Mustard and Catch-Up

Hey.

It's already been a month since I last posted.

Does time fly or what?

To make up for my horrible lack of posting, let's play catch-up.

Madison is home! He came back on Wednesday, and it was the best reunion ever. I didn't think I'd cry, but when I saw him turn that corner to come greet us, there I was, crying like a baby. He hardly recognized me after two years of being away. It's so amazing having him back where he belongs. 

Florida was quite the trip. First and foremost, I rocked those Nike gladiator sandals like I've never rocked a shoe before (and after showing off my favorite pair of shoes, I became obsessed with these babies shortly after). Although some days were actually cold--as in, 44 degrees cold--I basked in the sun on the warm days. I went to Epcot and celebrated New Year's. I went to the Magic Kingdom and rode Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain for the first time. I had the opportunity to watch Tanner in his All-American game where he received the MVP award. I bought yet another pair of shoes. I stood 100 feet away from my celebrity crush, Cam Newton. One day, Cammy, one day. And boy, did I have fun. Ohhh yeahhh.

School is wonderful! Straight A's, cool teachers (with the exception of ONE), great social life, we're all good. I'm enjoying the easiness of middle school while it lasts.

Sports are going VERY well. I have a volleyball tournament next Saturday and the AAU season is in session. I'm gonna be honest, we have a lot of work to do, but I think we'll probably place about 4th or 5th this year. It'll be nice in high school when I get to play with older girls. I like a good challenge.

I'm growing my hair out. By summer, it'll be long and luscious and I won't have to worry about straightening it or making sure it looks good. They'll just be long locks of dirty blonde hair.

And, as always, I love ma best friend Zane(:

I'm obsessed with Temple Run and Sky Burger.

And that's about it.

Thanks for the great game of catch-up, y'all.

♥ Abigail ♥

It's been a while.

"How come?" you'd probably ask. There's only one answer for that: sports. Oh, and maybe a little music, too. That's right, my schedule has been booked with sporting events and music recitals. But now that the track season is over, I should have more time for blogging! "Hooray!" you should all be cheering.

While it is good that the track season is over, I'm going to miss it at the same time. I'll miss running five laps in the blazing heat or the pouring rain. I'll miss the mean coach who, whenever I made a mistake, would scream right in my face, "Where's your head today?!" I'll miss the red sand on my shoes when I ran, my ponytail falling as I did so. But most of all, I'll miss the meets.

I'll miss how every Friday, we'd stand in our official track uniforms waiting for the bus to come. When it did, we'd all pair up and take our seats on the bus. The best part is the bus driver is my regular one, so he'd give me the special treatment. Finally we'd get to whatever school in which we were competing, and we'd put our spikes on. Then we'd run a lap, do our regular warm-ups, and get pumped up. And then we ran. Ran faster than we'd do at practice. Ran until our legs ran out of fuel. Ran to win.

And that we did. My middle school beat every other middle school in the district. It was a good feeling knowing that we were unstoppable.

And then districts came along.

The three top runners for each event qualified. I was among them, the only 6th grader to even make it to districts. My name was called out three times. I qualified for the 100, the 200, and the 4 x 1 relay. That was when I realized I was going big. I was competing against the scary 8th graders. 

This past Friday was the day of districts. Although nervous I was excited. I got to compete in the 1st heat, which is huge for a 6th grade young un like me. Here were my results:

100 Meter Dash: 4th Place - 13.1 seconds - school record: 13.0 seconds

200 Meter Dash: 3rd place - 27.4 seconds - school record: 27.0 seconds

4 x 100 Relay: 2nd place - 54.1 seconds - school record: 53.0 seconds

I was so close to beating all these records! Though it would have been cool to beat them as a 6th grader, I have two more years to accomplish what I've always wanted to do since I thought about track. 

Until next time.

♥ Abigail ♥

April

April. The time of year when the weather is unpredictable. It may rain one day, then shine brightly the next. April. The time of year when you have a right to wear shorts and a t-shirt after wearing snow pants and ski parkas all winter long. April. The time of year when you're actually excited to walk your dog. April. The Easter Bunny comes along, hiding Easter baskets throughout the whole house. April. Who could forget mating season? New life comes in April, making Earth seem a whole lot younger again.

This past April has been a busy one for me. With track five days a week, basketball three days a week, and other activities taking place, I've felt that I haven't had any time for anything, including blogging. I honestly haven't thought about my blog once this whole month. I even missed the Truly Abigail three-year anniversary! Sorry, blog:( I promise to blog at least three times a month this summer.

Like I said, track has been occupying much of my time. We have it from 3:00 to 4:30 every day. Then I usually have some extra-curricular activity afterwards. To sum it up, I have been booked. We had our first track meet last week against Lake Hazel and Meridian. It was a good meet for us; the girls beat the other teams by more than 40 points! I competed in the 100M dash, the 200, and the 4 x 100 relay where I was the anchor leg. I was proud of my times! This is what they were:

100 Meter Dash

Original Time: 15.2 s

New Time: 13.5 s

200 Meter Dash

Original Time: 34.7 s

New Time: 30.5 s

We also won our relay. I was on a 6th grade team when I competed in the relay, but was moved up to the A team with the 7th and 8th graders just recently! Although I was put as 3rd leg, I'm just proud to be in the position I am! Maybe at our upcoming track meet against Lewis and Clark I'll beat our anchor leg's time.

Also, I have been taking piano for a couple months now! I may be just a beginner, but I'm already playing in G position, which with the average 8-year-old, it would take 3 years to learn. I'm definitely learning a lot:)

Hope spring is just swell for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♥ Abigail ♥


P.S. I ended up not getting braces! I guess my teeth aren't "fully developed". August will be the month!

