A guy in a really nice camper wants to put our song on the radio...

...Give me a pen I'm signing, your signing, we're all signing.

Things I don't like:

-When someone tells me I can't listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving; Christmas music makes me happy and I like being happy all year round.

-Sloppy Joes; I don't know why. There is just something about them that doesn't appeal to me...maybe it's the taste.

-Planning to go work-out (or clean my room or practice an instrument) and then sitting at home thinking about why I am not up doing it.

-The elliptical machine.

-Hearing someone swear and not realize that they swore until about 2 minutes later.

-Facing my parents when I know they are disappointed in me.

-Not wanting to help someone when they ask for help.

-Feeling like I need to be excited all the time. Sorry but sometimes I am just not excited. That could be a good thing because then you know that if I appear excited for you then I really am. Sincerity is best.

-Losing my temper.

-Being disappointed in myself.

-Breaking my promises...having to go back on my word.

-Riding the bus; that may be why I have become so skilled at missing it.

Enough of that...

Things I do like:

-Coming home on a snowy day after walking in the cold and discover that Mom made hot chocolate for me. Then cuddling up on the couch with my hot chocolate to watch a movie with one of my little brothers. (Families are the best)

-Good lighting.

-When my family is all together.

-Being invited.

-Being told that I am loved!

-Laughing

-Fun, spontaneous activities with people I like

-Getting everything that needs to be done done.

-Reading/hearing something inspirational

-Setting goals

-Playing music just to play...no deadlines, no expectations

-Being appreciated

-Dancing

-Singing

-Giving well-deserved compliments

-When my mom chooses to study in the front room instead of the kitchen so that she can listen to me play.

-Being with someone who I can just be with. We don't have entertain or impress one another. We can just sit next to each other thinking our own thoughts silently and be content.

-Personal one-on-one conversations.

-Meeting someone new...whether I end up liking them or not.

-Sharing secrets...keeping secrets.

-Trusting someone and having them trust me.

-Loving people

-When life is just good and there is no reason for it.

-Making a strangers day

-Pumpkin Pie

-Going out to eat without a time limit

-Finding out that one of my friends has a really awesome hidden talent.

-Unity

-Good quotes

-Support...Katie you're the best!

-Respect; both ways

-Feel good Oldies music ("Don't know much about history"-"Oh where, oh where can my baby be"-"This magic moment")

-Getting something new

-Exercising

-Bananas and Taco Soup

-The real people Jungle Book; by far my favorite movie ever...it has everything!

-Sandlot

-Sunroofs...or is it a moonroof? I guess it depends on what time of day you are climbing out of it.

-Believing my covers will save me from anything.

-My dad singing me to sleep.

Wow! I like a lot of things. Well that is all for tonight.

A Soft Answer Turneth Away Wrath

Proverbs 15:1

If everyone lived by this scripture the world be a better place. Seriously, why are people mean. Besides some kind of sick satisfaction what does anyone gain by it?

I got a ride home from one of my friends today. She called her brother to ask for a ride and I don't know why he was in a bad mood but he was really angry with her.

I understand that sometimes people are just irritable, me included, so it didn't surprise me too much (isn't it sad that we are so used to it?). What I noticed was how my friend responded to his rudeness. She got really defensive and yelled into the phone something about walking home and hung up. Fortunately for me he called back and said he would give her a ride home. She responded really sarcastically and he told her that he couldn't give her friends a ride.

He gave me a ride anyway because he know me and I live close by but even when we got in the car both he and my friend were being very rude to each other.

It was the opposite of Thumper's theory...unless they had something mean to say they didn't say anything at all. It was ugly.

I wanted to stop her mid-sentence and just say, "Can't you see what you are doing? If you had just apologized and thanked him for coming to give you a ride or not said anything at all it would have been better." Neither one had any sympathy for the plight of the other.

This kind of behavior is ridiculous and can most definitely be avoided. Sometimes I hear people say to a sibling, "Well your my sister so you have to love me." I am sorry to say it but that is just not true. Any good relationship, relative or not, has to be built. You have to work at getting along.

There are always those people that are "kindred spirits" you might say but it isn't always that way. If you don't make any effort to get along with your family than you probably won't. Most people do just because they are around them so much and loving is easier and feels better than disliking.

