Ivy

After a long day of school that to be completely honest, was a blur, I came home to find a letter addressed to me from a dear friend. It was very strange to me because I couldn't think of what it could be about. After racking my brains for a few minutes I gave up and opened the envelope. I open it to find the sweetest, most sincere letter I have ever read in my life. It started off by saying:

"Dear Sasha, This letter may seem random and slightly strange, but I've really felt that I need to thank you for so many things..."

It goes on to thank me for things I didn't know I had done. To compliment me with compliments I am sure cannot be true. My dear friend is so much more then a dear friend. She is a sincere friend. A friend who doesn't focus on the weaknesses of others. A friend who has the courage to send letters out of the blue! A friend who I want to be more like.

Thank you so much friend. YOU are the one who I need to thank.

pumpkin is all grown up.

My oldest sister graduated from college today. Can you believe it? Graduation. College. No more schooling. Unless of course she goes back for a masters, but that would be in a little while if she decided to do that. We went to the big ceremony yesterday which was rather enjoyable when I learned that no one was walking. That would be the longest ceremony in the ENTIRE world!!!! This morning at 8 am sharp, we went to the smaller ceremony where she took one of the longest walks of her life. However, all went well and there was no falling involved.

Yea Dano! You were so good and so calm. I don't know how you did it but congratulations!

This evening we had a celebration and I haven't laughed that hard in a while. I enjoyed the reaquaintances and will always remember the memories. So thank you for that, friends. Love you all!

AND CONGRATULATIONS DANO!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

nienie

In times of decision I ask myself, WWND? It is, What Would Nie Nie Do? Technecially it should be WWNND but that is extremely long. It helps me in many, many things I do. She is truly one of my heroes. I invite you all to look at her blog. It is inspiring and uplifiting and it changes my day from bad to good in an instant. To be completely honest, I wish she had a blog when she was my age as well as now! I have spent many hours reading through her archives and I do not ever get bored. I invite you to look at her blog.

It is http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Read it. I know you'll love it.

ps my sister graduated from college yesterday! i'll have to tell you more about that another time.

juice de...

French Class.
Learning food and drinks.

"Who likes juice de pomme? Who likes juice de orange?"

and at that moment, I realized I'm a juice de orange kind of girl.

Thyme

Dear Emily, Kaylee, Skyelin and Austin,

I loved seeing your mixed choir today! I did not know you were going to be competing and it was a real treat. It gives me a WHOLE 'nother appreciation for what you all do at your high school. Keep up the good work guys! You sounded great!

-sasha

Dear Brooke,

Thanks for letting me chill with you today! I loved learning the muscles with you. Let's ace the test tomorrow! Those unpronounciable words are going DOWNNNNNNNNNNNNN! You're great!

-sasha

Dear Mary,

Come back soon. I do not like school with out you. Come back soon. Now is not the time for hitting golf balls. Come back soon. Eat lots of food while you're on va-cae. Come back soon. Also, smooch lots of boys. Oh wait... you are underage. Come back soon. I'm not worried, at least you'll be the right age on July 4th! Come back soon. Do you know whose concert we're going to? Come back soon. Do ya? Come back soon. Of couse you do! Come back soon. We spent an hour standing in line in the fa-reeeezing weather for those tickets. Come back soon. I'm pumped. Come back soon. GET PUMPED! Come back soon.

-sasha

Anthericum

Dance. Hot. Tiring... EXHAUSTED! Ok, so after dance is lunch and so I was extremely thirsty. Parched is more like it.


jai soif, jai soif, jai soif, Is all I kept thinking. Anyways, so after I had finished my caprisun and realized I had forgotten my waterbottle I decided to go to the vending machine for a vitamin water or lemonade. I originally was going to wait for my sister to get back to school from having lunch at her friends house but about two minutes before the bell rings, (12:46 and approximately 50 seconds)I decided to go with out her. I didn't want either of us to be late-- I didn't want to go with out her though because I felt like I needed moral support, because my fear is that the machine is going eat my money. And then what am I going to do? Stand there like an idiot, getting angry and kicking the poor thing and such? I think not!


