So Long, Farewell!

Yes, as you've been able to tell by my recent blogging, this school year has been simmering down to an end, and with it my blog. I'm not sure if you're one of my original blog-readers, but in my first post I did mention that this was a 9th Grade English assignment, so as much as I truly do love blogging, A day in the life... will live in memory, along with all of my other 9th Grade experiences.

Through blogging consistently, it's given me such a freedom to write about what speaks to me, and in doing so, giving me so much opportunity to channel my voice into the words I've been typing on the screen. I've felt that my voice has really come through more and more with every post I've written. As a follower, I'm sure you've begun to see more and more through my writing each time you read. This blog has tracked my through my freshman year, it's documented what's been impactful on myself throughout this school year, and even sometimes I entertain myself by revisiting my older posts; mostly because I see how much I've changed in just this year.

By changed, not only has my voice and literal writing grown and improved, but I see the change in myself as a person. Remembering the thoughts dashing through my head when writing some of my old blog posts makes me giggle. Something that may have seamed like a life's crisis when I was writing in October is something I can now laugh about and reminisce on.

A day in the life... was absolutely a day in my life. My blog absolutely reflected me from the first to the last post. It was an amazing opportunity to not only vent about my daily happenings, but to improve my writing by experience. I believe in the saying of practice makes perfect. This blog was a slightly more nonchalant way to just... write. It was an amazing opportunity to be able to write about whatever I felt would be cool to get out of my head. Since this was an open-ended opportunity to write about whatever I wanted, what I chose to write about reflects me as a writer as much as the writing did itself. I believe that what I wrote about transformed towards earlier dates as much as the writing itself did, maybe even more so in some cases.

Thank you thank you thank you, thank you, reader, for joining me on this adventure. This blog all in all was really good for me, and I've gained so much experience from it. I really appreciated the hand along the way, and just knowing that people are on the other side of the screen was really neat. Hopefully you enjoyed a day in my life, through the ups and downs, I think it's safe to say that we made it.

Actually maybe I should wait to see my final grade before it's safe to say that we made it. Whatever, you guys made it by this point, we'll see how I do when grades come in.

Photo Courtesy plzrtpodcast.com

Standardized Testing

The month of May is always paired with end of the year finals, core testing, and now introducing AP, ACT, SAT, and SAT2s when winding down the school year. I guess I can understand the reasoning behind these assessments and all this testing, it's coherent that there has to be some way of evaluating what we've comprehended from the school year; although sometimes, a lot of the times, all these multiple choice questions become painfully tedious, stressful, and escalate to dreadful.

I understand that it's important to do well on every test you take, because you never know how it could somehow effect you and you always want to put yourself in the best position for success. When it comes to the core testing at our schools, it's always been a tedious process, but never something to truly worry about. Those scores just go to the state for teacher, school, and district assessment, for the most part; it's always something I try my best on, but I won't loose any sleep over guessing on a question I truly didn't understand.

On the other hand, tests like APs, ACTs, and SATs are starting to affect our collegiate futures and rankings, in other words these tests actually start to "count". These are some of the tests that have been feeding stress and anxiety over the past month, and month-to-come... who am I kidding I guess it never really ends. Between now and the moment I finally get an acceptance letter, I don't think the stress of getting into college will ever really settle, especially the anxiety of it directed towards taking these standardized tests.

Photo Courtesy hbculifestyle.com

When walking into a test room, a wave of tension seizes me. The way the desks are arranged all differently than usual, spread apart from each other as much as possible while still maintaining the linear grid-like pattern and spacial evenness between each desk. While taking a seat I tend to always imagine what I'll be doing when I'm done with the test, and I foresee the moment in the future when I'm looking back at the moment I'm in right then, thinking about how relieved I'll be once I just get the whole thing over with. The worst part is writing my name on the bubble sheet. I just hate those Scantrons so much; they make me feel nauseous by this point.

I think that one of the challenges of staying focused for up to hours at a time during these tests. I honestly think that's 50% of the test, is just maintaining your composure, especially on a test like the ACT, or an AP test, which can be up to three hours long. Just after a few minutes the room seems half the size to me, and continues to shrink the longer I'm in that testing room. The mere sound of someone tapping the pencil in the desk or erasing an answer can make me want to scream.

Testing feels like the end of the world right now, but in truth of it we'll all live. Hopefully another breakthrough of assessing students besides these standardized tests will be relevant soon enough, but for now I'll be filling in those bubbles with a No. 2 pencil, not mechanical of course.

Song of the Week: Upswing

4 Kick Ass Workouts to Achieve the Summer Bod You Really Want

With Summer just around the corner, the short-shorts, swim suits, and cropped off t’s are resurfacing in my closet. When it comes to this attire, it does always boost my confidence to feel in-shape and as sculpted as possible. These exercises are sure to do the trick:

Exercise #1: Ball Squats

With shorts and bikini bottoms exposing your booty, it can’t ever hurt to get a few squats in. Guys this one’s for you too, a nice butt is always a good thing. Squats are a universally know bum burner, but if you don’t have the correct form this exercise can come back around to bite you in the back (quite literally). Coming from someone who has gone through countless back issues, take me seriously when I say it is so important to have good form when doing squats; this is where the exercise ball comes in to play.

Set up a decently sized exercise ball against the wall, line it up against the small and mid-section of your back, and position yourself so you have enough tension between your back and the wall to keep the ball squished in-between. When you bend your knees and sink into the exercise, make sure that your legs are bent no more than ninety-degrees and your knees do not overpass your toes. Once positioned correctly and comfortably bend your legs and squat as you would normally, making sure to engage your glutes and hamstrings as well as your quads.

Photo Courtesy momtaxijulie.com

This exercise is sure to tone your tush and strengthen your legs as well.

Exercise #2: Candle Sticks

I understand that this exercise might not look the most professional and let me warn you that you will feel silly doing it, but it truly is one that works. Start by lying flat on your back with your whole body parallel to the ground. Raise your legs up so they are perpendicular to the ground, making sure that your feet stick together. Next, engage your abdominals and crunch your back and butt off of the ground, raising your feet several inches higher into the air, then come back down and repeat.

Photo Courtesy www.cf-inc.com

Candle sticks are a great ab and core workout to define that six-pack coming in, they’re an awesome workout and you’ll surely feel it if you have the right form; make sure that you are engaging your abs to lift your legs each rep and tighten your core to maintain control.

Exercise #3: Cross-Over Toe Touches

This abdominal workout will get your stomach fired up for swim-suit season; cross-over toe touches are a fun and dynamic workout to get your abs in shape. For this one, start on your back just like you did for candle sticks. The next step is to ring your right hand to touch your left toe. Then return back to your original position and to the same with the opposite arm and leg. Repeat these steps over again.

Photo Courtesy www.trusper.com

For good form, make sure to keep your leg and arms as straight as humanly possible. It’s also important to keep your core tight and engaged to protect your back.

Exercise #4: Go for a Run

Runs are underrated. I understand, running isn’t for everyone. It does put a lot of pressure on your joints and isn’t always the most pleasant cardio, but the more you do it the better you get at it, and that’s a really rewarding part of running. Running is an amazing all over body work out and will shred calories, all-around toning your body and getting your heart healthy for the summer as well.

Photo Courtesy /www.allposters.com

Good luck to you and remember, form is everything.

Springing Into Lacrosse

As the weather started to transition into Spring, so did our lacrosse season. To give you all a little background check, my name (if you haven't picked it up by this point) is Livi Kimche, and I'm number thirty-eight, but it's the name on the front of the jersey that counts; I play attack and midfield for Park City Lacrosse. As I've previously written about, our pre-season was kicked off with an ultra fun tournament in Vegas; we took that title home with us on a high note.

Since the Las Vegas tourney, our season has been nothing but smooth sailing, to say the least. It might be more accurate to describe it as smooth sailing on the sweat and tears of the teams we have basically been demolishing every time we step on the field. Yes, okay... maybe that's a little excessive, but with a record of 12-0 and game scores coming down to 15-3, and 10-4, it's a little hard to put it any other way; Park City is a power house.

Photo Courtesy to Julie Shipman

Playoffs begin this Friday. Our first game is scheduled 7:00PM Friday night at our home field, Dozier, and yes I hope to see you there ;-) We play Juan Diego, the last time we played them was in March, and the final score was 13-5. I think it should be a better game though because everyone gets hyped for playoffs. It works like a bracket, and if you lose your out. If we win on Friday we'll move on to the next round.

Bracket Courtesy to Utah Lacrosse News

I like consistency and routine, so does the rest of our team. Having a pre-game routine is a really important part of our dynamic before a game, especially a play-off game. We start by taking a lap around the field, nothing fancy, just a light jog basically. Then we go straight into some ladders to warm up our feet, after ladders we line up for dynamic stretching. Being all lined up with my team for stretches pumps me up. After that we start one sided shuttles to pass, catch, and warm up our sticks. Then we get into 3v4s, and 3v2s, which are three people versus four or two other people in a mini half-field scrimmage until the offense scores or defense clears the ball out. Our routine helps us prepare not only physically but mentally for the game.

Park City, being the reigning State Champs two years in a row, has a lot to loose. Being a freshman on the team, I definitely feel the pressure to win. With hard work comes results, I think the hardest thing for I team the upcoming two weeks will be maintaining a strong head game. The biggest upsets are usually when a team predicted to win goes in thinking that it's going to be an easy game. If we keep the right mindsets I can see a state title in our future, but we definitely have to keep the fire alive and not let our guard down, because Park City is who everyone wants to beat right now.

Are Your Stars Aligned?

Lately I've been seeing a lot of horoscopes around. If you don't know what a horoscope is, you may have seen zodiac signs, like Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, which are all indicators of your horoscope. Horoscopes are a prediction of your future and traits based on when you were born and the alignment of the stars and planets at that point in time. People believe that the astrology can forecast what has happened, is happening, and will happen to those categorized under the same star alignment.

Photo Courtesy wikipedia.org

Zodiacs can be super fun and exciting, the question is whether you believe in them or not. Somehow these summaries of character always tend to be spot on. It's easy to classify these "spot on" predictions as just relatable prophecies though. I find it easy to believe that zodiac summaries are just a little insight that could very well be for anyone, and that all zodiacs are universally-relatable summaries about you that you want to read about yourself, and so you believe them. To give you an example, here's part of my zodiac, Cancer's, traits (according to horoscopes.lovetoknow.com):

"The tender-hearted trait that's so prominent in Cancer is often misunderstood by other zodiac signs. To complicate matters, Cancers find it difficult to communicate what they're feeling because they shut down all emotional responses when hurt. Most of the time, they seem emotionally immature when compared to other signs. While this might be true in some cases, most of the time it's simply that they have a uniquely receptive nature."

This article states that part of a Cancer's nature it to be "tender-hearted". Referring back to my point before, zodiacs and horoscopes just tell us what we want to hear, so we begin to believe it. I sure know that I could never turn down someone calling me tender-hearted, even if they've never even met me before. The next thing that the article says is that "Cancer is often misunderstood by other zodiac signs." Yes, I have absolutely felt misunderstood before, but hasn't everybody? I could easily fly my hands to my head and say, "It's like you've read my mind! I've always felt like an outsider and like no one ever truly understands!" Because in all honesty, I have completely experienced the feeling, but that's not to say it's not normal, let alone only limited to Cancers. The article also says things like "they have a uniquely receptive nature", which makes me feel boldly one-of-a-kind and special. Truthfully though, we all want to be told that our uniqueness is often confused for being an outcast, unexpected, or not normal, which is basically what this horoscope just did. If someone gives me as much of a compliment as "You're not inferior, you're just beautifully unique!", than I'd gladly believe them.

Photo Courtesy bodymemory.com

It's easy to pick apart zodiacs and horoscopes to the scientifically of how astrology can't possibly effect human behavior and it's all a false satisfaction for people through phycological manipulation, but that takes away the fun in it all, doesn't it? All in all I think that horoscopes can be a fun way to try and prepare yourself for what life might throw at you in the future, and maybe zodiacs can be a way of trying to figure yourself out a little bit better.

Liquid Sunshine

So you'll never guess what happened... The bipolar weather is back, yet again. After almost a week of partly cloudy and temperatures climbing up to fifty-five degrees, it was beautiful outside. Although the overcast clouds yesterday started to indicate the downpour we received today.

I could hear the rain drops by the time I went to bed last night. I actually am in love with falling asleep to the sound of a drizzle outside my window. Waking up seven hours later, the chilliness was what hit me first. The coldness made me want to climb even deeper into the warmth of my heavy down comforters. Then the smell started to creep up my nose. The wet pavement and running gutters wafted through my bedroom. I quickly shut my cracked window and got out of bed.

