Watch Your Words

Today during lunch I was sitting with a few of my friends. We were all excited about new movies that have been out, and of course, we wanted others to feel our excitement. Many of my friends were talking about the new Disney movie "Frozen", which I haven't seen. I tuned out of their conversation because I didn't want anything to be given away. Basically what I got out  of it was "IT'S AMAZING!!!". So, no spoilers there.

The other movie they were talking about was "Catching Fire". I've personally never been a fan of those movies/books, so I tuned out of that conversation as well. I did hear that it was better than the first movie, just in case you were wondering.

The movie that I saw over Thanksgiving was "Ender's Game". I personally liked the book more, though it had some...inappropriateness. I mean, it's a bunch of boys in battle school. What do you expect? Anyway, I was talking about how much I liked the movie. My friends wanted to know if they should read the book. I tried explaining my thoughts on the matter, but I was slightly out-of-it from the weekend (I actually forgot my friend's name, so don't think it's just an excuse). I couldn't think of a good way to explain why I thought it was iffy. They kept asking me and I just could NOT think of a good explanation. Apparently, I painted a pretty detailed picture inside my friends' heads. They got grossed out and left the table.

This post is to say, don't exaggerate. Think about what you're going to say before you say it. THINK BEFORE YOU ACT. Unless, of course, you rely on intuition. Then feel free to think after you act. :)

El Día De Gracias

Sorry I haven't been on here for a while...


Anyway, I just thought that since Thanksgiving was this past week, I would do a post about what I was thankful for. I'm going to about... 13-ish different things, because 13 is a good, lucky number.

1.) I'm thankful for the gospel in my life. Without it, I would be an entirely different person, and I'm not sure that would be a good thing. Throughout my life I have been blessed and my testimony has been strengthened. Through many trials and frustrating events, I have felt the hand of the Lord in my life and I am glad that my ancestors were introduced to this church many generations ago.

1.) I'm thankful for my family. My silly, wonderful family has been a great support to me. Though sometimes I get frustrated with my brothers and vow to never speak to them again, I often can't hold that promise to myself for more than a few minutes before I'm smiling and laughing with them. When I struggle in life, the different personalities of my brothers help me in different ways. The philosophical one, the funny one, the snarky one, the nerdy one, the quiet one... Their different attributes all come together to help me with whatever I need, and for that I will forever be indebted to them.

3.) I'm thankful for my friends. My crazy friends, my nerdy friends, my shy friends. They make annoying teachers so much more bearable. They fangirl with me over my favorite actors and TV shows, and they help me smile when I think of them. It's fun having them show up in my dreams unexpectedly - then I get to enjoy them 24/7! More than just having a good time, they help me when I need help and comfort me when I need comfort. They always know exactly what to say, and it's weird to think that if one of us hadn't moved here when we did, we never would have met - and my life would be a whole lot different.

3.) I'm thankful for books. Books that carry me to far-off places, imaginary worlds, and different times. Books that help me see life, that make me cry uncontrollably and love unconditionally. Stories that I become fully immersed in, that I never want to leave, that make me lose all of my senses in the real world. Books that make me stay up late at night with a tiny flashlight under my covers, books that will make me carry them around days after I finished them - just because I don't want the story to end. Books that change the way I perceive things, change my thoughts and interactions with others, and most of all - books that make me love who I am.

3.) I'm thankful for music. Music is my escape in life. It all started with an overeager 6-year-old substituting for her sick brother at piano lessons and a confused 7th grader making up her own fingerings for a clarinet, using keys that didn't exist. The band room is my safe haven in school. If I could, I would spend the whole day in there. Music expresses emotions in a way that words and language never could. The way the notes and melody flow and intertwine like a forest and a river, in constant harmony with one another. Music can change how you feel in the moment and it can bring back forgotten memories. Music without words (I feel) is the music that does this. Instrumental music lets the listener interperet what the composer was trying to convey, rather than lyrics forcing you to think instead of losing yourself to the rhythm (unless, of course, the lyrics are really well-written).

3.) I'm thankful for a healthy body. Every time I break an arm or a pinky and have to get a cast, I am reminded of how much I love being normal. We don't think about it very much when we feel fine, but once we're sick, the only thing we wish for is to be better again. When you're truly sick, you don't wish for an X-box or a vacation to Disneyland, because your body knows that you wouldn't be able to enjoy it - you would spend the whole time sitting there with a headache and a tissue box at your side. I'm thankful that I can run and jump and play, that I can join my family in activities and (as much as I hate (or really, love) it) participate in PE.

