This Tuesday I had a choir concert, and I am Sooo excited. I have my shoes and dress ready and I know the songs. We have some really fun songs to sing, like Osie Funi Mungu (I just slaughtered that spelling) which is a Kenyan song and a party song. It is upbeat and we have choreography for most of the song. It is great. We also have some really beautiful songs like Ave Verum Corpus (I slaughtered that spelling to) it is a song by Mozart and it have beautiful line and movement. According to Mrs. Coleman, my choir teacher, the song my class sings best is Zum Gali Gali, which is a Hebrew folk song I think and it splits in to seven part harmony at one part. It is really fun to sing because it is also a party song. We're singing other songs but those are my favorite. Yeah I'm so excited for Tuesdays concert.

PS. If you are interested in buying tickets please contact me before Tuesday I would love to see you there. It will be so fun.

Yahoo, Yippy, Joyous Day!

Today was Daniels baptism, and I know that some of you, i.e. Tressa, want me to write a blog about that, but I figure that other people will write about that in detail. I want to write about a land mark much more pertinent to my life. Today for the first time ever I DROVE! I was very excited.

Today when going to Daniels baptism I realized that there weren't that many cars in the lot. Mom had often told me that sometime when there weren't that many cars, she would let me drive the car. So I asked her, and she said maybe. We went to the baptism and it was really nice, you could feel the spirit and I enjoyed it. At the end we had cookies and people talked. Mom said that we would have to wait till every one had left.

When it was time for me to drive I got a little nervous as Mom instructed me how to pull out of the parking spot. We drove around in circles around the parking lot a few times. It was a lot harder to steer then I thought it would be. I keep either over steering or under steering and some times I started to turn the wrong way, mostly after I left reverse. I hit the curb a few times and I'm glad that there weren't any cars around, but for my first time driving I think I did pretty well. Mom told me that someday I'll probably be a good driver.

After going around a few times mom had me stop and she took over so she could drive us home. I felt really happy I was really glad and mom and I talked about driving on the way home. she told me how important it is to be alert while driving and that it wasn't until a year after she started driving that she was comfortable behind the wheel.

I can't wait until I get my permit and can drive for real but I'm also glad I'm not going to have to tackle actual roads quite yet.

Oh I've had Enough of Girls Camp Life, Gee Mom I'm Glad to Be Home

This week was girls camp. Not only that, but this year was the forth year hike. The hike started out easy not to hard, I got a blister but it was treated quickly so no big deal. But then it started to get a little hilly and a little more difficult. There were points when the path was hard to see and the ground was either rocky and rooty or muddy, but at lest it wasn't raining so it wasn't to muddy. On the hike there is one really hard hill each day, and on the first day it is a down hill. I know that most down hills are easy but this one was steep with rocks that slide under your feet when you step on them. I was grabbing every tree along the path in able to stabilize my self. One of the trees that I grabbed was a dead sapling that broke off from the ground in my hand and became my walking stick for the rest of the hike. It was a good stick and I am so glade I brought it with me. then we got to the camp ground which was really pretty. I played in the river and it was a lot of fun. The next day we only had 4 miles to hike, but one of those miles was Death Hill. Death Hill is really hard. It's not about how steep the hill was it was the fact that it was crazy long and a continual upward slop. Once or twice I thought that if only I didn't have my heavy pack I could make it so much easier. I also keep thinking That "I was in the poppy field" of the hike. Well finally I made it up the hill. I was way happy. We got a nice long break before we did the last mile. The last mile, thankfully enough, was flat ground with one small down hill. I was pump to have done it. I finished death hill. I was so proud. I wished that there was something substantial to put me apart from the other years who hadn't finished a 10 mile hike. The rest of camp past by fast. mostly it was hanging out with my friends. I realized that I had a lot of friends at camp. I had my cabin mates. from left to right they are Kim, Celea, and Emily. I also had a lot of other friends who weren't in my year, like Celine, and Genevieve, third years, and Brenna, who was a second year. Camp was really fun I loved hanging out with my friends from other wards. However it was exhausting and as the title of this blog suggest I am glade to be home.

