How Have I Changed Throughout 9th Grade?

Photo Courtesy Of: GIF Maker

I remember the first day of ninth grade, I was feeling down about summer being over, and nervous about seeing everyone again. Last summer I was mostly in Pennsylvania being with my family and childhood friends. 

During the end of first quarter, to second quarter, I still felt out of place. I decided I want to make new friends and starting talking and sitting with other people.

For those few months I tried my best to be other peoples friends, thinking I would be happier, when really all it did was make me feel even worse about myself. 

Maybe even without realizing it, these girls were rejecting me and I felt alone. My old friends didn’t talk to me, and my new friends weren’t even true friends to me.

Around January, I decided to turn things around, I went back to my old friends, apologizing to all of them. I was stupid for leaving them, and I truly now know the meaning of true friends. It was an experience I will never do again.

I also went back to my best friend, at the end it turns out she really needed me too. I went through the worst fight I have ever had with her, and it has truly changed me. I think her and I will always stay together from it.

Throughout this year, more like the second half of this year, I also came out of my shell a little bit, with the help of my friends and met more people. I have made more friends and experiences this year than any other school year, even when I moved here from Pennsylvania. 

I feel like my physical self, such as my abilities have been what has changed the most throughout this school year. I feel like I am now so much healthier and can do so much more.

Cheer has made me such a stronger person, thanks to the help of my stunt girls, Hannah Littell, Jade Wilson, and especially Maddy Werbelow. Maddy has helped me so much, we have always stayed together stunting and mow together we are so powerful.

Throughout this year I have also been training so much more. Even though most girls can easily get tumbling, such as back handsprings, it took myself 3 months, going three times a week to get that stupid back handspring. (If you wanna learn how to tumble, CLICK HERE) But I was able to throw it for Sophomore tryouts and can’t wait to use it for competition next year!

Since the beginning of this year I would have to say I feel as if I haven’t changed as much as I have throughout out other past years. For me, this year flew by and now I just can’t wait for summer. I now have a job, and seriously just can’t wait to drive! 

From an academic point of view, I would have to say I have definitely improved and also write more maturely. Mr. Parker’s english class and all my other honors classes have definitely helped me so much. I now can’t wait to get into the high school, even though I am still terrified for my future. I guess this is a goodbye for now! 

8 Sweet Treat DIYs

Photo Courtesy Of: Sweet Treats*

Hello again everyone! Today I have eight delightful DIYs for you to help you with your baking. As always, let me know what you think in the comments below and lets get started!

Have you ever accidentally got an eggshell in your yolk? Don't worry, it happens to me all the time. Probably like 99% of the times I've ever cracked an egg in my life. I'm pretty sure I learned this DIY while watching some cooking show a while back. But anyway, dip your finger in water to have the shell stick to your finger when your trying to get it out. This trick is definitely the easiest way to snatch that stubborn eggshell! 

Have really tough butter? Need it softer for buttering a bagel or something? Don’t microwave it! Cover it with a warm glass, this trick perfectly heats things up real fast!

Anyone a little OCD like myself? While making cupcakes, I always use an ice cream scooper so all my cupcakes are perfectly the same size.

Ever been in a situation where you don’t have a muffin tin? My sister and I have been in this situation one time when we needed to make cupcakes for a girl scout event and completely forgot to bring one. What did we do you ask? We used the lids of mason jars to hold up the cupcake liners. This ended up working great!

Having trouble frosting? Make your cupcakes look slightly more professional with nothing more than a plastic bag. Just scoop some of your frosting to one corner of the bag, and then snip off a little bit of the corner with some scissors. Perfect piping tool!

Want to try something different than icing? Or maybe you're in a situation where you don't have icing at all? Use marshmallows! Literally put a marshmallow on a cupcake and bake for five minutes. The marshmallow will melt and form around the cupcake, looking like perfect and even white frosting! I found this on Pinterest, CLICK HERE to check them out, they have amazing hacks for just about anything! 

