1/4 done

I can't believe it. My junior year of high school is 1/4 done. I'm starting to realize how utterly close I am getting to graduating. I don't want to leave this place. I don't want to have to say goodbye to all the people I love, and say "see you at Thanksgiving" not tomorrow morning like it has been for the past 12 years. It terrifies me to think I will potentially be spending a year in a foreign country, not able to see the familiar faces I love ever so much. Despite my anxiety, I am excited. This is a new path I will endure and will be an extreme change. I'm not ready yet, but I hope in a year and 3/4 I will be.
On a lighter note, this first 1/4 of high school has been incredible. My best friend turned 17, cross country was one of the best seasons yet, school is moving quite quickly. Everything seems to be going at an extreme pace, but it has been lovely.

I love my life right now. Everything is looking up and I am so extremely thankful.
Smile, today is a good day.

Summer has ended

Well, today is the last day of summer.
It is indeed a tragedy, and yet quite exciting all at once. Bittersweet I must admit.
It's seems oh so strange to think that I am going to be a JUNIOR this year. When people mention High School, the words 'it flies by' always seem to come about. And now that I am experiencing it, oh my oh my are those words the truth. As I look through photos from freshman year, I get a wee bit teary eyed. I don't want this part of my life to end. Although I am excited for the next chapter, I don't want to grow up. Each day, I tend to forget how absolutely blessed I am. This is life I live in; magical. I am now realizing how easily it is to dwell on the crummy things in life, the things that just don't go right. I need to suck it up and be thankful for how my life is going. Frankly, my life isn't perfect. I'm not perfect. But right now, everything in life seems to be fitting in place just right. And to that I say, let's enjoy these moments. They seem to be disappearing quite rapidly.

Goodbye summer.

While the sun sets

While the sun sets,
I escape from reality.
In those 3 minutes where the sun is gently sliding towards the horizon
This place we call home becomes magical, enchanting, inexplicable.
The oranges, the reds, the yellows and golds soak up every other color,
Making this planet glow like it's neighboring star.
This beauty overtakes me every waking evening.
Thank you Earth for being such an irresistible home.

Sometimes...

Sometimes in life, things seem disoriented. 

Things seem out of place. 

They seem exhausting.

Not worth while.

Feeling helpless.

 Feeling hopeless.

Those aren't unusual emotions.

But sometimes in life, things are just hidden. 

Hidden beneath the mess, the struggles, the disappointments, the pain. 

A much needed change in perspective transpires.

Seeing what has been accomplished,

Rather than seeing what has yet to be done.

Change.

A new angle.

A different frame of mind.

That's all it takes. 

'Be happy with where you are now, even if you do wish to see change.'

You have got to be joking.

Is it actually the 9th of August? 

Wow. 

Well, any-who... Again I have failed miserably at capturing all of these great memories I have been making in these final weeks of summer. I apologize again for about the one-millionth time.

July ended with a huge burst of new found energy to become healthy and strong. I have been working out everyday (hardcore/twice-a-day/lifting-weights-and-all kind of work outs) and am virtually obsessed with how it makes me feel; so so so so great. (great is just about the most boring word choice possible, and a bit of an understatement....)

A few of the cutest, best-est (I know that's not a word..) funniest gals and I went to the fair. It was Abby's second time going to a fair in her life. Ever. And well, it was pleasant. Some people are so extremely adorable, while others can be so extremely trashy, it's quite ridiculous. But either way, people watching is always fun at a big event like a fair. :)

 

This is my best friend.

 This is my friend.

 They are absolutely incredible friends indeed. 

They make me so happy. 

The Olympics finally started (and now are coming to an end..) which gave us something to do in our free time! For the ceremony, we feasted;

-guacamole & lime chips 

-lemonade iced tea

-delicious bread & butter

-a HUGE fruit salad with absolutely delicious and ripe fruit

 it was SO good. and we ate all of it....

 *USA*

this isn't fake. pure happiness. 

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up for the rest of summer and onto the school year. :)

Happy day! 

Aaaaand now it's July...

