coffee and keeks

SOS life is moving wayyyy too fast. I am (almost) officially halfway done with my high school career. So. Freaking. Crazy.  Some of my best friends graduated this past weekend. My sister graduates middle school on Friday (!!!!!) and soon gets to join me in this wonderful world that is called high school. I turn sixteen two weeks from this very day and will hopefully be getting my drivers license a few days after. But how??? I still feel twelve.  Currently reflecting on my sophomore year and thinking about how thankful I am for every part of it. All of the memories, new friendships, and meaningful conversations. Even the parts of the year filled with tears and all-nighters and ugly cries. I am most definitely not the same person as nine months ago. Every laugh, cry-fest, and person I've encountered have impacted me in one way or another. Here comes junior year. Rumor has it that life only gets harder from this point on. But it also only goes uphill from this point on. Who

I love to camp. Camping is my favorite activity, especially if I’m with the people that I love the most, aka my family. I love the feeling of breathing in crisp air from the high elevation. I love the sunshine. I don't think I could ever move to Seattle, because I would probably be depressed from all of the rain. I love flowers, especially daisies. I love polaroid pictures. It is the best way to capture forever images of my favorites, whether it is people, places, or things that I enjoy. I also love glitter. It is a way to describe me. Glitter is very direct. It gives a wow-factor and draws attention. I can relate to this. I draw attention in both negative and positive ways. Negative: I am clumsy. I am always falling, tripping, spilling things… drawing attention to myself. Positive: I am very outspoken. I am vocal about my thoughts and feelings which is good in my opinion. I make myself known to others through my emotions and sensations. My favorite city in the entire world is New

When I was younger I used to be utterly obsessed with the name Amanda. I'm not sure why, because looking back at this time in my life, I am completely weirded out. I spent a countless amount of time wishing my real name was Amanda. My sister Ivy went through something similar, but more extreme. She was obsessed with the name Dina. She told everyone around her to call her Dina. When strangers asked her name, she replied Dina. Then she moved on to the name Juliet. She is a musical theatre star, so naturally she immersed herself and played the part. The only way she would respond to my parents was if they called her Juliet. In an encounter with an officer that was checking our passports, he asked her name and she responded with "Juliet. but my other name is Dina and my real name is Ivana." That was a big no no and led her into big trouble. As of today, she is 11 years old and responds to Ivana, Ivy, or IvyRod. The "Dina" and "Juliet" phases thankfully p

Everything always has a way of working itself out. Always. The situations you stress about seem to have good endings, and even if they're not good, they're still an ending. And in the end, everything comes together whether you like it or not. You are first to admit that you overthink. a lot. Especially about what could go wrong instead of what could go right. You worry about the future and events that haven't yet happened. You stress "what-ifs" and think of every possibility for every situation. It scares you not knowing what happens next. But you always find that after spending what feels like eight hours stressing and overthinking about something dumb, it isn't as bad as you think it is.  Everything will eventually come together. Unexpected good can come out of any situation. As can unexpected bad, but this is where you need to trust the process. In God's hands the only way you can go is forward. There are bumps in the road, but in the end you are so