The Death of Me

Around the holidays, families come together more than anytime of the year. And for a lot of families, that means getting in the car and traveling to a different city or even state. Every year, my family packs up and drives to Missouri where most of my mom’s family lives. Which really means, not just one, but TWO family car rides: the death of me.

          The car ride starts out the same every time. All four of us (me, my sister, and my parents) are rushing to finish packing and leave on time. My mom and sister are always the first ones ready and in the car. Then my dad starts yelling for me to hurry up, thinking that he is finished and ready to go. Only a little bit after that, I am in the car and what do you know? My dad is STILL not ready. He usually has to go back into the house two or three times before he remembers everything. But shortly after, we are on the road.

          Usually, as the journey begins, the car is silent. But it sure doesn’t last long. Soon enough my dad starts talking. At first, it is tolerable. Until he starts asking a million questions, some being asked more than once, and talking about random things that no one in the car has any interest in. That’s when I ask to turn the radio on, getting the same “I don’t want to talk over the radio,” response every time. Like that’s the point. Even though, I always end up listening to my iPod instead because the volume doesn’t get turned up enough.

          Once we all settle in and do our own thing, we have nothing but a three hour car ride ahead of us. Occasionally we stop to use the restroom or get something to eat or drink. I try to sleep for most of the trip, but it’s hard to get comfortable in a car. There isn’t really a great place to put a pillow and I can only stretch my legs out so far in certain directions. And I can’t put them on my sister because she will freak out or complain about it until I move.

          Everything about a family car ride is pretty much a lose/lose situation. It is impossible to get comfortable, my dad never stops talking, and it takes a lot of time out of your day. They will be the death me.

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Snow Days

The time has finally come. The first big snow fall of the year was Wednesday and Thursday. And along with the inches of snow, we got our first snow day and 2-hour delay of the school year. Unfortunately, missing a day of school means we have to make it up later in the year. But usually there are a couple of built in make-up days which is good so then the school year doesn’t go any longer than it needs to.

          This week was the last week before Christmas break. And the snow storm came on Wednesday; giving us a snow day on Thursday and a 2-hour delay on Friday. This basically made Friday the most pointless day of school ever. Since Friday was the day before break, classes were already planning on doing nothing. So with no school on Thursday, leaving only one day left of school, it was pointless to go back on Friday.

          On snow days, we all have this high expectation to have a ton of fun, but most of the time that’s not how it really goes.

Expectation:

·         Sleep in really late

·         Go to a friend’s house

·         Go sledding in all the new snow

·         Party because you don’t have to go to school

·         Basically pretend that it’s the weekend for a day

Reality:

·         Sit at home

·         Watch TV or movies all day long

·         Drink hot chocolate

·         Pretend that you are having fun by yourself

Most of the reason the reality is the way it is, is because our parent won’t let us drive anywhere. And obviously the excuse they are going to use is “If the roads are bad enough that you can’t go to school, then they are too bad for you to drive anywhere else.” AKA the most annoying excuse ever, well right after “because I said so.” But that’s a different topic.

          So really, snow days are good for sleeping in, catching up on TV shows, and finishing homework you didn’t do the night before. Other than that, they can be pretty unproductive. But I’m not going to lie, it is always nice to have a day off and just relax at home.

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'Tis the Season

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, Christmas is almost here. And the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear Christmas is presents! This holiday season, families are going out to stores and buying presents for each other and companies are sending out more and more ads with more and more Christmas deals/specials. Every year the presents we buy get more elaborate and usually more expensive. And every year stores, it seems as if stores are advertising for Christmas products earlier and earlier.

          This year, as I was walking through Target, and noticed that they already had Christmas displays out. It was around Halloween. Two months before Christmas. They ALREADY had certain Christmas candy on the shelves. To me, that’s just a little bit ridiculous. Christmas has become such a commercial holiday. All we ever think about between Thanksgiving and Christmas is buying presents. While I don’t disagree with giving presents, I do disagree with how Thanksgiving and Christmas have become all about spending money.

          Thanksgiving is a time that we are supposed to be thankful for what we have. I will be the first to admit that I take a lot of things in my life for granted. And I do go Black Friday shopping. But it, honestly, is getting a bit out of control. Half the stores opened on Thanksgiving, not Black Friday. Like, let’s just take it back a notch real quick. Can we not just wait a few more hours?

          I think that the subject of taking things for granted has really been taken to a whole new level for me lately with Drew Wall’s passing and the shooting in Connecticut. It has showed me how much I have to be thankful for. I think that all of us take the fact that we wake up every day for granted until something like those things happen. It obviously isn’t something that is talked or thought about much because it is such a simple little thing, yet so important.

          But ‘tis the season ladies and gents. We all have to continue on with our lives even after tragedy. I’m not saying it’s wrong to buy presents or spend a lot on the people we care about. But we should all take some time this holiday season to think about what we have and be thankful for it. Let’s make this holiday a little less commercial and a little more content.