7.) I'm thankful for my imagination. It lets me come up with crazy stories to write. It lets me read books as if I'm watching a movie, or watch movies as if I'm the main character that never gets mentioned (it's hard to explain...). My imagination lets my friends and I come up with fun things to talk about, and it helps me help my friends with the books they're writing.

7.) I'm thankful for nature. For being able to escape from life. I love being able to go outside, lie down in the grass, close my eyes, and listen to nothing but the sound of the birds and the crickets, to feel the wind on my face. The night is my favorite part of the day (haha). But really, the way the moon and the stars and the dark blue of the sky blend together is just perfect. It's peaceful.

9.) I'm thankful for holidays. This allows me to spend time with my family and bond with them when normally I would be stressing over a school project. They boost morale no matter where you live. It's kind of like...a car getting an oil change. Everything just runs more smoothly and other people are more willing to talk to you.

9.) I'm thankful for boys. Yes, boys. Not in a "I want to date every boy I meet and then I'm going to marry them!" sort of way. More in a, "they have a fresh outlook on life" sort of way. It helps that I grew up with many brothers, which gives me this view on them. This doesn't mean I don't "like" boys. Just ask my friends - because I do. I just enjoy their company and personality more than their looks.

11.) I'm thankful for water. Plain and simple as that.

11.) I'm thankful for light. Without it, this would be a very scary world. ;)

13.) I'm thankful for prime numbers. Even numbers disgust me. I also don't like anything to do with the number 5. Strange fact about me, but it's true. Just look at this list.


That's not all I'm thankful for, but I decided to stop writing epistles towards the end. Anyway, have a happy December!

For The Greatest Happiness

When I was younger, my mom always said one particular quote. "For the greatest happiness, work must come first. The pleasure follows." She would often quote this whenever I complained about doing chores or procrastinating homework *cough cough*. Though I try to remember this, sometimes fun things make it hard to. I had an experience with this over the weekend.

My mom had been petitioning to get a new mattress because the one she and my dad shared was practically a taco. In her words, "the bed gently slopes down until you get to this cliff and *vhoomp*, you're stuck and can't get back up." She had been talking with my dad about it for a while, but he didn't feel the need to get a new bed just quite yet. Then they both agreed to flip the mattress 180 to feel what they were each experiencing. My mom woke up the next morning feeling great! My dad on the other hand, decided that yes, it was time to get a new bed soon. They didn't know when they were going to get it until later the same night.

My friend and I have recently become sucked into the show "Merlin" (you should watch it if you haven't - it's a great one). Anyway, she had come over so we could watch more episodes. She stayed through dinner, when my family discussed the bed topic. It turned out that my mom was considering switching around all the beds in the house, not just hers. After dinner, my friend and I got to work.

We started by taking apart the full guest bed in my basement. We then went up two levels to my bedroom to take apart my twin bed. After we had taken mine apart and moved it down the hall, we went back down to bring the full bed up. Now, mind you, we were two teenage girls trying to move a bed by ourselves up two flights of stairs. Not an easy task... Eventually we got my bed set up and we were able to relax for the rest of the evening. And when I say relax, I mean collapsed on the floor laughing so hard we can't breathe and tears streaming down our faces (or at least mine). She eventually had to go home, and I was able to have the best night's sleep I've had in a long time...

The next day I woke up to a surprise. I was to spend the whole day moving more beds! We took apart the bunk beds in my brother's room and set up my old bed in there. We then moved his bunk bed into my other brother's guest room (when he visits from college). We moved the older bunk beds that had been in there into my other other brother's house. After that, we moved my mom and dad's bed into the true guest room. Then my friend came over and (what do you know?) we watched more Merlin. We were also drafted into making the beds.

I tell this story because my whole family has benefited from hard work. We've all slept better than we have in ages, an we're all happier because of it. Yes, it seemed like an impossible feat when we first started, but now we get to relax and enjoy turkey and pie for Thanksgiving!

So remember, "for the greatest happiness, work must come first. The pleasure follows."

Good times...

I love friends. It's so nice to realize it's a Friday, have a friend come over for hours, watch TV, get a bigger bed, and lie down on the floor laughing about who-knows-what?

Here are some quotes from my friend and I today:

Me:

"It could be like an early birthday!"

My friend:

"Who's birthday is coming up?.... Oh yeah! Mine!"

