Who am I?

On the surface one might say that I’m outgoing, intelligent, confident, energetic and opinionated, but they would be wrong. It’s easy to tell I’m all of those things, but they are states of being, states of mind, and descriptive words. Being outgoing, confident, and energetic is what I am, not who I am.
People look at other people, see them for what they are, and make opinions of them. It’s as if they were looking at a painting, regardless of whether you like the painting your looking at or not, your opinion is formed by projecting your past and your emotions onto a picture and interpreting it as such. Take the Mona Lisa for instance, some people look at the woman and believe she is smiling, others see her frowning, and others still see her as doing neither or both at the same time. The same way people look at different people and interpret them in different ways. If you ask one person I may be a happy person, confident and easy to get along with; ask another person and I may be a cocky, demanding persona, bent on getting things my way. Perspective determines who other people think that we are, but even then who other people believe we are may not be in actuality who we are.
Stereotyping is a way of categorizing new people in ways that makes them easy to understand, but my experiences show that no one is exactly what they seem, and nothing in life is ever easy. Knowing information is entirely useless without the learning process. Learning teaches practical application, without it all the information stored in your brain is simply taking up space. If I can teach someone something that may in fact, help him or her in the future, I would invite him or her to ‘know’ everything they can about me. However, if they are disinclined to learn and simply wish to know, I’m content to remain a mystery.
If I had my way, stereotypes would be obliterated and people as a whole would not be judged by society, but by those appointed to such positions in the government. I choose the qualities I possess, I let other people choose which of these qualities they may judge me by. Some people may say that honesty is the best quality, but I freely admit to being honest only for the fact that lies will never posses the bittersweet sense of injustice and irony that the truth frequently possesses. Others may see determination as a great quality of man, but I also admit that I’m determined only for the foolhardy dream of never admitting defeat. My characteristics are obvious, how you interpret them decides how you will interpret me.
Many people believe who you are defines what you do; I believe they’re mixed up. Everyday you are faced the decisions and choices, different paths lay themselves out before you and you must choose which one to take. In my opinion what you do defines who you are, and I’m still being defined.

Have you ever..

Have you ever noticed that sometimes we don't see how much a person really means to us until you know that they will be leaving soon? No matter if it is a friend or family member, be grateful for all those who impact your life because you may realize that its the people you take for granted that are holding your life together. So today as you all decide to take on the world, make sure that you notice who's there supporting you, because they're the ones that truly make living a joy.

Dedicated with all my heart to my Landon Love :)

~En

Thought for the day: A letter takes almost two weeks to get to Spain, and about two weeks to come home... 1 letter a month... 12 letters a year, 24 letters in his mission... awwwwwwwww :) my Landon.

Sometimes I wonder....

I think everyone in the world should see this video because its's fantastic!

First post of '08....sad... lol

So the school year is winding down, summer is fast approaching. It's so weird to sit back and think about all the things I've done in two years... I'm almost a senior which is really weird to think about. School has run so much of my life for so long it's unnerving to think that I'm going to have to actually face reality soon. Another thing that is ending are some of the friendships I've made with this year's seniors. I know we can all say we'll stay in touch forever, but there are just some people that when they graduate I'll never see again...It's sad but I know that because they're leaving, more new and interesting people will impact my life. So I've decided to share somem of my favorite memories of certain people with you.

Britta: It's basically impossible to pick a favorite memory that I have with you, Astro Girl, 11:00 Mac'n'Cheese, Warped Tour, prom fire, we get up to the most random crap. I think my absolute favorite memory I have of you is 19! That entire time, leading up and the jokes afterwords are worth more to me than life itself.

Randi: My favorite memory with you was the day we went to Walmart and bought crafts. Lol We're basically fantastic, and your R is still sitting in my room... I should probably get that to you. LMAO

Twin: Oh my twin. I dont even know what my favorite memory is with you. Probably bus rides, we always had to sit together and it was definitely a punishable offense for someone else to sit next to us (at least at first). lol I know that I tell people different things, but no one quite understands my boy problems like you do. lol You really mean the world to me and I thank the stars every day that I have you to talk to.

