Coach.

every saturday before the actual season starts, our cross country team runs the hills of papago park by asu stadium. we start at 5am. it's hot, hard to believe it could literally be a 100 degrees by 5am, but i can stand as a witness, because it most certainly does. many people fall and cut up their knees. some people throw up because of dehydration. others struggle to reach the peak of the hill only to be told to do it again, and again.

what i'm trying to get at is...it's hard.

it's extremely hard.

you can tell a lot of a runner by how good they are at hills.

this saturday, at papago, i hit a wall. my legs literally felt like they weighed 4oolbs. i could barely make it up the hill without having a complete asthma attack afterwards. i was toward the end of the group and was seriously so embarrassed because of how bad i was struggling.

my coach pulled me aside after the workout and made me look at him directly in the eyes and then said,

"you have hard weeks to make sure you have better ones. the hard ones are what count the most."

immediately i started crying. my coach has never given up on me and i have the hardest time understanding why. but that's what makes him such a good coach, because he genuinely cares about me. he made sure that i knew he wasn't going to give up on me and then made sure that i wasn't giving up on myself. coach alexander has built me up in so many ways, i can't even name half of them. my coach is better than yours.

{A}

I'm Here.

yes, i changed my url. no, i did not make a post about it. so all of my devoted followers were left without explanation. and i would like to say i'm sorry for doing that to all of you.

{HA! if only someone could tell i was being sarcastic through typing...}

anyways! my senior year is finally start to feel real.

our first cross country meet is in a week.

guess who's nervous? that's right, me.

last night was my first night at college. i'm taking one class with some of my friends at mcc on tuesday nights. it's seriously so fun! i'm so glad i chose to do that. literally lifted 20lbs of academic-stress off my shoulders.

till next time.

{A}

Lydia.

last night, i went to a concert with drew.

it was small but it was amazing.

i love lydia but i love leighton antelman more.

{for leighton} you were amazing. your music is amazing. your breathy voice and insane guitar-playing skills blew my mind. when you came out, i instantly fell in love with your stage presence. your lyrics were amazing, just like everything else. literally, i cannot even tell you how much i enjoyed last night because of how great you were.

thank you for such an amazing show.

we were #phased.

if you haven't listened to their/his stuff, do it right now.

youtube that.

{A}

Running.

people ask me why, out of every sport my high school has to offer, would i choose cross country? i don't choose it because i love the feeling of running. i don't choose it because getting up early in the morning isn't hard for me. i don't choose it because it's the least contact sport out there. i choose it for every other reason.

when i get to practice at 4:45 in the morning, i can't be mad at a single person there. i can't be mad at anyone outside of practice either. i can't be mad at anything whenever i see my teammates and coach. no matter how early, or how hot, or how tired i may be, i cannot stay mad around those people. when i see them, the weight of the world leaves me. they are the one group of people who makes my body cancel out every bit of negativity in me.

i run cross country because of the way it makes me feel before and after. pushing my body to its breaking point practically every day is not what i look forward to. but it makes me a stronger individual; mentally and physically.

when people say running is the most mental sport out there, they aren't kidding. you are in complete control of everything that happens out on that pavement. you can choose to stop and walk, or you can choose to keep running and pushing yourself a little harder and farther each day. you're either going to make it or break it out there. there is no in-between.

"i run because it's my passion, not just a sport. every time i walk out the door, i know why i'm going, where i'm going, and i'm already focusing in on that special place where i can find my peace and solitude."

{A}

Like A Ton of Bricks.

today my parents asked me what i wanted to do after high school.

honestly, i said a few things. i had a few ideas. but nothing set in stone.

and you know what? i have never had anything set in stone.

truth is: i don't know where i want to go to school. i don't know where i want to live. i don't know what friends i want to convince to come with me. i don't know if i want to get a job. i don't know what i want to major in. i don't know if i want to move out.

i don't know if i want to do anything.

so for now, with these very slim few months i have of not worrying about anything and everything, i'm just going to enjoy myself. and i'm going to enjoy not worrying.

or thinking.

or being an adult.

i'm just going to be 17 for as long as i can be.

