Peace Out Homies

Okay, here's the thing: I have been blogging for 228 days.

In other words, my blog has been up on the internet for seven months and fifteen days. That's over half a year.

When I posted my first blog post back in September, I never thought it would effect me this way. I feel like my writing was very limited back then, and over these seven months, I have allowed myself to improve my writing without really trying too hard. With the multiple blog assignments over the course of the year and allowing myself to expand my writing abilities at my own pace. I was able to put my feelings into words as I told stories about my life and my past over the year. The Salty Stressball was a very good outlet for me to write whenever I had the time. I enjoyed being able to talk about things I am interested in, and not having to conform to an essay prompt or something like that.

That being said, I most likely won't be continuing to update this blog after I depart from ninth grade. As of right now, I feel like this is a very reasonable time to finish blogging. The end of my first high school year is just around the corner, and I'm ready to leave everything slightly in the past.

I've been through a lot this year, and I'm kind of ready to just move on. Although this was a wonderful project and I have grown so much because of it, I think it is time to say goodbye.

Farewell to the outstanding website of blogger.com, which never had issues with text sizes. Adios to the blog posts that always got to five hundred words, and never less than than. Au revoir to the credited pictures that were never, not ever, taken straight off of google images.

Peace out cool cats. See you never.

Blogging will always be a strong memory of my ninth grade year, and I'm very thankful for that. I never expected that I would enjoy it as much as I did. I didn't love blogging as if it were my first born child, but I liked it like someone might like eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I believe that blogging was a very important experience that I needed.

For those of you have been reading my blog since the very beginning, if there even is anyone, thank you. Your views are greatly appreciated. Now for the last time of the year, I have one last thing to say.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

Does a Picture Have to Tell a Story?

Okay, here's the thing: Instagram is like a plant. 

This sounds crazy, but hear me out. You must attend to it regularly and make sure it looks healthy.

In order to uphold a good Instagram, you must make sure you post every once and a while, but not too much. Much like a plant, you should water it every once and a while, but if you water it too much, it could drown and die.

The second step is to make sure it looks good. If your Instagram were a plant, you would want to make sure it looks healthy, and not on the verge of death. People nowadays like to have an Instagram that looks good as a whole, not just individual pictures alone. For example, when you look at the page alone, people want to see the lines of three pictures look good together. Almost as if the pictures were taken just to go together. This sometimes needs the assistance of filters or editing, but nevertheless it is what people worship.

This happens to be a line from my main Instagram account with blue tones.

Mr. Parker reminded me that a picture is worth a thousand words. He explained that pictures can tell a story, and then asked me what story I wanted to tell through my Instagram. I was stumped. I honestly hadn't thought about it that way. In my opinion, I have been trying to document moments in my life, but not necessarily tell a story. I also feel like I can speak for other people in the Instagram community when I say that most people don't think too hard before they post. The only thing they think about is how well it will fit with the pictures they already have posted on their account.

However, there is one moment in which these rules don't apply. This instance is when you have a Finsta. A Finsta is an Instagram that is more of a second, "fake" account belonging to someone. On this account, you have full freedom to post as much as you want without any worry of judgment. It is more a place where your closest friends can follow you instead of many people. It is also a place where your username can be some crazy joke that no one but your friends understand.

A couple of my friends and I have these so-called "Finstas." I'm not going to publicly put mine up here, but even if I did, I probably wouldn't accept anyone who tried to follow me. On my Finsta, I feel like I have the freedom to post things that don't go very close together like on my main account.

If you want to feel free, take my advice. Make a Finsta, feel free.

Anyway, carry on. 
xx Em

The Only Holiday Teenagers Really Care About

Okay, here's the thing: April 20th is a very big deal to the teenage culture.

Although I happen to be one of the few students out there who doesn't participate in the act of smoking pot, I'm very aware of this day.

Wednesday, April 20th, was a very celebrated holiday around the town of Park City and places around the world. My friends and I where honestly just making fun of the whole thing because of the people who were clearly on Cloud 9 and trying to make it through the school day. It was especially hilarious because of the fact that there was increased security on Wednesday as well. And for good reason.

It is a pretty old occurrence for people to take pictures at 4:20 pm (or am, for the night owls out there) and joke about drugs and pot and other sorts. Again, my friends and I, being the ironic idiots that we are, take these photos and send them to each other as a joke.

But what some people might not understand is that April 20th is a huge deal. You don't have just two minutes a day to grasp this photo worthy opportunity, but you have a whole day.

4/20/16 also happened to fall during our schools "Drug Awareness Month" which I find hilariously inconvenient. After laughing about that at lunch and finishing the day of school successfully, it was time to go to swimming.

As I arrived at swim practice, I made a few jokes about the date as I had all day and then my swim coach walked in and screamed, "Happy 4/20 Everyone!" He then explained our sets for the day, in which he had successfully snuck in multiple sets including mentions of the date.

