When my thoughts get jumbled.

Sunday, May 27, 2012


This week I literally tried to write in this blog every day and just couldn't do it. I can't get a hold of my thoughts and summarize, or even interpret all that is going on in my mind. I feel overwhelmed, with happiness, sadness, excitement, fear, confusion, complete understanding, amazement, and desperation. See where I'm going with this? Actually probably not, because I'm all over the place right now. I have 5 other tabs up on my laptop, every time I type a sentence I go to another tab. And breathe. I'm distracting myself. Then I remember I need to type, I just need to get it out.

I feel exhausted. Completely. I have been busy with well, everything. If I wasn't though, I would lose my mind. I get home at night and lay down, trying to fall asleep. By the time I actually do, I have to wake up for school in only a few hours. After 7 hours of that, I either have work or something else that just needs to get done. So there's the reasoning for physical exhaustion. But mental, that's a completely different story.

I'm graduating in 11 days, 5 school days. The end is near. Yes, graduation is exciting. It's something I've been looking forward to for what seems like forever. I'm finally going to be free of pointless busy work, nagging teachers, ridiculous girl drama, and everything else that would put me in a bad mood after a 7 hour school day ha. But, then all that good stuff is over too. I don't want to look back once I leave. It's time to start a new adventure. But, high school was such an amazing adventure. It made me who I am. Not exactly the school itself, that time of life is more like it. I was blessed with the most amazing best friends anyone could ever have. They were always there, through thick and thin. 2 of them are leaving after the summer is over. We're growing up. ASB helped me find the good in others, it taught me determination, and a good work ethic. I'm retiring my cheer uniform for good. My days of sparkly bows and pep rallies are over. So yes, I'm ready to take on this world one step at a time. I just can't seem to grasp that it's over. I'm finished.

Really though leaving high school is only a small portion of why I am being so dramatic. With graduation comes the scary part. A week after I graduate I will be moving in to my best friends house. This is exciting, really! I'm just nervous, really... I get homesick so easily. Its ridiculous. Until I feel completely comfortable with my surroundings, I get this pit in my stomach. I start missing just being in MY bed, having MY shower, staying up late with MY dad at MY house. Don't get me wrong I'm beyond excited to move out, but like graduation moving out means more than just that. When I move out some "changes" will be happening. Changes I'll inform you of a bit later. They give me anxiety, but so much happiness.

Really, I guess I'm just nervous. The road ahead is creeping up far too quickly. My thoughts still feel jumbled. But, I do feel like a bit of misunderstanding is cleared. This whole time I thought I was sad that my life will be changing right before my eyes. I'm not, I'm just anxious. And nervous.

By the way, it was senior spirit week this week. Wanna see what it's like to be a senior at my school?


Little Kid Day!


Tacky Toursit Day!


Celebrity look alike day!


Senior Citizen Day!


Senior Sunset


Okay, I need to go work on a project due Tuesday that is also stressing me out. I'm the worst procrastinator.

All my love,
-Aleigh Joy
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His Legacy.

Sunday, May 20, 2012


I think I have finally mustered up the courage to type out my thoughts and feelings on these past few days. Anthony Bash Vaeao, a wonderful friend, a brother, a son, an amazing football player, a student, a LEGACY, passed away Thursday May 17, 2012. Some say it was a heart attack, others a seizure, but no one will really know until the autopsy comes back. He was playing basketball with some friends, then collapsed, his whole entire life came to an end. It's just not fair. I had seen him that day smiling and happy as could be, he always was. No one could have suspected this was coming, no one could have predicted he would be taken from us so soon.



I met Anthony when I was a freshman. He transferred to Mission Hills from El Camino High school. The first time I ever saw him I couldn't believe my eyes haha, his Samoan roots definitely show. I walked out of my first period class and he was behind me. We exchanged a hello, his kind smile was so inviting. We were losing a lot of awesome football players since they were graduating seniors, but we were gaining this one. He had natural-born talent, our football coach wasted no time recruiting him to the team. Summer came and went, football season was of the essence. I returned to my school for my sophomore year. Third period rolled around and as I took a seat I noticed him, Anthony. The first week passed and I told my parents how this big Samoan boy in my class always messes with me and doesn't leave me alone. A week later, I told them he was one of my very best friends. Anthony has this charm, irresistible kindness, hilarious humor, the most incredible laugh you have ever heard, he always went out of his way to make your day. We spent that year laughing at how my teacher clearly resembled a toad, talking football and making bets of this week's score, messing around, playing jokes on each other, but mostly just enjoying each other's company.


