the phone isn't the fire alarm

Dear readers, only those who have experienced this situation will appreciate what I am about to say:

Remember 
when she would run in circles around the table when she was excited?
 when one would run to the bathroom with the phone, and the other would grab her?
 when Mom would never let her stay in the house while we were at school?
 how she would always sleep underneath James' dresser drawers?
 how she could never jump on top of mom and dad's bed?
 how she was afraid of the lion from the cereal box off of Narnia?
 how she would always sit in the drivers seat when we left her in the vehicle?
how she thought the phone was a fire alarm?
when she would poop and we would quickly clean it up before mom got home?
how she would run from whitney when she would mention bath time?
how much she loved every single one of us?
how James called her "fat mod"?
when we would walk her, it was called a drag instead of a walk?
how fat she was for such a tiny animal?

Yes in case anyone was wondering I am talking about my dog, her name was Molly, she was a shelty dog, and only a family like ours could've loved her. She barked at the phone thinking it was a fire alarm; she was trained for the deaf. We loved her because she was different, she wasn't any regular dog, she hated going on walks, and hated dog food. Though she did play fetch, she was so fat she could barely run. She was so loyal and a few times we lost her, I had never been so devastated in my life.

I remember one time walking home from school I had just hit my head on a rake(never step on a rake, it hurts quite a bit) I was crying and she knew something was wrong, she ran right up to me and started jumping knowing that I was hurt. We always left her in the garage when we would go places and I will always remember the excitement on her little face as we would open the garage and she would run out always ecstatic to see us!

She was one of the only pets I have ever had, and may I say she was a great one. We had her for about seven years, she was apart of the family. She started to get seizures later on and would always run into things, unfortunately she was suffering and we had no choice but to put her down. Next to a human's death the day she died was one of the saddest days of my life.

I don't know what made me decide to write this; perhaps it's because my best friend just got a new dog. My family will occasionally bring Molly up and I have to admit, it sometimes brings us to tears. She was a segment of my life that I will never be able to have back, and never be able to forget.

pure joy

So many different things bring me joy:

• sleeping in
• playing basketball
• being with my family
• being at the lake
• taking pictures
• stalking people on facebook haha
• being with friends
• summer!

These are only a few of the things that bring me joy even if they are just brought up in a conversation. The one I want to focus on right now is summer! I always look forward to summer, there is so much going on. Last summer I worked at Subway in waterton with my best friend, and met some amazing people. And lucky for me I think I'll be going back again this summer!

Sure the smell of Subway makes me gag and the summer rushes get so intense I lose track of time, but there's just something about living on your own and doing whatever you want after you've finished work that is so endearing!

Bailey and I decided that this year we're not going to be lazy, we're going to try and do a hike at least once a week, will it happen? Who knows haha. Living in Waterton, you never knew what to expect. People were constantly coming over, at all times of the day. There was always something to do, like institute, or jumping in the lake, or even just starting a fire in a camp kitchen and having a good time.

I absolutely loved every second of working in waterton, and even though the working conditions were not ideal, being with people you love was. I cannot wait for summer, bring on the memories!:)

sickness

Seriously being sick is not fun at all! Not only am I incredibly far behind in school, I am so sick of watching TV and sleeping in. And pretty sure I thought I'd never hear myself say that. It all started last Monday during school when I thought I was just feeling exhausted from the long weekend of basketball and lack of sleep, so I decided to just miss practice and rest up. I had no idea what was actually wrong with me, my dad tried to make me go to school the next day but I insisted that I was not feeling well at all, I went to the doctor later that day and he said simply that I had strep throat.
But of course it had to get worse before it could any better, that night I fainted twice while getting up in the night and hit my head pretty hard. So school on Wednesday was a no go, and the exact thing happened thursday morning as well. For everyone that's never fainted before- it is one of the scariest feelings ever! You have no control over what your body is doing. Right before I would faint my ears would ring and I wouldn't be able to hear anything, and then my vision would completely leave. Luckily I have great parents who caught me the second time before I fell to the floor. So later on thursday i made a trip to the hospital, and after taking a blood test and being on an IV for three hours the doctor discovered that my white blood cell count was down to 2.5, a normally low count would be 5 and I had half that. So what that means is I had no immune system to fight off bacteria and viruses. My body had tons of different colds, coughs, flu's, and influenza's packed into it which further has lead to a week and a half long recovery. Which resulted in me missing the opportunity to help kick Raymond and Magrath's trash in basketball.
This week has been very boring, I am quarantined to my house and I am not aloud to go near others, not for their health but for mine, I can pick up anything that they may be carrying. This Tuesday I'll find out if I will be able to leave and finally step outside of my own house and interact with someone other than my parents.
On the plus side somebody did make my whole week last night by doing the simplest thing possible, but it's a secret:)

