Special Christmas Update

   So a few years ago one of my dad's coworkers posed an interesting question. "Anyone know a good way to blow up a gingerbread house?" I right away came up with great instructions. Alas, these did not make it to his coworker. But! I found them just the other day and went, "I HAVE to post this!!"

How To Blow Up A Gingerbread House

1. Blow up a balloon with helium.

2. Dip said balloon in gasoline.

3. After dipped in gasoline, dip in gunpowder.

4. Make a trail of gunpowder to location. ((Make sure location is a safe distance from balloon - and anything potentially flammable!))

5. Put gingerbread house over the balloon.

6. Light the trail of gunpowder.

7. When gunpowder reaches balloon and house...house goes BOOM!!

    Now, I'm not encouraging doing this. For starters I don't even know where'd you acquire gunpowder. Secondly, it's dangerous. Thirdly, things could go terribly wrong. But man...would that also be fun to watch.... Oh, and fourthly. I'm willing to bet this would likely be illegal. I don't know. But it seems like something that would be - so don't do it! This is meant to be a funny post.

    Well! Have a great, happy, and SAFE Holiday!! *Grin*

PS: Didn't update for a long while due to some interesting things. I shall post about those later. And more about that corn stuff like I seem to remember saying I would.

Corn Allergies. (I'm raising awareness..!)

(15 March 2013 Add-On: For a more comprehensive list of symptoms, please take a look at my more recent post on this subject, "Corn Allergy: Symptoms". It will likely, hopefully be more helpful to you than this particular post, as this post was made on a bad day out of frustration.

http://ramblingsoftheblissfullyblonde.blogspot.com/2013/01/corn-allergy-symptoms.html Thank you!)

    I'm here to talk to you today, dear reader, about a very serious thing. Yes, very serious indeed. I hate to use a blog post for this, quite honestly, because I feel like a complainer. I'm not, not typically. But! I feel that being one of the people affected, I should mention it sometime. Plus it's important. Corn allergies. I know that a lot of people don't think it's for real a serious problem, but it is.  The reason why they don't know is because there seems to be a conspiracy or something centered around the stupid stuff. Which I won't dive into too much.

    You see, corn is used in a lot of things. It's a food, yes, but it's also used in things like plastic, hand soap, shampoo, dryer sheets, boxes, and who knows what else (I know who! The people that put it in there!). And there are I believe the number was 183 derivatives for corn, and therefore 183 names that corn can fall under. That's a HUGE freaking list! Seriously. But, we've actually found out that if the percentage of corn contained in something is small enough, they just don't bother listing it. And that's perfectly legal apparently. Sometimes, though, store people are very nice and very understanding and will call and bug people to find out for you if there's corn in something.

    It's basically hell for all of us suffering from a corn allergy. And when I say "suffering", I mean suffering. It's the most torturous thing...if only I could describe the pain a way that would throw it out into the light 100%. And it's not always we react to consuming it. Some of us react to strong smells, a classic example being popcorn. Some of us, a lot of us actually, react to just touching it.

    I know for me, when I "get corned" as we put, I'm almost literally bed-ridden for at least three weeks of pure agony. I can't function like a normal person, which is how I was living a good percentage of my life up until a year ago. We didn't know I had such a bad allergy - I actually have a much longer list of allergies than just corn - and none of the doctors we went to were willing to try for an allergy test. Finally, after years and years of searching, testing, and questioning, we came across a doctor who incorporates natural healing into his medical practices who was willing to. In fact, he suggested it to us before we even asked. And we were like, "YES, please!"

    Anyway, I could get off on that story forever. So I'll get back to talking about the allergy. Well, first I have to mention this: Psychiatrists (that I didn't actually need to see) told me that I was "Bipolar, but not entirely classic", and that I "have Aspergers, but it's not completely classic and it's very mild". I don't. But, it totally looked like it. That's right, the corn allergy can mimic those two things. (Moral of this paragraph: If you have someone tell you they think you have one of those, but it isn't classic, look into allergy testing before you let them stick you on medication! Speaking of medication...corn starch is used as a thickener in pretty much all medicine, just in case you didn't know. And, yes, corn is used in Benadryl...so if there's a pharmacy near you that can compound stuff, and you have an allergy to corn, ask your doctor to ask that pharmacy to compound you some corn-free Benadryl...it'll come in handy.)

