Thanksgiving: an excuse to shove your face with food, hang out with friends and family, and get a week off from work or school. Thanksgiving has always been my saving grace. Once my workload hits me in November, I count down the days until the break. Nine days to do whatever I want and not worry about any school work (that would be why this is posted the week before its due, rather than the night it is due). Now that I have that out of the way, let’s get deep and talk about feelings. I am extremely thankful for my parents because they do so much for me. One month ago, they bought me the car of my dreams to be my first car. They pay for my gas, give me money to get food with my friends, and they are always there to support me in any extracurricular I am involved in. I love and appreciate them so much. My brother is one of my best friends and my house would feel empty without him. He has a dry sense of humor, even though he is extremely introverted.
My friends are so amazing. It is so hard to express how much love I feel for them. They are my family and I know wholeheartedly that they will always be there for me and support whatever I do in life, but that does not mean they will not put me back in line if I need it. We hang out every weekend and I will probably spend a lot of time with them over the break. I am thankful for all of my teachers, who are patient when I do not understand something immediately. I am living the best life and I thank God every day for giving me the life he did because it could have been so much worse.

My song of the moment is Summer Games by Drake. I have been really into Drake music lately and I really like the lyrics of this song. It is a chill song that is telling a story of a heartbreak Drake has just been through. The first lyrics are “ I think you’re changing your mind, starting to see it in your eyes” and this applies to my life because looking back at last year, I never would’ve thought I would be the person I am today, surrounded by the people I am today. I have grown so much as a person and I have learned so much in the past year. People have mentioned that they have seen a positive change in my life, and it happened over the summer, which is another tie to the song.

Although this is a breakup song in a way, I still can relate to some of the lyrics and the overall ideas apply to certain parts of my life. I enjoy listening to this song when I wake up, when i clean my room, or when I am trying to get work done. It has a nice beat but it isn’t distracting. The lyrics are very distinct and are easy to sing along to. If you haven’t heard this song, I recommend that you take the time to listen to it.

Politics is not a topic that interests me. Do I understand the reason for it? Yes, however, it still doesn’t engage me. Who would I want to lead our country? I want a natural leader, a person who has devoted their life to becoming president. I want a leader who loves all and helps others accept people for who they are. If a person has a different opinion than you, accept that they do and move on. The leader should be kind to other countries, and provide help to those in need of bare necessities such as water or food. A 16 year old in america is worried about the newest iphone whereas in a different country, a 16 year old mother is trying to provide shelter for her child.

People need to keep their mouths closed when they don’t agree with something. The problem with people is that all they do is talk and listen to themselves, when they should really be listening to each other. People lash out, make reckless decisions, and are quick to judge others.

For starters, I’m not a big movie person and I prefer watching youtube videos or tv shows because they are more broken up and take less time. If I have to do laundry I can do it in between episodes, instead of an hour later. I don’t have a favorite movie, so I will talk about one of the movies I have seen recently. One of the first movies that came to mind was the Netflix original, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which came out in 2014. I really enjoyed the awkwardness between the couple in this movie because I can be a really awkward person because I’m not very romantic, so I strongly related to Lara Jean during some parts. I vividly remember sitting in theatre chairs upstairs at my house watching the movie with my two best friends. I kept losing the TV remote and they were yelling at me to find it so we could pause the movie so someone could get more food or go to the bathroom.

The movie itself was more interesting than any other movie I had watched in a while because, frankly, I lose focus quickly when I watch movies. The movie made me think about if there are any fake relationships that go on at my high school. I also want to know how they don’t have acne if they are 16 years old in the movie, because they need to teach me their tricks. The movie made me laugh, and it also made me tear up because Lara Jean’s mom passed away but her dad put together a special gift for her 16th birthday. Overall, I would recommend the movie, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.

When a person is asked to talk about themselves, they normally start with the best things of their life, money and success, but what about the things that go unsaid? People take things for granted and they don’t realize how important the people they know, memories they make, and things they have been provided are to them until those things go away.

On Friday I received the heart wrenching news about a kid in my grade and his younger sister who were murdered unexpectedly by their parent. They went to a school I used to attend. It is hard to wrap one’s mind around death and how sudden it is, especially when comes from a parent causing the harm. Although my parents and I don’t always see eye to eye, I am extremely thankful for all of the trust they put in me and how they support me in whatever I choose to do. Growing up, my mom always told my brother and I to say a prayer before we go to bed, when we asked what to include in the prayer, my mom said, “ imagine that whatever you didn’t pray about wasn’t here tomorrow”. By her saying that, I realized how important it is to be thankful and humble about your blessings in life. Sometimes it is best to focus on the smaller things in life because you only get to live once.

Growing up, my mom would always read me a book before bed. I LOVED books. I enjoyed the frequent read of Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor or the shiny Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister but my favorite book, my nightly read, was I Stink! By Katie and Jim McMullan.

Growing up I loved Tuesdays because Tuesday was trash day. I would wake up, get my breakfast of champions, which normally consisted of cottage cheese, goldfish, and applesauce. From there I would get my food on a Dora the Explorer plate and go sit by the big window in the front room of my childhood home. I would sit and wait for the maroon trash truck would come around the corner to pick up our bin and dump the trash into the truck. I would occasionally get a honk from the driver, which made my day. Some Tuesdays, my glorious mornings were cut short due to pre-school and I didn’t get to see the trash truck from our house. Instead, we would drive around to find the truck in our neighborhood to watch, and then manage to be just barely on time or a little late to pre-school because I needed to see my trash truck or my whole day was ruined.

The Book I Stink! Was my favorite childhood book because it talked about picking up all sorts of trash such as old apple rinds or zucchini. It was a book that was definitely meant for boys, but that didn’t stop me from loving every single picture of that army green trash truck. The book sits in my keepsake box, and I haven’t read it in over six years.

 

I’m just going to skip past the random awkward icebreakers about how I have one younger brother and an amazing dog and just get into what I need to say because, frankly, I don’t care about it and you don’t either. I grew up in a college town surrounded by people who loved me. My parents grew up in Michigan on seperate sides of the state, just before they had me they moved to where we currently live. Every winter and every summer we go see both sides of our extended family, sadly my moms dad, Grandpa Jack, passed away when I was eleven years old. I lived in the same home for 12 years until I moved across the country, needless to say it didn’t go well and we moved back “home” 20 months later.

I live in the same neighborhood, five minutes away from my old house. I now have too many friends to count from all different groups in the community. I’m Catholic, so I have my group of friends in my youth group. I am also involved in many things throughout the school, the major one being drill team. Not to mention all of my friends that live in my neighborhood and the family friends that I’ve grown up with, shoutout to my friend sitting next to me while I write this, you know who you are.

In the future, I would love to attend Texas A&M University or Baylor University to major in communications with a minor in business. I am intrigued by A&M’s traditions and Baylor’s strong christian faith.  After I graduate, I plan to get myself a dog and move into a home. There are other places in the country that interest me, such as California and Colorado, but, as of now, I want to stay in Texas because that’s where I am the most comfortable.

This is Cate’s blog 🙂

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton