My Theme Song

I've been listening to Owl City--a wonderfully fun new artist I discovered...and I recently listened to a song that I like very much. I believe if I had theme song, this song Hot Air Balloon, would be it. With this in mind, here are the lyrics. I do suggest you try and find it on youtube!

We wrote a prelude
To our own fairy tale
And bought a parachute
At a church rummage sale

And with a mean sewing machine
And miles of thread
We sewed the day above L.A.
In navy and red

We wound a race track
Through your mom's kitchen chairs
And fought the shadows back
Down your dark basement stairs

I lit a match, then let it catch
To light up the room
And then you yelled as we beheld
An old maroon hot air balloon

I'll be out of my mind
And you'll be out of ideas
Pretty soon
So let's spend
The afternoon in a cold hot air balloon
Leave your jacket behind
Lean out and touch the treetops over town
I can't wait
To kiss the ground
Wherever we touch back down

We drank the Great Lakes
Like cold lemonade
And both got stomach aches
Sprawled out in the shade

So bored to death you held your breath
And I tried not to yawn
You made my frown turn upside down
And now my worries are gone

I'll be out of my mind
And you'll be out of ideas
Pretty soon
So let's spend
The afternoon in a cold hot air balloon
Leave your jacket behind
Lean out and touch the treetops over town
I can't wait
To kiss the ground
Wherever we touch back down

Reading Speed

Recently I decided to calculate my reading speed, as I do a lot of reading. I deemed it worthwhile(or at least entertaining) to discover a more exact reading speed.

I googled and choose fou different reading speed tests so that I could compare the results.

Firstly, there was Reading Soft

My result here was 1277 wpm with about a 91% reading comprehension level.

According to the details provided, this makes me an excellent and accomplished reader.

This also means I am a visual reader, and to quote " Your reading speed is the gem of your CV."

Turbo Read
On this test my reading speed was 1200 wpm with an 82% comprehension when reading a novel.
When reading material more like a text book my reading speed was funnily enough 1333 and my comprehension the same. Obviously I like to stop and enjoy novels.

Mind Bluff
Here my reading speed was over 1000 wpm and my comprehension over 70%

And finally at Read Speed my reading speed was 1177. This site also informed me that were I to read only 60 minutes a day I could finish Pride and Prejudice in 2 days, Jane Eyre in 3 days and Alice in Wonderland in 1 day.

The results are fairly close together, from all tests. I do think I should like to work a little more on comprehension....

Making Sure

Just to make sure you don't miss some fun pictures and posts, I've posted three new posts recently, all with pictures of great costumes and random times...be sure to scroll down! This is mostly for my mom's benefit, as she might forget. Love you mom!

Also, sorry for the weird formatting...just playing around with different templates and such!

Hanging Around the House

I have been having fun blogging with pictures as of late, now that I have the ability to do so...and so I am continuing the trend. Here are some pictures of myself and my dear cousins being silly and having a great time, doing random things.





One night, we pulled out my umbrella and were playing with it, when one of us(not sure which one) got the brilliant idea to tie little things to each section and roll a marble through it and make bets, like that gambling game(I don't know the actual name of it). And as you can see...so we did! Craziness therefore ensued and we took lots of pictures...and I won, naturally. And we stayed up rather later than we should have...oops. How time flies when you are having fun!




I was playing with my baby cousin the other day, and she was just too cute not snap a few photos of! Especially when she climbed into the doll house.

I may be a strange creature perhaps...but sometimes I far prefer playing and laughing with my family...brothers and sisters and cousins...to going out with my friends. I think that's why I like my current living arrangments so much, as I do have some degree of grownup-ness and independence while still retaining young people and family with whom to interact with constantly. I really dislike being alone, and I'm not to fond of the company of single adults. I hope the relatives I live with don't mind my idiosyncracies...and perhaps even enjoy me as much as I enjoy them!





And there you have it! Some wonderful moments, just hanging around the house!

Halloween

This Halloween I also helped my cousins get costumes together for school. I do love costuming! So one of cousins was a princess, as seen above. Another was a lovely sparkling fairy,
And their brother was an excellent looking monk.

And she was a beautiful halloween marionette. Their other brother and sister went as a rock star and a Jane Austen character, both of them looked amazing! I only wish I'd managed to get pictures.
On Friday I also went to a singles dance, and dressed up as a flapper from the 1930's. I was very happy with the way my costume turned out! I even managed to finger wave my own hair!

My friend dressed up as someone from teh 1950's, and she looked marvy too. She even made her own poodle skirt!

Then we had a greek goddess, and she did look lovely too. Isn't it amazing what you can do with caramel bar wrappers and a sheet?

