Today is the anniversary of my Grandma Diana's death.  She was only fifty-two years old, and yet she lost her life after a four-year battle against cancer. 

  High school is, for the most part, fun.  But it comes with all the drama of the world, that drama of which is not the most pleasant.*
  I have come to figure out that I've lived in a little bubble.

  About two weeks into cheer we were put into stunt groups.  My group was very good, but the girls weren't shy of profanity.  At first I decided to put up with it, but when it got to the point that I couldn't even count the amount of swear words in one sentence, I had had enough.
  "Hey, would you mind trying to be careful with what you say?" I asked as firmly but politely as I could.
  The girl who had been the worst offender stopped, frowning.  "Oh, yeah, sorry."
  "Yeah, I'm, uh, Mormon."
  She gasped, throwing her hands to her mouth with her brows lifted high.  "Oh, oh!" she moaned.  "That's so embarrassing!  I am SO SORRY!"
  And she was dead serious.  I wouldn't have been surprised by people mocking me if I asked them to watch their language, but she felt so bad, especially because I am a Mormon.

  Then a few weeks ago in English we had a vocabulary quiz.  I took out the papers study beforehand, but the girl in the row beside mine stole them from me.
  "I lost my papers and couldn't study last night.  I need them more than you because I have an F."
  Although I wanted them, I allowed her to take the papers because I had an A.  So I began studying with the girl in front of me.   But a few minutes later we glanced over and she, along with another girl, was writing some of the words and definitions on her hand.  We were both angered.  Without a second thought I snatched the papers back.
  "You can't cheat!  Especially off my papers!"
  They two were mad at me, but I hid the papers.  And in seeing my anger, the first give wiped the words off her hand.

  My friend Chelsea takes a PE class first hour.  At times she says it can be difficult, but she it fit and always succeeds in doing what she is asked.  But one day another kid thoughtlessly suggested to the teacher that they run a certain way that in reality was even harder than the way they originally would've done it.  Although not particularly happy that he did that, since the teacher agreed, Chelsea did it.  But before the kid who made the suggestion could finish, a bunch of others started talking really rudely about him.  Chelsea was not part of the conversation, but she could hear it clearly and was angered although she and the kid weren't friends.  When even the teacher wouldn't do anything, she finally turned around and yelled at them to shut up and that they have no right to gossip about him.  She tells me they all hate her now, but she doesn't care.

  They always tell us that it's hard to stand up for what is right when the crowd has its mind set one way.  I really don't understand it.  HOW IS IT HARD?  Are you just afraid that those people in the crowd will think of you badly?  Well, so what?  Would you really want to be their friend anyway?  I say it is much more worth it to make the decision that, even if it negatively affects your reputation of according to the world {though that hasn't happened to me}, will never leave your heart sick with regret.

*Now in saying this I am not being judgmental.  A lot of the people I have met are genuinely nice people, they just don't have the same standards as me.

  So this morning my mom calls.
  "Ummm... Katie?  Sister Carpenter just called me.  She is apparently waiting outside our house to take you to the BYC meeting that starts in two minutes since Whitney just told her she couldn't go..."
  WHAT?!
   I didn't even have so much as my contacts in.  So, I threw on a skirt, ripped the brush through my hair, and put on a little bit of makeup under my glasses before running out the door.
  {Ahhhh...!}
  So the moral of this story is:  If you're in your class presidency, be ready for BYC regardless of whether or not you  are class presidency because you might just be going regardless of whether or not you receive a heads up.
  At least it went well?

    I love the fact that my youngest siblings fight over who gets to scrub the toilet.  It's really my job, but I have so much homework to do on top of cleaning the bathroom and getting the rest of the house clean.  So if Eric and Sophie really honest-for-goodness want to do it, then, well, be my guests!

  Q: What's the quickest way to clean up a house that looks like it's been torn apart by a tornado?
  A: Be told that the bishop is coming in five minutes to borrow the computer.

  Summer is dying.  The the skies have breathed in all the water of the earth and mourn her tearfully.
  Much as I love summertime, now that school has been in for a while, I am very happy that for the first time in months it isn't 115 or something degrees.  And, ah, moisture!  I think I could cry with JOY every time it rains.  It's so beautiful. 
  Though to be honest there about a second in between each flash of lightning on Saturday night...  Scary?

  I remember it.
  The confusion.  The fear.  The footage of people trying to escape the collapsing buildings.
  I wasn't even five yet.  But I knew that something was terribly wrong, along with every person of the United States of America.
  We lived in Massachusetts at the time, and Mom was six months pregnant with Olivia.   Mom says she drove, weeping, to be with some of her friends.  Their husbands all worked for big companies near Boston, and Boston was frighteningly near NY and DC.
  Ten years.  Can anyone believe it?  Ten years since our country was attacked, since 2,973 American lives were lost.  Men, women, children.
  Rachel's drama teacher told her class of a good friend of his.  They two met in drama in seventh grade, and went on continue drama together in high school and college. When school was over, they sought opportunities in Hollywood.  After no success, they decided they were fit better for the actual stage and decided to try Broadway.  They flew out to NY and tried out multiple times.  He decided, after again having little success, to return home to teach drama.  But she was set on being a Broadway actress.  One day he received good news from her that she had gotten a job- a waitress near the top of the twin towers.    Excited for her and also having not seen her for a while, he flew out to visit.  But the day after he returned back home to teach, he received another call.  At first he tried humorously to tell her a story of a misbehaving student, but she would not listen.  Finally she managed to interrupt him and whispered, "Find somebody who loves you."  An explosion.  The phone went dead.
  In so many cases it was just like that.  They weren't supposed to be there, or had just happened received a job at the twin towers.  And yet it is just those little moments of coincidence that cost lives.
  I wonder what it was like.  All those people- did it happen quickly, or did they find the time to flee or help others flee?  Did the world become a haze, or were their hearts and minds overwhelmed by thoughts and memories of their families, of their Father in Heaven?
  I am so grateful for the live I have.  That my family can be together, safe and healthy and strong.  I am so grateful for my country and for those who have fought for our freedom.
  I am a citizen of the United States of America.
  AND I WILL NEVER FORGET.

  No, seriously.  What normal teen rejoices when they get their homework done in two hours?!  I do.

  Anyway, I finally have no tests to study for tomorrow, tomorrow's Friday, and high school, though it can be quite stressful, is way better than junior high.  Now that I've gotten into the drill.  With friends and guys and cheer and Seminary, why wouldn't it be?  This is the time that I will forever remember as "the good ol' days."   Even if I do have a dreadful B- in math.  But don't worry.  I'll swing it back up to an A+.

  Hallelujah.  I get a four-day weekend.
  This week has been so busy, with school and cheer and all that extra stuff that gets crammed into your life... The teachers have pounded us all with homework and tests, and lets just say you can tell I have not gotten enough sleep in the past few days.
  But the school week for me is over.  Tonight I will do all my make up work, pack, clean, and then tomorrow we will boogie it on over to the Rockin' R Ranch in Utah.  Yep.  We're going to the Lundgreen Family Reunion.  It's been four years since I've been to one, and I am so excited.