Do Not Disturb

This past Saturday, my boyfriend Jared and I traveled to Frankenmuth for a day trip. We left at about 10 am for the expressway. Our plan was to hit Bronners Christmas Wonderland first before visiting the busy downtown strip. It was one of those days I accidentally left my phone at home and was happy about it.

On our way down there, our MapQuest instructions were adequately helpful and easy to follow until at the end of our route the paper advised us that our destination was on the right when all that appeared was a warehouse without the slightest indication of a Bronners sign anywhere. We attempted to resume travel down the road. Sure enough, the next block contained the Christmas Wonderland. Upon entering the parking lot, Jared and I quickly realized that there was absolutely no parking spots to host us. We ended up parking across the street and walking. When we entered the establishment we were immediately overwhelmed with sights of Christmas, sounds of carols, and children screaming “Santa!” I still don’t know how much of the store we covered because it was so packed. We bought a few things then decided to move on.

We headed into town to Main Street and walked up and down the street to visit all the shops. We went through the gift shops at the Bavarian Inn. We also spent some time in an arcade and won some little prizes. It was a wonderful day that took the edge off.

Frankenmuth was quite the experience. It was a lot of fun being in a place that offers a different lifestyle. Everything there is decorated with a German style and it’s really beautiful. Point taken when feeling stressed, just take a day trip!

I'd Rather Be Sleeping

Black Friday: two words that to the general American population mean sales upon sales at retail shops. It can also mean possible limb detachment from an angry mob of parents who are seeking the deal on iPhones for their 13 year old daughters. While I’ve never been a big fan of the scheme of joining the crowd for a day of insanity just to save a few dollars, I can at least understand why a person might choose to go out on the esteemed Black Friday. Though there are some pretty great deals going on that day, I must honestly say that I usually do my Christmas shopping the following weekend, and I can commonly pick up some finds for the same Black Friday deal, without all the hysteria.

While browsing through Target on Wednesday evening, my boyfriend, Jared, and I ran into one of our good friends, Kyle. Kyle is a Target employee and we began conversing with him about his upcoming plans to spend Thanksgiving. He then pursued to inform us that after Wednesday night’s shift, he was going home to rest up before heading back to work around 5 pm on Thanksgiving Day. That shift would last until about 3 am whereupon he would head home again to rest up before working the same shift for Black Friday. I told him I was deeply sorry that he had to work on Thanksgiving Day. Something else I noticed which seemed quite interesting to me was that many Black Friday sales actually began by 6 pm on Thanksgiving Day. So Black Friday is no longer meant for just the Friday post-Turkey Day; it is seeping into Thanksgiving Day itself. What’s more, employees of the stores that offer these pre-Black Friday sales must stock up on employees to support the estimated amount of shoppers heading their way on Thanksgiving Day, pulling people away from their families and forcing them to work during a national holiday. I’m appalled.

Those are my reasons for boycotting the Black Friday flimflam. When I was asked this week if I would be going out for any Black Friday shopping, I simply replied “Nah, I don’t want to lose a limb.” A decade ago that would have been a pretty good joke. Today, it has become a reality. I can assure you that if you were to look on YouTube for a “Black Friday Accident or Scandal,” there would be thousands of results. Point taken, stay home on Black Friday and attempt to never work retail that day.

The Queen Needs to Plan Better

Over the rainy weekend, I took part in a parade. The annual Santa Parade takes place in Midland and is meant to get the community in the holiday spirit with floats and candy-givers from various businesses and establishments throughout the town. I was in the parade to represent the Midland County Fair along with three friends as the 2014 Fair Royalty Court.

Back in June, as I was sitting in the pew of a church during a 4-H meeting, talking with my cousin, Shelby, about entering in the Royalty Pageant. She, her sister Jayci, and I had done the pageant once when we were in our preteen years and we ran for princess. We were all too nervous and alas, none of us won. As I discussed it with Shelby I told her, “Hey, it’s my last year I’m going to live it up!” I filled out the entry sheets and began preparing for my questioning.

