My Stupid, Stupid Ankle

I woke up April 8th, 2011, and everything was just fine. Even my ankle was fine. I got up out of my bed, and was excited that it was friday. I was planning on going to Hyvee Gas with Racheal and Rocky in the morning, go to school, then go over to Sam's house to stay for the weekend. That still happened, but with crutches and an air cast. Let's get to the part of how it happened. Racheal's mom pulled up to my house at 6:45 am, and I got in her car. Then we precceded on to Rocky's house to pick her up next. Well she got in the car, and we drove off towards the wonderful Mason City High School. Yes, we always arrive to school that early. When we pulled up to Mason City High School, we all got out of the car. Then we went into the school building, and put our stuff in Rocky's locker. Next we grabbed money, and was heading to the front doors to exit the building. It was around 7:20 in the morning now. When we got to the front doors we made an exit, and we were on ouy way to Hyvee Gas. We were walking through the grass, and as we approached the Blue Parking Curb...I didn't see it. That's when I tripped over it, and didn't fall. I caught myself before I hit the ground, but my ankle wasn't okay at all. It looked like the vein had popped on the side of my foot, and it was starting to swell up on the side. Well let's now skip to when the time was about 7:45 in the morning. My grandma had came and picked me up to take me to get my ankle checked. My mom works with my doctor, so she talked to her; i got into the doctor right away. I didn't go straight there though. My doctor faxed paperwork to the hospital, the radiology part to be exact, and I had xrays. After that I got back into the car, and was on the way to the doctor. By this time, my ankle was really swelled on the side. It was starting to look like a tennis ball. The doctor said that it was severly sprained, and I would have to be on crutches until April 15th. It's a really long time, and I was told to not put weight on it either. Well that's really all there is to the story of how I sprained my ankle. Yes, I tripped over a Handicap curb, but it happens all the time.

Cedar Rapids = Youth State Bowling Tournament

Bowling is back in session. Well it has never really been out, I just haven't competed for a while. Actually the last time I competed was for the Mason City High School Varsity Girls Bowling team, which competed in Cedar Falls almost two months ago. That was for the Sub-State match against five other schools. Well anyways that's not what I'm blogging about, so I'm going to proceed on with my blog. This past Saturday, April 2nd, I competed with my cousin Hunter Manchester at the state tournament in Cedar Rapids. We bowledl 3 games for singles, and 3 games together for doubles. We are hoping to place at least in the top 25, because it's really hard to place high up on the rankings. This was the only weekend left with openings. This tournament, for youth bowlers, has been going on since the beginning of March. Bowlers come and compete from all over Iowa. Every Saturday and Sunday is taken up. It's now the beginning of April, and I just now got my chance to compete in this awesome tournament. There was some hard competition down there, so I had to keep my head up. This is how it played out over the weekend. Saturday morning we drove down to Cedar Rapids to May City Lanes. When 12:30 p.m. arrived, Hunter and I approached our lanes. We were nervous, but excited at the same time. We then threw our first three games, which counted towards our single standings in the tournament. After our single games were over, we moved down to the next set of lanes. There we threw our next three games, which counted for doubles. Hunter shot a 493, with an average of a 164 per game. I shot a 514, with an average of a 171 per game. Well let's just leave out what we did that night, and stick with only bowling. The next morning I woke up, and was told that Hunter and I was sitting in first for doubles. We were ahead of everyone that bowled:)!!! It was amazing, and I was so glad to hear it. I then called up my cousin, and told him what the good news was. He was pretty happy, because we are in the route to receive a scholarship. Looking at the updated list not to long ago, two other groups beat us out. We're now down to third place, but we still can get that scholarship!!:) Two more weekends left, please say we can keep our third place spot at state!

