An extra hour goes a long way

Daylight Savings is one of my favorite and least favorite times of the year. It's my favorite because what teenager doesn't like getting an extra hour of sleep. For the first few days after turning my clock back, I always feel so much more refreshed the next morning. Especially when I wake up at 5:30 am because of my zero hour class. On the other hand, I hate that by 6:00 pm, it's pitch black outside. I enjoy daylight so the longer I can see because of the sun, the better.

My mom wants to move to Alaska after she retires. Don't get me wrong, Alaska is a beautiful place but there are some days that it is dark for 19 out of 24 hours. There is absolutely no way at all that I could live in Alaska with my mom. I can barely handle Iowa winters, let alone Alaska winters.

On the other hand, I love Daylight Savings because of the extra hour of sleep I get. Especially now that I wake up at 5:30 am to be at my 7:00 am class, the first few mornings after I set my clock back an hour are the best because I feel refreshed and so alive. During the day, however, I get tired much faster. The fact that at any given time, I feel like it's an hour later, really messes with my head at first. It's harder for me to stay awake during work and show choir because I'm used to sleeping at that time and the worst part is how hungry I get.

Daylight Savings has pros and cons. Unfortunately for me, I find more cons than pros but I deal with it. There comes a certain time when my body gets used to the "new time" and I no longer feel much more refreshed in the morning. I hate when this happens because I get used to the great feeling in the morning and then *POOF!* That feeling is suddenly gone. How disappointing is that?

How disappointing is it to be in such a great mood and so refreshed each morning and have that feeling disappear? But how great is it that you no longer have to suffer an extra hour of your stomach growling, your head starting to hurt, and starting to shake from hunger? Your opinion on Daylight Savings might be different to mine because of how you're affected but personally, I like the first few days until Daylight Savings is suddenly nothing different.

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Show Choir Shoes

I was in Protégé, the "JV" show choir at my school last year. Our show consisted of a foreign opener, a Glee number for our second piece, and a medley consisting of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and "I Love You" for the ballad. After the ballad, the girls exit the stage to change out of the second number costume which consisted of black yoga pants, a light blue tank top, and a turquoise zip up vest over the light blue tank top. With this outfit, we wore black ballet slippers. The song after our ballad was an upbeat medley with a “sixties” feels. The boys started the medley off before the girls came back on stage in pink, green, and white, long sleeve, floral dresses complete with white, knee high, go-go boots. The go-go boots were intended more for the closing number, a sixties medley.

These boots took a long time to break in and get used to. By “a long time” I mean all year and I still wasn’t used to dancing in them and the pain that followed. Despite all of the black scuffs, every judge complimented the boots and my grandma went so far as to ask if she could borrow mine after the season was over. Lucky for Grandma, she totally could because we got to keep the boots. Now my junior year, I’m in Happiness Inc., the varsity show choir. I’m not the only girl who is lucky enough to own these beauts. Any girl who was in Protégé last year has the boots in their possession. This year, Happiness’s show is as follows: an elegant, ballroom opener, an ominous second number, a beautiful mash-up of two songs for the ballad, a comedic fourth song, and a medley of sixties songs closer.

If you haven’t predicted where this is going, I’ll clear it up for you.

Sophomore year closer=sixties medley. Junior year closer=sixties medley.

THE BOOTS ARE BACK. That’s right folks, white, knee high, go-go boots for a second year. The show choir moms had warned us this was a possibility so when they announced they couldn’t find any other boots, none of us were surprised. On a positive note, the mom’s only have to order about half the amount of shoes since so many girls have their boots from last year. I’m excited to wear these bad boys again because of the compliments I’m sure we’ll get and because they really complete the sixties outfit. I am not, however, excited to not feel my feet after a performance because of them. It could be different this year, though, because the boots are only being worn for one song instead of two. Needless to say, I’m expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

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Halloween Hallo-don'ts

"I really enjoy seeing pictures of girls in scandalous Halloween costumes. Oh wait... no I don't. I totally understand the idea of slutty Halloween costumes and I'll be honest, if I would have gone to Halloween parties instead of the Wiz Khalifa concert, I would have chosen a less "childish" costume. Some girls, however, really took this idea too far.