Photo Courtesy www.howtobeadadtoday.com

Heading outside to get in the car, the reflection of the gray sky was mirrored off of the blacktop driveway, and a mist slowly fell from the air, not even enough to call it a drizzle. I ran back inside to grab a raincoat. I love this kind of weather. I like how it makes the day at school so cozy, and somehow you feel the warmth radiating off of other people more just because of the cold outside. I like looking out the classroom window and noticing how smoky the sky looks. I like how everyone shows up to school in sweatshirts and scarfs. I don't see the rain as such a bad thing on a day like this.

The rain soon turned into sleet as the day began to get colder. By this evening the precipitation could easily be classified as snow. By the end of the day a thin layer of sugar veiled the ripening grass, it should probably be melted away by tomorrow or the next day. It feels as though every time the grass begins to fade to green, and the trees begin to foliate, and the flower begin to bloom, it must snow.

The rain made me want to curl up with a hot coa-coa and read a good book or watch an old movie. The coziness of the rain is completely evident to everyone as well. The weather tends to put people on the same page like that. It's even been thought and proven that a rainy day can change your mood. This is mostly thought to have to do with how much sunlight your body is exposed to, so on a dark rainy day, for example, the amount of sun your body is receiving will obviously be significantly less than a hot sunny day. Rainy days can also effect your internal clock.

I'm not necessarily even complaining about the rain. I definitely enjoy a lazy and snug day under the clouds every once an a while. I'm just glad that the forecast foresees the sun coming back by Wednesday ;-). Until than I'm more than content grabbing some cuddly blankets and some 90s movies to wait out the rain.

Song of the Week: Hide

Manicure Mania

I decided to treat myself to a manicure today since I had the afternoon off. Solar Nails was the sponsor of my painted fingernails. The prime reasoning behind my mani was my parched and cracking cuticles crying (tears of blood) for some help.

Solar Nails is located right in town inside of Prospector, so it was the most logical place to go coming straight from school. They are also walk-in, so the fact that I didn't have enough pre-planning time for the occasion wasn't a problem. They sat me down right away and a middle-aged Asian (from Vietnam, he told me specifically) clopped down a small China bowl with bubble-sudded water in front of me, and motioned for me to soak my hands. I slipped my hands into the lukewarm water, which could have preferably been a few degrees hotter. It took more than enjoyably long for the man to come back, but once he did he ripped my hands from the bowl and started going to town on my unfortunate winter-worn fingers. Clipping and filling and moisturizing my much-needed-of-it hands. 

First he took off the chipped forest-green polish that was previously on my fingers. I decided to go with a gel nail polish this time, because it lasts longer (and I was not planning on coming back any time soon). The man handed me some color wheels to choose which color polish I wanted, each color polish that they had was painted on an acrylic nail, about twenty of them all attached to a center wheel. They were pretty tacky and gross to touch. I finalized on black. After I picked the color he began to tackle the nightmare of my dry skin and cuticles, cutting away at my chapped fingers and hands then massaging lotion into them. He filed and buffed my nails and did little touches of this-and-that here-and-there. At this point the whole process was starting to become pretty tedious, having already been there for about half-an-hour. After this he started to actually paint my nails. The thing about getting gel polish is that after every single coat you have to stick your hand under a UV light for a minute; the whole process ends up resulting to at least twenty to thirty more minutes, driving the last of my patience off a cliff.

What I Payed For

When the guy was finally done with my manicure I was more than happy to whip out my wallet and happier than I should have been to pay the overpriced bill, but I was just ready to get the jeepers out of there. I'm definitely the type of person that wants something done right the first time, and I usually don't mind if it takes a little bit more time to do so, but in this case the hour and a half that I was there was about forty-five minutes past my typical leisure time limit.

My experience was mediocre and consumed WAY too much of my time, but to look at the bright side, my nails are 100% more presentable and should stay that way for "up to 2-weeks" thanks to my gel manicure.

Family Frenetics

This week is spring break for my cousins on the east coast. They came out to ski and see my family for vacation. My Dad's sister and her two daughters are really close with us, I think it's probably because out of all of our cousins we're closest in age to them. We also travel a lot together.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but having people in town on top of the heaps of third quarter school work and start of lacrosse season can get stressful. My time management definitely started to rip at the seams, and my sleep schedule has completely deteriorated (well what was left of it in the first place).

It's always a love hate, in this case the angel on my shoulder is reminding me how much I love spending time with my relatives, but the devil overing over my other shoulder is dragging me by my hair to my bed. By the end of their stay I am ashamed to say it's never too hard to say goodbye. I know everyone goes through this with their own family, one way or another. Whether it's staying up at all hours to fit your nearest and dearest into your schedule, or dealing with your in-laws, family can be a pain in the buttocks, but we love them for it ;-).