    So, I'm going to list the allergy symptoms - which I've had pretty much all of them. I got the list off of a site, that I'll provide the link to...it's a really good, informative site. I'd recommend glancing through it at least, if you're interested.

Traditional

1. Anaphylaxis

2. Asthma attacks and/or shortness of breath

3. Breathing and/or swallowing difficulties

4. Drop in blood pressure

5. Intestinal issues, such as stomach discomfort/cramps/pains, diarrhea, nausea, and/or vomiting

6. Migraine headaches (Me: This is always the first thing to signal I've been corned, for me.)

7. Rashes and/or hives

8. Tongue, face and/or throat swelling and/or tingling

Non-Traditional

1. Depression

2. Disturbed sleep

3. Eczema (Me: I believe that's acne.)

4. Fatigue

5. "Fuzzy thinking"

6. Joint pains

7. Hyperactivity

8. Inability to concentrate

9. Lethargy

10. Mood swings and/or behavioral changes

11. Night sweats

12. "Raccoon eyes" 

13. Recurring ear infections

14. Respiratory conditions

15. Sinus conditions

16. Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)

The site is: http://www.cornallergens.com/symptoms/corn-allergy-symptoms.php

    Again, I recommend looking at that site. One thing not on that list, is "increased anxiety"...I get that. Makes interacting with people very difficult, sometimes even people that I know really well.

    So, you look at that and I really hope you're going, "Oh, my word. That's awful! How many people are dealing with this..?" A lot of people, actually. And probably a lot of people don't know that's what's going on with them. Again, a lot of people don't think it's serious. The people who are making money off of corn, don't want there to be an awareness. That would make them lose money. Greedy jerks.

    I've heard stories of moms who have to keep their kids home almost all the time because it's so bad, the allergy. And it's best to try and avoid it so that if the reactions are bad enough you don't have to go the hospital because you'd have to be constantly having to check to make sure the doctor or nurse really did check to make sure what they're sticking in your kid, or you even, really is corn free. You don't want to go the hospital for a corn reaction and get even more in your system there.

    I know for me, I was at home more than I was at school. And a lot of people, I've found out recently, apparently think I've been faking everything. To those people I say: "You are among the jerkiest people I know." Granted, I don't know exactly who it is that thinks I'm a faker. But you see, by that, that people don't take it seriously.

    A lot of us that deal with this allergy always fantasize about the day we'll see a label on something that says, "CAUTION: Contains corn." just like the, "CAUTION: Contains nuts." and stuff. It sure would be nice.... But that's not the case, and it just makes the allergy all the more difficult to deal with.

    If any of you reading this have an allergy to corn, and if you just found out about it, or if you even suspect after that symptom list that you have an allergy...I have a few things that are good to know:

1. Baking Powder has corn. Unfortunately, it's a necessary thing in cooking and cleaning sometimes...so here's a recipe that my dearest mother found to make your own Baking Powder;

1/3 C Baking Soda

2/3 C Cream of Tartar

2/3 C Arrowroot Powder

2. Xantham Gum is corn.

3. Xylitol is typically corn. (So, don't get that "Epic" gum...I found out the hard way. Although "Epic" gum is great if you don't have to worry about corn!)

4. Sorbitol. Sorbitol that is found in toothpaste and mouthwash and the like. It isn't corn. BUT! It's broken down and processed using corn and therefore becomes a product of corn.

    So some brands of toothpaste you can try out are "Squiggle" and "Jason Sea Fresh". Which if you're anything like me, the Jason one will flip you out because it has Blue Green Algae in it...but, I've come to really like that one a lot. It was just the concept of the Algae that made me freak out. It's great toothpaste though. But a lot of corn allergy people, from what I hear, use the Squiggle and really like it.

5. Yeast is grown off of corn in almost all cases. And that's probably part of why I got a Yeast Overgrowth a year ago...that was pretty terrible.

6. Be careful what vinegar you use; for example: Distilled White Vinegar is made using corn. (Which unfortunately means, "No mustard for you!"...tragic because I used to love mustard.)

