We as human beings are made up of DNA and memories.  Just as proper nourishment to our bodies allow us to grow from child to adulthood, unique moments transform us, molding our hearts with their forever-remembered significance.
  Sixteen years.  It's not a lot of time, but it's sure heck of a lot of memories.  A picnic at the highest peak of North America, clinging onto the tube for dear life at Lake Powell, the horrific terror of meeting the Teletubbies, vanity-packed popstar/princess sleepovers with the cousins, Rachel's thick Bahsten accent, the obnoxiously tall wig  to dress as Marie Antoinette for Halloween, the dizziness of a roundoff-eleven-back-handsprings, my first audition 80's-style, the way my mom rolled her eyes before realizing that the phonecall about Daddy falling off a cliff was dead serious {no worries he's fine now}, rompin' around Las Vegas {or for that matter the 13 Original Colonies, or LoMia, or Cali, or the Four Corners, or Wyoming, or Peru, or who knows where else cause I've been so many places I've lost count}...  I recall the first time I witnessed my dog give birth, then four years later {at hardly eleven} having to climb into the trunk of the car because the vet had misjudged how long it would take for the delivery to begin, and since my mom was driving on the freeway during rush our and couldn't pull over, it became my frantic responsibility to pull the thick green sacks from their tiny bodies and clear the fluids from their lungs so the puppies could live...  I remember when I was that unknowingly dorky kid who liked Star Wars and made movies with Lego's and American Girl Dolls {ashamedly I reveal them here} .  I remember when I was devastated that I had to live in modern times, when Kendall and I began writing a novel about the Titanic because we knew every little fact there was to know about it, when a prayer prevented us from being trapped in the middle of nowhere {full story somewhere here}.  Memories, memories, etc, etc, etc!  They keep building up, and high school has been a huge contributor since day one {specifically 6th hour of that day}
  Seriously, life is just too good.  And like they always say "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but the number of moments that take you're breath away."