Returned

Home.

Happy.

Got 12 hours of sleep last night.

Really happy.

Camera broke at camp.

Will post all about the week once I can yoink some pictures from people's Facebook.

Have a great weekend!

Agent Rat Checking in With a Status Report

I know I've been MIA recently.

So here's the Status Report:

Ears: Happy Because of the song from this scene.

My Love by Sia.

Yes I've listened to it at least 500 times.

Eyes: Very pleased.


Because of this movie: Hilarious, clean and darling.

And of course this one: yes I saw it for the third time this week.

Legs: Scratched up from chopping down corn stalks with swords and machetes in the dark.

Yes it was awesome.

Brain: Full and aching just a bit from all the thinking and planning I've been doing for Girls Camp. Jessica and I were given the calling of planning ALL the fun firesides for camp. It's been a ton of work but also SO MUCH FUN! We go this Tuesday and we're almost all ready! It's gonna be great!

Heart: Mending. Slowly but surely.

Everyone have a great weekend! After camp I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures and stories for your viewing pleasure! In the meantime...Cowgirl Up!!!!

I'm Grateful

Well this week has been...uh....one of a kind.

I guess you could say I've got a lot on my mind.

But its when things are hardest that you remember what's most important.

My family-no matter what happens, they are always there for me. Trying to help in whatever way they can.

My friends- sit and listen to me whine for hours on end...and they still want to hang out with me. These are the girls that I laugh with, I cry with and drool over boys with.

The scriptures- when you have no idea what you're doing- they're the road map that will lead you through your life.

Priesthood blessings- I'm BEYOND blessed to have a father whose a worthy priesthood holder who is willing to give me a blessing whenever I need it. Direct inspiration from the Lord is such a comfort when you don't know what the heck you're doing!

The power of fasting- Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when He gave us this precious gift. A small sacrifice on your part can lead to more blessings than you could ever imagine.

The power of prayer- even when you're at your worst, feeling alone, you're not. Your Father in Heaven is always right there, just waiting for you to come to Him. And prayer is the way you do that. I can't even count the number of times I've muttered a prayer and immediately felt a difference.

I'm grateful for trials.

We given them for a reason.

They are how we grow, progress, and realize what's really important.

I Luffff My Life!!!!

So I haven't had time to post lately because Julie, my BFF is here from Texas!!! Already, we've had SO.MUCH.FUN. Lunch dates, boy dates, movies, swimming oh and uh having our car break down twice. Awesome. But truly!

So this'll just be a quick post but I HAD to say.....

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have NEVER left a Twilight movie happy!

I always leave cranky and annoyed.

But last night I left on Cloud 9!

This new director is brilliant!!!!

Things I loved:

*Jacob's Abs

*Jacob's Face

*Jacob

*EDWARD DIDN'T REPULSE ME LIKE HE USUALLY DOES

*Jasper and Rosalie's stories = YES!!!!!!

*More Emmet = YESS!!!!

*The Sex Talk scene = DYING LAUGHING!!!!

*New Victoria actually did a good job!

*Riley was fabulous!!

*Dakota Fanning is a boss!

*Bella gets prettier every movie.

*Ashley Greene (Alice) is fabulous. Flawless. Love her.

*I loved the inclusion of details from the Bree Tanner book. If you haven't read it, hurry and go to breetanner.com before they take it down. Read it. That's an order.

*I HATE Leah!!! Which means the actress did a great job. Bless her.

*Seth is a DOLL!!!

Okay so I liked alot of things. I was SO pleasantly surprised! I'm still overjoyed!

Have a great week!

More adventures later!

High School Happiness

Believe it or not, there is such a thing!!

Thank goodness.

In fact, this year, the happiness has been equal to or MORE than the horrors, which is amazing! I think it's because even if you have less happy than horror, the happy means more, thus creating equilibrium.

Wow big word.

Okay moving on to the point.

Picture this with me. It's Tuesday, the last full day of the school year. Wednesday and Thursday are both final days which means half day. So Tuesday was the last day I would see EVERYONE. So how did I want to be remembered? Just look at the pictures. Bo Lao Shi-the most patient, longsuffering, and otherwise awesome Chinese teacher ever!
Brother Sell-greatest seminary teacher known to mankind.

The 3 Stooges

Now here comes the story:

It's Tuesday circa 6:45 am.

Last day of A-hour seminary.

But we weren't having a lesson, just chillin' signing yearbooks etc.

Me, Ed (Steph), and Hannah are sitting there wondering aloud where in the world Karla is because she PROMISED she'd come.

So I comandeer Hannah's phone so I can give Karla a piece of my mind.

And she claims to be landing her mother ship at seminary in approximately 15 minutes.

So I say, "let's jump on her when she gets here."

And Hannah, being BRILLIANT, says

"I still have those dress-ups in my car from the anti-prom party."

(Another post soon to come.)

"We should get dressed up and jump on her!"

So we got dressed and waited.

Ready to pounce.

And pounce we did!