Anthony impacted my life in such a positive way, as well as so many others. You could always count on him to give you a laugh, to provide a needed smile. His life ended too short, but he accomplished everything I want to be in just 18 years. He was everybody's friend, I don't think he had any enemies. Well... except for on Friday nights if you were the opposing team haha. Really though, he is loved by so many people from all over. We had a candlelight vigil for him Thursday night at our high school. The stands were packed. The use of the word packed is meant to be understood as full or crowded, but even that seems too light to describe everyone that was there to support his family, to honor his life. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. The class of 2012 graduates in but two and a half weeks. It won't be the same, but we will walk with pride and honor to you Anthony. Every step I take up to that stage will be for you, you came so close. Our school has drawn closer than I thought was possible, the community has reached out in unforgettable ways. The impact he had on so many is truly incredible.

Every one of us has a memory of Anthony. Those memories will live on in our hearts forever and ever. I think I'll share a few, after all he would want us to celebrate his life not mourn.

Anthony was a prankster, A jokester no doubt. I was walking out to the parking lot with him, Hunter and another friend. Anthony grabbed my keys and ran off to my car. He giggled the entire way as I yelled and demanded he come back and return my keys. He opened the door, oh no he wouldnt drive away I thought... Wait yes he totally would! He got in the driver's seat and turned the car on, at this point I was running towards him thinking somehow my 123 pound body could get his 300+ body out of my tiny car. Anthony had a little trouble fitting in the car. His solution? Well open the sunroof of course! His afro poured out of the sun roof and I stopped in my tracks laughing out loud. I let him drive around the parking lot, after all I got a great laugh out of it. Then he started doing donuts around me... kay buddy time to stop :)
Anthony always had to one up everyone. It was just in his competitive nature. My best friend Audrey has an entire bin of citric acid in her kitchen used for lemonade. Keep in mind, it looks a whole lot like sugar. We dared him to try and take a spoonful of the mix, knowing he wouldn't deny our request. He took the biggest spoon he could find and shoved a heaping spoonful into his mouth. His eyes widened, his lips puckered, now tears seemed to be falling from his eyes. Dustin and Reggie did the same, and the three boys tried to see who could keep it in the longest. They paced up and down the kitchen, they circled the house, they wouldn't give. Meanwhile us girls are laughing our heads off at their faces and how silly it was that nobody would give up. Long story short, Audrey had a bit of throw up on her porch for a little while. I think Anthony won.
Lastly, one night my dad had called me a bit panicked. He said our power was being shut off and he knew it was one of my friends. I looked around me, Vaeao was sitting right by me it obviously wasn't him. I told him my dad called and within minutes we arrived at my house. Anthony knocked on the door and as my dad answered he said, "uhm hello... I hear your power has been shut off. 911 emergency is here to your rescue." He told my dad he would scope out the area and find the culprit. It only took him 2 minutes to find the tandem bike and he had forgotten the whole reason we even came. Watching him ride around the neighborhood was definitely worth it though :)

I can't believe he is no longer with us. It's surreal, unfair, and heartbreaking. He was the pride, joy, and excitement of Mission Hills. He may be gone, but never forgotten. His legacy will live on forever.


“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering” Ben Okri


All my love,
-Aleigh Joy
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Lets go to the beach, each lets go get away.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

We took a trip, to the wonderful world of Los Angelos. It was prom weekend, and my date is in Ohio serving a mission. It was a beautiful day. I had a wonderful time creating new memories with the beautiful Samantha Evans before she leaves me this summer for BYU.


Before detailing the wonderful day, I wanted to add that it was not only a wonderful Saturday, but an amazing weekend all together! As of Thursday May tenth I am officially done with high school English of every sort for the rest of my life! No more writing dreaded essays, reading pointless books in old English, or trying to interpret a poem to a degree I'm sure the poet never even intended while writing. That's right folks, I took the AP Literature exam from 8:00am-12:30pm on Thursday which marks the end of that class. Hallelujah!!! Now we watch movies and learn to Bollywood dance the rest of the semester. If you're thinking why even go anymore, I am as well. After the test Sam and I went to sushiya where we indulged in miso soup and spicy crunchy rolls. Yum! One of my favorite meals of all time :)Thank goodness I have Sam to appreciate good sushi with me. We had some time to kill so we went to Kohls and Wal Mart to look for new pillows for my new bedding. No luck, apparently nobody sells mint green, white, or light pink pillows. However we did find Aubrie Moore! All three of us went to goodwill where we found some great deals on home furnishings that only needed a little fixing. I'll post more about those when my new room is finished, but I got something I turned into an necklace hanger, a picture frame that holds 7 pictures, and a pink porcelain bowl I can use for my rings all for SIX DOLLARS! Thrifting is truly one of my favorite things to do. After school on Friday, Michelle, me, Audrey, Sam, Savannah, and Aubrie went to my high school's dance show. Our jazz team is nationally ranked sixth, so it was quite the show to say the least. The best part however, was driving home and screaming Long Live until our voices could have given out/the song ended. what a great way to begin the weekend.


