Top Ten Positives and Negatives of Graduating

*Positives

1. Sleeping in EVERYDAY!
2. No more making up excuses about why you have a C in child development.
3. No more homework!
4. You can eat whenever you want to.
5. No more “It’s a school night, be home at eight.”
6. You can text whenever you have the desire to.
7. Having a longer lunch break than thirty minutes.
8. No more household chores.
9. Going to college and being on your own!
10. Having your own money to spend.

*Negatives

1. Getting a new job and having to wake up early once again.
2. Having homework from college courses but nobody to push you to finish it.
3. Gaining the ‘freshman fifteen’ from eating whenever you want.
4. Going to sleep at eight because the night before you stayed out until three in the morning.
5. Going over your phone bill from texting too much.
6. Not even having a lunch break anymore from snacking too much.
7. Not having any money to buy your own house so still having household chores.
8. Paying college tuition and fees to go to college.
9. No more barrowing money from your parents.
10. No more seeing your friends on a daily basis.

Shining Like a Bright Yellow Softball

This weekend I flew again! For those of you who read my blog, not cheer flying and not literally flying. But my spirit flew. I have played softball pretty much for my entire life. Since I was about four or five.It was always the sport that I loved to do and would always do no matter what. Until my sophomore year. Everyone else in my grade was on varsity that year and I was the only one on JV. They said they needed me to pitch. And I was happy but Kellin and Janecia had been on varsity since their freshman year and I wanted to be up there with them. But I stuck it out. Finally, my junior year I made varsity! I was very excited even thought I started off playing bench. When my coach realized that I was pretty good at playing field I started every game. But unfortunately I did not bat.

Once my senior year came, my goal was to bat!I started off not even playing the first couple games but once again, they liked the way I played field so I started fielding again. Every once and a while I would bat against the teams that were not very good, but I never did anything very spectacular. Every practice I tried my hardest but it never seemed like I was improving. My coaches told me I was but I still never batted so I figured they were just tryin to boost my self esteem.

This Saturday, we had a double header schedualed and I was excited! We warned up like usual and then I went and looked at the scheduale. When I saw it I could not believe my eyes! I was actually bating! My coach told me and the girl who usually bats for me thy we would be switching off throughout the game since it was an easy team. My first two times at bat I popped up and by luck, got on base. I got taken out and my coach told me I would play the second half of the next game instead of the first. So I waited and watched. Finally, it was my turn to go bat again. I stepped into the batters box and thought about everything my coaches talked to me about. I even thought about my boyfriends advice he had given me before I went up again. All of it was the same, do not drop your hands. So the first pitch came spinning down the middle of the plate. Next thing I knew, I put my bat out and the feeling was amazing, I hit a line drive straight to left field in between the short stop and third basemen. I ran with all my might and made it to first. The crowd was screaming and I knew they were all in shock that Toni Craig had just hit that. I was smiling ear to ear and my confidence was immediately boosted. I will never forget that moment, because even though it was not a double, triple, or even a home run I know that I am improving and that I showed my coaches I could do it! I am glad I got another chance to bat my senior year and who knows, there may be more to come!

Wishes...

            

   

               I wish you could see. I wish you could see what you are doing to him. I wish you could see how that person changed their mindset for you. They no longer care about anything but you. And you don’t care. You don’t care that you are slowly killing the person you love and the people he loves? You are also slowly killing them. You are giving them more than they could handle and you don’t care. I wish you could see that it isn’t about you but it’s about them. I wish you could see…

                I wish you could hear. I wish you could hear all of the bad things you say to me. All of those hurtful words coming out of your mouth shock me. I wish you could hear the tears that I cry at night after you get done yelling at me. It makes me wonder why you are so happy with him but so unhappy with me. I know it’s hard for you to hear, but not in this way. I wish you could hear…

                I wish you could talk. I wish you could talk to me again. Like old times when I used to get so happy seeing your name in my phone. Not a happy teenage girl way, but a happy sister way. I knew I could always come to you for advice on everything and anything and also give advice to you. You opened up to me and then she came along. When she came back, you shut down. You unwillingly left me and stopped giving me advice. I wish you could talk…

A few days ago I sat at my house alone. My parents were out of town and my friends had other plans. I ate lunch alone, paid for my own haircut, and drove around alone. I thought a lot that day about different things. I thought about how great life is and then about the downsides. Life can take different twists and turns. The world is a big place. It’s a place that can be sweet and sour all at one time. It’s filled with dreams, evil, tears, smiles, and wishes. Take the time to look around and love the world. People can come and go in a heartbeat, so don’t take life for granted. Thank the lord, and love the people who surround you.

