"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Why do adults constantly ask teenagers, “What do you want to be when you grow up” or “What are you going to school for?” How the heck am I suppose to know! Yeah, I’m sure there are a lot of high schoolers out there that probably know exactly what they want to be; I’m not one of them. My dream job changes every few months.

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a singer like Britney Spears. I also used to think I could make an amazing president. Some days I’d want to be a lawyer, other days I’d want to be the next Ghandi and spread peace around the world. What can I say? I dreamed pretty big as a kid.

In my middle school years, I wanted to be a pastry chef. Plain and simple. I wanted to own my own bakery and make fabulous cakes and cookies. To this day, I still dream about being a pastry chef, but I feel like I could do better than that. I’ve also told my parents that in my one lifetime I want to be a chef, an astronaut, a marine biologist, a geologist, an archaeologist, a historian, and a teacher. There’s just so many choices.

Now that I’m in high school, I really think a lot about what I want to go to college for, and I think more realistically these days. Obviously, I want a good-paying career, but I also want something that I would love to do every day of my life. I’m not going to be one of those people that decide exactly what they want to be while they’re still young. I think having my options open is the best way to go. I can get my high school education, go into college with an undecided major, and just go wherever my interests take me. I like a lot of things and I’m interested in a lot of things; I just need to figure out what I like the best.

Extreme Couponing

Well, it’s just one of those days when there isn’t much to blog about. So, I’m going to blog about this show I’m currently watching called Extreme Couponing. It’s this new show on TLC about people who spend hours finding and cutting out coupons and then hours shopping at the store. “Americans throw away 57 billion dollars worth of coupons every year.” This was just said on the show because one extreme couponer is actually dumpster diving for coupons. Her husband said it’s like a drug and his wife keeps wanting more and more. She even has an eight pound binder full of coupons.
One woman spent six hours at the store to buy food and hygiene products that will last her and her husband for months. The total retail value of her purchase was about $1,200. She paid $51. These extreme couponers buy everything in bulk and have rooms in their homes to stock all their products. One woman has a wall full of toilet paper next to a couch full of pasta boxes. It’s pretty crazy.
Wow. One woman just went shopping at the grocery store and bought $636 dollars worth of food. Of course she had plenty of coupons with her, and her total cost was $2. Yeah, I said 2 dollars! You can’t even buy a box of mini muffins for $2, and she bought groceries for like a month.
I use coupons every once in a while, especially on like fast food because I always want it, and I never have the money for it. So those buy one get one free coupons are great. I think it’s pretty crazy how some of these people spend so much time couponing, but almost all of them say it’s a hobby just like scrapbooking but your saving money. That actually makes a lot of sense. It is a lot like scrapbooking except your saving hundreds of dollars. Sounds good to me. Maybe when I grow up, I’ll be an extreme couponer.

Cheerleading

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to be a cheerleader; furthermore, a football cheerleader. When I entered high school, I realized that would never happen for me. This is because I’m a dedicated volleyball player. Unfortunately, at Mason City High School a student cannot be involved in two or more sports during the same season. This means that I had to sacrifice my cheerleading dreams to be in a sport that I’ve played for years.

Of course I could always do winter cheerleading, right? I mean I’m no basketball star that’s for sure. But when I was a freshman, I didn’t think it’d be cool to cheer for basketball. After my freshman year, all my cheerleader friends said that winter cheer is just so boring compared to fall. Almost every single one of my friends is a Mohawk cheerleader, and it makes me want to become one even more.

I didn’t do winter cheerleading when I was a sophomore either because I still didn’t think it would be fun. After being at all the basketball games this year and watching the cheerleaders during pep assemblies, I decided I would enjoy winter cheering. I don’t have the opportunity to do it in the fall so why not try out for winter cheer? I only have two years of high school left and I want to be involved in more than just one school activity.

Last week was varsity cheer tryouts. I had no idea what to expect. I’d never cheered before in my life and the coaches wanted us to be good since it was varsity. The first day of practice was overwhelming. Luckily, I have best friends that helped me all night for two nights on both my cheers, dance, and jumps. I’m so happy I had them helping me because all our hard work paid off on Wednesday evening when I found out I had made cheerleading for girl’s basketball.