7. STAY AWAY from Latex.

8. Avoid getting in a car crash best you can; Airbags have corn starch on them. Horrible, isn't that?

9. Salt. Use either Sea Salt or Canning Salt if you can. You see, salt is iodized. That "iodized" part, for salt, has corn. If you have an allergy to shellfish, Sea Salt is actually best to avoid.

    Just a few tips for you there. Trust me there's so much more. But those 9 are ones that are kind of like, "What..? Really??" along with, "Oh, that's what that is!" that we didn't find out for a while. OH! There's one more tip, no four.

10. Citric Acid is corn. Citric Acid is used in a lot of drinks, especially like soda. Citric Acid is also used to wash things, such as baby carrots.

11. Meat. Try and get meat from a local farmer or something. And make sure that, we'll say "cow" for example, the cow is grass-fed, grass-finished, and is washed in water. Because what you eat is what you are, but more importantly: What the animal eats is what the animal is. If the animal eats corn, the meat may as well be called corn.

12. YES, Canola Oil is made with corn! Use coconut oil instead...it's better for you anyway. (And that reminds me: Corn isn't a vegetable like a lot of people think; it's a grain.)

13. A lot of things that have perfume type deal smells, has corn. So, lotion and perfume obviously, but also air fresheners, scented candles (tragic...I loved scented candles), cleaners...all sorts of things.

    I think I'll leave it off at that. Yeah, I just wanted to make a post to hopefully raise some sort of awareness. As I said, I hate to use a post for this because I feel like a complainer...but, well, I'd much rather look like a complainer and help spread some information about it than anything. Besides, I think I mentioned in my "Introductory Post" that I'd likely make a few serious posts here and there.

    Good day, and make sure to read food labels before purchase! =) And I think my next post will be a continuation of this...a list of things that we've found to be corn-free. Food, of course, but also things such as zip-lock bags. Take Care.

Video Games. ("Hobby" #1)

    Okay, so been a while since I last posted...so I'm posting, yay! So, no seriously. I doubt anyone has really noticed it's been a while. xD But I feel obligated, nonetheless, to say, "Sorry it's been so long, yo!" Except I really don't say "yo". Like, ever. I guess I do when I'm tired and making a blog post, haha! But this is for my ramblings. And as of late, I've been to busy AND too forgetful to post about any ramblings. Plus I didn't really feel like rambling.

STOP. First I need to educate you on some terms, if you don't know them, that you'll need to know for this blog post. Along with extras for video games and other games in general.

MMORPG - Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game
MMO - Massive Multiplayer Online (because not every MMO is an MMORPG)

RP - Role-Play (tag a "G" on the end for "Role-Playing Game")

PC - Player Character (so, the character that you play)

NPC - Non-Player Character (or, computer controlled)

D&D - Dungeons and Dragons

PC - Personal Computer (yeah, the more typical use for "PC")

I think that may be all the terms you need to know for my post actually. Plus those extras I mentioned that are just useful anyway. I mean, you wanna talk to a video game geek, you better know these terms for sure. Granted there are others as well. Anyway. Carry On. 

    Right. So moving on to today's topic then? If you look to your upper-down-left, you will see...That I am posting about VIDEO GAMES!! (Picture below was taken just a few months ago. Those are my reading glasses; it's easier for me to look at the screen with them on, actually.)

    I decided it was time to. I'm one of those "weird" girls that loves video games. Technically, I've been playing them almost my whole life. I remember I used to watch mom or dad (mostly dad) play them when I was too small. See, one year for Christmas we got a SuperNintendo (and yes, I still have that thing. It's amazing). Mom would play Cool Spot sometimes, and dad played a bunch of other things. The first time that I gave video games a go was when I was 3 years old. My brother was 5 years old. I remember that we played "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past". Epic.

    It was also around that age that I discovered a love for Star Wars.... But! That is another story for another time. Ha. I have a HUGE Star Wars collection. xD But I have also discovered in more recent years that I also love Star Trek. My love for Star Trek, in fact, surpasses my love for Star Wars.

    Right. So, the games. Growing up with an older brother who I copied probably had something to do with it. In fact he, his best friend who I also consider a brother, and my dad are probably the reason I play D&D (Dungeons and Dragons...granted, we switched over to Pathfinder once 4th Edition came out -  AH! Again: Another story for another time...or...stories, I should say. Those of you that do play D&D or Pathfinder, ought to know what I mean, lol).