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Not Just another Day

Every day we wake up and go through our daily routine. We complain about having to get up early and either go to work or school. Every day we take for granted the fact that we are alive. For most of us, Friday morning was just another day. But for families in Connecticut, it wasn’t just another day. It was a tragedy that no one should have to go through.

          Friday morning 27 people died. Friday morning 20 children and 6 adults at an elementary school were shot and killed. Friday morning a 24 year old man caused a tragedy and then committed suicide.

          It doesn’t make sense. How does someone take so many lives and then take their own? How does someone murder innocent children on a Friday morning just weeks before Christmas?  It doesn’t make sense.

          I’m sure officials will conclude that he had mental issues. But is that really enough? Is that going to make those 20 sets of parents feel any better about losing their children? NO. The answer is no. It’s not going to make them feel better or understand why this happened to their children. It doesn’t explain his reasoning behind it.

          Because an event like this is so unheard of and tragic, people throughout the nation have heard about it and have been affected by the story. Although, most not directly affected, they take it to heart. Everyone can relate and be sympathetic to a story like this in some way. After hearing something like this, parents definitely have the right to worry about their children going to school next week, especially the families that have kids enrolled at the school in Connecticut.

          The person that did this took not only lives, but people’s sense of safeness and security at school. School is supposed to be a safe environment, especially an elementary school. But now, for these kids, it is going to be a place where their friends or teachers were killed. It is where they were forced to leave in a single file line with their eyes closed. It is their worst nightmare playing over and over again in their head.

          It doesn’t make sense. How does someone shoot that many people and then themselves? How does someone take such innocent lives? Can someone’s life really be that bad? Because of this one person, December 14^th will never be just another day.

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All I Want For Christmas...

As crazy as it sounds, Christmas is almost here and it’s time for parents to make final decisions on what to get their kids. I usually don’t make Christmas lists for what I want because whenever I sit down and think of everything I would like to have, my mind goes blank. It’s as if I’ve never asked for a single present my entire life. And I’ll be the first to admit that that isn’t true. But this year, I finally sat down and made a list of some things that I would like to have.

          All I want for Christmas… the first thing I wrote down was a puppy; more specifically, a silver lab. I have been pushing my parents to let us get a puppy for quite some time now and although I am pretty confident I won’t get one, it’s definitely worth writing down just in case they change their minds!

Reasons why I want a puppy:

1.     They are adorable! How can you say no to a face like that?

2.    You have something to entertain you when you get bored! Your friends can’t always hang out and if you had a puppy you would never be lonely.

3.    Why not get a puppy? Did I mention how cute they are? Why would you not want one?

Reasons my parents won’t let me get a puppy:

1.     Who is going to take care of it? They think that we are never home and wouldn’t have time to take care of it. I say make time! They made time to take care of me and my sister, what’s one more thing?

2.    Who is going to walk it and take it outside to go to the bathroom in the winter?  They know me too well. I’m not a huge fan of the cold. My solution: make my sister or dad do it. And you can always just put it on a leash to go to the bathroom so you don’t have to wait outside.

3.    They are expensive. Food and toys and visits to the vet can get expensive. But whatever. Worth it.

 

So my parents definitely have some solid points. But I don’t care. I still want a puppy for Christmas.

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Meet Me in St. Louis

For my family, it is a tradition to go to a play every year around Christmas time. Today we went to Theater Cedar Rapids and saw a production of “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Before today I had no knowledge of what this play was about, except that it was a movie first and had something to do with Christmas.

          To me, the play was very confusing. From the moment it started I was confused as to what was going on. But I was patient; trying to understand the plot. Then all of a sudden intermission was here and I was still confused. By that time, I was just bored because I had no idea what was actually happening.

          After it was over, I was talking to my mom about what she thought of it. To my surprise, she said that she liked it and thought it was very good. I explained how confused I was and didn’t really get the significance of anything that happened. She then said that she had seen the movie before and that was why should understood it. She explained how if one hadn’t seen the movie prior to seeing the play, they wouldn’t have understood it. This made me feel a little bit better. But also made me wonder how many other people didn’t enjoy it because they didn’t understand it. To me that is a huge downfall in the organization of the play.

          Although, I didn’t understand much of it, I thought that the acting and singing was very good. I am always impressed by the talent of the singers and today wasn’t any different. Most of the main characters were younger and to see that much talent those people was kind of awesome.

          I enjoy going to plays and Theater Cedar Rapids every year. There have been a couple times where I didn’t exactly enjoy the plot of the plays, but that doesn’t change the amount of talent these people have. It’s like not enjoying a movie, but still liking a certain actor or actress in the movie. You are still going to give them the credit, even though the story line didn’t catch your eye this time around.

