NaNoWriMo

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS
By: Joelle Dahl
Introduction of the Characters
Tatiana Linda Jones

To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confident; it is to have a soul mate for life. ~Victoria Secunda

All she had ever wanted was to be loved by someone that she loved back. Had this ever happened? No. Was it too much to ask? She didn’t think so but apparently God did. 18-year-old Tatiana Linda Jones was just your average college freshmen with way too much on her plate and not enough time to just enjoy herself sometimes. She was a biology and chemistry double major. Not only class but also two different labs a week sucked up her time. She had met a bunch of new people but most of them were major partiers so she wasn’t very close to them because she did not want to partake in that wonderful American college student tradition. She had always been against alcohol, her mom and dad would offer her sips of their drinks (wine, beer, wine coolers…) but she had always refused not just because she already she knew she didn’t like the flavor but because it was illegal and she knew way to many facts about how bad the effects of alcohol can be for a person. She had moved across the country for college hoping that she would be able to start over and not have to deal with all the same crap that she had in high school because no one would know her which would mean that she could be whoever she wanted to be. She would no longer be another one of the guys because she was sick of that. She had decided that she was going to be a sporty girl not a sporty tom boy, hoping that this would help her meet guys in her element and maybe catch them liking her at the same moment that she was liking them. The goal of the year was a date…she did not care if she liked him a lot or not. Just a date.

Amelia Jesse Jones

Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize. Indulge in monumental sulks, in huffs, in snide remarks. Borrow. Break. Monopolize the bathroom. Are always underfoot. But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there. Defending you against all comers. ~Pam Brown

At 20 years old, Ameila Jones is the girl who has everything except for what she really wants, the boy to share it all with. She is going to school without having to take out loans, which she will pay for long into the distant future. She can speak fairly fluently two foreign languages and for these languages is able to study abroad and devote four months to each so as to make her fluency better. She has many classmates who could kill to have her life even with the boy missing from the picture. Amelia is a junior in college and spending her year in Europe. A semester in Cadiz, Spain studying the language and literature and a semester in Aix-en-Provence, France again studying the language but instead of literature she will be studying cinema history. She is enjoying her semester in Spain so very much but she keeps being reminding of the things that she is missing at home and wishes that she were with the people she loves right now both at school and at home.

She has a best friend, Joshua, who had been a friend since the elementary school bus days, whom she just realized about a year ago that she has feelings for but nothing happened between them because he left for Afghanistan in October and did not want anything to happen. She spent time with him over the summer and tried to figure out what to do as she had not directly told him that she liked him. She ended up chickening out every time and so when he left for training in the middle of August, she still had yet to figure things out with him. She decided that she would not wait for him for the year that he was going to be gone but she was also not going to be looking for someone to take the spot of boy or man in her life. She was going to just be and enjoy being single, work on finding herself. It had been a year that she had been single now but she had not been single much in the years leading up to this one. It was time she took a bit of time for herself.

August

“Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.” – Margaret Mead

Tatiana and Amelia Jones are just two ordinary girls much like the rest of the Midwest girls of the United States. Always listened to their mom and did not talk back and enjoyed hanging out with friends but not necessarily going anywhere. Bonfires were one of their favorite pastimes. They were always enjoying each other’s company. An outsider would assume these two were best friends and had been for a long time. What the outsider would be shocked to learn after stating this observation is that the two are actually sisters. Tatiana being the younger one by two years although she is taller by multiple inches and by default then Amelia the shorter and older one. Another fact the outsider would learn is that they have not always been as close as they are today. In fact, they once were at each other’s throats day and night to the point where their parents just got sick of it and would separate them to different areas of the house until they could treat each other nicely. The outsider at this point would be completely astounded and not know what to do or say, except for to just go on his/her way because he/she did not want to be made to look stupid again.

These two have been best friends for the past couple of years now but sisters for over eighteen years. In their first five and a half years of sisterhood the two were unstoppable and inseparable, it was hard to find one without the other. Anything Amelia did, Tatiana was most likely right behind her ready to try it as well and ending up doing it way better with more grace. They played with each other, helped each other, and loved each other; everything was with the other one. They had a built in best friend right in the house and for a year or so right in the same room and their mom loved every minute of it, because she had not had a sister and knew that she had always been missing that sister bond but now she got to watch one form first hand. The favorite story to tell of the two of them that their mom has is of a time when the family (pre-little bother) had taken a trip out to California and was headed down to the beach. The girls were walking ahead of their parents and one of them got a side ache. The other said, “here I will help you” and put her arm around the other one. There is a picture documenting this moment and it has been a popular picture ever since. Amelia even gave Tatiana a copy of it in a best friends frame for her eighteenth birthday, intending for her to take it to college with her as the start of her photo collection.

Tatiana and Amelia spent their last month together before they both started new adventures, going in opposite directions from home, hanging out and taking part in their favorite activities whatever those may be. Amelia did the training for lifeguarding at the pool for a week of six to seven hour days and Tatiana did training for a half marathon, which meant a minimum of a half hour of running a day. The family also spent as much time together as possible. Eating dinners together, mom had always cooked dinner for a family dinner every night as the kids were growing up so this was no different from the last twenty years and going to movies at the nearby discount theater were the two most popular options. Watching movies at home (they have a subscription to Netflix) and going for walks or bike rides (exercise is a must in the USA to avoid being a part of the statistic) as well as just sitting around and talking at all hours of the night.