Job

I’ve been 16 years old now since July, and I’ve been wanting a job since I was about 14. I knew getting a job would be hard during volleyball season, so I started filling out applications in late October. I realized very quickly that many places have stopped hiring at 16 and just hire 18 year olds. Now, when I was 14 and 15 years old there were many places that hired 16 year olds so I was pretty pumped to turn 16. I guess I was wrong.

I filled out about 5-7 applications to pretty much anywhere by January. Some places like Target emailed me and said they weren’t hiring. Other places simply never got a hold of me. No big deal though. I just had to prove to my parents that I was doing everything I could to get a job.

Eventually I filled out an application to Vanity in the mall. About 2 weeks after handing in the application, I got a call from the manager that I had an interview. Obviously I was excited. This was my first job interview, so I was a little nervous; but I had nothing to lose.

Once I got in there for the interview, things didn’t seem to go so well. The interview itself lasted no more than 10 minutes. I thought interviews were supposed to be like 20-40 minutes, so I felt like I failed. Another thing that made me feel like I didn’t get the job is that the manager said she had 15 interviews that week and they were only going to hire 1 or maybe 2 people. My odds of getting the job weren’t looking too hot. I decided that I wouldn’t get my hopes up, but just keep job searching.

About a week after my interview, I got a call from the manager and she said that I got the job. Best moment of my life. I’ve been working at Vanity for about 2 ½ weeks now and I absolutely love it. It can be hard at times, and I am exhausted by the end of my shift, but it’s definitely worth it. I love having my own money and getting to use and save it how I want too. Plus, my parents are so proud of me that they buy me more things now than they did when I was unemployed

Blogging

What can one say about blogging? Well, its pointless. Blogging is basically a public, online diary. I think diaries are a great way for people to write down their feelings, share some personal experiences, and just write about what you did during the day. The best thing about a diary is that it is private. Who the h. e. double hockey sticks cares about what is on your mind or what your daily life consists of? Because blogging is public, it is so easy for you to get in trouble for what you write. You say what you're thinking and boom you could lose your job like Natalie Munroe (the teacher who shared her frustrations about her students with the world.)

I used to not really have a problem with blogging. It is pretty simple. Just type what's on your mind. Except I have so many things on my mind that I can't come up with just one topic to write 300 words about. There are so many things I could write about, but there's just no way I can go into great detail about it. As in my last blogs, I usually just keep saying the same things over and over again to stay on topic.

Blogging in general isn't the only thing that has gotten me so frustrated. It's having to do blog comments. It takes me so much longer to read through everyone's blogs and choose something halfway decent to comment on. I try to comment on different people's blogs every week which is very hard. I browsed around almost all of Dykstra's student's blogs and what I found astonished me. People are writing about some pretty crazy and I would say inappropriate things. A few blogs that I read were about boys taking off their shirts and PDA.(PDA as in the author does a lot of it.) That's just not okay. It was so hard for me to find decent blogs to comment on because I either don't know anything about the topic, I don't know the author, or they talk about some pretty weird stuff.

So Mr. Dykstra from now on I think we should be able to comment on certain people's blogs as much as we want. I did expand my reading this week to almost all the student's blogs and frankly, I am just not interested in what they have to say. Don't get me wrong, some people's blogs are really interesting, but some just need to go. Blogging needs to go. I would add something else although it might get me in trouble because this is a public frickin blog.

Well this was definately the easiest blog post I've ever written. Took me just a few short minutes. It is also the longest. I could go on, but I know that there aren't many people out there that care about what I have to say or want to read a long blog.

Is It Summer Yet?!

The weather has been so nice the last couple of days. It gets me even more excited for summer. About this time every year, I start looking forward to summer and making summer plans. I know that February may seem a little early, but we’ve had enough of winter and school. I’m ready for hot weather and a break from homework. The best part about summer is obviously sleeping in. I dread waking up for school every morning at 6:30am. Summer is the solution to my school year sleep deprivation.