Why can't everyone just try to get along and be nice. Being angry is so selfish. It is all about yourself. You have no concern for anyone's feelings but your own. Then later you feel guilty and don't even want to think about your own feelings. It is a vicious cycle.

On a more positive note...my sister had her baby last Wednesday. He is my 5th nephew: Samuel Lance Franklin. I love my nephews a lot and sorry to all of you with nephews out there but my nephews are the cutest.

It was my birthday yesterday. Yeah for being 17. It basically feels the same except now I can give blood. I am pretty excited about it.

Jr. Choir...Yeah!

I Love Jr. Choir! The concert was so much fun tonight! Not only do we sing great songs but all the coolest people I know are in it. Choir is my favorite!
There was only one thing...all those days of practice focusing and blending vowels for 5 minutes of singing. It seems to me that we didn't get the performance time that should be allotted for our practice. I know that all that practice was necessary in order to perform as well as we did. That the value should be based on quality and not quantity and I believe that. I will just say one thing-we need to sing in the commons again.
That would definitely make my day.

Good job everybody and Goodnight!

Trustworthiness

My sister said something to my mother today that I found very interesting. In fact it made me a little frustrated. She said, "The only person you can trust is the Lord." Now don't get me wrong. I believe you can trust in the Lord for anything ("For with God anything is possible") but I believe there are a lot of people in this world deserving of trust. Understand that the reason my sister (Debbie) made this comment is because of a family issue. My aunt and uncle are in the process of getting divorced for various reasons. Her comment was not unfounded and I highly doubt she really believes what she said but it inspired me to write.
I know from experience that some people are just jerks and will take advantage of trusting, gullible people (I am probably the most gullible person I know) but we can't go through life not trusting anyone but the Lord. A lot of the time the Lord works through others to help us. If we can't trust anyone we can't form healthy relationships. We won't be able to depend on anyone and we would be forced to everything on our own. A lot of people do not become trustworthy until someone takes a chance and places their trust in them. When they are faced with that responsibility they step up to the plate and accept the challenge. It is foolishness to form a world standard based on one situation.
While my mom was talking to my sister she said, "You can trust in yourself too." Debbie's response was, "I can't even trust myself." Then she said something similar to, "Do you think that -------(name omitted) thought his life was going to end up that way?" This really bothered me. No one should think that you are doomed to be one way for the rest of your life. No one should think that certain mistakes are unavoidable for any reason. That is the whole purpose of agency. We can choose how we want to live our lives and where we want to be in 10, 20, 50 years. You do not need to leave it up to fate...I don't even believe in fate. I believe in God putting you in the situation that will be best for you but not in pre-destination.
We all need to trust in ourselves. You can't accomplish anything if you don't have confidence in yourself. And don't be afraid to trust other people. You may end up on the losing end but atleast you gave them a chance to prove themselves. Don't worry, you'll live even if you are left hurting. Any pain or embarrassment will be worth it when you find someone you can trust. And I promise there are people out there like that. I know a lot.

Question of the Day:

If you were in someone else's body would you still like the foods you like or would you like the foods they like?

"Same thing we do every night Pinky, try to take over the world"

Anyone who makes over $1000 on a fundraiser MUST have a guilt-free conscience.
I like making money, especially free money, and I want to go on tour...really bad. Fundraiser just aren't my thing. Are fundraisers anyone's thing?
The people come and get you excited about selling this product, regardless of its true value, and make you think, "Yeah, I can do this. I am going to pay for all of tour and I won't even have to get a job now." Then you leave Orchestra and the fire starts to die down. It is so far gone by the time you get home that you start to wonder why you even took the brochure home.
I really have no drive sell things to my neighbors. If it weren't for my parents financial situation I wouldn't even consider it. The fundraiser guy told us that selling by phone was more efficient than going door-to-door. I was going to do that but I felt so bad about it not being personal that I ended up going door-to-door anyway. Then I feel bad because a lot of the people think you are coming to visit them and when they realize that you are trying to sell them something their countenance falls and this sad expression replaces the luminous look they showed when the door opened. So to compensate I have to stay after they buy (or even if they don't) and talk to them for at least 10 minutes. You can't get very much fundraising done if you spend 10-20 minutes at every house.
Another problem I have is when someone starts to say no or even hesitates I immediately stop trying to sell to them and say something like, "It's okay if you don't want it. I probably wouldn't buy it either." -("We're not going to sell a lot of tapes this way")- I could never be a solicitor. The company would make a profit by firing me.
My real problem is that not only do I not like selling a product but I don't want to make anyone feel bad if they can't buy it or just don't want to. That is exactly the opposite of what the fundraiser people want you to do. You are supposed to say things like, "I am going on tour with my school and to raise money I am selling cookie dough. Would you like to help me?" They want you to pull at their heart strings and I can't bring myself to do that. If someone is going to help me I want it to be because they know me and want to help me because I have done them some kind of service in the past, not because I can give a short sentimental speech before introducing them to my product.
This past summer I worked at Farmer's Insurance making calls and offering to give the customer a quote on their auto insurance. I hated it! I love talking to people and I wasn't afraid to call strangers. I didn't like that my call was undesired. No one was excited to talk to me once they knew who I was representing. I don't like that feeling.
If I have a relationship with someone I want it to be good. If I have a conversation with someone I want it to be, at the least uplifting if not personal. That is all I have to say about solicitation...I can't talk about it for too long. I get flustered.