So I see a lovely pink lemonade in the vending machine and ohmystars I can just feel it going down my throat. Fabulous. So I put my George Washington in and push the letter and number: C6. And I wait... and wait.... and wait! THE VENDING MACHINE ATE MY MONEY!!!!!!! Do you want to know what I did then? Let me tell you, I started:

stomping, kicking, hitting.
yelling, scratching, and most deffinitely biting.

I was furious. I needed this pink lemonade! And then, after ramming it several times with my backpack, it came out. And I was hydrated.


JUST KIDDING!!!!!! Fooled ya! I would never ever do that. I think that crosses the line a little bit. I did wait... and wait.... and wait but when nothing came out I hurried to class and was still tardy. That's right, you heard me, a tardy for nothing. No drink, no dollar in my pocket, and deffinitely no biting.

Dear Spring Break,

Thank you so much for arriving at the perfect time. School was such a drag (yes I just used the phrase, 'such a drag') and I needed a break. Well, now this is the last day of the break. I am sad. I could have many more spring breaks if you would allow it but I know you need to go do spring breaks else where.

Putting aside my sorrow for a moment, I am very thankful to you for the following:

• rain
• snow
• sun
• wind
• birds chirping
• stars
• moon

• smiles
• frowns
• laughter
• tears
• new things
• old things

• family
• friends
• acquaintances
  
• strangers

• right
  
• wrong
• discernment
• happiness
• laughter
• love
• peace

I owe you BIG time! It was my pleasure hosting you. You are welcome any time.

-sasha

Saffron

Today my bestie/cousin came over, Aria. She is so great and rather gorgeous if I do say so myself. We were going to watch a movie but then we started chatting and didn't stop. Eventually I was going through my purse and found money. That is a great feeling- finding money you didn't know you had. So what did we do? We went tanning. Ok, ok. Some may feel that fake'n bakers are terrible people and should be condemned but can I just say they are not! Well I guess now it is we are not. It was quite fun and I will not soon forget it!

So I was kind of nervous at first because I was worried I would feel claustrophobic in the booth, however, I learned that it does not completely swallow you up. It is open near the head and feet. So first we had this really nice lotion that we put on first that protected your skin. It smelt SO good! I wanted to eat it.
Eventually I pushed start and climbed in. The most thrilling part for me was the eye protectors. If you have ever seen A Cinderella Story with Hillary Duff and Chad Michael Murray, you will know what I'm talking about. Hillary Duff's step-mom wears the tanning glasses for a second and it is very scary to be frank. I put mine on and looked in the mirror. Thankfully I did NOT take a picture. It was a scary and pretty embarassing. I digress! So here I am, in the booth, listening to the radio behind me when the air gets hot. I need cool, fresh, hydrating air, and so I lift up the top and darn it, my hand brushes the radio and it stops. But I'm really confused because the power light is still on. I am not radio savy and so I don't really mind.
'Oh well,' I think to myself, 'My 18 minutes is probably close to being finished anyways.' Well let me tell ya, it was not! Those may have been the longest 18 minutes of my life. I look up to the light bulbs and see the company name, SWIFT on them and so I start humming Taylor Swift songs but that eventually gets boring. After a few minutes of listening to silence, I open the lid and check to see what was wrong. I had tapped the CD button. So I tapped the RADIO button and all was good.
Near the end it got very warm and I was a little concerned to be honest. However, the lights eventually turned off and I got out, very eager to see my new shade of bronze. I looked in the mirror and what did I see???? Nothing. Dang it. 'I should have known first time tan-ners dont get tan.' I thought. Oh well. I was just happy I got more freckels and to be completely honest, I felt like I had just laid in the sun at the beach. Life was SO good.

It has been five hours and I am burnt... bad. What I thought previously was false. First time tan-ners DO get tan. Actually I just lied again. They get burnt... it just takes a few hours.

the inevitable tanning bed glasses

Almond Tree

What's new in my life? Mini Spooners. These are not your normal Frosted Mini Wheats. These are much more powerful. Oh my delish. I have a decent size bowl, poor a good amount of milk over the top and let them sit for a bit. Not too long though, if too soggy, the sugar on top may come off. It needs just the right amount of squish when you chew it. It sounds detailed and tricky but I promise you it will be well worth it.