Now on to Saturday! I woke up with excitement brewing inside as I thought about the adventure that lies ahead. I picked up Samantha at 9:00 am and we made our way to Santa Monica pier. We only hit a little bit of traffic and made it there in about 2 hours!
We walked up and down the pier where we found Pacific Park! Think where Lily Works in Hannah Montana! Yep, an entire amusement park on a pier! Awesome :) After exploring we decided to rent some beach cruisers for an hour of our time so we could ride down to Venice Beach and explore all the crazies over there haha. Mine was green and had a little basket. I love it so much. The wind blowing through my hair and hearing the waves crash against the shore line made for a perfect little ride.


When we made it to Venice beach we walked our bikes through the crowded street and observed all that was going on. I'm talking street performers, live bands, numerous shops, pizza slices the size of an entire pizza, oh and not to mention a freak show... Yep we saw a two headed turtle. I don't know what else to say about that nonsense.

After returning the cruisers, we walked back over to Pacific Park where we decided to ride the roller coaster! It most definitely isn't six flags material, but it was fun and so cool to be riding a coaster over the ocean! We giggled the entire time and were so giddy afterward.

Once we laid on the beach for a little while we made our way over to the famous Pink's hot dogs!it is a tiny little shack looking place with people always lined up to get their hands on these crazy dogs. The line is all part of the experience.

We decided on sharing so we could get the best of both dogs. One was called the Lord of the Rings dog complete with onion rings and barbecue sauce. The other one pretty much had everything but the kitchen sink on it. it was called the L.A. Philharmonic Conductor Gustavo Dudamel Dog. This Stretch hot dog had guacamole, American & Swiss cheese, fajita mix, jalapeno slices, and was topped with tortilla chips. Not to mention we had to get an order of fries. I would be lying if I told you even one bite was left. We literally ate it all!

After we felt like we were going to pop out of our clothes, we ventured over to Rodeo Drive where we window shopped and found our dream wedding dresses.



Once we walked around for some time we found ourselves at the Beverly Hills Sprinkles! Yep, I do have a Sprinkles way closer to me in La Jolla but this one has a Cupcake ATM! It's awesome! You use the screen to pick your cupcake, slide your card in, then the machine grabs it and delivers it to you like a vending machine. The cupcakes are fresh and the ATM is open 24 hours a day. I was very impressed. Not only that, but I got to see where the sprinkles ice cream shop is coming in! Too excited for that :)


After making it back to San Diego in a little under an hour and half (shh... I promise we were being safe) We ended the night in the jacuzzi at Sam's timeshare in Carlsbad. It was a splendid day and I am happy we were able to go on such a fun adventure.

Now I leave you with a quote that brightened my day.

"A successful woman is one who can build a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at her."

All my love,
-Aleigh Joy
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Blessed Babes!

Monday, May 7, 2012
This weekend may have been one of the longest of my life. We had a fundraiser on Saturday for girls camp. A garage sale to be exact, that involved sorting piles upon piles of clothing the night before. It got tiring, and some of the clothes were quite different to say the least.
\ However, I did score myself a pair of red high heels pretty much brand spankin new for TWO dollars. Heck yes! This garage sale was so big that we had to have a moving truck take everything down to the parking lot, we don't mess around. Needless to say, I was so ready for bed when it came time. Oh but it gets better, I got woken up at FOUR FIFTY IN THE AM, because the sale started at five. Say what? Yeah, not a happy camper. I ended up working the bake sale for as long as I was there, and may have taken a few butterscotch bars while I was at it. Around 10:30 I left and headed over to Jamba for a six hour shift. Thank goodness it wasn't super busy and only one grumpy customer complained of her smoothie being "absolutely disgusting". I met up with Aubrie Ann after work since she conveniently works at H&M right across from Jamba. We headed over to Salsa for a little cinco de mayo dinner with a few other Moore's. After a great day of being up for about 18 hours I was beyond ready for bed. Sunday Morning I headed right back over to the Moore's house to attend three different baby blessings at three different buildings with Michelle and Logan. It was quite a hefty day, but seriously fun. Each of the babies looked precious and did so well as they were being blessed. Each father did a wonderful job as well while blessing their children with wonderful lives ahead. You would have thought they did it a hundred times :) The day was jam packed with luncheons and pictures and visiting with some of my favorite people.
First up was Hudson Gregory Nielsen.
Next was Sienna Marie Moore, don't mind the nosing in the picture :)
Lastly, was Sadie Grace Dunham. What precious blessed babes they are. Sunday dinner was prepared by the Nielsen family and it was a deligthful meal full of pork roast, cheesy biscuits, spinach salad, pesto pasta, and a delightful chocolate bundt cake! It was another night of my life I went to bed with a happy and grateful heart. How precious life is! To conclude, a few more pictures from the joyous Sunday affair!
Landon Patrick giggles :)
Ava Lynn shows some love
The boys nose each other.
My favorite Moore gals.

