Excitment and Nerves

I cant believe that it has been almost 2 weeks of summer vacation already, and that there is less than 2 weeks until I leave to go to school at UC Davis! It feels so unreal. Preparing for my 4 weeks away is a lot of work. There is shopping, making and remaking todo lists, money organizing, etc. Yet, it is still hard for me to believe that I am actually going to this program that for quite a while I truly doubted I would not even have a chance of being accepted in to. I keep wondering if maybe they sent this acception letter to the wrong person. Overall, I'm really excited for this new adventure away from home. I've never officially gone some where completely alone, like a sleepaway camp or something among those lines, so it's a mixture of excitment and nervousness. I cant wait to meet new people, and make some great friendships. I'm so excited for the classes, and the amazing opportunities. I cant wait for the delicious food that I keep hearing about. It sounds so exciting to me. I'm afraid that when I get there, though, that I'm going to become very reserved, and possibly have anxiety about the new environment. I'm just planning on keeping my head up, and really enjoying and being greatful for the opportunities I have been given. I'm lucky to be able to stay in contact with some of my best friends though while I'm gone. It's always nice to hear their voices, and I'm so thankful to have them. I love that I can be really weird around them, but that I can, also, come to them when I need a shoulder to cry on. So, I guess I wont be completely disconnected from the rest of the world. That's kind of nice to know that, and that gives a little comfort. Wow, it's less than two weeks away. I better start enjoying my summer now before I'm back to pumping my brain with knowlege. Luckily, it's stuff I really am interested in, and care about.
lovelovelove,
Melissa

The Beginning of Summer 2013!

Even though I have been on summer vacation already for 3 and a half days, I'm still going to post about how excited I am for this summer! On the last day of school, I unfortunately had finals. Luckily, I felt that they were pretty easy. Orchestra was fun to get to sit around with friends, and be with my graduated seniors for the last time in that class. (Although, some of them say that they will be back no doubt about it, so yay!) I had an easy history final afterwards. Then, after school I had to return my textbooks. I was in line for 2 hours! I was so thankful that Kara and Paola were there to keep me company, and they also brought music!

After all that, I rode home with Kara and Paola and we went to the park for our traditional picnic. I left them for a little so I could go meet Carrie at Chipotle. Carrie drove us to the park, and we continued with our picnic. We ate a lot (or at least I did since it was my first meal of that day,) we played soccer, I took picture, we made a new friend, and I got totally surprised by one of my friends, Brian. Everyone left the park, so Brian and I had a little picnic of our own, and it was a lot of fun to get to hang out with him.

Friday, was a day of cleaning like a crazy person, and watching movies. I also did a mini photo shoot start off the summer on an even better note!

Saturday, I went more crazy cleaning, decorating, and totally forgot to eat until late afternoon.  I was preparing for my big Sweet 16th birthday party. I was saved by Diane, who came over to help me get every last little finishing touch complete. Once the party had started, I finally started to relax after stressing the whole day. The party was the absolute best one I have ever had in all of my almost 16 years of life. I love all my friends. They made sure that I didnt do any work (they kept stopping me from doing any more work,) they made me laugh constantly, and they made sure I would have memories to last me a life time.

 (The hilarious balloon butt-popping game)

 (Dinner is served.)

 (My dream world coming true.)

 (I think that candy was affecting Paola a little too much! Haha!)

 (Cake time!)

 (Carrie's blurry attempt at photo bombing.)

 (The last of the cool kids.)

Yesterday was Father's Day, so I spent the whole day with him. I, also, slept in until 9:30! That just does not happen in my world. I was kind of in shock, but I guess the party wore me out big time. I stayed in bed for a while and read all of my cards. They all made me laugh way to hard. I got so many inside joke gifts too that I don't know if I could tell you which one was the best. There was only one gift that I could tell you was my absolute favorite. It was the one Diane gave me. She gave me the most adorable scrapbook ever. By the time I had finished reading and looking at it, I had tears strolling down my face. It was no doubt the sweetest gift anyone had ever given me. No one else had ever accomplished getting me to cry by a gift they had given me. It was the most sweetest thing ever!