Yesterday was state drama. I think we did very well. It was the smallest stage in the history of... the world and so I hardly did any dancing at all. (my role is a gypsy and apparently they dance so there you go) At one part, I was running across the stage when an introduction was made. Thigh meet sedan chair, sedan chair meet thigh... BRUISE! Ow. It hurt so bad. But the show must go on! However, I only had probably 10 more seconds left on stage so I managed.

On the bus ride up and down, my friend and costumer leant me her book. It is called Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I am not sure how much I should tell you about it because I do not want to give too much away. I want it to be your own experience. I must warn you however, it is a little heavy. Normally I gravitate towards light books but for some reason, not this time. I only got to page 110 and so I am hoping to go down to Barnes and Noble today to pick it up.

On a lighter note, I have had this yearning from deep, deep down inside of me to go shopping! I can't stand it. I must go! However, I cannot go becuase I am broke. (the life of a teenager) It is a rather frusturating feeling to only be able to window shop yet go no further. I was looking online yesterday and I found one of the coolest pencil skirts I have seen in a long time. It has been going fast. Yesterday, small, medium and large were available. Now large is the last size available which means I am not the only who likes it. Dang it. However, all hope is not lost because also on XX1, I found these boots and I fell in love with them in mili seconds. How divine!!!!

Before I leave, check out these photos from my sissy in NY!!!

Junniper

My Spring Break started today. It was full of rain-walking, surprise, twister and laughing. Oh how I love laughing.

My dad and sister are in the big apple at the moment. Can you believe it? NYC. It's very extraordinary don't you know. They are looking at apartments and STUFF! It seems very fun and I am not going to lie, I am a wee bit jealous. New York City has been my obsession for a very long time. I am however, very much enjoying the mobile pictures I am receiving from them! The only bad thing at the moment is that they are in bed... so no more pictures tonight. Oh well. I'll have something fabulous to look forward to tomorrow.

























I had my first job interview today. It is my first step into adulthood! Okay, well maybe not my first step but first toe into adulthood. I am in no rush but it was exciting. My interview was full of, "Tell me about a time when..." Those were really hard! I had to search all my memories and answer in enough time so that I didn't create an awkward silence but I needed to think of good experiences. Unfortunately, most of them were fluff. I'm sure the interviewer thought I was a little strange. But if anything it was a learning experience. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cherry-Tree

I cannot believe I am blogging at school. But I am. Brooke and I came to the computer lab to print out an essay and so this is what I'm doing. I can now check it off my list of 'To-Do's' What more could I want in life now that I have blogged in a public setting? :)

Oh! The bell's about to ring!!! Time to go to science. Happy Tuesday

Mary and I were feeling creative.
Enjoy!!!

Also, a new favorite song by Sondre Lerche. Modern Nature It makes me really happy! The only good recording to the song I could find has Enchanted clips playing over it, which is great, I love Enchanted but I hope it's not too distracting from the glorious song!

Modern Nature by Sondre Lerche

The moment has come to face the truth
I'm wide awake, and so are you
Do you have a clue what this is? (I don't know)
Are you everything that I miss? (I don't hope so)
We'll just have to wait and see (Wait, and see)
If things go right we're meant to be

The surface is gone, we scratched it off
We made some plans, and let them go
Do you have the slightest idea (No, I don't)
Why the world is bright with you here? (Oh, is that so?)
Stay a while and wait and see (wait, and see)
If things go right we're meant to be


Oh, what a world this life would be
Forget all your technicolour dreams
Forget modern nature
This is how it´s meant to be

The time is here for being straight
It´s not too early and never too late
People say I should watch my pace (What do they know?)
"Think how you spend all your days" (They all say so)
They´ll just have to wait and see (Wait, and see)
If things go right they´ll have to agree

Oh, what a world this life would be
Forget all your technicolour dreams
Forget modern nature
This is how it´s meant to be

Do you have the slightest idea (No, I don't)
Why the world is bright with you here? (Oh, is that so?)
Stay a while and wait and see (wait, and see)
If things go right we're meant to be

Oh, what a world this life would be
Forget all your technicolour dreams
Forget modern nature
This is how it´s meant to be