Swing Dance; Picture Day; Hoop Dreams

Every year, the middle school creates a program called Swing Team, or as we call it, Swing Dance. It's an optional thing where you can ask someone of  the opposite gender if they want to dance with you in Swing Dance. There are tryouts, practices, and a few performances. (Or is it just one?) Anyway, it's a big deal for the 6th graders. Here and there people are asking boys and girls if they would like to participate. During the Rocky Mountain football game where Tanner got hurt, I asked a 7th grader if he would do it with me. He said yes. This boy is in my ward, and his family is really good friends with mine. He's really tall (pretty much the same height as me...surprising, right?). 

As we all stand in line, our legs are shaking; well, at least mine are. We are in alphabetical order, which means I'll go halfway through. As I get closer to the camera, the seat, the lady who takes your form, I start asking everyone around me, "Do I look okay?" Now, it may be pretty ridiculous fretting about a picture, but this picture will go on my activity card...permanently. I fix my hair quickly, and when the photographer tells me to sit in the seat with my shoulders square, my posture upright, I do just as he says, even though I usually slump when I sit. I try to keep my eyes from blinking, but the bright flash--even with an umbrella covering the flash--is too strong. I blink. I begin to panic, wondering if my picture has me blinking, or semi. In pictures past, I've always been to known to have one eye bigger than the other from the flash. I anxiously await my activity card, tingling inside. Finally, it prints; I stare at the picture...and smile. It was the best picture I'd had since kindergarten. My hair looked straight, my smile looked good, despite the ugly crooked teeth, my posture looked fine, and my eyes were the same size!!! I was overjoyed. Other girls didn't like their pictures, but I was very proud of mine. No retakes for me!

It was a warm September day, just a week and a half until the first day of fall. It had been a long day at  school, it had been a long game with Tanner's injury (read my previous post), and now we were home, drowning our sorrows into ice cream. Remembering the Hoop Dreams tryouts, I jump into the brown stool, quickly go to the website, and find the teams. I made it. But as I looked closer, I saw that everyone had made it, which means an 18-player team. I got confused. After some conversations with the staff, I learned that as the season progresses, they'll place nine in an Advanced Travel Team and the other nine in a development team. It's also possible that I could move up to the 7th grade team if I did good enough. Practices haven't started, but I am so excited to start!

Swing Dance, good-looking pictures, and Hoop Dreams, here I come.

♥ Abigail ♥

The Joy of Basketball

Every day this summer I've woken up to the skies blue and cloudless. I throw on sweats and a  jacket, grab a women's basketball  (28.5), raise the 20-year-old basketball hoop to ten feet, and begin shooting as I please. Three pointers, lay-ups, bank shots, free throws. For at least an hour a day I practice my form, my dribbling, and my defense. Why am I practicing so hard when I could be relaxing inside the air conditioned house? 

Perfect shooting, tricky dribbling, high-end coaching, talented players. Hoop Dreams Basketball Club is where your future basketball career begins. It takes skill to make the team; if you want in you have to commit. You have to know the rules. You have to practice regularly. With some of the best coaches in the valley, you must be willing, obedient, confident. If you really know how to play basketball, try out for Hoop Dreams on Friday, August 27th, 2010.

So why am I putting in so much time for practice? Now you know. Almost every day this summer I have jumped off the couch and practiced with an old basketball in my driveway. I want to make a very competitive team with some outstanding coaches in less than a week. I want to play on a team where every player is talented, where your weaknesses can be strengthened with professional help. I know it will help me in my future; I am hoping to become a professional basketball player. 

Basketball is like a second life. It's a simple sport that takes almost no talent, just a basket and an arm, any type of arm. It's something you can do by yourself when you're bored or need something to do. It's a goal I want to pursue later in life, so why not start now?

Starting basketball early is better than beginning late. You can learn the techniques at a young stage; you'll have more coordination later in your career. Just knowing how to dribble without staring at the ball is a huge sign of progress. These skills will help you until the end.

It's only the beginning.

ABIGAIL

Waka Waka

Being the child in the family that is usually on her computer while everyone else watches TV, it's surprising to see that I actually tune in on the World Cup. I like watching the players fake the goalkeeper out and kick in a perfect goal. It's amazing that there's actually talent like that in this world. 

I'm not a huge soccer player; I played for three years, and then I got started with basketball. My parents also didn't want to pay all that cash for club soccer, which is another reason I quit in second grade, the year before I'd have to play club. Today you can keep playing a basic league after third grade, but back then things were different.

The games are so unpredictable. You have no idea what they're going to do, so you're anxious as the players kick the ball down the huge field. The horns blowing in the stands, the cheering, the anxiety in the air is all so exciting to me. It's incredible how a game can be so nerve racking. 

Secretly I support Argentina, but of course I have to cheer on the USA. I mean, I'm a citizen of the United States. Wouldn't it be a little disrespectful to discourage the team's territory I live on? (If that made any sense.)

I especially enjoyed the song Shakira sang at the opening performance: Waka Waka, which obviously explains the title above. It has good lyrics that shows South Africa's culture. I am a picky music listener, and this song is definitely a plus on my list.

On another note, go Celtics!

♥ Abigail ♥


P.S. If you ever try the Template Designer, think before you apply it to your blog! It's almost impossible to remove the template. If you are having problems removing your template, let me know in a comment and I will give you specific instructions on how to get rid of those dumb templates!