Jimmy

I got home from my road trip to Vegas, Mexico, ans San Diego last night! I had so much fun and made so many great memories.

On the first day in mexico, we were on the beach relaxing. Sofia and I were on the beach getting our hair braided when a lady came and sat down to watch. She was obviously an american and drunk. She eventually started saying bad thing to us, so my mom asked her to leave. She emediately got upset and sat by my mom, telling her that they would be best friends.

"Who are you?" she asked my mom
"I'm their mom."
"Well, these are my kids now. Everybody line up!"

This lady was scary. She started reciting the pledge of alligience while we tried to call for help. Luckily, a nice man saw the commotion and called the police. Within a minute, there were about five police cars at the scene. The police took the lady away and we packed up to go back to our temporary home. My mom talked to the guy who called the police and he ended up being from america and he is a Mormon! He kindly reasured us that that kind of thing never happens in Mexico. And it really doesn't happen very often.

We stayed in a huge house divided into little apartments. A guy who worked there, renting out rooms, became our friend. His name is Jimmy. He only knows a few things in English, so it was a little hard to comunicate, but we became good friends. He mostly just said "Wow" and "What happennned?" One morning, He was out cleaning the fish pond. I went to watch and he told me to come in with him. I got in and we started chasing the fish, trying to catch them. He had a lot of fun "cleaning" the pond.

Then he made us the most amazing dinner ever! Everything was made out of scratch and it was all fresh. The two hours of preparation really paid off. While Jimmy made the food, he sang loud mexican songs and danced around the kitchen. It was really fun watching him since he wouldn't let me help.

Then there were the chickens. At the front of the house there was a well full of chickens. ?? I told Jimmy that I wanted to hold one, and he jumped in the well. He scooped up a chicken and handed it to me. I had only help it for a few seconds before he handed me another one. He stood down there handing me chickens for a few minutes befor he told me to get down there and get my own. So he got out and I got in. I sat down there picking up chickens for a good 30 minutes. One chicken bit my dress and swung around while tightly holding on to the end of my dress. Another one stared at me the whole time. But my favorite ran up my dress and sat on my shoulder. Every time I tried to put him down, he freaked out.

Jimmy came to the beach with us on the last day. One by one, he chased us into the ocean and splashed us unlit we were soaked. He started with Freestone, who wasn't in his suit. Jimmy called Freestone Cheppy. "Cheppy!! come!" he grabbed freestone and threw him into the ocean, then wrapped seaweed around him. Then they used the seaweed for a jumprope. Surprisingly, Jimmy was really good at jumprope. After playing with Freestone, he raced Victor into the ocean and jumped around. Then it was my turn. He splashed me so much, I was soaked in no time.

At dinner, Jimmy sang to almost every song that played in the resturant. It was pretty great.

Jimmy told us multiple times that we were a good family. He told us that we were good people. A few months ago, Jimmy's house burned down. He has huge skars on both his arms from the fire. When he told us the story, I was almost brought to tears. He is such a great person. He doesn't have much, but he gave us so much. I'm so glad I had the chance to meat him.

There are a lot of stories to tell, but I think I'll stick with these ones. I had so much fun on my road trip!

Little Did I Know

Little did I know that today would be different.

I didn't know that someone I had once met would be gone forever.

I didn't know that one of my friends would be hurt.

mentally, physically, and spiritually. 

Little did I know that I would be so affected.

I keep hoping for her to open her eyes and walk.

But she'll never talk, she'll never smile. 

All of that is gone. 

She spent her short life using it up as much as she could.

I just wish she could use it up more.

As I joyfully made myself an ice cream cone after dance, I noticed something off about Ruby. She was quiet and sitting alone. When my mom asked her what was wrong, she started to cry. Finally, she spit out the words, "Sofia Vasquez died." 

At first, I didn't know who that was. Then Ruby reminded me that her sister, Tilly, is my age. Tilly and I have been friends for a while. We don't talk much, but at that very moment, all I could think of was Tilly. How hurt she is. What she's going through. 