Forget modern nature
This is how it´s meant to be

Bellflower

I don't know why I even wore shoes. By the end, they were full of water. I guess that's what you get for jumping in all the puddles the eye can see. Today was just a strange day. Don't get me wrong, it was not bad, it was good... but strange. So when my thoughts wouldn't leave me alone I put on my running shoes and ran... in the rain. I have been running (almost) every day recently because the dolphins swim around my head and make me happy! But today was extra special. There is something glorious about the rain and running in the rain makes it even better. Honestly, I do not know how to explain it other then to simply tell you I love the water drops that fall from the sky so much and I do not know what I would do without it. There are those who hate the rain and that blows my mind. I cannot begin to understand how they feel that way. All I know is that I will always enjoy my love affair with the rain.
But it's not just the rain. It's water in general. I love it. I think it is amazing. Have you ever stopped to think about water? It is an everyday occurrence for most and it is a little random but I got to thinking about it one day and thought how miraculous it was.
Water. The essence of life.
In seventh grade, I got my Scuba certification and I remember swimming in the training pool back and forth across the bottom floor never ever wanting to come up. (I could you see because of the oxygen tank on my back.) The longest we spent down there was 15 minutes but the Heber crater was a different story. At that special place we stayed under water for 45 minutes. It was probably my favorite 45 minutes of my life. The crater just goes down, down, down and we had to be careful of the pressure but we ourselves went down, down, down. Because of the depth of the crater, there are platforms under water as you get lower and lower into the water. There were four in my certification group and so when the others were passing off the ways to remove their masks and such to Constantine (our Russian Scuba instructor) I floated on the platform busily looking all around. It was very dark except for a few lights on the side and I remember thinking how crazy it was to be breathing under water. I also wondered if there was a way to eat under water, that way I could be the worlds first recorded mermaid....
Last spring break, I went with my friend and my old charter school to Moab. We went on a night hike and eventually found a place to lay down and watch the stars. Around us were the arches and one of the teachers was explaining to us how this all used to be underwater and I suddenly got scared. Not terrified scared but I couldn't imagine it scared. The arches were so big and even daunting and I tried to imagine water all around me and it actually worked. I saw fish swimming under and over the arches and the moon light streaming through the water. It was beautiful.
I guess that's what you get for such a big imagination.

photo credit Jane Heller

Burdock

My dad picked up my uncle from the airport today. He had just returned from Haiti. Yes. Haiti. As in, where exactly is that? Well, it is next to the Domican Republic, and sort of Florida. Vague but the best I can do. Back to my uncle. He came back from his trip with stories that my dad told me and they were heart breaking. I cannot believe there are people in the world with such conditions. It blows my mind because TOO many times I think that everyone's conditions are like the my little home town-- which I know they are not but it is a sub-concious thought I seem to have often.
As I was listening to the stories my uncle had told m Dad who was telling me, I thought back to 8th grade when all I wanted to do was become a doctor and join the W.H.O. I wanted to help those in need. It made perfect sense to me.... people need help! But since I didn't have to make my 'final' career choice at that time, that idea lasted only for a short while and I became interested in other things.
I have been thinking about my future career, my future life for that matter, a lot recently. What is it exactly I want to do? How will I go about acheiving that? Well just when you think you have made up your mind.... Do I really need to finish that sentence? And the question came to my mind, 'will I be happy if my career does not reach out to those in need? Will I be satisfied if I have a 'less involved' career?' For a few seconds I feel the answer is no. I must go to all the third world countries and help people. And then for another few seconds, I think, 'Well that's great but is it really what I want to do?' -don't get me wrong, I want to help people... It is just a very sticky subject.

However, here is what I am most worried about: will I be able to feel guiltless as a human being, living a comfortable life, and having possessions, while I worry about stupid things- that I can't even think of right now, while I know there are people in the world who are starving. crying. hurting. The thing is, I don't think I can.

