Twenty-two things about me.

One for each year plus six extra.  Eleven plus eleven*.

one.  I believe in love at first sight.

two.  I hate when my bedroom door is open.

three.  I like sentences that are short, snappy, and to the point.

four.  I love beginnings, but am terrified of endings.

five.  I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

six.  I wish on shooting stars.

seven.  I believe that everything happens for a reason.

eight.  I pretend to know more than I really do.

nine.  Rain is my favorite smell in the world.

ten.  I love things that are a bit quirky and different.

eleven.  I love words.

twelve.  I used to wonder what it would be like to be an inanimate object.

thirteen.  I am a procrastinator.

fourteen.  I love old-fashioned things.

fifteen.  I like my marshmallows golden brown, not burnt.

sixteen.  I would rather wear a dress than pants.

seventeen.  I sing 2nd alto.

eighteen.  I'm a people-watcher.

nineteen.  I love stars.

twenty.  I write with sharpies and expo markers.

twenty-one.  I don't approve of wide ruled paper.

twenty-two.  If I sleep on my hair wet it won't be dry in the morning.


Do something crazy just because you can.
And I mean like, really crazy.

Love and kisses,
Dani

*Can I wish on that?  Please bless...

It's only half past the point of no return*

I have little burns on all of my finger tips and on the tip of my tongue.  I have two new zits that weren't there when I went to bed last night and a chip on my fingernail.  I have a little hollow place inside of my heart that I'm trying to fill with love and laughter and words and hugs but it doesn't stay full.

I have scars on my skin and my soul but I also have a little smirk on my mouth because even though you won't say so, I think we might be more than friends.

I have songs stuck in my head and on my lips and on my fingers and on my toes but I think I'll keep them there.  I have brains in my head and feet in my shoes, and moonlight bleeding from out of my soul and words melting on my tongue.

I like the way they taste.

I have the touch of your hands on mine and the feel of your head on my shoulder even though you're not there anymore.  I have butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps on my arms and legs and the back of my neck.

Only they're the good kind of goosebumps.  The kind where I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

"Who'd have known
when you flash up on my phone
I no longer feel alone."


Love and kisses,
Dani

*I definitely checked my watch to figure that one out.  I may have even done a few quick calculations.  Because, you know... that's completely relevant...

You must be the reason I'm alive

You know that moment when you pass him in the hall and he stops to say hi and give you a hug, and you're grinning like a cheshire cat all the way to your next class?

Or when you have to open his locker for him because he can never open it on the first try.

Or when he walks you to 4th period everyday after lunch.

When he texts you just to ask if you're feeling okay.


When he hugs you and your head is on his chest


or when he plays with your hands.


When he shares his coke and m&ms even though you're sick and afflicted.


When he misses his bus because he's talking to you for too long, and then he sits and talks to you for a while longer even though you both have somewhere to be.

"When i'm with you
you know you make my days
so beautiful
with your different ways
you make me lighter
i'm movin with the wind"

Love and kisses,
Dani

Phrase-ology.

It's not really that I haven't had anything to say, it's just that I haven't had time to say it.  And now that I have time to say it, I'm trying to find the words to say it in.  "Phrase-ology" said the Brandon.

That seems to be my biggest problem these days.  Not what to say but how to say it.  Getting it out the right way, or even just getting it out at all.  Phrase-ology.

"I am very brave," Sheila Rae said, patting herself on the back.

I wish I was very brave.  If I were very brave I would just say exactly what I mean to say exactly when and how I mean to say it.  If I were very brave I would take a risk.  If I were very brave I would just tell him: "I really like you."  I  wouldn't be afraid.  "If I were really the person I wanted to be" said the Kristen.

With my eyes closed all I see is the skyline through the window, the moon above you, and the streets below.

Love and kisses,
Dani

"Make love or make war, Shug, but make something happen."

Don't you hate it when people finger-spell things because they don't want to say it out loud and you don't know sign language well enough to figure out what they're saying because it takes you a long time to process which letter is which and then you have to figure out what word that spells.

Yeah me too.

