To: A younger me

I have this vivid memory of walking through the doors into the sunshine on the last day of school when I was in 6th grade. "I don't want to be a 'sevie'," I said. I linked arms with my best friends at the time and we crossed the threshold into the summer before our seventh grade year together. There are so many things I would say to that little girl now that I am a quarter century young.

I would say that she needs to stop wishing she had brown hair like everyone else. Your red hair is beautiful and different and when you are 25 you will be unbelievably thankful that you have never had to color your hair a day in your life. It's fierce and awesome all on its own. And the boys sure don't seem to mind now.

Your parents are right, the braces will be worth it.

The boys you have a crush on now will gain 25 pounds in college due to excessive drinking and you will wonder how on earth you ever found them remotely attractive. When you're 25 you will have a ridiculously handsome 6'2, 200 pound ball of muscle for a boyfriend. He's smart and nice and stuff too ;).

Pay attention when learning the metric system because your boyfriend is a professional javelin thrower and speaks in meters and kilograms. Learn to convert.

Also, one day you will be cliff jumping into the beautiful Mediterranean Sea when your Spanish friend asks how many meters the jump was, and how many meters deep the water is. You swim to the bottom and you think it is about 20 feet deep and the jump is about the same. But it takes you at least 5 minutes to convert that into saying just over 6 meters- in Spanish.

PAY ATTENTION TO MR. WHITWORTH IN SPANISH CLASS. You will use it someday.

Sometimes the people you love most in life hurt you. It's best to forgive and keep stepping forward. You are not perfect and neither are they. All hurt eventually fades with time, don't hold on to it longer than necessary. Also, some people just aren't meant to be in your life. Let them go with grace, harbor no ill feelings, and remember them with fondness.

The above being said, sometimes guys suck at life. They say one thing and do another. Don't sweat it, when you meet a good one (and you will- summer 2008) all the bad ones of the past fade away quickly. Luckily I don't need to teach you a lesson in self-respect. You got that covered!

The friends that are meant to be in your life will be there, through everything. Even when you don't see or talk to them for months on end because you moved to New York, or Arizona, or Alaska, or Colorado, or Spain... When you get back things will just pick up right where they left off with these friends.

Listen to your coaches. Drop the attitude and always play like it's your last day on the court. One day it will be, and you'll be surprised to learn where that is. Volleyball will always be your first love.

Which reminds me, skip the first practice of your sophomore year of high school (torn ACL #1). And during the Dowling game (game 2, score 21-13) your senior year of college don't go up to hit a beautiful set that Heather throws your way (torn ACL #2). The one right after you block the Polish girl like you're building a house and she hit the roof. Audrey screams, "that just happened!" in your face right after. Yea, the next set, don't hit it. Just fall over or something.

Freshman year of college, don't go anywhere there is a lake in the middle of a road.

Life gets so much better after high school. Like better beyond your wildest dreams. You will be thankful that all the things you wished for from 7th grade to high school never came true. You'll be thankful for the failed and successful relationships, all the hard work your parents made you do, all the time you spent working out or on a volleyball court somewhere, and all the time you spent learning about cameras and taking hundreds of thousands of photos.

Live your life with passion. Everyday is an adventure.

Blue and Orange. Normally this little pool is crystal clear and great for diving, but this day it was orange. It seemed to be from rain run off coming down from the red rocks and bringing the color of the rock with it.