BOOM!

Like that? That's my impression of the (likely illegal) fireworks I'm hearing right now from my neighborhood. 

Everyone on blogger is posting about their wonderful New Years resolutions, and I'm not even going to lie, it's super boring to read about. 

Nobody cares if you're going to do twenty push-ups every morning from now on. Seriously. We all know you can't do that many push-ups. 

At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I'm going to tell you about a resolutions of mine, but this actually involves you. 

I want to get to know all my followers a little better. It's no fun talking about my life to complete strangers. (In fact, that almost makes you all stalkers. Think about it.) So lets make a resolution to become friends! 

And lets start right now! Comment below with one interesting fact about yourself and lets start a conversation! (Even if you don't have an account, make sure to include your first name. It's kinda difficult to make friends with someone who's anonymous.) 

Oh, and happy New Years! 

Always,

Abby Noel

I Want to Wake up in a City That Never Sleeps

For the past few days, I was enjoying my very first trip to New York City! It's been a lot of fun, and I have tons to tell you but I'm going to make this pretty short because I was stuck on a train today for hours and all I really want to do is go to sleep. 

First of all, during the whole trip I had to resist the urge to reenact Elf. If you have seen that movie, good. Keep reading. If you haven't seen that movie, get out. 

My parents were close to duck tapping my mouth at one point when the quoting got really bad. It's amazing just how many things we saw that I could easily associate with something from that movie. 

Seriously, if you haven't seen it, I forbid you from returning to the internet until you do. And based off of how much you like the internet, I suggest you get to it.

 Obviously, going from the little town of YoudontneedtoknowtherealnameofwhereIlive to big New York City, things were very different. However, one thing that I found to be pretty consistent no matter where you are is human stupidity. 

While standing in line for the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, my dad and I overheard an argument between two men about one very basic scientific principle- hot air rises. 

Most people can agree that yes, hot air rises, and that would be the end of the conversation. But one man was thoroughly convinced that hot air only rises indoors.  

Yes folks, a grown man argued that hot air only rises inside of buildings. 

His friend was almost onto something when he insisted that heat rises outside, too. That was until he told him the reason- because the higher you are, the closer you are to the sun. 

Come on, people. I learned this in second grade.

And now- Photos! 

Always,

Abby Noel

P.S. I hope you all liked having my friend Katie fill in while I was gone! We were talking about maybe having her as a monthly guest poster, what do you think? 

Heck Family Christmas: A Post By Katie

     Hey everyone! Abby, as in Always Abby Noel, has asked me to do a guest post so here I am! If you have not read some of the past posts, then you should probably know that my family is...well...special. Most of the time they are alright, but when you have all 15 of us in one house, it's one interesting Christmas.

     My last name has a lot to do with the events of my Christmas. You see, I have a hyphenated last name. My mother was a Heck, and my father was a last name I won't tell you so that I will not get kidnapped (sorry I just saw the movie Taken..) and when they got married, they decided to combine their names instead of just choosing one like normal people in hopes of one day, they could give their child a 30 letter name and make her spend hours filling her name in on a stupid test scan tron. Thanks mom and dad.

Anyways, both the Hecks, and the (let's just call them Smiths) Smiths are quite interesting people. The Hecks are red necks, like hardcore rednecks. And the Smiths are the EXACT opposite. They are stuck up and own like 3 houses. Most of the time we spend Christmas with each family on different days, but the Smiths were traveling, so we combined them. The Hecks are fun on Christmas, and so are the Smiths, but put them together and it becomes a different word for Heck...

The entire family arrived two days before Christmas and everything seemed to be working out fine. Then at around 4:45 Christmas morn, everything changed. It became a Christmas we would never forget.

At 4:45 am, my almost 20 year old brother woke everyone up and proclaimed that Santa had arrived at our house. In the process of opening presents, some dirty looks were exchanged. Mainly when my 7 year old cousin received an iPhone 4s and a 3-D DS. Everyone on that side of the family was thrilled, but the Hecks glared at them. The Hecks think that the only gifts given should be total necessities and so my uncle got three different types of hunting bows as well as propane. Just Imagine wrapping that. My mom has the maturity level of an 8 year old, so she gave my brother and I Zuh-Zuh pets. He was actually really pumped and called his roommate to brag later on.

We had planned to eat dinner at about 7 pm so my uncle on the Heck side put the ham in the roaster at 4 pm so it would be done at 7 on the dot. Well at 6:45 when he checked it, it was still frozen. As it turns out, you are supposed to turn the roaster on. Who would've guessed? Well because it was so late, we microwaved pieces of the ham. Apparently when you microwave ham, it shrinks and becomes really tough. Causing it to be inedible. We had frozen pizza kits as our Christmas dinner.

