Hasta la Vista

The seasons are changing, the amount of fur on my cat is changing, and what I will soon be spending everyday of my life doing is changing.  Throughout each year, almost every single thing in my life evolves or changes in some way.  I know this to be true because when I look back at where I was in May of 2015, I am a completely different person now.  I have adopted new habits and hobbies, the clothes I wear have changed slightly, my close friends have changed, and I think I may have become a tad bit meaner and sassier, but I can't really help that.  All of these changes are facilitated in different ways.  For me, I change the most depending on who I interact with on a daily basis.  When I started cross country, I gained a whole new group of friends that had a new perspective and interests.  This of course altered my perceptions of certain things.  Sharing my thoughts and stories on this blog over the past eight months has also helped me to grow as a person.

Before I wrote on this blog, I didn't share a lot of my experiences because my friends would look at me and tell me how much my story sucked, but now I really don't care if I have a good story or not, I just enjoy sharing what I have to say.  Through sharing my thoughts on this blog and by reading other blogs I have learned that what makes something interesting to one person is completely different from what makes something interesting to another person.

Writing on my blog as made me more comfortable sharing my thoughts with others than I was at the beginning of the year.  I am now able to form my thoughts into a cohesive piece of writing that others can (hopefully) enjoy.  I have also become better at telling stories in person because I am aware of what makes certain details pertinent and others not.

Before this year, I did not consider myself to be a good writer, but now I believe that my writing has improved tremendously.  This is partly because of writing on this blog and being able to write in whatever style I desire and about whatever topic I want to.

Flashback to when I had fun running! (I was also much too cool to jump)  Photo Credits: Clarita

When my friends mention my blog it gives me a little boost of confidence because I feel like someone enjoys reading what I have to say.  Feeling like I matter is always a positive and in some ways, this blog has helped me to become more secure.  Although, looking back at old posts makes me cringe a little because, honestly, I do not know what I was thinking, I was still able to express myself in ways that I previously hadn't been able to.

School is coming to an end in the next three weeks, that means that I am no longer required to write blog posts every so often.  While I enjoy writing on here to share with the few people that read my blog, I don't know if I am going to continue to post.  If I'm being honest, I want to move as far away from ninth grade as possible (first year of high school was no bueno), but who knows, maybe there will be something posted on here every now and then, so stay tuned! hahaha, just kidding, I know none of you will ever type in my URL again, even if I do continue to post.

Ciao forevs

Camille

RFTH!!!

Unlike some people, I have zero problem admitting that I watch TV often and I absolutely love it.  In fact, I look forward to watching TV at night after I do all my homework.  These wonderful shows give me another world to escape to and something else to think about beside my life.  I don't care if the people are fictional and stuff like that "doesn't really happen it real life," I become attached to the characters and their story.  Sometimes I cry for them because I can relate to how much pain they're in or what happened to them that day, other times I catch myself smiling when something good happens.  And some TV shows are inspirational, too. What's not to love?

I respect that (is what I imagine Chris is thinking)
Original Footage Courtesy of: ABC (picture thanks to me)

There is this one show I watch though that none of the above really apply to (beside the fact I stop thinking about my life while watching it).  This show is called The Bachelor.  Honestly, I do not care if you like this show, or as my one friend tried to tell me as she shook her head, "That show demeans women."  They wanted to go on the show and no one is making them act a certain way, so how is it demeaning?

We don't just watch The Bachelor, we have a Bachelor Viewing Party.  It's an intense experience where we all react strongly and...this is the best part - we pause the TV and take pictures of the horrendous faces/expressions people make.

This may sound mean (or demeaning) to you guys, but no judgement!  Everyone does things to make them laugh, this is just what we do.

Ski Bunnies (JK We're Babes Now)

There is a tradition that as taken place since I was barely able to walk that my family refers to as the Ski Bunnies.  As you might have guessed, this tradition has something to do with skiing, but I'm not totally sure how the bunnies part came about.  Anyway, the Ski Bunnies is the annual ski trip that three mother-daughter pairs make to Park City for a weekend in the winter.  On average, there is a nine females at our house during this weekend each year.  A few years there has been eleven if the younger siblings come along, too. 

When my family moved from California to Utah before I was born, they left behind many of their friends and family members.  My dad's sister's friends all had babies the same year my sister was born, 1998.  These women became good friends with my mom.  The women all had other children that were born around the time I was, but they weren't all girls and we didn't have the same relationship all the 1998 girls had.  So because of this, I tag-along with the older girls on the Ski Bunnies trip. Now all of the older girls are about eighteen years old, I'm fifteen, the other younger girl is fourteen, so we are not quite cute little bunnies anymore, but more so some serious Ski Babes....hahaha totally kidding, we don't quite possess supermodel status.