The past few days have consisted of many family dinners and pool competitions at the Kimche residence. The night they got in to town we ordered in Thai food. It's actually is nice to sit down and catch up with everyone at the dinner table. With everyone gathered around the dinner table at home, no one is hesitant in embarrassing, making fun of, or laughing at a single person sitting down. It's something I sort of love about my family. We give each other a hard time to remind each other how much we love them, in a sort of way. Family dinners are always the best.

Saturday was the one day where I actually got to spend the whole day with my cousins and aunt (mostly due to the fact that my school and sports have not paused). Park City, being the tourist town that it is, consists of many attractive tourist things to do, like walk up and down Main Street... and that's exactly what we did. Starting our day at around noon, we hit Main Street first thing.

Photo Courtesy www.parkcityvacationrentals.com

After Main Street we decided to go back home to grab swimsuits, and then went hot tubbing at our cousins hotel. Following the hot tub we went to see a movie. Nothing too crazy, but it was fun to spend time with my cousins.

I know that family time is important, even if it's short and sweet, because they're the ones that truly stick around through thick and thin, so a weekend with some of my extended family is always an enjoyable thing in the long run. Even if I'm not getting my sleep.

Tick Tock on the Internal Clock

Everyone has an "internal clock" that keeps on ticking, and can be disturbed by time changes, location changes, and even weather changes. Yesterday was daylight savings. We moved an hour ahead for the spring. I personally like daylight savings because I really do enjoy the extra hours of daylight in the evenings. Although I do find some effect of disorientation having to adjust to the time change. Even though it may not be significant (only an hour ahead), waking up having lost an hour did sort of put me in a weird mood for the day. I am also a person that doesn't adjust well with time differences, I always have a hard time adjusting to the jet lag when traveling on the east coast. Daylight savings is just a miniature version of that in my own backyard.

Photo Courtesy amarillo.com

Not only has daylight savings had my internal clock feeling wonky (and I'm sure I'm not the only one), but the weather has been inconstant as well, to say the very least. Several weeks ago it felt closet to mid-April or May, the flowers even started to bloom and it was frankly feeling like the end-of-spring beginning-of-summer time. The very next week we had a massive storm and got snow in heaps. It was absolutely freezing for the preceding week. The past week felt like an average winter weather routine, although these previous couple days the weather has started to warm back up again. I know we all get so excited for a little gasp of spring air in our lungs, and then when the snow comes it's like being shoved back under the drowning waters of winter. The weather definitely effects my internal clock, I've been experiencing a good deal of central confusion and lack of focus in school when it's warmer outside, and then when it gets cold again it sends me into a depression-like state. I know I can't be the only one either. Even some of our teachers have been having some talks about the behavioral issues at school, and my science teacher, Ms. McKenna, told us her insight on how she thought it was because of the warmer weather and inconsistency in the weather might be effecting our "internal clocks" and that could very likely be playing into the bad behavior in school come this time of year.

The weather and time change are just enough to have me feeling like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone. I'm sure that I'll get back into a steady routine within the next week or so, but I really do dislike the sense of disorientation and confusion that a disruption to my internal clock brings. I don't know, maybe I'm just extra sensitive when it comes to a stable routine. I can understand that maybe you haven't been effected at all by these wacky changes in time and weather, but long-story-short, know you're not the only one if that's the case. ;-)

Song of the Week: Pull Me Down

Windows to the Soul

If eyes are considered to be "the window to the soul", than I guess they must be pretty intriguing. I, for one, know that eyes are one of the first things I notice about someone. If someone has striking eyes I'll most likely find them more attractive and compelling to talk to.

Eyes come in different a variety of spectrums, as we all know. Brown eyes are a dominant trait, blue and green eyes are a recessive trait. This means that brown overrules blue in a genetic showdown. To explain a little further, everyone has two alleles (genetic symbols for a dominant or recessive trait), one from each parent. So lets say that we use an E to represent our eye color, if one were to have two big E's (EE), it means the they have brown eyes because brown is the dominant trait, and if someone were to have two little E's (ee), it would mean they had blue/green eyes, since blue/green eyes are recessive. If someone were to have a big E and a little E (Ee), it would mean they have brown eyes, because the big E dominates the little E, meaning brown overrules the blue/green because brown is the dominant trait. Lets say that your dad was "EE", and your mom was "ee", you would positively have brown eyes because your dad has two big E's. Now if your dad were to have "Ee", and your mom still had "ee", you could have a chance of receiving blue/green eyes. If both of your parents had "ee", you would definitely have blue/green eyes. It is possible that two brown eyed parents can have blue/green eyed kids, because if both parents have "Ee", it means they both have brown eyes because of the big E, but if their kids receive the little E from both sides they would have blue or green eyes. It is possible for two brown eyed parents to have blue/green eyed children, but it is impossible for two blue or green eyed parents to have a brown eyed kids.

