Day 273: 80's Day!

Today was 80's Day at school! There were some crazy hair-dos, tons of off the shoulder tees, plenty of leggings and LOTS of bright colors! I had so much fun taking zillions of pictures with all of my friends and getting dressed up in yet another costume! Everyone has been in such a great mood all week and especially today! In PALs we had an 80's dance party/photo shoot, at lunch we took pictures for the yearbook and in English we listened to 80's music throughout the entire class period! Time after Time, True Colors, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Flashdance... the 80’s mix goes on and on! Tonight was the homecoming pep rally! Taylor & I were the Beau and Sweetheart for baseball, so we walked out on the field with our banner. It was me with 4 baseball boys as we waited in line- the other three boys were the banner carriers! All of the boys were CRAZY! The homecoming pep rally was a success... thanks to Ms. McDowell!! And the homecoming court is as follows,

(Boys) Cale Winans, Brelynn McNary, Joshua Sun, Richard Ekeke, and Al Valdez (Girls) Andrea Miller, Jewel Udenwagu, Taylor Chambers, Savannah Myklebust and my BEAUTIFUL best friend KK LOWERY! :) I am so happy for her and everyone else that made court! This weekend is going to be full of fun & more cute pictures! I can't wait to see who gets crowned king and queen!

Day 272: Black Out!

Today was Black Out Day! Typically this day is on the Friday of Spirit Week and everyone comes to school with their mums. However, since we got a new principal this year... it was today! It didn't really bother me, so of course I went all out with my foo foo black skirt and black attire! Everywhere I looked there was black and if someone didn't wear black- they were a total outcast! Black Out Day is by far the easiest dress up day to participate in and I was very impressed with the school spirit today! During lunch, my friends and I headed outside to take pictures. I am really glad we did, because...

(A) We got to take a bunch of cute pictures with good lighting!

(B) The weather is awesome this week!

(C) We needed some pictures NOT taken inside the classroom/school 

(D) We have the potential to be in the yearbook in our black out attire!

(E) All of the above!

Day 271: Western Day!

Howdy y'all! Today was Western Day and the hallways were filled with plenty of boots and hats! I jammed to some good ol' country music on the way to school (in order to get into character for the day)! I even wore my mom's authentic rodeo outfit- wrangler black jeans, boots, a spiffy belt, a pink western top and all! Brittany brought a pretend horse, Melinda & Monique dressed up as matching Indians, KK got to wear her new cowgirl boots and everyone else  had on a western shirt! I just love dress up days- they really round up the whole school! Giddy up Bulldogs :)



Day 270: Flashback!

Today marks the first official day of Spirit Week! Technically, there was no theme for today... so over Facebook and text message everyone decided it was Nerd Day! This morning I searched the house for nerdy clothes. Is it bad that my initial reaction was to go look inside my mom's closet...? We ended up finding some geeky clothes up in the attic. I wore my mom's high school bowling jersey (complete with her hard earned patches), her super high waisted jeans from college, and her official pair of bowling shoes. Even though my mom actually was a nerd in high school, she was a rockin' bowler! When I had the outfit on this morning, she kept on saying that she was having flashbacks! At school, there weren't too many people dressed up like nerds... but there were a few! I got a million odd stares and some classic backhanded compliments. Some people said, "You have such a mom butt" and others said, "You're the only one that could pull that off. It's like a normal outfit for you!" I mean... how are you supposed to take that? I kept smiling and continued to strut in my nerdy bowlin' outfit!

Day 269: For the love of baseball...

Today Mom & I went shopping for all sorts of homecoming spirit week attire and accessories! The Goodwill Store was a tacky and overpriced disappointment, but Party City never let's us down! In the afternoon I made yet ANOTHER banner for homecoming. The first banner I made is the one that will represent baseball in the pep rally and this one will hang on the varsity coach's classroom door all week. The 2nd banner started off as a clear grey piece of butcher paper and I totally transformed it. I painted the entire background green- it took forever... but it was worth it! Those little baseball boys better appreciate all this hard work from their sweetheart! But who am I kidding... I love doing stuff like this! 

Day 268: 365 Days Ago...

365 days ago I got in my car accident. I wrote the paragraph that is below one year ago... I hope it still encourages people today.