Well, yup. Time literally slipped right out of my fingers and ran away like a little hijacker. Indeed my apology could be forever long and I will not go through the time and effort to bore my fellow readers (if there really are any...) Despite my latest neglect towards this poor and lonely blog, I have had a few adventures that may or may not be eligible for reading, but read on my friends.  I don't think I can hit every detail of the past month, but I will give you some dirt on what the early summer brought...

First off, my friends and I (my best friends might I add...) created a giant bucket list of things needed to be accomplished this summer. Things like rollerblading, tubing down the river, making our own ice cream, camping, skiing on my lake... etc. And so far... we've hardly made a dent. I mean yeah we've checked off a few things here and there but I think the idea was more exhilarating than actually accomplishing all our 'tasks'. But hey, how easy is it to get five extremely busy girls all together to do 50+ things in 90 days? The mission seems nearly impossible. But the summer is far from ending. 

One of the items on the bucket list is to skinny dip in my lake. Check. Done. Completed. It was absolutely supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The frogs were singing their songs (actually more like screaming their songs, they were so loud.) the moon was shinning at it's fullest, the lake was calm and like glass. Basically, it was a perfect night. The four of us ran down in our towels, hopped on in (well I make that sound a lot easier than it was... I stood at the end of the dock waiting, being the chicken I am of dark, green, smelly water... but finally ventured into the water) felt freer than a bird and climbed back out. It. Was. Electrifying. Exhilarating. Refreshing. All totally worth it. Mind I say this was at 1 a.m. after making a run to the Kwik Trip in town at 12 a.m. to get Cheez-Its, Fruit Loops, Triscuits and cheese, Lunchables and some Butterfingers... (healthy... reaaaaal healthy... I know). All in all, even with the creepy drunk guy that was attempting to hit on us on our way in the gas stations, the night was absolute perfection. 

Today I went fishing for the first time in a long time. I went to my friend's cabin and we both got sicker than dogs and I went home early... blah blah blah. Anyways, I woke up feeling mighty fine but all of my other friends are either sick or gone on a trip. So I brought out the redneck in me and went fishing with a friend. I was gleeful and happy just to be on an adventure after I had been quarantined for 3 days in the basement with nothing but Friends, water, saltines and ibuprofen and of course my great mama who took care of me. We didn't catch a fish, but we did catch a clam. Despite the fact that it seems strange and fake, I am almost 100% that thing actually grabbed our hook. I mean what other way could a clam (a big one by all means) get caught on our hook?! It was pretty cool, probably because that was the only excitement we had experienced all day... Then we saw a huge and I mean huge fish swim right by our feet. So we decided just to pretend that we actually caught that fish but agreed to be nice and let him go.... ha ha. 

I call myself 'fisherwoman'

I have been pretty careless and stupid about taking photos... Which I am now realizing as I look through my ''June '12'' album and am finding nothing exciting and worth mentioning in this post... 

Oh right. For those who don't know, I am a nanny this summer. My job is exceptionally exciting and makes my summer even more of an adventure. :) 

My latest want/need: an iPhone. Oh my good golly do I want one of those bad boys. Or at the least; a smartphone. That way people won't judge me as much when I whip out a small phone to take a photo of my food.. My giant DSLR can sometimes be a hassle when going on adventures that need minimal luggage... Either way I am blessed to have both a phone and an amazing camera, it would just be fantastic to have them combined. ;)

I once again will apologize for how late this sucker is, but then again... I am only sixteen... :)

Happy day, friends. Enjoy every moment :)

Summer is FINALLY here

Well, sophomore year has ended. As excited I am, I am also a wee bit sad. I mean next year I will be a junior. I honestly don't want high school to end. It has flown by and I don't want to grow up. It's weird to think that I will have to start thinking about colleges this year (COLLEGES!). So so so so so so scary.
But until then, it is SUMMMAAA!
On the last day of school about 10 of us girls went to my friend's house for a girls night/end of the year party. So much fun!

 Meet Herky

 summer 12! 

 finally here!!

stargazing!