     So I play all sorts of video games. My favorite ones are The Elder Scrolls. (As you can well imagine, for those of you who are familiar with those games, I am SPAZZING OUT for Skyrim!!) I also play like Mass Effect, Halo, Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider, Zelda, and a bunch of others. I also play a few facebook games. Hee hee? I play on a few consoles, mainly my brother's 360. Here is a picture of me, taken just yesterday, playing "Tomb Raider: Underworld" (by the way, the 2012 Tomb Raider game looks AWESOME!) :

    There is, however, a downside to my love of video games. You see, my earliest MMORPG was Guild Wars. I first played that when I was 11 or 12 years old. I stopped playing after a while mostly because there was an e-mail address issue (dad changed his e-mail and forgot to change it on the account and we couldn't get back in). I also played a little D&D online, and for a time tried Star Wars online.  And throughout all this, as time went on, I discovered how fiercely competitive I can get. I also get bored with things if it doesn't remain challenging enough (so with games that you level up on, I tend to jack up the difficulty settings the longer I play to keep it challenging). But yes. I decided that MMORPG's are not a good idea for me because of my competitive tendencies. So, I don't play them anymore. But I do love to keep up on game trailers and in-game play/demos just to see.

    But, I also get rather...animated...with video games. Animated would be an understatement. I talk to the games. I really do. In fact, just yesterday I had a little outburst out of nowhere while one of my best friends, Jane, was watching.

I shouted:

"IS IT DAMAGING YOUR PRIDE THE WAY IT'S DAMAGING MINE?!?!"

     That picture was also taken yesterday. Oh, and: Yes. That is an exercise ball. I discovered recently that we have one. So I determined that while I play my video games I'll get in a little exercise too. Win-win. Right? ;)

    My favorite genre/s are Sci-Fi and Fantasy. To get technical, you group them together into "Speculative Fiction". My favorite game types will forever remain in the RPG genre. Role Playing Game. Heh, have to remember that "RPG" also stands for "Rocket Propelled Grenade". Yeah, I mean the non-violent version of RPG, no worries. ;) But seriously, that's why a lot of us just shorten it to "RP" is because it's quicker to say but also so we don't accidentally get the two mixed up. Though I can't think of an in-context example of how you could get the two switched around. Not off the top of my head at any rate.

    Well, non-violent...meaning...a game...thing is...I speak violently to the games every so often. I don't get physically violent ever. Just verbally. That's when I have to step away from the games.

    That's my "I'm gonna kill this stupid mechanism" smile. Picture also taken yesterday.

    Anyway, aside from the RP's, I do play shooter games and some strategy games. I like the games that have a good story, are challenging, and stay interesting. I also like games that can have some moral consequences. Like Fable 3. Oh gosh. Serious moral consequences on that one. But, it's only interesting until you finish the story. They try to do the open-ended RP thing, but it just fails. It doesn't stay interesting after the main stuff, unlike The Elder Scrolls. Elder Scrolls is open-ended RP - and Skyrim will be a true RP, woot! - and does stay interesting. You finish the main quest/s and you have all these side quests and Guilds. And that's why it stays interesting; 200+ quests, plus any fan-made stuff for those who play it on the PC.

    Anyway, that's just in a nutshell about video games, from my perspective. I could go on all day and dive into details on things. But, I will be nice and not bore anyone further. And trust me when I say "all day". My poor friends. xD

     Take care! :)

When I Was a Girl.... (Story Time!!)

    I remember when I was a girl. Uhh...wait. That probably doesn't phrase right. I am still a female. When I say "I remember when I was a girl" I mean "When I was a small child" kinda thing. :) So yes, I remember when I was a small child.

    One of my best friends, Jo, has been my friend for quite a long time. Me and her determined that as of late August, it's actually been 13 years. *Grin* Pretty long time, huh? So me and her used to get into all sorts of trouble and adventures growing up.

