get a little crazy and you may have a sudden surge of bad things happening, but then you break through the wall and all is peaceful.
     So if you're ever having an  extremely terrible few months, everything will soon be better. Just wait for the eye of the storm.

Grandpa Marve

   I have heard many stories about my grandpa Marve. About how he cut lunch meat into dinosaurs and used icicles to transform himself in to a unicorn.
     But the most sad (and memorable for me) is how he passed away the night before my first birthday. August 27, 2000. 
    Its crazy to think about how we celebrate happy occasions  with so many terrible things happening around us.  How do we rejoice when we should be grieving?
     The funny part is, happy feelings last longer than sad ones. The sad are more intense in the beginning but several years after the event we are grieving less and celebrating as much as always.

Friendship

  There's very little that's better than having a good group of friends. With me, I'm always in a group of three when it comes to friends. I have two theories on why this happens.
    Reason number one is that it feels like  if you are one out of three people in a group, you will always have at least one person to hang out with. This prevents extreme loneliness (something I have a minor fear of.)
    Reason number two is that I have found that people are more open and friendly when they already have a best friend. It shows me someone's personality without me getting involved. Once I find one person I like, I tend to like their friends. We then become one great big group of compatible people. This way of making friends is very similar to shopping on amazon. Have you found something you like? Look at all these similar and recommended objects.
   So moral of the story. Look for friends on amazon. Wait that's not right.

Exam Week

  Twice a school year we have the worst week(s) of the year. Exam week.
   Not only is this week full of dumb tests (that I always ace) it's a week where your schedule is all out of whack (which makes for a very long week.)
   Don't get me wrong! Sometimes our classes are fun (like watching movies) but most of the time, it's yet another review worksheet that just confuses me more.
    It's just one of those things that I have to do, even if it makes me want to stab myself in the eye with a pencil.

Dentist Torture

   Ugh! The dentist! One of those places you dread going to for months before you actually go (or is that just me?)

   I think I gave the dentist a bad reputation when I was young and had a small obsession with apple juice. Two cavity fillings later, I didn't care for the dentist.

     I don't think I started having a deep hatred for the dentist until a few years ago. Four days before Christmas and I was scheduled to have two teeth extracted. This "procedure" caused my gums to be sore, I couldn't drink out of a straw (which is the best way when you don't want contact with open holes in your mouth) and I couldn't eat solid food for a few days. It was absolutely terrible.                        
    Since then, everything I go to the dentist, I get this rumbling feeling in my tummy. (It kind of sounds like a herd of gerbils.)

Coin Tricks

  My dad's special thing has always been coin tricks (and humming old man songs.)
   It used to amaze me how he made a coin appear out of my ear or he got a coin out of his pocket that was very clearly just in his hand.
   But as I grew older, I anticipated these tricks. As he did the show for my smaller siblings, their jaws dropped in awe and they clapped their grubby little hands.
    My reaction went from "Wow!! How did you do that?" to "But it was just in between your fingers! You didn't really pull it out of my ear!" But his response was always the same.  "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Baby Stories

    We all have those heartwarming stories of when we were young, but do you ever feel bad about them?
        I sometimes feel guilty that I made my parents deal with my crazy antics. For example, I once tried to feed my white stuffed poodle Floam. For all of you that don't know, Floam is a very stinky, very sticky, very neon substance with small Styrofoam balls in it. This event ultimately ended with a poodle with a neon pink snout.
       Stories like these make me say to myself, "How did they EVER put up with me for 13 years?"We all have good and bad (if you don't, you're lying) stories of our childhoods, it just so happens that mine are mostly bad. What can I say?
       We can't all be the tame children on diaper commercials where the baby naps peacefully while Amazing Grace plays in the background. Instead, most of us were the one's on the paper towel commercials where the baby has dry spaghetti sauce all over the body and stale cheerios stuck in the hair and the mom's have hair flying every which way, sporting the same cheerios. Oh! having kids sounds great! Not.

Accepting the Challenge

So get this. I have accepted the ultimate online challenge: The A-Z blog challenge. I have been reading, living, and breathing this challenge this past month (courtesy of Courtney, my challenger/stepmom) but have not decided to participate until now. I have read every single blog of Courtney's but never thought about how much work is put into the little morsels of literature. Now I have spent approximately an hour and a half (or one episode of The Voice) making up 26 ideas for this challenge. That's right, this is happening.