Changes (maybe) Coming to this Blog!

Caught your attention, didn't it? Welcome back to the blog, and I know y'all probably won't be reading this on January 31st, am I right?


Well, I realized that my random truth today wasn't very good; it just made me sound quirky and weird (which is quite true, actually), and kind of boring (which anyone who knows me personally can tell you, I am definitely not). The reason for this is: I THINK I'M RUNNING OUT OF THINGS TO SAY ABOUT MYSELF. Honestly, I'm just an average Jane: I haven't met any celebrities, never cheated death, and I don't think I've done anything particularly influential to this world. So...I don't know what to do anymore. To be honest, I'm kind of getting bored with writing the random truths every day. I need something new, something fresh and exciting! I can search for another 30 day challenge, but maybe this time it'll be a photos-with-descriptions-only one or something. 


If you have any suggestions please feel free to contact me (if you have my information, of course)! My readers have dropped way low, only a few people in Russia are reading now and last time I checked, only 79 or so Americans were reading. 


Have a great night, y'all!


Love from your faithful blogger and (David's girl)friend,
Meridith

Random Truth January 31st 2012

Surprisingly, I am able to function as a normal human being on only 6 hours of sleep today. Usually I require at least 8, but I'm good today for some reason.

Anyway, my random fact about me today is that I like to draw cartoon-ish characters with my fingers in the steam on my bathroom mirror. I don't know why I draw (everything I draw in pencil looks terrible, just like when I sing the world covers its ears in pain), but I do it anyway. So yeah. 

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Love from your faithful blogger and (David's girl)friend,

Meridith

Random Truth January 30th 2012

I don't really have a favorite food - I like pretty much anything, excluding parts of an animal that are not intended for consumption. I've eaten calamari, sushi, carnitas, and for a while I've tried to convince my parents to let me try tofu just for the sake of trying it. I am a foodie, to say the least. When Central Market has those food festivals, I try to go to as many as possible. Also, I'm a big fan of endorphin rushes - my dad makes this super-hot chili in the winter and once, when he made his hottest batch ever, everyone else was nibbling at it but I would've licked my bowl clean if it wasn't improper. I was ten. When a person eats something really hot, their taste buds send out signals to the rest of the body that tell it it's under attack, so it releases endorphins to ease the pain, and it gives you this feel-good sensation. I love it!


Have a wonderful week!!


Love from your faithful blogger and (David's girl)friend,
Meridith

Random Truth January 29th 2012

I learned how to shoot with a pistol yesterday! An actual 38-special PISTOL. Like a handgun. I was so surprised when Dad asked me if I wanted to go shooting with my brother and him, but I'm glad I did. I had so much fun! At first, the noises from all the guns was startling, but I got used to it. I was also afraid that upon shooting, the discarded shell would hit me in the face, but of course it didn't - that's why you hold the gun out at arm's length. Twice, I got really close to hitting a bulls-eye: the first time, it was in that first circle, the second time, it was actually on the mark. I felt really safe at the range - the officials there were very professional and kept a good eye on things. 


Love from your faithful blogger and (David's girl)friend,
Meridith 

Random Truth January 28th 2012

Now, even athletically inactive, I weigh less than I did back when I played lacrosse. How is that possible?

That's the truth. I know it was boring. But shut up and enjoy the cold, hard truth! 

Love from your faithful blogger and (David's girl)friend,

Meridith

Random Truth January 27th 2012

Today is a very special day at my school - it's our foundress Saint Angela Merici's feast day! Well, actually, she herself didn't found our school, but she founded the order of nuns who then in turn founded our school back in 1874. But that, my friends, is not what my RT is about, nope! It's about Justin Bieber.


For the majority of my life, I have disliked Justin and his music, though I do have some of his first songs on my iPod (note to self: delete those...he sounds like a girl in them). I probably would have stayed like this, if I hadn't asked my friend Hannah to let me watch his movie "Never Say Never" with her. I didn't want to be a complete Justin Bieber hater; I'm sure he's a nice person and I think it's adorable that he and Selena Gomez are dating, so I wanted to give him a chance. Well, after the movie ended I was pretty much exactly like the girls at my school I had greatly disliked just because of their constant screaming "OMG I LOVE JUSTIN BIEBER" and all...that lasted for about a month and even I realized how foolish I was being. Now, a year after my "conversion," I've finally realized that his "music" isn't really music at all. He just sings on and on about girls (well, except for "Pray." That song, I have to admit, is pretty good.) and adds lots of embellishments to make the song longer. 