Romance Makes Me Squeal

When mom got home today she informed me that she had bought the movie "Beauty and the Beast, A Latter-Day Tale". For those of you who don't know, that is a REALLY good lds movie about a girl named Bell who comes to work for Eric Landery. He is considered to be the meanest most proud man in the town by all his neighbours. He is a very brash man but as he gets to know Bell he becomes less and less rude. It is a really good romance movie with great acting. It was so good that I all most squealed with excitement as I watched it. I would highly recommend it to all who are considering watching it.

Fun Run

Over all, today was a very good day. In History I found out that I got the highest score on or last test, 104%, and in art we sat out side in a field of clovers drawing the school building. I thoroughly enjoyed it. However I have been looking forward to today for a different reason.

Today was my wards "Fun Run". That is were you have to go four miles in an hour in order to qualify for trek.

I walked/ran the four miles with Genvieve Gurts. I think that was a good choice, because we both pushed the other on and motivated them. We started out strong we were walking quickly up hills and on flat parts, and we were running down the hills. It was a hot day but we were on track and we were confident that we would finish on time.

Then near the end of the first lap, there were two, we both got tired and I was wondering if we would be able to finish at all, let alone on time. we were going very slowly and we just couldn't seem to pick up speed. Then we got back to the starting line were Sister Lee was waiting to do the last lap with the last of the runners. We weren't the last to get there but we were the last to leave.

Sister Lee set a pace that if we could keep up with we would finish on time. Gen, Maria, and I walked with her for some time. There was a watch that says how fast you were going so we knew we were going to finish on time based on our pace. This knowledge gave me a second wind. I started to sing the walking chant that Gen and I had come up with a few weeks ago. It gose like this...

Pump those arms

Lift them high

box your ears,

and punch the sky

That set a good pace and Gen Maria and I pulled ahead of Sister Lee. It was good to know that we were doing a good job, and I was happy with our pace. we reached a point were we know that the end was coming soon but because of a bend in the road we could not see the finish line. that's when Gens older sister came along to motive us. She knew that the one hour dead line was coming up and she was worried that we wouldn't make it in time so she tried to get us to up the pace. I knew however that as long as we stayed ahead of Sister Lee we would finish on time.

Well guess what we finished on at 58 minutes and 49 seconds to go. Gen and I were both red faced from the excercise and very glad that we finnished. we convincesed her dad and my mom to go to Ritas after words. it was great.

PS Sister Lee finished with 18 seconds to go.

Good Friends

There are some people you just love.

You can talk freely with them and you feel comfortable telling them things because they will listen and they will not judge you.

There is something about them that just makes you happy to listen because of the wonderful stories they tell.

There are some people who even though you have only known them for about a month, you already consider them one of your best friends.

You find yourself trying to find things that they would be interested in so you can share the excitement of discovery.

You know that they are loyal and they would never hurt you.

You know they trust you completely.

There are some people in this world who make you smile just by them being by your side.

Five Stars

So do to the fact that I forgot my G-Mail password I haven't been able to blog or read blogs for awhile now. A lot has happened and I'm glad I can get on my blog again.

Yesterday was my BFF's sweet sixteen. Her party is going to be next Friday so she didn't make a big deal about it yesterday, but she did invite me over for cake and a movie. When we got there we mostly just lazed around until dinner like we always do. Then we saw what her dog had done to her cake. He had gone up to the cake and licked the frosting off of one side. It was only a small part of the cake so we just cut it off, but it was still funny.

Now it was time for the movie. we went to see Up in 3-D, and let me tell you it was wonderful. I it makes you laugh it makes you cry, and over all it is beautifully animated.

Up is about an old man who blows up so many balloons that his house starts to floats and he flies it to South America. However unbeknownst to him a wilderness explore, aka boy scout, was under his porch looking for a bird.

The movie starts out when the old man was young. He is watching a movie about his favorite explorer. then he goes and meets a girl who also loves that explorer. They promise to go to Paradise Falls South America together. Then it shows there life together. They get married and grow old together all the while saving to go to Paradise Falls. The man finally buys the tickets but his wife gets sick and dies.

That is all that I am going to tell you about what happens in the movie, because I think you should go see it your self. What I Told you may seem sad but that was just the opening scene. The movie ends on a high note, and remember I told you the movie will make you laugh and make you cry.

