Summer Days Gone Away

*Sigh* I can't believe summer is over in 2 weeks! Exactly 2 weeks from now I'll be sitting in a classroom as a freshman. So I'll spend these last 2 weeks to have fun and forget about math equations.
This month of August has absolutely flown by! Same as the entire summer! Here's a little update on what I've been up to this summer.

My best friends, Rachel and Violet and I have been getting together a lot! Lots of swimming at Rachel's house. I love Rachel's face in this picture!

My 11th dance recital was this summer! I had such a blast! I love these girls :)

I spent a lot of time with my adorable cousins Blake and Ava! I can never get enough of these little cuties :) Blake wearing my goggles, and Ava in my shades!

I became completely obsessed with this amazing band, One Direction. I know it's very teenage girlish of me, but hey, I am a teenage girl after all.

I went to the beach for the first time in 7 years! This is the back bay at our beautiful house.

Here's our gorgeous patio and pool!

We spent many days at the beach! It was my favorite part! The water was amazing! As you can tell, Blake loved it :)

Ferris wheel at the beach!

My favorite! Blake, Brady, and Ava!

And lastly, our US women's soccer team won the gold!! We were watching every second of it!!

Home

I'm really into writing poetry and short passages these days. Here's another I wrote today!

Home

Many people have different definitions of the word "home."
For one person, home is where they sleep every night.
Where they cook theirmeals and take a shower.
The place they can call their own.
For another person, home is where they grew up.
Where they learned to ride a bike, or swim, or do a cartwheel.
The place they can run to.
Maybe home is just a place where you feel like you belong.
Or maybe home is a foreign word.
The single thing you've been longing for.
Some people don't realize that the place they now call home is only temporary.
There is a place above the clouds, stars, and atmosphere.
Far away from our earthly lives.
It's not a house, or apartment, or shack.
In fact, no one really knows what it's like.
But I know it's a place where you don't need to sleep, eat, or shower.
A place where there is neverending love.
No hate, no tears.
A place where you always belong.
A place called Heaven.

Simplicity: A Poem

as we get older, life becomes so complicated. it's so easy to take everything for granted. those simple, childish things we used to love have been put away in the attic along with many of our childish thoughts. but sometimes I like to go back. back to when things weren't so complicated. back to when everything was easy. you didn't have to look perfect all the time because nobody cared. mom and dad were your heroes. stupid was a bad word. when you were hurt, it could be fixed with a band aid and a kiss. studying was a foreign word. you didn't care what people thought about you. but most of all, no one held grudges, or started pointless drama, or or broke your heart. life was simple. sometimes I just like to remember the days when we were nothing but happy. 

Recently...

I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Whoops... Well anyhow, here's what's been going on in my life. Enjoy these 5 recent photo's.
Random side note: I just realized that my blog title "Friends.Family.Everything." is spelled wrong. I forgot the "Y" in "Everything". I'll try to figure out how to fix that!

I just had my last dance competition of the season; bittersweet. I love competing and being with my dance girls, but I like to have a break. At my comp. this weekend, I won three 2nd places. In the picture above, I won Gold, High Gold, and Platinum!! Triple Yay!!

My dad took me to a Kerri Roberts concert for my birthday (which is May 16th..oh and ignore the picture quality). Kerri Roberts is a Christian artist and she signed myCD! She's an absolutely amazing singer! Exciting!

 Good times at dance...Lindsay and Alexis decided that we needed to keep hydrated, so they bought a trillion drinks. (:

This is my friend, Michelle, and I at dance.

To end it all, I edited this picture of Ava playing in the sand. She's cute (:

Questions

life begins with questions. 
it begins the moment we can talk. 
why?
one simple word that opens so many doors. 
questions are the key. 
they turn a blurry world crystal clear. 
some questions can be answered simply. 
where is my jacket?
what's 16+25?
how did you do that?
but as we grow, so do our minds. 
the questions get more complicated. 
we have bigger decisions to make. 
more obstacles in front of us. 
the paths get more misleading. 
the questions are no longer simply answered. 
should I go to that party?
should I tell that person how I really feel?
should I try drugs?
what college do I go to?
will you marry me?
life never stops challenging us. 
it begins and ends with questions.  

This is a poem I wrote. Just thought I'd share.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

National Anthem update: The local baseball team office called today! I'm in! They're going to give me a date soon. I'm very excited! I sang the anthem for this team 2 years ago and it was very fun and scary. You have to go in the middle of the field. The one time I sang there were 5,000 people!! One of their busiest nights of the season! But when I get nervous, I just tell myself that celebrities do this all the time and that I shouldn't be afraid. Just thought I'd give an update! If you want to see my interview from my last post, click here !

Only The Beginning

A very exciting thing in my future career happened this weekend! I heard on the radio that they were having try-outs to sing the National Anthem for a local baseball team. I've done this in the past and enjoyed it so I decided to try again. The try-outs were held at the mall by one of the popular country stations in this area. When I got there, there weren't very many people there because I was one of the last to arrive (surprise, surprise). I wasn't really that nervous.
I was so excited because I saw the morning DJ's for the radio station! I listen to them all the time and there they were! It was very exciting. They announced my name and  I sang. I think I couldn've done better, but I did pretty well. But the exciting part came after. I was getting ready to leave, when a lady came over and told me that she was from a local newspaper and wanted to interview me! It was so cool! But some of my answers weren't that great because I do bad under pressure haha. But when she asked what kind of music I listened to, I said country and she said that she could tell because I had a country vibe in my voice! That's the biggest compliment anyone could give me because I've always wanted to be a country singer! Hopefully this won't be my last interview and it's only the beginning.