Sugarbriety... what???

For the past 10 days, my leadership class had an "optional" challenge of doing the sugarbriety challenge.  This means we couldn't eat sugar (it's so yummy...), refined grains (my life source), or dairy (my source of fat).

FOR 10 DAYS.  10 WHOLE DAYS.

I failed. Miserably.  On the 8th day, I gave up, I couldn't do it anymore.

Partially because I was losing an extreme amount of weight.  Mostly because I was tired, hungry, unsatisfied, and wanted to feel like a human again.

I ate all of the chocolate when it was over.

I'm going to be honest, it would be effective if you needed to lose weight–I can't deny that.  But I wanted food, and it didn't work for me.

I can seriously say it was the most pointless pain I had ever put myself through.

You say you like chocolate?

NO. YOU CAN'T.

You want a bagel for breakfast?

HAHA NOPE YOU CAN'T HAVE IT.

You want to have ice cream for Mother's Day?

NOPE. YOU DON'T FRICKIN DESERVE IT.

Do have any idea how difficult it was?  Do you?  DO YOU REALLY?

I'm sorry, it's something I feel very passionately about, I like food.  And eating.  Well, eating mostly.  It's one of my passions.

So yeah, if you're looking to lose weight, go for it.  If not, I don't recommend this challenge unless you feel like being overly exhausted, aggravated, and craving only the things you are told you can't have.

Image Creds:quick memes

I want to finish by thanking anyone who is reading this blog or has read this blog at some point this year.  Although my blog isn't popular like this amazing one, or this one, I found out that I genuinely like writing every week.  It was homework that wasn't tedious, it was more of a way to express my feelings about things I liked or hated (like this one).

So.  Yep.  Hope you enjoyed all of my rants and sob stories and lists, because I know I enjoyed yours.

Ciao Bella!

A day in the life of...

A nerd (according to me)...  An overachiever (according to friends, not myself)...  A crazy person (according to my older sister)... A normal teenage girl (according to my parents, but they're wrong).

Okay, so maybe in actuality, a part of me is in each of these categories   I watch nerdy TV shows.  I do all of my homework.  I overreact to certain things.  I like friends, food, and clothes, along with a lot of other girly teenage things.

So yeah, I fit in to each and everyone of these categories.

Image Source: memecrunch

Needless to say, fulfilling all of these things make me feel like this:

Image Source: Go Running Blog

Now on to the actual point of the post... my life (I wrote that using a smeagol voice... that's creepy).

1.  Wake up (this only occasionally works, sometimes it takes more than a few tries).

Image Creds: funnycutepics

2. Put on clothing to look like an actual human being

THAT complicated...

Image Source: memegenerator

3. Make food, so that I can continue to function

Image Source: diylol

4. Bus ride... finally something not too bad (if you have a friend on your bus, at least)

Because Logic...

Image Source: owned

5. Two Periods (Either Math and Biology, or AP Geography and Chinese)

I just really like this meme, okay?

Image Source: Five Cool Things

6. Lunch. Friends.

Image Source: memegenerator

7. Two more periods (Either Manufacturing Tech and Leadership, or Public Speaking and English)

What can I say?

Image Source: Five Cool Things

8. Depends on the day: Sometimes, one. Sometimes, all of these things...   Either: Volunteer at the Park City History Museum or Furburbia Or: a sport (depends on the time of year...) Or: Go home to do the work of the home  Or: Hang out with my friends (assuming it's a Friday)

I bring it on myself, really.

Image Source: troll

9. If I'm not already home, arrive home.  Shower if needed.

All of the good shower memes were blocked... stupid filter

Image Source: catplanet

10. Dinner.  FOOD. What can I say?  It's a big part of my life.

Image Source: diylol

11. Homework. DUH. DUh. Duh. It's actually not that bad.

Image Source: memegen

12. Read the books with the words to fall asleep.

Image Source: booknerdreviews

13. Sleep... Want more of it.

Image Source: creatememe

Why am I me?

