I think my teachers have become progressively more relaxed every year.  Even though I have more AP courses than ever PLUS an actual community college Photoshop class {I absolutely love it!}, I don't have that much homework.  So when I'm not working, I'm really honestly just enjoying my last year without full responsibility:

• My mom's friend had some extra Diamondbacks tickets, so we watched the game from the SEVENTH row, so close that Eric even caught a ball!  It was hilarious as he kept shouting "Go DBacks!" at obnoxious Giants fans.  This was my first baseball game since I went to see the Red Sox in Boston, so it was so fun to watch the homeruns live. 
• Recently Mom, Rachel, and I keep spontaneously deciding to go to movies like If I Stay, The Maze Runner, Fault in Our Stars, and The Giver. As a writer, I am in love with all types of stories whether on paper or on screen, so if I get home past midnight after watching one of those good movies I will literally spend all of my classes thinking about these stories and wishing I could create something that tugs so much at the heartstrings.  
• Can I say that the student section of a HS football game is psychotic?!  Since it's the beginning of the football season, hundreds and hundreds of people flock to the stadium and scream at the top of their lungs with school spirit.  Yesterday the theme was camouflage, so we painted each other up and joined the moshpit-- it was so hot squished with so many people, but we won!
• Datenights!  I was so excited to get asked out to go rollerblading at the rink with the loud beats and colorful lights, even though he lied when told me he had never skated before.  I'd even say the 52 mosquito bites were worth it when we went to the riparion and hung out by the pond. Afterwards, he taught me to how to drive his sticksshift truck!  Wow, that's trust.
• I also learned how to longboard.   I need so much practice, but I managed to not crash!  And man, can I just say the view of Phoenix outskirts is lovely from high up at night?

Recently I was mad at myself for not graduating last year like I'd seriously been considering, but there's no regrets now.  Because even if things get a little rocky sometimes, I'm having a dang fun senior year.

        It's devastating the price of not only being an American, but of being a citizen on this planet earth.  13 years ago last Thursday almost 3000 people died when a group of heartless villains hijacked some planes.  If you go back through my blog the past six years every 9/11, you'll find my memories of that horrific day.

this was ground zero when my family visited 10 years later.  new york was certainly far from healing.

   Human beings-- we are fragile.  Our hearts break and our bones break and it doesn't take much to snuff out our lights. For those who lost loved ones in the Twin Towers or in the planes, that pain will never go away.  And yet every year, as the heartache comes back like a knife for these poor souls, more and more "uninvolved" people turn their backs.   I mean, once my class graduates, all the schoolkids will be too young to remember!
         They say "Never Forget," and yet they forget.
        But regardless of whether or not you are old enough to remember, you have to understand the value of that saying "Never Forget."  It's not about never forgiving {though I am by no means forcing you to} nor about being stuck in the past.  It's about honoring the memory of those who faced tragedy and facing the present with renewed strength, wisdom and compassion.  Today, the news is filled with conflict-- between U.S. & ISIS, Israel & Hamas, Ukraine & Russia, Muslims & Christians in Central Africa, North Korea & it's very own people {and can I perhaps add humans & animals?)! Headlines declare death and destruction and no end of hatred towards the fellow man.  How can humanity possibly have become so cruel, so shortsighted?!    
       I am not going to be some naive hippie shouting "peace" as if that word, if expressed with enough flowers tossed about, could stop the fire.  I know that there are wicked, wicked people out there and too many blind and selfish to possibly rid the earth of these plagues.  But I think the first step in creating a better generation is to teach kids from a young age about the horrors of history, the different cultures/mindsets of different people, the blessings of reaching out and trying to understand and feel love for those even on the other side of the globe.
      God be with those of you suffered on that horrid September morning.  God be with those who still suffer while the heartless strip away their born rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  I wore red, white, and blue on Thursday although not a single teacher brought up 9/11/01 because I will "Never Forget," and maybe, just maybe, that can help me become a better citizen of this little blue planet we ALL call home.       

this is only a section of the park.  try quadrupling this image, adding some bushes in some areas to create a marshland that you would never imagine to be in the desert.

photos from the baptism shoot for the baby of the family. i remember my own baptism very well-- my mom forgot to bring a towel so she had to hand dry me off with paper towels while hoping no one came in the bathroom-- how is it sophie is that age?!

  Really though, it's OK.  I'm so proud of all my siblings for being such hard workers and for sticking up for each other and for eating my meals {I recently discovered that I LOVE to make southwest sauteed veggie bowls} and for being so talented.  Sadly, only in my family would someone yell with utter elation "I GET TO BE STONED TO DEATH!" which is code for I got the part in the play I wanted.