At 6:43 AM on September 25, 2009 my life was spared on the way to school. As I was going through the intersection of 99 and 90, an F-250 ran the red light. The enormous truck drove on top of my 2003 Ford Mustang. One second I was a junior in high school driving to Physics tutorials and the next second I was gasping for air and my body was shaking uncontrollably. It was the most traumatizing experience of my life. The song that was playing when I got in the car accident was called ‘This Could Be Our Day’ By: Addison Road. Here are a few lyrics from the song…

What we do here is just the beginning

New life is starting at every ending

We are a part of the story unfolding

This is the weight of the world we are holding

This could be our day

This could be our day

Clearly it's time to make a change

Or I could keep sitting and waste all day

I know that it's time for me to move

I've been given this minute to use

And given this moment to prove that

I was holding back

Now I've come undone

I want to touch the world

Heal the broken ones

Ending the cycle has just begun

We've been given this minute to use

And given this life to prove…

It is not by luck that I was able to walk away from that car accident. Jesus was in the car with me that morning, holding my hand and protecting me. God has a plan for my life and although I don’t know exactly what my future holds- I am certain that my purpose in life is to bring glory to His name and show Christ’s love to everyone. I hope you can be encouraged by the miracle that took place on September 25, 2009. If it impacts one person and can show one person Christ’s love and how he can make the impossible, possible… then it is worth every sore muscle and bruise on my body. This was the day that I will start living everyday like it is my last. Miracles really do happen.

Day 267: Miss Engle

I have wanted to be a teacher ever since I was two years old. This picture is from 1994, so the classroom and I go way back! As many of you know... when I was in 3rd grade, I transformed my bedroom into a classroom. It was complete with pretend desks, name tags, calendars, borders and even an overhead projector! I would come home every day from elementary school and 'teach' my imaginary students. Ms. Klen (my 3rd grade teacher & the teacher that I currently student teach with) is my inspiration to teach. Her enthusiasm has shown me that I can LOVE my future job. Although my bedroom is no longer a classroom, I  still have the heart of that 9 year old little girl that dreamt about one day being a teacher.

I sent in my application to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill TODAY! On one of my essays I wrote about my passion for teaching and how I believe I can make an impact in the world of education. I attached this picture to my essay. I figured those admission essays are very boring to read and this picture might give those readers a good laugh! One application completed… two more to go! Whoop! :)

Day 266: Hoopla!

This afternoon I made one of the banners for the homecoming pep rally- which is next Thursday! Taylor & I will be the beau and sweetheart representing the baseball program. I am really excited to be a part of the pep rally and all of the homecoming hoopla! And plus, I got to paint an awesome sign! It definitely let my teacher/creative side come out of me and I love how it turned out! Paint + Glitter = Love. And today they got five new Vera Bradley patterns in! I had a 20% off coupon for my birthday, so I got this cute little wristlet tonight! Yippee for homecoming banners and a new Vera Bradley!

Day 265: Spirit Night

Tonight I had lovely work and it was spirit night for WSE! It was like a combination of my student teaching work and my 9ers work! Spirit night is simply a way to get people to support their school by eating dinner at 9ers. I kept track of all of the WSE purchases and the school gets 15% back! So the night went very well and I saw a ton of familiar faces. However, I am beginning to get sick- so my nose running and my head constantly throbbing were the major obstacles that I had to overcome tonight! When I was at WSE teaching today, I saw a ton of these spirit night signs. It shocked me a little, because I wasn't aware 9ers had anything going on tonight! Anyways… when I got off at 10 PM, I still needed a picture for the day! I drove over to WSE and was snapping a few pictures of the signs, when I cop drove up to question me. I've never been questioned by a cop before and the day that I am... I have to explain my Project 365. That would happen to me. I told him how I take a picture everyday and he responded, "Oh, did you get my good side?" It was a very interesting encounter with a cop!

Day 264: Fans!

This afternoon I took a 3 hour nap. It was the best thing in the whole wide world. Right after I woke up, I went to the Austin vs. Travis volleyball game! It was a very important game, so there were a ton of fans there! We had our crazy right side fans, our chill left side fans, our traveling from side to side fans and our 'I'd rather cheer against the other FANS' fans. The Bulldogs played 5 games and sadly lost in the 5th game BY 2 POINTS! It was extremely disappointing, but I enjoyed talking to Matt Gutierrez the whole time and making up cheers with Jamail! You'll get em' next time ladies!

