as of right now...

Prom 2012

This past weekend was Alex's Jr/Sr prom. She was worried at one point that she wasn't going to have a date because the boy she's "talking" to was not going. And you don't swoop in and invite a girl that is "talking" to another guy unless you are really just friends. With no hope of a romantic hookup. Thankfully Alex's friend Joey stepped in and invited her so that she didn't miss her junior prom

He wasthe perfect date for her. They are old friends and have fun hanging out together. He has no romantic feelings towards her and she the same for him so they went to prom to have a good time (Last year she went with the boy that broke her heart this year and their night was full of drama). This year: No drama. No hurt feelings. They went to have fun. I love that she made this choice because I do not like teenage drama. I remember my own teenage years and looking back at all my drama in high school, it means nothing to me now.  I wish I had know how little it would matter all these years later so I could have relaxed and enjoyed my high school years. Anyway...I digress.

Alex's group this year was a lot of fun. She seems to be settling into her "group" of friends and now that a few girls I didn't like so much are out of the picture it seems like she has a great core group of girls that she hangs out with. There is still drama but usually it involves some boy and the drama between all of the girls is much (MUCH) less than it used to be.

Love these girls:) Besties ! I love that even though two of them didn't go to prom they showed up to see their other friends off on the party van.

the whole group of girls.

Life is always so much better when you have really wonderful friends that make you smile and laugh:) Isn't it:) I hope her senior prom is as amazing as this one was for her. She had a wonderful time and they didn't get home until 4:00AM!! Thankfully she was staying at someone else's house so I didn't have to deal with that arrival time. Or stay up worrying until that arrival time. I just got to see her very tired body at 8:00am when she was dropped off at the house. 

I let her out of Mother's Day breakfast and told her to sleep. We spent the afternoon together after she woke up. This made for a really good day for all parties involved;)

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Jen

P.S. Does anyone remember looking this good in high school?? I was so awkward. These girls seem so confident and self assured. And gorgeous. I never looked this good...even at prom.

realization

It suddenly struck me, while looking through some friend's blogs, that I haven't posted anything about my daughter in over 2 years. This post was the last time. She's changed so much since then. Grown so much. She'll be 18 this year and I'm tearing up just thinking about that. That I have an almost 18 year old.

She's been a dream child on so many levels. Only made a few errors in judgement. Had a  rough time in school but that seems to be even-ing out now. She is kind and thoughtful. Hardly ever talks back to me. Hasn't fallen into many of the bad behaviors that teens so often do. She really is a beautiful young girl. I love that she has her life planned out for the next few years (even though some of the dreams are costly and I'm hoping she realizes that the mom ATM dries up after she's out of high school). Or dries up considerably. I wanted to get a quick snapshot of her at 17 written down though...for my own memories:)

Alex at 17:

-likes anything feather related. Earrings, pictures, t-shirts with images of feathers.

-is into everything Native American Indian themed. Clothes, jewelry, purses, shoes. These were her BIG birthday gift from Nate and myself. Along with a few other gifts.

-is listening to old school music. Led Zepplin, Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Metallica. I keep reminding her this is MY music era but she still keeps listening to it;)

-is obsessed with that Vampire Diaries show

- is a Tumblr fanatic. We... Santa I mean, got her a Kindle Fire for Xmas and she is always trolling tumblr. This is while she texts, and is on Facebook and usually while she is in front of the television.

-still says I am her favorite person to hang out with even though my hang out sessions with her are very far and between. I can't compete with friends and boys like I used to...

-hasn't had a serious boyfriend yet but just recently was nursing a broken heart. She loves a certain boy but doesn't feel ready for a serious boyfriend at her age and so he moved on to another girl. There is nothing like a sobbing broken hearted daughter to make your own heart break.

-needs a job! She has no concept of how much real life is going to cost. Despite my many warnings.

-is growing up WAY too fast.

(Caitlyn- her cousin, Alex)

Love this girl so much.

jen

 

8th Grade Graduation

Yesterday was my daughter's 8th grade promotion ceremony. I have to be honest with you that there were certain times this past school year when we weren't sure she was going to make it to this day. Like... when she came home with an F on her report card in Algebra  for example. But she pulled through and yesterday was the big day. I'd pictured this moment for many years...at least since her 6th grade promotion...but it didn't play out as I had imagined. I was calm and not weepy. (I cried like a baby at her preschool graduation). I really just found that I was relieved it was all over.

Middle School sucks.

There's no sugar coating it. The drama alone is enough to drive an adult crazy. I always thought my mom just didn't understand me and now I realize I was just a dramatic bitchy teenager. These are the years we start to  get a feel for who we really are. We try on new friends. We try on new personalities. We try on new attitudes. It's a time of such change that it's hard for anyone to keep up.

It seemed like Alex had a new best friend every other month. Liked a different boy every week.  I know that high school brings a whole new pile of worries but in some ways I know that it starts to stabilize. A little. I'm looking for a little stability. She made the cheerleading team last week and I hope that this also keeps her in check with her grades. And introduces some new friends because some of these girls she's been friends with are really just awful to each other. They have such tempers and emotions at this age. The smallest things really set off a chain of events within her group. I'm not a dramatic person (now...) so it was a little too much for me to take sometimes.

I was so proud of her yesterday though. She's become quite a young woman. I like that she still has a unique sense of style. Her spunky personality. She couldn't stop smiling after the ceremony...really smiling. With teeth showing and all...that's the part I enjoyed the most yesterday...seeing her reaction to this milestone. I'll have to actually post one of her big smile...these were taken before the ceremony...when she was still nervous about the whole affair. 

