Hello Again! (A random post about lessons that turns into cluing you into what is going on in my life lately)


It’s been so long since I’ve been on here that I actually forgot my password!

I know. I know. I said I’d post again when school started but life happens and I had more interesting things to do then sit at my computer tip-tapping away about my (non-existent) life. But. NOW. I am going to sit and tippy-tap at my computer about my life that I DO in fact have and I will not post as much as I used to. SO deal.

Oh I’m just warning you. This is coming off of watching a LOT of Jenna Marbles so I am a little hyper and like…idk Jenna Marble-ish…just warning you! 

I had a great summer and a great fall. So far. I went to some parties. I met a lot of new people. I ran cross country and became amazing at running. Well, not amazing but pretty awesome. I mean life has been awesome. I’ve learned some lessons too. 

1. Don’t give your heart away when you’re 15. Just don’t. No. You’re not going to get married. So, just don’t use the word ‘love’ unless you are talking to your friends that are girls or talking about some delicious food. Or cute animals.

2. School is important. In my family, we have a rule where we have to have all our homework done before we can go do fun things. So I just do it you know? Like easy as that. Okay I actually didn’t learn that lesson cause I already knew it. Disregard this.

3. Figure out who your real friends are. Hint: No matter how much you like them, they are not the ones who back-stab you, treat you unkindly, or ignore you. They ARE the ones who listen to your rants and then forgive you, apologize for what they did wrong without making excuses, listen to you, and are there for you when you need them.

4. Don’t do stuff on a whim. Like seriously? Whoever came up with the saying, “Follow your heart” was stupid. Don’t follow your head either. Just….get lots of advice. From a lot of different people. Of different ages.

5. You never know how people will react. If you haven’t already figured this out, I had a bit of a “relationship” through the past couple weeks. And I want to talk about it. It’s not secret anymore. But it was a big part of my life. And leaving it out would be leaving out a big part of who I have become. But the point of this lesson is that, some of the people I told about this who I thought would react in an “I told you so” fashion were actually the most sympathetic and understanding towards me. And some of the ones who I thought would care, just didn’t. So…don’t lose hope. Someone always cares.

6. Move on. Just do. And you need to find someone who will slap you upside the head and scream at you, “Move on.” But that person also has to hug you at those hard moments and tell you it’s gonna be okay. And she/he has to understand what you’re going through.

7. P!nk is awesome. Have you heard her new album? So amazing.

8. I know that I haven’t talked a lot about God on here in awhile. I actually had one of my readers talk to me about it. He said, “You know I really appreciated when you talked about God on here. Could you do that more?” And I said, “I really don’t feel like I am in a place where I could talk about how much I LOVE God and how wonderful He is and how much I am striving to live a godly life, when truthfully I’m not.” But I’m at a different place now. I don’t know. This summer was really great. I absolutely loved it. But it was hard too. A lot of self-discovery going on. And now I know myself a little better and I know what I want and being a Christian is definitely something that I want. I can’t imagine my life without Christianity a part of it. I do believe in God. I do want to please Him. I’m not perfect and you can’t always tell I am a Christian but I do love God. We are going to the most amazing church now and it really has been quite a wake-up call for me. So, I’m refocusing my life. This should be fun….

9. Injuries stink. I actually couldn’t run for the past two weeks because of a knee injury. It is serious deja vu. Ugh. Even with my stretching, I’m still side-lined. At my highest point over the cross-country season, I ran a 21:11 5k. My best time ever. And it was amazing. And today I ran for the first time in two weeks and I ran 2.6 miles. I couldn’t even run three miles. And I ran it in 21:25. I’m really trying to not let that upset me. Because I know that I am making a comeback. Oh, and the pain when I was done running those painfully slow 2 and a half miles? It was UNBEARABLE. I thought I was going to barf my knee hurt so bad. But I ran today. And that’s something! 🙂 And I love cross country. I am so sad it’s over.

10. Friends are awesome. Guys. Friends are so important. I am so thankful for my friends. They are so good to me. I know I’m hyperactive. I know I talk a lot. I know that I can be sooo annoying. I know I can get a little obsessive. But they stick it out. Cause they love me. And knowing that is just really…sometimes the only thing I’m living for. I’m not in any way suicidal but, everyone has those days where they’re like, “What am I even doing? I should just run away and start over!” But I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave my friends. This includes my family. Cause even though they’re annoying, my brothers are so sweet and fun. And even though she yells at me for not doing the laundry, my sister is the one who is up at one in the morning making me laugh after a really. bad. day. And my parents, even though they annoy me sometimes, are really pretty great. So guys, find friends who love you and who will always believe the best of you and who will take you for who you are. And if you need someone to talk to, I’m here. Cause I know how important it is to have someone there to listen to you.