But don't you love it when people come talk to you without you even starting the conversation or when they hug you first or when they say something and you're the only one who gets it or when you say something and they laugh and you actually were trying to be funny .

Yeah me too.

"His face is a map of the world"

Love and kisses,
Dani

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

Oh man, I've got a secret.

Do you want to hear it?  Do you?  Do you? Do you?  Of course you do!  But if I tell you, you can't tell anyone okay?  Especially not my self okay?

Okay.

Well I might be a little bit in love.  But don't tell anyone!  Especially not my self!

It's a secret.

So, we may or may not have hung out tonight.  And we may or may not have been extreme bop-it partners.  And he may or may not have hugged me a couple times.  And he may or may not have dressed up as Clark Kent even though he was a nerd at school today.   And he may or may not have really beautiful eyes.

And by may or may not, I mean yes...

This one's for you, Maddiey.

It's been quite a while since I've posted.  It's been quite a while since I've written a letter or a journal entry.  I mean a real journal entry, not just writing down a conversation I had with somebody.  It's been a while since I've written anything really.  Anything other than FRQs and vocab words and chemistry notes.  Anything real.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure if I remember how to write.  I can move my pen across the paper and form pretty little letters.  Those letters know how to form words that march across the page and form sentences.  The sentences build paragraphs, the paragraphs fill pages, the pages fill recycling bins.  But that's not writing, not really. I could write all about what I ate for breakfast today or why my favorite number is 83 and no one would want to read it, not even me.  It doesn't mean anything to me, and if it doesn't mean anything to me, the author, how can it ever mean something to you?  Well, here I go, trying to be all cryptic instead of just telling you what I mean.

I guess maybe that's because I don't know what I mean.  But I guess I'll just write anyways, as if analyzing my writer's block will make it go away.

So this is for you, Maddiey.  It's for you, but it's also for me.  This is for me to tell you that no matter what happens, no matter if you hate my guts, I'm still here and I still love you.  I hope that counts for something.

You are golden, child.  Don't let go.

Love and kisses,
Dani

Even if it leads no where

Sometimes I really wish I could read your mind
or at least have you tell me what you're thinking about.

Sometimes I wish you would ask me
and that I would have the right answer.

And I wish that everyone always kept their promises,
especially you,

And we could go back to how it was once upon a time
when I knew how things were
and where I stood
and who we were
and I didn't worry about falling
because I thought you could catch me.

There are two types of people in this world:

Those that walk around the house brushing their teeth and those that don't.
Those that keep their room clean and those who don't.

Those who go to rooftop concerts and those who don't.

Those who are left-handed and those who aren't.  Those who buy bajillion dollar toys and those who can't.  Those who have eaten winto-green lifesavers in the dark and those who haven't.

Those who go on vacations every other weekend, those who blast music in their cars as they drive with their windows rolled down, those who faint at the sight of blood, those who blog, those who lie, cheat, steal, and plunder, those who sing, draw, dance, play, paint, act, give, feel, love...

And those who don't.

My name is Chance. Do I have one?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

Love and kisses,
Dani

Sayonara kids, I'm off to Lake Powell!


(p.s. I already know what to wish for on all those shooting stars I'm going to see!)

Give me the beat

Fact.  Usually when I read things that I've written in the past (i.e. journal entries, short stories, school papers, etc.) I am really embarrassed at how immature I am.  Especially when it's fairly recent.

Fact.  I was reading some old blog posts today, and I don't actually hate them.

Fact.  Actually I kind of like them.

I mean obviously some of them were kind of over dramatic and immature and stupid, but overall they're not that bad.

*insert abrupt subject change here*

Guess what?  I'm going to Lake Powell next week!  And I'm going with the world's cutest little boys in the whole world!

Are you jealous yet?  I sure am!

Love and kisses,
Dani

Before the gold and glimmer have been replaced

We only have 3 weeks left.  Let's make the most of it okay?

It's been a pretty good summer mostly.  I was so scared that I wouldn't like this summer as much as last, but  now I think it was better.  I like the person I am this summer better than the person I was last summer.  I like my friends.  Last summer was ward bonding summer, but this summer we've been curing our ward-itis.  I like my hair.