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You!"

  -Dr. Seuss

Everybody is their own individual person, as illustrated in the quote by the Einstein of poetry/kids books, Dr. Seuss.  

We are different because of our genetics of course, but what about our environment?  The things we experience, the things we are drawn towards, and, of course, the media.

There are several specific things that have changed the way I think, act, or view the world.  

For some of them, I don't exactly know how they changed me because I encountered them when I was too young to remember my exact age.  For others, it's obvious how they changed me.  

Here are just three of the things that have changed me.  Of course, there are sosososososo many more (:

1. Desperado

Desperado is a song by the Eagles.  The lyrics are super meaningful, and the music itself is... well... amazing.  But it's more than the lyrics and the tune that are important to me.  Rather, it's the fact that my dad used to (and still occasionally does) sing it to me before I go to bed.  A lot of the time with music,  I think it's the experiences we have with the songs that make them special. 

Image Credits: pinterest

2. Matrix Club

Matrix Club was the club I was a part of in Hong Kong.  We worked with refugees, and it made a huge impact on me.  I learned so much from it - more than I have from any other experience.  I learned empathy, which is a big deal to me. I think empathy is the most important thing anyone can ever learn.  Matrix Club also made me realize how messed up our world can be, but also how wonderful it can be, how strong a person can be, and how much impact one person can make.

3. The Breakfast Club

Image Creds: Movie Pilot

In my movie blog post, I said that the Breakfast Club was the only movie that changed my life.  It's hard to explain why I love this movie so much, honestly.  I guess, for me at least, it's a metaphor for all of the people in the world.  No matter who you are, where you belong, you have serious problems.  It also is great because I think each one of the kids in it is represented in a little part of everyone - there's always part of you that's smart, that's rebellious, that's a diva, that's competitive, even that's a little bit crazy.

And that's what makes us who we are. 

Festival of Color

The Festival of Color took place in Spanish Fork last weekend.

I have wanted to go to a Holi festival (a festival in Hinduism, the predominant religion in India) since I saw it take place on the Amazing Race when I was just a little kid.  When I found out that there was one in Utah and my friends were going, the amount of excitement I was experiencing was probably a bit too much to be healthy.

On Saturday morning, Lulu, Joe, and I piled into Joe's family car.  The car was stocked with water, towels, and sheets to cover the seats with when we were covered with colored corn starch (all courtesy of Joe's dad).

When we arrived at the festival, I honestly was skipping down the side of the road.  Okay, maybe not skipping, but I definitely had an enthusiastic walk. gait. run...  I don't know...

At the end of the day, you could definitely say I was sufficiently covered with colored dust.  I may have gotten a bit in my eyes, and a lot in my lungs.  I also may have accidentally thrown a bit into some other people's eyes (I'm sorry about that... again... It was an accident... I'm sorry... Please, forgive me...), and covered a few other people with starch.

But all of it was totally worth it.  It was so so so much fun (:

Joe, Lulu, and I (from right to left) about half way through the festival (:

Image Courtesy: Joe's father (:

My clothes at the end of the day... My shoulders and face suffered the most (:

From Left to Right:  Sky, Joe, Lulu, Grant, and I

Noah's being cool in the front

Image Courtesy: Joe's dad, again (:

Movies!

Film. Cinema. Theater. Entertainment.  MOVIES!

One of my favorite fun activities to do is watch movies, especially with friends and family.  Not only is it entertaining, but you don't have those awkward moments during them, which is always a plus.

So here it goes...

