I am so excited for Boston

I've been working diligently to earn money to go to Journalism Education Association Convention in Boston through sponsorships. This requires me going around asking businesses if they'd like to advertise with us. I'll ask five business one day and only one will say they'll think about it, which usually means no in a nice way. This trip is going to cost me approximately $1,077.00, but I've already earned 5 sponsors-close to $600 Hollaaaa. My goal is to get five more sponsors and only have to pay for food! 

We'll leave for the JEA convention November 12th and get back November 17th. I plan to make the best of those days! Wednesday morning I have to wake up early to attend a media tour of Studio 73 of Suffolk University and go to Fenway Park, the oldest stadium still in use! (You think I'll get a picture with the lone red chair??)  Then Michelle, my friend who moved to Boston, and I plan to get together and have some adventures once again. I've signed up for a write-off competition the same day... hopefully I come home with a Superior! To finish off the day I'll be going to a Celtics game double hollaaaa. The rest of the week I'll be trying to keep my brain for exploding from learning so much, but I love learning and I love what I will be learning!! triple hollaaa. 

Get ready Boston!

Epiphany

If I earned a dollar each time someone asked me the questions, "Where are you going to college?" or "What do you want to be when you grow up?", I would probably make 10 bucks a day. That's a solid 70 dollars a week. Hollaaa

I always reply with the same answer, "Oh. I don't know. I think staying in state would be the smartest thing to do, financially. I'm also leaning towards journalism..." 

The other day, Monday, I turned 18 years old. And today it finally hit me. 

I'm living in the prime of my life. When I look back to the best times and highlights of my life, I know I'll look back to these. I can become whoever I want and do whatever I want. I just need to remain confident, have a strong work ethic and stick to my morals. 

If I stick to the solid life I'm living now, I can accomplish anything! I can be a doctor, despite my uneasiness with blood. I can be a pharmacist, even though I'd rather suffer through death than do any chemistry. Realistically though, I should be a journalist, because I have a dream of helping others. I basically live in the studio anyway, and I don't mind it! 

The point is... I can be whoever I want.

God Bless...

God bless Shania Twain, because I don't know what a lot of broken hearted American women would be doing right now without her music. Probably sitting outside a gas station eating those $1 ice creams. Long live Shania Twain.

God bless Ken (from work) for giving me a Kit-Kat everyday at work. It keeps me going till we close shop. However I am now dependent on that little amount of sugar every night to make it through the shift haha! Jokes.
(No picture. Ken doesn't let us take pictures of him haha)
God bless the best teacher I've ever had- Mr. Riley. First, he's helped me discover my passion, broadcast journalism. But he's also the only teacher who really teaches you things you need to know. It's not the ridiculous math stuff you're never going to use, or the vocabulary words you'll never use in your life again. He actually teaches and tells you about life. He teaches a class where you need to work with deadlines and develop communication skills. I've started to view him more as that crazy uncle your parents don't want you around.. but he's still your favorite. :)

God bless my best friend, Skye, who taught me how to have fun. I'm the type that would rather work in the studio than go out to lunch with friends. I do it almost everyday haha. Yet, she forces me to live a little and take risks. Without her I wouldn't have had the best summer ever.