Day 263: Things That Matter

Today has been one of those days when everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I could sit here and rant on and on about how everything fell apart, how people disappointed me and how things didn't go the way I would have liked. However, one of the sudden changes of events was that our guest speaker for FCA canceled and instead I was chosen to speak at FCA tonight. At 4 pm I BEGAN to prepare my talk... I never like to wait until the last minute for anything, but desperate times call for desperate measures. After school, I bought a bunch of rocks at Wal-Mart. I didn't know their purpose or why I felt the need to buy rocks – but I did. I decided to talk about the things in life that matter. I explained my car accident and how we often feel invincible- like nothing in the world could ever happen to US! September 25, 2009 was the day I reprioritized my life. I discovered there were way too many little 'pebbles' filling up my life, or insignificant things. I forgot to leave room in my ‘jar’ for the most important 'rocks' in my life. I attempted to squeeze faith, love, forgiveness, others and Christ in my life somehow. I grasped the idea of a short life on the day of my accident: If you come to the end of your life and you find out your life is entirely filled with all of the ‘little pebbles’, none of it matters. You have to make serving God and loving others your first priority and let all of the other elements of life simply fill the gaps. I gave every person at FCA a rock to help them remember to always put the things that matter the most FIRST! The question I have for myself today is... "What do I need to do to reorder my life to make sure the first things are in first and everything else is built around them?"

Day 262: Pandai is Paid

This is my baby. I have had her for almost a year now and a few days ago I made my last car payment. I AM the official owner of a 2010 black Hyundai Elantra. After my car accident last fall, I bought this cute little car with all of my money that I had in my savings account. My parents temporarily paid for the rest and I've been paying them back over the past year. My 18th birthday marked the first day that I was no longer in debt to them! It's amazing that my senior year of high school has just begun and I have already completely paid for my first car! I have a little panda that sits on my dashboard, along with a fortune cookie that says... "The best days of your life have not yet been lived". I sometimes call her Pandai... Panda + Hyundai = Pandai :) It is freeing to know that my baby is paid for and I can continue to save my money for whatever may lie ahead!

Day 261: House of Pies

At 9ers well sell desserts from the House of Pies and I've always wanted to go there! So tonight Taylor took me there to get some treats for my birthday! We split the Turtle Cheesecake and the Banana Cream Pie. They were incredibly delicious and despite the high calorie count that the waitress kindly informed us of... we really enjoyed them! After we finished at the House of Pies, we walked around the Galleria to kill some time before our movie started. We went to Edwards Cinema, which is a movie theatre downtown, to see Easy A. The movie had some really funny parts, but we concluded that overall it wasn't very good. They made Christians seem like judgmental freaks, which made really sad. And they made it seem like in high school you won't catch anyone's attention unless you're sleeping with someone. Anyways, it was not my favorite movie... but I still got quite a few good laughs! Taylor came over after the movie and we had pillow talk! Haha J I love that he is my best friend and we can talk about anything. I had such a great time with him tonight and we even snapped a picture together. I needed one to put in the frame that he got me for my birthday!

House of Pies = Successful!

Day 260: Full of Surprises

Tonight I went to a family birthday dinner at Chuy's! The food was fantastic, but the service was SO slow! Shannon told us that she broke up with her boyfriend on Wednesday and began to cry at the table. She said that the reason she dumped him was because my Dad said, "You gotta dump him before he gets a chance to dump you!" Shannon was an emotional wreck and of course my mom started to cry as well. Emotions were running high... but it was still a great birthday dinner! Afterwards, I really wanted to watch Letters to Juliet... so we stopped at the red box! I was planning on getting in my pajamas by 8:30 PM and having a cozy night in with the girls. Lame, but it was our plan. I walked into the house and all of my friends were here to surprise me for my birthday! I was caught completely off guard, but I was so excited to see everyone and amazed at how well they pulled it off! This birthday I have been completely humbled by all of the amazing people that are a part of my life. They have gone out of their way to do so many awesome and creative things for my birthday. My friends and family have made me feel so special the past few days and I couldn't have asked for a better 18th birthday! At the surprise hang out we swam and hung out! It reminded me of the good ol’ summer days! A BIG THANK YOU to Katy Lowery, Brittany Muller, my parents and Lauren for putting this whole thing together. They are just full of surprises! By the way, Shannon has been avoiding me for the past week at home. When I asked her questions, she would hardly respond. I didn't know if I did something to make her mad or what was going on. It turns out that she was 'avoiding' me in order to refrain from ruining the birthday surprise for tonight! My little love bug is too cute! :)