Photo Courtesy harvard-wm.org

So if the Genetics 101 didn't bore to death I'll go on, now that we know the "why's" behind what color eye you have.

Eyes are dead center the middle of your head (horizontally) and perfectly balanced with two symmetrically on both sides (vertically), no wonder they're the first thing you notice when talking to someone. Once you find someones gaze it's always a special feeling when your eyeballs seal in eye contact. Sight is such a major part to humanity. I, for one, would definitely choose being deaf and able to see over blind and able to hear. By making that contact from eye to eye it connects something that is so fragile yet important to everyone, their sight. I crave eye contact in a conversation, and if I'm talking to someone who is uncomfortable making eye contact, it makes it uncomfortable for me to converse to them.

Photo Courtesy zeiss.co.uk

When I lock eyes with another person I love the unspoken bond I immediately feel with them. Somehow I sense that I can read deeper into them and somehow touch their unspoken feelings and emotion.

Eyes are truly fascinating and are definitely more than a ball of tough, slimy tissue. They're the windows to the soul.

Vegas Baby

As you may have yet to figure out, I do play lacrosse for Park City High School. Last weekend the girls Varsity and Junior Varsity went to a tournament in Las Vegas called Best of the West.

We left on Thursday afternoon (meaning school on Friday was bust *fist bump*). I spent the seven hour drive with my mother... The car ride actually wasn't as bad as I was mentally preparing myself for. On the way there we took a quick pit-stop at Café Rio with a few of the other girls on my team.

We pulled in to the Hampton Inn at approximately 10:00 PM. Arriving at the hotel is always a process. Finding out who you're rooming with and getting situated is can be substantially draining. Once everyone threw their suitcases in their room, that was all that was the only trace left of them there. Everyone was scattered through all of the second floor, gushing through the halls and jumping from room to room socializing. Eventually the social hour(s) started to die out and I found myself in bed watching the Titanic with my two other roommates. Leonardo DiCaprio is exceedingly attractive, to say the least.

The next morning the team had to be downstairs no later than 8:00 AM for a luxurious complimentary breakfast consisting of stale bagels, over-ripe fruit, and some eggs that resembled something closer to rubber than breakfast food. By 8:45 AM we were driving to the fields for a 9:00 AM practice. Getting to the fields was a little bit of a struggle due to a wrong right hand turn (go mom). The fields were super nice. You could still smell the fresh new paint on the turf. The sky was drowning in blue and not a cloud interrupted the atmosphere. It was decently warm, but nothing exotic. A cool breeze kept us from getting too hot. Our practice went well and our coaches were happy to go over a few things before any of our actual games.

Me: Captured by Julie Shipman

After our practice ended we all went back to the hotel to rest before our first game at 6:00 PM.

Playing under the lights was my favorite part of the whole tournament. I don't know what it is but something about playing on a lit field in the dark of night pumps me up. It's like the lights fuel my fury ;-). Ok maybe not to that extent, but I love the lights. We won our first game 15-3. Needless to say our team jelled. Our first time playing with each other felt like our one-hundredth.

The next several games went quite similarly. Scores like 16-4, 12-3, and 11-5 almost had me feeling sorry.

Play off day was better. We were playing better teams that were seeded. Our first game was against Juan Diego. It got a little rough and I honestly found myself on the ground half the time. We won.

Next game: Herriman. We won. Advancing us to the championship game against Brighton. The game was close. We were tied 7-7 at the whistle. We ended up winning off of a penalty shot in sudden death overtime.

I can confidently say that Park City is the Best of the West.

Photo/Bracket Courtesy bestofthewestlacrosse

Morning My Sleep

I think we all know mornings can be rough. When it comes to waking up before dawn to go to school, it's not fun for anyone.