   There was one time when we were about 7 and 8 that we were fighting a Dragon in the front yard and she had a magic sword.  The sword was able to tell you when there was a bad guy near you.The reason we were fighting the Dragon wasn't to save a Princess. Nope. It was to save our families I believe it was. At some point it turned out that the Dragon had disguised itself to give me a ring that made it so that the Dragon could control me and turn us against each other!! The adventure came to abrupt halt when, "Bryn! Jo! I made lemonade!" And then the exchange of glances, the dropping of swords that were really sticks, and, "I WANT SOME!!!" That sounded oddly like a cliche adventure. Ah well, it was fun for us. :) But! This is not the story I wish to tell.... *Trailing off*

   About a year later we were camping in a tent in the yard during the Summer. I had a mini-composition notebook. We made it look like we'd gone to sleep and then we snuck out of the tent and climbed up into the cherry tree by the road. That thing had good branches. There was one point on the tree that the trunk split off into four directions and you could sit there rather safely. We called it the Spider Seat. Because the center of it looked like the mouth of a tarantula. Or so we thought. Ironic considering that I'm terrified of spiders. Anyway, we snuck over to the cherry tree by the road and climbed up so we wouldn't be seen. We sat there for quite some time, taking note (literally) of what color cars passed by and how old they looked.

    At some point we determined that there was a conspiracy. See, one of the cars had passed by 2 or 3 times. Coincidence? Never such a thing. I remember it was an old white station wagon. Or I thought it was at the time. Now I'm not sure if that's what it was. So we'll just say "the old white car". And then we noticed that an old red car passed by a few times as well. A friend??

   Well, we've got friends too, buddy. So don't even think about it.

   Kidding. We didn't say that. But we decided that it was our job to protect the neighborhood from what horrible evils these two old cars had in store!! We waited until we were certain it was safe and got out of the tree. We wanted some juice and raisins to give us some extra energy. But it was too dangerous to head to the door let alone the tent at this point. They might have caught on to us.

    Luckily I had learned how to army crawl. I showed her and we army crawled to the plum tree that was about 10 or 15 feet away. Then we stopped at layed in the grass for a moment as one of them passed down the road again.... But they hadn't seen us! We win. So then we continued to army crawl to a huge elm tree where we determined it was safe to stand up.

    We stood and pressed our backs to the giant, thick elm tree and slid against it until we were facing the back door, the tent, and the garage that had recently been turned into a "hang out area" for all us kids. That's another story for another time.

    Slowly, I peered around one side of the tree while Jo peered around the other. We stood still and silent and listened. No cars. We turned to each other and whispered a few words back and forth quickly. Then we RAN for the back door! Only I forgot the first step and tripped up the side of the cement stairs! She got to the top and that's when we heard one of the cars coming! Based off of how slow they'd been going before, we figured we had a few seconds and so Jo jumped down to the side and yanked me to the ground where we more or less sat while they passed. Only this time the other one passed too and that's when we knew that they were onto us.

    (Before I forget: Yes, this story takes place about 12:00 to 4:00 AM.)

    The cars passed each other and continued on their ways down the street. And we quickly, not-quite-silently, scrambled up the stairs and opened the back door. We got inside and held our breaths as we closed the door, trying not to make too much noise. No one seemed to hear us. So we quickly went to the fridge and looked inside for some juice boxes we'd put in there earlier. We grabbed them and then we each grabbed a little box of raisins and went to the door.

    We watched out the window until we were certain it was safe and went back outside. We went into the tent for a few minutes to exchange theories and observations and to make sure we had notes for everything. And then we heard something outside.

     Footsteps. Coming our way. Tap, tap, tap....

    We looked at each other, frightened and she motioned for us to lay down before they got there. So we did and we each grabbed onto what we had stashed under our pillows. Something we could hit with. Like a stick. I could feel the sweat beading up on my forehead and my muscles went a little limp even though I was tensed up and I suddenly couldn't remember how to hold onto my stick. My breathing went irregular and my heart was pounding so hard that I was sure Jo and whoever it was could hear it.

    Tap, tap, tap.... And a shadow suddenly was looming over our tent. I was trying not to scream and Jo knew it. She put a hand over my mouth calmly and we both stared as the tent flap began to unzip. Slowly.... And then the final moment as the flap was tossed open, thinking to Heavenly Father, "Don't let us die!"