Finally, my other friend dressed up as a secretary from the 1940's. So we had a good array of time periods!

Period costuming is actually something I'm very much interested in. I'm even contemplating taking a costuming course, as it is a theatre related subject that I very much enjoy.

Doctor Who Halloween

This year for Halloween my siblings and I decided that we would all dress up as Characters from the popular british sci-fi show, Doctor Who. We had so much fun!! Here are some pictures of our adventures through time and space...

My brother and I chose to dress up as the Doctor himself, and I must say, I think we looked all right!




Here we have the whole gang! Saving the world...one chocolate bar at a time!


We even managed to find a phone booth that could masquerade as the TARDIS for our night of halloween fun!

My little sister chose to dress up as Jabe from the Forests of Cheem. If you want to know what characters we took our ideas from, just google image search the name, and you'll be sure to find it!
One last flight in the Tardis for Jabe
And the bad'uns go to jail!
Outside the Tardis...My Tardis.
The Doctor always wears converse, as he does lots of running!
The Doctor takes stock of the situation


It takes two Doctors to catch a villain like this one!



The more frivolous side of the Doctor....
I had a lot of fun doing her hair...I had to stick a Styrofoam cup in her hair to get the look right.


This little sister of mine choose to be a cat nurse who works at a hospital from New Earth.

I wonder what has caught his eye?

And this sister chose to be one of the sybiline sisterhood! She looked positively amazing!




And there you have it! We had an absolutely marvelous time...we drove around listening to the Doctor Who soundtrack, posing in front of the Tardis, saving the world and doing an awful lot of running!

Thoughts in Poetry

Rain
Wisps of rain slip down the window
Fogging the glass in gentle circles
Drops trickle down, plashing on grass
Wisps turn into streams as
The downpour steadily increases

Droplets suspended in time for
But a moment, before hurrying on
To wet the dark earth beneath
The glistening grasses
And soak their thirsty roots.

Wind
Rolling twixt earth and sky,
She moves swiftly over land.
Tendrils of her hair trail
Through sun soaked lands
While she roars over forests
Trees bow shakily as she passes
Grasses wave gaily in greeting


Sparrow
No pretty song to recommend me,
No colorful coat of which to boast.
Little wings in dusty brown,
Black eyes of no importance
And an earthy song
Are all I lay claim to.
Others birds laugh and sigh
To see such a bird as I,
Who lacks even a tiny splash
Of brighter color.
Yet happiness fills me
And I sing despite my
Awkward harmony.
For I own a piece of the sky...

The Road Trip

I got to go on a road trip with two good friends recently. Growing up through my teenage years, these were probably two of my very best friends. One of these two friends returned this summer from a mission to Florida. Before leaving, he made a bet with the two of us. If we won, we got a road trip. Obviously, we did win! So we decided to head to Idaho...kind of a last hurrah for the three of us. It also gave us two girls a chance to meet our return missionary's girlfriend, of whom we have to approve, of course. The road trip was definitely worth time and money--just for fun, here are some pictures. Enjoy!


Here we have the shadow of our vehicle(a Honda Insight) which we kindly referred to as the spacehip...as well as some good old scenery.




Through the duration of our trip, my friends called me a 'model'...and consequently made me stand in front of this sign in the mall.


Here are the three of us, posing in front of our spaceship!!

Upon meeting Karin(the girlfriend in question) Natalie and I liked her so much that we spent some time without Devon(the missionary) just getting to know each other better and having a blast trying on ridiculous hats.








This is the four of us on the journey home...the drive did begin to wear on us, as you can see!


The three of us again...through our teenage years, we used to be known as the three musketeers, because where there was one, the other two were not far behind.



However, currently there are four of us...as Natalie and I liked Karin so much that we just had to welcome her into the musketeers. See? Aren't they cute?



Here are our on the road again faces....at least one of us is happy!
I wonder what there could possibly be inside a Potato Museum?
There is our dedicated driver...don't look to closely at the speedometer!


There's our fearless captain again, piloting us to infinity and beyond!
This was pretty much my general state, due to Devon's driving...hearing me scream seemed to make him happy.

The next few pictures are of us just goofing off and having a blast in Idaho...


Apparently, he drank to much root beer.
Actually, perhaps we all drank too much root beer!

While in Idaho, Devon and Karin went to the Temple and Natalie and I went for a lovely walk and bought new shoes.

We also went to a YSA dance...which was fun, surprisingly.


Aren't they cute?



And that was our trip! At first I thought it would be kind of bittersweet, as we are all now going our seperate ways...but it was just good, I think. Moving forward often brings more wonderful times then the past. I made a new friend, became closer to my two pals and I am very much looking forward to the future. After all...all for one and one for all!