11. Contrary to popular belief, sleep actually DOES make the world go round. Those people who stay up till like three in the morning and then get up at six? Or those people who pull all-nighters? i have no idea what is wrong with them. I need my sleep. Which is why I will end my very random post now even though I could continue. Cause I need to go to bed. And I still have reading to do….

hmmmmm. why am i writing a blog post? oh yeah cause I’m sick of school…

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Life Goes On


I have some exciting news.

I doubt that it will excite you as much as it excited me but whatever.

Tomorrow morning is my first cross country practice! Finally!

It actually is kind of crazy because we just signed my papers today and tomorrow is the first official preseason practice. So that was fast. Adding on to the craziness is that between practice and my job (which I have yet to tell you about I think), I have exactly 15 minutes to shower, dress, and eat breakfast. I’m going to be downsizing on my shower time apparently…

But I am not complaining. i’m so glad that it’s finally starting so I can get a legitimate running schedule going. Yesterday I ran 3.1 miles at a 7:31 pace. I was very proud of myself. That is an improvement from my last run by over 10 seconds per mile. Pretty impressive for a girl who was on vacation all weekend. Vacation not only from my normal life but also from my normal eating routine. If you catch my drift. Late night and early morning Oreos (and more) if you don’t catch my drift.

Okay, have we all caught the drift?

Good.

Anyways, I’m glad to finally get a routine going. And I’m excited about doing something new. And meeting new people. And improving on my running skills. I’m thinking it’s going to be a good experience. Can you tell?

I’m very optimistic about the whole ordeal.

Ordeal being cross country and Ordeal being life.

But right now we’re talking about cross country.

 

Okay, now we’re talking about life.

My pool job ended on Friday. However, I got a totally fantastic babysitting job for the next two and a half weeks! I babysit one adorable girl for 7 hours every day. So far, I haven’t done a full day cause she only needed me for two hours yesterday and five hours today but tomorrow will be a full day. Guys, this is the best job in the world. I’m in charge of the house for seven hours. It’s like the ultimate responsibility. And I love it. And the girl is so sweet and adorable and in love with me, which is always an added plus!

Life is good.

You know, I have been running for almost three years now! And I was thinking about how far I’ve come since then! When I started, a mile was considered a good run and I could barely run for longer than ten minutes before stopping for a breather. Three years later, I’ve run a half marathon and am significantly faster than when I started.

Points for perseverance!

 

 

Fancy Feet!!!!


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You all haven’t seen this beautiful face in awhile!:)

Whoa! Wait a minute!! What is that?? Let’s zoom in a little bit:

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Oh.My. Gosh! Well well well! You will never guess who is the proud owner of these spiffy shoes!

Well if you guessed me you were right!:)

Remember how I used to say that you don’t need fancy shoes to run? Well, I take that back! Okay, maybe you don’t need  them but you should DEFINITELY want them!!

A couple weeks ago I noticed that my blister level was significantly increasing and all good runners know that means its time for new shoes. So yesterday Dad took me for new shoes!

Gray and fluorescent pink and bright white Adidas shoes? And they’re brand new? And they’re comfortable? Sign me up! 🙂 They cost 70 bucks and are already worth every cent!! I now understand why people love buying new running shoes! My last shoes were awesome cause they were so well-used. I know that sounds weird but really I loved them because they were dirty and worn-out! It reminded me how devoted I am! 🙂 And it made me happy! These shoes are brand new, they are brightly colored, they are clean. But they don’t need to be dirty because as I run past they flash,”Look at me! I’m a devoted runner!!” Sorry.I’m a little in love right now!:)

I went for a run today (in my new shoes!)! It was such an amazing run!! My feet flew along! I took part of an old path and then curved off to a different part I had never run on before. It was amazing! I ran five miles and PR’d 3 times! I PR’d at three miles with a time of 21:30 and then again at the four-mile mark with something like 29:00 and then AGAIN at the five mile mark with approximately 37:50. Say what? And I actually thought I would have a bad run! But no. That was not a bad run! In fact, it was an amazing run and I haven’t had that good of a run in a long time!

Of course, all glory goes to God. He gives me my strength and endurance. He gives us the money for new shoes. He lets me live in a safe town, where I am free to run. He gives us beautiful weather. He’s awesome! 🙂

What have you been up to?

