Friday, January 30, 2009

Nerds Gone Wild



So, class rank is like this big secretive deal. Today, they needed to check the Top 10's transcripts, so they called us all down to the guidance office. Then they passed out our transcripts and asked us all to approve our GPA's. But . . . wait for it . . . they punched out the rank. Now picture a room of hungry wolves, who have waited 4 years for a prime rib. Well, that's about what the room turned into. Everyone started to try and politely find out each others GPA's. Like they cared! They really just wanted to know if they beat you. Jerks. Mine's a 4.375. We'll just have to see what happens. At this point, though, I really just don't care. It was pretty hilarious, though, to watch the wild side of my peers. : )

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

25 Points of Light

I've been working on this video for a National Honor Society program called 25 Points of Light. It's basically a program that recognizes the heroes within our school. I'm pretty proud of it. I think it's inspirational, so I thought I would share it with all of you. : ) 

Monday, January 26, 2009

Senior Superlatives

So, today's the day! It's the day that the Senior class votes on all those silly titles like Most Likely to Change the World and Weirdest Laugh. It's sort of lame, but I'm a little excited about it. I was shocked by how many people on the list I didn't know . . . and probably never will now that we're mere weeks from graduation. I was also flattered by how many things I was nominated for: Most Likely to Succeed, Best Dressed, Most Likely to Change the World, and Most Likely to be President. In a class of around 400, it's an honor even to be in the few nominated. I can't wait to see how it all pans out. : )

P. S. I did not nominate/vote for myself for anything.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

A Higher Standard

I don't know if this is true, but someone told me that blogspot is 90% Mormon. In case you aren't though, I just wanted to give a quick testimony to tell you what we're all about.

So . . . I'm a Mormon. Most people wonder what that means. They think it's all about the rules. No coffee. No tea. No drugs. No alcohol. No tobacco. No dating 'till you're 16. No cursing. No miniskirts. No bikinis. No random body piercings. No tattoos. No going out on Sunday. No. No. No.
But that's not what it's all about.

We live by a higher standard, because the main part of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is an overwhelming devotion to our savior Jesus Christ. As Nephi said in the Book of Mormon, ". . . we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." I know that my Savior lives. Through his atonement, I can be forgiven of my sins. All these rules, they are not the big picture. In the eternal perspective, I follow these rules so that I can return to live with my Savior.

So, if you want to know more, visit LDS.ORG or message me.

Things that I Love

So, I took these lists off my myspace blog and they're a few years old. I noticed a little something disturbing, though - the top two things that I loved involved sugary foods. Sadly, I gave sugar up almost a year ago (sort of). It's just today, however, that I am starting t feel deprived. A sugary treat every once in a while can't hurt me, right? I may have to rethink this lifestyle, because you only live once.

♥ eating cookie dough
Cocoapuffs for dinner

♥ in the sun in my swimsuit, when my skin gets all warm
♥ little girls in dresses with matching bows
♥ fried chicken . . . my mom's
♥ the colorful leaves on the trees in fall
♥ The ocean breeze
♥ The sound of waves crashing
Hot chocolate and marshmallows on a cold day
♥ a bonfire in Fall
♥ one good snow in winter
Chocolate ice cream cones in July
♥ going to the Wilson County Fair
♥ the smell of steak cooking
♥ laughing so hard I forget what I'm laughing about
♥ singing in the shower
♥ singing in the rain
♥ Just singing for no good reason
♥ talking in funny voices
♥ Saturday Night Live
♥ dancing crazy and acting stupid
hula hooping
♥ the smell of bacon when I wake up
♥ Joe Jonas
♥ Joe Jonas
♥ Joe Jonas
♥ Joe Jonas
♥ Writing on my laptop
Scrapbooking
♥ Brads, eyelets, snaps, and stamps
♥ Wheat thins . . . the reduced fat kind
♥ Running in the rain . . . most of the time
♥ my family
♥ Math
♥ Summer vacation

