Important Picture

 Spring break is an important time for everyone in high school. It is a time to have fun and enjoy themselves. For this years spring break I thought i was going to get travel with my best friend to a place I have never been before, Tanzania. I was assumed we were in for two weeks of volunteering and safariing. Unfortunately everything changed when my best friend could not go on the trip. We had everything planned down to our seating arrangement on the plane. It was on either side of our favorite teacher. We expected laughing and smiling the whole 9 hour flight. Even after we were gonna create a flat Stanley of our teacher to take as many pictures as possible. This was a very important moment for me because a time i thought i would be spending with my favorite people was changed. On the plus side I will always have this lovely picture to remind me of the great time we were going to have. There's always next year !!

Home

I never thought being away would be so hard. Going back after 5 months to London Ontario where I had spent a year of my life was more challenging then I assumed. During my time there I believed there was any place better than there. The moment when I saw the people that got me through the year I got a rush of emotion. I knew I would have fun seeing my friends again but I never knew it would be like this. I suddenly realized how nice it was to be there. To be in a place where everyone just wanted you to feel okay and for everything to be as it was. 

  The moment when I walked into my house and saw my friends, father and brother I knew I wouldn’t want to leave at all. I loved the feeling of knowing I would always be surrounded by good people and people I cared about. It was a feeling of security and happiness. I knew I was lucky because not everyone gets those people in their life and it was something to be grateful for.  Seeing my brother was so special. Ever since he has been at university he has been too busy to talk and this December was the first time I had seen him since September. That same moment when I saw him with everyone made me so thankful that I could spend time with him. This moment made my Christmas so special. It was truly symbolizing what Christmas was really about. Christmas isn’t about what you get under the tree.  It is about being thankful for what you have and who you share it with. When you have this and recognize it you have had a good Christmas and are lucky to have such good people in your life.

Children

I was twelve years old when I first met my twin cousins Steph and Lucy and they were six. After babysitting them for a night I had no idea when anyone would want kids. When I walked in the door they were sitting so perfectly on the couch. I thought this would be a piece of cake and it would be the easiest 20 buck I had ever made. My opinion quickly changed the second my uncle stepped out the door.

They were jumping up and down on the couch screaming for ice cream and laughing with looks full of joy. I had never seen children so excited to be without their parents. I remember bawling my eyes out when I was their age everytime my mom went to walk the dog. Within seconds they were off the couch and yanking at my shirt for ice cream. I went into their freezer which was on top of the fridge and way out of their reach and saw two fudgesicles.

Before I handed them to both girls Lucy started to cry and Steph had started to laugh. She had gotten so excited about the ice cream she had peed her pants. Bawling her eyes out I picked her up and said it was okay and it happens to everyone. She begged for the ice cream but I said we should get her cleaned up frist. I took her soiled pants and put them in the sink while she sat in the bath. When I came back to check on her she was sitting in the bath with a fudgesicle she must have taken off the counter. But it was the only thing that made her stop crying. I wish fudge made me as excited as it did for Lucy.

The Pool

It was mid January and we were into the new year. Resolution lists were starting at full force. On the top of my list was to do things unforgettable, this was certainly in that category. 

My best friend Renata and I deiced it would be a good day to go sledding because the night before it had snowed 5 niches. Our only problem was my brother had broken our sled last year. We had many idea's on what to use as a replacement, we even thought of garbage bags. In the end we decided to use my old kiddy pool we now used to bath my dog in. We soaked the whole bottom in olive oil hoping we would slide down better. This was probably the worst decision we could have made. Not only does olive oil freeze, it freezes very suddenly and sticks to the snow. 

We took the pool out to the biggest hill by my house, pilled on and when down. We started to go extremely fast. Too fast to stop. Then it happened. The olive oil froze us right to the snow and we both flew face first out of the pool and straight into the snow. We bursted out laughing, we couldn't believe what had happened and how much fun it was. It felt like a sling shot would just shoot you forward into the powderer snow. 

After this we separated the bottom of the pool from the snow, drenched it in olive oil and went down again. Sure enough we flung out 3 feet in the air. We had never laughed so hard and had such a good time. To this day every year me and Renata go out to the same hill, with the same pool and olive oil and go sledding. 

Irresistible

Liz was the most annoying person I had ever met. She was loud, rude and extremely bothersome. It felt like her soul purpose was to bother me. Out of the 7 billion people in the world, she had to be my best friend, Emma's, little sister. Every time I was with Emma she had to be there, their parents both worked full time so she had to baby sit all day and every day.

Today was the worst of all days with her. It was my birthday. The one day that's supposed to be about me turned into a day about her. Going out for desert with Emma was a tradition on my birthday, we did the same on hers. Of course, Liz had to come this year. We went to Milestones because that's where they had the best red velvet cake. The cream cheese filling was to die for. The second we walked into the restaurant she was already talking about the cake. My cake. Even after our glasses got filled with water, she was still talking about it. I didn't need a menu. I knew just what I wanted and I knew the longer it took me to look and the menu the longer it would take for me to have my first bite. Emma's birthday was in January and mine was in October so it had been a long time since my last indulgence of this wonderful cake.

Then I saw it. Our waiter was bringing a single piece. My mouth started to water the second I made eye contact. He sat it down on the table right in front of Liz and he said "the other slices will be out shortly I apologize for the wait!"

The second the waiter left Liz yelled and shoot her arms forward to both sides of the plate. "AHAH I get the first piece you get to wait!" I felt as if anger began to run through my vains. How could she do this. How could she take MY slice of cake on MY birthday. For the first time I was gonna do something about the way Liz treated me. I leaped over the table as she took the first bite and grab the whole piece with my hands, I shoved it in my mouth with one massive bite. I looked up at her face to see her eyes popping out of her head in shock. Emma was laughing harder then ever.

But for the first time. I stood up for myself and didn't take any of what Liz was throwing at me, and that, was priceless.