Oh, Canada // Niagara Falls

To end the trip, it was off to Canada's version of Times Square better known as Niagara Falls. The sound of the falls hitting the water was so loud.

A terrible picture, but a beautiful rainbow.

I love this picture that my sister took.

Seeing the water rushing over the falls was terrifying especially since we went to the museum about people going over the falls.

I loved the curve of the Canadian side, but the American side was just as beautiful. That's a wrap on my trip to Canada this summer. See you soon, America!

Oh, Canada // Toronto

Toronto was our next stop. To start things off, we went to this cathedral that had beautiful stained glass.

Doesn't this look like Epcot? It's actually a Canadian science museum. The museum had these pictures outside that had to do with science in Canada. They were so pretty.

We went to Simons (Canada's version of Macy's) to look around. I ended up getting a scarf. This collection of mirrors is so pretty.

To end our first day in Toronto, we went to the singing swings. Each swing makes a different note. Go in the evening when lots of people will be around to make a song.

I got a mango and raspberry popsicle to top off the evening.

For day five, we were off to Niagara falls, but we had to make a few pit stops first. This colorful building was so cool. I wish I had an office that looked like this.

These banana seats weren't the most comfortable things, but they were pretty cool.

I was able to get a vegan crepe here, so I loved it. We got so much fruit that we weren't able to finish it all. Catch you in Niagara Falls.

Oh, Canada // Quebec City

Over the summer, I went to Canada. Getting to Quebec City took forever. We first took a flight to Toronto, then our flight to Quebec City got delayed. It got delayed for almost 4 hours. The salad I had was pretty good, at least. Finally, we were able to board the tiny plane (We had to check our carry ons.) and make it safely to Quebec City.

The next day, we explored the old city for our time in Quebec City. We walked along the wall that was used in the old days to keep enemies out.

We stumbled upon this garden while looking for food. Well, we found our food. Last time we went to Canada, we found these really yummy tiny red berries. We found them here and feasted on them.

My sister took these pictures. A little artsy.

When we were walking back to our hotel, we found this bridge that was covered in colorful stripes. We walked along to find the other art installations in the series, but nothing could compete with this.

We found a really cool glasses shop. I tried on at least 20 pairs. Showing off my inner Betsey Johnson.

I'm obsessed with the glasses. They remind of a pair Toms had a few years ago.

I felt like Iris Apfel in these glasses.

Am I a hipster, yet?

For the third day, we spent most of the day in the car, but we did check out a waterfall before we left Quebec City. The rushing water was so calming.

As we were walking back, we saw a waterfall. I didn't get a good picture, but it was really pretty. Next stop, Montreal!

Football & Sleepovers

This September was packed with a bunch of fun times. I got to hang out with new and old friends and family from out of town. I got into the swing of the school year with lots of homework to do, but I made time for fun.

I'm in my school's journalism class where we publish an online website. I got to see my first article go live and show it off to my parents. This class is by far my favorite class. The class is made up of people from all different grades which allows for me to become friends with people not in my grade. My teacher is the best too. She's super caring and pays attention to our interests.

My mom went to UNC, so we're UNC fans. The UNC vs UGA game was so fun to watch. We got a suite, so we could all lounge around and watch the game. It was great that my friend, Miriam, and cousins, Chloe and Claire, and Uncle Richard were all there. All of us are UNC fans, so we were all super bummed to see the Tarheels lose. All in all, it was a great game.

We spent a lot of time in the pool with my cousins in an effort to not waste the last moments of summer. Splashing around in the pool felt so nice compared to sitting in the heat. A giant floating swan made it hard to leave the water.

Before my cousins had to go, we decided to have a dessert competition. Claire and I teamed up to make a giant cookie with a scoop of ice cream and chocolate swirl on top. Although I did most of the work, it was a blast. My sister, Olivia, and Chloe made a frozen cookie dough and ice cream that looked equally delicious. Both of the desserts tasted great with everyone gobbling up all of the leftover cookie dough.

Over the summer I went to Cinnaholic, a vegan cinnamon roll place. I was craving it one night so my dad and I went 30 minutes before it closed. We got a tub of cookie dough that was delicious. I ended up gobbling it all the next morning after enjoying it so much the night before.

I went to a sleepover for BBYO. I got to see a bunch of my friends and hang out with them all night. The theme was "candy bar." Our bigs had candy and we ran down and found the candy we had been assigned. My big brought my twin and I boxes to decorate. Needless to say, we had a blast creating them. Separates was so special and made me so happy. Staying up until 3 in the morning talking allowed me to get to know some of my newer friends better.

My school had a retreat for everyone that was a blast. By the time we got up to Tennessee, we only had dinner and the night. My cabin ended up staying awake well past midnight. I wasn't close with anyone in my cabin, so it was nice to become closer with other girls in my grade.