Day 259: Eighteen

Today was my eighteenth birthday. The day started with freshly made breakfast tacos from my mom on our infamous 'It's Your Birthday' plate! When I got to my first period class (Calculus), Katy Lowery came running in with a giant card and a birthday princess sash. I am not one to act like a princess or seek to be the center of attention by any means and of course she knew that. Attached to the sash was a note that said, "Put the sash on." I didn't. When I got to 2nd period (Aquatic Science), there was another present awaiting me from Katy and that continued in 3rd period, 4th period and 5th period. She left me a gift and a note in every single one of my classes... it was the most creative thing anyone has ever done for me. Katy is my best friend in the whole world and I couldn't ask for a more amazing person to play such a major role in my life! Thank you for making my birthday so special! Bailey & Ira each gave me a cake and the PALs gave me a piece of cookie cake along with a giant card signed by everyone! I got so much sugar at school; I was passing it out to everyone at lunch! After school, I came home to another cookie cake made by my amazing father! I went to student teach and ALL of the kids sang happy birthday to me! I got 22 personally made cards, one from each student and a gift card to Chili's from Mrs. Sebesta! Those kids are so sweet to me!! One of the cards said, "Roses are red. Violets are blue. You're the greatest teacher that I've ever knew!" They definitely made me smile! When I got home, I talked to Lauren, Jason and Auntie Di on the phone! Even though I couldn't see them, it was great sharing all of my birthday stories with them! Maggie & all of the Singleton kids came over and brought me an adorable scrapbook and a pretty chocolate cupcake... they are too sweet! Taylor came over shortly after and brought me a couple gifts. All of the gifts were so thoughtful, but my favorite was a hard copy of the paper he wrote about me. The topic was to write about a person that has impacted your life and it brought tears to my eyes. No one has ever written a paper about me and it was so special! Taylor & I went to Chili's together for dinner, before the first district football game against Hightower! Our dinner was SO good, especially since we had a gift card and scored a free brownie sundae! At the game, we lost miserably… but all of the fans sang happy birthday to me! One of the best parts about your birthday these days is all of the Facebook wall posts that you get. Facebook truly makes you feel SO special on your birthday!!!! This has been the best birthday of my entire life. I am so thankful for the family and friends that I have in my life. I am blessed beyond imagine. I know the best days of my life are ahead and a new chapter of my life has begun. Thank you for all the birthday wishes and special thanks to everyone that made this the best birthday of my life!

Day 258: Azuma

Tonight Savannah had a birthday dinner at Azuma. It is a brand new sushi restaurant right next to Whole Foods and it is completely delicious! I personally love sushi though! Savannah and I have the same birthday (September 16th- which is tomorrow) and back in the day we had many joint birthday parties together! I had so much fun celebrating her birthday tonight with all these beautiful ladies! Between the sweet toasts from the Myklebust parents to the endless jokes with Kaitlyn Brooks and Kaitlyn McQuillan... it was a great night! I am so thankful I was able to be apart of this event and I can't believe I am less than an hour away from being 18 years old!

Today, Jason sent me a funfetti cake in the mail! It was very messed up when it arrived, but I appreciated the thought so much!! And my sweet Aunt Diane sent me a card in the mail for my birthday. It's the little things that make me so happy! I love you CB & Auntie Di... THANK YOU! :)

Day 257: Blind

Contacts are a chore for me every single day. Putting them in, taking them out, getting some unknown substance caught in them, cleaning them, etc. Honestly, they are a constant pain in the butt. I forgot to wear my contacts today. So on days like today, I really appreciate all they do for my sight. Don't ask me how I forgot, because I don't exactly know. Everything was a constant blur all day- people's faces, the teacher's boards, the roads, signs in the mall... everything. People would wave to me in the hallways and I wouldn't even see them. It was the most frustrating thing ever. I got a little taste of what it's like to be blind- or at least partially blind... never again.