Me:

"Now I can sleep horizontally!"

My friend:

"Don't you already?"

Me:

"I meant diagonally!"

My friend:

"Do you ever pull out your phone to see what time it was, think 'Man, I really like my phone', put it away, and then realize that you forgot to see what time it was?"

My friend:

"It's like praying to God. He doesn't just say 'Here you go! And have a pizza.'"

Yep. Good times. All those moments when you end up on the floor laughing for half an hour only to sit up and say "Why are we laughing?" Which of course, sends you into another fit of laughter. Friends are great. I totally recommend having one. :)

YW in Excellence, A Dream, and Biology Class...

So yesterday my ward held it's annual Young Women in Excellence (for those of you who don't know what that is, I'm not one to consult. I would go to lds.org for information on that). One of my ward members gave a talk about how you need to stay steady and strong in life. Then she told a story. You're probably expecting "The Tortoise and the Hare". I know I was. But instead, it was something new to me. Here is something similar to what she said:

"There is a huge race in Australia that goes on every year. It's about 22 marathons put together back-to-back-to-back (or something close to 2,000 miles?). Most people who participate in this race are world-class athletes that have been training for that single event their whole life, and almost none of them are over 30. One year, a farmer (I can't remember his name) decided that he would like to join this race. You see, he took care of about 2,000 square miles and about 2,000 sheep. When it came time to gather the sheep, he would be constantly running to find them all. Sometime he would have to run multiple days and nights without sleeping. He had been doing this his whole life. When he showed up to the race in overalls and boots (as opposed to the sponsored, latest-fashion-wearing other contestants) the news media quickly spotted him. They asked him why he thought he could run the race and he explained to them what I just did to you. Once the race had started, it was clear that the farmer was one of the slowest runners there. But when night came and the other runners were force to stop at hotels along the way to sleep because they were so exhausted, the farmer was able to keep going. He eventually finished the race. Not only did he finish the race, but he finished in first place and set a new world record - he had run the race 9 hours faster than the previous record."

Though this is similar to The Tortoise and the Hare, I felt like it held more meaning and was more realistic. I'm not going to explain it any further, because I don't wan to influence your thoughts on it.

***

My dream, a prelude to the Biology section:

From the night before 11-16-13 ---> A Prince, a Marraige, some Ninjas, and a Semi-Truck...

My name was Sophie. Who knows why it was different? It just was. I was really good friends with the prince of the kingdom. He was the perfect man - even NOW I would be willing to marry him (mind you, I'm awake! I still think he's attractive and has a great personality...). I don't know if he was based off of someone in real life... Anyway, we were good friends and old enough to get married. I kept acting like I already had the throne, but I tried not to. One day, the prince and I were sitting next to each other during court or something when my best friend (she had long dark hair and she was tall) went up and kissed the prince! Not just a you're-a-great-prince kiss, but an actual kiss! I was super mad and jealous. The prince then handed me a note with some code on it. After a little bit, he told me it said "Sophie, will you marry me?" I was so happy that I can't even begin to put it into words! I hugged the prince.

Next scene (since dreams tend to skip the inbetween stuff)

I was getting ready for my wedding. My hair was super messy but I had to grab my wedding dress. Between the room i was currently in and the room my wedding dress was in was a revolving door (solid - not glass. Kind of like those library secret ones...). I went through it and found the prince holding my wedding dress and waiting for me. I was embarrassed with my hair and tried to grab the bag and go back, but the prince wouldn't let me leave until I had kissed him. I wanted our first kiss to be after we were married so I hugged him instead (although I think I recall something about how we had already kissed before). Once I was back in the room my best friend explained that the reason she and the prince had kissed was to make me more humble.

Next scene

This part is a little more hazy. These ninjas were chasing the prince and I through these really tall glass buildings and a pretty sweet courtyard. I can't remember why. I kept getting cornered but somehow I would escape. The prince and I also kept getting seperated. We were eventually able to stick together and run away to a semi-truck that was alive. We hid in the back while it drove away from the ninjas that were chasing us. We watched some movies in the back I think... Somehow the semi turned upside-down and disconnected. We fixed it and kept running. But I still think the prince was the handsomest, most chivalrous, attractive man that I have ever encountered - in real life and in my dreams.