Old People Driving

Everyday I drive down the streets of Mason City, old people happen to be driving right in front of me! It drives me insane!!! Well most of them drive me crazy. They never know how to push the accelerator, and go the speed limit. Old people always drive way to slow. What also gets me is when they take forever to turn the corner. They slow all the way down before they turn the corner. Then some even turn their turning signals on a mile before they turn the corner. It's so annoying. Especially when I'm in a hurry to get somewhere. I'm already running late and they are making it even worse. I will admit that some old people drive fast, but for the most part old people drive to darn slow!!! Also where these old people are driving, depends on how fast they go. I've ran into them on the interstate, and they drive in the fast lane like it's no big deal. Only until I approach them doing speed limit, and their in my way going only 55 miles per hour! That's when I get the most pissed off. I have to brake, just because they don't have no clue what there doing.  Then next is highways. I've ran into old people needing to turn into a restaurant, that happens to be right off the highway. But they don't do it the right way, they don't proceed into the turning lane. They just sit in the lane, and block traffic until there's no cars coming. Most of the time they wait until there is no cars a mile down the road. Lastly comes the fact that they never know what they are doing. They never drive speed limit, turn corners right, use their turning signals at the appropriate times, and especially the fact that they just drive WAY TO SLOW!!!!!

Moving...Good or Bad?

I've been recently told that we are going to be moving to the country. Not just outside of Mason City, but all the way to Marble Rock. Well it's between Rockford, Iowa, and Marble Rock, Iowa. This six bedroom house is located on a street called, Kirkwood Avenue! Yes! I said it was six bedrooms:) We have a huge family though. My family includes my dad, my mom, my brother, my sister, my grandma, my two cousins, my dog, and I. That's eight people, and out pet dog! My cousins aren't always staying with us though, but everyone else stays at my house on a daily basis:)!

When I think about this move to the country, I try to think about the good things. I came up with some things, and there all positive! First off is the fact that we won't be in Mason City anymore. I've always hated this town, but I don't exactly know why. Second is the fact that I still get to stay at Mason City High School. Our school might not be the best, but it's better than moving to a whole new different school. If I went to Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock, then I would only know one person. That person would be Becca Broerman, but she's only a freshman! Third is that I will live in a bigger house, and more room to practice my dance routines. Lastly comes the fact that I will have an Iowa Hawkeye bedroom:) I'm in love with the Hawkeyes!

When it comes to the negative side of moving,  I have my reasons. My first reason is huge! I won't be in the same neighborhood as my wife:( Also I won't be near my best friend Bria:( She already lives like 15 miles from my house. She also lives in the country, but outside of Manly. Second comes the fact that I will have to get up at the crack of dawn. My parents have to be at work by a quarter to eight at the latest. I will arrive at school around 7:30 every morning. My dad works all the way over by B20, and my mom works most of the time at the Forest Park Clinic. That's just next to the hospital. When she works at Peds Clinic, she has to drive all the way out by Walmart. My parents therefore work miles apart. Third is that I won't be able to be close to my friends. Fourth is that I have dance every Monday night until Ten O'clock. My dad bowls on league on Monday nights, and gets done at 9:30 pm. He then would pick me up, and then we would be on our way home. We would arrive home around 10:45, and then have to get up early the next morning. Those all are reasons why we shouldn't move!

When I think about moving, it makes me mad, happy, and sad at the same time. I really don't wanna go through the hassle of moving all my stuff. Were planning on moving room by room though, so we can get stuff put away as we move it in. Therefore we will have it all situated when were all the way moved in. Spring break is also a time when we will be able to move a lot of stuff, so then I don't have to worry about school. Also I would be able to help move all our stuff to the country. This move is going to be a good, and bad thing at the same time. Hopefully it will go better than I think it will though!:)

Liechtenstein = A-M-A-Z-I-N-G:)

