Parent Teacher Conferences

I've never really had a bad experience at parent teacher conferences, I just feel like it's always awkward for me because my teachers are always like "Oh, Emily, she's such a good student, she's such a good role model, and always gets her work done, she's just a dream."

I never know what to say, like, do I just say "Thank you!" or what? So I just usually laugh nervously and turn red and then generally ignore what they say for the rest of the time, because I just find it extremely awkward. Like, I'm not an awful student, I talk a lot sometimes, that topic usually comes up somewhere, which is the worst thing they say.

And then it's just "Emily is a good worker, but she can't seem to keep her mouth shut, that's the one thing I have to say to her in class." And THEN what do I say? Like, "Oh, sorry, I'll try to fix that?" Because I know wherever I sit or get moved to, I'll still talk! So it's like a lose-lose situation for them.

But this year I don't think I'm going to conferences, because I don't have any major concerns or questions to ask, and even if I did I could just e-mail them.

I think only kids who are bad need to go to Conferences because if everyone goes to them, we're just wasting the teachers' precious time. I think I'll take advantage of my Friday off instead, and take some time to myself.

Iowa State story

It was a very good weekend for Cyclone fans, like me. We defeated 15^th ranked TCU, 37-23 at Texas. This has been the 3^rd consecutive year that the Cyclones have beaten a Top-25 ranked team on the road. And who could forget the huge victory for Iowa State last year against Oklahoma State?

The Cyclones to me set a very good example for anyone who wants to play college sports. If I was a boy, who was involved in sports, it would be my dream to play football for Paul Rhodes at Iowa State, because they have such a good program.

Before Paul Rhodes began coaching at Iowa State, the Cyclones were not considered to have any chance at winning. Many think that it’s because they had the wrong kind of motivation.

The Cyclone football team doesn't really pay attention to the rankings; they don’t use the polls as their motivation. Instead they use the fact that they’re not favored to win. They want to prove everyone wrong, to make them question why they were doubted in the first place.

ISU has one of the toughest schedules in the nation, playing big schools like TCU, Kansas State, Texas, and West Virginia. They've started the season out on a good foot, and I believe that they can end it well too.

Proving someone wrong is probably one of the best feelings ever, and the Cyclones are about to do just that. CyclONE nation all the way!

To read the story:

The 2012 Presidential Debate

The presidential debate last night not only blew up my Twitter feed last night, but it fired up many Americans. Obama was said to have given the worst public speaking performance ever of his time as president.

                Romney seemed to be more energetic and into the debate than Obama did. Mitt was on fire, he was just throwing tests out directly at Obama, and clearly Obama couldn’t pass them.

                Obama was very honest, he wasn’t lying to anybody, and the way he described himself really spoke out to me. “4 years ago, I said I’m not a perfect man, and I wouldn’t be a perfect president. And that’s probably a promise that Governor Romney’s think I’ve kept. But I’ve also promised that I would fight every single day.”

                Jen Psaki, traveling press secretary for Obama, stated on Fox News that Obama had the style, but not the facts. She also said that although Romney was a good attacker, the American public isn’t looking for an attacker in-chief.

                Although Americans may have voted Romney for clearly winning that debate, there’s still a second round, and there’s still 33 days left until the election, a lot can happen in that time.

                Being entitled to my own opinion, Romney is most definitely not my favorite person in the world; he got on my nerves within the first 5 minutes of the debate.

            "I'm sorry Jim. I'm gonna stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm gonna stop other things," Romney said. "I like PBS, I like Big Bird, I actually like you too." My dad is a videographer for IPTV, so if Romney becomes president, he will definitely affect my dad’s current employment state.

                The look on Jim Lehrer’s face when Romney said that statement was priceless; he looked so shocked, so annoyed. His eyes opened up and were like “Wow. Did you really just say that?”

                On Twitter last night, a lot of people were talking about the smirk on Romney’s face. I wanted to go right up on stage and wipe that smirk straight off his face.