Then of course there was the savage fight in the backyard between two of my Heck cousins. They are brothers and one commented on the other's girlfriend's unfortunate looking face and fought in the backyard for about 10 minutes before their father spilt them up. Brotherly Love at it's finest.

All left this morning, but to my surprise, they all agreed to meet up next year.

The Smith-Hecks (my brother, my parents and me) are just ecstatic.

Always,

Katie Smith-Heck

(Don't Google that, it's not my real last name)

Joyeux Noël!

I couldn't resist saying it in French- it sounds prettier and has my name in it, how could I say no? 

I wanted to share with you guys a little story-Yesterday my family and I helped out at a church outreach program that does a community dinner every month for the homeless and less fortunate in the area. We were serving as "waiters" and bringing the people their food and getting drinks, and so on. 

While bringing someone a plate, my sister overheard a woman asking a little boy what he asked Santa for this year. He responded- "A house." 

That completely broke my heart. I hope he gets his wish. 

I also hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season! 

Always,

Abby Noel 

Since you all want to know...

The kiss happened in rehearsal today.

What a lovely 15th birthday present.

Always,

Abby Noel 

So that wasn't too bad...

(If you haven't read the post below this, I suggest you do, otherwise this isn't going to make any sense)

So I didn't end up actually kissing him at rehearsal today, but we did get just about as close as possible.

And I must say... it wasn't bad at all.

I just decided to have fun with it, you know? Like when the assistant director told him to hold my hands, I grabbed for his hands. I heard someone watching say "Ohh.. feisty!" 

And he told me I smell good, so that was nice.

This really won't be as bad as I thought.

Always,

Abby Noel 

Beautifully horrible circumstances...

Let me just get this out- my first kiss will be fake. 

That's right, the one moment I've dreamt of ever since my first crush in kindergarten, will be fake.

You all remember the play I told you about in which I got the second biggest female lead? Well I will now be playing the biggest lead. As in- Antigone herself. The character the play is named after. 

The girl that was originally cast as Antigone can't play the part anymore because of a problem that you all don't really need to know. 

But nonetheless, I now have that part.

I should be happy, right? Ecstatic, even. But in the play, Antigone must kiss her fiance. I have to be completely professional about this, but I can't help having some reservations about it.

Some of you might not understand this, but I hope maybe some of you girls will. People say stage kisses "don't count."  But to me, my first kiss will be my first kiss. I don't care where it is, who it's with, and whether or not it had to be done. Regardless of how professional I'm going to be about it, this is still going to mean a lot to me. 

And it'll mean nothing to him. He's too professional about it to care. 

Sorry guys for going all cliche-little-girl on here, but I just needed to get this all out.

Always,

Abby Noel 

MAMBO! (um...again)

Today was the second dance rehearsal for West Side Story and both my brain and my legs hurt. The first day was definitely easier. This time we got into learning a bunch of really complicated steps, along with jumps and spins and other fancy dance stuff. Those moves themselves weren't all that hard, but putting them to music that is super fast makes me want to just crawl in a corner and melt.

Now I live in fear because I know that that day will come when I must trade my sweaty socks for dance heels and manage to not fall and break my face. That terrifies me. 

One thing I've learned about dancing is that it makes you want to do one thing and one thing alone- EAT. I came home today and literally absorbed a whole box of mac&cheese. (Cooked, of course. Absorbing hard pasta and cheese flavored powder would be quite unpleasant.) 

Another thing I've learned is that I have "pretty dancer legs". I'm not sure what that means, but it sounded nice and came with a smile, so I took it as a compliment. 

Always,

Abby Noel 

If I ever got a tattoo...

...it would look like this-

Isn't it lovely? 

I drew it after finishing a math quiz today and now I want it for real. 

I told someone and they said- "I hope you enjoy excruciating pain." 

Apparently the palm is the most painful place to get a tattoo. 

Oh well, beauty is pain.

Always,

Abby Noel 

MAMBO!♫

The first dance rehearsal for West Side Story was today and it was

 AMAZING!!!

The dance was a bit hard to pick up because it has a lot of hip movement, and I kinda have the anatomy of an awkward toothpick. But I think I finally got it after a while. 

