Summer.

Before you read this: Warning. This could all be a bunch of rubbish ( Hah. British humor. ) to you, but this post is about the meaning of my summer.
Continue if you wish.

Summer always goes by so fast for me. The summer swim season is over. Bizarre? Yeah. Completely. I remember when I was counting down the days for the summer season to start. I remember walking through the locker room on the first day of summer practice, remembering how the sun and swimming are always synonymous. I remember comparing tan lines after that first practice. Wanting to be tan so bad. Wanting to be free from school. Wanting to be... free.
Summer always presents a sense of freedom to me. Freedom of self. Freedom of expression. That's why I'm so thankful for my friends and family. I'm one really weird girl, and they take me as I am. Of course, monkey see, monkey do. My friends and family aren't exactly normal, either.
Example?

(Don't tell my sister I put this on. I'd get murdered in my sleep.)
But, I came across this a few days ago, and aside from the laughing, I realized that I'm extremely thankful that she's confident enough to be herself.

Another example?

Ahhh. Revenge is so sweet, Isn't it Rachel? nah, I didn't do this for revenge. I put this picture on here because this girl makes me laugh SO freaking hard. I find it funny how you can spend hours upon hours (Like 5 hours a day 6 days a week) with a person, and not know that much about them. I feel like over the past few weeks, I've really gotten to know this girl. I feel like she knows who I am, and doesn't care. She drives me places, and blasts E.T and Party Rock Anthem with me anyways.

So, to sum it up, Summer has been interesting to say the least. Changes have come along that I definitely didn't expect. But most of them have been good. Great. Wonderful.
In a way, Change is wonderful or at least beneficial any way you look at it. I guess it all depends on your perspective.

For some odd reason that society seems to avoid, Summer is the season for change. And getting to know people. For that, I'm thankful. I'm thankful I get to experience change, even though sometimes it's hard. I'm thankful for my family. ( No matter how.. different they are. )I'm thankful for tan lines and rain storms. And I'm thankful for friends that laugh with me no matter how hard life gets sometimes.
Life is hard, but it's so worth it.

........ :)

I bet you think that I'm just too lazy to come up with a clever blog title for this post, but there is actually a point. Just wait. Why am I smiling? I now have straight teeth.
Did you hear me? Straight!! It's absolutely brilliant. It's funny how much more confidence I have now.
Funny how something as small as straight teeth can make one silly girl so happy about life. :)

<----- That's me. And my straight teeth. I was so pumped when I got back from the dentist that I took a picture and put it on facebook.
Haha fail.

Today was good.
Very good.

Routines.

Well, I'm back from Oregon. I'm pretty sure I have travel hang-over. I got home around 3:30 in the afternoon yesterday, and fell asleep around 5. I woke up this morning around 8:30. Either someone slipped a pill into my drink on the plane, or I didn't get any sleep the past 6 days. Even better, I think I picked up a bug in Oregon.. because I have double ear infections. It sounds like I'm listening to everyone while I'm under water. Extremely frustrating. So, I asked my mom if we could go to the doctor. She set up an appointment for today at 3:30. We get there around 3:25 and wait. And wait. And wait. Finally we get in around 5, and I discover that I have to get a shot. Then my brother has to get a physical for his mission papers ( yay. Happy:) ) and so I get to sit at the clinic until 7:30. 4 hours at the doctor. No big deal.
Even though I'm exhausted, sick, and State is in 2 days.. I'm happy.
It's been a year since I first told him that I liked him. Almost to the day. SO many things have happened in those 365 days. So many changes. Too many things to count. Loving, hating, fighting, making up.. but one thing has stayed constant. The way I feel.
I'm not one to get cheesey that often, but after going through heck with this kid.. My feelings still haven't changed. I tried over and over to convince myself that I didn't like him. And it was working.
It wasn't until we were sitting on a plane, and I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I needed to move on, when he looked at me with those sea-blue eyes, that all of my walls broke down. It wasn't until he told me how sorry he was, that I realized I need to stop kidding myself.  I used to blame it on the fact that I'm hard headed and stubborn, but it just turns out that I kinda sorta really really like this boy.
Dang it. How inconvenient. But so worth it.

What the.

So many things happened today, it legitimately blows my mind.
1. I witnessed my roomie qualify for Olympic Trials today. Its true, I am in the presence of a future Olympian. Kudos to Kim. I pretty much worship her.
2. I finally started to realize that I have a choice in things. No matter how much we believe that fate should decide, I started to see that there's another huge factor to things.
You.