You need to see this movie. I give it five stars.

I have never been much for exercise. I feel uncomfortable excrecicing in front of others and I have always enjoyed a good book more then a jog around the block. In the past all the exercises that I would get was what I would get in PE class. OK. That is a large exaggeration, but the principle is the same.

However, that is going to change.

Yesterday I went to Young woman's and Maggie's mom was teaching the class. The class was about the benefits of exercises. I was inspired. I have resolved to try and exercises every day for 15 minuets a day for at lest a month. I think I can do it. In fact I have already finessed my first day. I walked/jogged for 15 minuets and went .8 of a mile. If I keep this up I'll be in shape for trek in no time.

Long Time No Blog.

Its been a long time since I last posted a blog. Its not that nothing has happened it is just that ether I haven't had the time or I forgot or something. That is going to change. I am going to try to post at least once a week from now on. The reason for this sudden change is because I was talking to my young women leader about my blog, and she said that it could count towards my personal progress. Lately dad has been trying to get me to work on finishing the personal progress program so that's what I am going to do. I don't know how long its going to take but I am determined to finish.

Music Makes You Happy Fast

I don't listen to a lot of music. I don't have that much expose to it, but music has some really great points. Mainly its ability to make people happy. In the movie "Music and Lyrics" the leading man says something to the effect of, nothing will make you happier faster then an upbeat song. That is so right.

Today at the end of the day I was feeling pretty glum. I was just down and I didn't really know why, and I didn't care. Finally school got out and I met Jane up in the hall to walk out of school with. She had brought her Ipod today and when she walked up to me she offered me an ear phone. The song was one she had found on the Internet a while back and it was an upbeat song we had danced to a lot. The instant the ear bud was in my ear I felt SO much better. Not only was I no longer in the pits, all of a sudden I got the strong desire to start dancing.

Its true what they say. Music is good for the soul.

So Poetic

So I have this English project were I have to find seven poems, analyze four of them, write seven poems of my own, and make this look pretty. Its due Monday. I've been working on it for the last couple of weeks so I have allot of it done, but one of the seven poems has to have a metaphor in it, and I can't find a metaphor that I like. May be I'm just being picky but I'm trying to distinguish between the metaphor poem and the symbolism poem and there are so many poems to read.

I guess I'm just complaining but I'm also very bored with poems at this point. I will get though this and I will be fine.

So when I got my computer I found a great deal. It was good computer for a good price and the best thing of all. It was really really cute. I get home and tell Dad how cute it was and he just rolls his eyes because he thinks that the only reason I bought it was because it was cute, but that wasn't the only reason, it's a good computer.

Then dad goes to buy his own laptop and what do ya know he buys the same lap top that I got. I think its pretty funny and so do mom and Eldon who were there when he actually bought it.

Well they say imitation is the best form of flattery. I just wonder if that's true if the imitation is accidental.

Lost And Found and Lost Again

On January 14 of this year I found an unlucky button. That same day my book bag broke, and I missed my bus so I had to walk home. I'm not sure why, but I keep the button. I soon came to realize that the button wasn't unlucky. It was the finding of said button. That brought bad luck.

After I had it in my coat pocket for a while I went to Jane's house and lost it. She found it in her backpack and lost the pencil she had in her hand. I mean it was there and then poof it was gone. She gave me the button and I lost it. I looked for it a little bit then gave up thinking no more about it.

A Few days later I was walking to gym I put my hand in my back pocket and there was my button. Then during class I got a door slammed in to me, someone tripped over my feet, I tripped over my feet, and my gym teacher realized that the shoes I was wearing had no backs. They were my only pare of shoes that even remotely look like tennis shoes, and I had been wearing then for the last several classes with out his notice. When class was over I rolled my eyes as I thought about my luck and went to lunch.

The bad luck happens soon after you find it so if you ever find a pink and purple button with LOST written on it... I'm sorry

Pay It Forward

So I got this from McDurmann's blog.

The first three people to leave a comment on my blog will get a handmade gift from me during the year.This gift is a surprise and you. But in order to qualify you need to leave a pay it forward post on your blog, and trust me I'll check.
But remember that it's only the first three people so you better hurry.