Unfortunately I haven't found out whether I'm going to be a shark or a jet (for those who don't know the musical, those are the two different gangs) but I'm hoping for the sharks. They get to sing America and I love that song with all of my heart! (If you don't know this musical, listen to that song, it's amazing. And no, it's not the patriotic one also called "America", just look it up.)

I don't think my legs have realized yet that they just danced for three hours straight because they aren't sore at all. However, I'll likely wake up in the morning tomorrow and want to chop them off. 

Always,

Abby Noel

P.S. If you comment on a post, can you at least put in your first name? I like to respond to comments and it feels weird responding to anonymous people. You could be a robot, for all I know. 

P. P. S. OOH- this is good but completely off topic! I have the highest grade in my honors science class! 97% 

I Like the Island Manhattan!

Right about now I am dying for West Side Story to start. The first rehearsal is on Thursday, and we're going to be learning the dance to the Mambo scene at the school dance when Maria and Tony first meet. Now I'm not a dancer at all, (I get winded walking up stairs) so I've been preparing by playing Just Dance on the Wii. It's actually pretty pathetic. 

(I think it's amazing that for once I came up with a title that connects everything I want to talk about.) I still need ideas of stuff to do when I go to New York City. Anyone who's been there, please give suggestions! 

Also today I came to the conclusion that when I get my own house (or apartment, or trailer, or cardboard box...etc.) I'm going to get a ton of pets. I went to a pet store today and saw the adorable little mice that they sell so people can feed their snakes, and I almost cried. I just wanted to take them all home with me and save their furry little lives. 

Well I hope everyone's having a great day! (Better than those mice, at least)

While you're here, why not comment? I'd love to make some new blogger friends.

Always,

Abby Noel 

My brain is currently incapable of coming up with a good title for this post...soo....PICTURES

Always,

Abby Noel 

Where did you people come from?

I had a spaz attack this morning while checking my blog when I noticed that I now have 121 followers. I swear just a few days ago I was at 114. Welcome everyone new, and thanks for following! 

Always,

Abby Noel

That awkward moment that you realize your last Facebook status makes you sound like a shallow jerk.

While I was borderline stalking my friends on Facebook (my favorite pass-time) I came across this-

In all honesty kid, you may not want an ugly face, but no one wants an ugly personality. 

Always,

Abby Noel 

Rehearsal- Please Start!

Could someone please inform my rehearsal schedule for West Side Story and Antigone that they need to hurry up and start? I feel theatre deprived.

By the way, I got a script for Antigone yesterday and my part (Ismene) really isn't as big of a character as I thought. Discovering that was kinda awful. 

Something kinda wonderfully weird happened today, though. I looked in a pocket in my back pack that I never use, and I found an unopened pack of tic-tacs. Instead of being freaked out, I gladly excepted them as an early birthday gift from my backpack. Under the assumption that unopened equals not poison, I ate about the whole box of them today. How else am I supposed to keep myself awake in Spanish?

I can't tell you all exactly when (you know, avoiding stalkers) but sometime in the future I will be going to New York City for the first time EVER! *throws confetti* Unfortunately, I won't be able to see a Broadway musical (darn budget) but I'll probably end up stopping at every theatre I walk by and just staring at it. For three hours.

I need who ever has been to New York before to suggest fun things for me to do. Please comment with ideas! 

And now for a photo of me with my head in a wreath- 

Always,

Abby Noel 

Whatever you do, don't order room service!

My mom was on a trip recently and had to stay in a hotel. If you've ever been a hotel, chances are you've seen the little cards that they put on night stands with the name of the person who cleaned your room.

Upon returning to her room, my mom was greeting by this fun little surprise-

I don't know about you people, but I'd be checking out before I saw this through my peep hole-

*shudder*

Always,

Abby Noel 

Oh Sally...

I think we've all been down the road of crushing on someone so hard that it's more of an obsession than a crush. One of my friends (lets pretend her name is Sally) had one of the biggest, most obsessive crushes I've ever seen.

The funny thing about this is that even though the guy is three years older then her, Sally is about a half a foot taller than him.

Another funny thing is that they met over a bowl of cheese. No joke. Their first conversation was while our class was cooking something and everyone was gathering their ingredients. The conversation was as follows-

As you can see, they're definitely made for each other. 

Always,

Abby Noel

Happy Saturday!

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend, I'm just here to ask everyone to vote on the poll on the sidebar.

Thanks!

Always,
Abby Noel

My brain was just sat on by a sumo wrestler.

Or so it felt.