The pageant takes place at the fairgrounds on the Saturday preceding the fair, in the steer showmanship arena. During the pageant, each contestant must wear formal attire and go up on stage in front of a crowd of family, friends, fellow 4-Hers, and judges to answer two questions. One question is related to your application, the other you pull from a basket. As I listened to my competitors, I thought their answers were amazing and that I didn’t stand a chance. My heart was racing when I was on stage and I was so sure everyone else could hear it beating. After everyone had been questioned, the judges did their tallying and then last year’s queen announced the winners. When I heard my name called, it was like a surreal movie moment, I could only hear my family’s shouts and cheers for half-a-second before everything went silent and I fought back tears as I walked up to receive my crown and sash. Winning 2014 Midland County Fair Queen was a gift that made my last 4-H year even more memorable.

With winning came responsibilities and privileges. Court members get to be announced at a few grandstand events during fair week. We also got to be in a few parades. The four of us, the prince, princess, king, and I, plan to get together to do some volunteering. I will be announcing the whole pageant for the upcoming fair week next August, reading each profile, asking all questions, revealing the winners. I’m extremely excited.

Now that I’ve explained why I was in the parade and how I got there, I’ll discuss the parade itself. It was a rough day from the beginning. The roads were coated with inches of ice from rain the night before. It was treacherous attempting to get to the city roads that would have no ice. My boyfriend, Jared, was with me which was a blessing because he kept me calm as I was driving. Finally, I reached the parking lot where everyone was waiting for the parade to begin. I attached my sign to the float then socialized with the others and their parents. I noticed that the jacket I had chosen would’ve sufficed at home where it was warmer and there was no wind, but here in town it was colder. I was freezing before we even left the parking lot. I didn’t look very queen-like, I had a hat on and my crown on top of it. It continued to rain and our signs began to bleed their colors. Then when we finally sat down in our places, we realized that the rain had been coming into our trolley and that made the blankets we sat on wet, which instantly made us feel that much colder. It was fun, that much is true but point taken, more planning needed to occur on my part.

Uhh, RUDE!

I think we can all agree that we've seen our fair share of those individuals that have decided they are for some reason superior to another human being. I’m not talking about old to young here, I’m talking about citizens in general stomping all over others.

If I tried to count the number of times I’ve witnessed a situation where one such person decides he’s had enough of waiting in the “fast” food line, I wouldn’t have enough digits to count on. When this person comes to this realization, he lets the cashier have it, even though the reason he’s angry has nothing to do with that cashier. When I finally reach the counter, I attempt to soothe the said cashier by confessing that the guy was an idiot.

Another instance I’ve encountered is when someone’s phone conversation is so incredibly important that they cannot tell the person on the other end to wait just a second so they can buy the things they’ve put on the conveyer belt. This event is usually followed by an argument with the cashier about something stupid. Then they’ll leave without one polite word to the cashier.

Speaking of grocery stores, don’t even get me started about people and their carts. They have no respect for others. They can usually be seen with their heads down pushing their carts anywhere they like without any indication of caring about others around them.

This ignorance is not only seen in the grocery stores either but any shops or public places. Just recently, I was in Detroit with some friends and I saw one specific girl approaching us. She had her phone to her ear and she was looking for something while walking. I knew right away she was not going to notice my presence. For a moment it was as if we were playing chicken. It was a "move or lose a limb" situation. I moved over because I assumed she would continue her current path and cut me away from my friends. We were near the entrance when I stepped aside, right next to the fake vegetation. Next thing you know, she takes a turn and heads right for me. With less than a second for my plan of action, I attempted to shift out of her way. In order to avoid colliding with her, I sacrificed my hip bone into the counter of the jewelry case.  I was able to maintain my composure up until I hurt myself. At this point I called out, “by all means, let me move for y0u!” She was too busy fluttering around that she didn’t even apologize.

Oh and driving! My favorite is when someone comes to a partial stop before they’ll get into the turn lane. But that could be a whole other blog. Point taken, pay attention and be aware of your surroundings.