{A}

Summer Is Long Gone.

school started. last wednesday. yeah, i'm aware that my posts are still talking about summer. so let me conclude it with one final post.

summer 2011 was great to me! i traveled more this summer than any other summer i've had. and guess what? i loved every trip i went on. sure, doing the drive home in the audi wasn't my favorite, but i'm not complaining. this summer i went on the trek in northern arizona, same with girls camp. i went to europe, 3 countries. that's wassup! i went to utah. and i went to montana. no, i didn't have a super beachy summer {which is practically the essence of summer itself} but i lived my summer up! i had multiple lake trips. i ran a lot of miles, too many to count. there wasn't hardly any drama. i was surrounded by good, fun people throughout the whole thing. i seriously would relive this summer. don't get me wrong, it definitely wasn't perfect, but i cannot even begin to tell you how much i loved it just through words.

i learned so much about myself and others in these past few weeks. once again, i can't even comprehend what this summer did for me. i love taking a break from school and everything that comes with it, but i'm ready now. this first week was great! well, half week. i'm running every day and i feel like i'm in the best shape i've ever been in. i've got a solid group of friends, girlfriends that's going to make this year fantastic! i've got a really great guy, that i hope sticks around. i've got easy classes. my family is more than great to me. my life is so good right now.

it takes very little to make me happy. i've never been one of those people who gets bored of just laying in the grass and looking at clouds, or sitting and talking for hours. but with how good my life is going right now and the direction it's going in, i think it's going to take a whole lot to bring me down.

be happy.

{A}

Europe: Part 8.

last, but certainly not least..my family visited the beautiful lake como. pretty much on the border of italy and france. maybe even close to switerzland if i remember right. anyways, lake como was absolutely breath-taking. not quite as pretty as lake annecy, but i mean..seriously, it was beautiful. and on our last night, there were fireworks right over the lake. and we had the most perfect view from our hostel window. it made the whole trip for me, practically.

{A}

Europe: Part 7.

following florence, my family was privileged to visit the beautiful city of venice. by far, one of the prettiest places we went. it was definitely the nicest place we stayed. our family fully supports the religious guest houses.

venice was filled with the friendliest people,unlike paris and nice, where they got mad when you couldn't speak their language. the italians were bubbly and nice. you could just tell they loved life and loved to party.{A}

Europe: Part 6.

after cinque terre, my family made our way to florence, italy. but on the way, we stopped in pisa and saw...yep, you guessed it...the leaning tower of pisa!

for me, florence seemed pretty similar to paris. only because it was busy. tight streets. lots of people. typical city life. we definitely ate gelato twice a day there. i love gelato. coconut is the best, by far. there were tons of street performers, which are my dads favorite.

{our diet}

breakfast: bread with cheese or honey

lunch: pasta/pizza

*gelato*

dinner: pasta/pizza

*gelato*

basically, if we had pasta for lunch, we'd have pizza for dinner. and if we had pizza for lunch, we had pasta for dinner. the most carbs i've ever consumed in my whole life was in italy.

Europe: Part 5.

yet another two weeks has slipped through my fingers of my failed attempts to blog. i would normally apologize for my laziness, but i have been living these last few weeks of summer up. i've traveled more this summer than my whole life combined. {well, not really..but it sure feels like it.}

alright, so back to my european adventures. nice/cannes great way to end or journey in france..because once we left there, we were off to italy! we stayed at this beautiful village called cinque terre. for those who have see emperor's new groove, it literally looked like the hillside villages in that movie. it was breathtaking! and i may or may not have seen justin beiber. my family doesn't believe me...but i swear i did!

right outside our room, looking down.

every 'beach' in cinque terre was just cliffs and boat docks. seriously, the coolest.

we went on a hike from one of the towns to the next. this man was making lemonade by hand in one of the vineyards we hiked through.

on the hike, above and below.

my family was all about the stray animals.

i swear i saw justin bieber come out of that store with the green canopy, but my family doesn't believe me.

on another hike.

the vineyards we hiked through. seriously, i was in love.

she's the cutest.

{A}