Where Is the Love?

Just recently someone shot and murdered my mom's two year old puppy. Then, he took a shot in Jeff's direction, so he could hide the body. Just a few days ago some 60 year old man was driving down the road, when he swerved and hit two teenagers while they were changing a tire. The man continued to drive without stopping. The girl made it with only a few bumps and bruises, but the guy died at the hospital. He was only 18 years old and a senior in high school. They caught they man and they are looking into if it was a result of alcohol.
Both of these are terribly tragic events. It makes me wonder just what this world is coming to. Who could have the heart to kill a dog or to get behind a wheel when you have been drinking and run somebody over? This thought completely scares me to death. This isn't even a big city. This happened right here in Northern Michigan. I just don't get how people can do this terrible things. I am leaving for college in a few months and I'm not going to have my dad around to protect me. Luckily, I will have my boyfriend there. But, it does really make me scared. It's a bigger city than the one I've grown up in and I've been to big cities before, but only for visits. This one I am living in.
There can't be all bad people in this world though, there has got to be some good people. Still, I keep hearing worse and worse things that keep happening when Charlevoix used to be a safe town. Now, people are walking around with guns downtown and robbing stores. I just can't believe it.

Good Times with Good Friends

So I must admit then I don't like to do new things with people that I don't really know, so I didn't join the ski team my freshman year of high school but I did performing arts instead. I got really into performing arts and enjoyed doing it my sophomore and junior years, too, but my senior year, we had a new teacher and I felt like it wasn't going to be as fun this year. So, I decided to go ahead and do the ski team. I was a little nervous at first because there were a lot of people I didn't know and only a couple that I kind of knew. I stuck it out and realized that I had gotten many good friends out of my experience.

We just had our ski team banquet tonight and it was so much fun. We were all laughing and we could really be ourselves with everybody on the team. One of my, now closest, friend that I gained from this experience is Christina Russel. We spent the most time together "scheming" and we could openly share our problems with each other and know that they won't tell a single soul. We can act silly and crazy with each other and we just have the funnest times. At the banquet, we picked out silly awards for everyone of our teammates and we even had a pinata! I will never forget them: Christina Russell, Anna Moon, Casey Keane, Paul Stolt, Brian Shutler, Brandon Cardwell, Ryleigh Knoop, Paige Podskalny, Tyler Engstrom, Tag McCreadie, Johnnie Lindfors and of course my marvelous coach, Susan Lee Miller!

I learned a really big lesson from being on the ski team, not just how to ski better. I learned that you can't be afraid to try something new. Don't be afraid to do something different from your friends. Just be yourself and do what will make you happy. You will meet new people that like to do the same thing you like to do and your old friends will still be your friends. You can never have too many friends! I hope that I can have the opportunity to tell kids this that had the same problem as I did. I really wish I would of known my freshman year what I know now. I guess that's all part of growing up. Thanks so much Charlevoix East Jordan Ski Team 2011!

First Kiss

This was a paper that I had to write for my college English class and I thought it was pretty good, so I wanted to share it with everyone. So here it is:

It was a hot and humid Northern Michigan summer day. The sun was shining bright and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. My boyfriend, Andrew, and I decided to take a walk over to the Mt. McSauba sand dunes. We took a trail through the woods and came to a big forest hill we had to climb. Andrew held my hand and helped me climb up it so I wouldn’t fall. When we got to the top of the hill, we just had to go a few more steps and we were at the top of the sand dunes. They were absolutely beautiful, the way they went up and down and the last ones fell right into Lake Michigan. I started running down the hill and Andrew was right behind me. He finally caught up to me towards the bottom of the hill. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and swung me in a circle. We started racing up another hill and he would let me get in the lead but then he would grab my hand and pull me back. We continued this for a while but it was getting hot and we were both getting tired. Finally, Andrew stopped and said, “Hey, let’s go find some shade to rest in,” his voice sounding full of happiness and joy. So we climbed to the top of a sand dune and took some comfort under the shade of a really old tree. Before he would let me sit down, he cleared the dead twigs and leaves that were under the tree so we would be a little more comfy. He sat down and I laid my head in his lap. We sat there for a little while talking and listening to each other’s dulcet voices. We talked about what we liked and what we didn’t like, our family, what we wanted to do after school, and so much more. He would make me laugh and I would make him smile. We were staring into each other’s eyes; his were light blue and reminded me of the lake that was just a little ways further from us. Andrew had his head directly above mine and it kept inching closer and closer to mine. Finally, there was a pause in the conversation and he lowered his head down to mine and his lips, ever so gently, touched mine. My stomach did a back flip. His lips were soft and smooth against mine. I could feel all the emotion and, even then, the love that went into that kiss. I did not want this wonderful moment to come to an end but, eventually, the kiss broke off and I believe he could feel how unbelievably happy I was at that moment. We both had the biggest smiles on our faces. This is one of the best moments of my life and I know that no matter what happens I will never ever forget this moment.