Humbling

Tennis season is now over. Now all I have left are the memories I made of the sport :) *happy tears
One particular tournament will always stick with me. My partner, Jessi, and I were up against girls that had just started tennis. It was unnecessary to ask. You could tell. They didn't have their strokes mastered and asked questions about the rules. Yet, they had good sportsmanship down. After each of my good shots they gave me a compliment, even if it was our point. After each game they made us feel so happy and confident with all their applause and flattering words. I have never played against such genuinely kind girls. It was such a humbling experience. We won more than that match. Plus they have the coolest names- Cheyenne and Echo. Talk about unique.
I also think back to the day I was playing tennis with my best friend, Katie. A young couple started playing on the court next to us just as we were leaving. As I left, I waved and told them to have fun. I don't know why. I felt kind at that moment, probably because it was the ideal perfect afternoon. The lady called after us, "Hey girls! We just started playing tennis and were wondering if you could give us a quick run through of the rules." "Of course!" They were the sweetest, funniest couple. I want a relationship like that. They weren't afraid to try new things and make themselves look pretty funny. Ironically, I ran into them later that afternoon. They were still panting from the workout. They said they had playing the game totally wrong. They were counting points like volleyball and playing til 20 something. HAHAHA. We literally sat on a bench and talked for a good hour. They encouraged me to go to a community college for the first two years. They told me of their lives... and I just left totally humbled.
And now today my idol, Preston came in to speak with us. This guy is a professional producer that focuses on documentary making. He sheds light on political and social issues he's passionate about. I'm always in awe whenever he comes in to speak or help us. First, he helped me film a few things for the upcoming show (You can watch our newest episode and previous at chswired.tv). It was so modest of him when he said, "Abbey, I'm here to help. You tell me what you want me to do." Can you imagine Morgan Freeman saying something like that to you?! I was literally shaking. Then that afternoon he invited me to come to the third hour class he was speaking in. Preston said I would really enjoy the surprise he had for the class. When he mentioned the word "surprise," I was sold. Love those things. I later found out that he was Skyping with Academy Award winning documentary maker, Daniel Junge. He had the class ask him questions about the process, his opinion and his advice. Talk about inspirational. Afterwards, Preston gave us advice that we could apply to not only the film business, but life. I think Preston's words hit me harder than Daniel Junge's.
"You don't have to go to college if you love what you're doing. You can learn on your own. I'm not saying college is bad, but that not every field requires a college education. For those of you going into film, you need to love it 100%. If you don't, you're not going to make it."Humbling.

I really miss my foreign exchange best friend

     These days I always hear my friends say how much they miss their college friends. I always want to slap some sense into them and say, "Hey be grateful and don't pout! At least your best friend isn't in another country halfway across the globe! At least you can see and chat with them. You don't have to wake up extra early just to chat with them or stay up extra late. When you need to talk to them or you just need your best friend, you can text them. I have to message her on Facebook because of insanely high international phone rates!" However, I always hold my tongue. That little pout sesh would definitely make quite the scene.
     Lately everything has reminded me of Skye, even the stupid little Emojis. I stared at one of the camels and thought of how her dogs always attacked me when I entered her house. Then I laughed when I remembered that I would call her every time I was outside her house because I was afraid of all 6+ of her dogs haha. Then I laughed even harder because a camel Emoji reminded me of this. Talk about pitiful. Geez.
     Then each time I skim through Daily Odd Compliments I think of Skye. I reminisce on those nights when we'd text each other our favorite ones. We sounded like such lesbians hahaha! (I bet I still do now!) I even experience moments now when I grab my phone and I'm about to text her a funny one when I remember that I can't text her! Oh well..

Wise Words of my Calc teacher

We were running really far behind in reviewing the previous night’s homework.
“OK. Let’s move on the next problem. Guys. What number is it? Number thirty? Well finally! It’s taken forever to get to the thirties! I remember when I was in my thirties…”
He was being exceptionally random that day haha. Later a fly landed on my desk and he started speaking to me through hand gestures. I thought he was going to kill the fly, but he approached my desk unarmed. He then caught the fly, with his hand first try! Next he ran, giggling like a child to the teacher’s room across the hall. Everyone sat wondering what the heck just happened. He came back all collected and calm and simply said, “We don’t have the fly anymore, the class across the hall does.”

I have never and never will...

I have never and never will see the other side of the moon.

I have never and never will see the backside of my head with my own eyes.

I have never and never will cry at a Beatles concert. *sob

I have never and never will see a Dodo bird. They’re extinct.

I have never and never will find the end of a rainbow. I’ve tried it. I don’t think there is one!

I have never and never will make a “LMS for a Truth Is.” Wait, yes I have. I take that back.

I have never and never will set a record on Temple Run. My sisters are too good.

I have never and never will hate a Lana del Rey Song. God bless her soul.

A weird post, because I'm weird.

