i like it when people are genuinely kind.

i.e. the two complete strangers that complimented my outfit today.
thanks ladiez. you made my day.

my doodles, decoded.

(read the previous post first! or at least just look at the second picture)
since i love taking personality tests, i was really excited when shannon wrote a comment on my last post including a link to a DOODLE DECODER!

my giant doodle is a bunch of different shapes combined, so here is what they all mean---

the most prominent design is flowers and curves.
the website's description for this was "Peace, love and understanding are part of flower power, right? Friendly, sociable people often draw these things. Koren [a handwriting analyst] also notes that they're "motifs used extensively by social workers." Ever thought about being a counselor?"

uh, yes i have. i am friendly. i am sociable. YES i love this.

the other main theme was geometric shapes.
"Patterns of bars, squares, cubes and other geometric shapes are the sign of "an organized brain" according to Koren. They also show clear thought processes, good planning skills and efficiency."

i have an organized brain. sometimes. which explains why only parts of the drawing are geometric...and the geometric part is very uneven and wobbly. so i can be organized...when i want to be.

i also have some abstract shapes and most of the lines are drawn darkly.
"If the shape is drawn darkly and firmly, Koren says these kinds of weird abstract shapes can indicate tension, difficulty concentrating or an inconsistent, sentimental personality."

difficulty concentrating? yes. that is why this drawing exists in the first place.
sentimental personality....i can get sentimental a lot. typically when i am with my friends bonding. i am always aware of the bonding that is taking place and i get all reflective and cheesy inside my head.

as for the inconsistent part...i guess i can be like this. responsible at school, not always at home. i should work on that.

fourthly. repetitive shapes.
"Just like the Energizer Bunny, these people keep going and going and going. Drawing the same shape over and over indicates patience, persistence and the ability to concentrate. After all, how else would you be able to do all this drawing and still understand the English lecture?"

this is true, doodle decoder. and how did you know that i was in an english lecture, not paying complete attention yet still grasping the information?


gosh. i really really love this stuff.
mosey on over here if you would like to decode your doodles as well!
i am now taking a handwriting analysis test. i'll spare you the details.

the leith legacy.

for english, we are reading huck finn.
so one day i went to the "school book" collection of carson's book shelf to find our old copy (i do not like that word, it reminds me of the writing used in the babysitter's club books)...
and i find this mysterious, plain, black hardcover huck finn.
and i open up the front cover, and what do i find?A LEITH LEGACY LIST! i was so so excited to find this little piece of history. minus dumb carson, who decided he'd be cool and buy a new book and use that. i considered having him write in his name before i did mine but that just would not be authentic.

so i quickly added my name with a black, thin-tip sharpie and reveled in the glory of this little gem. all of us, immortalized in our 11th grade handwriting. everyone wrote little analyses in the margins, and here's my analysis on their analyses:

shannon: she wrote little bursts of theme and characterization such as "when huck is on the river he is free & himself." very straightforward. she wrote in cute half-cursive and drew shooting stars in the corners.
ryan: he stated the obvious in very scribbly handwriting. example: "he goes down the river." thanks, ry. i didn't catch that.
jason: literally wrote two things-- 1. two- or three-word chapter summaries below the chapter titles in the index. 2. a list of "rom vs. real" (romanticism vs. realism) smack in the middle of a chapter. in the middle of the novel. both items are written so tiny and scrawly that i can't read them. he also wrote "S3A" next to the second list...whatever that means. clearly he is not the write-in-books type of guy.

moving on.
when i get bored in english (aka errryday) i add to this little doodle in the back of my book.
mmm. i love it. (excuse the low-quality picture)

for this novel we also have to make a video about how a theme develops. my group's theme is nature, and we filmed it on sunday.
it involved:
-the creek running through the canyon
-boogie boards
-straw hats
-freezing cold water
-freezing cold wind
-numb hands and feet
-southern accents
-authenticity.

believe me, that baby will be posted as soon as i finish editing it!

here's me and my beaut of a sister on valentine's day;

with our valentine props.
we used props because we don't have actual valentine props, aka men.
we find it funny that our three brothers all have girlfs...and we are stuck with no lovers.
so on v-day (that term reminds me of V-E Day during world war 2...may 8th 1945!) we went to shan's friends house for a lovefeast with a bunch of 20- and 30-something women. oh, and 2 men.