    We both tensed up instantly and sprang into action! She sat up first, with her stick off to her side and I sat up next on the opposite end, glaring. And then we realized it was my mom.

"Hey! Just wanted to make sure you two were warm enough."

    Sigh of relief. A prayer of thanks.

"Yes, mom."

    After she went back inside we sat there for a little while until we were certain she was asleep. And then we came up with our plan to defend the neighborhood. We got our walkie-talkies set up and in our pockets with the little ear and mouth pieces put on our ears and positioned so we could talk into them (some cheap spy gear from a toy store...worked surprisingly well). And then we grabbed a few other things and shoved what we could in our pockets. I put my binoculars around my neck (my dad had given them to me) and we set up off to the side of the garage next to a pile of sticks where we knew we wouldn't be seen. We watched as the cars pulled up into the parking lot of the apartments directly across from the house. Perfect.

    Eventually they drove off again. And then we set out. We made sure no one was around and went into the street where we came across a roll of pennies wrapped with electric tape. Piece of evidence #1. We found a few other things and went around a few blocks cautiously. We would hide from time to time in someone's yard who we knew and eventually wound back up at the house.

    And at the end of the "investigation" we had some pretty out there theories but never could prove anything. So was there a conspiracy? Perhaps. We'll never know. But that was a fun sleepover.

    Good night! :)

Albino Preying Mantis..?

   Well hello! Anyone ever seen an Albino Preying Mantis?? Yeah, I'm not completely sure if I have either. But! I was looking through some of my old pictures from last year and came across a picture! Ha, imagine that...came across a picture while looking through pictures.... Why do people say that? Beats me. Because I say it too apparently. Anyway. I found a picture of a Preying Mantis that I seem to recall my Dad calling Albino. Looking at it though, it looks more tan than Albino.

    But it's pretty big as far as these guys go. Well, as far as I've seen I should say. There's probably bigger. Anyway. Putting up a picture to show. Who knows if it's Albino or not? Well, maybe someone looking at this will. I'm just saying it in general: Who knows? Not me! But it looks kinda pretty either way I think.

    OH! That reminds me. Whilst watching BBC's "Merlin" with my folks yesterday (season 3 finally came to Netflix!), one of the episodes had some Wyrmlings. Aka: BABY DRAGONS!!! Oh my goodness! They were so cute! I want one for a pet! Of course...it wasn't very cute that they were trying to kill Arthur.... But still! Baby Dragons! <3

    Right, here's that picture!

    Does it look Albino to any of you or does it just look tan? Maybe it's just me. Not that this is terribly important...but hey! When is anything I say, huh? :) Now then, I'm off to play some video games. Good day!

It's Like A Hotdog For Vegetarians!

    Haha! Jane makes me laugh. :) First she taught me the proper, fast way of peeling carrots. That was like some miraculous discovery for me. Seriously. My life has been forever changed. *Tears of Joy* I love you, Jane!

    Anyway, I decided to do a "Bryn version" of a salad. A big fluffy piece of lettuce. Well, I guess lettuce isn't fluffy. But it's got the "WOO" shape to it. Like, ribbony? That's not even a word. Y'know, the squiggly shape it makes on the edges. It makes it look fluffy. So a piece of fluffy lettuce and 3 carrots that I had peeled myself after the all-knowing Jane taught me. *Grin*

    Anyway, at some point after finishing my carrots she was like, "Oh! You could use the lettuce and wrap it around a carrot! So that way you eat your lettuce. It'd be like a...a Vegetarian version of a hotdog!" ...Hee hee, very clever my friend!

    So we went to the fridge and pulled out a carrot real quick just for pictures. Yay! Please note, the picture with me in it...I usually have my hair looking prettier than that. ^^; Today was a Pajama day. We all have those, admit it.... >.> I'm not the only one.

Reminiscing

    Anyone had their life flash before their eyes? And I’m talking literally, not “Oh, be still my heart! That was so frightening, my life could have flashed before my eyes!” Freakiest thing in the world, let me tell ya. In other words: I’ve had that happen. Oh I remember it pretty well. I was at this 2 week camp thing called Camp WILD that was put on by one of the colleges where I live. Camp WILD consisted of activities like Rock Climbing, Mountain Biking, White Water Rafting, Fishing (optional on an extra day), and ADIDAB (All Day I Dream About Backpacking). Pretty awesome, fun stuff.