Day 256: Hold Us Together

Tonight was the first FCA of the year and it was a very successful night of dodgeball! These high school boys (and girls) go CRAZY for dodgeball! There is something so intriguing about pegging your friend with a ball… Haha! I brought peanut butter cookies for the meeting, but some stupid kids stole them before it started. That was very frustrating, but other than that... tonight went great! I saw SO many familiar faces and met SO many new people! I know this year is going to be completely different from last year and totally amazing. I have such a positive attitude looking towards FCA's future and I can't wait to see what this year has in store. I hope people continue to come on Monday nights and bring their friends! God has his hand over FCA this year and love will definitely hold us together! They sang that song at church yesterday and it came on the radio tonight… too perfect! :)

Day 255: Mission

This morning I worked in Kindergarten and went to big church with Taylor. They talked about how one of the things we need in life is faith. I love it when the pastor's message feels like he is speaking directly at you! Patrick's sermon was absolutely perfect for my family right now!  Hebrews 11:1- Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. After church, my mom and I went on a mission for a homecoming dress. We didn't find the perfect one, but we had a lot of fun together! My mom is my best friend and she always tells me her honest opinion. I know she will be there for me for the rest of my life... I just love that little lady! :) We raced out of the mall for my next babysitting job at 4 PM. Mission: Babysit 10 kids (all under the age of 8) under one roof by yourself for 2.5 hours. In hindsight, it wasn't too bad and it made me feel like super babysitter of the universe! :)

Day 254: 70's Girl

Today was quite a day! It started off with the Skate Central PALs hangout! We were supposed to dress up in 70's and 80's attire, so of course I did! You can check out my stellar lime green 70's dress above! When we got to Skate Central, we found out it was closed forever and they were transforming it into a church. The church workers let us in to take a few pictures. It was very depressing! We decided to head over to CiCi's and Lazerzone- keep in mind I am still rockin' my 70's outfit...! We played lazertag against some pretty cool 5 year old boys. I actually had a blast even though I am awful at it! I got 18th place... which is really embarrassing. Surprisingly, the hangout turned out to be pretty fun! When I got home my mom baked me a little surprise cupcake bucket. She was watching the food network channel and felt inspired. It was an early birthday treat... isn't my mom the sweetest?! After I devoured my cupcakes, I babysat for the Haluza family! We colored for the majority of the time (my artwork is displayed above)! Making signs and coloring for other people is probably one of my favorite things to do! However, once I put the kids to bed...

1. My phone died before 9 PM

2. The television didn't work because we couldn't find the remote

I literally sat there staring at the wall until 11:45 PM. I had plans with some friends, but I couldn’t get a hold of them since I was isolated from the outside world. It's crazy how dependent I am on technology!!! Once I finally arrived home, I got an urgent call to help a friend. So I slammed the door and went to help! I almost ran out of gas on the way- that would have just added to the day’s events. It was one of those days that went on and on and on.

Day 253: HOT

Tonight was the first HOT Hangout- which stands for Hang Out Tonight. PALs organize these events and anyone from the school is welcome to attend. They are intended to promote good sportsmanship and clean fun! Tonight we went to dinner at Chic-fil-a and the Varsity Volleyball Game. Watching the game made me miss playing volleyball a lot, but I had fun making up goofy cheers! More importantly, in the beginning of the week I ordered a University of North Carolina tee and I got it in the mail today! Everyone always says they can't picture me going there next fall and I was convinced it was because I am never rockin' a UNC t-shirt! You gotta love that Carolina blue... it is one good looking color! After the HOT Hangout, I went to Sonic with Melinda, Carter and Cole. Cole moved here from Dallas just this past week, so it was a great opportunity for him to meet some new people!! Even though sitting in Sonic on a Friday night is very lame, we had a lot of fun sitting, talking and not ordering anything! :)

P.S. Melinda took these pictures, because I didn't feel like taking any pictures today. Go figure!

Day 252: Opportunity Cost

I worked two school nights in a row this week from 5-10pm. I am thankful for the hours, but it does call for some very long days! Tomorrow I have a test, quiz or paper due in each of my classes. One of those classes is Economics. I have a very interesting teacher; however he seems to be stuck in the 70's! His music is always blaring when we enter class and we hardly learn anything! Tonight I taught myself two chapters of the textbook while I was at 9ers... in between answering the phone, taking orders and packing up to-go orders! Talk about multi-tasking! Economics- the study of how people seek to satisfy their needs and wants by making choices. I was getting a kick out of trying to apply most of the economics vocabulary words to the various aspects of working at 9ers. The opportunity cost of having a part time job is losing valuable study time. However, if you have a job like mine.... you can do it all at the same time! :)

Day 251: Work Work Work

Work like you don't need the money

Dance like no one is watching

Sing like no one is listening

Love like you've never been hurt

And live life every day as if it were your last.