Have left over cookie dough? If you're like me you could just eat it. But if you need a way to easily store your cookie dough, put it into an ice tray in the freezer to save for later. Then you get little bites throughout your week of cookie dough snacks.

Best way to save your cookies? Before you put your container of freshly baked cookies away, cut an edge of an apple out and add that into your container. Make sure the skin part of the apple touches the cookies so the juices don’t get soggy. Anyway, this trick keeps your cookies nice and soft and never hard. Don’t believe me, try it yourself! 

So those are my eight DIYs for all the sweet treats you will be making for the rest of your life. Also, don’t forget to vote on my poll so I know what you guys want to read about, and I’ll see you guys next Saturday!

6 DIYs For Your Fabulous Shoes!

Shoe Photo Courtesy of: Shoes Inc.

Hello everyone, this week’s blog is all about the shoes. This week I have been thinking of some tricks I personally know that I hope can help you out too! Let me know what you think in the comments below. Without further or do, here are my six “shoe” DIYs that I hope help you out!

Have some annoying squeaky shoes? Add some baby powder to the inside of your shoes to silence them! My dad just bought me these really nice running shoes and the first time I used them was for a mile I ran in cheer, and each step I took they squeaked so loud. Even with my shoes being black, the baby powder worked so well and didn’t stain anything (btw it easily comes off the socks).

 Need a natural way to get the smell out of your shoes? Add some tea bags to your shoes to eliminate the odors! My friend’s cheer shoes used to stink up her entire bedroom until her mom made her do this, it worked!

My next trick my grandmother taught me, and is the most important. ALWAYS shoe shop at night. Your feet swell throughout the day and if you buy shoes that fit perfectly in the morning, they will be uncomfortable and too tight by the end of the day. This way, your shoes will always fit. Clever huh?

Do you need to wear those kind of heels that are uncomfortable and too narrow in the toe area? Tape your big toe and the one next to it together! This trick helps you keep your feet comfortable in the narrow area of a high heel. To eliminate people seeing your toes tapes, you could also use a bandaid that matches your skin color if they happen to be opened toed shoes.

Have shoes that will cause blisters if you wear them for too long? Any shoes that are not my cheer shoes, converse or boots always do that to me. Apply some clear gel deodorant to those problem areas to avoid blisters. I always use this trick whenever I need to wear flats, it really works and won’t stain your shoes!

Do you have some painful blisters? Well first of all, you should have used the DIY above this one. But if you happened to get a painful blister, soak your feet in some warm green tea. The green tea is a natural "anti-inflammatory agent" to help the pain and heal those blisters. Another trick from my amazing grandma, if you were wondering. 

Need to shop for some shoe organizing containers for shoes? Shop HERE! This website is where my mom bought all of our organization shelves and stuff like that. 

So those are my six easy DIYs to help you out with any “shoe problems” you might have in the future. DO forget to vote on my poll so I know what you guys want to see! Again, thanks for reading and you’ll hear from me next week!

7 DIYs For Every Lazy Girl

Makeup Picture in Courtesy Of: Beautiful Makeup

Greetings audience, this week’s post is for girls, even though I’m pretty sure no guys read my blog anyway, apart from Mr. Parker, of course. Anyway, today I will be showing you seven makeup DIYs to save lazy girls who just aren’t able to get up early enough to get things done in time. My best friend, Siana, happens to be like this every morning for school. As usual, let me know if any of these DIYs help you out for those mornings when you're feeling extra lazy.

Okay, so my first DIY is for the night before, after a long day with makeup on your face and your ready to go to sleep. Just use a face wipe to clean instead of washing your face! As long as you get a pack of face wipes good enough for the job, those wipes will end up becoming life savers for your skin, and your pillow case!

My second DIY is to apply concealer in a triangle shape instead of just randomly dabbing in under your eyes for a better effect. This will make it look like you took more time than you really did getting ready in th morning. You will also look less tired.

My third one is for contouring, I personally have never contoured but I have learned this from watching previous makeup videos. Easily contour your face by just brushing it in a "three" shape, which is your forehead, top of your checks, and jaw line. This is supposedly the easiest and quickest way to get the job done.