One last thing. You all should get a dailymile if you’re a runner! It’s an awesome way to track your mileage!:) And if you get it, friend me! 🙂 I think there’s a widget to my page on this blog! 🙂

I <3 To Run


Today I ran four miles. 

It wasn’t my best time or anything but I really enjoyed it. I was only planning on running three miles because I felt tired and unmotivated to run. But once my feet hit the pavement, I just kept going. I did a new course today. I started out on the trail that goes by our house but then curved off onto the college campus and then ran though areas of my town that I hadn’t really run through before! 🙂 It was really enjoyable.

See, I map out these runs online or in my head or whatever and then I run them over and over again. Then I get bored of running because I am seeing the same sights over and over again. So I decide to switch it up and start a new route but then it ends up just being a variation of the same route. Like instead of running the route in one direction, I’ll start from the opposite direction. Kinda lame.

Today when I started out I thought I would just do a three-mile run on the trail. But then I thought it would be fun to run through campus so I cut through there. Then I ended up on roads I have run on before and ran around on all the twisty scenic roads of our little suburb. I could have stopped at three but I kept on going and I’m really glad I did. It was a really great run even if I got tired and kinda slow (although I stayed at a sub-8 mile the entire run) and it was one of those runs that made me remember why I love running so much.

Just amazing. 

It was really hot out too. Or maybe I was just exerting myself more than usual? Who cares anyways? John says no one cares. 

So, pretty needless to say: I had an amazing day! 

Was your day awesome too?

I’m on a happy rush


It’s so awesome right now!

Actually all day has been awesome!

It has been sunny and warm (80 degrees) all day long! And then right at dinner time, the clouds starting coming in. Now it is windy and the rain is just starting to come down. It’s a summer storm and those are by far the best!!! It smells magnificent and it’s SO pretty out there!

Anyways, because of the lovely sunny weather that we had all day, John and I decided to go on a bike ride. Well, actually, I decided I wanted to go on a bike ride and that I wanted John to come with! John is a good sport to put up with my demands! 

Anyways, we ended up biking roughly 15 miles (it might have been more) and it was awesome. I am not usually an amazing biker but I guess due to my running my legs have gotten stronger, so I just kept going and going. John does not like to bike. Well, he doesn’t like to bike the “Claire” way. The “Claire” way is “I’m going so fast I can literally feel the fat melting off of me”. That’s exercise. The “John” way is “Let’s leisurely take our time pedaling down the path, one hand on the handlebars, the other holding an Arnold Palmer”. 

So I ended up having to stop and wait for him a couple times but mostly he just lagged behind and then caught up right before I got out of sight. I brought my camera and was going to take pictures but that didn’t happen…

So in your brain, imagine me, in my zebra shorts, Adidas sleeveless shirt, and big sunglasses, flying along the path, and then a dot in the distance. The dot would be John. JUST KIDDING. He wasn’t that far behind. Usually. 😉

But it was really fun. I came home and felt really fit. Like I was saying yesterday, whenever I work out I always feel in shape and I think that a 15-mile bike ride counts as exercise! 🙂 Even at John-speed, which I went faster than… so we both got a workout.

So have any of you had coconut water? It’s super amazing for you. It has more potassium than bananas and is super hydrating. I don’t think I like it though. It tastes kinda weird. Like it’s really refreshing but it’s weirdly sweet-salty. It’s annoying to me that I don’t like it because I want to like it cause it’s so good for me, but I just don’t like it. Maybe it’s like an acquired taste or something that I will grow to like? My mom buys this carbonated water called La Vie and I used to hate it cause it tastes like carbonated water, no flavorings, and it tastes weird. But after awhile, I started to like it. I still don’t like it that much, but it’s pretty refreshing and I don’t SHUDDER when I drink it so I guess I’ve made some progress! 🙂

Tomorrow is my last online class. I feel kinda bitter-sweet about this. The good news is that that is one more class that I am done with for the year (i.e. summer is one class closer) and also since it’s over that means I no longer have to get up at 6:45 but can sleep away to my heart’s content. The bad news is that it’s over and I have really enjoyed it. My teacher is really creative and fun and puts her whole heart into the class and all my classmates are nice. So, it’s been a really enjoyable year (even though it meant getting up early!!) and I am going to miss it. 

But next year is bound to be awesome too.