During one of our first sets, I realized it was around 4:10 pm and I looked to my coach and asked, not really expecting much, "Hey Mike, do you think we can take a team picture at 4:20 on 4/20?" He just smiled at me and shrugged. I didn't know how to interpret that, but when he stopped us and told us to crowd around our swim lane he said, "Everyone say 4/20!" Which resulted in this beauty of a picture.

Can you spot the drowning Lucas? (Taken by my swim coach, Mike Werner).

Truly a golden shot right there.

And even on the one day Elise couldn't make it to practice because she was at the donut shop for a Spanish project, she left us with some wise words. "Why blaze, when you can glaze?"

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

P.S. How hilarious would it be if this was 420 words. I checked it's not. What a shame.

San Francisco Was a Blast

Okay, here's the thing: I want to move to San Francisco.

Over Spring Break, Hannah Hall and I took a trip to the beautiful San Francisco with my family to visit my aunt Bonnie and my uncle Bruce. Since we left on Saturday, April 2nd, and we were driving, we got to San Fran on Sunday afternoon.

This picture of Hannah was taken on the beach from the first night.

On Sunday night, my family, Hannah, and I took a small hike on a trail that led to a beach. Throughout the hike, Hannah and I took many photos on my trusty camera that I took with me everyday throughout the trip.

It was a very calming walk after being in a car for two days straight. We explored the beach and found some ruins of a building with graffiti on it. We climbed all over them and watched as the sun set behind the water. As the sky turned dark we walked back to my aunt and uncles house before we were off to dinner for the night.

Speaking of food, the amount of asian cuisine that we ate throughout the week was more than I had expected. I ate so much fried rice, it probably got into my bloodstream. But that's beside the point.

Throughout the weeklong trip, we visited some of the attractions around the city and walked around to stores that were close by.

One of the places we went was the California Academy of Sciences. In the Academy, we went to the aquarium, where we saw many different types of fish and plants. It was very calming because of the colors that were experienced while we were down there. We also went to the planetarium part of the Academy. In the planetarium, we saw a show that was led by the staff called Incoming! It was about the asteroids and meteors that have effected the makeup of our earth. It was super interesting and was cool because of the setup of the observatory. We were able to sit back and watch the large screen as the British man spoke over the intercom.

On the hottest day we were there, we visited the beach. It was a different beach from the first night. This beach was accessed by a very long and winding road. The water was very cold as well. I felt like I got a brain freeze every time I dunked my head underwater. The saddest part of that whole day was that I didn't even get a tan. It was a disheartening realization.

And of course, we went across the Golden Gate a couple times while we were there. It was a short drive across the bridge, but it was worth it.

Overall, I loved being in San Francisco. I know how expensive it is to live there, but honestly, I'd give anything to live in such a cute town like that. I plan on visiting again soon, even if it means my limbs might get frozen off in the water.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

The End of an Era

Okay, here's the thing: I'm a bit over it.

"It" being swimming.

I've been swimming ever since I was nine years old, and now, nearly six years later, I feel like I'm drifting away from it.

When I was younger, I had this bizarre dream of going to the Olympic Games for swimming. I realize now that my dream was far fetched.

I've never been a super fast swimmer, but I've never been super slow either. I'm kinda just the person who floats around the swim deck and swims their races.

During practice I feel fine, but, a lot of the time, I feel like everyone is going fast and it's hard for me to keep up.

After I finished my first season of high school swimming, I realized how much more I liked that than club swimming. It was a different environment and I had a lot more fun there than I did on club.

That doesn't mean that I never had good moments on club though. I have had plenty.

All of our snapchat stories were up to date
 with our insanity.

This past weekend, I was at my very last Age Group State Championships with my club swim team. In the past three days alone, I have made so many new memories that I will remember for a long time.

For example, there was this one coach that was stationed close to our coach. I don't remember what team she was coaching for, but everyone on our team knows of a girl on that team. I don't know what this girl looks like or exactly how old she is, but I know her name. Her name is Eve. Her coach, who could easily double as her own mother in this situation, was always extra enthusiastic about Eve's races. She would use exaggerated hand movements and clap her hands as she screamed, "GO, EVE! COME ON, EVE! GET IN THERE, EVE! LET'S GO!" It became an ongoing joke throughout our team and I finally witness it in action on the very last day. It was seriously the most bizarre thing I have ever witnessed.

Another thing that happened at state, occurred during the relays each night. I understand that relays can be stressful. There are four times as many people in the back hallway than there are normally. One lady was in charge of lining us all up before our heat was insane though. She would continually ask us what heat and lane we were in and asked us to line up first to last. She kept doing the same up and down motion with both of her hands and had this crazy look in here eyes. She had definitely seen some shit behind those extremely large glasses she had on.

This weekend was one for the books, whether or not I actually swam well. I'm happy I was able to end the last state meet as an age group swimmer with the people I ended it with. I'm proud to say that our team helped each other throughout the few days of torturous chlorine burns and tight suits. I'm happy it ended on a good note.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

Wishful Thinking

Okay, here's the thing: I've spent my whole life wishing. 