As I was scrolling through my Instagram feed on Friday night, I came across a very disturbing Halloween costume. By far the sluttiest and trashiest costume I can remember seeing in my 15 years of existence. Without posting the picture, I'll try to let you see the costume. Imagine a white, 16 year old female. Blonde curly hair. She's wearing fishnets, black underwear, maybe a swim suit bottom, and two strips of tape acting like suspenders just thick enough to cover her nipples. You have GOT to be kidding me! I'm not going to try to hide the fact that this young lady is beautiful. She has a pretty face and a nice body but her lack of self respect is astounding.

On the less slutty side of the spectrum, but still inappropriate, were the oh so unoriginal firefighters, referees, native american princesses, cops, etc. I can't even count on both hands and feet the number of costumes I saw this year that were repeats from last year. The same costumes, however, seemed to look even sluttier. This may have been due to growing in height, making them shorter, or boobs getting bigger making costumes smaller. Whatever it is, it's annoying. Get the right size.

I do give props to the girls who maintained their self respect. The beanie baby dresses, skittles made out of duct tape, peacocks, things of those sorts that actually covered up "the goods" of the one wearing the costume. Halloween parties are an entirely different scene than trick-or-treating so I can only hope that when Wednesday trick-or-treating comes along, the ladies that weren't so classy over the weekend make better costume decisions if they choose to trick-or-treat.

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All Pumpkin Errythang

I'll be the first to admit I love pumpkin. I get overly excited when the Pumpkin Spice Latte comes back to Starbucks. I scarf down my grandma's pumpkin pie as soon as it's ready. Pumpkin pancakes are my favorite thing at Perkin's during the fall. Carving pumpkins is so much fun and I love that I can make my whole house smell like pumpkin just by lighting a candle. There is nothing pumpkin that I don't like.  This is probably why when I scroll down Pinterest, I drool. 

I never knew how many different ways one could bake with pumpkin. Some examples of this would be pumpkin spice cake, pumpkin rice krispie treats, pumpkin custard, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin parfaits, pumpkin soup, pumpkin dip, pumpkin cheesecake, and pumpkin fudge. Just to name a few. I have yet to attempt any of these recipes but I sure do like what I see as a finished project. 

Pumpkin is not only an ingredient to use while baking but also a wonderful fragrance to use during the fall season. Yankee Candle sells "Apple Pumpkin," "Pumpkin Pie," "Super Sweet Pumpkin," "Pumpkin Buttercream," and "Spiced Pumpkin" scented candles. If you ask me, all of these fragrances are wonderful because they all smell like pumpkin. I couldn't name a favorite if someone asked. 

Another pumpkin related thing I love is carving them. It's so fun to sit on the kitchen floor with my family, decide what design to carve, and then have at it. My favorite part of carving pumpkins is taking the "pumpkin guts" out. After the pumpkin guts are sitting on the newspaper we lay down, I separate the slimy part from the seeds. I do this because we salt the seeds and bake them so I can have them for a snack. Then the carving begins. Dad usually does something sports related. Mom does the original Jack-O-Lantern face. My brother, Jake, and I do something different every year. 

Overall, pumpkin is my favorite part of fall. It tastes good, smells good, and makes memories with family. I know many people that don't like pumpkin and I don't understand why. Maybe one day, I'll get tired of pumpkin but I don't see that day coming anytime soon. 

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The Cat Story

When my parents agreed to fostering a mother cat and her six new born kittens, they had no idea we would end up adopting 3 of the kittens as soon as they were available. Emerald, the mother, had 6 kittens. Three were yellow, one black, and one tortie, just like her mommy. It was fun for my family to watch the kittens grow up. We witnessed them open their eyes for the first time, watched them stumble across the floor trying to walk, saw them grow into cute little cats right before our eyes.