Things that I Hate

Things I Hate Current mood: discontent

♦ Dogs barking when you're trying to sleep
♦ Dropping a contact
♦ Original Krispy Kreme Donuts
♦ warm milk
♦ when you don't know what to wipe your hands on when you sneeze
♦ awkward silences
♦ when the hot water runs out halfway through the shower
♦ Plummer pants
♦ the suspenseful moment, then the commercial break
♦ when it barely sprinkles rain and you don't get wet, but your hair gets frizzy
♦ sand in my swimsuit
♦ runny noses
♦ broccoli, cauliflower, and peas. Peas are the worst
♦ squeaky shoes
♦ When people stop walking right in front of you and then get mad when you bump into them.
♦ spaghetti
♦ lasagna
♦ hair in my throat . . . and eyes, and mouth
♦ gnat in my eye
♦ drugs, alcohol, and cursing
♦ pit stains. . . the story of my life
♦ selling junk from catalogs for school
♦ hypocrites
♦ people who talk on their cell phones in restaurants . . . or while driving
♦ people who talk in the movie theater
♦ people who text while you're talking to them
♦ riding the school bus
♦ high gas prices
♦ sales tax
♦ school
♦ KFC
♦ Popsicles
♦ Shaving my legs : )

Hooprama


I have officially found the coolest place: the Hooprama Hula Hooping Fitness Center. They are a charitable organization that offers free hula hooping classes to Breast Cancer survivors. They fund this project by holding fitness hula hooping classes and selling the most spectacular hula hoops I've ever seen. They are based out of East Nashville, but also have classes in Cool Springs. My new goal in life is to become an instructor. Wouldn't that be awesome!?
Click on this link to learn more or donate to their cause: http://hooprama.com/

I am Depressed . . .


Well, I found the most AMAZING vintage dress online from this little boutique in Nashville called the Hip Zipper. Only to find out it's already been sold. A dress like this is one in a million. It's a 1930's satin robe, with cap sleeves, a zipper front, a wide waist and tie, and antique lace. It's to die for, and I can't have it. Maybe I could make one similar, but where would I buy antique lace? And then it wouldn't be vintage would it? I still recommend you check out this store, though. I am adding a link below. Be quick, the good stuff goes fast.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

In my dreams. . .

In my dreams, I am Becky Bloomwood. She is the fashionable, flaky heroine from the "Shopaholic" books. I just finished reading Shopaholic Ties the Knot. Becky gets herself into so much trouble, but the cool thing about her is she always gets herself out . . . while wearing Prada shoes.

Here's an excerpt from the next book, Shopaholic and Baby:

Chapter One

Ok. Don't panic. Everything's going to be fine. Of course it is.Of course it is.
"If you could lift up your top, Mrs. Brandon?"


The sonographer has a pleasant, professional air as she looks down at me.

"I need to apply some jelly to your abdomen before we start the scan."

"Absolutely!" I say without moving a muscle.

"The thing is, I'm just a teeny bit . . . nervous."

I'm lying on a bed at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital, tense with anticipation. Any minute now, Luke and I will see our baby on the screen for the first time since it was just a teeny blob. I still can't quite believe it. In fact, I still haven't quite got over the fact that I'm pregnant. In nineteen weeks' time I, Becky Brandon, née Bloomwood . . . am going to be a mother. A mother!

Luke's my husband, by the way. We've been married for just over a year and this is a one hundred percent genuine honeymoon baby! We traveled loads on our honeymoon, but I've pretty much worked out that we conceived it when we were staying in this gorgeous resort in Sri Lanka, called Unawatuna, all orchids and bamboo trees and beautiful views.Unawatuna Brandon.Miss Unawatuna Orchid Bamboo-tree Brandon.Hmm. I'm not sure what Mum would say.

"My wife had a slight accident in the early stages of pregnancy," Luke explains from his seat beside the bed.

"So she's a little anxious."He squeezes my hand supportively, and I squeeze back.

In my pregnancy book, Nine Months of Your Life, it says you should include your partner in all aspects of your pregnancy, otherwise he can feel hurt and alienated. So I'm including Luke as much as I possibly can. Like, last night I included him in watching my new DVD, Toned Arms in Pregnancy. He suddenly remembered in the middle that he had to make a business call, and missed quite a lot--but the point is, he doesn't feel shut out.

"You had an accident?" The sonographer pauses in her tapping at the computer.

"I fell off this mountain when I was looking for my long-lost sister in a storm," I explain. "I didn't know I was pregnant at the time. And I think maybe I bashed the baby."

"I see." The sonographer looks at me kindly. She has graying brown hair tied back in a knot, with a pencil stuck into it.

"Well, babies are resilient little things. Let's just have a look, shall we?"

Here it is. The moment I've been obsessing over for weeks. Gingerly I lift up my top and look down at my swelling stomach.
"If you could just push all your necklaces aside?" she adds. "That's quite a collection you have there!"
"They're special pendants." I loop them together with a jangle. "This one is an Aztec maternity symbol, and this is a gestation crystal . . . and this is a chiming ball to soothe the baby . . . and this is a birthing stone."