My boyfriend does hate Justin - for a while, I've tried to make him at least give the guy a chance, but he won't budge. I was finally going to make him watch the movie that had changed me, but now he doesn't have to. 


Love from your faithful blogger and (David's girl)friend,
Meridith

Random Truth January 26th 2012

I love to sing, even though I know I'm not good at all. The only songs I'm remotely okay at are by Sara Bareilles and that song "Jar of Hearts", and even then I'm pretty terrible. The piano is my voice, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I just wish I could sing like my friend Catherine (by the way, check out her blog Music of our Lives when you get the chance). She literally has one of the best voices I've ever heard!


Love from your faithful blogger and (David's girl)friend,
Meridith

Random Truth January 25th 2012

I need to blog about something very important to me - yes, it's about abortion. And Girl Scout cookies. Believe it or not, the Girl Scouts are somewhat affiliated with Planned Parenthood; they've had different conferences over the years and one Girl Scout employee was fired for wearing a "Pray Against Abortion" shirt. She was first ordered to turn it inside-out, but when she refused they fired her on the spot. I was a Girl Scout until 5th grade, when my troop fell apart after we got our Bronze Awards and had bridged. I never knew that our organization partnered with Planned Parenthood, but I'm deeply hurt to find out. 


This was first brought to my attention via a Facebook page, Live Action, that I regularly check for pro-life updates. Being that this is Girl Scout cookie season, we all know that adorable uniform-clad tots will be on our doorsteps soon asking if we'd like to buy some, using their big puppy-dog eyes to lure us in and make us order 30 boxes of Thin Mints. RESIST THIS YEAR. The Girl Scouts' prime source of funds is from cookie sales. I know, I know: it's going to be very hard for me, too - I have a big love of Caramel deLites (or Samoas, whatever they're called now) and frozen Thin Mints. But you have to take in the fact that by not giving GS any money this year, in turn you are not paying Planned Parenthood, either, thereby indirectly saving many unborn babies' lives. Think about it.


Love from your faithful blogger and (girl)friend,
Meridith

So maybe I was overreacting....

Hey guys, I need to make an apology. When I wrote today's RT, I really was stressing out, but maybe I shouldn't have gotten so worked up about it. I have a tendency to make mountains out of molehills, you know, inflating several small sources of anxiety into one big one. So, I'm sorry for getting worked up and complaining about it. I love you all and it means so much to me that you take time to read this! 


Love from your faithful blogger and (girl)friend,
Meridith


P.S. I just realized - I haven't missed writing a single Random Truth this year! Way to go me! Not to toot my own horn, of course.

Random Truth January 24th 2012

I really don't like stress. Or when people misspell my name, which occurs often because of its uniqueness. But mostly stress is what's bugging me currently: I have an English quiz tomorrow, a Biology test, 2 paragraphs about Telemachus's qualitative journey throughout the beginning of The Odyssey due tomorrow, and who knows what else. I'm probably forgetting something. But I'm literally freaking out now because I don't feel like I'm doing my best in school and my parents are not paying $17,000 a year just for me to procrastinate, which happens when I stress out, causing more stress. And, I don't get home from school until around 5:15, even though school ends at 3:45. So when I do get home, I have to get my homework knocked out, eat dinner, shower, go to bed, and wake up at 5:45 the next morning. IT'S MADNESS! I'm sorry if I sound like a whiny, bratty kid: "Oh, I get to go to one of the most wonderful academies in the nation and yet my life is sooooo tragic." but please excuse me as I am mainly using this post to vent today.

Love from your faithful blogger and (girl)friend,
Meridith 

Random Truth January 23rd 2012

Today marks my boyfriend's and my one-month anniversary! I'm so glad we've stayed together this long, and hope we'll be together for much, much longer. Okay, enough with the sappy stuff, on to the random truth.

The French have this term and I wish we had an English term that means the same thing: l'esprit d'escalier, literally meaning "the spirit of the stairs." Have you ever been in a conversation where someone tells you something you need to reply to (kind of but not necessarily a comeback), but you can't think of anything, and then after the conversation ends it finally hits you? That's what l'esprit d'escalier is. I have a lot of experiences with this evil "spirit," and I'm afraid I seem insensitive when I can't think of anything clever yet nice to reply with.  Hopefully I will overcome it soon!