You have to realize that no matter the trials that are put in front of us, there's a power- a force- deep inside of you that can over come any obstacle." - Unknown.

Shake and Bake.

You know, it's funny how doing something as simple as traveling can change one's perspective so greatly. This group of kids at sectionals is easily making my life easier.
Oregon is amazing. The overcast is getting a bit old, but the laughs haven't stopped since we left on Tuesday morning at 7 am.
Now why is the title of this post 'Shake and Bake'?
Well.
It's this running joke that we've had since we got here. At first it started as just a way of saying 'well done' or 'you rock' but now, it seems to have wedged itself into almost every sentence we say. Now it's becoming a sentence all by itself. We now have a Shake and Bake dance, cheer, and different tones that mean different things when you say it. By the end of this trip, Shake and Bake is going to be a lifestyle.
We've started doing the Shake and Bake actions behind the block, to help get us focused. I don't think its working.. we bust up every time.
I would say our team is definitely getting closer..
On the other hand, I feel like I'm set apart. My roommates, Kim and Brittani, are both in these relationships.. and every night they talk to their men on the phone and skype. Last night  they talked until 11:45. I was painfully aware of how single I am for about 3 hours.
I guess I'll just grow old with about 67 dogs. ( Fact: I actually hate cats. So maybe I'll be the 'dog lady' instead of the stereotyped 'cat lady'.)
What ever. Shake and Bake.

Yeah.. that just happened.
Love,
Me.

Adventuring.

Well. I go out of town tomorrow morning, and I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with this while I'm away.  Where am I going?
Sectionals! It's this big meet in Gresham, Oregon where swimmers go and pretty much party for 5 days.

<-- this is where it's at. Exciting, right? I think it's pretty sad how a community college has a way nicer pool than we do. I think Hast deserves a better pool. Plan: If I ever get rich, im building a pool just for Hast.

Anyway, I'm super excited for Sectionals, although the pressure at these big meets is ridiculous.
I always want to do so well and almost always the pressure gets to me. And I bomb it. No big deal.

I'll try and see if I can keep up with the posts,  but I'm not sure if I can just yet. It'd be fun to keep all of my millions of followers -note sarcasm- updated on all of my adventures, though.

With love,

Me.

143.

Unfortunately, Sunday afternoons seem to be my designated time for deep thinking.
The thing that's been running through my mind over and over lately is a word.
A word that's been so over used, its meaning has been altered almost unrecognizably by society. But yet, it still has the same meaning to all of us. I guess it's all about perspective.
Love.
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.^[1] In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. ( I just thought you should know the definition. :) )

When you tell someone "Im in love with you." That should mean something, shouldn't it? Think about it.. 'Im in love with you.' It's not a feeling. It's a state of being. And, it's not a one-sided thing. Being in love WITH someone, means that you both love at equal rates, at equal paces.

"The one who loves less controls the relationship."- Anon.

Another point:
There are so many people that think there's the one person that fits perfectly with them. But, speaking from experience that no girl my age should have, there is no such thing as this "perfect person".
I think, that one day, I'll meet a guy that is just as stubborn as me, has lots of quirks and differences, but those are the things that are going to make me love him. He may lose his temper sometimes or maybe speak before he thinks, but we're going to work through the differences, and that will make me love him. 
I'll love him because even through the fire and the flames, he still stuck with me. It's the rough patches that make us who we are. 

No one said love would be easy. They just said it would be worth it.

Square 1.

Im not sure if I should say 'Hello,' considering that I have all of 0 followers.. but, I will say hey all the same. My dear friend Rachel has managed to convince me to create a blog. I'm still in the process of convincing myself that it's a good thing. I'm unable to promise that I'll keep my posts updated, considering my completely crazy, turbulent, up-side down life. I'll try really hard, though. I promise.
Ha, this all seems so cliche to me. Let me just tell you about my life.. Although, I didn't agree to this blog thinking that hundreds of people were going to read it. I guess I just needed a release. Swimming is usually the best way for me to do that, but sometimes actually writing down words works better than staring at the bottom of a pool for 5 hours a day.
I decided that I'm not going to go through the whole: my name is: and I: ( insert hobby here.) I figure if you really care that much to get to know me, you'll keep reading my blog and eventually you'll find out.
You can do it. I believe in you.
Ah, unfortunately I have to run. Another post soon.

P.S. I came across this picture and it made me happy. Do I need another reason?
Love,
Me.