A stylish bunch...check out Claire's Crocs and my gauchos!  From L-R: Grace, Emma, Gretchen, Claire, Braden, Mac, Me

Go Hard or Go Home

A couple weeks ago, we celebrated the wonderful holiday of Easter.  My family is not religious, so this is not a day where we think about Jesus and all the wonderful other religious things other families do.  We didn't even go to church.

We did, however, have an Easter egg hunt!  Ever since my sister and I were little I remember waking up early in the morning to find a note that the Easter Bunny wrote us sitting at the top of the stairs.  On this note, he wished us a "Happy Easter" and said how many eggs were hidden (always an even number so my sister and I got the same amount).

My mom told me this year that we were not going to have an Easter egg hunt because my sister and I are too old now.  My sister had egg hunts when she was my age, so I should get one, too!  Although, in the future I will not be having egg hunts while Claire is off at college (that's just sad), I was somewhat crushed inside, but I didn't care that much.

On Easter morning, we all got ready to go to brunch at our friend's house.  During the primping, my sister walks down the stairs and tells me we weren't going to have an egg hunt. That's old news girl, old news.  She ended up talking my mom into setting up our last egg hunt ever when we got home from brunch.

Guess what we did at this brunch?  We had an egg hunt!  However, it was more for the little grandchildren and not so much for the teenagers although we were encouraged to participate.  There is just something about taking candy from a baby that is so difficult, so me and my friend would walk every ten feet and pick up an egg (they were all scattered in a field), so I didn't get that many.  On our way back inside, there were eggs still sitting in plain sight that the toddlers had walked right past.  That is just SO sad.

Me mid egg hunt on Easter.  I was determined to get that blue egg.  Photo Courtesy of: Mi Madre

Spread Your Wings and Fly, Darling!

Sometimes kids just have more fun, it really is that simple. I discovered this was the case several weeks ago when my family and I were all sitting in our living room one night.  There was nothing particularly special about this night, we were just sitting there watching TV and talking.  I am not totally sure how we started doing this strange activity but I think it went something like this...

My sister, Claire, was lying on the ground in front of our TV with her legs in the air.  I walked past her and leaned over her feet to talk to her.  With my hands on the backs of her feet, I was putting some of my weight on her legs.

This sparked a memory from my childhood, something that every kid did at least once when they were small, airplane (although the internet does not know what I am talking about).  You know, when your mom or dad would lie on the ground and heft you up into the air.  Your tummy would be resting on their feet and your hands would be in their hands.  The parent would then proceed to move you side-to-side in the air like an airplane while you squealed with glee.

Look at that form. Photo Courtesy of: Moi

The Pokey Puppy

Put simply, life can be rough.  It's definitely not always fair and sometimes it seems just plain sucky.  The worst things seem to happen suddenly, you don't expect what is to come and hope that it never does (or at least not for awhile).  These times in life leave me contemplating why things happen.  People tell me frequently, "Everything happens for a reason."  But is there really a reason for the bad things in life?  Do these things really make me a better person?  Quite personally, I don't think they do.  I think I would be just fine if my life was sunshine and roses all the time, but that's just not how it goes.

This weekend started off pretty great.  I was babysitting for this family down the street on Saturday morning and was looking forward to earning some pocket money.  A few hours after I got to their house, I was reading the two little boys books.  My phone started ringing and I asked the little boy if it was okay if I answered it.  He of course said no, but I ignored him anyway.

Love you, Henry

I wondered why my mom was calling me - she knew where I was - but I didn't think much of it.  On the other end of the phone something in my mom's voice sounded off.  I could tell that she was trying not to sound sad and keep it together.  My mom tells me that she took our dog, Henry, to the vet and his wound (he was bitten a little while ago) had become really infected.  I thought maybe she was going to tell me that he had to get surgery or something, but then she tells me that it was decided that he was going to be put down.  In just a couple hours.  Henry had some previous health issues including a heart murmur, being blind in one eye, practically deaf, and he had been losing weight and having accidents almost daily.  For these reasons, operating on him was riskier and wasn't totally worth it.

I was trying to choke back my tears but couldn't stop them from falling down my face.  She asked if I wanted to see him before he was put down.  Of course I wanted to see him and say goodbye one last time. Unfortunately after hearing this depressing news I had to continue babysitting.

City of Roses

As I mentioned in my previous post, my favorite times of year are the times when I do not have to go to school.  It's fabulous and this past week was another one of those times.  My sister is a senior in high school so everything is about college currently.  We have toured several colleges in different states over the past few years.  However, this was the first tour that we were going on since she had applied and been accepted to college.  We traveled to Portland, Oregon - aka the City of Roses for those of you that didn't piece that together quite yet.