That’s the great thing about being optimistic!! Things tend to be always awesome if not constantly awesome-r. 🙂 Have I mentioned that I love my life? I think I have. I feel like you may have picked up that vibe from my blog. Actually, I’ve been pretty crabby on here. But generally I’m a bouncing-off-the-walls, slap-happy chica! 🙂 And that shows more at this time of year for reasons such as SUMMER and FREEDOM and WARM WEATHER and NO SLEEP DEPRIVATION. And SWIMMING and TANNING. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. I’m so glad that He decided to create summer!!!! Now, year-round would have been nice…but I guess beggars can’t be choosers here in Illinois. 🙂 

82 degrees? Makes me happy. 

I love summer. I love life. I love sleeping in. I love not freezing my butt off. 

Oh happy day.

I’m Done!!! (Kinda)


I guess the end- of- the- year rush has caught up to me because it’s been almost a week since I’ve last posted! *gasp* 

Several times this week I have thought about posting but…basically all I did this week was study, study, study! And that, I can assure you, does not make for an interesting blog post, unless you are interested in  convergent evolution and allopatric speciation because that is basically what I have been learning about. Well, I am guessing my post would have been “AP Biology in 500 words” or “I hate the world” cause that’s pretty much been my basic feelings. That’s how I feel when I’m tired and stressed. But, this morning I took my AP test and praise the Lord I am FINALLY finished with AP weeks!!! I have a week and a half of school left! And I am happy!

I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day! It was beautiful here yesterday!! It really feels like summer which can only add to the great mood that I am in right now! It’s like 79 degrees and sunny and warm! 

Today I got to babysit for four hours which was awesome cause I haven’t gotten to babysit in awhile! We went on a bike ride and then we had a water fight and it was really fun! 🙂 Then after dinner I went on a run! Now, it’s common knowledge (inside my brain anyways) that when I’m tired I don’t run well. On Friday, I ran five miles but it was very tiring and I was slow. So today I ran three miles and it was a beautiful run. I really enjoy my evening runs because everyone is out and about and it’s sunny and I’m relaxed. Anyways, so I have decided that every single run that I have is enjoyable. I always feel better after my runs. Always. Tired, yes. But always better. So, then, each one is worth it! It’s always worth it to move yourself even if it’s only a mile!  But of course, I am saying this on a good running day so I’m not sure how reliable my “Every run is a good run” spiel actually is! 🙂

I still need lots of sleep but tomorrow I have NOTHING!! Except for like 15 minutes of school so I plan to sleep! And sleep and sleep! It’s okay, you can be jealous! 😉 Have I mentioned that I love summer? I think that I have.

Anyways, because I JUST today finished my “studying days” and have just today OFFICIALLY “emerged from the cave” (aka come out of my room from hard-core studying for two and a half weeks), I don’t actually have that much to say. Yet. But I will. I will. 

I’m opinionated and I know it. I know that an opinion that I want to share will strike soon enough! And then I will be back! 🙂

What have you all been up to lately?

AP RecAP


I am super happy right now.

That could be the congratulations caffeine talking…but I don’t think it is because everything just went amazingly! I got a good sleep last night. Actually a better sleep than I’ve gotten in a long time! Absolutely uninterrupted, I went to bed at the record-breaking time of 10!! And got up at 6:28 ( 2 minutes before my alarm went off!!! 😉 ) Anyways, I woke up this morning and wasn’t nervous at all! A sweet email from my amazing friend Meri, was the cherry on top! 🙂

Im praying for you on your AP test! You’re th smartest 9th grader i no! And my best friend! I love you and know that what ever score you get wotnt chagen ANYTHING and ill think you’re amazing for trying your best!!!!!!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
God Help Claire to do Great on her AP! You’ve blessed her with an amazing mind and awesome skills to get a great score on the ACT! Please help her and strengthen her! THank you Lord for giving her the opportunity to be her and to take the AP test, AND to be my BEst Friend! You graced me with finding her! THank you for everything, and just bless hermind and help her to get the best possible grade she can get!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.
I am so thankful that I checked my email right before I left because this really just made me the happiest girl in the world! 🙂
The test itself passed uneventfully. I felt a lot better prepared this year than last year and I feel like the whole thing overall went pretty amazing. I know that’s not always a good sign, but it’s not just a feeling, like I can think back to what I wrote and answers I chose and feel really confident about it. Our writing prompts were really fun also!  🙂 They were about topics that we had learnt about so that was a nice surprise. The speaking part went a LOT better than I had hoped!! There are two parts to speaking. We have a simulated conversation and then also we have to give a 2-minute oral presentation. I usually fail at the conversation but I did pretty good I think and my oral presentation went alright even though I ran out of time… Mom said, “Are you kidding me?! It’s great that you ran out of time! That just means that you had so much to say that you didn’t have enough time!!” I go, “Is it still amazing if for the first 20 seconds I stuttered and “um”-ed until I finally got into my groove??” She started laughing! 😛
Anyways I just want to say thank you SO much to everyone who prayed! I really felt so blessed by all of you who promised to pray for me, by your sweet words of encouragements and your good wishes! 🙂 I truly do not think at this point, that anything could have gone better! So thank you thank you thank you! And Thank You God for helping me so much!!!!!!
For those of you who have/are subscribed to my blog and got the “un-edited” version of this post: So sorry for the mistake on my ACT scores!!!