Morgan Love: I pretty much just love taking photo's with you. Anything and everything. The time in your room was weird because I really dont like having my photo taken repeatedly, but somehow you make it really fun.

My Jebby: Oh my jebby. Pretty much I just like being around you. lol you definitely make every day a party. My favorite memory of you is the LesWoLypics. That was a good time... I'm still slightly bitter that you beat me on the running around morgans tramp part though. Dang you and your perfect balance.

Lurpey: Oh dear. Lol You're pretty much a weird kid. But I definitely loved the first time we went to the comedy club with jeb and enano. It was completely and unexpectedly hysterical. I don't know if I've laughed so hard since. That day definitely ranks up there on my list of best dates.

Enano Bunny: So my favorite memory with you is really really really random. The day we sat on your bed and listened to classical music as we stared at the ceiling and found shapes? That was amazing. It was completely childish and a fantastica waste of time but i loved it. :D

Jacob: What else can I say? The date you took me on when we went ice skating? That was amazing. I loved it, even if i did fall and you didn't.

Brady Lee: My favorite memory of you is the one at Costco, before our 9th grade year. You were completely shocked when I ran up and hugged you and I don't think I've seen you that surprised since. We have fun :D

Basically the moral of this story is that with every person there is a story, and with every story comes a lesson to be learned. People teach me things every day, whether I want to know them or not. And I can honestly say that everyone I know has made me who I am today, and is constantly shaping my future. So thanks :D

Bonjour!

So on this wonderful Friday afternoon, I just want to tell you all that I love you extra lots. We get home in a few days and I have mixed feelings about coming home... It's time to be home though, I guess you have to live with another family for a few weeks to really appreciate how completely normal your own messed up family is.
Ok at 1 am last night we rolled in, coming home from PARIS! Paris was wonderful! It was awkward.... and quite dirty in some parts, but in the main areas it was completely wonderful. It was nice to finally be in a place where I could actually understand what in the heck people were trying to say to me. I never actually believed that all the time Mr. Reynolds spent on learning food and things was ever going to be worth it, but it totally helped. It was nice to be able to semi communicate with the people I wanted to talk to, and I'm officially a lot freaking better at reading and comprehending French. We went to all of the usual places, the Louvre (absolutely amazing. I mean it. I could spend years in there), the Eiffle Tower, the Arc de Triumph, stuff like that. After that we went to Versailles! The palace there was absolutely amazing. :D:D I'm basically too tired to know what else to write..... I'll blog again later.

Hugs and Kisses

En

Christmas Eve

So it's Christmas Eve... I don't know what to do. Everyone is so content to be here with family and friends... yet I wish I were anywhere but here. I want my family and friends. A lot. So here is a list of things i'll miss this year... I love you all.

I miss wrapping the last of the christmas presents with my mommy
I miss sitting with friends and playing in the snow before the holiday
I miss having a big formal dinner with my family
I miss playing in the snow with my cousins
I miss reading the Best Christmas Pagent Ever
I miss singing for my family
I miss getting pj's on Christmas ever
I miss the shrimp and twice baked potatoes that my family will be eating tonight
I miss making reindeer food for my cousins
I miss sitting up at my Jan's cabin by the fire
I miss driving home in the snow
I miss christmas morning and having my sister come down at 8 to get me
I miss opening presents and eating pumpkin chocolate chip bread with the Macey's christmas day parade in the back ground
I miss Grandma and Grandpa coming over for coffee to watch us open their presents
I miss christmas brunch at kari's
I miss eating orange rolls and playing with a select few christmas presents
I miss going up to Jan's to play in the snow and building snowmen
I miss calling my britta marie to see if i can come visit
I miss walking into her house and yelling MERRY CHRISTMAS NYSTULS!
I miss relaxing with friends and eating left overs
I miss watched Scrooged with my parents
I miss New Years Eve traditions with britta
I miss Mnt Dew
I miss watching New Years Rockin Eve
I miss my Britta
I miss my Hannah
I miss my Lurpey
I miss my Brady Lee
I miss my Enano
I miss my Jebby
I miss my Besto
I miss my Michael
I miss my Randi Lynn
I miss my Ty Ty
I miss my Mommy
I miss my sister
I miss my Papa
I miss my Grandparents
I miss my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins
I miss everyone... Being alone on Christmas sucks... a lot

I'm thankful for all of you and I just want you all to know that you're in my thoughts... Best wishes and happy holidays.