Summer 2012 Recap

This summer was filled with tons of fun, and ended up being my favorite summer. The very minute we got out of school I went with some of my friends to Lake Okoboji, where we stayed for the weekend, and went tubing and boating a lot, and stayed in their house right along the water.

 The next week I started Drivers Ed, which wasn't very fun, but I learned how to drive a bit better (passed with a 96!) and learned how to parallel park. I also have my school permit now, which is incredibly helpful.

 I worked 2 jobs this summer, one as a waitress at a retirement home, and the other at the Carousel in Union Park. The people I work with are awesome, especially the elderly. I still work at the waitressing one, but the carousel one ended for the season. I worked nights waitressing, and 2 mornings a week for the carousel.

 I also spent a lot of my mornings training for RAGBRAI, which ended up not being the best idea, because I wasn't exposed to the heat that went along with it. I would ride on average about 25 miles every morning at about 18 miles an hour, so it wouldn't take me very long. Other mornings I would ride up to Adel and back, which was over 50.

 RAGBRAI itself was brutally hot, the average temperature was 95 degrees, and the hottest day (also the longest day) got up to 117 degrees. I did the whole week with my dad (but he dropped out halfway through because "it had been enough" for him). We would leave at about 4:30 in the morning and arrive at our overnight stop that afternoon. One of the days I got to ride on a draft line with the US Air Force, that was really fun, we were going a good 30 miles an hour for about 15 miles. Some nights it just would not cool off, and I ended up not drinking enough water throughout the week, so when I got home, I had extreme heat exhaustion, and I literally stayed in the nice air conditioning for a week.

 I also went to a lot of my boyfriend Logan's baseball games, and watched him catch. He was really busy this summer, so we didn't have a lot of time to hang out, but when we did we made sure to make the best of it. We would go to see some movies, we went on a bike ride once (a really easy ride, only 12 miles at a super slow pace because he's not as much of a seasoned bicyclist as I am), and we went to Gray's Lake. We also watched the fireworks Downtown, where he met my family.

 In August I figured that I had better get a start on my summer homework (which I still havent gotten all done to this day- whoops). That didn't really happen, instead I would be on Tumblr and Twitter all day. Swim season also started in August, so my days were taken up by that.

 This is my first year swimming, so the first 2 weeks were really difficult for me, I couldn't swim over a 100 at a time, and I didn't know how to do flip turns or go off the blocks correctly. With time I improved, and now I only have to shave off 9 seconds on my 100 back to get a Varsity letter!

 The only thing I would change about this summer would be to hang out with my friends more, and not be such a lazy bum and spend my time inside on Tumblr or Pinterest or Instagram or even Twitter or Facebook.

A Bit About Me

My name is Emily, I am a sophomore in high school, and I live in Iowa. Yes, one of my houses is in the country, but no, I am not a farmer.

I am an average teenage girl, I have lots of homework every night (I take advanced classes), I swim and run track for my school, and I work at 2 different jobs.

I love to take pictures, I love dressing up (but don’t get me wrong, I love sweats too), and I love being active and working out.

I did the full week of RAGBRAI (a week long bike ride across Iowa), and I love running (when I’m not hurt that is, which is hardly ever). I just started swimming this year, and that has become my new love, that’s where I spend most of my time, my team is my family.

I love going to school events, like football and baseball games, swim meets, and I love watching concerts (I was in Prep Choir freshman year).

Overall I am a very friendly person, and I have been told that I came out of a cartoon, because I’m just constantly in a good mood. I love quotes and photos, so Tumblr and Pinterest are my addictions.

I also have an Instagram and Twitter, so I guess you can say I’m very “socially connected”.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“Hakuna Matata”

“Every day may not be good, but there is something good in everyday”

“Anything is possible if a person believes”

“Always look on the bright side of life”

“Be someone who makes someone else look forward to tomorrow”

“It may not be easy, but it will be worth it. Never ever give up.”