The Best Sad Movies:

1.  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

2.  The Notebook

3.  The Fault in Our Stars (It's not out yet, but it's going to be great and it's going to be sad, so it belongs here)

4.  Marley and Me

5.  Because of Winn Dixie 

6.  UP

Honestly, this list could go on forever.  I think I've cried in every movie I've ever watched, but these are  some of the best of them.... I know, I know, I'm such a baby when it comes to movies(:

The Best Rom Coms:

1. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
2. 27 Dresses
3. 50 First Dates
4. 13 Going on 30
5. Silver Linings Playbook
6. Love Actually

Another one that could go on forever... I'm just a sappy movie kind of person, what can I say?

The Best Chick Flicks: (yeah, I know most of these are Rom Coms...)

1. Mean Girls
2. The Nanny Diaries
3. Easy A
4. Brides Maids
5. P.S. I love you
6. Letters to Juliet
7. Confessions of a Shopaholic
8. Legally Blonde (Don't judge me... I said don't!  No, please, really, I'm usually a good person...)

Yep... I'm a girl at heart

The Best Disney Movies:

Let's start with all of them, shall we?

We all know that Frozen is automatically the best, other than that though...

1. Monsters Inc.
2. Ice Age (all of them)
3. Despicable Me (I want a minion more than you know....)
4. Mulan
5. Cinderella
6. Snow White
7. Sleeping Beauty
8. Beauty and the Beast
9. Finding Nemo
10. Tangled
11. Cars
12. Toy Story (I refuse to give away a single stuffed animal because of Toy Story 3)

I don't want to type them all, just watch all of the Disney movies that have ever come out and your life will be semi-complete.  It will be complete when you know every line of every song of every movie.

The Movies that Have Changed My Life:

1. The Breakfast Club

Image Creds: IMDB

That's it. Honestly.  If you haven't seen it yet, watch it!  Of course there are other ones that I really love, but none of them have overwhelmed me as much as this one.

A week in the mountains

Ok, yes, I do live in Park City, which means I'm always in the mountains, but this week I was in different mountains!  Yay for me!  +10 lifestyle points (points received for making the most out of a moment) awarded to me!

The other mountains mentioned above are called the Grand Tetons.  I'm just outside of Jackson Hole at the Teton Science School campus.  The week has been filled with lot's of fun, friends, sun, snow, sleep and even a bit of homework (Notice that caffeine wasn't mentioned in this list, I've been slightly deprived.  It was totally worth it though!)

The beautiful view of the Tetons.

Image Creds: tetontastic

I want to focus on one specific part of this week though–the people.  When I first applied and got accepted to the trip, I was so worried that I wouldn't know anyone on the trip and that I was going to be the awkward one in the corner, which seems to be a common event when I go on school trips.  I had less anxiety though when I found out that a few of my friends were going too!  My plan was to stick with them for the entire week.

That plan didn't work out too well.  I ended up meeting a lot of really cool people that I didn't know before.  I was forced to step outside of my social bubble (although I'm not socially exclusive, I promise!) and talk with people who I didn't see on a daily basis, and it ended up being better than I thought.  I now have a few more people to call friends, and that idea makes this week a whole lot better.

For readers to take away:  It's okay to feel safe with certain people–everyone does.  It's also okay to step outside your comfort zone once in a while, and the chances are it'll turn out great!

One of my Flaws is Chasing Cars... I've had it for 100 years

For those of you who don't know Bastille, Snow Patrol, or Five for Fighting don't know what this blog post is about yet... Well, it's about music.

Music isn't like candy crush–we don't get addicted to it (haha yeah Candy Crush is a bit addicting... just a smidge) and it has actual meaning.

Last year, I listened to Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and even Glee (thank God I'm out of that stage...).  But I didn't listen to them because I felt an emotional connection to them, I listened to them because I didn't know what else to listen to.  They were just noise.

However, this school year I discovered bands and music that I could RELATE to.  It's really important to be able to relate to music because it helps you get through tough situations (and as teenagers, we have A LOT of those, am I right?)