Most of this wishing has to do with my location.

I think that everyone has had that feeling. A feeling of slight disappointment and feeling like they want to be anywhere else but where they are.

If the person reading this post is one of my close friends, you have definitely seen me at this point. Nearly everyday I say something about not wanting to swim, go to school, etc.

I think that one of my issues is that I tend to think about too many things at one time and it builds up too high. When I have too many things on my mind I start to complain about it and then it comes out in a rumble of negativity. After I spit it all out I begin thinking about it even more and it's always just sitting in the back of my mind, ruining my mood.

I sometimes wish I was back on this road trip. 

For the past few days I have actually had a lot on my mind, and it has proven what I just explained above. This  week is the week before the quarter ends, and I am missing Thursday and Friday of school due to a swim meet, the state competition. This has been looming over me since sometime last week, when we really started to work on racing during practice. While I was at practice I was thinking about the homework I had to do and the tests I had to study for. While I was doing my homework, I was thinking about the swimming competition.

Last Sunday, when I was scrambling to finish an essay that was due that night, I was having the hardest time focusing. I was trying my best to get all of my thoughts down on the paper, but I began to think about swim. I hadn't been feeling very good since High School Swim season had ended, and the meet was approaching so fast. I remember staring at a sentence on the computer screen that I had been rewriting over and over while I thought about how poorly I would do at State.

At this point, I began freaking out and every little thing was distracting me. I was so on edge that one small thing brought me to my breaking point.

I laid face down on the ground and silently cried. It seems dramatic, but it's what I had to do. As I was on the floor, I tried to collect my thoughts and finish my essay, but I'm not too sure it worked (I'm very sure that my essay was horrible).

One thing I know for sure, however, is that all of these troubles will help me in the end.

I stay in shape while I swim. I learn more every day at school. All of the places that we wish we could erase are actually something we should look forward to.

I can't say that I'm just going to flip a switch and be positive all the time, but I'm surely going to try to be better. And I hope you can too.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

Okay, here's the thing: I really appreciate the nice things in life.

At this point in the school year, when everyone is stressed out because it's near the end of the year, it is hard to stay calm. Many people are on edge and seem to be in a very bad mood, so when you actually have a nice moment, it is vital that you hold on to it.

This may seem super obnoxious and cliché but it's very true. I feel like school sometimes brings your mood down as the school year drones by, so the little moments that give you a happy feeling is really a nice feeling.

I'm going to share a few nice moments that I remember in reverse order. Starting from the night to the early mornings. While the nighttime brings serenity and a kind of calm that the chaos of the daytime doesn't have, the daytime has a certain quality that is equally as enjoyable.

When I was at my friends house a couple months ago, I remember dancing around her pool table as we blasted music throughout her house in the middle of the night. It was pitch black outside and we were laughing a lot from being so tired, it was quite fantastic, to be frank (A/N: To the person this moment was with, I hope you like my joke).

I remember sitting on the lid of a hot tub and staring into the stars (which sounds even more grossly cliché than the topic of this post) while listening to music (what a surprise). That was a good feeling to have. I even remember a few of the songs we were listening to then.

Then, of course, sunsets.

Sunsets bring memories of taking dumb "artsy" photos with my friends on Halloween when we were all wearing animal onesies and annoying the neighbors.

Or the time I was up at Guardsman's during the late fall as the sunset a few weeks before school started. I was laying in the backseat of a pickup truck and was looking out of the back window as a few of my friends talked around me. I was enjoying a small moment to myself and was a bit out of the conversation, but that moment has stuck with me for a while.

This photo (taken by yours truly) was posted on Insta in August 2015.

If any of my readers follow me on Instagram, you might know that I used to (take note of the past tense) post numerous photos of sunsets because, in my hopes of becoming the amazing photographer that I am, only found inspiration in the colors in the sky. I have since stopped posting the amount of sunset pictures as I used to, but I still take them from time to time.

They also remind me of biking with a friend down the hill of her street to a football game. Following that action with immediately turning back once we realized we would have to socialize with people from school. We laughed as we trudged our bikes all the way up the hill again as the sun set behind us.

During midday, I am mostly reminded of summer barbecues and jumping on friends trampolines. It reminds me of times when I was little and the only thing I had to worry about was what color Otter pop I was going to get from the freezer.

And the morning.

The morning might remind a lot of you of waking up for school, and I think the same, but it does remind me of a few moments.

Like when the sprinklers went off when a friend and I were sleeping on my trampoline one night. We had to run back inside and hope that the blankets didn't get too ruined.

It also reminds me of early morning swim practices, which were hellish, but brought me closer to my swim friends in the long run.

What I really want to say is, at any point of the day you can experience something that will make your heart warm. It might even become a memory that you'll remember until you're one hundred years old (hopefully you last that long).

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em