I wrote that so you would have a background for the story I'm about to tell. During biology class today, we were taking a test. It was on computers and my friend and I both finished early. We went on google docs to work on books we're both writing. We were typing on the doc to communicate because we weren't allowed to talk out loud. We were talking about a character in my friend's book that was based off of someone in one of her dreams. We were kind of cluttering up the doc, so I started up the chat. Here it is from where we started:

me

11:10 AM

Like in my dream a few days ago! I don't think I'll ever find a handsomer, nicer man...

-

My Friend

11:11 AM

Just picture this with me for a minute.....

tall

tan

dark wavy/curly hair

big hands

-

me

11:11 AM

So basically tall, dark, and handsome

-

My Friend

11:11 AM

i think his eyes were brown...

-

me

11:12 AM

So average. Honestly, go for the tall, skinny, geeky guys!

-

My Friend

11:12 AM

ya. which is wierd cuz i usually picture guys having blue eyes

I'm sorry random people pop up in my dreams!

-

me

11:12 AM

Although, the man from my dream was slightly less skinny and geeky. He had blonde hair. *

Can't remember what eye color...

Which is also weird, 'cause that's what I normally like to look at...

He was also a prince.

-

My Friend

11:13 AM

Dude. Once I had a dream about my wedding actually the reception

-

me

11:13 AM

We got married.

He was nice.

And tall.

And attractive.

-

My Friend

11:14 AM

but i couldn't see the guys face

This was exactly when my biology teacher walked behind us and read our whole conversation. He asked us what we were doing - which startled us both. We all cracked up, but of course, since the class was silent, my classmates just stared at us in confusion. We hurriedly tried to close the chat so our teacher wouldn't see more. My biology teacher just chuckled and walked away. Later he came back to ask about our stories, since I had a third friend there that was also writing a story. And that's my friend adventure for today!

School, Band, and Scripture Study

LCurrently I am enrolled in 3 band classes, volunteering in another, and taking piano. This makes my time very limited, and I've found that I tend to procrastinate homework - not a good idea. In the past few years, I would write down all of my assignments and look at them when I got home. I would complete my homework and turn it in on time. "Magically", I got straight A's. This year, I rarely pull out my planner and when I do, I haven't written down what I was supposed to do and I forget "just what page were we supposed to read to...?". Now I'm struggling to crank out the good grades, and I am constantly emailing my teachers about assignments that I had to make up. Now, not all of this is because of me being lazy (or rather, busy). Most of it is because I have been absent on the days in class when we take tests or do reviews (or whatever junk teachers assign). This first part is to say that I pledge to do better with remembering when assignments are due. This is going to make my friends relieved, because I've kind of been pestering them lately...

Okay, now on to band. Another part of my being busy is that I have to practice. And I mean PRACTICE. I am in band on two different instruments, and my mom is very strict about the piano - 45 minutes each day, no questions asked. Now, add 120 minutes of practicing on clarinet each week and 60 minutes of trombone to that. This makes a grand total of 225 minutes of practicing per week. Not counting lessons.

Like I said, I'm busy. Busy with school and busy with band. Throughout all of this, I still find time for scriptures.Yes, I do read them right before I go to bed, causing me to stay up longer. But I read them. It's like the piano, practicing, and homework. I'm very strict with it, but I'm telling MYSELF to read them. In Seminary we're supposed to set a scripture study goal, and we record how many school days we accomplish it. We then get rewards each term/every couple of weeks if we stay within a certain average. This is fun and it's a good incentive - but it's not good enough, at least for me. To me, reading the scriptures isn't just an "I'll do it to play games in class" sort of thing. To me, it's reading them every day - weekends included - and wanting to read them every day. Sort of like practicing. The more often you do it, the better you understand things and the more fun it becomes. Last year, I carried my scriptures with me everywhere. They were the only thing I read. Soon enough, I became sort of addicted to them and never wanted to do anything but read. I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time this February. And I must say, the amazing feelings I got when I read the Book of Mormon are the reason I read them every single day - without fail. Even if I'm collapsed on the couch throwing up all day. It's because I want to understand, I want to know, I want to read my scriptures and feel the spirit.

To sum it all up, be responsible. Be self-motivated. And most of all, care about what you're doing and think about WHY you're doing it. It isn't enough if it's just to humor your parents...

About this blog...

Hi! I'm Kirsten Hamilton and I'm an LDS teenager. This blog is about my life. It'll sort of be like an online journal, but without  all my super secrets. It'll contain my adventures with my friends, the Gospel, and just some everyday boring things that you would see in anyone's life. Feel free to dig through it all!