Clap your hands if you wear sunscreen!

The past two weeks, some of my dearest friends have been at camp. Without me. How dare they, you say? I concur. However, there was nothing to be done. Instead of camping with them, I went with my family for the past few days. And it was fun. Lots of water, and LOTS of sun. To show you how much FUN I had, I'm uploading a picture for your viewing pleasure.

Now, notice that the tan*cough* sunburn, looks...strange. Yes, that's a circle.

Go ahead. Scratch your heads for a minute.

Now I'll explain.

For the past 4 ish months, I've been having lung/breathing problems. It isn't asthma. We have yet to discover to source. To help me breathe, I wear "patches" on either side of my chest. They work like acupuncture, relieving stress and restoring breath, hallelujah. I don't wear them every day, but I do when I'm struggling particularly hard. The other day was one such day. And I kinda spent all day outside...without sunscreen. Smaaaaaaart Aurora...anyway. This is the lovely result.

Now, I give you permission to laugh. Let's hope it fades fast.

Williamsburg Academy

School is around the corner. For most people, it started this week. For me, it starts in a week and a half. And the thought of school got me thinking. I have mixed feelings about the start of school. See, school usually means seeing your friends right? Not for me. Not necessarily. Because Williamsburg is an ONLINE school, my friend time is...limited, to say the least.

Now, my school has so many perks. I mean, I get the BEST education. And I have WONDERFUL friends that I wouldn't trade for anything. They just all live around the world. Which has it's ups and downs. I have traveled places that I probably wouldn't have at this age. It's great to have these wonderful travels and adventures.

What sucks about my relationships is that I never have anyone to hang out with. I'll go through my phone on a Friday night and every person I want to hang out with, lives 600 + miles away. It kinda sucks.

But then the times that you DO get to see them. Those times are so much more special. You cherish them so much more. When your best friend lives down the street, you start to take it for granted. See, when you have to carefully plan when your friends are coming to visit, you appreciate your friends more, and you appreciate the times you have together more.

I'm not saying that I like not living near all my friends. But I'm not saying its the worst thing ever. Because of my school, I've been able to meet do many amazing people that I wouldn't know otherwise. I mean, a normal 17 year old doesn't have a best friend in Anchorage, a best friend in Nome(also Alaska, btw), a best friend in Vegas, Idaho, St. George, Japan, Cali, Arizona, Texas, I mean, come on. I live in New Mexico, and my best friends aren't here. it's not ordinary. But that doesn't mean it's not great sometimes. I'm starting to ramble and I apologize. I'll just say this: my school is awesome and the opportunities i've had and the people I've met because of it are irreplaceable and wonderful.