I think we almost gave poor Karla a heart attack, but it sure was fun!

Anywho, we promptly got Karla into a stupid outfit.

Then we all made a pact to wear the clothes for the.entire.day.

YES!!!!

And we decided to keep our motives a secret.

If someone asked Stephanie why she was wearing her outfit, she said "Ask Karla"

If Karla was asked, she said "Ask Natalie"

If I was asked, I said, "Ask Hannah"

And if Hannah was asked, she said "Ask Stephanie"

It took everyone till about third hour to get that it was all a huge loop.

It was seriously one of the greatest days of the entire year.

Bless dress-ups forever and ever.

Amen.

Ratalie's Reveling Rhetoric

So this morning I needed some music to listen to so I went onto grooveshark and proceeded to make a small playlist that defines how I'm feeling about life at this point. Here's the list:

Lost by Micheal Buble

I'm Only Me When I'm With You by Taylor Swift

Invisible by Taylor Swift

Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy

Come in With the Rain by Taylor Swift

You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman

Need You Know by Lady Antebellum

Am I in need of some psychoanalysis or what?

In other news, I hung out with Charming today for the first time since our date last summer and umm...he's fabulous.

Just sayin'.

High School Horrors Part 10

So I know it's summer, but there are some Horrors that I feel are recap worthy.

So here we go:

As we all know, friends are debatably the most important part of a high schooler's existence, so when something happens that jeapordizes them, it becomes your very own living nightmare.

The Three Scariest Experiences of Ratalie's Junior Year

3. My BFF Suz was feeling awful during choir. So we were outside and I was doing my best to help her out. I turned away for one second and the next thing I know, her eyes are rolling back in her head and she's falling backwards and I hear her head hit the pavement with a thud. Terr.I.Fy.Ing.

2. This one got it's one post. The Rusty/Peanut Butter Episode. Go here to read all about it.

1. The number one most terrifying experience of this year...one night I was sitting at home and someone burst through our door. It was Edell, my friend Jake's mom. She was borderlining hysterical as she said "Jake's been in a motorcycle accident, can we leave our car here so Glen and I can drive together?" And with that she was gone. We had no idea how serious it was or what exactly happened. All night I was wreck. I even texted Jake thinking that if he was concious he'd have his phone on him: "Jake are you okay???" Not recieving an answer made it even worse. Finally, around 11 pm Edell came back to pick up the car. Becuase Jake had been wearing his helmet he had made it without any serious injuries and had walked out of the hospital. I don't think I'd ever been that relieved in my entire life. I booked it outside to jump on Jake and see with my own two eyes that he was okay. To this day, I am a HUGE advocate for wearing helmets on motorcycles, it saved my best friends life!

I'm so thankful that in all three of these scenarios, my friends were okay. I know without a doubt that all three of them were being watched over by a loving Heavenly Father. And that, with him on my side, I need never fear.

Tzeitel Don't Forget the Baby!!!!

You know what stinks???

When something that you used to really love and enjoy...becomes a chore.

It breaks my heart to say this...but that is what has happened with blogging.

So for now I shall say farwell and leave you with a song:

If you find it's me your missing, if you're hoping I'll return.

To your thoughts I'll soon be listening, in the road I'll stop and turn.

Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end.

And the path I'll be retracing, I'll be homeward bound again.

Bind me not to the pasture.

Chain me not to the plow.

Set me free to find my calling.

And I'll return to you somehow.

Letters From the Undeceased

Dear EverybodyNose,

I am so SORRY that I have been neglecting you. I'm a terrible blogger.

Love,

Lazy Blog Author

Dear Fellow Bloggers,

I apologize from the bottom of my heart for neglecting you all. I'm a terrible blog friend.

Love,

Person Who Needs to Catch Up On Your Lives

Dear Life I've Been Living Lately,

You have ups, downs, and in-betweens. You make me laugh, cry, scream, and cry some more. Thanks for showing me what it's all about.

Love,

Natalie

Adorable

Chloe is so good to me!

She bestowed this beautiful award upon me!

So now, I get to show you all four things that I think are adorable. #1

#2

#3

#4

Don't even try to tell me that these kids are not to die for!!!!!

Alright now I get to pass on the award.

You can put it on your sidebar then tell your readers about 4 things you think are adorable.

Then pass it on to 4 people.

(Only if you want to, no pressure.)

1. Ann Marie
2. Amy

3. Chloe

4. Shelby Lou

Did Ratalie Drop Off the Face of the Earth???

No I'm not dead.

I guess the best way to sum up where I've been the last couple weeks is this: And this:

And of course this:
Being in Les Miserables was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
I absoloutely LOVED it!!!!
We had the GREATEST cast that Westwood had to offer!
Last weekend we put on three fantastic shows and had an amazing turnout!
Looking back now I have absoloutely no regrets and am just heartbroken that it's all over.
Thank you for everyone who came to the show!
I hope you had as much fun watching as I did performing!!!

Where Your Treasure Is, There Will Your Heart Be Also

So Sadies is coming up here in a couple weeks.

