My 2014 started off with trading Tagalog and English with a hilarious nine-year old and discussing what happiness meant to my father. A stranger asked to take photos of Mark and I sharing a bench at Stelth Ulvang’s show and I asked to take a photo of him as well. I took my first photography class and didn’t get the best grade. Hannah took me to see Manchester Orchestra play brilliantly on my 20th birthday. My brother graduated high school and is now studying at SFSU, living in a house with a rock-climbing wall in the backyard and a killer view of the city. Over the summer, I worked at Jelly Belly during the day and spent the evenings leathering a belt and building a bench to surprise my mother when she came back from Texas. I taught Nina basic stitching and she made the greatest silver pants. My family went to Yellowstone for a week, where we spent hours looking at the stars and my mother enjoyed watching the bison run.  I transitioned from being a base stunter to a flyer and I am incredibly thankful to be on a motivated and talented cheer team. I moved to a new apartment with three girls I had never met before and now so dearly love. I hummed ‘Silent Night’ to a sweet six-month-old girl while rocking her to sleep, but her giggling was too contagious.

I hope your year was one of growth. Let’s have a stellar 2015.