This is a quick something.

I was published on deseretnews.com this week & I am very proud of myself. This is big for me! Some lady hated what I wrote and commented to let me know, but I don't really care. Or I'm pretending not to care, at least. Go read it? Go on deseretnews.com and search "Addy Baird" and it is the first article that pops up ("Lone Peak Defeats Cross-Town Rivals: 57-42"). Do tell me if you hate it. Comment there, too.

Day 09: These are the things that make me me.

The following is a list of things I believe. In no particular order:

1.) I believe in God. In a Higher Power. In deity. I believe that it can (and will) shape us, and if we we leave our lives in the hands of that Higher Power, it will guide us.

2.) I believe, contrary to popular belief, that people, by nature are good: people are loving, selfless, kind, and intelligent.

3.) I believe in owning several pairs of vintage sandals and wearing them every month of the year.

4.) The power of an excellent outfit - I believe in that. That, and in the power of first impressions. Both the impressions that we make and the impressions left upon us.

5.) I believe in that everyone, as an individual, should feel that they are lovely. No matter their clothing or their makeup or their hair.

6.) I believe in the immense power of an individual.

7.) I believe that, on occasion, a girl should forget to shave her legs and do something more enjoyable instead. Say, for example, ice cupcakes.

8.) I believe in love.

9.) I believe in kissing and in glitter and in making messes and in doing ridiculous things and in writing letters.

10.) I believe that we are ecologically responsible for the caring of our earth.

11.) I believe in words and the powers that they encompass.

12.) I believe in wishing.

13.) I believe that I am, as an individual, the only being who can decide what I want - whether or not it is best for me. I am the only earthly being who knows myself well enough to judge. Only I can decide what I want and what I shall do - and no one can decide nor look down upon my choices. The same goes for you.

14.) I believe in myself. I believe in myself and I believe in you, whoever you are.

Your youth is but a fleeting moment.

All my love,

Addy

Day 08: The moment I did what I wanted and hoped for the best.

Today I had many moments when I thought, "Hey! It's moment day on bandwagon! I'll write about this one."

Eventually I settled on the following:

I had the keys in my hand. I thought, "I know how to drive." I closed the back of the car, climbed into the front seat, started the car, put down the break, put it into reverse, pulled out of the parking space, put on the brake, put the car into drive, drove the 100 meters to my nana's driveway, pulled into the driveway, put down the brake, and put the car in park.

I only have a permit, mind you. My sister saw me, ran inside, told my mom, and I got in loads of trouble.

Except, it was a good moment because I did something I wanted (and exercised the "sometimes one must ask for forgiveness rather than permission" theory) without worrying about the future... oh, wait. I do that pretty much every second. It's fine, I guess.

Stay pretty.

All my love,

Addy

Day 07: The souls who've shaped mine.

Katie: Blonde. Petite. Skinny. Likes sweaters. Likes boys. And boys, for that matter, like her. Plays piano beautifully. Has a legal drivers license. I like the way she writes the letter "u." Writes me notes. Taught me to love wishing. Very intelligent. Except sometimes she doesn't go to class. Talks on phone with me for hours. Has too few text messages. Got me in the habit of saying, "It's fine" after everything I say. Closest friend, probably. Lovely.

Avery: Brunette-ish. Beautiful. Afraid of haircuts. Keeps up incredible blog. Sings. Writes. Reads. Murders her weekends with books. One of two children; only child at home. Loves beautiful things. Her mom has a chocolate stash in the fridge which no one is allowed to touch. Likes an awkward boy named Jed. Wears red lipstick. Writes poetry. Loves Scott Pilgrim very much. Prefers to stay out of large social events.

Kaitlyn: Has boyfriend whom we all love. Plays guitar and uke. Wears black pants nearly every day. Has freckles. Loves white rice. Finally got drivers license. Beautiful. Loves Collin. Gets good grades. Writes for LP newspaper. Doesn't care much for sporting events. Exceptional in every way. Good at Clue the board game. Likes fashion. Hates sticky lipgloss. Skinny. Bad at communicating with said boyfriend who she won't kiss for some reason.

Collin: Is the aforementioned boyfriend. Likes funny haircuts. Cheats at all board games. Good driver. Used to listen to screamo. Going to be an intergalactic adventurer one day. Likes longboards. Wears the same hat nearly every day. Over thinks things. Messes with my speakers. Lives in a neighborhood on a hill. Loves Kaitlyn. Attractive. Has a living room chair with skis on the bottom in his garage.

Bianca: Odd friendship. Loves a boy. Is quiet. Is lovely. Very smart. Has beautiful eyes. Gorgeous hair. Boy loves her. Considers herself socially awkward: isn't really. Only person in this list who goes to my actual school. Sings. Takes hard classes. Has German family. Pays her own phone bill. Likes tamagotchis. Name is pronounced same in German and English.