Love from your faithful blogger and (girl)friend,
Meridith

Random Truth January 22nd 2012

My pug puppy Sassy is so adorable. I've had her for almost three years now. When we first got her, she was tiny. See, she was the runt of her litter - I could cradle her in both of my hands. We called her Littlebit for a while because we couldn't think of anything else, and it fit well. We'd watch her do crazy puppy things and someone would say, "She's just a little bit ____" (crazy, silly, hungry, etc). She'd also bark at anything and everything, so when it was time to get her microchipped and the nurse asked what her name was, Mom told her it was Sassy. I wanted to call her Stellaluna (after the book about the fruit bat) because she looked like her when her ears were perked up. And, we had this recurring theme about pug names that we would name our dogs after animals in literature (Petula is from the Molly Moon series, Bucky and Satchel are both from the comic strip Get Fuzzy) so the name Stellaluna would work splendidly. But no, Sassy is as Sassy does. Now, the once-itty-bitty pug is now pretty big and fat, as all our dogs are. 

Love from your faithful blogger and friend (girlfriend for when David reads this),

Meridith

Random Truth January 21st 2012

When I was little, like in kindergarten or so, I used to be a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Hamtaro, and stuff like that. I think it was mainly because as a little sister, I was sort of a shadow to my brother, always following him around and bugging him. We'd play pretend that we were Pokemon trainers (I was always Misty because I thought she was awesome) and have Yu-Gi-Oh trading card battles. We'd use our family's ever-growing supply of hand puppets and stuffed animals as different Pokemon (the squirrel puppet was usually Squirtle).

Random Truth January 20th 2012

I'm not sure if I've posted about this before and I'm too lazy to check, so if I have I'm sorry. I don't think I have though...

I have arachnophobia. I'm  really scared of spiders, and almost any bug for that matter. But for some reason, it's not so bad when I'm camping or something, where I actually have to be in the bug or spider's habitat. I respect that they were there before me, but I hate it when there are bugs in my house. I guess maybe it's not that severe, but I do freak out when I see a bug (besides a ladybug or a butterfly or something like that).

Random Truth January 19th 2012

I sometimes compose music for the piano. I've only actually written two songs, but my dad sent my uncle (the same one who lives in Oregon) who is a music professor a clip of me playing my first one and he said it was pretty impressive. I'm not sure if he's saying that just because he's my uncle or whatever. I found my manuscript copy of it a couple of weeks ago and I can't stop playing it. I'm thinking of transposing it to a different key, changing the chords and whatnot, applying what I've learned since the time it was written.

Hope your Thursday is going well, everyone! I'm in study hall right now. And if you're stressed out by work or whatever, just remember the weekend is almost here!

Love from your faithful blogger and friend (also girlfriend if my boyfriend is reading this like he always does),
Meridith

Random Truth January 18th 2012

Almost every day I go on to www.love.givesmehope.com because the stories there inspire me. Some make me cry because they're so tender, but most fill my heart with hope that there can be love even in the most corrupt of societies.

I just got an email from Mr. Patrick - I didn't get any role in the play. Only 3 female roles are in this play, and many more girls than boys auditioned. Now I know why my school has two brother schools - I'll audition for the other school's play tomorrow.

Random Truth January 17 2012

I went to the same school from PK4 to 8th grade. They only offer enrollment from PK3 to 8th grade, so the eighth graders are considered the "graduating" class since they're the oldest. On May 26th 2011, I finally graduated, along with 61 of my classmates. We were given gowns to keep and the faculty held a Mass as part of our graduation ceremony. The entire process seemed so surreal - the only real life, real friends I'd ever known were from this school and we were all headed to different high schools in the fall. At the same time, it didn't really sink in that my friends and I would never again have a gut-busting hilarious conversation in homeroom, Catherine and Andrew (and occasionally myself) wouldn't be able anymore to bug ever-patient Hannah with math homework questions right before class - all of that would be gone in a matter of minutes. I admit, I did tear up a little when my row stood to receive our diplomas; yes, my school even gave each of us a diploma, which um - well...I think I may have left at the reception by accident. 

I am so forever grateful to the teachers who watched me grow and mature as a child of God; from Mrs. Marsh to Mrs. Krieger each one of them has left a special imprint on my heart and they have all shaped me in to this girl I am today. If you are reading this, any of my teachers from Saint EAS, thank you. 

Random Truth January 16 2012

I KEEP TYPING 2011. Why?!

I still haven't gotten an email from Mr. Patrick (the play's director) yet about callbacks......I'm scared. He said that if you don't get an email, it doesn't mean you're not in the play, just that "he's seen what he needs to see and you don't need a callback." So yeah. If I don't hear back from him by spring break I think it's a safe bet that I won't be in the play.

Random Truth January 15th 2012

I cannot wait for the day I get my driver's license!!