My favorite sounds in the world:
the breaking of celery because it's such a pure and fresh sound
the dramatic breaths of Florence and the Machine in the end of "Blinding." 
Oh my heavenly. God bless her

My favorite dessert I've ever eaten:
Let us flashback to last summer. Our priest gave us a Raspberry Crumb pie that someone made him haha I guess he had too much stuff at home. Man, did he miss out. I almost felt bad! I have never, not even to this day, had such a great dessert. Now every time I go to a church get together with food I keep my eye out for that heavenly pie.

The caption says: "This is why I wake up early. To beat everyone to the last piece of pie."

Note: This is the actual pie. 

My favorite chore:

Vacuuming. I especially enjoy our vacuum... such a trustworthy, machine thing. Love that thing.. It's my favorite chore because it's one of those things in which you lose yourself. You get into the cleaning and then concentrate on something else. It's a good time to be one with yourself. LOL Actually, for Christmas I asked for the new 360 vacuum. Didn't get it.

A song that makes me move no matter how I feel:

Danza Kuduro by Don Omar

Hey Jude by the Beatles

Midnight City by M83

Ohh.. oops.. just one song..?

A very patriotic moment:

Let's flashback again to my 5th grade Veteran's Day assembly. My teacher had the cool idea of turning off the lights in the gym, bringing in a HUGE flag and shining a light on it. I, dressed up as a soldier,  along with two other fifth graders, stood on a balance beam behind the flag. That way our shadows looked like that of a soldier behind the american flag. It was a great idea, but we stood there a good 50 minutes. Can you imagine standing on a balance beam for that long? I look back and am so proud of my younger self. I remember how proud of my country I was. That's when I realized that being Hispanic did not mean I couldn't be American or patriotic or proud of my home. 

A TV show rerun you that I could watch 38 times and not be sick of it:

Killer Within, Season 3 of Walking Dead

I apologize for my lack of blogging

It's been cray over here, ladies and gentlemen! 
In the past month I've-
applied to my first colleges. HOLLA
It felt quite bittersweet. Just yesterday, my friend and I were talking about her new college and she texted me in reply, "Ha don't worry senior year will go by fast, you'll be here before you know it!"
taken charge of National Honors Society, one of the largest clubs in our school.
Since our advisor resigned, I as President, have taken charge. I now have a total new respect for all club advisors. It. is. so much. work.
played hours upon hours of tennis (this weekend alone was well over ten hours)
As much as I love tennis, I'm so glad the season is so short. Tennis just takes over your life when so many other things are fighting to take the same spot. I have so much to do and so little time. I'm gonna quit sleeping and eating here pretty soon. However, the season is going great. Despite girls team's inexperience, we went undefeated this weekend! Yeah, you read that correctly. We went 16-0 against three different teams around the state! And the boys are kicking butt as well. They went undefeated all of Friday but lost 2-3 on Saturday.
chatted with an inspiring from that I only get to see once a year
I got to know my friend Karen at work. She's that type of person that tells these random stories of her life whenever she wants. She isn't shy and gets her opinion out there. Her jumping of jobs has really inspired me. She's been in the forest service, worked as an air traffic controller, volunteer firefighter, landscape artist, and worked summers at a little gift shop with me :) And yet, she still doesn't know what she wants to be. It'd be cool to have experienced all the things she has, but I think I would want something steady throughout my life. Yet, she's not afraid! She's sixty-something years old and still hauling butt.
chatted with my best friend, Michelle
Want to know something funny? At school, I don't make an effort to talk to other human beings. I only see my friends if they're in my classes. I literally run between classes and run errands. The only people I make time to talk to are Skye and Michelle, both who no longer live here. Skye's in Belgium and Michelle moved to Boston. She's like, the only person I text haha. One day we were discussing soccer. She said it's a lot more intense in Boston than over here, which I'm sure is an extreme understatement.
I replied with one of the greatest text messages I've ever sent. Not meaning to brag...
"It made you question why you wanted to play? Because soccer doesn't change. It doesn't matter where you play or what language you speak. The rules are the same and everyone shares the same passion and drive for the sport. I'm sure you want something that is the same in the midst of all the change. And subconsciously, you wanted to make friends too!" BOOM.
got tickets to go to Boston. EEEE
My sisters always tell me to be very careful when I talk about Boston. I'm going for a journalism convention, but they say that "convention" makes me sound nerdy haha. They're too cute for their own good. Now every time I bring up Boston I tell who ever I'm speaking with that story.
I get to see Michelle while I'm there, too! I live the best of both worlds, as Hannah Montana would say.
pitied myself because my little sister has been asked to Homecoming and I have not. HAAA

I feel like I just wrote my college thesis...

wait... I'm still in high school.