Jo Crippleface

Guten TaG!

hahah sooo I'm a slacker.. I know I know! SO... let's recap. ummm Brock and I flew into the airport, went through customs, blah blah blah. lame. lol it took for freaking ever! So when we got here and pulled up to the base, it was 10 am here.. where as in utah it was 2:00 am so we were freaking jet lagged. Unfortunately the best way for us to beat jet lag is to immediately adjust our sleep cycles to match the time zone which ment figuring out how brock and i were supposed to stay up until 9 p.m. this time. it was so hard! first we had to go and get military id cards so that we could get on and off of the base.. and that took FOR FREAKING EVER! then we came back and brock and i finally got to shower! huzzah! that was really nice. after ms nancy made us pho (vietnamese food in germany.. it makes sense?) haha jake, joe and adam decided to drag us downtown to the christmas market to try and keep us up. so after walking through the freezing cold, HUMID weather, we took the train downtown and walked through the booths and stuff. it was cold, everyone was really loud, there were the cutest little things, cider, lights, wonderful smells, it was so fun! it was like fairdays times a trillion!
SO the next day we got up and drove to southern germany to this small little town.. very touristy. i loved it, we stayed in this little bed and breakfast ran by this old couple, i played the piano and what not. We went out and walked around the market and had snichtzel and stuff (its actally really really really good!) i have a new favorite food... schneeballen (it means snow ball?) its yummy you dip it in hot chocolate (schoko) and its wonderful. we went through the medieval criminal museum (brady lee i thought of you the entire time and took a million pictures!) it was pretty sweet... and so the first full day past.
We got up the next morning and drove to nuschwiensien castle (its the one that disney fashioned cinderella's castle after) it was gorgeous! we toured the lower hunting lodge before taking a horse drawn carridge up the mountain to the castle. it was amazing. everything was so decorative and elaborate, though it was freezing! after we toured the castle we drove to the next little lodge.. Hauss Lilli it was run by this tiny old bavarian woman and she fed us a lot and we just kind of ran around. lol at like 11 at night brock and i were craving chocolate so we ran down the road to the gas station and were praying that the lady there spoke english. though she did, when we got back we were locked out! we set off the bells and it was just a huge mess. lol it was so funny.. me and brock.. unsupervised in germany... hahaha
Ok so today we woke up and drove to Austria to tour a little bit! The alps are wondeful! the ski lodges were so amazing and i wanted to hit the slopes sooo bad! hahahaa i'm so jealous of how much snow utah has right now, they don't have nearly as much.. maybe a foot. lammmmee. ok so after that we drove to Dachau (duckow).. it was the first concetration camp in germany. When you get to the gate you see a sign in german and it means Free Labor... the people who were sent there were told that it was a work camp, that they were taken there to make money. after i walked in my breath was immediately taken away, not in a good way. I was staring across an empty plane, there were guard towers all around and the temperature dropped as you walked in. The entire place felt evil. It felt that it was crushing your hope and draining the life just being there... it was so hard to breath. We walked around the barracks and it was horrible........ i dont know how to describe it. The entire thing was draining. the worst part was approaching the "red building" it was horrible.... i walked toward the building and my head started hurting... when i walked across the threshold my breath caught. We first walked through the room they stored dead bodies in.... next into the room with all of the ovens...... through the gas chambers.... another body room... and finally back outside. it was horrible. everyone was shaking and white as a sheet.... you walk through the rooms and you can imagine what happened and its completely sicking.... it pulls into perspective what humanity is really capable of. reading about it and seeing the actual place was completely different.
Ok so now we're finally home... I miss you all and I can't wait to get home. Happy Christmas!!! I love you all and you're always in my thoughts. Write back!

hugs and kisses,
Erin Jo