A Bushel of Berries

My cousins and I grew up close, gathering together quite frequently.  Whether it was a family party, which we have at least 10 a year for various holidays, a 4-H meeting, or just stopping over, we all became very close throughout the years.

My mom has a sister and two brothers. My mom’s sister, Char, married my Uncle Jeff and they have three girls, Shelby, Jayci, and Sofia. My mom’s brother Larry married my Aunt Kari and they have one girl, Miranda. My mom’s other brother, Gary, married my Aunt Stacy and they have two kids, Matthew and Ellie. I am the oldest of all the cousins.

Shelby comes second to me at 17. We’ve been especially close because we were born consecutively and we are so similar. Shelby is very hilarious when she opens up to you but when you first meet her, she is shy and quiet. She’s played volleyball for quite a few years now.

Jayci is the middle child of the Cain family. She’s very involved with equestrian at her high school. She is also very funny but in different ways from her sister Shelby. Jayci is more of a “let’s party it up” person. She’s always looking for something fun to do, some way to get out and have a good time with her family and friends.

Sofia is the youngest of the Cains at nine years old. She is also one of the feistiest kids I’ve ever met. She’s not afraid to introduce herself to you. She’s also not afraid to be extremely bold. If you want to know what I mean, find my blog titled “Obtaining skills from a hippie.”

Miranda is also extremely involved with equestrian. She’s too young to be showing for the high school team, but she travels to different shows. She’s an only child like me. She spends a lot of time with her animals.

Matthew is in seventh grade this year and he’s been playing hockey for a long time. This year he’s decided to try wrestling as well. He, being the only boy cousin in the family, is crazy respectful to all of us girls. We always joke with him that when he gets a girlfriend, he’ll have to bring his girlfriend to us so we can approve of her. I worry that once the girls realize how sweet of a guy he is, they’ll be all over him.

Ellie, Matthew’s little sister, is the same age as Sofia. Ellie is always wanting her bigger cousins to play with her. She’s sweet but a little blunt to be honest. She loves wearing skirts and loves doing her nails. She is your usual little girl, wanting attention and love.

Shelby, Jayci and I showed pigs together at the fair for many years before we got everyone else to join us. This past year, even the young girls were able to show with us. It was amazing because we were all united in something. It was also awesome because it was my last year and I got a chance to show one more time with everyone involved. We all love getting together and hanging out. We’ve mastered the game of Bloody Murder and we all trade candy like a stock market after the annual Easter egg hunt.

I love all my cousins so much, each for their own reasons. They make me who I am today. Point taken, I couldn’t ask for a better family.

Scenes and Lyrics

Music and movies. Who doesn’t love them? Unless you’re Anna Kendrick’s character in Pitch Perfect, then you only like music… What I’m trying to get across here is that music and movies have shaped my life.

When I was little, I had this dress I would wear when I was doing chores and I loved pretending I was Cinderella. I also had this little Lion King stuffed animal that I used as Nala and my friend had Simba. We used to build forts in my living room and hold Simba up like we were presenting him to the kingdom on Pride Rock.

I would act out full scenes from Disney movies for my mom. She paid attention for the first few times and then she would say, “Haven’t you done this one before?” With which I would respond, “yeah… but I like it!” When she got annoyed with my “professional acting career,” I would try out my skits on my grandparents. If I decided to include my younger cousins, I made sure they played the lesser roles. I was always the director and main character of my skits.

Of course, movies always portray the “perfect guy” which every girl begins to dream about when she gets older. Movies showed me what to look for in a relationship, it just took me quite a while to get there.

As I got older, I really began to identify with music. I always wanted to have headphones in when working on anything. Even now if there’s nothing on the radio I get really frustrated and I might even turn it off and sing my own favorite songs.

I am a country music lover. I used to get picked on a lot for it but now I embrace it. I grew up in a very country family and I wouldn’t trade anything about them. We are the kind of people who jam out to Luke Bryan’s “Rain is a good thing.”