*Correction* If I had just written a college thesis, then I'm sure this is what I would feel like.

After so much work into this less than 2 minute video, it is complete. Thank God. I did have a blast though :)

In an attempt to document my summer, I filmed a second of every day. I tried to film the "highlight," or something that would made each day unique from the rest. Every moment was different, but every single one, a thrill. The best moments changed from sleeping in, eating food (my life like, revolves around the next meal) to having a party with some friends I had just met. As you can see, my summer one was the best one yet thanks to all those little things and great people :)

Filmed mostly with a Canon Vixia HF20 and EOS 7D, but occasionally and Iphone or Nokia Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.0/26

"Just A Second - Summer 2013 Video"

 This entire summer I looked at my daily life in a different perspective, through a different eye. I looked and lived my summer through a camera lens. 

Every time something exciting would happen I'd stop and run to get my camera if wasn't already in my hands. I had so much fun that I've began to think if working with a camera should be something I do as a living.....?

I hope everyone is blessed with a best friend like mine

Tomorrow will be the start of my best friend's foreign exchange trip. It's unbelievable to think that it's already here! So tomorrow begins the year of remembering. Remembering what a great friend she is, remembering how she has stood by me and supported me, remembering all our jokes and adventures. 

One of my favorite quotes is one that she showed me one day while watching our favorite show-The Walking Dead :) :) 

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -Winnie the Pooh

The tennis tournament in which Skye and I became best friends :)

Despite how much I'm going to miss her, she needs to do this. We all find who we are in different places and ways. I have begun to find myself in the studio at school. Skye, I am certain, will find herself in Belgium. 

Au revoir pour l'instant, mais je vous verrai bientót!

Good bye for now, but I'll see you soon. 

6 Things You Should Know About Me

1. Is this how you imagined your life would be?
No way, Jose. I thank God every day for the people that he's put in my life. No way would I have such a great job and love my classes so much if it weren't for the people He put in my life. Or did He put me in their lives? I have decided to go into broadcast journalism, but I know I wouldn't have decided that on my own. I am so blessed for everyone in my life-my friends and family. #livinthedream
2. If money were no question, I would purchase...
And I'm not going to be one of those pageant girls that say, "I would save some for college and the rest I would donate to charities and cancer research..." I genuinely would want to give my grandmother money and those in her hometown. As for me, being in the college research mindset, I would apply to my dream college- Columbia Journalism School in New York City. If only money were no question...
3. What's your drink of choice when out with girlfriends?
All things Dairy Queen. #nobrainer
4. What do you love about yourself?
I hate these type of questions. I don't know. My smile?
5. Name one good deed that you did that went unseen.
As much as I love awkward moments, I feel a bit uncomfortable with these type of questions. Oh well. Back in middle school I packed a lunch almost everyday. However, one day I remember standing in line because it was one of the few days the cafeteria was serving pizza. And lemme tell ya. That pizza was good. Sent directly from God himself, or made by God himself. Well I recall seeing one pizza left when I was up to choose. I know the girl behind me, a less fortunate girl, wanted it so I decided to get the gross, clumpy rice. That's my good deed. As insignificant as it is, I will always remember it.
6. What hobbies do you have that you don't mention on the blog?
I'm one of those weird kids that love school. I one hundred percent enjoy learning and being surrounded by classmates. So I shall proclaim learning as a hobby :) I also try to spend a few minutes every night staring at the stars. #nerd I also spend a lot of time hashtagging stuff. Sometimes I accidentally speak in hashtags.. or on purpose...

