1994 - 7th grade secretary

i'm not really sure what i was thinking. or maybe i wasn't thinking at all. because what i'm about to tell you is totally out of character. i'm just not that brave. and i hope i'm not really that stupid.

during the first week of seventh grade, i saw a poster announcing officer elections. and i decided i'd like to run for secretary. 

i wasn't sure how you ran for such an office. neither of my brothers had ever been in student government and i didn't really know anyone else who had either. all i knew is i had to make posters, present a skit and sit and wait for the results. 

my posters were probably the saddest thing you've ever seen. and i realized that the morning i hung them up on the brick wall leading to the cafeteria at south jordan middle school. i didn't have a theme. the only lonely words on the poster were "vote maren for 7th grade secretary." that's it. and the poster wasn't even big. it was tiny in comparison to the others. AND, it was handwritten and colored in with old, drying-out markers. 

i knew right then this race was futile. yet, i still had the skit to look forward to.

and somehow, i decided to embarrass myself even further and sing a song in front of the entire student body. i know. i wish it wasn't true, but it is. my singing skills weren't horrendous, but they were far from fantastic. as a seventh grader, i was your average alto. nothin' special. and the song i chose to sing was a doozie:

whitney houston's one moment in time. 

i know now that you should never ever ever try to sing a whitney song. let alone one that was written for the 1988 olympics and is begging teenagers to just give you a chance. i was basically pleading with them to give me a wedgie and throw me in a locker. and yet, i sang:

Each day I live
I want to be
A day to give
The best of me
I'm only one
But not alone
My finest day
Is yet unknown

I broke my heart
Fought every gain
To taste the sweet
I face the pain
I rise and fall
Yet through it all
This much remains

I want one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity

and now that i see the lyrics, i actually think i even sang some of it incorrectly. the entire song was too long for the allotted time given for each skit. so, with my brother scott's amazing audio skills, we edited the music so i didn't have to sing all of the verses. as if that would help my case. 

to top it off, the only other person who sang in that assembly was a girl named ashley jarrett. she was my friend and also an incredible vocalist. as in singing the national anthem at utah jazz games in fifth grade and eventually touring with les mis on broadway incredible. oh, and she also had a theme, so her song actually meant something. 

election day came and went and no, i was not elected. 

surprise, surprise. 

but luckily, it was only the first week of school and i think i was able to hide away from enough people that it didn't totally ruin my reputation because no one really knew who i was. like i said, those generic "vote for maren" signs just weren't memorable. thank goodness. 

and, i learned from my mistakes. i did run for office a few times in high school - with better slogans, posters and skits...and most importantly, no whitney houston - and it worked. lesson learned.

also in 1994:

 {serving at my cousin meagan's wedding with kelli, rachel, beck and brittany}


 {jackson hole with mom}


{yellowstone national park with the fam}