    Hm. That Backpacking part reminds me of when I was a kid. I couldn’t say the word “backpack” so, I said “packpack”. I was told that this was wrong and so I tried a little harder and moved on to “backback”. Well, that didn’t sound too intelligent. Eventually I was just aloud to say “packpack”. That didn’t go over too well once I got into 1^st Grade…. One of the kids taught me how to say it right though. The rest weren’t too nice about it. Oh well. By the time I got to 2^nd Grade, I could say “backpack”. :) And 2^nd Grade is where I met one of my best friends, Jo. We’ve known each other for…well, gee. I think it’s coming up on 13 years now! Cool.

    Anyway. I remember my group was doing Mountain Biking. At some point on the way down, there was a REALLY steep part. One of our leaders went first to prove that it was safe. One of the other girls said she’d go. Then she saw just how steep it was and backed away and was like, “Never mind….” So then, blonde little me is all, “I’ll go!” Long story short: I crashed. Hard. I went up into the air – this is not an exaggeration – with the bike and flipped around, getting tangled up in it. I landed flat on my back, bike on top of me, head pointing downwards so all the blood was rushing to my head. Everything went bright white and I saw my short life flash before my eyes. Man, it was boring. Kidding. No. It was…well…blonde? I remember the last thing I saw was my good friend, Todd. After that, everything went black.

    I heard these far off voices that I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. I opened my eyes and was staring directly at…the Sun! First thoughts: Am I dead..? I mean, you have to admit that the Sun is rather bright. And if that’s the first and only thing you see after such a crash, well…can you blame me? I was like 15 when that happened. Not even 15. More like 13 or 14. And I’m a blonde.

    You know, thinking about it. I think blonde tendency and knot-headed tendency can get mixed up rather easily. So I’ll clarify. I’m a knot-head. And I’m a blonde. Therefore…I’m a bit of impulsive, sometimes reckless person. Yay? Although that seems to have gotten a bit better as I've gotten older.

        Ha. Anyway. Back to my story! The voices began to make sense shortly after thinking I was dead. I was sad about it, there was so much I hadn’t done. I hadn’t even written a letter home since I’d gotten to that camp. Yet I felt strangely calm about being dead. And then the voices, “Brittany? Brittany?? Brittany!” Why were the Angels sounding so panicked? …Why did they sound like the people in my group?! Then I realized I was staring at the Sun. (Quick Prayer: Heavenly Father. Thank you for allowing me to live….) Thoughts to myself: I’m alive! I have to write home now! Granted, I never did write home now that I think about it….

    So I waved my untangled arm and went, “I’m okay!” I hurt, but I was alive so I was okay. Didn’t tell them I hurt though. I had to be tough. I kind of tried to lift my head (thank goodness I was wearing my helmet….) but it was hard seeing as part of the bike was over my stomach and chest so it hurt more to lift my head. Plus all the blood had rushed to it at this point. So I let it fall backwards again. Ouch. There is a big rock right there with slightly pointed edge. They got to me eventually and got me untangled and then I walked the bike the other half of the way.

      Yeah! That's a great way to go down a really steep hill when Mountain Biking! Ride an inch on your bike and then fly half way and walk the rest! Kidding. Mostly. Don't try this at home. >.>

     So I sat down on a boulder with the other leader and drank water, trying to fix my shakiness and lightheadedness. Well, this crash gave the rest of the group the courage they needed to go down the hill. After all, no one could do worse than that, could they? No…they couldn’t. But I became somewhat of a camp-wide hero after that. And they all discovered just how insane I am as the weeks unfolded. I escaped this particular incident without any broken bones or large gashes. Just a few scrapes and bruises.

    Looking at it though, I don't think I can break a bone...now I've just jinxed it. I can! *cough* Reverse jinx.... Right, no, I have a reason for wondering if it's even possible. I might post about that another time though. And I might or might not post about more Camp WILD reminiscing some time. Who knows? Not me!

    I just realized that this wasn't my intention to write about all this. I was gonna post about something else entirely. Ah well. Another time perhaps? :)