it was just grand,

we had a meal of chili, cinnamon rolls, and carrot coins.
don't ask.
well, you could i guess. i wouldn't mind. we're all friends here.

first order of business;

this picture is beatiful.

second; that little four-day weekend i mentioned is long gone, and what a lovely weekend it was.

the highlight was definitely biola preview day. MAN oh man, i absolutely loved the atmosphere and the community there. i went to three classes (pre-production for a film, journalism, and old testament) and loved them all. what i specifically liked was how the professors were teaching their students how to incorporate their faith into their career. i feel like that is a vital thing to learn, and not many schools offer that. i also went to a chapel and a worship night, both of which were tip top.

and! i loved loved the close community there- everyone i met was so welcoming and friendly. plus, i have grown up at biola...i even took tennis lessons there when i was 10 years old (bad memories as far as the tennis goes. it involved puking in a nordstrom's bag...but still). so, for now, i'm thinkin' that biola is where i will be in a year and a half. things may change, of course...but i really liked it and enjoyed seeing it through the fresh eyes of an actual, prospective student. it was like a glimpse into my future.

!!!!!!!!!!
i just want to go there now, please.

a sneak preview of my thrilling four day weekend ahead;

friday is, thus far, plan-less. any takers?

saturday: check it--
>> worship band leader meeting in the morn. love those.
>> church at 4:30. i am attempting to bring some people from school, so please pray that their schedules would open up if you will! slash that they'd actually agree to come.
>> after that i am going up to pasadena for shan's art show and then spending the night with her! can. not. wait.

sunday is sure to be thrilling as i will be heading to biola for spring preview day and staying there over night with emily, natalie, and jessi. i'll have the opportunity to attend classes and chapels and learn more about biola! as if i don't know everything already...but really, this will be a great opportunity to see it through the eyes of an actual, potential student. it is very very very weird that i am at this stage in life. next year is senior year, people. whaaat? didn't i just start writing on this blog as an 8th grader, eager to get to high school? melissa and i were talking about this the other day. in no time, we will be graduating high school and beginning real life. i, am, nervous.

anyway. monday will be filled with homework and whatever else my little heart desires.

look at me, posting two days in a row and everything! it's like a breath of fresh air. because i can get everything out of my mind and onto electronic paper. plus, just looking at my blog header makes me feel like i'm getting an actual breath of fresh air. so it's win-win, for everyone.

aaand another one.

new blog header, once again. i like this one. and i think we can all come to terms and say that i love helvetica and helvetica neue ultralight a little too much.

but, true confessions time...i really am not as knowledgeable in the font world as i let on to be. yes, i do know the difference between a serif and a sans-serif, and i definitely have a list of top five hated fonts, but the fact that i can't really think of any pretty ones off the top of my head besides, well, hevetica, shows that i am kind of a faker.

forgive me?

real prepared.

something i have recently noticed about myself is that i like to feel prepared.
now, i mean this in a very specific area of life.
i don't really care about being prepared for my fourth period history test (i can make up a bad grade by turning all my homework in on time).
i don't care about keeping an emergency earthquake kit in my garage. (crank-powered FM radio? who really needs that?)

but i do feel the need to stock up on tips. life lessons. things to know when i'm a fresh college student, then when i'm married and need to do my taxes. i want to be ready.

this is why i read real simple magazine. yes, i read it for its beautiful layout and great sentence structure (honestly, their syntax is phenomenal.), but mind you, "real simple" is a magazine for women. as in, 40 year old working mothers who have a mortgage to pay. it is full of helpful articles and tips, like how to balance your job and your kids, or how to save money when buying a dishwasher, or how to remove wine stains from silk, or which age-defying foundation is the best for your skin type.

i, a sixteen year old girl, do not need to know any of this. but i ingest it all anyways so that when i am a 34 year old who wears heels every day, needs to know what a credit score is, and wants the most sylish (yet lowest priced) diaper bag, i will be so ready. because i stocked up on tips when i was sixteen.