Roah: Not indie only cause if he thinks he indie then he's not - ergo: he's ultra-indie. Has good sense of style. Listens to lovely music. Claims he had a tattoo. Claims he had said tattoo removed. Very brilliant. Possibly has early on-set schizophrenia. Reads books. Loves Cormic McCarthy. Wishes he was Holden Caulfield. Doesn't care much for school. Doesn't care much for authority. Plays guitar exceptionally. Writes songs. Takes pictures. Cute. Drinks tea with me. Has ex-girlfriend whom we all hate sort of.

Hannah: Has purple hair. No brothers, lots of sisters. Iphone-addict. Very smart. Crush on English teacher. Loves classical music. Plays viola. Yearbook-er. Like Ke$ha. Drives car. Sometimes a bad driver. Gorgeous. Kisses boys sometimes. Is my strength in hard times. Strong. Overcomes the worst. Photographer. Independent.

Hayley: Loves books. Loves words. Loves Noah. Devastatingly beautiful. Has gorgeous hair and cute nose. Plays soccer. Gets good grades. Intelligent. Lives too far away. Loves poetry. Has too few phone minutes. Has sister who looks exactly like her. Uses lovely words. Reads incredible books. Hangs with the boys. Strong. Independent. Loud. Perfectly petite. Noah loves her. Friend of a friend. Witty. Clever. Dashing. Very lively. Has sense of self. Incredible writer & poet.

"Do not go gentle into that good night."

All my love,

Addy

Day 06: Today. But actually yesterday, too.

Today is boring. Why do you want to hear about it? Because the only exciting thing that has happened so far is the fact that I totally drove by myself today. And I didn't even suck. This is exciting cause I have only driven 11 times in my entire life and I don't have a license (only a permit). The point is, yesterday was a little more exciting and I don't think today's getting any more thrilling any time soon.

Mostly, things have been a little more than beautiful lately. I mean, I've been euphoric about everything. I've had some really good days and yesterday was very possibly one of the best days of my life. It was the best day of my life for no reason at all. I was happy about everything and everything fell into place and I used a media pass to get into a sold out basketball game and Dakota proclaimed my cute-ness in front of all of his friends and everyone was happy and I drank tea with Roah and went to bed late.

Not to mention, the semester is over and my grades are a million times better than I thought they would be. Now, finally, I feel like the new year has begun.

Have a good day. You deserve it.

All my love,

Addy

Day 05: Love.

Love is the way I watch his lips move when he talks.

Love is the way I feel about Katie and Avery and Bianca and Kaitlyn and Mallory and Hannah and the girls.

"What Is Love?" is a song by nevershoutnever.

Love is my hair when it's curly.

Love is the way I feel about the changes that have occured lately.

Love is the heartbreak when we saw her lying in bed, hairless and frail.

Love is the way our French class last year became some weird little family.

Love is the ukulele on my floor.

Love is September Vogue.

Love is rivalry basketball games.

Love is spontaneous complements.

Love is a feeling of both belonging to something and not belonging to anything at all at the very exact same time.

Day 04: No one wants to hear about what I ate.

So instead of writing about what I ate today, I had this whole entire post set up about why everything is fine even though it was all completely a sarcastic, cynical complaint about my life and why I am stressed. So I deleted it. Because in real life, everything is fine. Even if it's also entirely imperfect. The following is a list of thirteen reasons everything is fine. In real life.

1.) Jake Meyer told me I look good. Everyday. It's fine.

2.) The English girls read my blog. It's fine.

2b.) As does Karissa. It's fine.

3.) My hair is soft today. It's fine.

4.) I spoke to Dakota for a total of three seconds. It's fine.

5.) I still think Cache is the cutest thing ever. Plus, I still want him a teeny, teeny bit. Mostly, I think, because I now know he likes someone else. Which made the day exciting because I got to stare at him and laugh at his jokes and hope he laughed at mine. It's fine.

6.) I got to see that boy that I actually love whose name I refuse to put on the internet cause no one can know. Except for Katie and Avery and Hayley and Bianca and Ari and Sarah and Shelbie and Mallory and Karissa. But that's all. No one else can know. The point is, I saw him and we chatted and I was entirely smitten by his charm and lovely good looks. It's fine.

7.) My grades are okay. They aren't as good as I'd like them to be, but they're okay. They're better. It's fine.

8.) Today was Thursday. As in, The Almost Friday. That's good. It's fine.

9.) I get to cover the LP/AF game for some newspaper thing I don't really understand, but I'm still ultra-excited. It's fine.

10.) Talking of newspaper, I feel really good about my piece for this month. It's fine.

11.) It's nearly February, and you know what February means! That's right! National Bird-Feeding Month! It's fine.

12.) We came into Journalism today to find pictures of cats in tutus and cats in teacups and cats curled up looking at you with pleading eyes on all of our computers. Mrs. L-S stuck them up. She's weird and probably my favorite woman ever. I desire to be be her very best friend even though she's my teacher. It's fine.

13.) Tomorrow, I shall nap. The quarter shall be over and everything shall be fine. I will refuse to worry and I will have a fresh start. My new year officially begins tomorrow.

Everything, per usual, is fine. I'm sure of it.

Bake something tasty.

All my love,

Addy.