Once upon a time...

I hate chick flicks.
Nicholas Sparks? Yeah, hate him, and his books, with their pathetic movie renditions. Yes, that includes The Notebook. Oh, and the Twilight saga? Hate it. The cheeziness oozing out of every scene. You know, the boy brushing the hair out of the girls face ever so gently. The million dollar lines that every guy uses. The way everything works out for everyone...
Gag. Me.

Because let's be real. It doesn't work that way. How many girls have really been kissed in the rain? How many girls have really been fed the line, "you're my exception". (Which by the way, I would pretty much DIE if someone said that to me...) How many girls can really say that they had a prince charming sweep them off their feet and live happily ever after?
Not many. And kudos to you, if you're life is like a movie. A movie with a happy ending, that is.

But as unrealistic as they are and as disgusting as the cheezy level is...I throughly enjoy them. I get so into them too...clenching my fists, throwing pillows, yelling at the tv, and of course...bawling my eyes out. I know I'm not the only one, either.

Why?

Because every girl's life is like their own personal chick flick. Every girl watches these movies with a boy in mind. Every girl wants that happy ending. Every girl relates...somehow. Girls are analytical, it's a fact. And instead of wrapping themselves up in their own drama, they escape into the movie...which is probably why girls just love chick flicks.

I think they should make chick flicks more realistic. Take the real life situations. Take the girl who likes the boy who's away a mission for 2 years. Take the girl who can't get over the boy who treats her like crap. Take the girl that has feelings for her best friend, for the longest time, but no matter what she does, doesn't stand a chance. Or take the boy, even, that falls in love with a girl who shreds his heart and gets engaged to someone she's dated for a mere 3 months. You know what I mean. And by the way...they might not even have a happy ending. But it's real life.

Maybe I'm just feeling terribly cynical. One of my dear friends said to me, "You know what? I'm just going to meet someone in college. A gorgeous returned missionary who's rich and a musical prodigy...and he's just going to give me everything I want and we'll have beautiful children and we'll live happily ever after!" Yeah yeah yeah. That's what we're fed, even as children. Cindrella. Sleeping Beauty. Snow White. Yeah, even the Disney Princess have perfect love lives. So where's my Prince Charming? My knight in shining armor? Let's face it. As much as a girl dreams about a Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice...she's probably going to find someone much like a Kevin from 27 Dresses, aka, the douchebag who drives you crazy but you just can't get enough of. Or maybe that's just me, whatever.

The point of my story, or rant, is that chick flicks are unrealistic. Almost everyone knows that's not what real life is like...for guys and girls alike.

But you know what? I love chick flicks...and so does every other girl. Because it gives us hope. Because even if we've never been kissed by a boy we like, even if we've never been in a real relationship, even if we've been completely rejected...we keep swimming to find that other fish in the sea. Because someday it will happen, because hopefully someday, every girl will have her happy ending.

And on that note...I'm going to go watch He's Just Not That Into You.

Latress on the menjay

Ever since I moved here, some 3 years ago, I've had friends tell me that they'd come visit. "Oh my gosh, I want to come out there sometime!" ...but they never came. I mean, I don't blame them, tickets are terribly expensive, which is why I've never gone back to St. Pete myself. Anyway, when Allison told me she was going to visit, I thought, yeah of course you are.
Until she booked the flight.
Then it was for real.

So let me just summarize her stay here:

-First off, I compromised myself to babysit the Ellsworth kids. I moved into their house for about a week, drove their sweet Jeep (you can start the car by pressing a button on the key. what?!), and most importantly, took care of their 5, that's right...5...kids. We had Becca-14, Cami-13, Amy-9, Abby-6, Josh-3. They were great, no joke. Fighting was very minimal, they were very obedient, and very helpful. I think they taught me more than they realized. For instance, they taught me that I need to be financially ready for kids. One day one I took them to the movies. Then to get Coldstone. Then ordered pizza. Yeah, we spent about $80 that day. They also taught me that I need to be mentally ready for kids. One day, I woke up and found Josh upstairs by himself just singing and playing with trucks...naked. Where did his clothes go? Why on earth did he even take his clothes off? I do not know. All I know, is I'm too young to constantly be thinking for other people. I can barely keep track of my own life! But they did, however, help me realize that I can't wait to someday be a mom...I think I'd be pretty bomb at it!
...Oh, and they taught me to have respect for people with big families. Note to self: Have less than 5 kids. Kthanks.

-After the babysitting gig was over, Allison and I could do more grown up things. By grown up things I mean shopping. And by shopping I mean hitting every major mall in the area. Superstition, Fiesta, Tempe Marketplace...we hit them allllllllll. I never knew I could get sick of shopping...but I most definitely did. It was nice though, we got caught up on each others lives, I got a little taste of home. OH! She brought me the Longoria-Rays shirt that I've been dyyyyying for. We spent a lot of time listening to California Girls and whatever terrible music is constantly repeated on the radio. We hit Red Robin, where Alli experienced their glorious burgers. We hit Bahama Bucks which never lets us down. We hit QT, more than once of course, to get our caffiene on (and get headache pills, since she had this ongoing headache). On her last night, we hit Jack in the box, where the cashier couldn't believe that she'd never eaten there before. Afterwards, we took an adventure through Las Sendas. We nearly lost our voices from talking so much. We laughed hard...we went CRAY CRAY!