It's just my luck that as I tried to get at least a few hours of sleep before going black friday shopping, I get a massive headache that wouldn't even let me lay down, let alone sleep. It was a weird sort of headache- it was mostly just pressure, and depending on how my head was positioned, it would hurt more or less. It was really bad when I laid on my right side, but then I would roll over to the middle and the pain would lessen for a moment, but then come back, full force.

So I found myself in a miserable game of  'How can I sit to where my head doesn't feel like it's going to explode?'

Around 1 o'clock I gave up and went downstairs to get some ibuprofen. 

Let me tell you, when you mix sleep deprivation, head pain, and a very dark kitchen, you're not going to get anything good. Especially if you're as crazy and paranoid as I am and you can't even go near the window because there aren't any curtains and you automatically assume a serial killer is out there staring at you. 

So I got the medicine, wildly sprinted up the stairs to escape the imaginary serial killers, and after about twenty minutes I FINALLY fell asleep.

And then I had a dream about a serial killer. 

Guess who didn't sleep for more than twenty minutes last night. 

Always,

Abby Noel 

This is important...

I found these on Tumblr-

• Suicide Hotline:1-800-784-8433
• 
  
• LifeLine:1-800-273-8255
• 
  
• Trevor Project:1-866-488-7386
• 
  
• Sexuality Support:1-800-246-7743
• 
  
• Eating Disorders Hotline:1-847-831-3438
• 
  
• Rape and Sexual Assault:1-800-656-4673
• 
  
• Grief Support:1-650-321-5272
• 
  
• Runaway:1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000
• 
  
• Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Remember that there is never shame in asking for help.

Always,

Abby Noel

Some Friends of Mine...

I'd like to introduce some of my friends from school whom I've convinced to join blogger. 

I think having some followers might motivate them to post more, so check them out!

Salinna's blog- Rawr I'm a Dinosaur 

Nick's blog- Navi's Blog

Cameron's blog- Forever My Own 

They're all used to Tumblr, so everyone give them a warm Blogger welcome! 

Always,

Abby Noel 

Ask Abby Answers! (#2)

Here it is, back again since everyone wanted it. No video this week, but I'll still answer the questions.

Lexy- I was just wondering who you trust with everything and who you go to when you need a shoulder to cry on or whatever? 

Well I have a few really close friends and of course my family, so I don't really have anyone in particular. 

Justin- What's your absolute dream role in any play? 

I haven't seen enough plays to have a specific dream role, but it would super fun to play the lead in an play I wrote because then I could really portray the character how I imagined it.

Fiona- How do I feel comfortable being myself?

First off Fiona, you have to realize that there is one YOU. And you were born to be that person. It sounds really cliche, but it's so true.  Here, I found a few quotes that might help you-

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”
― Dr. Seuss

“Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.”
― Judy Garland

“If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

So all in all Fiona, just be yourself! The moment you just forget about what other people might think of you, I promise you'll be happier. 

Claudia- Whenever I talk to my bff, recently she doesnt ever listen to what I'm saying. She only talks about whats going on in her life. And when I bring something up thats going on with me, she doesn't even pretend to care, or even just ignores it all together. I feel like I dont matter to her anymore. Help?

It would be really easy for me to just tell you to forget about her and find a new best friend, but I know that's not how this works at all. Unfortunately, sometimes when you're really good friends with someone, they might start to take you for granted. I suggest you talk to her about it and make sure she knows how you're feeling. You know, because she can't change if she doesn't know what she's doing wrong. But whatever you do, no matter how upset you are, don't make her feel like you're attacking her about it because that can never end well.

Sarah J- Your bangs are really cute! How do you cut and style them? What products do you use? And btw I love this whole ask abby thing, I feel like you should put it up on youtube or something, you would get popular. 

Thanks! It's really not difficult to style them, all you do is cut them to a length about an inch past your eyebrow, and then swoop the bangs over to the side you want them to be on. Then trim them so they're a little shorter towards the middle of your face and a little bit longer towards your ear. Then what I do (because my hair is naturally wavy) is straiten them with a hair straightener and curl it in a little bit at the ends (you can do this with a straightener) just so it swoops to the side. And I don't really need to use any product on my bangs, but I guess depending on how your hair holds being straightened, you might need a bit of hairspray. 

And I don't think I would take this to YouTube because it's much easier to just type it out instead of doing a video, the videos answer will be only for the weeks with less questions.

Dave- Do cheezits contain nicotine? And why are you vegetarian? 

After extensive research on the nicotine content of Cheezits, I've come to the conclusion that Cheezits do not contain any Nicotine. I'm sorry.