Usually my weekday mornings are on a pretty tight routine, starting with the shrill of my alarm at 6:17. After allowing myself to hit the snooze precisely twice, I end up rolling out of bed at 6:37. Trudging to my closet, I try my hardest to avoid the mirror, because at this point it's never a pleasant sight. Picking out an outfit is always a process. After praying that I'm awake and aware enough to decently match my shirt to my pants and shoes, I make my way downstairs to grab a quick apple or banana to eat.

Post breakfast, I usually go back upstairs to finish getting ready. Double checking my outfit is a must, because there are always those days where I just wasn't conscious enough to dress myself properly before getting something in my stomach. After the occasional outfit change, I'll brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on a little mascara. I truly believe that mascara is an art, and it probably takes me longer than it should to paint my eyelashes, but it is the way it is. The clock reading 7:00 am, I'll start to re-pack my back pack. Once I'm feeling confident I haven't forgotten anything, I do one last mirror check for good luck ;), and then meet my waiting mother downstairs to leave.

Photo Courtesy prweb.com

I know for a fact that my morning routine is different than yours is, in one way or another. I also know that we probably share that same lagging tiredness when getting up for school. Everyone has their mornings. Sometimes if I shower in the morning that can help to wake me up for the rest of the day, but for the most part I don't usually shower right after I wake up because I hate having to walk to school with wet hair if my locks don't dry in time. If you share the same struggle (or like-wise) than a quick shot of orange juice can often seem to waken me up a little as well. One trick that I use is setting up my alarm across the room. By forcing myself to get up and walk over to hit the snooze button it gets me up right away and prevents the repetitive quantitive-snooze-hitting procrastination that tends to happen with the alarm an arms length away.

Morning grogginess should be shot down by it's source, which is lack of sleep in the first place. These days sometimes it's hard to give myself enough time to sleep, as previously discussed in my, Super Sleep Deprived post. I think that this is an aspect of time management that takes practice to perfect and time for someone to learn how to plan ahead in order to get everything on their to-do list checked off in time to get enough sleep at night. This being said, the more sleep you get and the more consistent you are with your sleep schedule the less you will be mourning (of your sleep) the next morning.

Song of the Week: Drop the Game

Second Quarter Finals

With two days left in quarter two, units and lessons are ending, and the final tests, quizzes, and assesments are resurfacing. I am not a great test taker, so when up to 50% of my ultimate grade in a class is relying on a final, it can build up some anxiety. I also know that I can't be the only one who does fine in class but struggles when given a sixty-question multiple choice test. I have a hard time believing that a Scantron score can give a full perspective assessment on how much I'm learning or how "smart" I am. I find it sad that a number, like a test score, is what's determining my learning levels, but until they find a better system I'll be up at all hours studying.

Scantron
Photo Courtesy: delmar.edu

Just thinking about how many tests I have the next day gives me that tickle of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. The stress from it all starts to affect other aspects of my life. I notice that I am more irritable with my friends and family when I am stressed out from school. I get tired more easily and often. I feel so overwhelmed by everything that sometimes I don't have any energy left in me to contain snapping at someone.

Everyone gets stressed out from school, a stress relief can be helpful. Sometimes going for a run with some good music can help me take my mind off of things for things for a little bit, sometimes all I need is a long hot shower. Deep breaths are also important ;). Although it is crucial to have a relief to all of this anxiety, you can't just ignore what you need to do because that will make it worse. You need to make sure you are studying and preparing for your classes because this will make you feel more confident going into your test, and in the process hopefully relieving some of your stress at the source.

Photo Courtesy: mindpostinspiration.com

Good study habits are NEVER a bad thing. The number one thing on my list of bad habits probably has to be procrastination. Take it from someone who puts the "pro" in procrastination, don't do it. If you get what you need to get done before it has to be done it gives you so much more wiggle room for something to go wrong. Turning in your work earlier makes school amazingly easier, and not on time, early. Give yourself more than one night to study for your tests too. It's one way to eliminate majorities of your stress. No one likes a last minute time crunch. Another study deficiency to kick to the curb is your phone. I know it can be harder than it should be sometimes, but if you can keep it in a drawer while you study for half-an-hour or so while you study, you'd be surprised by how much more you retain from your studying just by being completely focussed and immersed in what you're learning. One other thing that can help you if you're going through the same end-of-the-quarter shenanigans that I am: sleep. A full eight hours is a must if you're looking to at least keep your eyes open during your tests. Yes, that is a very hypocritical thing to say on my part, but we all try, right? ;) Keep up good study habits and that will most likely make your week go ten times easier.