The fourth DIY is for those girls who like to rock eyeliner, and cat eyes and stuff. For a perfect quick cat eye, use a credit card. This will easily keep the extending lines equal and straight, and you can get it done fast.

Most girls I know my age at the very least wear mascara. For better lashes, warm up your mascara bottle with running under some warm water. This makes the formula come off from sticking to the inner walls, making you lashes always look like you used a fresh new bottle.

This next DIY I use for when I have to wear red lipstick for cheer. With a lip liner, draw an "X" shape to create the perfect cupids bow. It's way easier than trying to do it with just lipstick!

And my last DIY is a complete life savor for when your hair is greasy, which which has happened to every girl I know. Forgot to wash your hair last night? Use dry shampoo! Your scalp looks fresh and clean in seconds.

Want to know how to get ready in only five minutes in the morning? Click HERE for this cool website I found that gives you genius tips!

Alright so those are my DIYs for you lazy girls out there who like to sleep until the last minute for school, work, or whatever your plans are. Also, don’t forget to vote on my poll if you haven’t already so I know what you guys want to see! See you all again next week!

The Ultimate DIY Guide For Destroying That Pimple!

WE ALL HATE ACNE!

Hello again everyone! This will be my last post for the end of this quarter and I wanted it to be special. Today I will be giving you the ULTIMATE GUIDE for destroying any kind of pimple that you may have on your face. Let me know how some of these work in the comment section or if you have any other ideas on how to get rid of a stubborn pimple!

1. Apply ice cubes for a few minutes. Freezing the pimple will shrink the overall size of it.

2. Rub on garlic for three minutes (might burn). This will dry out the pimple making it appear smaller.

3. Dab on some Listerine. Listerine is a great way to really clean deep and get whatever is causing that pimple out of there!

4. Make a face mask out of egg whites, leave it on for fifteen minutes to soak up the oil.

5. Use some eyedrops to help reduce redness.

6. Apply the gel from an Advil pill for several minutes. This will help make it heal fast.

7. Mix aspirin tablets and water together until it becomes a paste, leave mask on for ten minutes. This mask also helps heal and reduce a pimple’s size.

8. Leave toothpaste on overnight to once again, reduce the size.

9. Apply pepto-bismol for a few minutes. This one I have never tried but my sister has!
10. Rub the inside of a banana peel onto pimple, keep it on for thirty minutes. This one is better for people with more sensitive or delicate skin.

11. Apply oatmeal, or an oatmeal mask for fifteen minutes. Not only is oatmeal good for acne, but it will really soften your skin!

12. Rub the inside of tomatoes on your face twice a day. If you can do this consistently, I promise those stubborn things will leave!

13. Leave a spoonful or honey and yogurt for fifteen minutes. I do this even when I don’t have a pimple because it’s amazing for your skin!

14. Put a mixture of two tablespoons of honey and one tablespoon of cinnamon, leave for fifteen minutes. The cinnamon is a more intense version of the honey and yogurt mask. The cinnamon is like the garlic where it will really help dry out that pimple!

15. Combine baking soda a water and leave on for fifteen minutes. I personally have only used baking soda on my teeth but I saw my two cousins try this once and their acne went away.

16. Apply lemons on your most stubborn pimples. This definitely stings but it really gets rid of those pimples!

Want another idea to get rid of pimples overnight? Click HERE for a tutorial! I hoped this help with your acne or stubborn pimples. Pimples and acne in general is just the worst and it’s so hard to have it at this day in age. Thanks again for reading and I’ll start posting again once fourth quarter rolls around. 

7 DIY's For Runners!

RUN!

Hello again everyone! I hope you are all having a fun weekend. Right now Cheer is off season and tryouts are sometime in the middle of April. I personally am trying to get a back handspring by tryouts and I have also been conditioning a lot more. One of the things I like to do is run. Running is a great full body workout and cardio. Here are seven DIYs (more like tricks) for helping you run your best!