Unfortunately, this summer has felt so short.  I've been crazy busy, and I haven't had a chance to stop and do nothing.  But I'm determined to make the last 3 weeks of this summer the best ever.

"Another sun-soaked season fades away"

Love and kisses,

Dani

(p.s. Laura, we really need to do something.  Maybe we'll go take some pictures or something.)

 You know, I'm still waiting for this whole summer romance thing to happen

 but I'm kind of running out of time

It finally feels like summer

I woke up this morning with at least 500 new bug bites from my escapades last night. And then I just layed in bed and did nothing because I don't feel like crossing off one of the million things on my to-do list.  I listened to the Beatles and wrote like 4 pages in my journal but I'm still not caught up to the present, and now it's 11:36 and I haven't showered or done my hair or even changed out of my pajamas.

It must be summer or something.

We had terrific thunderstorm the other day.  Of course we had to run around and get soaked and drag Coleman out of his house because you can't have a thunderstorm without Coleman.  That would never work out.

Soak up some sunshine!

Love and kisses,
Dani

I think I would really like a snow cone right now.

Guess what?  I kind of really like this summer.

I kind of really like this whole doing nothing thing.  Wasting my money on snow cones and sleeping in and staying up late.  I really like going on those long walks in the park where it would have been just us if we didn't have so many people with us.  I like leaning up against someone else's car and watching the stars and talking and listening.  I like when his t-shirt brushes against my arm because we're standing that close to each other.  I like when the sun sets and lights up all of those fuzzy white things in the air.  

It just might end up being a summer to remember.

Love and kisses,

Dani

(p.s.  I learned how to do my hair like a flapper girl today)

My hair is gone.

My own planets and stars are glowing

So I saw the sunset last night and I was like "Wow! Does it always do that?"  Does it always turn all golden and sparkly when it sinks below the trees?  Has it always peeked over the mountains and shone on the lake like that?  Has it always been that beautiful?  And then I went on a walk and I was like "Wow!  Does it always feel like this in June?"  Has it always been all warm and lovely on summer nights?  Has it always been that beautiful.  And then when it got dark I saw the stars and I was like "Wow!  Do they always look like that?"  Do they always glitter like that?  Have they always looked like diamonds?  Have they always been so beautiful?

Well, you know what?  I think they have.

It's a pretty good thing that My Self and I are friends now.

Love and kisses,
Dani

Burns my feet as they touch the ground.

The clock is ticking, ticking, ticking closer to summer and I am the only one left to be excited.  I am the only one left to crave the sunshine and the grass and my long lost friend, sleep.  We haven't seen each other in quite a while.

I discovered something new this year.  After wasting so much time feeling sorry for myself and missing the past and wishing we were still there, I realized that there's nothing wrong with where I'm at.  I realized that it's fine to like Lone Peak sometimes and to maybe even enjoy being at school.  I realized that there are boys with jedi braids and boys with glasses and boys who sing and boys who recycle.  I realized that maybe some of them might even know who I am.  We could even be friends or something.  And you know what?  Maybe I even like where I am better than where I was.

Well I don't want to start feeling sorry for myself when things change.  I can change and I can make friends and I move on.

So I'm excited for a change.  I want to do something new and cut my hair and go thrift shopping and get a tan-line.  Would you care to join?

(Normally I would post some beautiful, inspirational, summer-themed pictures here, but I currently don't have access to the computer where all of my blogging pictures are stored.  Sorry, maybe next time.)

Don't be afraid to change.

Love and kisses, 
Dani


(post script:  So Brynn, I had this great idea where maybe we should meet all of these people Rocky talks about all the time and then we'll know who he's talking about...)

Of Boys and Pens (sound famililar Brynn?)

Sorry guys, I've been gone for a long time.  Well I haven't really been gone, I just haven't been blogging.  I've been too busy dancing and doing homework and going to school and eating and occasionally sleeping and going to choir things and making sure Caden doesn't think I'm avoiding him, because I'm not.

It's pretty tiring.

You know what?  I'm not really sure how to tie pens into this so I'm just going to let that one go.

Hopefully my writers block will be gone next time I write and you can have a real post.