Lo Bueno y Lo Malo


Yesterday I ran three miles. It was the most beautiful run I’ve had in a LONG time! I didn’t think about time or even RUNNING. I just ran and thought about other things. And listened to my music. I felt really really good after that run!! It was an evening run also. I’m starting to like those more and more which is probably good because I think we are in for ONE HOT SUMMER! One of the other great things about that run was that even though I just ran for the fun of it I ran a lot faster than I’ve run in awhile without exerting tons of effort. No, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stay at that pace for another mile or two but it was a lovely run. 

Then I didn’t sleep all night. Well that’s an exaggeration. I did sleep. But it was restless. I woke up at least   four times. As a result I have been less than lively today. A little tired. A little drowsy. A LOT nervous!!! Tomorrow at 7:30 when normal people are going about their normal lives I will be at the local high school preparing to take the Spanish AP exam. For the second time. I took it last year and did very poorly. This year I am MUCH better at everything in general, but I have a better understanding of the language and the grammar structures as well as another whole year of vocabulary under my belt. But I’m still nervous. Really nervous.

I was okay this morning. Abby went to take her AP Psychology test and I was like, “You’ll do great Abby! Don’t be nervous! You’ll be fine!!” I did my school and I ate my lunch and then at about three, the realization hit. Tomorrow I am taking the test. The evil test that I failed last year. I’m petrified. Actually right now talking about it, I am having a lot of fun being super dramatic and such but I am just going to say that I have absolutely ZERO good memories from taking the AP last year so I’m not exactly happily hopping out of the house to go take it again. I’m not like nonchalantly wandering into the halls of the high school to take the test. I am against-my-will slowly plodding there.

Part of me wants it to never come and part of me wants it to be OVER! 

Please please pray! Thank you! 🙂

Happy Birthday Peter! (for real this time)


Well, I don’t really know what to say.

I haven’t really had a day that would interest you all.

It was fun for ME no doubt but I don’t think you all would care to hear about my tanning, studying, and half-price frappucinos (it’s the underage equivalent of happy hour!)!!

So what shall I say?

I have this paper that I got from a writing class a while ago titled, “What to Write About When You Can’t Think of What to Write” Okay, it’s actually called “Writing Ideas”. But I think my title is more creative. Now, I know that paper is on my desk but I know that even if I did get up and go downstairs to my desk, I probably wouldn’t be able to find it because my desk is a pile of books and papers and random instruments… which means that probably right now I should be cleaning my desk instead of writing this but MOVING ON! 😀

The only writing ideas I can remember, off the top of my head, from that paper is “voice an opinion” which I already do quite enough of so I might as well give you all a break from that (just kidding, I’ve already voiced my opinion at least once in this post! Can you find WHERE?) and the other one I remember is “give a review” but I can’t really think of anything I’d like to review for you all. Well, I suppose I could review one of my favorite movies or a good song but I’m not going to.

I think I will talk about Peter since tomorrow is his BIRTHDAY!! I realize in my last post that I didn’t really clarify that! He is a cutie! He is very optimistic and mature and fun to be with. I love that kid to death. He’s a little crazy right now because he is very excited about tomorrow!! We are having chocolate croissants for breakfast (I can think of another person who is excited about that!! 😉 ) and he is getting lots of presents such as a NEW bike, which is a rarity for the 5th child/3rd boy! I actually am going to talk about going to get frappucinos because it has to do with him! You see I took him to get coffee because for a long time I had been promising to take him and today seemed like a good day to do it, what with it being his birthday eve and all! 🙂

He got a caramel frappucino and happily drank it in under three minutes which is actually faster than I can and I always drain my coffee in five minutes at the most!! So I guess we have some similar genes!! 😉 

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Smile for the camera? Nonsense!! He had coffee to drink! 😀 Decaf, by the way!! I’m a responsible person and I realize that even very mature and calm 8-almost-9-year-old’s don’t do very well on caffeine!!

I love you Petie!! And I hope that your 9th year is even better than your 8th year has been!!!!