Doorbell vs. Knocking

I need to preface this by telling you that my family has not had a doorbell for about 5 years. We have now had a doorbell for approximately 5 minutes and I can't stand it.
The sound of a doorbell is so unnatural. How many people really want to hear a cuckoo sound everytime someone comes to their door. Having no doorbell opens up so many possiblities:
-You get to be creative with the Please Knock signs your Mom asks you to put up (it's always good to quote a little scripture D&C 4: 7).
-It is a conversation starter.
-It is fun to see how many people will read the sign, ring the doorbell, and then read it again and realize that they were supposed to knock.
-Knocking is much more personal.
I always hesitate to ring the doorbell at someone elses house because I don't know if it is going to work. This might not have made sense but the incessant dinging (that has yet to stop) forced me to vent somewhere.

I went to my first swim meet in about 3 years today (last time I went was to Karl's sophomore meet and seeing him in a speedo was enough to last me a life time-let alone the experience on tour last year) and I actually had a really good time. I got to spend some quality time with my friends and see my other friends do what they do best. Go Swim Team!

Everyone get to bed early and sleep well!

Expectations

Okay, this blogging thing is completely new to me so give the benefit of the doubt. I love reading my friends blogs because I can get to know them in a way that the school setting does not allow. Every so often I feel I have something worthwhile to say and today is one of those days. This is what made me decide (after several people encouraging me to do so) to start my own blog. Here it goes...
Sometimes I think I expect to much of others. Whenever I learn something new or decide that doing a certain thing is important I think that everyone else feels (or should feel) the same way. I realize, of course, that this isn't true.
For example: Today was Fast and Testimony Meeting. I decided a long time ago that bearing my testimony during these meetings was important and something that will help me grow spiritually. I try to bear my testimony every time even if I don't feel particularly full of the spirit. My hope is that bearing my testimony will remedy that. Now don't feel bad if you don't do this. My intent was not to send anyone on a guilt trip. I bore my testimony today and when I got off the stand I sat down and looked around at all the people I knew that hadn't gotten up. Usually I would try to catch their eye and silently encourage them to get up. I really shouldn't do that. I don't know why they have decided not to get up but I should respect that decision. They may not be ready to express their feelings in public or need more support than a monthly head nod during sacrament meeting. A little encouragement is alright but I don't want to make them uncomfortable.
On the other hand, I appreciate it when a lot is expected of me. The high expectations of others is what pushes me and makes me want to improve in school, music, or whatever else I am doing. I hardly do anything without thinking about whether or not it will disappoint my family. I will admit that I can be pretty lazy when left to my own devices. I need that drive. I would rather have someone be disappointed in me than hear them say, "Oh, I knew she wouldn't be able to do it." That's not cool.
So where is the happy medium? How do you decide if you are expecting too much or too little? We just need to remember that most everyone is trying to be better. I figure if we don't expect very much than we will be pleasantly surprised when they have a lot to give. I have been so impressed with all the new friends I have made this year. There are so many amazing people in this world that are doing amazing things. Don't forget that you really do have unlimited potential and that the most important expectation is what you expect from yourself. If you expect greatness you will get it. I believe in you!