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!