A few months ago, I lost a friend. It has been really hard to deal with. But loosing a sister is beyond comprehension. I can't even begin to know what Tilly is going through. All I can do for her is show my love and try to help her in any way possible. 

I know that this is all temporary. That one day, we'll see our families again. But on earth, for the people left behind, it's just agonizing pain. We have to deal with losses and not knowing the future. 

But in the end, it will all work out.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog! We'll start with an introduction of myself.

My mom says I'm very outgoing and enthusiastic. And it's true. I have a lot of energy. I like to use my energy to draw, dance, longboard, play cello, and write.

My mom says this in her blog, "This child is mercurial, fierce and passionate.  You'd have to be a comet to keep up with her moods, and you'd have to be a swami to possess the wisdom to raise her with absolute confidence." Yes, those things are true, and there are a lot of stories to prove it. just go to my mom's blog to see.  http://dopppartyofseven.blogspot.com/

My mom explains me so well, I thought I'd give a few more of her quotes about me.

"Araceli is always fun; sometimes too much fun for me.  She's exuberant, intense, loud, unapologetic and dramatic.  I'm thankful for all those qualities every day, because Araceli has depression.  She takes medication for it that enables her to be her true self, rather than be chained and fettered by the demons.  The difference between the Araceli who is trapped behind a wall of depression and the Araceli that thrives when there's enough seratonin in her system is terrifying.  Prisoner Araceli - without medication - has a palpable shroud of lead around her.  Nothing can penetrate the apathy and heavy emptiness.  You could take her to Disneyland and the reaction would be the same as if you took her to the city dump.  Nothing."

"Araceli had come to rely on Golda even more than the rest of us, as an example of everything she wants to be.  They're like twins.  It's a good thing Araceli has excellent examples in her older sisters, because she is a thrill seeker.  An experimenter.  A fearless leader.  She had admitted that her fearlessness has gotten her into trouble, but it has also been an adventure for everyone.  She said to me, "I've always been a teenager."  I protested.  She wasn't a teenager when she was a tiny, china-doll baby.  Or a darling, pixie-haired toddler.  Or when she was a pre-pubescent brace face.  And she's not even a teenager now, in some ways, with her adult looks and wise maturity.  In some ways, she is, though.  She lacks impulse control, and she's always overly emotional." Golda is my older sister.

"Admittedly, Araceli's way is more creative and passionate than everyone else's, and she's also organized, independent and responsible.  But even Araceli will cop to the fact that she sometimes leaps in with two feet before she knows what she's leaping into.  And she sheepishly admits that she is "probably too confident."  That sounds like one of those job interview questions, right?  "What is your greatest weakness?"  "I care too much about my job." Too much confidence can be a problem, although nothing Araceli can't fix with some ingenuity.  One area of overconfidence lately has been her grades.  They were so bad, Scott and I took her phone away and grounded her for life.  Then her grades went down. Down to the basement.  As in, "Don't worry about that F, Mom..."  Only when I started having daily discussions with Araceli about her grades and helping her email her teachers when she had questions, did her grades start improving. Araceli is such a creature of light that she doesn't respond to anything but love.  She was like that even as a baby.  She always got out of bed, time after time, and if anyone got mad at her for getting up, the battle was lost.  Only when she was completely reassured that we loved her and that we would continue to love her while she was asleep, would she give in. Of course, she also has her dark side, and the last thing you want to do is wake it up through anger and negativity, and let it start running the show.  You know, if kids didn't come with these full-grown personalities all built in, they would be a lot easier to manage.  I wouldn't want to lose one bit of Araceli's spirit, though.  She is exceptional, and we're just lucky and blessed that she's ours. "Stay tuned for the little and yes, even the big things that happen this summer!

Okay, okay. I know that's a bit of overload, but now you know me!

Stay tuned for the little, and yes, even the big things that happen this summer!