Happy fall break! It'll be over on Monday, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to take the PSAT in half an hour. I've heard the test takes hours. Oh joy. But even if I did have to turn my alarm clock back on, I guess it's good practice to help me get into college.
Everyone just laughed at me when they saw the look on my face. It was kind of mean-- I mean, how could I help the shock that in a matter of two seconds had managed to seize my whole body when I entered the house and was greeted with a nice loud "Surprise!" from dozens of people?
So that was on a Saturday, and my birthday was the next Wednesday the tenth. Although I did hit the snooze button, I had to get up bright and early. I had been up hours the night before working on homework, and now I had to get ready, wearing my cheer uniform for the last JV football home game. "Happy birthday!" my family chanted. But I was still tired. And during school, the three quizzes and an essay didn't help boost my energy level. Though I was pretty happy to receive balloons and have to sit on a stool while all the boys in my seminary class knelt before me and sang- alright the second was pretty hawkward.
Lets rewind. It had been a tiring day. First off, I woke up to discover that my lights were still on, I was still wearing my glasses, and the book was lying next to me without a bookmark. Then, according to my mom, my grandparents were coming from Utah on Monday and we had to get everything perfect. So even with General Conferece, we had to pick up everything so that we could hire the carpet cleaner and cleaning ladies to do much better than we could ever do at deep cleaning. While the inside of our house was stripped of dirt, I had the opporunity to clothe myself in it as I sadly tore out all my old garden plants and replaced them with new flowers and herbs that hadn't been brutally murdered by a hot AZ summer.
Then my friends requested me to hang out with them. Apparently it was a good that I hadn't turned that down despite feeling out of it. Since Chelsea's family were "going to a restaraunt," we couldn't stay for more than a few hours, but we watched a movie and watched Chels try to toss grapes into her own mouth. When I realized that her hair was curled, her brother who doesn't know me all that well wished me a "happy birthday," and my mom seemed really stressed out, I began to wonder.... But I quickly hushed the ideas. As my English teacher had told us, when we want something to be true, our mind will find unrelated things and tie them together to form a pattern that will satisfy that desire. That's all that's going on, I told myself. Yeah, I was wrong.
The whole house was decked out with glittering lights and lanterns. The dining room table and rug was gone to make room for a dance floor with a DJ. Food spilled across the kitchen. The pool was filled with balloons and a volleball net had been set up. And all the people! Friends I hadn't seen in forever or didn't even know that well had come to celebrate. A certain Slade who I hadn't seen in years also visited. I had thought he was way older than me, at least graduated, but apparently he's sixteen as well. He made seventeen paper roses and gave them to me one at a time, requesting that I not add the sixteenth and seventeenth to the bouquet till those actual birthdays.
A party? It definitely was one. Except I still couldn't get over the shock for about half the time I was there. I went from being broke {thank you vacation to Peru and an previous inability to get a job} to having a whopping $230 in cash and gift cards.
Seriously, it was a Sweet Sixteen that was more than I could ever asked for.
Still, forgetting to take my medication for my ear infection didn't help the headache I had already developed after so many tests. Even after going home and then to Liberty Market for a tasty dinner, I wasn't feeling my best. Then I had to the game. Apparently the medication kicked in at that point though, because my energy was boosted. But even though it was our last chance to cheer on our boys at home, there was nothing as cool as the surprise that came up. And by cool, I mean chilling.
Before the game started, we lined up with our hands on our hearts for the National Anthem. The ROTC stood silently with the flags. But before the choir's recording could echo through the stadiums, an announcement was made. After being away at war for so long, Charles Haas had safely returned. At that moment, a soldier in uniform stepped out. Our friend on the squad, Savannah, could only stare in shock. "Go!" we encouraged her. Then she burst into a sprint and jumped into her father's arms. All the other cheerleaders? We bawled, every single one of us. Luckily enough, they hadn't caught us on tape when it all turned up on ABC News.
Unfortunately the excitement of game started was cut short for me cause I had to perform in the choir concert. One of the other girls and I scrambled to the other side of the school where we quickly tore off our uniforms and slipped on our dresses. I almost left in my giant teal bow. Fast forward and we were on stage. Ms. Scholz proudly announced that we, the Advanced Women's Choir, had ranked Superior with Distinction at the music festival we had attended the week before. Then we began our songs-- Music, Spread Thy Voice Around by Handel, Lakme's lovely Call of the Flowers, and then a slightly more modern piece called Accentuate the Positive. Now I've already mentioned how much I enjoy performing, but once we began our third piece... Well, it's a jazzy piece from the thirties and I, being me, prefer music like that over more classical styles. They had told us to snap. Okay, I could deal with that. So then I decided to have fun with the song and, with the entire auditorium filled, I allowed the beat to take over me as I sang.
I hadn't expected the audience's reaction once I left the stage.