Sage

I haven't written in a while because I simply haven't felt like it. I have been tired, mentally and physically and have not had the motivation needed for this blog. I want to write something good and maybe even a little inspiring but I am scared of doing a bad job.
You see, I have so many thoughts running through my head all the time. They never stop. I am constantly thinking during the day and all through the night. Sometimes I cannot sleep because of all the things I am thinking. It's insane!!! And the worst part is- 9 times out of 10, I cannot remember all of them but when I do, I can't communicate them to people very well. It is VERY frustrating! But here is something I was thinking about the other night. (it kept me up actually)
I was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering how I was going to survive my upcoming week. It was busy and full of hard work and I just did not want to think about it. Then this thought came to me, It's not necessarily all about my happiness. Everyone I meet this week are probably having as hard of a week as I am. I couldn't believe how selfish I was being!- how selfish I have been. Who feels like bleh because I have been self centered and only concerned on my happiness or well being? Things need to change. You never know how people are feeling that day, what if it's there worst day ever and you don't necessarily make it worse but you don't make it better either?
I remember one morning before class started, I was waiting in line to wash my hands when the girl in front of me said, "How are you?" "Pardon?" I asked. I understood her but I didn't think she was talking to me. I didn't even know her. "How are you?" she asked again. "Oh! Good thanks!" I said with a suprised smile. It was very odd but it made my entire day! That morning had been rushed and rough and she turned it into calming and honestly?- care-free. It was fabulous and I have always been too scared to do that to someone else. Maybe tomorrow's the day? Maybe tomorrow's the first day of many to come. Time to take the initiviative. Here we go.

SORRY!

I have been absolutely terrible and have not blogged for the longest time.
My apologies. I am still here, if you will still listen to me.
Next entry will be great I promise.

-shasha

me and keke... we liked to play dress up.

Acacia

Hello lovalies! How are you all this beautiful day? (at least to me it is- rain is my friend) Let me introduce you to my family. Have I ever done that? Hmm...

First up is head of the house: Father. He is super! (said in a french accent) He actually has his own blog. Check it out at http://dennisagle.wordpress.com/2009/ . Yes, we are a blogging family. So he is very rad and i love him
Next is the other head of the house: Mother. She's British! and practically perfect in every way if I do say so myself. She moved over here when she married my Dad and has lived over here since... and anytime she says she wants the family to move to England I will be first on the plane. I think it is so beautiful over there! Goodness me.
Oldest sister: Danielle. She is a cutie. She graduates BYU at the end of this month and is now a special education teacher. She loves her job and I love her so thinks are pretty much grand. ps she is going on a mission very soon. That's 18 months without my eldest sister! AHH!
Middle sister: Katie. She is graduating high school this year. And then she is going to college far, far away ;( sad day!!!

"why you want to leave me?" -my big fat greek wedding


Last is me... but you already know about me. However I can still tell you about Abish and Bunny!

Abish is our golden lab. She is 5 years old and -we just found out today- has arthritus! Poor baby. We have doggie medicine now and she'll get all better!
Bunny is my bunny. (Clever name eh?) She is 6 years old and I 'lauf' her. We also took her to the vet today and she has rug burns on the heels of her back feet from hopping on the carpet all the time and so she has purple bandages on! Sad but she is ever so cute!

So yes. That is me, well us really.

if you look closely, you can see bunny's purple bandage

Elastic Momordica

before i start, the title for this entry really is a flower name, i know it sounds crazy but it's true!

I am not an April Fooler. I wish I was but I'm not.
However I tend to be the recipient of many. Nothing big or devastating, I am simply gullible. In fact, the day my sister was trying to explain to me what gullible meant, she said, "It's like saying there are foot prints up on the ceiling." I looked up. Nothing. "No," she said. "Ok, for example someone says, 'If you say gullible slow it sounds like Christmas'..." You can just imagine what happened then. After that didn't work she had to give a long explanation in order to help me out.
So today when my friend was telling us about an April Fools trick her sister played on her, a text saying J.K Rowling died, I gasped. No, she is alive and well (as far as I know) but I thought it was... even though she had just seconds before told us it was AN APRIL FOOLS PRANK PLAYED ON HER! Goodness gracious. What are we going to do with me?

Anyways! So in honor of this holiday, I was reading about some April Fool's Day pranks that have been pulled and here are my favorite:

Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity 1976: The British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

The Taco Liberty Bell 1996: The Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

Wow. One day I am going to pull a HUGE prank and go down in the books. I can feel it in my bones.