Well that is all, Happy Monday all!
All my love,
-Aleigh Joy
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Just try to never grow up.

Friday, May 4, 2012
Well friends, I am officially an adult. And i feel absolutely no different, who would of guessed ;)It was such a lovely day, birthdays always are. It started how any birthday should; I woke up to my room completely decorated with streamers, balloons, posters, you name it. It's quite the tradition in my home for my parents to decorate our rooms in the middle of the night so we wake up feeling extra special on our extra special day. I may or may not have woken up as they were decorating (every year for that matter), but who cares i fake sleep anyways because its the thought that counts. I got to sleep in until 7:30, on a school morning! That's right folks I ditched the first block...with my mother's permission of course :) Then we traveled over to massage envy in Encinitas where I had my very first massage. Oh. My. Gosh. I think that may have to be added to the birthday tradition list as well ;) I didn't even giggle! And let me tell ya, I am probably one of the most ticklish people ever when it comes to my legs. Yep, I'm definitely one of those people that has to hide my face in a magazine as the asian lady makes me giggle during a pedicure. After that wonderful experience, I went over to my school where I walked into ASB to find the whiteboard COVERED in the sweetest birthday messages! Talk about feeling loved! I love my ASB class. Some of the most wonderful people I have ever met are a part of that class and I am so thankful I get to work with them every single day.
Then the wake up call arrived. I recieved my cap and gown on my 18th birthday. Yep, I'll never forget that. As my mom and I drove back from massage envy, Never grow up came on and we both broke down. More so her, but she kept saying how she just keeps picturing me as a little baby not an adult. I felt like I wasn't ready to grow up and I wanted to stay in that car with her forever. However, when I got my cap and gown, I realized the time has come and there's nothing I can do about that. Reality set in, I really am going to grow up. Having all my friends there makes it so much easier, and guess what I think I am ready. My best friend Audrey surprised me with the most adorable cakes I have ever seen. I loved them so much, and they taste even better than they look! (I know hard to believe)
I share a birthday with a girl that I have known since elementary school and I decided to take a picture with her and the two cakes sweet Audrey gave me. My other friend Samantha gave me the most adorable birthday card with the sweetest poem and a ticket for a sushi date she is going to take me out on :) I have the very best friends. They bring so much happiness into my life and I am so thankful for all they do for me.
For my birthday dinner I chose the fabulous Ruby's diner on the pier in Oceanside!Best friend turned sister, Audrey, came with me and my family. Wanna know why Audrey is one of my very best friends? Because she does things with me that nobody else would. Like wearing lipstick every chance we get just because it make us feel like women. So, Audrey and I wore wedges with our jeans and we made it all the way down the pier without stumbling. Heck yes we really are women! One reason I always choose Ruby's is because what better location can you have than right over the water, but also because they have the best milkshakes known to man kind. Disagree if you would like, but you will never persuade me otherwise. I got the decadent peanut butter cup shake that makes my taste buds do a little dance every time more enters my mouth.
Audrey got cookie dough, Andrew got double vanilla, and my dad got heath bar. See, isn't your mouth watering now? I got the santa fe burger complete with guacomole, chipotle sauce, a green chile pepper, and pepper jack cheese. Oh my gosh, take me back now! During dinner everyone shared their favorite memory with me, and how sweet it was :)After I was stuffed beyond belief they brought out an ice cream sundae and sang to me. We walked back to the car and went home to the best birthday present yet.
That's right friends! My very own Nikon!! Oh happy day! I am in love, its like my little baby until I actually have one. And then I will use it to take pictures of my sweet real baby :)It was a wonderful day. Truly wonderful. I went to bed smiley (and tired) and said a very long prayer of gratitude for not just a great day, but for eighteen years worth of wonderful days. Now I will close with that delightful poem written by the wonderfully beautiful Samantha Evans :) "So therE's this girl called Aleigh from So Cali whose just turned eighteen! With cupcakes and lace, sprinkles and T-Swifty this girl is so great and my, what a beauty! From sushi to Ruby's to Discovery Lake we have the funnest times, and that no mistake! She's darling and lovely from head to toe, and when she makes cupcakes you always want some Mo'e! She knows every word to Taylor Swift and High School Musical she's "Fearless" and "Fabulous" and will "Forever and Always" "Stay Beautiful"! With that radiant smile and joyful laugh it's no wonder she's part of the Jamba Juice staff! As you can see, this girl is such a sweet pea And best friends I hope we always will be! So on this third day of May I have to say... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Yep she's clever, and that made me smile so very much. Like I said a million times before, what a wonderful day :)

All my love,
 -Aleigh Joy
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