I *heart* San Francisco

 1. embarcadero alley, 2. I got yer Christmas Bokeh Cliche right here (338/366), 3. Port/ S.F, 4. San Francisco Holiday Lights, 5. Christmas @ Union Square, 6. San Francisco Skyline, 7. 8718_20 Big Ornaments for Tall Buildings, 8. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, 9. Trimming tree Union Square

I am off to San Francisco tomorrow. I'm taking Alex and a friend of her's for Alex's birthday. Wish me luck. LOL.

Sorry I have been neglecting the blog it's just been crazy busy this month. It always is. I haven't kept up as well on my December Daily as I would have liked but I will (finally) get photos up soon (I hope)

Hope everyone is having a good December so far. Is anyone done with their shopping already??

jen

late

it's 10:56pm and we just finally finished all of the homework that Alex was missing. This same teacher gave them a three page paper to write on top of  the 4 assignments she still  had to make up. It has been a rough night. Only made better by my husband's homemade Kalamata Olive Bread...and the small glass of wine I am going to have right now before heading to bed.

More interesting post tomorrow. I promise. Maybe...

my four day weekend is looking good at this point:)

jen

Sunday...

today is how I like my weekends to go.

sleeping in until 9:30

a little computer time to myself

made some pancakes

took the girls to the thrift store

walked around Monterey taking pictures
then...

off to the Ol' Factory for some beer tasting

although not so much for me
my head cold.
has ruined my taste buds .
for a couple more days.

(sigh)

they all tasted weird...even ones that I would have usually enjoyed.

watched the girls play a little foosball.
Nate and I got in at the end
to speed up the last game
so that we could head home.

came home to make a recipe out here for Spicy Autumn Vegetable burgers. so good. Also made roasted sweet potato fries with parmesan and garlic. Also very good.

I love when a weekend can include friends, and sleeping in, good food, computer time, movie watching and still have a chance to get house cleaning done. Sometimes I feel as if the weekend flies by with nothing to show for the time off. Today was one of those rare days when the day balanced itself out. I wish my life could balance itself out this easily. Balance is one of those things I'm constantly striving towards. When it happens naturally like today it really gets me thinking about how I can work to make all my days feel this balanced and complete. I'd love to know what you have done to make you own lives a little more balanced...

While we were at the beer tasting, our friend Steve, offered to let me use his studio one weekend to practice my photography skills. With his camera and lenses. And he will be my assistant showing me lighting and other neat tricks. So I'm doing a photo shoot with Alex and her friends as part of her birthday present. To say her and I are both very excited would be an understatement. Steve is one of the biggest supporters of my photography. So this is a great opportunity for me:)

how was everyone else's weekend??

jen

a little comparison...

When people tell me that my daughter and I look alike I don't really believe them. Maybe cause right  now we look so different. I see similarities in photos like these though. The common death stare.The obvious attitude. We have similar features...enough to know we are related.  For me the similarities end there though. Whereas I tried to hide myself in plain clothes she likes to wear the brightest ones she can find. My obvious insecurity in photos  like these compared to her confidence.  My unruly hair with a mind of it's own compared to hers that seems to lie just right. In these two photos we are the same age give or take a month or so. I had just turned 14 and she will be 14 in weeks. It's crazy to me that we are the same age in these photos.  Kids these days look so much more grown up.

Anyways...there was no real point to this post. I got some photos from a friend a few weeks ago and I just  realized that in some of them, I am the same age as my daughter and it's been weird to see the differences and the similarities.

jen

halloween 2008

This was the first official year that I let Alex trick or treat by herself with her friends. Even last year I only let her hang in our neighborhood with Emme. This year they went from 7-10pm with a large group. I think they spent more time messing around wrestling and flirting with boys than actually going house to house. Her yield this year was the smallest amount of candy I've ever seen her collect. I guess her dentist will have to wait another year to get his new car;)

They went as Goldilocks and Alice in Wonderland and I'm not sure what storybook the makers of these costumes read but I've never read a version where Goldilocks or Alice wore outfits this short. Sadly this was the most popular look for teens their age. I drew the line at thigh high socks and heels though and made her wear tights and shorts underneath her skirt. And flats. I think the end result was cute rather than sexy so...my job as a mother was successful today:)

Hope everyone had a nice Halloween and stayed safe.

Originally Alex was going with her friend Maddy but she bailed on Alex and went with another girl to a different area of Monterey instead. I found out today that this other girl's mom gave them a ride and she was drunk when she took them. ?!?!?!?!? That she in fact, got out of the car and fell face first into the street.  I'm still reeling with the thought that someone would drive her daughter and friends while under the influence. I am SO glad that Alex stuck with her original plans and didn't go with them last night. 

jen

one very colorful teen

She received these jeans from her Aunt Kristy last week. A dream come true for her. She's been talking about yellow skinny jeans for months now.

I have to admit that I'm a bit proud of her crazy fashion style. I never had the guts to wear anything crazy in my younger years even though I wanted to. I was always too worried about what others thought about me. She just does it and is so comfortable with herself.

Makes me also think I am doing something right as a mother. Encouraging her to be herself. To be proud of who she is.

I will have some photos from my trip last week. It's been crazy trying to play catch up at work. And at home. And I am definitely feeling my age...it took me days to recover from my reunion weekend:P

jen

more changes

so here she is with her new braces (not so new now...it's been a couple of weeks). I haven't been in a blogging mood for a few weeks now. Been doing fun stuff but just find that at the end of the day I don't want to be on the computer. I sit in front of a computer over 8 hours a day already so...

I'll (crossing my fingers) be updating a little more often. I have a lot to say just no time:(

Alex starts school on Monday already! Sad for her...good for us parents;)

jen