"Girl, move those hips!"
"Dang, you're sassy!"
"All the girls in my choir were like, 'Is she in theatre?' and I was like 'Yeah, and she's my cousin!"
I mean, I knew when I was singing that I wasn't going to look like a robot, but geez. Apparently I went more full-out than I realized. I didn't even know till after my mom commented about it that I had been making faces, and it wasn't till the choir watched the video of it the next day for critique that I realized I was the only one to so much as snap with my hands raised above my waist. I had people I didn't even know coming up to me with compliments. When I tried to tell one of my friends about it the next day, he had already heard about it from one of his friends who hadn't even been able to remember my name!
Yeah, I let's just say that I hadn't even touched my homework when I got home at 10:30. But what the heck. I still couldn't get over the concert, so I just kept dancing around while I ate cupcakes and plugged numbers into the calculator. Then I couldn't help but laugh when I saw another present left by doorbell-ditchers: a foam sword with a note reading "To fend off all boys (except Slade)."
Can I just say I'm psyched to be sixteen?
Before the game started, we lined up with our hands on our hearts for the National Anthem. The ROTC stood silently with the flags. But before the choir's recording could echo through the stadiums, an announcement was made. After being away at war for so long, Charles Haas had safely returned. At that moment, a soldier in uniform stepped out. Our friend on the squad, Savannah, could only stare in shock. "Go!" we encouraged her. Then she burst into a sprint and jumped into her father's arms. All the other cheerleaders? We bawled, every single one of us. Luckily enough, they hadn't caught us on tape when it all turned up on ABC News.
Unfortunately the excitement of game started was cut short for me cause I had to perform in the choir concert. One of the other girls and I scrambled to the other side of the school where we quickly tore off our uniforms and slipped on our dresses. I almost left in my giant teal bow. Fast forward and we were on stage. Ms. Scholz proudly announced that we, the Advanced Women's Choir, had ranked Superior with Distinction at the music festival we had attended the week before. Then we began our songs-- Music, Spread Thy Voice Around by Handel, Lakme's lovely Call of the Flowers, and then a slightly more modern piece called Accentuate the Positive. Now I've already mentioned how much I enjoy performing, but once we began our third piece... Well, it's a jazzy piece from the thirties and I, being me, prefer music like that over more classical styles. They had told us to snap. Okay, I could deal with that. So then I decided to have fun with the song and, with the entire auditorium filled, I allowed the beat to take over me as I sang.
I hadn't expected the audience's reaction once I left the stage.
"Girl, move those hips!"
"Dang, you're sassy!"
"All the girls in my choir were like, 'Is she in theatre?' and I was like 'Yeah, and she's my cousin!"
I mean, I knew when I was singing that I wasn't going to look like a robot, but geez. Apparently I went more full-out than I realized. I didn't even know till after my mom commented about it that I had been making faces, and it wasn't till the choir watched the video of it the next day for critique that I realized I was the only one to so much as snap with my hands raised above my waist. I had people I didn't even know coming up to me with compliments. When I tried to tell one of my friends about it the next day, he had already heard about it from one of his friends who hadn't even been able to remember my name!
Yeah, I let's just say that I hadn't even touched my homework when I got home at 10:30. But what the heck. I still couldn't get over the concert, so I just kept dancing around while I ate cupcakes and plugged numbers into the calculator. Then I couldn't help but laugh when I saw another present left by doorbell-ditchers: a foam sword with a note reading "To fend off all boys (except Slade)."
Can I just say I'm psyched to be sixteen?
10-10 and it's official. I am sixteen freaking years old. You know what that means? Fun has just been raised to a whole new level.
I remember turning fifteen and thinking of those songs that talk about that age. Taylor Swift's Fifteen, Five for Fighting's 100 Years... They talked about life and the lessons learned at that time, all while being tied into a beautiful melody. Now tomorrow {which starts in a little over a half hour} will end my being fifteen. One year older, I can spend a whole 'nother year searching for new adventures in life. What songs are there now to apply to me?
Life is simply too quick.
But I am anticipating this.
Life is simply too quick.
But I am anticipating this.
It's lovely to hear from those great leaders of our church. While sitting on the couch snacking guiltily on last night's white chocolate popcorn, I was pleased to learn quite a lot of things:
Guys, I'm in shock. AKA tonight was the biggest surprise of my life. It's past midnight already but there's absolutely no way I can fall asleep after realizing just how spectacular all of my family and friends can be. Who could ask for more?
About Me
Katie Urness
SLP, Wife, and Mama
Welcome to Kate of the Desert! I've shared my life stories here since 2008. Here you may find the dramatic musings of an 11-year-old, the romanticized tales of a high schooler, the adventures of a young adult living in Hawaii and Europe, the journeys of marriage and motherhood, and all the ups and downs in between. Read More
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