I asked my good friend Jacob and he (being a gentleman) answered me just a few days later!

I'm so mad I forgot to take pictures of the asking.

But here's what I did: I put the letters of my name on seven of these and stuck them in peanut butter. (Jacob has an obsession with the stuff.) Gave him a posted that said:

"Don't be a Nugget, come with me to Sadies!"

So he answered with a box of Marshmallow Treausres.

In the cereal were gold coins, papers and a ring pop.


The papers said:
I'd love to go to Sadies with a Jewel like you!!!

Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reason Number 336 Why I Love Steven!!!!!

So you remember Steven? Yup, that's him.

I love him.

Ready for the latest reason?????

Every year at WW the week before Valentines day is Love Week.

It's a tradition that every student in the school gets a heart with their name written on it hung up in the hallway. Well this morning I saw my heart and this is what it looked like:

Do you see the two little words?

Yeah someone wrote that.

A close up:

If you can't read the words it says;
"You're Ugly"

Yeah, sad huh.

I mean it's obviously not a huge deal, I mean I don't hang my happiness on how people view me!

But still.....

Well I told Steven about this and look at what he made me:

If you can't read the sparkles it says

"Is Hot"

So he made that specially for me and taped it to my back for teh rest of the day!

See why I love him?

It was seriously so sweet!

He's so good to me!!!!

Challenge for the day:

Go tell someone you love them.

It just might make their day.

**********************************

Susannah has a beautiful smile, happy is a very good look for her.

I Almost Killed My Best Friend and Lived to Tell the Tale!!!!! Oh and Then I Saw a Movie.

So you all know The Rusty. I talk about him all the time.

Just a refresher:

I love the kid.

He's like my brother, one of my best friends ever.

And tonight I was almost the death of him.

Fact: Rusty is DEATHLY allergic to ALL peanuts in ANY, WAY, SHAPE, or FORM.

Like, one bite and he could like drop dead!!!!

So tonight The Jessica's and I made a Dairy Queen run for 4 blizzards.

Reeses for Jessica #1, Reeses for Jessica #2, Cookie Dough for Rusty and Butterfinger for Parker.

Well I'm getting in the car trying to figure out which one is which and thinking I have it right, give each Jessica what I THOUGHT was a Reeses Blizzard.

Then we get back to Kairleigh's and I go inside and give what I THINK is the Cookie Dough and Butterfinger to Parker and Rusty.

Then I go back out to the car, and the Jessica's proceed to tell me that they are currently eating a BUTTERFINGER and COOKIE DOUGH Blizzards.

OH.MY.GOODNESS.

My. Heart. Stopped.

I fumbled to get the car door open but couldn't find the handle, finally I RUN PELL MELL through the yard and into the house, the minute I'm inside I'm screaming:

"RUSTY DON'T EAT IT"

As I get into the room they were in I'm still screaming and freaking out and he goes

"I didn't eat it. We smelt it."

THANK.GOODNESS.

I walked out of the room thinking:

"WHAT IF HE HAD EATEN IT!?!?!?"

And just the thought was too much for me.

I started BALLING my eyes out!!!!

I don't think I'd ever been so relieved or felt so stupid in my entire life!

Of course, Rusty heard me crying and came out to make sure I was okay.

HE was making sure that I was okay!

HE WAS THE ONE WHO COULD HAVE DIED!!!!

AND HERE HE WAS COMFORTING ME!!!!

Just holding me and letting me cry, reassuring me that he was perfectly fine, it wasn't my fault.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Okay, call me a drama queen, tell me I'm crazy.

Actually don't.

I don't wanna hear it.

Maybe I'm prone to overreact to these kinds of things but you have NO IDEA how scary that was.

*sighs at the recollection*

Lesson Learned:

ASK FOR DQ TO TELL YOU WHICH BLIZZARD IS WHICH!!!!!!!!!

After that dramatic episode....it was time for some Silver Screen Drama!!!!!

I read this book two summers ago and

FELL.IN.LOVE.

When I saw they were making it into a movie I was so happy I almost fainted!

So needless to say, when Sister Emily called me up tonight to go see it I HAD to say yes.

So here's the deal, I know most of you are going to see this and I don't want to ruin anything for you so just let me say this:

They changed ALOT of things!!!!

And I'm not sure how I feel about it all!

Somethings I thought they got spot on.

Others they changed to the point of me wanting to yell:

"WHAT THE HECK???????????????"

But some of the liberties they took, I thought, really helped the story and made it a great movie.

So yeah I guess this is kind of a lame review.

But I'm way interested in hearing what you all have to say about it.

We must discuss!!!

Have a Fabulous weekend!!!!!

Musings of a 16 Year Old Girl With Too Much Time On Her Hands (My Dad Made Up This Title)

So I have this fetish with naming inanimate objects....

I'd like you all to meet:

This next guy is my lover!!! Oh Pokey! He is slow but he gets the job done!!!!!!

Oh wait...he's not an inanimate object....

that's okay!

We still love him!!!!!