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? 

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