I’m extra excited for this particular summer because I recently got a job, and I’m planning to get a second job in the summer (working in the concession stand at the pool). This means that I will have the money to do the things that I want to do during summertime. I’ve had my license for a while now, so I’m thinking road trips? My friends and I are always planning our summer road trips and where we will go shopping. With money of my own, and the freedom of having a car and my license, this will definitely be a great summer.

One of my favorite summer activities is fishing. A lot of people think fishing is boring, but it is seriously my favorite thing to do during summer. I could sit on a dock or a boat on a lake for hours on end even if the fish aren’t biting. Everything about the lake is just so peaceful and relaxing. Fishing just gives you something to do while enjoying the scenery. Along with fishing you always have to go camping. Camping can be really fun. I feel that everyone should go on at least one camping trip during summer.

So basically I love summer. The weather, no school, sleeping in, and outdoor activities, is what summer is made of. I’d be surprised if anyone disagreed with me. I am counting down the days until school is over and summer begins.

Valentine's Day

I don’t understand why everyone is always hating on Valentine’s Day. A lot of people are always saying that it’s just a Hallmark holiday or that it’s overrated. Honestly, Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. I don’t understand why so many people complain about it. I think the people that complain are the people who don’t receive gifts or give any gifts on this wonderful holiday.

Elementary School was the best time for this holiday. We made a valentine’s box that the other students would put their valentine in for you. I always went all out on my box. If there was a valentine box contest, I would always win. I took time and thought into each and every valentine for everyone in my class. It was always so exciting to see what everyone got each other and to see all the different types of valentine’s cards. I love everything about Valentine’s Day: the colors, the flowers, and the fact that everything is heart-shaped.

I know that you are suppose to show your significant other that you love them every day, but Valentine’s day is there for you to do something extra special. You can give the classic, adorable gifts of chocolates, flowers, jewelry, or stuffed animals. Many people will go out for supper at a nice restaurant. I think it’s nice to receive a gift on this holiday even if it’s small or from a friend. In middle school I would always buy my closest friends flowers to show that I appreciate them, and I’m glad that they are my friends.

I think Valentine’s Day is a great holiday for people to show their loved ones just how much they care. People may say, “You’re suppose to show your loved ones you love them every day,” but Valentine’s Day just makes it more special.

Baseball:)

Today is Super Bowl 45. I think. I really could care less. Football is not the greatest sport, and the Vikings aren’t even in the Super Bowl, so I probably won’t watch it. I don’t really like watching football, but I do like the Vikings just because they’re from Minnesota (the same place the Twins are from!) Today’s Super Bowl shouldn’t be so bad because the Black Eyed Peas are performing during half time. They happen to be my favorite music group. Who can’t like the Black Eyed Peas and all their number one hits? Super Bowl Sunday makes me a very happy person. Why? Because I know that football is done and baseball is right around the corner!
Baseball is my favorite sport of all time. Obviously I don’t play baseball, but when I was little I tried so hard to convince my mom to let me play little league baseball instead of softball. Softball is just not the same. Baseball is the true American pastime. I love it. Sports like basketball, football, and hockey are so quick; I never know what’s going on. All the fouls and penalties are so confusing. Baseball is just so simple, and it’s during the summertime! A sport that happens during the summer and is easy enough for a little kid to understand is definitely a great sport.
Just so everyone knows: the Twins are the best Major League Baseball team there is. Although it might not show with their record, they are still amazing. I usually go to one Twin’s game every summer, and I have the best time ever. I have never been to a game where the Twins have lost. I must be their good luck charm.  I don’t just like the major leagues. I also like little league and high school. I try to make it to every Mason City High School home baseball game, and I go t as many away games as I can.
Well I just want to say GOODBYE FOOTBALL and HELLO BASEBALL!

Puppy!