As the acceptances and scholarships came rolling in, she had seriously been considering where she wanted to spend the next four years of her life.  College costs the big-bucks and you want to go somewhere you'll like, so it was a big decision for her.

We went to Portland to visit one of her top contenders, the University of Portland. I had never been to Oregon before so I did not know what to expect.  I just knew that it rained a lot.

After we got off our plane, we drove over to UP to walk around.  It was one of the greenest campuses I've seen.  The campus overlooked the shipyard and the Willamette River below.  Claire's friend gave us a brief tour this day and on Monday we came back for the actual tour.

The Monday tour was LONG.  I believe we were there for six to seven hours!  It was presentation after presentation, but it was somewhat interesting.  The best part was that we got free food from their cafeteria for lunch.  They have some yummy options!  I also enjoyed seeing the dorms and different parts of the campus.  It was exciting for all of us, but my sister was pumped!

I was rudely cut out of this picture.  Photo Courtesy of: My Mom

Is That You, Queen Elsa?

I love not having school.  I have more free-time and don't have to worry about doing homework on Sunday, so having a three-day weekend is pure heaven.  Because we didn't have school on Martin Luther King Junior Day, three of my friends and my family and I went to the Ice Castle in Midway.  It was so fabulous and I am gonna tell you all about it.

Abbi, Emma, Elise, my mom, Claire, Will, and I all crammed into the car to get to the Ice Castle.  I had both my Guc and puffy coat on because I was not gonna be cold.  I tried to convince my friends to take some gloves or a hat but I was met with resistance, so it was just me who liked like a giant Oompa Loompa.

Chillin' with my peeps -get my pun?  (Look how warm I look)  Photo Courtesy of: Claire

After we arrived at the Ice Castle we walked a very long way from our car to the entrance where a parking supervisor asked us how our time was.  He was met with several very confused looks from many teenage girls.  He then preceded to tell us that there was an entrance right where we had come from, yeah we weren't paying attention.  As we were about to go in, Elise turns to me and asks if I have seen her gloves.  Oh, Lisey.  We couldn't find them on the ground anywhere and my mom told us that someone had yelled out saying they found a pair gloves.  Obviously we still hadn't been paying attention, but what do you expect from a gaggle of girls? 

Why'd Ya Do That?

Do you ever not remember making a promise to only have someone bring it up months later?  Well, I do.  This happened to me at the beginning of January.  Apparently, I promised my mother and Will that I would babysit his friend's children for many hours while they all went out.  While I vaguely remember saying that I would do this, I do not remember saying the other things I supposedly did.  For example, I know that I did not say I would babysit the whole weekend.  Why on earth would I say that? Who wants to be with little kids for that many hours?

Yet, there I was, in a condo meeting the four children I would spend the next five hours of my life with.  Will also did not help with this situation.  He kept telling me and my sister how much of a horror one of the kids was.  Thanks.  I appreciate that so much.  Needless to say, my sister and I were not psyched, but we wanted money.

About sums up why I babysit.  Photo Courtesy of: Hamptons Babysitters

Flying High in the Sky

After a particularly hectic first night, the rest of our vacation went swimmingly.

The food was incredibly delicious and fresh in Zihuatanejo.  The first night, almost everything was closed and we had no clue where we were.  After walking up and down the streets by our condo we stumbled across a cute, candlelit restaurant.  I had the best Caesar salad ever and it was about three dollars.  The piña coladas were delicious, the ice cream was to die for and everything was crazily inexpensive.  It was great.

I was way over-motivated to go running the first few days.  I am way out of shape and practically melted from the humidity and heat so I gave up on that after two runs.  I did enjoy the two I went on though and I did a lot of walking and swimming so same-same (means I basically ran everyday).  The hills were also insane in the area that we were staying in.  They were steep and super-duper long.

One of the hills by our condo. 
Photo Couretsy of: Clarita

The locals in this town were so friendly.  Many of them engaged in conversation with us and would practice their English while we practiced our Spanish.  This one man walked out from the beach as we were turning down this road.  He wasn't wearing any shoes or a shirt and was carrying a fish in his hands as he talked to my sister.  

Each day, my family would walk down the stairs and be on the beach.  We would hang out here all day.  Relaxing in the sun was amazing!  I haven't felt the warm rays of the sun on my skin for months.  We were situated on Zihuatanejo Bay.  This means that there were only little baby waves and the water was extremely warm and clear.

Trouble in Paradise

My favorite part of the school year had finally arrived (winter break) and my family was going to Mexico for a week...how perfect!

Well, it would have been more perfect if I didn't have to run while I was away.  During break we were all supposed to run just every other day.  That's not so bad, but still.