Good luck on your finals, god knows I need it.

Freezing Matters

Yesterday started out like any other January morning. At 6:00am sharp my alarm started blaring and with a nauseating feeling in my stomach I knew the morning had started. It took all of my strength to pry my legs from the toasty comfort my bed provides. As I headed out the front door the headlights from my mom's car streaked through the morning fog. A layer of gray covered anything taller than thirty feet high like a blanket of dish-water cotton candy. The ice fought me as I ripped the door to the frozen car open. I slumped into shotgun and fumbled to smash the heat-seat button as soon as I could.

When I found myself sliding out of the car I remembered thinking the fog looked so pretty. The North 40 Field was hiding and the only thing I could make out was the path up to two to three feet in front of me. I love the mornings like this because it makes being inside at school feel so much more cozy. First period consisted of the same weather.

I have second period at the high school, the walk up to my class was comparable to my walk to school in the morning.

Then it happened.

Half way through second period it was as if the Gods above got into a pillow fight and the feathers were plummeting to the ground on Earth. Huge flakes of frozen condensation started ribboning through the sky. The little window looking out of French class in room 142 didn't even do the storm any justice. The walk back to Treasure was the real deal. As I opened the side door out into the snow globe, the nippy air hit me like a wave and I was immersed in the cold. I knew that is was going to be one of the longest five-minute walks of my life. I was right.

By the time I got back to Treasure, I'd never been happier to have reached those front doors going into school. My jacket went from dry to drenched and the fluff was gathered in piles on my shoulders and the top of my backpack. My braided hair had turned into a snow-caked-popcicle, and the mascara on my eyelashes had migrated to dark circles underneath my eyes.

Photo Courtesy: parkcitymountain.com

The worst part is I had to go back to the high school again for fourth period.

At that point the cotton balls had died down to specks of white sprinkles, so the walk there wasn't as bad as my walk back from second period was. The air was still frigid, I could feel my nostrils freeze shut every time I sniffled, but at least I wasn't layered from head to toe in snow.

When school got out, they made an announcement over the intercom that they were canceling all after school activities, including all varsity sports. The roads were so bad that they canceled everything.

I was hoping that maybe all of this would mean a snow day the next day. Unfortunately I had no such luck.

Song of the Week: Sweet Ophelia

2015 Resolutions

With the New Year officially in motion, all I seem to hear is "This year I want to--", "My resolution is--", or some sort of "I want to change ____ this year." I honestly think that the whole idea of having resolutions for the year to come is sad, in a way. It's ridiculous that we need have January 1st every year to reflect and better ourselves. Why should a date determine when you need to "resolute". 

Photo Courtesy: blogs.browardpalmbeach.com

Every year on New Year's Eve, my mom likes to start off our family dinner with the question of "What's your New Years resolution?" Each one of us typically says some cheesy way to refine ourselves in the year to come as we go around the table. This typically irritates me. Why is it on just one night of the year that we decide to take a moment and see what needs improvement in each one of us. Why is it that just on the night before January 1st that we do this. Everyday should be January 1st. Everyday should be a new day to reflect on your life and how you can better yourself as a person.

I don't think it matters who you are are where you came from, I definitely admire the statement "It doesn't matter how far down the wrong road you've driven, you can always turn the car around." You are not your mistakes. If you are unhappy with the decisions, actions, or consequences your life has partaken, than take a better grip on the steering wheel and pull a U-turn.

Photo Courtesy: theguardian.com

So do what you need to motivate yourself. Find what drives you, whether it be a person, place, or thing. Find something that sparks a little flame in you, because you are capable of any "New Year's Resolution" you set your mind to, or any major change in your life for that matter. Motivation can be as easy as an inspirational quote written by a figure you look up to, or it might be as hard as finding something deep and dark inside of yourself to give you the will to change. Look for the things you enjoy and let your interests pilot you in your path towards change. If you find a motivation to succeed than you are more likely to accomplish your goals.

Whether you come from rock bottom or sky high, that can all change. You can change. You have the power invested in yourself, in fact, you are the only person who has the power to improve yourself. Others can surely help and try to impact you, but at the end of the day you are the only person who can change and better yourself. No one else can do that job for you.

If you get anything from this post, have it be the influence to make everyday your January 1st. Every day is an opportunity and every sunrise is the glow of a clean slate, and don't take advantage of that.

My New Year's Resolution is to make a New Year's Resolution every day.