And to make a long story short, I'm a vegetarian because I like my animals alive. 

Well that took me an eternity to type.

Always,

Abby Noel

Bored one snowy night? Don't like one of your neighbors?

Wait until they're asleep and build a line of snowmen in their front yard facing the door!

Spreading the Holiday cheer one terrified enemy at a time!

Always,

Abby Noel

Breanne Düren - "Gold Mine"

I LOVE this song! The music video is a bit odd, but nonetheless, I love the song. 

Enjoy!

Always,

Abby Noel 

Ask Abby Again? How about no...

Technology right now is making me want to just quit modern civilization and live in a cabin in the woods for the rest of my life. 

Blogger can't even manage to upload a two minute video without problems. 

Not cool, Blogger. Not cool.

So you can go right ahead and say goodbye to 'Ask Abby' because there is absolutely no convenient way for me to continue to answer all these questions. 

I'll answer all the questions that were sent to me already just through email, and that will just become a contact page from now on.

Sorry guys. 

Always,

Abby Noel 

Good news!

Unfortunately the musical auditions didn't go too well (I'm still in ensemble)

But I also auditioned for a another play and got the second biggest female lead! 

I'm going to be Ismene in the play "Antigone" 

It's great because it's the first serious play I've ever been in, all of the other's I've done were comedies. 

Anyone heard of it? 

Always,

Abby Noel 

Odontophobia is the fear of teeth.

Always,

Abby Noel 

Ask Abby- Answers! (#1)

Here are my answers to the first batch of questions you guys sent me for the "Ask Abby" thing. 

I decided to answer all the questions I get during the week every Monday to make this more of a regular thing.

So send me your questions and check back next Monday for my answers! 

Go to the "Ask Abby" page for more info.

Always,

Abby Noel 

West Side Story!

I know I told you all a while ago that I made ensemble in my school's musical. Well unfortunately that musical was canceled, but my school is now doing West Side Story.

All the people who were cast in the first musical are automatically in the cast of West Side Story, but we have to re-audition for lead roles. Auditions are tomorrow and the girls have to sing "I Feel Pretty" and "One Hand, One Heart."

If you haven't heard the songs, they're both sung with really high notes so I'm not sure how I'm going to do with them. So...I guess we'll see.

But I watched the movie for the first time a few days ago, and I can't wait to be a part of it.

Always,
Abby Noel

A Beautiful Day of Orange Leaves and Antiques

Always,

Abby Noel 

New Layout!

The header is actually my own handwriting.

So what do you think? 

Always,

Abby Noel 

New Layout? I Think Yes.

I'm kind of starting to hate my layout, I've had it for so long. 

I'm thinking of getting something lighter and happier-looking. 

I seriously hate even looking at right now, it's just so....Bleh.

Thoughts? Do you think I should change it?

Always,

Abby Noel 

Ask Abby?

Someone suggested that I do an "Ask Abby" sort of thing where people can ask me questions and I answer them in either a post or in a video.

So what do you guys think? Are you interested? Comment!

UPDATE-
It's officially a page! Just click on "Ask Abby" on the sidebar.

Always,
Abby Noel

Ways to Entertain Yourself at the Bus Stop

One of the worst parts of my day is when I have to brave the cold and stand at my bus stop. I was thinking, and what makes it so bad is how bored I get. Most days I have my iPod to entertain me, but today my iPod's battery was dead and I forgot to charge it when I woke up. So there I was, facing one of the biggest dilemmas of all time- How can one entertain themselves at the bus stop?

#1- Eat an elaborate four course meal. 

#2- Paint the scenery.

#3- Karaoke. 

This might not make the neighbors too happy, but on the bright side, it'll keep anyone from wanting to kidnap you. 

Always,

Abby Noel 

Hello November! Sweaters and sunlight 'till snow in December ☆

Always,

Abby Noel 

I guess they do things differently in Spain...

I took my Spanish midterm today and one of the questions had some interesting answer choices. To someone who didn't know a lick of Spanish, it might be difficult to choose the right answer. But if you know the vocabulary, you'd just have to be stupid to get it wrong.  

 I'd like to test all of you to see if you can figure out the answer to this question. To make it easier on you, in case you don't know what the spanish words mean, I've drawn pictures that might help. 

#24- Fill in the blank.

Ella cocina la cena en _____

(She cooks dinner in _____) 

A) La Estufa 

B) El Techo 

C) La Ducha 

Go ahead. Think about that the next time your mom cooks dinner. 

Always,

Abby Noel