Imaginary Friends

           
    Do you remember when you were small, and you were not old enough to ‘go hang out’ with your friends just yet? Those were the days when your siblings were your close friends, whether you knew it or not. But we all had days when your brother or sister told on you for taking their Barbie or picking your nose, and you had no friends; so you created one.
              I had an imaginary friend named Sally. She was a gingerbread girl with icing as her hair, and gumdrops as her buttons. She lived across the street from me in a gingerbread house and always had cookies or goodies to eat! (I had a BIG imagination). When my sister decided I was not good enough to play with her on some days I would go play with Sally because playing with Barbie’s was not fun by yourself.

               One day it was dark and cloudy and you could tell the clouds were going to cry in any minute. Sally and I were jump roping when we heard a big crash of lightening. It scared us and we took off down the street. Sally had to go home because rain made her melt. As we were running to her house, the rain started to come down. Unfortunately, Sally did not make it. That was the day I lost my imaginary friend and I did cry.

               Looking back on that day makes me laugh now because I now know that gingerbread people do not melt in the rain. Sally was my first friend I ever had and also my first friend I ever lost. Everyone has days like this, whether it’s losing an imaginary friend or a real friends. Always keep your friends close to your heart because you never know when that day will come where your friend will melt in the rain.

MORP

                This weekend was the last MORP dance I will ever go to. And unfortunately, (excuse my lack for a better word) it SUCKED.  The dance went from 7pm-10pm. I accidently forgot to take off work for the dance so I had to work 4pm-11pm. The girl who worked my shift before me ended up getting hurt and they asked me to come in two hours early. I was kind of excited to go in because I thought I might get off early or on time so I could make it to the dance on time. We ended up getting SLAMMED and I did not get off until 9:30pm. Jacob and I already had our shirts and I had already bought tickets so once I got off I went home, took a quick shower, Jacob came and picked me up, and off we went!

                When we got there, I was in a terrible mood because of work… but once I saw my friends, they picked my head up and made me smile! I asked if the picture lady had left yet and she did. So Payton, Caleb, Ashley, Ryan, Dylan, Brooke, Juan, Jacob, and I went to the back and found the background! We hung it up with tape and took tons of fun pictures. We made that dance fun! After that we went back out and stood and talked because there was NO GOOD DANCE MUSIC. At all. Suddenly, all the lights flashed on. We looked around, confused, and one of the sophomores took the microphone and said we were going to play a game of dodge ball. I shouted out, “I thought this was a dance!” My date and I stood there for a minute, looked at each other, and got out of there. I knew then and there, that was the WORST dance I had ever been to! Even worse than the one where my date walked out on me.

                After we left we headed to Denny’s and had a blast. I’m glad we ended the night with such a fun time with all of my friends. The dance may have been horrible, but the night ended with a bang with all my senior friends and of course my boyfriend.

The Last Night

            Well this weekend was the last weekend of my high school cheering life… Words do not express how sad my heart feels. Yes, I had the time of my life and I do not fully regret any choices I made, but I hate to see it all end. Well, hopefully just ending for high school.

            We left the school on Friday morning at 8:30 am for the last trip of my senior year in cheering. We partied all the way down there and it was one of the more fun trips I had ever been on. After grabbing some food in Prescott, we got to our hotel and started getting ready for what we found out was the last game of our season. We braided our hair, put on too much makeup, and killed half of the o-zone layer with our hairspray amount. We were off!

            After the game had started, I stopped and looked around at the huge arena. It hit me that this could be my last time… When it got to the end of the second quarter my eyes started tearing up. I pulled myself together and put on a dang good halftime show.

            After Holbrook lost the game, I cried and cried. I knew cheer was over, but I knew that I had one of the best seasons I could ask for. I love cheerleading with all of my heart and I would do every bit of it all over again if I could. Now I will go off to college cheer and show them what my high school squad taught me.

Live Life... To The Last Breath

Life – [lahyf]: the animate existence or period of animate existence of an individual.
What is life? According to the definition above it is purely existence. But what does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be able to wake up every morning and breathe in and out? In my mind, being able to live is one of the greatest blessings God could ever give me. But not only am I alive, but I have an amazing life. I have giving parents who love each other, and I have more stuff than I need!

Now, I did not write this to brag about what I have, but to make you think… what do you have in life that God has blessed you with? What do you have that most people do not?

You may be thinking that you have nothing and that life is dire for you, but think again… how many people have a loved one in a hospital bed not knowing if they will ever wake up? I guess what I am trying to get at is that life is precious. It is something you have got to hang on to and make the most out of it.

There are things in love that you must work at like materialistic things: money, clothes, cars… But there are other things that come along unexpected: friends, awards, love… My point is that life is not a right it is a privilege, a privilege from the man upstairs- God. So cherish every second of it, and do not let it pass by you like a tumbleweed in the wind.