Anyway, it was really refreshing to have someone I grew up with come to visit. It used to get really hard for me when everyone around would talk about their junior high experiences...the memories they all had together and the crazy classes and teachers they endured. I would sit and listen, and even though their stories are interesting and entertaining, I never had any input. For once I could actually converse about my middle school experiences...the memories we had together and the crazy classes and teachers (or lack of) we endured. It was also nice that even though Alli and I hadn't talked that much, we could still get together and have such a good time...like we'd never been apart.

And for your viewing pleasure:

This is Abby. She's a diva. And she likes her boys. ;)

This is the first cherry stem I tied with my tongue. I was a little proud.

Allison was so fascinated by the amount of Jesus paraphenalia at Food City.

This is Josh. Yeah. Cutest kid of the year winner? I think so.

We went incognito when doorbell ditching/dropping off cookies.

42.

Fourty two.

That's it.

42 days until I move out. Until I enter the rest of my life. Until I call Tucson home. Until I can do whatever, whenever, where ever, with whomever I want.

Pretty daunting, eh?

But really, where did June go? Day in, and day out, I did the same thing over. And over. And over. Wake up at 8:30, watch World Cup matches for hours on end, practice the piano a bit, hit the gym, watch more Sportscenter/PTI/Around the Horn than is healthy for a girl...and then finally at 3 am, fall asleep. But as I actually sit back and look at the things I've done this month... I feel pretty accomplished! I told myself that this summer had to be memorable...after all, it's the last summer of childhood I've got.

So here's the recap of Summer '10-Month 1:

-I successfully managed to get laid off for the first time in my life. It was rather frustrating, since I was promised a job until I left for college. Even if my paychecks were meager, and the hours scarce, it was a job. It was great that Kirsten had to text me and tell me my name was scratched off, and my hours were gone...Oh well. Thanks to Tropical Smoothie, I met Alec, who's one awesome kid. Oh, and free smoothies and cookie dough were great too.

-I finally hiked A Mountain! Every time I passed Sun Devil Stadium, I told myself I'd get to the top, and I did. The first time, in the crazy heat, with Curtis...where we decided to be adventurous and not use the trail. Then from the top, we found a pool over at a resort on Mill Ave. Yeah, we snuck in, no big deal. The second time was with Alan and Zach, at night...which seriously, is one of the coolest things ever. Just sitting at the top and seeing all of the city lights...definitely goes down as one of my favorite places to be.

-...and I hiked Camelback Mountain! So prior to this hike, I'd never really hiked a mountain with any sort of challenge. Not to mention, I did a hard leg workout the day before, not one of my brightest decisons. Anyway, I'm proud to say that Curtis and I made it to the top! An eccentric fellow (who was apparentally interested in me and my hair...) at the top gave us a rundown on all of the mountains around the area, so we have an idea of what we want to conquer next. (p.s. this is basically the only picture I have so far this summer. Depressing? I think so.)

-For the longest time, I'd wanted to go to the river...and I finally did! Alan and I were mattress buddies, which was super chill...even though we got completely destroyed by the sun. I also managed to be knocked over by a current and lose my flip flops. Yeah, I'm so graceful.

-I met one of my work out goals!!! I can now squat 55 lbs on each side...and my goal was 50 by the end of the summer. I was so excited. My other goal was to do 5 pull ups...and right now I'm at 4. Which, compared to the NONE I could do before, is really sweet.

-Karissa, Tony, and I finally made a temple trip. It was short and sweet, but refreshing nonetheless. We're going to try and make it a weekly routine!

-Eclipse midnight showing. Oh my goodness. Karissa and I had far too much fun that night...laughing at the cheeziness of the movie, squirming at the passion in the movie, Claire de Lune, "soaking up our awesomeness", making fun of squealing girls, drawing parallels and connections, mean ghetto people in the parking lot...I just love that girl to pieces.

-Oh, duh, I got oriented! Daddy and I spent two days in Tucson, which was really nice, since I never see him. We made fun of boring speakers, annoying parents, and had an overall good time. My dad's the bomb.

-In honor of World Cup month...Al and I played soccer! Which really isn't a huge deal...but since I never EVER get to play anymore, any chance I get makes my day. I usually school him, but this time he pulled some slick moves that I was actually impressed by. Anyway, it was a way fun afternoon.

...and those are just some of the highlights of June. There's been tears. There's been honesty. There's been lessons learned. There's been good AND bad times. But I can't wait to see what July has in store for me!