Picture Perfect

Since I got my lap top I have been on a quest to find the prefect background for it. I've tried some things but none of them have been that perfect picture. So today I decided to try from the sample pictures on my computer. I hadn't looked at them before, and there where some nice photos.

I looked though the pictures and I decide on this one

It's not the perfect picture an I'll probably change it in a few days but I like it.

Kings Quest 5

Ahh, Life giving water. Nectar of the gods. Gram can now feel strength and renewal flowing through him.

That is a line from one of my favorite computer games ever.

Kings Quest 5.

But some thing that will for ever bug me I can not play KQ5. KQ5 is a really old game, and really old games don't play on new computers. I don't know why but it doesn't, and that just bugs me. Why can't they just up date the games or some thing so they can fit the format that computers now use. Or they could build the computers so that they can read old games.

I don't know. Today I just wanted to play KQ5 and was sad I couldn't get my hands on it.

A Big Purchase.

I've procrastinated blogging about this because I don't know what to say but I thought you would want to know so here I am.

On Thursday, January 29 2009 I made my first major purchase. I bought an HP lap top!!!!!!!! I really have enjoyed enjoyed having it. It's navy blue with a light blue pattern and it's really pretty. When we went to the store I knew which computer I wanted. we got there and one of the guys said they had just sold the last one two hours ago. I was really bummed when I heard this. So Mom and I glumly went to the task of picking a new one. Then a different sales man told me that they had just gotten some new laptops in. It was the same as the one that I had wanted but better. I was really happy and so excited to take it home.

The Wonders Of The Blog-O-Sphere

Hello every one who reads my blog. I've gotten a lot of compliments on my blog so I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

When I write my blog I have a certain person in mind who I'm writing it to.

Today it is all of my sisters. I've decided I love how blogging can keep you in touch with people who are far away. I love how when I read your blogs I feel like your in the room and I feel so glad you are my sisters. Reading your blogs,even the blogs about things I was there for just makes me love you more, miss you less, and want you to be here so I can give you a hug.

I love you all.

PS I would be writing this to my brother also to but he "doesn't do the blog-o-sphere," but I love you any way Eldon.

Mini-Tressa

So this morning I went to seminary like every morning and as I am most mornings I was late. However the fact that I was late is not important to the rest of my story. So I got to seminary and I find out that we were playing a review game of things we learned this year. Now you needed to know that I think that seminary games are fun but I don't normally get very excited about them for the simple fact that I'm no good at them.

Now Tressa she use to get really excited when playing them she'd get pumped and answer the question really fast. In fact earlier in the year Steven said some thing about him having a chance to win now that Tressa was gone.

So I get put on a team with Cortney and Sara, and Cortney asked If we could be called the Kortneys. She said it would make her day! Sara didn't care and I think Cortney is funny when she's happy so the Kortneys we became. So I just got on a tangent but I thought It was funny so I put it in.

So there were 3 types of questions. one type were you look up the Scripture mastery, another were you answer trivia about the scriptures, and one were you had to answer trivia about the kids in the class.

I rocked on ice when it came to the trivia and I ended up getting really excited and I would raise my hand and answer really fast. I was so in to it that Ashley called me "Mini-Tressa". Because of my enthusiasm my team got second place.

p.s. Do you remember my unlucky button I found a while back. I kept it in my poket for like a week, and when I told sister McKay about that she thought it was really funny. So the question about me was "Who has an unlucky button in there pocket."

My Name

OK. So I got this ECR back a couple of weeks ago, and Mom suggested I post it on my blog because I got a perfect score.

Rachel Janice Allred. I've always liked my name. I feel a surge of pride when I see or hear it. I can feel its importance as it marches off my tough. In my ears my name is a winter morning. Brisk and invigorating. I can almost see old man winter standing over me, watching my every move. I was born in winter and I thrive in winter. My name is like the Christmas ornament hanging on the bottom of the tree, or the stars that always shine brighter in December. However, if you look beyond that you see my name is more. My name has a history and a distinctive origin, it means something to my family, and it is also the root of every thing that defines me.