Do you ever get really bad cramps in the middle of your run? And you don’t want to stop because you set a goal for yourself but pushing through the pain kills? Drink a banana smoothie before your run to prevent muscle cramps. A banana with some milk and ice it the best for these types of things and is also really good for you!

This next trick seems a little weird to me and I personally don't do it because I don't like the taste of it. But they say to drink coffee to help your endurance. Even though my endurance is terrible I still do not try this but I have had many aunts and uncles say it worked great for them.

My aunt also told me about this next trick, which is to use you shoe laces to hold your keys if you have no pockets. I personally would probably find this quite annoying if with every step I took, they would jingle, but let me know what you think if you ever try it in the comment section!

Here is something that is definitely a DIY you should try if you love listening to your music as you run. Create your own arm iPod holder by cutting the tip of a sock and putting it over your arm. This will keep your iPod or phone is place as you run and works just as well and one you could buy from the store. And hey, if you really wanted to get fancy with it you could use a fancy patterned sock, but mine personally is just black. Need a DIY for the other sock? Use another sock and just cut the tip for a water bottle grip.

Here are two more DIYs to improve how you run. First, focus on one object far away while you are running to increase you speed, and feel less tired. This always works for me and keeps my head up even when I want to keep it down when I get tired. For afterwards when you're done running, roll your feet over a tennis ball for a foot massage on your sore feet. You can even add the in the freezer before hand, it feels amazing! It also is super easy to pop in your bag and go and it will always be there is you have some foot pain.

Also, need some workout clothes? Lululemon is by far my favorite. Thanks for reading and let me know what else you want to see by voting on my poll! 

5 Genius Hot Chocolate DIYs

Going...Going...Gone!

Hello everyone! I wasn’t really sure what I was going to blog about this week, and as I was thinking about this I was drinking hot chocolate when I thought I could give you guys some DIYs to spice up your hot chocolate (even though its abnormally warm outside) Let me know what you guys think about these tricks in the comment section and I hope you enjoy!

Hot Chocolate DIY #1: Broil your hot chocolate with marshmallows on top in your oven at the lowest setting to give your marshmallows a beautiful color. I recommend doing this over microwaving it because microwaving it doesn’t give the marshmallows any crispness to it, it will just blow up the marshmallows making them look huge with no pretty color either.

Hot Chocolate DIY #2: Add some vanilla extract and hot chocolate to your french toast mix to create chocolate french toast! This honesty taste amazing! I made them a while ago for my sister’s birthday and she fell in love with them too. Hot chocolate is the best was to make chocolate french toast because the batter needs to stay thin and using other kinds of chocolate, such a chocolate syrup or melted chocolate chips will make the batter too thick for the bread.

Hot Chocolate DIY #3: Add very crushed and fine Oreos to your hot chocolate mix to bump up your Oreo hot chocolate! You have probably had Oreo hot chocolate before, where someone has cut up some Oreo junks into your drink. But if you grind the Oreos to and extremely fine consistency, you will be able to add it throughout the whole drink without all of the good stuff sinking to the bottom.

Hot Chocolate DIY #4: Add hot chocolate powder to your melted marshmallows when you're making rice crispy treats to make chocolate rice crispy treats! As I said before, hot chocolate is the best way to do this due to the consistency of it, since it wont affect the thickness of your chocolate rice crispy treats. 

Hot Chocolate DIY #5: Add hot chocolate powder to cashew butter and freeze it over night for a healthy and delicious fudge! I learned this from a nutritionist named Lindsay who came to my house and taught my sister and I some natural and healthy recipes. 

f you want to know more about Lindsay click HERE. She is an amazing nutritionist and is a very kind lady. She will come to your house and cook an amazing dinner with you and while she does it she teaches you how to cook the natural and healthier way.

Want some more hot chocolate recipes? Click HERE! This website has tons of recipes for any season and have so many more ideas than what I have come up with here. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed these and let me know what more you want to see by voting on my poll! I’ll be coming up with two more posts by the end of 3rd Quarter.