"A birthing stone?"

"You press it on a special spot on your palm, and it takes away the pain of labor," I explain. "It's been used since ancient Maori times."

"Mm-hmm."

The sonographer raises an eyebrow and squeezes some transparent gloop on my stomach. Frowning slightly, she applies the ultrasound probe thing to my skin, and instantly a fuzzy black-and-white image appears on the screen.I can't breathe.That's our baby. Inside me. I dart a look at Luke, and he's gazing at the screen, transfixed.

"There are the four chambers of the heart. . . ." The sonographer is moving the probe around.

"Now we're looking at the shoulders. . . ." She points to the screen and I squint obediently, even though, to be honest, I can't see any shoulders, only blurry curves.

"There's an arm . . . one hand . . ." Her voice trails off and she frowns.

There's silence in the little room. I feel a sudden grip of fear. That's why she's frowning. The baby's only got one hand. I knew it.A wave of overpowering love and protectiveness rises up inside me. Tears are welling in my eyes. I don't care if our baby's only got one hand. I'll love it just as much. I'll love it more. Luke and I will take it anywhere in the world for the best treatment, and we'll fund research, and if anyone even dares give my baby a look--

"And the other hand . . ." The sonographer's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"Other hand?" I look up, choked. "It's got two hands?"

"Well . . . yes." The sonographer seems taken aback at my reaction.

"Look, you can see them here." She points at the image, and to my amazement I can just about make out the little bony fingers. Ten of them.

"I'm sorry," I gulp, wiping my eyes with a tissue she hands me. "It's just such a relief."

"Everything seems absolutely fine as far as I can tell," she says reassuringly. "And don't worry, it's normal to be emotional in pregnancy. All those hormones swilling about."

Honestly. People keep talking about hormones. Like Luke last night, when I cried over that TV ad with the puppy. I'm not hormonal, I'm perfectly normal. It was just a very sad ad.

"Here you go." The sonographer taps at her keyboard again. A row of black-and-white scan pictures curls out of the printer, which she hands to me. I peer at the first one--and you can see the distinct outline of a head. It's got a little nose and a mouth and everything.

"So. I've done all the checks." She swivels round on her chair. "All I need to know now is whether you want to know the gender of the baby."

"No, thank you," Luke answers with a smile. "We've talked it through at great length, haven't we, Becky? And we both feel it would spoil the magic to find out."

"Very well." The sonographer smiles back. "If that's what you've decided, I won't say anything."

She "won't say anything"? That means she's already seen what the sex is. She could just tell us right now!

"We hadn't actually decided, had we?" I say. "Not for definite."

"Well . . . yes, we had, Becky." Luke seems taken aback. "Don't you remember, we talked about it for a whole evening and agreed we wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh right, yes." I can't take my eyes off the blurry print of the baby. "But we could have our surprise now! It would be just as magical!"

OK, maybe that's not exactly true. But isn't he desperate to know?

"Is that really what you want?"

As I look up I can see a streak of disappointment in Luke's face.
"To find out now?"

"Well . . ." I hesitate. "Not if you don't want to."

The last thing I want is to upset Luke. He's been so sweet and loving to me since I've been pregnant. Recently I've had cravings for all sorts of odd combinations--like the other day I had this sudden weird desire for pineapple and a pink cardigan. And Luke drove me to the shops especially to get them.He's about to say something, when his mobile phone starts ringing. He whips it out of his pocket and the sonographer puts up a hand.

"I'm sorry, but you can't use that in here."

"Right." Luke frowns as he sees the caller display.
"It's Iain. I'd better call him back."

I don't need to ask which Iain. It'll be Iain Wheeler, the chief marketing honcho of the Arcodas Group. Luke has his own PR company, Brandon Communications, and Arcodas is Luke's big new client. It was a real coup when he won them and it's given a fantastic boost to the company--he's already hired more staff and is planning to open loads of new European offices on the back of it.So it's all wonderful for Brandon Communications. But as usual, Luke's working himself into the ground. I've never seen him so at anyone's beck and call before. If Iain Wheeler calls, he always, always calls him back within five minutes, whether he's in another meeting, or he's having supper, or even if it's the middle of the night. He says it's the service industry and Arcodas is his mega-client, and that's what they're paying for.All I can say is, if Iain Wheeler calls while I'm in labor, then that phone is going straight out the window.

"Is there a land line I can use nearby?" Luke is asking the sonographer.

"Becky, you don't mind . . ."

"It's fine." I wave a hand.

"I'll show you," the sonographer says, getting up.