Liechtenstein          
            

If I could go anywhere in the world, I would go to Liechtenstein. This country is my favorite, and I have many reasons why. That's not why I wrote this blog though. This blog is for me to let you guys know how I found out about this country. Also to tell you some of the basic facts about Liechtenstein.
One day I went to class, and it was just a normal day. When the bell rang, we got seated. The teacher then announced to the class that we were going to do a presentation over one country. I sat there and thought to myself about what I would be choosing for this presentation. I decided that I would just pick some random country that I thought no one else would pick to do. Going on Google, I found a very interesting country named, Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein was then my country for my presentation, and I learned a lot about this country. It has some similarities to The United States, and it seems like a cool place to visit.
Lichtenstein is located in the Western part of Europe. It borders Switzerland, and also Austria. Vaduz is this lovely countries capital. German is what they speak there, but other languages are spoken there to. Lichtenstein has mostly all Catholics, with many other religions having just a small number of people. When it comes time to travel out of Lichtenstein, you will most likely be taking the Austrian Federal Railways. If you are just traveling around the town you live in, there is a bus you can take. You could even drive depending on where you are. Lastly comes the sports. The main sport played in Liechtenstein is Football. Then in the winter, you would see lots of downhill skiing. Overall, these are just some basic facts about the amazing country of Liechtenstein. One day I'm going to go to Liechtenstein, and I'm going to learn even more!

Hopefully This Is Not The End:)

           Saturday happens to be the most important meet of the season. It is called sub-state, and if we win we will advance to state. It's as simple as that. We want to advance to state, but it's not that easy. Last year we were down by over 200 pins going into baker. Baker is when you bowl 2 frames of the game. Since we have six people on the team one person is the sub. They can go into any position, and then the person in that position sits out for that game. Anyways we made up all but two pins. We lost going to state by two pins, and it sucked!
          One struggle we are going to have is the fact that we are ranked forth out of the six teams that we are going to compete against. The teams that are coming are, Dubuque Senior, Dubuque Hempstead, Cedar Falls, Waterloo East, and the host, Waterloo West. We will be competing at Maple Lanes in Waterloo, Iowa. All we have to do is beat the four teams that rank higher than us. The other two should be no problem. They don't have an average much higher than ours, and they practically have the same amount as us for wins and loses.
          If we pick up our spares and throw some strikes in there we should be fine. I think we have a shot along with the rest of our team.  It sucks though that our captain isn't going to be bowling with us. She happens to be the second highest bowler on the team. It's going to suck not having her there, but I want to win this meet for her. Then we can have her back for state. That would be the best miracle I want to happen.

Sorry Guys Your Going Down:)

                                                                                         

      Tommorow I'm competing at the confrence meet located in Waukee, Iowa. My teamates bowling with me is, Mariah Payne, Becca Broerman ( shes from Rockford, iowa), Samantha Radcliff, Sarah Ollman, and our wonderful captain, Jen Reuter. We are competing against Waukee, West Des. Moines Valley, Fort Dodge, and Marshalltown. Last year we beat all these teams in our regular meets when we competing at their house, and then again at our house. But when it came to the confrence meet located in West Des. Moines, we chocked. Literatly, we could have won easily.

     This year we were leading the confrence, but we recently have lost that first place spot. We have won once against Maarshalltown, and then lost one to them. We have defeated Fort Dodge both times. When it comes to West Des. Moines Valley we smoke them twice. Lastly comes Waukee, who we failed to beat both times. We could have easily shut them down to, but we always have bad days. The day before we went to Waukee, we had a meet vs. Des. Moines Lincoln and we shot a 2494 which happens to be sout best meet this year. Then we went to Waukee and shot a 23something. It doesn't mean we can't win confrence though. We just got to win tommorow. Our goal is to get 2600 tommorow, and we won't have a coach. That means Jen is going to be like our "coach."

     Tommorow is our day to show these four teams that we are way better than they are!:) We have show them all before, and tommorow we will defeat them all at once. We have improved so much this year, and our spare shooting has improved a lot. Some of our sevens and tens shooting is off a little, but hoepfully we will be on it tommorow:) So when 8am comes tommorow, I'm going to get up and get ready for the big day. Then at 10am we will load the bus to Waukee. Then at 1pm the meet will start, and lastly at about 4pm we will have won the confrence meet. I wouldn't sit here and blog about something I wasn't so sure about! One other little thing is placing individually. Last year I placed 9th individually in the confrence, and I hope I can do it again and even better this year. If i would have done a tiny bit better my first game, I would have placed like 4th in the confrence:)

    

New York All The Way:)

The first week in July I'm going to Syracuse. It's located in New York. When I go there I'm going to be with three other people. Having three of us teenagers and one adult with us were going to have a good time! Especially since were going over the 4th of July weekend. Spending a week there and watching the fireworks in New York City.

