#11 and #32

#11- Learn the names of the flowers in my yard; #32- Plant and grow a flower from a seed. planted 7/5/09, first flower 9/12/09!! :)

When making this list, I had to do a little bit of reflection to figure out what I really wanted to do, not just put on the list to fill it. Those of you that know me, know that I am NOT a green thumb. The opposite actually... I was someone that couldn't identify a pansy, much less keep one alive. So why would this be important to me...? Two words- My Mama.

Growing flowers from a pack of seeds was so awesome. It really made me take interest in the yard and made me take care of things... I'm sure I sound completely ridiculous, but it was like watching a baby grow- these seeds were my babies. I made sure they had enough sun and water, I checked on them everyday...and the first little sprout was a huge victory for me- "I DID it!! I actually grew something instead of killing it!!" :) Then, all of a sudden there were lots of sprouts... and then finally flowers! I called my mom when my first flower bloomed- I was so excited- I felt like a little kid- "Mommy, look what I did!!"



My mom LOVES the yard. Of course, it's hard work, but it was always worth it to her to take care of her yard and keep it pretty with different flowers and bushes. When my mom moved in with her hubby, leaving me here to keep up with everything, I thought I owed it to her to at least TRY. And for me, if I am interested in something, of course I will pay more attention to it... so going out trying to remember the names of the flowers my mom had told me while I watered them helped. :) In some silly way, I think I wanted to make my mom proud that all of her hard work wasn't going to go to waste- that I could do it all just like her.

I've been cutting the blooming Gerber daisies from the yard and putting them in a vase in the kitchen... just trying to remember to enjoy all the hard work and love that went into every plant out there. :)

#31

#31- Tell my parents the truth about something I lied about when I was younger.

This was actually really hard for me to accomplish... not because there are so many to choose from, or because I did bad things when I was younger. It's actually the exact opposite, which is what made it so hard! I was a pretty good kid. Sure, I made poor choices, as any kid does, but for the most part, I was pretty good. And when I wasn't, it seems I always got caught, which is what was making it so hard to think of something I could tell my parents the truth about... they already know everything!!!

Well, this morning, I woke up thinking about my friend Hana. We were best friends in middle school, and part of high school. I have talked to her a couple of times through facebook in the last year, and for some reason, this morning, I woke up remembering one of our... well, not one of our smartest moments, let's say. I was 15, and she was 14. Her parents had gone out of town and I was over at her house, just hanging out, like always. We were trying to think of something to do, and we had the bright idea to take her dad's car for a joyride. We didn't want to do anything seriously stupid, like get on a main road, for fear that we would get caught and it would ruin our chances of getting our license. So, we stayed in the neighborhoods around us. We were having so much fun, blaring music, feeling so "cool" in a car. Of course, I was driving because I was closest to being "old enough." haha! Well we got to the end of one of the neighborhoods, and I didn't want to get on the main road... I threw it in reverse to turn around, but being inexperienced, I cut the wheel right instead of left, and we HIT A MAILBOX! I think it bent up the mailbox, I don't really remember, but I do remember the horrifying sound of the BUMP as I hit it. We didn't get out to look, we just drove straight back to Hana's house. We were so afraid of getting caught! When we got back to her house to survey they damage, there was a nick in the back of the car. Luckily, her neighbor, Justin, came over and helped us wax out the scratch. You could still feel where it was, but couldn't see it- it was MAYBE an inch, but felt like the whole back of the car to us. I'm not sure if she ever told her parents what really happened, but I know her dad ended up seeing it days later and thought maybe a rock hit his car or something. And I never told my parents...

I called my mom, and she was "busy" and actually didn't want to stop and listen to my whole lie!! I couldn't believe it. Haha!

So, I called my dad to tell him about it to get this crossed off the list. Of course, I had to preface it by explaining that it was on the list, and it was actually hard to think of something that he didn't know already, to which he made a joke about what a bad liar I was, but that it was a good thing. :) ...and he laughed and kept saying, "wow!" once I told him the story. I think secretly he might have been a little proud that I wasn't as much of a chicken as he always thought I was. hee hee

When my mom finally called me back, she couldn't believe that I had done that. She told me that it was pretty terrible, and it was a good thing we didn't get caught! :-o We really did get pretty lucky...

I actually can not think of ONE other thing that I have not told my parents. Of course, I usually got caught if I did anything stupid, but the couple times I didn't, I think I've actually already told them once I got older and knew they couldn't ground me for it. :-P

#31, completed 9/26/09