Still undecided

Today I stared out the window for what seemed like ten minutes.
I stared and thought about how scared I am for my future. Yesterday my friend told me she had already started applying for colleges. All these people know exactly where they're going and what they're going to do. I've got nothing. I wish I had some set course like that bird. Nature is so incredible. No one tells the bird where it must travel, it just does. May I learn my path quickly because I'm so scared.
Help me little birdie.
And follow Skye to Belgium and take care of her, please.
Little Abigail

Rhyming Words Wednesday

Coffee Lips 
by David Ferry

The guest who came in to the street people’s suppers last night,

An elderly man with a lost smart little boy’s face and a look

As if he might turn against you anytime soon,

As if he’d just come into this world and he was extremely

Wary about what the world was going to be, and he said,

“If I ask you a question will you give me a truthful answer?”

And I said, “That depends on what the question is,”

Thinking the little elderly boy looked sophisticated and

As if he’d in fact been a long time in the world

And would get the tone right, and maybe he did, or maybe he didn’t;

At any rate he went on to ask the question,

“When I come into places like this and there are people holding

Coffee cups to their lips and they look at me,

Are they about to drink the coffee or not to drink the coffee?”

He was balancing the world on the tip of his witty unknowing nose.

I felt like I was falling down someplace else than anywhere there.

A Quick Story Ladies and Gentlemen

Let's get right to it. Yesterday I brought some left over enchiladas to work to eat on my break. I packed the homemade munchies on a plastic plate with a fork and covered it with tin foil. I placed it in the fridge and went to work. A few hours later, on my break, I open the fridge door and look for my lunch. No plate. However in the corner I some tin foil with a familiar looking fork on top. I remove some tin foil, take a peek, and discover my dinner. But where was my plate?? Who would steal my plate instead of the mouth watering enchiladas? Especially since there are plates on top of the microwave not even a step away. Odd. Now let's back up to last summer. Trying to save money, I packed myself a sandwich almost every day for lunch. But one day my sandwich was gone and I'm pretty sure someone ate it. It wasn't too much of a loss since someone bought me dinner from my favorite restaurant in town :) I just hope this doesn't turn into a summer tradition haha. As Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs (1992 version) said, "Let's figure out who the bad guy is."

Trial and Error at Yellowstone National Park

I don't remember if I've mentioned this yet, but our broadcast journalism department is quite blessed (or spoiled) this year. We have new cameras, new computers (the monitors are like, 3x the size of my tv) and a new editing program! HOLLA, as Skye would say :)
Since I'm going to be director of the show this year I need to know how to work everything before school starts! So I've been playing with one of the cameras and even took one to Yellowstone yesterday. Lemme tell ya. Holy nice.

Nathalia.

Even her penguin friend was snackin!

Victoria. Notice her new haircut?

Jessica. She always makes faces.

My father and his best friend. Funny story: the other day my sisters and I were quietly going through my dad's pictures (I think we were in the doctor's waiting room waiting for my mother and finished reading all the magazines...). We noticed that my dad literally had more pictures of Chato than us. HAHAH you think we're obsessed with him? You think we love him? You haven't seen my dad. 

Chato- the son my dad always wanted

and one of me because I'm never on the other side of the camera.

I swear every time we go to Yellowstone we pass by this gorgeous pond, but never get a chance to stop and take pictures. I finally convinced the driver! It went like this, "Dad! Stop!" He was pretty upset and that something was wrong. Oh well. hehe

I think my mom and I really bonded on this trip through the cameras. We helped each other get better shots and sort of had a competition on who got the better ones haha 

I'm always amazed at how many people travel to Yellowstone. I had this crazy thought looking back at this picture. You know that saying, every person in your dream you've seen before because your brain can't come up with a new one? This is where brain pulls them from, I'm sure.

The classic Old Faithful photo.

I absolutely love the Old Faithful lodge building. I mean, who wouldn't want this extremely extravagant chimney for their Christmas pictures??

Don't worry we took the other trail. Significantly shorter, but just as steep. View made it worth it.

Yeah, that buffalo can swim better than I can and I paid for lessons when I was younger. 

Teach me how to swim, teach me teach me how to swim. Name that song!

Overall great trip.