January
It's a little hard to remember everything that happened back in January, so this one will be kept short. The main thing that happened was that my parents renewed their wedding vows after 30 years of marriage. We had a celebration and I was extremely happy for them. My best friend Cierra and I declared the new year as "2010: The Year of Taking Chances." Each year we come up with a new thing. In a way, it's our New Year's Resolution. We began the tradition back in 2008, which was "The Year Everything Changes," followed by "2009: The Year to Remember" As of this point, it's not 100% official but we think that 2011 is going to be "The Year of Adventure." Each year we do our best to stick to the idea and hope that by the end, we did well.
February
February wasn't much more exciting. I decided to pick up the guitar a little more than I had been and I learned some new chords. I tried learning a song but never could get part of it down. Cierra was very helpful with learning new things and taught me easier ways to hold chords and play. One major thing I learned: Acoustic guitar strings are a hell of a lot harder to hold down than my electric guitar strings are.
March
In March I turned 18. After writing a long, mature, and obviously convincing letter to my dad, he allowed me to get snake bites on my birthday when I had been sure he would say no. I got them done the day of my birthday. Though I was told it wouldn't hurt, I still expected it to at least a little. The guy stuck a hollow needle through my lip to thread the ring through. There was only a tiny poke when the needle went through my lip, no pain. The second hole was harder to make. The needle didn't want to push all the way through at first. So once again, I expected more pain since he was struggling with it, but he got it through with still no pain. I was initially pierced with large rings so when my lip swelled, they wouldn't get embedded. After a couple weeks I went back to get smaller rings.
The day after my birthday, Cierra and I went to Portland for the day. We took pictures, went to the Rose Garden, got hit on by creepy dudes, and pretended we were on the Titanic. It was a lot of fun and the best birthday present ever! <3 During spring break, we met Cierra's moms friend, Gary. He took us bowling and out to dinner. Bowling was especially fun. And I got my own cell phone back, which I hadn't had in months. This was probably due to the fact that I broke my dads phone shortly before by texting on it too much.
April
In April I had my Senior Prom. Cierra was my date. My neighbor custom made my dress for me exactly the way I wanted it. The top was purple and the bottom had three layers.. Purple, silver, and turquoise. The turquoise layer was on the outside and had sparkles. We got ready at Cierra's moms apartment. Oh, and of course my colorful dress wouldn't be complete without my yellow converse. :] There was a little bit of drama at prom, but that was to be expected. We drove there with my other best friend, Sam, and her date. On the ride there we prepared for the dance by singing obnoxiously in the car and dancing to the best of our ability while sitting down. Overall it was a fun night and it wouldn't have been half as good without my best friend by my side.
May
May.. What can I say about May? Not a lot happened. The school year was coming to an end and I sent out my graduation announcements. The picture above was used as my senior picture in the announcements. I began writing a song about my best friend Michael and how I realized I was still in love with him from sophomore year and that would probably never change. I tried putting chords to the lyrics, but I got frustrated and gave up. Which happens a lot. Not to mention, my lyrics weren't even complete yet.
June
June.. The end of my Senior year. The end of high school. The end of the same kind of schedule I had been used to since I was 5. I knew that after high school, things would change. The friends that only half mattered in high school would no longer matter at all. People I saw nearly every day, I may not ever see again. College was going to be something new to look forward to.. A new beginning. And so, high school ended in a crazy swirl of emotions from excitement, to stress, to anxiousness, to feeling sad. But one thing I didn't feel was regret. No matter what mistakes I had made through the year or any others.. They put me in the spot I was in that graduation day. I wrote a poem about all the years through school from Kindergarten through senior year and it was put in all of the programs at graduation. I had many people compliment me on it. Also, at the beginning of June.. I took one of my biggest chances and I dyed my hair blonde. I dyed part of it purple just before graduation. June was extremely hectic and emotional.. And one of the most important months of the year for me.
July
In July, Cierra and I picked up tennis again. We also started hanging out with a boy, Christopher, who worked at Walmart. We had been "secretly" stalking him for a couple months and at the end of June, he gave us his number. We got super excited and eventually started hanging out with him. The first couple times we did, we ended up staying out with him til around 5am. We'd have fun just sitting there and talking, joking and laughing. It was easy to hang out with him after I got over my initial shynss. Which actually only lasted a few minutes. It was nice that he included both of us, and didn't just focus on one.