Inspiration;

I've been inspired:
• to be a better person
• to be kinder
• to pursue my dreams
• to work harder
• to be more determined in everything
• to do well in physics
• to show my personality more
• to read and pray more often
• to sing all the time
• to forget about age
• to forget about height
• to forget about people's pasts
• to play the piano more often
• to listen more
• to forget and forgive
• to go on drives just to clear my head
• to write different missionaries
• to refrain from gossip
• to love everyone
• to recognize how great my friends truly are
• to recognize inner beauty
• to use my camera more often
• to finish my quilt
• to just be who I am.

January 11, 1903

      I didn't know how to begin this post, because I didn't put any thought into until now. Six years ago, my grandpa Willard Brooks passed away, he died of old age, he lived to be 102 years old. He married my grandmother, Bernice May on September 15, 1932. They had six children, 34 grand children, 66 great-grand children, and 6 great-great-grand children; a total of 106. My grandparents were married for 72 years, I am the youngest of their grand children.
    A lot of memories come to mind when I think of him, but I thought I would just share a few of my favorites. He could never remember my sister Whitney's name, he for some reason always called her Montaine, to this day we have no idea why. He called my brother James, Jim, he called my sister Cassie, Cathy because his daughters name is Cathy. But he always could remember mine and my sister Abby's name, it may be perhaps because she's the oldest and I'm the youngest of the family? Who knows. The furnace in his house was always turned up way too high even during the summer, he enjoyed "watching" channel 32, watching meant sleeping for hours in a day. By the time I reached an age where I truly realized how much my grandparents meant to me, they were gone and trust me it's something I've regretted for a long time.
     There was always something in the living room to snack on, he loved to garden, he became deaf later in his life. He served in the second world war, he was a teacher and to this day teaching has been something I've wanted to pursue. He was a genius, even though he's not with us, he is in a way because my dad; his son Eric, is like him in so many ways whether he likes it or not. The way he sleeps, how when he hears something and can't figure it out, he'll do anything in his power to find out the correct definition. If I say something grammatically incorrect, he'll correct me.
   My grandpa was such an amazing role model in my life! He was an amazing athlete, I do wish that he could have been around to see me participate in my own athletics, before games I like to think that he's watching me, and hopefully he's proud. His game was baseball and track, he was said to be the best, he also loved music and learning.

Unfortunately I didn't have pictures of him, but I do have ones of us at their house.

Halloween, the ugly one is Cassie.

Abbs and Cass helping grandma make their bed:)

All five kids on the grandparents couch:) One of my favorites!

I miss him very much and every time, either him or my grandma are brought up it brings tears to my eyes, he truly was an amazing grandparent and I along with my whole family miss him dearly, especially on this day. Love you grandpa:).

oh christmas tree

Christmas decorations in my house seem to be different every year, there's always new colors; some years they're red, others they're blue and silver, but this year my mother decided on green!
Our tree looks fantastic as always, no thanks to me of course I was going to decorate the downstairs tree, but I think my mom realized what it might look like after I was done with it, so she decided to just go ahead and do it herself, which was probably smart. One christmas I tried to put a barbie ornament on the tree and every time I wasn't looking either my sister Abby or my mom were moving it to the back where no one could see it. So I guess you could say christmas decorating isn't my thing? Yes indeed you could say that!

Lucky for everyone we have such an amazing interior decorator living at home!:)

My Buddy :)

What a cute family hey? This my friends is the Hardy family, they are so adorable. I mostly wanted to recognize the gorgeous woman in the far right corner, her name is Tanis. I have been lucky enough to have her as a buddy and let me tell you I don't think there is any buddy better than her! She has done so much for me, and I am so grateful for her example. Every time I see her I can always count on her having a huge smile on her face. She is an amazing mother, and she's had four kids, I hope I'll look half that good when I have one! She is such a kind and sincere soul, these pictures are from the summer, unfortunately I am a terrible procrastinator. I hope she enjoys a few of the ones I wanted to share with everyone :).

Thank you for everything you are, and for everything you've done for me! I hope we'll be able to take another trip to Waterton some day and catch up. You're the best! :)