The origin of my name is as good as any to start. My first name, Rachel, has always been one of my mother’s favorite two names. Rachel and Elizabeth. She had already named my oldest sister Elizabeth, so Rachel it was. The name Allred has a lot of history. James Allred and his four sons went west with the pioneers. They each started a settlement and apparently every one west of Denver knows at least one Allred. My middle name has a truly special meaning to my dad. My names origin is important because it defines me and connects me to my family’s history.

The importance too my family is another reason my name is so wonderful. I’ve already stated that my middle name has a special meaning to my father. He picked the name Janice because of my great-grand father Janus. When my dad talks about his grandpa you can just hear the admiration dripping in his voice. “He could fix any-thing” my dad would state proudly, “he was just a good man”. I often wonder how my great-grandpa would have felt about me carrying his name. The importance of my name to my father makes me important.

I have pride in my name. I’ve never felt much of a need to change it. Therefore I don’t have many nick-names, and the two nick names I have both stem from my name. Rachel. They are Ray-Bay and Reading Rachel. Reading Rachel is a pretty self explanatory name. I love to read. I would read every spar minute I had. I would even read while I walked. Ray-Bay is a little more challenging to explain. It come from the fact that my mom called me her “little ray of sun shine”. That and the fact that I was the baby of the family got shortened to Ray-Bay. You could say that because neither Ray-Bay nor Reading Rachel is that far from Rachel, my given name, that my name is the root of my identity.

My name is very significant. It signifies who I am. It links me to my ancestors and to history. It has a valuable meaning to my family and people who love me. most importantly it and names rooting from it are key to my identity as a person. Without my name I would not be who I am today.

A Long Lonely Walk Into The Sunset.

So, it wasn't exactly sunset (I still had two hours to go), but the sun was low in the sky, and I was walking toward it. Plus it was cold.

I guess I should start at the being of my day to explain why the exercise.

So today one of the kids from seminary drove me to school, and he parked pretty far away. As I was walking to the school building I saw a cute button on the ground and I think it is an unlucky button because I stooped down to pick it up and two shakes of a lambs tail latter the strap on my book bag broke. Now even though I wasn't excepting it to break, the fact that it broke didn't come as a terrible surprise. You see my bag had been falling to pieces for quite a while now. I think I could have sewn one out of tissue paper and it would have been more durable then that bag.

The broken bag was very inconvenient because not only was I forced to carry my books in my arms, but I had to use my locker for the third time this year.

So I was going along my day and I find out that I still have to make up a Spanish test after school. No biggie. I didn't have to pick Anita up from school today so I could just call mom to pick me up. After school I headed over to Sra. Huwe's room and took the test. I got 96%. Yeah. I didn't have a phone so I headed down to the office to call mom.

She wasn't there.

So I called again.

She still didn't answer.

I called two more times and still no answer. I realised that I was in a predicament. I had only two unenjoyable ways home. I could ether wait there calling at regular intervals until mom got home. or I could walk home. Normally I'd just walk but you have to remember that the strap on my book bag had broken. I don't think a person realizes how heavy their burden is until you have to carry it entirely in your arms.

After great deliberation, and equally great boredom, I deiced to walk.

So there I was on a long walk into the sunset, and I realized that that button must really be an unlucky button.

Really the walk wasn't that bad, just cold.

Crunch Time!!

So after a week I've finally had time to sit down to blog. I've wanted to sit down before now and I've even had a few ideas but I just haven't had the time. Well let's just say it's crunch time! You see it's two weeks before the end of the quarter, it's the week after winter break, and I missed the day before break when they give us our homework for the break. In short I had 80 short answers, a book-project to do on a book I hadn't even read, And a draft for a math project. So I I rolled up my sleeves and and got to work. I still have work to do, a Spanish project and studying for midterms, but I'm ahead of seclude so I thought I'd take a breather. I have decided that I like feeling productive and it would be a good thing to push my self in school, but I also like having time to do what I want.

Hope you enjoy

So I just setup my blog!
I'm excited and every thing but I can just see my self not keeping it up or even forgetting what it's called, but I try my darnedest to make this interesting.
To tell the truth I started my blog because I was reading blogs by my family and friends and realised that besides my mom everyone in my family but me has a blog. So I decided to start one. I actually don't have much to write about so I won't write much. I do hope you enjoy my blog as much as I enjoy yours.
Bye ; )