I got yet a little more daring with things and started wearing even brighter clothing. Yellow skinny jeans for the win! :D I love yellow, and I love skinny jeans, and when I find a combination of the two, I nearly pissed myself in excitement. Have I ever mentioned how much I love summer? :]
August
In August, I apparently decided that having just a little purple in my hair wasn't enough, and I dyed the whole top of it purple. That same day, I went and met Zach. Zach is someone I started talking to online and became pretty good friends with. That night my parents were gone and he asked what I was doing. Since I wasn't doing anything, I went and met him at the park. I was a little shy at first, but not as bad as normal. He "kidnapped" me at one point, but in a joking way. He decided he really was going to at some point, because he had lived in my town before and he knew how much it sucked there. Zach was my butthead best friend. He drove me crazy in the best of ways. We had inside jokes, including being telepathetic. That was when we truly became best friends. <3
September
September was CRAZY! To start it off, I took out my lip rings. :[ They had been causing me problems and I wanted to switch to studs and wasn't able to due to complications. I took them out with the intention of getting them back some day. I still have that intention. The second time I hung out with Zach, I met two of his best friends. I got kinda quiet cause I wasn't used to them yet, and he was a butthead all day. But he made up for it by giving me a flower :] The drive out of Veneta was beautiful. We went down this back road that just goes through beautiful country. Everything was so green and there were so many trees. We had the music playing, the windows rolled down, and it was so nice being there with my new best friend. To this day, that's still one of my fondest memories with him, that month, and of the whole year. On the 17th, Cierra, me, and her mom flew to California for a concert from our favorite band. When we were sitting at the airport, we got delayed. At first it was already looking like a sucky trip, cause of the delay and everything, but then something amazing happened. Gary had a friend who had a friend who hooked us up with sound check passes for the concert! I forgot to mention in March that Gary works in the music industry and he has a lot of connections. He's completely awesome, especially for the help to that concert in Cali! :D After getting to Cali, we had a lot of issues at the car rental place. It was stressful and upsetting, but we vowed to keep focused on the next day when the concert was and not stay in a bad mood. We left for the concert early and had one of the best days of my life! The entire trip was amazing and something I will never ever forget.
I finally got my license and then I started college. I was pretty freaked out before, worried about all the changes. But I survived my first day and realized I actually liked college and looked forward to the whole term. I enjoyed my classes, especially my photography class. At the end of the month, and the end of the first week of term, my parents had a huge fight and my dad left. That weekend was hell and Zach's phone got shut off, so I couldn't even talk to him. I didn't think I would even make it through the weekend. When I first saw him the following week, all I remember is sitting next to him and burying my head in his shoulder ready to cry. He wrapped his arm around me and was the best friend I knew he was. Which was actually at the beginning of...
...October
That Friday night of the week of my collapsing into his shoulder.. We went to a football game at my old high school with Cierra and Christopher, who were now dating. Though that was a story of its own with a lot of emotion.. They were cute together and I was happy for them. However, at the game, happiness wasn't really one of the feelings I had felt. I was sad. At first, I wasn't quite sure why. Then I realized.. All the couples. And I was there with Zach standing beside me.. My best friend. And I wasn't sure I only wanted to be best friends anymore.. I suddenly realized how I felt something more for him. After the gave, I drove him back to his home, 45 minutes away. He was acting a little different, opening doors for me and such. We talked about how my parents seemed to like him and how they also might think we were actually together. That night I had a dream about him.. And the next morning I found out he had one about me. We talked and the next day when he came to see me.. We ended up holding hands and kissing. We began dating that day.. And he made me extremely happy. The rest of the month was a blur of trying to spend time with him, him driving me crazy, feeling happier than I had in such a long time, and so much. My family adored him and he liked them. My dad was so impressed by him and I realized Zach was everything I had ever wanted.. Even if he was a butthead most of the time. October was filled with happiness and smiles. <3
November
In November, just before Zach and I would have been together for a month, he broke up with me. I was more depressed than I had been after my boyfriend of 3.5 years broke up with me for someone else. I cried so much I threw up. I couldn't sleep. And I couldn't eat. I went three straight days without eating a thing. I was suddenly reminded of what heartbreak felt like. And I wasn't sure how I had become so attached to someone I had only been with for almost a month. We wanted to stay friends, but it wasn't quite that easy. So I did things to keep my mind off of him. I focused a lot on my final portfolio for my photography class. One of our last assignments was the location shots, which ended up being my best. As it turns out, one of them will be displayed in the Spring media arts show at my college. I'm very proud of that. I also got hired to be the photographer at my cousins wedding, along with a few other paid gigs in the future.
And now.. We're here. The end of the year..
December
Oh December. The month has gone by so fast. Hell, the year went by fast. One of my best friends.. Sam.. And I took a trip to Florence for the day to visit our friend Ashliegh. We went to the beach, lighthouse, A&W, and to this awesome Christmas light show. The day was filled with amazing pictures and memories.. And quotes. :D
And who doesn't love Christmas? The day after.. I dyed my hair. I realized how much I missed the purple and wanted to do something fun to it again. So I dyed it darker and put pink and blue in it. I'm totally in love with it. And now, here we are.. New Year's. I can't believe the year is ending already. So much has happened. I remember thinking I hadn't really stayed true to the name.. Hadn't really taken many chances.. But looking back, I have. I pierced my lip, dyed my hair blonde and purple, met a new person, took a HUGE chance in dating my best friend [which didn't exactly turn out for the best, but I don't regret it.], dyed my hair other fun colors.. I took chances. They may not seem big to you, but they were to me. I don't regret a single one, either. This year has been filled with many wonderful experiences and so much learning. I've been through many ups and downs, with my friends always there by my side. I've learned who my true friends are and that I'm just fine without the ones who weren't true. I've learned that many wonderful experiences come from taking risks, such as dating my best friend. Though we aren't as close now, we still talk and one day we may be best friends again. It's hard right now, but the times we had together were some of the best of my life. I've made many mistakes this year and tried to fix them and admit when I was wrong. I learned more how to put others first, as with Cierra and Christopher when them dating hurt me.. But I knew it made her happy. I learned that sometimes, I have to be an adult even though I'm still just a kid. And that growing up means many new adventures in many new ways. 2010 has been a terrible and amazing year, and I can't wait to start a new one.. To try new things, make new memories.. And share many new adventures with those I love and care about. So here's to the ending of 2010, and the beginning of something new. <3 I hope everyone makes the best of the wonderful year to come.
