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? 

T-Swizzle in the Hizzle

Now for those of you that read my blog, please try not to cringe at what I am about to write, I have my reasons for it.  The first line may make you want to exit this tab in your browser, but please refrain.  You might learn something about me and you never know what you might take away from it.

Dear Taylor Swift,

Yes, I am well aware that you will probably never read this blog post, but who knows, you could.  First off, let's clear up a few things.  I do not blog about pop music or music at all.  Also, I do not own much of your new music, I have never been to one of your concerts, and I do not stalk you on social media.  However, I remember the day that I first listened to your music while being driven home by my friend's grandpa.  I bought your first two albums (back when CDs were still a thing) and jammed out.  My eight-year-old self loved you.  I would turn up the volume on my CD player and jump around my room and on my bed to "Hey, Stephen" because, yes, looks can be deceivin'.  "Our Song" and "You Belong With Me" were my anthems in elementary school and in sixth grade it became "22." (I can still recite every word to these songs...)

In each of your songs, you tell a story and you are able to captivate your audience every time.  While I write every blog post, I try to think about how I can captivate my audience in the same way.  What happens in my life that can be of interest to other people?  What do I have to share with the world?  These are things that you have helped me figure out.

Because of you, I believe that what I do matters and that I can achieve my dreams.  You worked since you were fourteen to become a successful singer.  Despite the challenges that came your way, the criticism you faced, and the scrutiny you endured, you did what you wanted and achieved things that you could only have dreamed of.  To me, this is my inspiration.  Taylor, you have helped me realize that my dreams are not unrealistic.  Believing in myself has been a vital part of who I am.  Thank you.

I also admire you because you are unlike many other famous people.  You have all the money in the world, yet you do not turn to drugs and get wasted at every chance.  The way that you conduct yourself is admirable.  I hope that when I have twenty-six, I will conduct myself with such poise and elegance.  You dress in clothes that are flattering, stylish, and timeless.  You don't go around flaunting everything all the time.  Oh, and you also are a caring, giving person.  You donate generously to charities that you have a connection with.  You visit your fans in the hospital and that have cancer, Taylor.  Why, you even invite some of your fans into your homes to listen to your music.

You wore a sweater that a fan knit for you, of you!  Photo Courtesy of: Kicker Daily

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