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Santa Claus is Coming to Town

It’s that time of the year again. Christmas is right around the corner. And that can only mean one thing: time to buy presents for your friends and family. This can be one of the hardest things to do. Whenever I ask anybody what they want for Christmas the response I always get is, “I don’t know…” NO. Not okay. That doesn’t help me at all. Everyone wants something, yet no one can seem to tell me what that is.

          This causes a dilemma. I obviously want to buy something that the other person wants, but how I am supposed to know when they don’t tell me? A good route to take for parents is something practical. They aren’t going to want something that is just going to take up more space and collect dust. So get something that you know will be put to good use, such as, cook ware, office supplies, tools, etc. Homemade presents are also great for parents because they like to know that you put some thought and effort into it.

          Siblings are the hardest for me. My sister and I are complete opposites. And while I try to get her to be more like me, she isn’t. If you are like this with your siblings you might also know how hard it is to find something they like. I guess my advice for buying a present for someone like this would be to find something that they enjoy doing and look into what items can go along with that. I’ve done the whole buy something you like so you can keep it if they don’t want it. But honestly, I don’t like knowing they didn’t like my present; especially if I liked the one they got me.

          Now on to friends. We spend most of our time with our friends. We are supposed to know them better than anyone. And then when it comes to present buying time, I seem to forget everything I know about them. This year I probably spent at least three weeks thinking about what to get my best friends. I didn’t want to buy them something cheesy or lame that would be completely useless.  I shopped online, at stores, and even looked up ideas on Pinterest. I finally ended up getting items online that were things that they could use/wear almost every day. My final decision on these presents was mostly based on what we laugh about on a regular basis.

          Buying a gift for someone can be hard. Especially when they don’t give you any ideas about what they want. My overall advice for buying presents would to get something personal and practical. Personal gifts show the person you care and practical items are sure to be put to good use. So there you go. That’s all I’ve got. Know it’s time for you to go to the store or get online and start shopping!

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It's December

Now that it’s finally December, we all expect Iowa to be cold and snowy for the rest of the year. But when I walked outside today, I was shocked to find that it wasn’t too cold; it was actually pretty nice out.

          Usually, this time of the year in Iowa, I would be bundling up to go outside and expecting it to snow any day if it hadn’t already. I would also be complaining about how it’s too cold and how snow is annoying to drive in.

          Don’t get me wrong, I love waking up to snow on Christmas! It doesn’t seem like Christmas without it. But it is just one of those things that I am always changing my mind about.

          Now that it’s December and I am really getting into the Christmas spirit, I would love for it to snow! We are missing out on all the outdoor activities that you can only do at this time of the year, such as sledding and building snowmen. Having a snowball fight sounds like a lot of fun right about now.

          Now here’s the downside- I don’t like driving in the snow or when it gets icy out; it can get scary out there. Although, driving in poor conditions is a good skill to have, it’s really not something I want to have to do for the rest of my life.

          A good and bad thing is having snow days. They are great because you don’t have to go to school. But you have to make that day up at the end of the year, therefore making your summer shorter. And no one wants that!

          I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are ups and downs to everything in life. And we are all probably going to complain about snow whether we have it or not. But it’s December and we live in Iowa; bring on the snow!

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Just Drew It

On Tuesday the world lost a truly inspirational person to cancer. His story has impacted thousands of people’s lives and continues to. His name is Drew Wall.

          Drew went to Kennedy. He was a sophomore. Unfortunately, I never really got the chance to get to know him that well. But I have known about him since his struggle with cancer began because he was the Kennedy volleyball coach’s nephew and she was my coach when it all began. I wish I had gotten to know him, though, because he sounded like someone you could learn a lot from. Just hearing his story makes me realize how good my life actually is.

          His visitation was today at Kennedy. There were tons of people there. I got there around one o’clock (the time it was supposed to start). When I walked inside there was already a long line waiting to walk through and when I left it was longer. I also noticed that there were a few of golfers from an Iowa City school in the line.

          Even though, a lot of people didn’t really know him that well at school, they all support him and his family. Tons of people are buying purple t shirts that say “Just Drew It.” Not only people at Kennedy, but from other schools, as well. I know that Kennedy is planning on having a purple out for Drew in a couple of weeks. Also I saw, via instagram, that Linn-mar did the same thing last night at their basketball game. I think it’s awesome that a bunch of the schools are all coming together to support this one family that they may or may not even know.

          Since the beginning of Drew’s battle, he has had a caring bridge website where he and his family can tell his story. Anyone can visit the website and leave comments on the visitor’s page. The day that Drew passed away, his mom wrote about how he had passed away earlier that day and the events that led up to his final moments. The first thing written was this:

“Drew is home and HOME! Drew is giving Jesus a really HIGH five tonight! All the angels are rejoicing because our sweet sweet boy is HOME in heaven tonight!”

When I first read this passage, tears filled my eyes. I encourage everyone to read the rest of what she wrote and to read his entire story. It’s truly amazing.

#justdrewit          http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/drewwall

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