We were split up into small groups as part of our retreat to compete in a mud race. We ran across logs and swung across platforms to get to a mud pit. It was definitely gross to be walking in thigh deep mud. Luckily, we were able to spray down before getting into more mud. Crawling through mud may not be my favorite thing to do, but it felt great to see a bunch of my friends cheering me on. I swam down across a lake and jumped off the lake with my favorite teacher before sliding down a slip in slide to end the competition.

A few of my friends and I decided to do paintball together at the retreat. One of my friends, Melissa, and I ended up on the same team, so we clung to each other. It was fun and all until I got hit in the collarbone. It stung really badly and I have a bruise from it.

On the bus back from the retreat, I sat with a group of people I didn't know that well. Elizabeth, Robbie, Poppy, Claudia, and Joseph and I talked about dream careers and music we like for a while. It felt nice to be around people I don't normally hang out with.

Two of my friends, Emma and Sylvie, were playing volleyball games one night. It was awesome to see them in action. My friend, Revell, and I cheered them on. Emma, Revell, and I stayed to watch the seniors for senior night. Josie, my other friend, showed up, so I got to hang out with her. All of us had a blast goofing off together.

One night Melissa, came over and we cooked chana masala. We were worried that we wouldn't have enough of the ingredients, but we ended up finding plenty in the pantry. The recipe made a ton, but we devoured a lot of it. Both of us want to make it again after enjoying it so much.

My friends, Brian and Revell, and I went to Ponce City Market. It mainly consisted of walking around looking for food and then all of us getting food from different restaurants. We ended up sitting by these people who were taking pictures and were extremely confused by us. It was pretty hilarious.

Olivia and I dressed up one night wackily and walked around the neighborhood. We looked really ridiculous, but we had tons of fun. Cars driving by were really confused by the sight of us.

My family went to the I heart Atlanta pop up shop at the W hotel. It was great to see a bunch of my favorite Atlanta retailers together, but we didn't end up scoring. The event was outside with the weather being really nice, so it felt fine to stroll around.

Have a marvelous month.

Sophie

One Year

I started writing down something I did everyday one year ago. Now, its fun to look back and see what I did. Some of the days have random things. Others have more important things.

Here are a few of my favorite days:

-August 23: Broke the bowling lane when Jason, Melissa, and I threw 9 bowling balls at once.

-August 29: Escaped the heat of the indoors with Will, Wyatt, Wake, Zach, and Gabe.

-September 6: Had a photo shoot with Natalie and Lucy on a inflatable whale.

-October 15: Made guacamole with Kael for a mexi cookoff.

-October 29: Booed neighbors with Tillman.

-November 24: Made doughnuts with Francesca.

-December 16: Saw my friends preform Into the Woods.

-January 7: Lounged around on Target furniture samples with Lucy.

-February 3: Suprised my cousins.

-February 12: Blasted off bottle rockets with Hayes and Evan.

-March 19: Played tie dye tage for Catie's birthday.

-April 2: Went to a pillow fight in the park.

-May 14: Went strawberry picking.

-June 6: Made pop tarts.

-July 20: Hiked to Nevada Falls in Yosemite.

29 Days

29 days. 23 kids. 4 adults. 5 states. Thousands of miles driven. That was the perfect mix to allow me to explore some of the most beautiful parts of the country with amazing friends. That allowed me to form lasting connections with people from all across the country. Florida. New York. Kansas. Illinois. New Jersey. Indiana. Colorado. That allowed me to be in the moment. Not texting. Not on buzzfeed. Not reading. Not doing whatever. That allowed me to go on adventures. White water rafting. Tubing. Hiking. Paintballing. Canoeing. That allowed me countless memories.

Thanks...Sophie, Mel, Mikayla, Shaina, Kira, Zoe, Mariel, Mia, Simone, Phoebe, Bryan, Sam, Cole, Billy, Jared, Marcus, Noah, Sam, Maer, Daniel, Aidan, ADD 1 MORE NAME for allowing me to laugh a million times a day.

Thanks Sophie for always being there for me.

Thanks Mel for letting me become snapchat famous.

Thanks Mikayla for allowing me to twin and trade clothes with you.

Thanks Shaina for always making the mornings adventurous.

Thanks Kira for inspiring me with your crazy dance moves.

Thanks for the trip of a lifetime.

My Bed, A Safety Net

Over the years, I've had several beds. They've been in different sizes and locations. Yesterday morning I was irritated about being woken up and went onto a rant about how I love my bed, little did I know, I was talking about the safety net of my bed. I relied on my bed to protect me from anything I thought could go wrong. I'd miss out on parties, concerts, sleepovers, and other events to stay in my safety net.

My bed shouldn't be my safety net, it should be a place I come to rest after a long night. The ironic thing is that I'm writing this from a bed in a hotel. I could be out on the beach, but instead I'm sitting in my bed watching Netflix and writing this very post you are reading.

Sleep is essential, but the nights in which I get hardly any sleep or no sleep are the nights I remember most. As I look back on those nights, my face brightens up into a smile that could stretch for miles.

I need to dedicate more nights of living rather than just being. I need to start moving in the world rather than watching the world. I need to live my life to the fullest rather than just walk through it.
- Amelia