When we returned the kittens to the animal shelter, they were taken back to be prepared for neutering and spaying. The next day, they were available for adoption. We adopted two of them; Squirt, a yellow one, and Reeses, the tortie. We had just the two kittens for a few months before my mom realized one of their brothers hadn't been adopted yet. He had gotten sick and was put in the "Sick Bay" with other ill animals so they didn't infect the healthy animals. When we found this out, we went out to the animal shelter and adopted him. He was another yellow one that we named Simon.

At first, Squirt and Reeses didn't like having Simon around. They avoided him, hissed at him, and swiped their claws at him when he passed them. We were really worried that we wouldn't be able to keep Simon so we called the animal shelter and asked them about the situation. They told us that it was normal for our original pets to be uncomfortable with the new one. The first two had grown so used to just each other, they weren't sure if they should be okay with the one they saw as an "intruder" of their territory. The animal shelter was right because eventually all three cats got along and were acting as family.

Now, a little over a year later, my cats are getting big. With the exception of Squirt, they're fat and look like grown cats. They like to sleep on the kitchen table because the sun shines directly on it but they'll sleep anywhere. We call Squirt our homeless cat because his fur ends up in knots and he enjoys sleeping in boxes. Simon doesn't like people very much. If someone new comes to my house, he runs away instantly and hides. He truly only likes my mom. I'm not sure why he's like this but it makes me sad that he won't let the rest of us pet him.

I'm very happy my parents let us adopt our kittens. They are so cute, they always cheer me up when I'm upset, I'm never lonely, and they're fun to play with. I understand I sound like a cat lady and honestly, I am. I love my dog also, but my cats are my favorite part of my house. I feel sorry for people that are allergic to cats because they can't experience the wonderful companionship between cats and their owners.

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Baby Lovins'

I love kids of all ages. Newborns, toddlers, even elementary schoolers. My love for kids would contribute to why I'm babysitting right now for free for a teen mom I know.  She had her son on July 1, 2012 after getting pregnant in the middle of her junior year. Jeremy is now 3 months old and he's so freaking cute. He is such a good baby. He only cries when he needs food, needs to sleep, or needs his diaper changed. The rest of the time, he lays on his blanket, squirming, smiling, and laughing. 

My love for kids also contributes to wanting to be a neonatologist. A neonatologist works with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Reasons a child would be in the NICU could be heart problems, under developed organs, respiratory issues, or severe illnesses. I always knew I wanted to be a pediatrician. It wasn't until I was 9 years old that I decided on neonatology. I entered an essay writing contest about what I wanted to be when I grew up. My essay scored in the top 9 so I got to job shadow with someone in my profession choice. I shadowed Dr. Scott Nau, a well known local pediatrician. He is the one that works the NICU. He showed me an incubator and how they work as well as how small the diapers and pacifiers of newborns and premature babies are. Although this part of the day kind of scared me, it made me want to be a pediatrician even more because I liked the thought of helping innocent babies and their families. I haven't changed anything about what I want to be when I get older since I shadowed a doctor in the NICU. 

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Favorite Meal

Last year, I was introduced to a meal that has become my favorite thing to eat. It doesn't take much time, work, ingredients, or money. All you need is a box or 2 of macaroni depending on how many people you choose to make this for, 2 or 3 green peppers, a red, orange, and yellow pepper (to make it colorful), and some sort of meat. I found it's best to use kielbasa or polish sausage. When I say this is easy, I'm not lying.

First, slice your meat of choice and peppers. Put the meat in a pan and cook it until its not quite done. Add the peppers at that time. By the time the meat is done, the peppers should be tender and done as well. Keep the mixture on low heat. Make the macaroni as the box instructs you too. When the macaroni is done, you're done making the meal. Serve the macaroni and the pepper/meat mixture side by side. If those eating want to mix them, so be it, but it's better to serve it separately.

This meal has become really popular in my house because all of my family members are very busy most nights. Anyone can make this, including my brother, so if someone knows dinner is going to be rushed that night, they just make this right away. I recommend this for anyone who is involved in a lot of things or is just not in the mood to make a gourmet meal. There's no going wrong here.

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