Image generated by wordle

My favourite songs:

1. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

"Forget what we’re told

Before we get too old

Show me a garden that's bursting into life"

I have no words to express my love for this song... It tells a story about love and excitement and discovery.  Although I'm not in a relationship, it means a lot to me.  The beat is great too, because it's just fast enough to be interesting, but it's not boring.  Also, something you should know before we go on, fast songs aren't really my thing...

2. Desperado by The Eagles 

"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses? 

Come down from your fences, open the gate 

It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you 

You better let somebody love you, before it's too late"

Part of the reason this song means so much to me is because my Dad used to sing it to me so I would fall asleep when I was just a tiny child. This song is full of artistic metaphors and messages of hope, as cheesy as that does sound...It's super relaxing and is my go to song when I'm feeling down.

3. 100 Years by Five for Fighting

15 there's still time for you

Time to buy and time to choose

Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got a hundred years to live

No Words.  Just, no words.

This is such a great song.  So if you want the short version of it's meaning, well YOLO.   But it's so much more.  It describes different points in your life and the ups and downs of it, while saying that when you're young (specifically 15 years old) there's still so much for you to experience.  If anyone is feeling bad about their life, I highly recommend it (:  I know it helped me get through a lot!

*Note: These are my own interpretations of songs... sorry if you don't agree, but you also don't live inside my brain...

Some other REALLY great songs:

1. Flaws - Bastille

2. Pompei - Bastille

3. Let it go - The Beatles

4. Imagine - John Lennon 

5. Let Her Go - Passenger

6. Run - Snow Patrol

7. Counting Stars - One Republic

8. Hotel California - The Eagles

9. Aftermath - Lifehouse

10. Falling In - Lifehouse

                                      Along with about a million others...

The Little Efforts

Much to my disappointment, I no longer have a single lunch with two of my best friends, Devon and Lulu.   Although I still have English class with both of them, and AP geography with Lulu, it was a big change from having a chunk of time for socializing with them to in between class periods and after school for a few minutes.

Because of the change, I was incredibly worried that our friendship wouldn't be as strong (which is silly, I mean, it's 20 minutes a day).  Luckily, that hasn't happened!  Knock on Wood, right?

I did learn that the little conversations and the little efforts make a big difference.  For example, every other day, my first period class is at the high school.  However, I still go to the junior high for fifteen minutes just to see Devon, Lulu and some other friends.  Although it's not a lot, it's a huge difference, and it shows that I care about them, and that I want to spend time with them.

Overall, changing schedules can suck, a lot, but I think going out of your way to do something nice and to show that they matter a lot can really help.

If you're in a similar situation or you're a really busy person, this can apply to you.  Finding five or ten minute periods just to say hi and ask how a friend is doing can go a long ways.

Devon is a really cool person(:  He taught me how to cube, and we go skiing a lot (even though he is about a gazillion times faster than me... haha oh well).  He's a really cool, funny person and hanging out with him is so much fun (:

Lulu(: I had a picture but she didn't like it... so later (: She's my bestie!  We hang out a lot together and have a sleepover almost every week.  We ski a lot, drink way too much tea (way too much...), and watch a bunch of movies.  She's kind of obsessed with Tumblr... Oh, and also, SHERLOCK<3.

Achieving the Impossible - Finding Time for Everyone

Last week I went to the most magical place on Earth.  No, not Disneyland... a plane.  I was on this magical plane for 15 hours on my way to Hong Kong. Yes, that's China, not Japan.

So maybe the plane ride wasn't so magical, but Hong Kong was.  I used to live there, and I know all of the best places to go, however TIME travel has some of my favorite things to do there.  Although I haven't ever done a helicopter tour there, I have gone to the Peak (with one of the most beautiful views of a city on Earth) and on the Star Ferry (which I almost got a heat stroke on the first summer I lived there, but love it none the less).

On my visit back, I was able to do a lot of these things again.  Although it was amazing to be back, I found it difficult to find time for everyone.