Random Truth January 14th 2012

We are all sinners, but God loves us the same as He loves all of His children. THAT IS AMAZING. Think about it; would you be able to love someone unconditionally, even though they continually broke your heart and scorned you? We do this every day to God, and He still hasn't - He won't ever - say to us, "Okay. You've crossed the line way too far. I'm gone." and send us all to the eternal punishment we deserve.

I felt the need to write that. It happens sometimes when I'm listening to Christian music...I guess it just inspires me. Or maybe it's something more than that?

Anyway, the random truth I wanted to post was about performing arts. I auditioned for one of my school's brother school's spring play, The Adventures of Scapino. All but one group had the same script: the scene between Ottavio and Giacinta. I was Giacinta, and it was a really fun scene to perform because it was emotional - Ottavio's father wants him to marry someone else, but he and Giacinta are lovers. I got to fake-cry, which I am pretty good at. Anyway, call-backs are on Wednesday so I should find out if I got called back Monday at the latest. Even if I didn't get called back, auditions were fun and I made a lot of new friends. 

Random Truth January 13, 2012

It's Friday the 13th! Whoa, scary. Just kidding, I don't believe in stuff like that. More importantly, it's my boyfriend's and my 3rd-week anniversary!

So when I was little (maybe around three or four), my family and I went to some place far from home for lunch. Details are fuzzy, but I do remember that they had those little quarter vending machines, and in one of them there was the coolest toy alien I'd ever seen. It was clearly feminine, with a big pink bow on its head, which pretty much made me want it SO BAD. And I begged and pleaded with my parents to let me get it, but they kept saying no, and eventually we left without my alien. Being a small, bratty child, I threw a gigantic temper tantrum until they turned the car around, went into the restaurant, and bought it. I still have this same alien from so long ago. Maybe some day I'll post a picture of it.

Have a great Friday!

Love,

Meridith

Random Truth January 12 2012

I LOVE RAINBOW CUPCAKES. 'NOUGH SAID. It's a wonderful experience to eat rainbow cupcakes!

Random Truth January 11 2012

The summer when I was 10, my family and I went to Oregon (I think I've mentioned this before) to visit my uncle. A couple of nights of our trip, we stayed at this game preserve in Eastern Oregon, called Great Expectations. They had a John Deere Gator vehicle-type thing, and anyone can drive them. My brother taught me how to drive it, and one time during this trip my dad, uncle, and brother went shooting at the range there (they didn't actually shoot animals, just clay targets). I convinced my mom to let me drive so we could pick them up. Now, Eastern Oregon is FILLED with mountains and cliffs and whatnot, so it was a downhill drive from the range to the house we were staying at. So, everyone loaded on to the Gator and we headed back. The gearshift was really hard to maneuver, so my mom had to operate it for me. She told me it was in drive, but really it was in neutral so we were just rolling down the hillside but it felt like I was driving. I noticed that the engine was making a weird sound (as it wasn't actually working at all), and as we gained momentum I started freaking out. I finally had to slam on the brakes! Needless to say, I wasn't very happy with Mom. Everyone was safe in the end, but it was still really scary.

Random Truth January 10 2012

I would like to make this Random Truth a very spiritual one. I need to make something clear to all of you who believe that Catholics idolize other people besides God and Jesus.

First of all, we do NOT worship Mary. We honor her because she bore and reared our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ incarnate. As the perfect child of God, we can only assume that Jesus followed all the Jewish rules, including the Ten Commandments. One of these commandments, of course, is "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother." So, Jesus loved Mary and honored her, and if we want to live a life like Jesus's, why shouldn't we honor Mary too?

Secondly, we don't worship the saints, nor do we pray to them. We ask the saints to pray for us.

Random Truth January 9 2011

I feel like writing an embarrassing truth today; it's healthy to laugh at yourself every now and then right?

So the summer after second grade, I met one of my current best friends at College 4 Kids at the local community college. We were partners in Adventures in Paleontology class and one day, our "professor" made us watch "Jurassic Park." I'd seen this movie before, so I knew that somewhere in the movie there was a scene with a Tyrannosaurus Rex and that I was really, REALLY scared of it. (I know, it's just a movie, but cut me some slack! I was only eight!) So, being the sensible eight-year-old I was, I thought it would be okay to ask her if she'd hold my hand when the T. Rex scene came on. Thankfully she did...I was that scared. She still holds this against me as blackmail when we're talking about the far more numerous accounts of embarrassing things she's done in her life. If my boyfriend is reading this, which I know he usually does, he doesn't need to worry. He's still the best at holding hands.