Love and kisses,

Dani

A word of caution:

Please be completely sure that you know the meaning of a word before you use it.  There's nothing more ridiculous than someone who uses a word entirely wrong.

Go read a dictionary or something.

Or catch a chicken, take your pick.

Love and kisses,
Dani

If you were to be kidnapped, wouldn't you want to have your retainer with you?

Welcome to the planet

The palnet.  Save it people, recycle.  Maybe recycling man will come pick it up for you and you can bask in his beauty.  My brother is playing his guitar right now.  Loud as ever, does he even know how to play softly? I don't think so.  It makes me want to turn off all the lights and light some candles or maybe a fire in the fireplace.  Did I mention we have a real fireplace, not a fake one with a switch?  We could curl up in a blanket with some hot chocolate and tell secrets all night.  If there were ever a spider or something you could catch it for me so I wouldn't be scared.  I could tell you all about how I cry at night and you could let me know what you're thinking when you leave like that.  "Where do you run to escape from yourself?"  We could count the stars and when one shot across the sky I would wish for you never to leave.  I could show you how to find Orion, but you probably already know.  We could go for a walk and I wouldn't wear shoes.  My neighbors would all be asleep so they wouldn't make fun of me.  Maybe you would hold my hand.

But then maybe I would wake up and you would be gone.

Welcome back to blogger Dani.

Well, I am all registered for next year.  It was ridiculously difficult and frustrating process, but eventually I got most of the classes I wanted.  I honestly don't see the point of taking classes like financial lit. and government and citizenship when I could be taking classes I actually enjoy. 

And I hate skyward.

I also hate writers block.  I just don't have anything to write about anymore.  It's quite frustrating.

I'll just leave you with some lovely pictures.  Here you go:

Just keep swimming.

love and kisses,

Dani

(post script:  So there's this boy...)

They don't have the Bible in my school library.

Merry Happy

"Sitting in restaurants
Thought we were so grown up
But I know now that we are not the people
That we turned out to be

Chatting on the phone
Can't take back those hours
But I won't regret it
'Cause you can grow flowers
From where dirt used to be

Dancing at discos
Eating cheese on toast
Yeah, you make me merry, make me very, very happy
But you obviously, you didn't want to stick around

So I learnt from you

I can be alone, yeah,
I can watch a sunset on my own."

This is my new favorite song.  Actually it's my old favorite song, but now it's my new favorite song...

When I say sorry I pretend to be Canadian.

I  haven't posted in two weeks!  I feel terrible!

The only problem is that I still have writers block, despite the fact that the term and the second most stressful week of my life are over.

"Even on my weakest days I get a little bit stronger."   
- Sara Evans

My grades are better this term than they were last term.  Hopefully next term they'll be better.  I remembered someone's birthday.  I learned something new.  I made a goal.  I stayed awake through the General Young Women's Broadcast even though I'm very tired.  I was nice to someone.  Lots of people actually.

I'm trying to be a better person.


You're stronger than you think you are.


Love and kisses,
Dani

(post script:  Do you want to come to New York and be a street musician with me?)

It's raining out my window, and today it looks like night.

It's quite lovely actually, the way it feels and smells and breathes when it rains.

It's kind of funny how much people change, and how much they don't. Some people become complete strangers as time goes on, and others never seem to change.

I wonder, how much have I changed? I'm older and a bit wiser, but how much have I really changed? Is it that I've changed completely but underneath I'm still the same person, or that my entire self has changed but I still act the same?

I hope I've changed for the better. I hope that I've grown stronger and more kind and more empathetic. I hope I've grown more beautiful on the inside and more capable of love. I hope I'm the type of person who is more than the sum of her parts. I hope I've helped someone.

"Just because everything's changing

doesn't mean it's never

been this way before"

Don't be afraid of living.

Love and kisses,

Dani

p.s ( does someone want to explain why I can't put spaces between my paragraphs?)

Wishes

I was going to write some of my wishes but I can't remember any of them.

Isn't that strange? That I spend most of my day wishing for things that probably won't happen, but now I can't even remember what they are. I think there's a moral here:

This too shall pass and all will be well.