To be honest, my dad is gone a lot, and I hadn't seen him for a few months which is why I went back.  It was so amazing to see him again and spend time with him.  However, I also had a lot of difficulty seeing everyone I wanted to, mainly for three reasons.

Reason Number 1:  

Because I hadn't seen my dad for a long time too, I wanted to spend time with him.  He also had to work so I made sure that I could see him enough.

Whether it was going out to dinner or taking the MTR (subway) around the city, hanging out with my dad was awesome.   Even though I did spend a lot of time with him, it wasn't enough.  But it's okay because he's coming back to the United States to work, so I'll get to him every weekend!


Reason Number 2:

If I'm completely honest, I have to say this: I wasn't even close to being popular back in Hong Kong, but I did have a lot of friends.  I really wanted to see them all, but since they had school Monday through Thursday, I really only had Friday and Saturday to see everyone.

Although I did get to see my closest friends, or most of them, I didn't get to see all of them simply because I didn't have enough time.   I had to pick and choose, and I'm not going to lie, it was difficult.  It's not that I wanted to see anyone more than other people, and I tried my best to see everyone or hang out with people as a group.   Even though it wasn't all my fault (see Reason Number 3), I was really disappointed I didn't see everyone.


Reason Number 3: 

So as I said in Reason Number 1, I had a lot of friends in Hong Kong.  However when I went back to visit I faced disappointment when I wanted to hang out with some of the people I thought were my closest friends.  There were several people that I messaged and emailed asking if they wanted to hang out.  It was really upsetting when I didn't get responses, however it taught me a valuable lesson about who my friends really were there, so I guess it did have a silver lining!


Overall, I had a REALLY great time in Hong Kong.  I know that I probably won't get a chance to go back for a long time, and even though thinking about that is hard, I'm thankful for the chance for me to go back.

Sumi and I were really close and she is currently at boarding school... I literally started crying when she told me that she would be in Hong Kong over Thanksgiving too!

My crazy, amazing dad and I... gotta love picture phone quality, am I right?

Some of my closest guy friends from HK, Douglas and Calum, and I. We probably walked ten miles the night we hung out but it was so amazing to see them! We're all nerds ;)

Kiki, one of my closest friends from HK and I. We both ate way too much food that day...

Louisa and I (:  She's in one of my other blog posts because she is literally my best friend.  She pushed me over (on accident, of course) when she saw me (I might have surprised her).  

Thea and I... Thea and I got a lot closer last year and she always makes me laugh!  We both love food too, which helps build relationships (:

Sherry and I were in several classes together last year and she is one of the most talented people I've ever met.  It was great to see her–especially because she ALWAYS makes me smile!

Some of the cutest kids I know!  They used to live in my old apartment building and I always spent time with them.  They're like siblings to me and I had so much fun running around with them!

The view from a tower I found while exploring Hong Kong Park.  It was a 360˚ view and was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS.  

Family Carving

Last night, after deciding that homework could wait for another day, I sat down with my family and carved some sick pumpkins.

After looking online for awesome carving templates, I finally settled for the templates on Zombie Pumpkins because they were free and some of them were at my level of pumpkin carving–crappy.

For those of you who aren't "cool" enough to know what these are, they're Iron Man (the most amazing super hero ever that is played by my favorite actor) and the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.  Yeah, I know, they're beautiful.

We eventually settled for Iron Man and the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, because they're awesome and we had the ability to draw it on the pumpkin then cut it out.

I'm really proud of how they came out, judging by the fact that we haven't carved pumpkins in 4 years because they're 50 US dollars in Hong Kong for a small one... yes it is crazy.

The entire night was a really great time, and I loved doing it so much because I had the chance to spend time with my family, who I rarely have the time to talk to, and almost never get to do something fun with.

Yes, maybe I'm a bit behind on my homework now, and yes, maybe my hands got a little messy (okay, a lot), and yes, I may have had pumpkin gut fight with my sister (my hair looked... interesting... after that experience)  but the entire night was so much fun.