I pre-ordered one of my favorite author's books the other day and it comes out tomorrow! I CAN'T WAIT!!! John Green is amazing at writing teen fiction, though unless you like extensive talk about male gayness I wouldn't recommend Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I stopped reading a few chapters into it, so I can't really judge, but I was unpleasantly surprised when I found out it had a lot of gay people in it. I'm not saying I hate gay people - as a Catholic, I believe that being gay is okay as long as the couple in question doesn't act on it.

Blog Stat Updates

Well....looks like I've lost my Spanish readers...But I have 77 American readers, 12 Russian, and 3 German as of today! And yesterday's Random Truth got the most reads this year.

Random Truth January 8 2012

If no one knew this before, I'm left-handed.

Random Truth January 7 2012

This morning my mom and I did a 5K! It was literally called the "Jiggle Butt Run"....maybe a play off of Jingle Bell? It benefited a charity called Safe Haven. Anyway, mom woke me up at 7:00, told me to get ready, and by 7:15 I was ready to go - if I may say so without bragging, I looked pretty darn good for someone who'd only been awake and functioning for 15 minutes. I even had time to put on the earrings my boyfriend gave me! My dad took us to Academy, where some of our teammates were waiting to meet up so we could carpool.

So we got to the race site (the University of Texas at Arlington's campus) at around 8:00 - the race didn't start until 9 but it was good that we came early because it was PACKED. There were tables everywhere: free food, coffee, massages, etc. were available to anyone participating. We found our team, which was 82 (yes, eighty-two) women strong, and started warming up. Shortly after, a Jazzercise instructor got on the stage and we did another, more invigorating warm-up session. Then we were directed to go outside to the start/finish line so the race could start. I started playing my iPod's playlist, but I had forgotten that someone would sing the national anthem, so Taylor Swift's "Better Than Revenge" was competing for my attention with America's beautiful song.  The race started right after. Not much happened during that - come on, nothing's very exciting about thousands of women power-walking. At the last corner of the track, I tried to get my mom to jog to the finish with me but she claimed her knee hurt too much, so I jogged alone and waited for her past the finish line. My time was just over 56 minutes...not very fast, but then again,  I was walking for most of it. We went back inside with our teammates, ate a Luna bar, and waited for the drawings to finish. Then we went home. I am sooooo tired. Going to go read now...bye!

Love you all!!
Meridith

Random Truth January 6 2012

I typed 2011 AGAIN!!! Darn!!!

I have hitch hiker thumbs - both thumbs can bend back at a 90-degree angle. I thought until a few years ago that everyone could do that, but I was wrong. My friends got really freaked out when I gave them a thumbs-up...

Random Truth Jan 5 2012

You know those little orange-tangerine hybrid Cuties and how they're supposed to be really easy to peel and everything? Yeah. I still can't figure out how to peel one.

Random Truth - January 4 2012

Sometimes when I'm bored, I start arguing with Clever Bot at www.cleverbot.com. It's fun!

Random Truth - January 3 2012

Well there goes one of my new year's resolutions - at the title of this post I typed "January 3 2011" but I was determined to not fall into that trap. On to the RT!

I've been trying to write a letter to my future husband, letting him know how I'm staying chaste and saving myself for him and all that. But now that I have a boyfriend, it's hard to focus: I just keep thinking of my boyfriend instead of who I might end up marrying (don't get me wrong, right now I think I might marry him but come on, we're FOURTEEN). And I'm not saying I don't want a boyfriend; he is amazing and sweet and charming and the best thing I've ever had. Relationships are the way we determine who we spend the rest of our lives with, correct? Well right now, I don't know who my future husband might be. 

I don't think this should be as hard as it is - I wrote letters to Santa Claus every year for 12 years, and I don't know if he even exists! I know my future husband is out there right now, so why is he harder to write to? 

Random Truth January 2 2012

I have been published in a book! In 7th grade my teacher had us write essays about something important to us. While some people chose to write about pets, family, and things like that, I chose my future career.

Hi guys, hope it works now!

I found out that I had my app set to the wrong address, so the post I put up went to that one.

JUSTIN BIEBER IS AMAZING.

Random Truth January 1 2012 :)

I like pretty much any animal that is black & white: zebras, snow tigers, snow leopards, penguins, pandas, etc.  I also really want a puppy-sized elephant, even though it probably won't ever exist. But just think of how adorable a tiny little elephant would be!! 

Sorry if that was boring...I'm really tired today. I went to a friend's NYE party last night and we stayed up until around 4:30 this morning, so I'm still exhausted.