But even I have my moments when I need to hear some Shinedown. or Eminem. I’m flexible when it comes to music I just prefer country. I love music because no matter how you’re feeling, there’s a song to fit your mood and speak to your heart. If you’re going through a rough break up just listen to Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead.” If you’re quite in love then Brad Paisley’s “Little Moments” is for you. One of my personal favorites is Shinedown’s version of “Simple Man.”

Point taken, scenes and lyrics know how to speak to you.

Why did I sign up for that?

Last night was Halloween. My friend Casey was throwing a Wild West Murder Mystery party. It was a blast. My boyfriend Jared and I went and a lot of our friends were there as well. We all were assigned our own characters last week so we could plan our costumes accordingly. It was a lot of fun trying to discover who the murderer was. I was awarded at the end for acquiring the most money from other players. After the game was over, we all discussed what we should do for the duration of the evening.

The first plan was to go to the theater to see “Ouija.” We all planned to sneak in, who wants to pay for a movie? However, not everybody was up for that so we decided to seek other options so that everyone could be involved. This is when there was first mention of a haunted house. I looked at Jared and he looked at me and we both said “It’s up to you.” Neither of us are into scary movies and definitely not haunted houses. Casey looked at me and said “Would you go?” I was battling with myself because the night was young and there was nothing else to do. I was having such a good time with everyone, they all wanted to go and I didn’t want to be the one that wimped out. So I decided what the hell let’s do it. That was my first mistake.

The drive to the house was about thirty minutes long and we took Casey’s mom’s minivan so some of us could car pool. It was a hilarious ride there and back. It was what happened in the middle of the trips that really petrified me. “I really hope they don’t split up the group,” I told everyone. We show up to the haunted house titled “House of the Living Dead” and there was hardly a line which was nice. “Four at a time guys,” the man outside the gate told us. I was so mad because I knew they were going to do that. Jared and I decided that we would go with our good friends Chris and Alexis. We were the last four of our friend group to enter the house.

I spoke with the gate keeper guy before we entered. “Tell it to me straight, how bad is it,” I asked him. “Oh it’s not that bad, it’ll only take about fifteen minutes,” he assured me. And later I would realize that it was the longest fifteen minutes of my life. I then told him this was my first time ever going through a haunted house. That was my second mistake because he almost made me go first. A scary looking person opened the door and screamed “Next!” We walked in and got checked for weapons. I asked the lady, “They aren’t going to touch me right?” She said there would be absolutely no touching. That didn’t deem to be true.

We entered the house, Chris in the front followed by Alexis then me and Jared in the back. Thank God for the men because there was no way Alexis or I would have gone in the front or back. In the second room of the house, I was already crying. The tears would remain on my face for the duration of the walk through the house. I had several hysterical fits throughout and often times put my hood right up against Alexis’ jacket to block out everything around me.  When the people running the house saw that I was crying, I became an immediate target because they knew they’d get a reaction out of me. I remember walking through spots thinking it was over just to be surprised with yet another disturbing person in my face threatening to kill me. I also remember repeatedly saying, “oh God, there’s more?” while crying and sniffling.

 In one room, a chop-shop hillbilly refused to let me by him, separating Jared and me from Chris and Alexis. I remember yelling “Don’t touch me!” Which of course he replied, “I’m not.” When indeed he was, later we would report him.

When we finally reached the end I practically ran Alexis over trying to get outside. I stood there crying and trying to calm myself and telling myself it was over. I turned around to hug Jared and let him hold me, which was my last mistake because I was traumatized by the last terrifying guy we’d seen in the house. He’d followed behind us and came up from behind me. When he jumped in front of me, he was about four inches from my face. I screamed so loud and started running while having another hysterical fit. Jared ran after me, then held me telling me that it’s really over and that there’s no one left. I finally pulled myself together and was fine after we got to the parking lot.

Looking back on it now, they did a fantastic job running that house. There were so many awesome effects and features that I actually thought were pretty cool. There was a slide in the hillbilly chop shop. There was a truck that came at you with the lights and horn blaring. There was a room that had a slanted walkway with railings that had a revolving ceiling which surrounded you and made you feel like you were spinning. The actors were fantastic and did their job justice. Point taken, I’d much rather work in a haunted house than go through one.