i mean, i'm not obsessive about it. i don't clip out the articles and keep them in files for each decade of my future. but i just enjoying feeling like i'll be really well-prepared for the minor details in life. i'll have a leg up on my competition, if you will.

and i am also aware that growing up is making mistakes and learning and gaining life experience, et cetera. i know, i know. but being aware of the "10 secrets of an unflappable working mom" (great article, great tips) is just that little something i can pretend i'll remember when i'm in my 30s.

so, if you'll excuse me, i literally have the march issue of real simple laying half-open on my couch. the next article up is entitled, "feeling hormonal?" and the subheadline "how these chemicals affect your body and mind in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond. (and how to keep them in check.)"

that is honestly something i am eager to read. so that when i'm 46 and feeling weird i'll know why.

winta fo fo one oh.

each school dance i have gone to has surpassed the previous one. winter formal did not disappoint. everything was just lovely! from the date...to the elevator pictures...to gabby stealing matt from me...
to me taking really cute pictures...to the friends!
i even enjoyed the rain that decided to ambush us. it caused problems for our outdoor photo location, but we just switched to a hotel in melinda and all was well. and rain makes for nice pictures.
i call this one: Cheesy.
my outfit worked out quite nicely. as did mah hurrr.
i call this one: Cheesy, Part 2.
ryan: feet in the rain. it's what shannon would do. [she ended up not being able to come take pictures, so ryan stepped in, what a nice man.]







this was before melissa remembered that she still had her glasses on.
after pictures we went to dinner at islands, then got golden spoon, and then the PARTY BUS picked us up. OH MY GOSH it was SO fun. it was basically a pre-dance party, except we were in motion and everyone was falling everywhere while hanging onto these rails on the ceiling. it was the best, thing, ever. someone even stepped on mark's pants and they got a giant rip in them. great times.

next stop, yorba linda community center. there were a bunch of different rooms, and first we went to the room that had a live swing band and a big dance floor. matt and i improvised a partner dance, beginning with a bow and a curtsy from across the floor and ending with a cliche dip. very classy, trabuco. a room that was not full of freak dancing teens was very refreshing.

there was also a room with dance dance revolution, foosball, etc. rachel and i DDR battled. she won. whatever.

and then, there was the main event. the main dancing room was so sweaty that the windows were fogged up. this is where the majority of our time was spent, mainly on the outer edges of the room dancing on the walls. r.pat and i got some really strange looks as we danced our solos. the majority of t.hillz cannot comprehend and type of dancing beyond their favorite style, freaking. so we decided to enlighten them. man, what a workout. LOVE IT.

oh, and when a taylor swift song came on, i had to go stand on the steps by the stage and sing for everyone. i mean, for my group of friends. because they all know t.swift is my fave. but the DJ noticed my performance, and called me up on stage and handed me a microphone. i was so. excited. this was my calling. i proceeded to perform "you belong with me" to the giant crowd, getting mixed reactions. my friends at the front were screaming and holding their hands out for me to touch, a la concert. others were smiling, kind of puzzled, yet enjoying the show. and everyone else was just staring, very very confused. the music video was playing on a screen behind me, and i turned around and sang to lucas till onscreen, stroking his digital face. the crowd loved it. basically it was the best moment of my life. when the song ended, they went wild. and i bowed. and then went back to dancing, making trips to the bathroom every so often to wipe off the sweat literally dripping everywhere. oh, what i life i lead.

well, after that dance ended we went back to our party bus and had a third dance on the way home. ahh, high school dances. i just love them. next up, tesoro's winter formal at angel stadium with chase parker! i can't wait.

AH i'm so excited.

my winter formal look is officially complete!

charlotte russe was the place to find deals galore today. i got earrings and a ring for eight bucks, and then found these GLORIOUS shoes, and they only cost FIFTEEN DOLLARS, people. that is a deal if i've ever seen one. oh and i got 10% off for being a student!i am wearing this little guy in my hair,
and i have my dress also, but it does not photograph well. so you'll have to wait until next week when i post pictures, which will be taken by the wonderful shannon leith once again!

oh. and we're taking a party bus. sooo classy...nawt.