New Years Day

We have a New Years tradition. There's this awesome park we go to every year on New Year's Day. We come and bring lunch and the boys play football and stuff.

The view from the park is amazing: 

My beautiful beach town. Sorry that tree's in the way. 

How cool is that!? 

I have my own tradition too here at this park. Every year I bring my sketchbook and draw the view here. Then I can look back and see how my drawing skills have improved. This year, it was kind of quickly done. I'd rather not post it because my brothers could use it as blackmail material. I really could have done better. But, I have definitely improved drawing-wise over the past few years. 

On the way home, Penguin and Blaze played their favorite car game: sweet and sour. Everyone was cracking up, it was hilarious. There was this one guy we passed and Penguin, with a total poker face, saluted him. The guy, with and equally funny poker face, waved back like it was totally normal. 

Have I ever mentioned that my brothers are insane? 

2014 was a pretty great year. The summer was the best though. Over the summer, I learned guitar, we went to Palm Springs, Maddie and I went to Costa Mesa and had a two-day shopping spree (naturally), Blaze taught me how to dive under waves at the beach (how depressing, I had to learn from my little brother) so now I can swim out really far without freaking out whenever a wave comes, among many other things. Throughout the whole year, not just summer, I turned fifteen, I went to a wedding, and I wrote more poems. I graduated middle school and started my freshman year. I finished my first novel. 

My New Years resolution is to finish my second novel that I'm currently working on with my newest character, Miette. And also to be a better person and all that. Be nicer to my brothers, play with my sisters more, etc. 

This past year has been filled with lots of time at the beach, stress about school, and being locked up in a quiet room with the laptop writing. I have to say that 2014 was a really great year. I did some things I would have not been able to do a year ago. 

The weird thing is, 2014 will never come again. No other year will be just like it. Even so, I hope 2015 is just as great. 

--Abby