Family is something that is important to me and I think that should always be there for you no matter what and be your support team through everything. For me I have a very large family and there is so many of us no ever knows who belongs with who. We are a family that believes in traditions and I love that. We have every holiday at my house and that is one crowded house. I love our family get togethers because we get to see each other and catch up on things. I always get to see my little cousins that I love so much and get to talk to my older cousin that is in college. We have games and swim, it really is a great time to be together. I hope that I am able to carry some of these traditions with my kid when people pass. I love the family environment and I hope that everyone has gotten to experience the love a family like I have.

I always love Thanksgiving time because I get to see all my family members that I wouldn't usually see. Every year all of the families come over to our house for lunch because we have the biggest house that will hold all of them. Each family brings a dish that they make and with my family being so big that means LOTS OF FOOD! I always eat way too much but it's hard to say no when it all looks so good. This year my brother won't be in for Thanksgiving will be in for Christmas. This is the first year that my great-grandmother hasn't been here for Thanksgiving and I think that it is going to be really hard on my papaw. One of his sisters is driving to visit us during this holiday. I like Thanksgiving time because the attitude and mood of people change because they are moving giving. I wish that this wasn't the only time in the year that people were so giving. Personally for me I am a natuaral giver and I love helping people out so this time of the year is special to me. I love showing thanks and giving back to people.

Box of Letters

I was on the phone the other night talking to Austin and we were just talking about random things that were going on. He brought up that I mentioned that I had a box of letters that I kept that were from my brother while he was in the Navy. I told him yes I still had those and why he would bring that up. He said that he was hosting a convention for the armed men that have fought for our country. He wanted to display some of the letters to show what some of the men were going through during boot camp and what they were going through everyday at work. I thought it was a cool thing that he wanted to give the men a convention but I wasn't sure that I wanted him to take my letters, the only ones that I have from my brother and show them to people. Some of the letters were showing how tough it was for him to be there and I didn't want people to see him as a weak person. But I began to think that this would be a great oppourtnity to actually show people that it isn't easy being there and as bad as the families are hurting the mean are also hurting too. So I let Austin take the letters to be displayed at the convention but I made sure to get them back.

Dog went to College

There once was a dog that was always smarter than everyone in his class and he always dreamed of going to college. But his dog leader told him that college is only for humans and that he never had a chance of going. The dog was very dissappointed because he really wanted to go to college like the humans. His dog leader said that there was one way he could possibly get into college as long as he passed the big test. So the dog started studying every night for this big test. He was determined to get into college and just knew that he could do it. The day came where it was time to take the test. He goes to the school and sits down and takes the test. When he got his score back he actually made a high enough score to get into college. The dog was so proud of him so he went off to college with all the other humans!

CFGLKLAEZ

Coming down the road was a little girl named Sally Jo. Far off in the field she saw a butterfly. Getting closer to the butterfly it started flying away. Looking beautiful with all its amazing bright colors, it went from flower to flower. Keeping up with the butterfly Sally wanted to catch it so badly. Leaning in to snatch it up but it flew away just as her hand came down. Aggravated that she can't seem to catch it she just sits in the grass and waits. Excited about taking this beautiful butterfly home she just goes and runs right at it. Zippppp, it just passes her right by and she goes home with no beautiful butterfly but a story to tell everyone.

Senior Year is coming to an end and school is starting to get stressful. I’m trying to make sure that my ACT score is high enough to get into college and to get more money to pay for it. I always thought that Senior Year was suppose to be easy and lots of fun but I feel like this is the hardest year because of what all you have to do to get ready for the rest of your life. I think my classes are really the same but its just that they really matter because college are going to look at all my grades and this is a chance for me to get my GPA up. I think it has been going by so fast and I really don’t want it to end. With Senior Year ending that means that my running is going to end and that I won’t get to experience all those great times with the girls. I will miss the people that I grew up with because I know I probably won’t see them after high school anyways, which is sad to think about. I want to go off to college but I’m just afraid that things are going to change and I don’t want that to happen. I love the friends I have right now and I would like to keep most of them. I just hope that we end this year closer than ever and that we can hopefully stay in touch some throughout our college years. I hope that I go out of high school with no regrets and that I can go out proud of what I have accomplished through the years.

Everyone always says that rainy days always tend to bring people down in their moods. But I enjoy rainy days because those are the days that I just lay around the house and to absolutely nothing. I like the days that are just a light rain because my dog doesn’t go completely in sane. She usually freaks out when there are storms. I love looking out the window and watching the rain drops hit the ground and watching the puddles start to form on the sidewalks. I’m a person that likes to watch and examine things. I love when my pool is open because I think that the rain drops are so pretty when they hit the water. The ripples are so cool because they start and slowing go away but just when you think that its gone another rain drops in the spot and makes another ripple. When I was a kid I use to run out in the street when it started raining and tried to see how many rain drops I could catch in my mouth. I really enjoy rainy days; they are so calm and peaceful.

This past weekend the cross country traveled to Marshal County to compete in the regional competition. We came to the race ranked fifth in the Region but only the top four teams would advance to the State Meet, so the pressure was on. The night before we had a team dinner at my coaches how and he showed us a video of two women competing in the IronMan. When these women were fighting the pain at times they could not even stand up, they ended the race by crawling to the finish line. Their bodies were exhausted from the mileage they ran and they were drained. Our coach told us that we may say that we are in pain but we haven’t experienced true pain until we go through what those two women had to go through. I look at this video as inspiration, I see two women giving it all they have to finish the race. I went to regional’s with a mind set that I was going to give it all I had even if it meant that I was going to have to hurt, it was going to be worth it in the end. I wanted to cross the finish the line with no regrets and to be proud of the race that I ran. We ended up finishing fourth all together and I’m extremely proud of my team.

Fall is my favorite time of the year because of the beautiful colors that come with it. I always enjoy going for walks and just looking at all of the different colored trees. This Fall Break I stayed at home all week with my family. My sister went to Louisville for the week so the house was slightly quieter than usual. I really just got to sit back and look how beautiful things are, life. Our family room has no blinds or anything covering our windows so I love sitting in the big old chair and just watching the sun rise and the sun set, it’s absolutely gorgeous. One of the days my dog and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I was very surprised that she actually walked because she usually just sits in the middle of the street and doesn’t get up until we turn around to go back home. But this time we made it around the block a couple of times. While we were walking I was just staring at the amazing trees and watching the leaves fall to the ground one at a time. You can’t but wonder what the purpose of a leaf is because all they do is grow on the tree and then fall off and die. That doesn’t seem like a very exciting life, yes you get to look all pretty for a season but after that you just dry up and die. I think I could look at my life in the same way. I am growing right now and when I begin to turn colors then that am me fulfilling my purpose on this earth. Once I fall and dry up to die then my life was surely well spent if it was meant that my time on earth has come to an end. Leaves are a weird concept and its crazy how there is never one that is the same. They are all very unique like everyone in this world. The fall is my favorite and I wish that it lasted just a bit longer because I really do enjoy looking out the window and just admiring the beautiful colors.

Re-Living the Day

A day that I would love to go back and do again is the day that my friend came home from Germany after being there for two months. I can remember the look he gave me when he walked into McDonalds, he gave me the biggest smile ever. Since he was in Germany we didn't get to talk that much because the the time difference and the cost of using the phone. But it was so good to finally see him again. We just sat in McDonalds and talked about everything that has happened since he was gone. I can remember all the crazy stories and all the things he got to see while he was there. He showed me pictures and they were absolutely beautiful and were making want to go there so bad. The best part of the whole visit was that I just got to sit down and listen to him talk, it was the best thing ever.