And not only will all be well, but you probably won't even remember why you were so upset in the first place.

I'm not very good at painting my nails.

Stay Strong.

Love and kisses,

Dani

(p.s. Ariel, do you know if Tami is having class in the summer?)

15 Random Things About Me

Thanks Laura! :)

1. I dance... a lot. I bet you never knew that.

2. I like sarcasm

3. I don't particularly enjoy texting, but sometimes I still feel bad about the lack of text messages in my inbox.

4. I secretly wish I had a stalker. Not a creepy-come-and-kidnap-me kind of stalker, but someone who thinks I'm beautiful, watches me from a distance, and reads my blog or something.
4.a. If you are stalking me, feel free to follow my blog. I won't be creeped out because I don't know you.

5. I hate winter. I could possibly hibernate if I wanted to.

6. I have always wanted red hair.

7. I like to shop.
7.a. I can't actually buy anything when I shop because I spent all of my money on competition.

8. I believe in the power of the mind over the body.

9. I would rather be dazzlingly clever than angelically good or divinely beautiful.

10. I am a very good procrastinator.

11. I am in love with a boy that dances at Center Stage.
11.a. Unfortunately I don't know his name so I can't look him up on the internet.

12. I really do like chick flicks even though I'm quite critical of them.

13. I'm not actually a vegetarian. I just don't eat meat.

14. I love and adore stars and nighttime.

15. I wish I were a bender. Probably a fire bender.

And now I tag some people? Good plan. Hmmm, how about Brynn and Maddiey. Sorry, I only want to tag 2 people, I hope that's okay.

Be nice to people. You'll have more friends that way.

Love and kisses,
Dani

post script: It's Justin Bieber's birthday tomorrow. Just in case you wanted to know that.

post post script: We don't have to go to school tomorrow. In honor of JB's birthday. Just kidding peeps, that's not why!

post post post script: But we still don't have to go!

Oh my goodness guess what I did this weekend? Guess, guess, guess(You're never going to guess)! I went to Nuvo! I know, you have no idea what that is, but that's okay. Let me tell you about it.

Nuvo is a dance convention.

You dance all day and all night, (insert short sleeping break here) then wake up very very early to compete, then dance all day and all night again. It's pretty much my very most favorite thing in the world. Especially since I got to take class from wonderful, amazing, beautiful people (um Stacey Tookey, and Travis Wall, and Sonya Tayeh)!

I know, I know, you're so jealous!

Just kidding, probably you have no idea who I'm even talking about. It's okay, they're just choreographers on So You Think You Can Dance, that's all.

Let me just say, Sonya is maybe my favorite person ever. She's just the kind of person who I wish was my best friend.

Work harder.
Laugh louder.
Sing bigger.
Dance stronger.

I love you all!

Love and kisses,
Dani

I'm great, thanks for asking.

I'm not entirely sure what to say. I could write some overly dramatic post about how I'm sick of winter and cold, but I don't really want to do that. I could write some disgustingly hopeful post about how tomorrow will be better and we need to just keep moving, but I don't really want to do that either. I could rant for a bit about things and events and people that annoy me but I definitely don't want to do that.

So I think I'll just sit here and do nothing for a while. Why don't you join me? We can just sit here in silence and enjoy each others company.














Shhhhhh!













You see? That was nice! Oh who am I kidding, you probably just scrolled right through all of that silence didn't you. That's okay. I forgive you.

I haven't been entirely sure what to do with myself today. I don't have dance, and I really don't want to do any homework. I already have my 80s costume for our New Beginnings skit and everybody is busy. It's a bit too cold to go on a walk and I've already read everyone's blogs.

So I decided I would do a bit of online shopping.

Unfortunately since I have no money, my version of online shopping is finding lots and lots of beautiful things to add to my ever-growing list of things that I want but will never buy.

WAAAAA!

Here. Take a picture. I kind of liked it.


Isn't this exciting? I'm putting the picture at the bottom of my post instead of the top!

Keep dreaming.

Love and kisses,
Dani

post script: what exactly is it that all of these people do when they're not busy? I'm so restless!