As I stepped off the plane and onto the stairs at the airport, it hit me.  The humidity was overwhelming and I immediately started sweating.  I was wearing leggings and a long-sleeve because it was snowing back home.  That morning, before the sun even rose, we were trudging in our snow boots through the foot of snow that had accumulated on our driveway to our friend's car.  It was crazy.  Don't worry, I didn't wear snow boots in Mexico, we changed our shoes in the car.

It was an extremely long travel day for us because we had a layover in Mexico City.  Luckily, we took care of the Customs stuff in Mexico City so we could go straight to our condo once we got off our second flight in the small fishing town of Zihuatanejo.  Once we safely stowed our bags in the trunk of the taxi, we were off.  As we turned a corner, about a mile from our condo, there was a loud thunk.  I assumed we just hit a pothole or something so I didn't mention it.  Claire looked out the back window and noticed the trunk was open.  Uh oh.  She alerted the cap driver but he didn't pull over for a while.  The roads are narrow and there are a lot of cars so it wasn't exactly safe to do so immediately.

A map of Zihjuatanejo.  We were on La Madera Beach. 
Photo Courtesy of: Zihjuatanejo Condos

My Brief Stunt as a Sniper (After the Race)

Now let me tell you all something- while I enjoy going to these big races (as described in my last post), the majority of the fun is held after or before the race.

After we got back from the NIKE race, the party really got going (JK it was a school trip so there was NO partying...).  A group of us ended up in this luxurious pool for an hour or so.  It's a high possibility that we ruined someone's wedding day because we were loud and they were getting married outside.  I tried to keep the peeps from gettin' rowdy, but what can ya do?  As they preceded past the pool, probs on the way to the reception, we got some weird looks from the actual partygoers.  This was most likely because us girls lacked proper swimming attire so we were in our racing outfits and because, well, we were rambunctious.  Oh yeah, did I mention that instead of going out the door of our suite, we climbed through the window?  So it really was like a party.  Going through doors is just so not cool anymore.

The swimming was like the cocktail party though.  The real fun had not even started.  Now, you may be doubting that  I was ever actually a sniper, but I most certainly was one (maybe a very terrible one, but still).  We left more than thirty minutes late because guys take forever to get ready.  I mean, come on, throw on some pants and lets go.

To Golfland Sunsplash we go.

Golfland itself.  It is truly a majestic fortress.  Photo Courtesy of: Golfland

Seriously? (The Race)

Knock knock knock!

Guys do not plan well.  The attention to detail is somewhat lacking in their personalities.  So this was how my weekend in Arizona ended, with three of my coaches banging on my door at 6:49 in the morning.  Yes, I remember the exact time.  Things like that stick in my mind when I am oh-so rudely awakened from my peaceful sleep.

Anyway.  Onto the interesting parts of my short-lived vacation...

As I have mentioned previously, I was going to attend the Nike Regional Championship cross country race in Arizona.  This trip came the week before Thanksgiving break and I was stoked because I did not have to go to school on Friday and it was gonna be warm!

Unluckily enough, we had to meet at the park-and-ride at 5:50 in the morning.  For reals?  If I'm not going to school can I at least sleep in?  Ha-ha-ha, funny one Camille.

So our journey started.  As I mentioned before, men don't think about details, so the idea that the airport might be busy did not cross their minds.  This left us running to the other security line so that we would make our flight.

Once we arrived in sunny Arizona, it began.  Being runners, we went to a delicious buffet for lunch then off to the movie theater to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part Two.  It was horrible (well, not as exciting as it could be).  After we ran the course to get a feel for it, we waited in line to buy swag.  This took at least forty-five minutes.  It got dark and dropped TWENTY (not really) degrees while we were waiting in line.  That is how long it took!  The thousands of people coming to this race all wanted shirts.  Every single one of them and it seemed like they were all in front of us.  It is quite difficult for me to understand what takes so long to buy a single shirt.  Pick it out, try it on, exchange it, pay for it.  That can all take under a minute, definitely under five, but no.  The freaking people were probably paying with pennies and spelling out their words.  And then some people would have one girl get in line before her WHOLE team hopped right in.  Hell no, get your booty to the back of the line.

Thank you, Mrs. Obama.  Photo Courtesy of: Towns County Tourism

That's Right, I'm Buff

It's over.  I don't mean life, I am not that dramatic of a person.  I mean the cross country season.  The State championship race was several weeks ago in October and we all took a week off after that race.  All of the team had become so close over the last three months, it'll be weird not seeing everybody every day.  Luckily for me, there are post-season meets!  Woo, let winter training begin...

When the Varsity girls were literally squad goals.  Photo Courtesy of: Me :)

Anyway, I made so many wonderful memories with the cross country team this season that I get all happy inside just thinking about them.  Sometimes I will be with the team and I'll think of something that someone did and I just start smiling.  Don't worry, not in a creepy way.