Tomorrow I turn 16! I truly hope that this year will be full of excitement, new adventures, and great friends! Another year has past, and I'm so excited for another amazing one to come!

lovelovelove,
Melissa

Thankful, But Emotional

I recently grew quite close with one of my teachers. I wasn't even expecting it to happen the way it did. I was just talking to her about my grade when she asked me about something I wrote. She knew that at least when I had written it, I was really hurting. It's really hard for me to talk about my feeling and what's on my mind, but I just let go a little and told her. Before I could finish what I was saying some people walked into the room, and the conversation never got finished. I went home, and felt that things were left unclear. I went on the computer and wrote her a long email. I think that my emotions sort of overwhelmed and took over me. What I thought was going to be a short, to-the-point email ended up being a really emotional, heart-felted one. After I sent it, I kept hoping I would receive and email response right away, but I never did. When I got to her class she asked if she and I could talk after school. My anxiety started to kick in, and my heart started to race. I was really nervous, so I started to read some of things that people wrote in my yearbook. I came across my friend, Gillian's, and almost started crying. Her's was so down to earth, and personal. It really brought tears to my eyes. That distracted me for the time until school was completely over. After school, I went to her with butterflies in my stomach hoping she wasn't going to think I was crazy, or think that I had some SERIOUS problems or something. Luckily, I was wrong. She talked to me, and was able to connect with me for once. She and I talked for a while, but eventually I had to go meet some friends before they got worried. I was a little shaken up afterwards, because mainly I was really fighting back tears the whole time she and I were talking. {Gillian, if you are reading this right now I know what you are thinking and I'm sorry. I'm trying hard. :/} Also, some of the stuff we talked about were just really hard to bring back to the surface. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm really thankful that she pulled me aside in the first place. I'm really thankful to be able to have talked about some of that stuff with an adult, and for her to be able to understand, connect, and give me advice on the matter. As nervous as I was today, I'm really glad that it happened.
Anyway, today was sort of tough knowing that the seniors are graduating tomorrow. I'm so sad that they're leaving. I grew so great relationships with them, and some of those relationships were so strong that thinking that the seniors are not going to be here with me next years makes me want to cry. Some of them were my best friends. Two in particular I will miss a lot. David who can always make me smile, and I can talk about some of those most awkward but hilarious things ever with. And Gillian who was always there to pick me up when I was down, and who became one of my bestest friends. I'll miss them all so much. Tomorrow will be an emotional day for me as I see them graduate without me, but I honestly couldnt be prouder of them. I'll miss you guys! :')
lovelovelove,
Melissa

My Parents Are Serious Secret Keepers

My parents had been holding a secret for more than  5 weeks. Two Tuesdays ago I was having a poor morning. I was hoping for something brighter, and boy, I had no clue what was coming. After school, I walked to the normal spot where I get picked up. I didn't see my car, so I waited by a nearby tree. I heard someone scream my name, so I looked around but none of my friends were around. So, I continued to sit. Then, I heard my name again. I looked over to see some lady jogging over to me. She was my grandmother... from Colombia. I ran and hugged her. I then noticed that my grandpa, uncle, and my uncle's girlfriend, Xiomara, was here too. I was absolutely in shock, and didn't believe that they were actually here. I couldn't stop smiling.
They stayed here until monday. It was unfortunate that they were here for such a short period of time, but all the time I got to spend with them was great. I enjoyed every minute.

DAY 1

 Grandpa's Birthday!

 Family Photo and end to the first day with them.

DAY 2

 We went to Daville to visit my aunt, and ended up hanging out downtown.

 Later on that night we walked to Jack's restaurant for dinner. Aren't I just so attractive! :))

DAY 3

 We went to the Lafayette reservoir, and also had a picnic.

 My mom happens to have a lot of these random photos of me taking pictures. Kayyyy Mom.

 After the picnic, we had to take Mia, my chocolate lab, into emergency surgery. It was pretty scary.

DAY 4

 My favorite Daddy in the world graduated!

 Ceremony announcer guy.

 It took us almost the entire ceremony to find my dad in this crowd of 10 thousand graduates.

 I'm so proud of him!

 After the graduation, we all went to the Golden Gate Bridge. After living in the Bay Area all my life, I hadn't ever seen it, so it was kind of a big deal.

 My mom's photography skills looking quite fine. :)

DAY 5

They went shopping, so I didnt take any pictures obviously.

DAY 6

 We had a BBQ! SO much food!!!

 After eating until we almost could explode, we went to see the new Star Trek movie.

DAY 7 {Last Day}

 Went out to breakfast, and had lots of fun.

 In the car :P

Preparing to go to SFO.

I had a really fun time with my family. Unfortunately it was so short. I was really sad to see them walk into the airport without me. I'm so happy to be able to communicate with all them. There was definitely a language barrier there, but I was glad to be able to translate to my Mom, Liam, and Xiomara. There were some parts where I was really quite stressed out and had a lack of sleep, but thank you Diane for checking up on me, and Brian for calling me and making me smile. Anyway, missing three days of school was definitely worth it, even if I will be having non stop stress until the very last hour of this school year.
lovelovelove,
Melissa

:)

"I love you, Melissa."

"I love you, too."

<3