14 Years, 1 Month...Full of Aaron time and Volleyball!!!

I went out with mom and Emily, Aaron and his mom for Culver’s the day after my birthday (after volleyball practice.)  We had a family birthday party at home this year, for the first time in a long time.  Aaron came and met my whole family and fit in great.  I love having my grandparents and Kristy and Heather and Sean there.  I went to see AntMan with Aaron’s family after the party.
I am signed up to take high school PE/Health for summer school.  I am starting to get nervous about going to high school, and it is mostly because a lot of the kids in my school are just mean.  I was able to have a four-day weekend from school, so that was nice.  Lila, Lucy, Olga, and I went to SkyZone one of the days.  Olga and Lucy and I are not as close as we were, but I am really excited for Lila to come back next year. 
There has been a lot of volleyball this month!  Lilah came over to hang out for a while before one of our practices.  I also went to her house another night and spent the night.  We made homemade pizzas and she curled my hair.  We went as a family to stay with Jill (and Ale!) in Olathe before the KC Super Slam tournament.  We did not only come in 1^st place, but we were undefeated!!!  Our next tournament isn’t for another month, so we are practicing hard to come out stronger and better!
We had a musical group called The Many come to Church that weekend.  I missed their concert the night before but loved hearing them.  Dad took me to Aaron’s basketball game that night.  Dad was not feeling well one night and when Mom came home from parent teacher conferences, she took him to the ER.  I was so scared but stayed home with Emily (who was already asleep).  I Facetimed with Aaron and texted Aunt Lisa to stay calm and I know Mom and Dad were really thankful and proud of me. 
I try to get together with Aaron once a week, or as often as we can since we don’t see each other in school, and we live pretty far away.  I got to hang out at his house another day off from school.  We got together the next weekend and went rock climbing.
As youth, we are leading the youth groups this month.  I only had one night that I was able to go to youth group and led the first one with Elizabeth.  I was so nervous but very proud of our presentation. We also had a party at the Hoell's and I got to play with Neha (Lillian's daughter.)  She is so cute and special!

Track started this month too, and I am the fastest girl miler on the team.  I think I am just kind of done with middle school everything.  I am interested in playing soccer in high school instead.  I got new running shoes for my birthday, but mom said they are ONLY for running as I am a shoe hoarder lately!

Being silly after Culver's

Emily joined in the fun

Rock climbing 

Opening gifts from Nana Arden and Papa Rodney

She was pretty happy

Nana Arden and Papa Rodney visit

Hanging out with Aaron and our tag-a-long

Awesome volleyball shirts

Opening more gifts

Zoom-zoom with Neha

Lilah's handiwork

Exhaustion (healing up after the concussion without screens)

All healed up and ready to go!

Warming up

Champions!

1st place medals

Are these real?

My buddy Lilah

Our amazing coach Mikayla

And again, my forever fan!

A great team right here

So proud!

This guy shows up everywhere!

#playfornae

Getting ready for track season

Supporting from the sidelines

14 Years Old...two more years until I can drive!

This month, I have had a couple positionals (I am wanting to improve on serve receive) and practices.  I got to go over to Lilah's house before one of them.  Our teammates in Columbia do a carpool to Jeff City so the 6 of us have a lot of fun on the way down and back.

We had our 2nd tournament at the Gateway League in St. Louis.  We stayed at Auntie Heather and Uncle Sean's house and all Covid tested before.  Emily ended up being positive, so she and Dad stayed home.  Dad ended up testing positive too that weekend.  As for me, I dove headfirst for a ball straight into a metal bench and ended up with a concussion.  I loved that Papa Ron and Dan and Nickie came to see me, but feel bad that they really didn't get to see me play.  I did go back to watch for the second day just to support the team.  I was out for a week but after a lot of rest and no phone use, I am back to normal.

When I wasn't able to play at the tournament, another player stepped up and ended up playing in my spot (outside hitter.)  I was moved to DS.  It really shook my confidence because I thought Mikayla didn't think I belonged on the team anymore.  At the PAC Challenge tournament, I played libero.  I missed hitting but I did the best I could.  Every tells me that Mikayla is putting me where I will make the most impact, but I just don't believe them.  We ended up doing very well in that tournament (second in our pool!)  We lost in our first round but had we scored one more point in our pool, we would have had a bye the first round of bracket play and probably could have beat the next team.

We had a scrimmage against Club CoMo for one of our practices.  Since Aaron can't make any of our tournaments, he and his mom came to watch the scrimmage.  I barely played at all and was so disappointed.  I feel bad that they came and didn't get to see much.  Again, this worked on my confidence and I was told by another parent that she doesn't usually play the better players at scrimmages so other players get a chance to play more.  I have my doubts of course.

I went to several nights of Aaron's basketball games at the Oakland tournament.  I wore his John Warner sweatshirt and got a lot of looks from my school friends!  I also got to hang out at Aaron's house afternoon/evening and really enjoyed that time.

We had an early release day one Tuesday and ended up having a snow day the next day!  I love snow days!  Our school is putting on the play A Mid-Summer Night's Dream and unfortunately, I have a tournament the same weekend.  Fortunately, I have impressed our new drama teacher and she asked me to be a student director!  I got to decide on parts during auditions and tell the actors what to do and where to go.  I think some of the younger ones are scared of me!

I have been excited about high school just to get out of middle school but haven't had a lot of emotion about it.  However, Battle High School had a Course Fair and I got to meet a lot of my teachers for next year and learn about some classes and programs I would like to take/participate in.  Now I am nervous and excited!  I am also signed up to take health in summer school!

Our family went over to Thad, Corinne, Jack, and Lillian's house for the Chiefs playoff game.  I really don't get football but it was good to hang out with friends.  We have also played some games as a family.  We really get into Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza! We had Emily's friend birthday party at Flipz and I actually had a good time.  I tried to play with kids who didn't seem to know anyone so they felt comfortable and welcome.  After that, I got to go to Aaron's house for the Super Bowl!  I spent time with his family, including his grandparents, and learned a lot more about football!

This year, I asked for a much bigger and better cake for my birthday.  Last year, the cake was about the size of my hand and the wrong flavor.  I got a larger marble cake this year and was much happier! I celebrated my birthday with the youth group.  Michael got me a cake and of course they sang to me. 

With Lilah before team pictures

Fierce!

Team being serious

Team pic

Landrie, me, Lilah

The "Frannie's"

Look at that platform!

In my element

All good volleyball players have bruises, right?

Ready for tournament #2

Blocking with Lia

Ready!

Celebrating with the team

I'm pretty passionate (the red bench in the foreground was my nemesis!)

After my concussion

Mom, Dan, and Nickie supported me (until I dropped)

Papa Ron missed me playing but was there when I was "concussed" (look at those eyes)

Playing libero at the PAC Challenge tournament

No pictures at Emily's birthday party

Well, maybe one...

Hanging out with Amelia

14 Years Old!

My new Nike shoes!

Go Chiefs!

Blowing out my candles