"I'll be back in a moment, Mrs. Brandon."

The two of them disappear out the door, which closes with a heavy clunk.I'm alone. The computer is still on. The ultrasound probe thing is resting next to the monitor.I could just reach over and--No. Don't be silly. I don't even know how to use an ultrasound. And besides, it would spoil the magical surprise. If Luke wants us to wait, then we'll wait.I shift on the couch and examine my nails. I can wait for things. Of course I can. I can easily--Oh God. No I can't. Not till December. And it's all right there in front of me . . . and nobody's about. . . . I'll just have a teeny peek. Just really quickly. And I won't tell Luke. We'll still have the magical surprise at the birth--except it won't be quite so much of a surprise for me. Exactly.Leaning right over, I manage to grab the ultrasound stick. I apply it to the gel on my stomach--and at once the blurry image reappears on the screen.I did it! Now I just have to shift it slightly to get the crucial bit. . . . Frowning with concentration, I move the probe around on my abdomen, tilting it this way and that, craning my neck to see the screen. This is a lot easier than I thought! Maybe I should become a sonographer. I'm obviously a bit of a natural--There's the head. Wow, it's huge! And that bit must be--My hand freezes and I catch my breath.

I've just spotted it. I've seen the sex of our baby!It's a boy!

The image isn't quite as good as the sonographer's--but even so, it's unmistakable. Luke and I are going to have a son!

"Hello," I say aloud to the screen, my voice cracking slightly. "Hello, little boy!"

And now I can't stop the tears rolling down my cheeks. We're having a gorgeous baby boy! I can dress him up in cute overalls, and buy him a pedal car, and Luke can play cricket with him, and we can call him--Oh my God. What are we going to call him?I wonder if Luke would go for Birkin. Then I could get a Birkin to be his nappy bag.Birkin Brandon. That's quite cool.

"Hi, little baby," I croon gently to the big round head on the screen. "Do you want to be called Birkin?"

"What are you doing?" The sonographer's voice makes me jump. She's standing at the door with Luke, looking appalled. "That's hospital equipment! You shouldn't be touching it!"

"I'm sorry," I say, wiping my eyes. "But I just had to have another quick look. Luke, I'm talking to our baby. It's just . . . amazing."

"Let me see!" Luke's eyes light up, and he hurries across the room, followed by the sonographer.

"Where?"I don't care if Luke sees it's a boy and the surprise is ruined. I have to share this precious moment with him.

"Look, there's the head!" I point. "Hello, darling!"

"Where's its face?" Luke sounds a bit perturbed.

"Dunno. Round the other side." I give a little wave. "It's Mummy and Daddy here! And we love you very--"

"Mrs. Brandon." The sonographer cuts me off. "You're talking to your bladder."

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I was Tagged

This is my first tag, so I'm not entirely sure what to do. The rules say you must:

1. Grab the nearest book
2. Open to page 56
3. Find the Fifth Sentence
4. Post the text of the next 2 to 5 sentences
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST!

My closest book was The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. But . . . page 56 was blank, so I went to the second closest, Billy Budd. This book is by Herman Melville. (The guy who wrote Moby Dick.) Yeah, it's pretty much my personal demon. We're doing a project with it in Senior English.

Here's page 56, line five, "the man who, to use Billy's own expression 'always had a pleasant word for him.' This is to be wondered at. Yet, not so much to be wondered at. In some matters, some sailors even in mature life remain unsophisticated enough."

The last line is sorta deep, though, don't you think?

Little Piece of Heaven




My room is basically an extention of myself, so I thought a good way for you to get to know me is by showing it to you. It's taken my quite a few years to get it perfect . . . but here it is. My little piece of heaven. It makes me so sad to think I'll be going to college soon and have to leave it behind. : ( Almost makes me want to stay home . . . almost.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Introductions

Well, this is my first post, and I have to admit it's pretty terrifying. I guess I will start by introducing myself. I'm Rebekah, but my friends call me Beka. I'll go ahead and admit I'm not your average 17 year old girl. I must have been born into middle age, because I love to craft, crochet, and make Relief Society handouts for my mom. I got my Young Women's medallion at 15. I am contending for Valedictorian, and I am the President of the National Honor Society. Don't get the wrong idea, though, I'm not a nerd. Part of me is . . . but I am also an athlete - the Captain of my high school's Cross-Country team. Plus, I love shopping, but I'm not bad compared to my sister . . . she has a blog, too. You should check it out under blogs I follow: Leahequalsawesome.blogspot.com I guess that's about it for now. : )