I am a huge dog lover! More specifically, I love puppies. I currently have a dog named Levi. He is honestly the best dog an owner could ask for. He is potty trained, hardly ever barks, and he loves to cuddle. We got him about 3 years ago as a Christmas present. My family and I have had so much fun playing with Levi that we recently decided to get another dog. My dad always said that one dog was more than enough but for some reason he gave in and said we could get a puppy.
we got Levi from. It must have been fate because they said that Levi's parents just had a litter of puppies. This means that we could get a dog that is Levi's biological brother or sister. As a family, we decided getting a boy puppy so Levi could have a little brother to play with. Then we had to decide on a name. We googled dog names and narrowed it down to our favorites. We wanted something original and not a name like Buddy. We ended up with the name Cash which we changed to Kash. My 20 year old brother thought that was an awesome name and decided the middle name should be money. So our new puppy's name is Kash Money Maroo.
Kash is about 7 weeks old now and is almost ready to leave his mom. We have been receiving emails from his current owner with updates and pictures of him since he was about one week old. This Friday we are going to pick up Kash and bring him home. I am super excited to have a new puppy around the house and for Levi to have a real brother.

Winter? No thanks.

Today is January 23rd and we are pretty much in the dead of winter, and I hate it. On Friday we experienced the coldest temperatures of the season so far. Winter is just a horrible season, and it's so long! I feel like summer lasts about three months and winter lasts about six months. There are so many reasons why I hate winter and I bet you would agree with me on a few of them. I completely hate having to warm up my car every morning before I go to school. This is the first year that I drive myself to school and of course my car isn't good enough to get a garage stall over my parents' cars so Tina the Taurus is stuck outside all night long. Then every morning I have to run out to Tina in the freezing cold to start her. And it's such a waste of gas! I also hate driving on icy or snowy roads. I've had my license for about seven months but Tina doesn't have four wheel drive and it's scary to drive on winter roads. Another reason why I hate winter is that you have to get all bundled up before stepping a foot outside. I hate having to put on my gloves, hat, and coat before going outside. I just want to wear jeans and a t-shirt! Also, I don't like that you can't do anything outside. You can't play sports or just hangout. In the winter your options for hangout spots with friends are: a movie, chill at home, bowling, or the YMCA. Let's face it, movies are expensive, chilling at home is boring, bowling is not fun unless you're an allstar bowler, and the YMCA is flooded with little kids. The worst thing about winter is when there's a blizzard going on outside and school is still in session. I'm going to share a little story that happened to me on Friday morning as I was walking into school when it was literally freezing out. First of all we should have been delayed that day because of the low temperatures and high windshield. Second of all I didn't have time for breakfast because I thought there'd be a delay so I slept in. So, on my way into the school I was eating a froot by the foot and it literally froze. I was outside for 60 seconds and it froze in my hand! You could break it off into pieces. Freezing temperatures are horrible, driving in the winter is horrible, and well winter itself is just horrible. And that's what I have to say about winter.

Snowmobiling

So I went snowmobiling for the first time yesterday. Then today, I went again for about 2 hours. And honestly, it's one of the scariest things I have ever done. The whole experience is just pretty terrifying. I thought it would be a lot of fun, but it went way faster than I had expected. I obviously wasn't driving the thing because that's an even scarier thought. I just rode on the back and screamed my lungs out. My boyfriend was driving the snowmobile and well, he's not the brightest bulb in the box, which made me even more nervous. He thought it would be fun to go really fast right away. He also thought it would be fun to go really fast over bumps and hills. Yeah, it was NOT fun! These are the words coming out of my mouth as I'm riding on the back of a snowmobile for the first time: "Ahhhhhh! I'm gonna die tonight! I hate you so much right now! Slow down, Please slow down! Yup, I'm definitely going to die!" I'm screaming these things constantly and just wondering why he's not doing anything about it. So, I'm pretty much just getting pissed off. To top it all off, it was a little cold outside. And by a little, I mean a lot. Both my feet were numb, but I was having a good time snowmobiling, right? Yeah. Finally, when we get back home and take off our helmets, he says, "Did you have fun?!" I just looked at him nonchalantly and said, "Oh you didn't hear me talking to you while we were riding?" He said, "Nope, I couldn't hear a thing with my helmet on. You loved it didn't you?" Yes I loved it. That was sarcasm. Snowmobiling is scary and I will always be scared to go riding, and yet I still plan on doing it because I have hope that someday I will think it's fun.