While were there were going to go shopping almost everyday. My grandma bought my plane ticket, hotel stay, and rental car, so I'm saving up money for shopping. Also my grandma and parents are giving me a ton of money. Along with shopping were going to go to New York City. Were staying in Syracuse, so were going to have to drive there in our rental car. It's going to be lots of fun:)

When it comes to just the little stuff, it will be fun to. For example, walking down the streets taking pictures and even jamming out in the car to Justin Bieber. I'm going to bring his Cd's with, so we can listen to him when were driving around wherever we are in New York. Since were flying out of the Minneapolis International Airport I'm going to have to bring my ipod to listen to Justin Bieber. But on the way to Minneapolis in our own vehicle we can listen to him and sing:)!

The reason were going is for bowling. Nation Bowling for women is there this year and my step-mom( my friend's mom that I call mom) is bowling in it. That's the main reason were going but this year were staying for extra days and that totals up to one week in New York!:) It should be a good time, and hopefully nothing goes wrong. Nothing should, and it will be the best week of my life.

Does the School Understand?

Cell phones are really important to teenagers today, especially me. No matter what were doing, we need our cell phones. That's why they give you the choice of  what you want your phone on for volume. For example, silent, vibrate, or loud. I believe that cell phones should be allowed in school. At the appropriate times atleast. There maybe times when cell phones shouldn't be in school. For example, while taking a test. But cell phones are not what the school only sees them to be. Which is cell phones being used for texting.

  School administration and teachers don't understand the need for us to have cell phones. Therefore if they see or hear our phone they confiscate it. Their reason is because it's school policy. Even if they disagee with the policy our school has put up. Practically every teacher agrees with thepolicy though, because they don't want us to lose focus. They want us paying attention in class. I believe that students are distractions to other students and they dojn't do anything about that. A pencil dropping on the floor is even distracting to some students trying to learn or study in the classroom. Cell phones may be a bigger device but it's also a tool. It has a calculator, which could bve used in a Math class. All our school thinks is that we text on our cell phones and maybe they're right but thats not the only thing a cell phone could be used for.  They should alteast give us a chance to have them out. If the teacher is talking then don't use your cell phone. If it's free time or a chance to work on something then it's the students choice whether theywant to text or use class time to get there work done. This concludes this short blog on why I believe cell phones should be allowed in school.

Sophomore Year Bowling

         Bowling is a one of a kind sport, and it happens to be my favorite. I've been bowling since I was five years old and all the hard work has been paying off. I believe that this year is our year for us to win at sub-state. Also for us to place in the top five at state. We have been working really hard at practices and at our meets. Our team right now has lost two meets, but they both have been really close. Also at the meets we lost, we still improved. That's another reason why I believe we can make it to state.

         Us six girls have been working extremley hard on picking up our spares and a little on where we throw our first ball. Evey bowling alley is different. Most of the time there lanes are either synthetic or wood lanes. Along with that, is the way the oil is set up. At the beginning of the meet, theres lots of oil down on the lanes. At the end of the meet, the lanes won't be as oily. That's the reason why we have to work on adjusting to where we throw our first ball and our spares. Strikes come sometimes and I think that they're coming a lot more now.

        My team has been doing outstanding and if we keep doing what we're doing, we will most definitley win sub-state. We have been keeping our head in the game and improving on everything. We miss spares here and there but in the end were still better. I believe that this is our year and we are going to show people that we are the best and we fight for what we want. This year we will come home the confrence and sub-state champions. Along with placing great at state.