The family was split the last full week of August when Tatiana and their parents, Thomas and Jackie, had to go to California to move her into school. The departure was hard and it left Amelia at home with the girls little brother, Michael. They were going to be at home by themselves for four days. This was the first time their parents had left them home alone for longer than a few hours. Luckily one set of grandparents lived only ten minutes away. The two spent lots of time at their grandparent’s house and went out to eat with them two times that week. They were spoiled rotten by their grandparents as they always are. When Thomas and Jackie got back early in the morning of the same day that Amelia was leaving for Spain, they got to spend a few hours with her before they had to head down to the airport to send her on her way.

As Amelia walked through security, Jackie yelled her name because she thought that she was going to walk away without waving good-bye. This was the truth but that was because Amelia was fighting the tears that she did not want to shed. But she waved as her mom wanted her to and then walked to her gate after getting herself a smoothie at Caribou Coffee Shop. There she talked with her friend Chelsea until it was time to get on the plane.

A phone conversation, which occurred after the split, went a little something like this. Amelia having pensively pondered the question asked her mom, “Was it really necessary for you to have called me back at security?”

“Because I thought you were going to leave without waving good bye or anything and your dad voiced his opinion that he thought you were going to do so as well and he was choked up about it. I had to do something, you know how often dad voices his thoughts. Was it really that awful of a thing to have done?” Jackie replied with anguish and concern in her voice.

“Well no, it’s just that I was trying really hard to avoid crying in the middle of the security area or in the airport for that matter and you made it just that much harder. Thanks,” Amelia jabbed back without thinking at her mother. She was now in the Dallas airport waiting for her nine hour flight to Madrid trying hard as she could not to cry yet again.

Jackie answered not trying to hide the hurt in her voice, “I am sorry honey. We are taking it just as hard as you are though you have to remember. We are having to let go of our oldest baby and watch her go across an ocean without us today and then we will not see her for almost four months. Please keep that in mind as you are having a hard time getting through this. You are not alone in this travel nor it this feeling of suffering. I love you and am very, very proud of you. All of us are. I cannot wait to see you in four months and I know that there are two men in this house who feel the same even if they will not tell you that. You will be a whole new young woman next time we see each other.”

“I know that I am going to change a lot mom, but at the same time, I will also be the same young woman. It will be my views on life and how it works as well as the way I look at the world that will have changed. It will not be whom I am deep inside. That will be the same as it has always been. If two years of college has not changed that then nothing ever will. I can promise you that. I will be more grown up and self dependent but that is needs to happen. I love you too all of you and miss you already. The boys will admit what they want to admit in their own ways when they are ready…it is not in their nature to wear their feelings on their sleeves. We both know this and will just have to accept it. This four months will go faster than we know and probably faster than I want it to quite honestly. I have to go. The flight will be boarding soon and I want to use the bathroom one more time before I get on the plane. I love you and will call you once I am checked into the hotel in Alicante,” Amelia reassured her mom.

Not wanting to hang up yet because she had no idea how much she would get to talk to her after that moment, Jackie grudgingly with tears in her eyes said, “Good bye honey. I love you. You are going to do great. Just remember who you are and do not let anything or anyone change that.”

Spetember: Tatiana Linda Jones

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child. ~Barbara Alpert

She met her roommates on that first day of college and was excited about the prospects for the year to come but she soon found out one of them is shyer than herself and the other two are partiers. Out until all hours every night of the weekend minimum. The first week was good though, she and her roomies spent tons of time together playing games and watching movies. They almost always had someone in their room hanging out and most of the time these people were of the male persuasion. Then came the first weekend on campus and she found herself alone when all she could do was sit there and wonder what she should do as she did not want to be sitting in the room by herself but yet because of her morals she could not rationalize going to the parties with her roomies even if it did mean that they then had a safe way to get back to the dorms so that no one had to drink and drive or just sleep on the floor to sleep off the drunkenness. She did meet some friends once classes started but they all weren’t on campus on the weekends. Her best friend thus far was a commuter and thusly was never available to hang out and do things normal college kids do such as eat meals together, during the week at night or at all on the weekends. The other good friend she made was her neighbor, which made him very easy to get a hold of except for the fact that he went home on every weekend because he had decided that nothing good ever happened on the weekends at the school. This decision was made before he had even spent one weekend on campus however so Tatiana and her roommates convinced him to stay for a weekend and try it out. Then if he still thought that nothing ever happened on the weekends she would let him go home all the time. She just knew that if he would give in to all the persuasion of these four girls that he would realize that what they were saying was true. If he did not then she was going to be shocked. She would spend all weekend with him if only he were to be on campus for it.

The conversation that finally persuaded John to stay on campus happened one Wednesday night after a long run to and from the closest supermarket where they each purchased a bunch of supplies for the up coming week. “So John, have you given any more thought to the suggestion I gave you of staying on campus every once in awhile during the weekends. I really do think you would enjoy it. I mean is that not what college is all about, being away from home and hanging out with friends and just being young people for the last time in your life before you have to find a full time job?” Tati probed.

“No not yet. I mean I have thought about it a lot and have even tried writing out the pros and cons of each situation but I have yet to come up with a good solid decision on the matter. Dang…you will have to excuse me…I sounded like an adult just then. Wow. Totally did not mean to say that so formally. Sorry. Nope. No decision yet,” John added to the conversation.

Lisa suggested, “John, why don’t you just stay this weekend and then figure out what you think from that. All you have to do is stay for one weekend and you will know whether of not it is worth it for you to stay ever again but if you don’t ever actually stay on campus you will never know if you enjoy being on campus during the weekends or not.”

“This is true Lisa but I have to think about how things will go if I stay. I mean I get to surf and get homework done at home. There are no distractions there. Things get done way faster. But I will talk to my parents and see what they think about this weekend. Maybe they will vouch for you guys and I will finally stay here for a weekend. We shall see,” John retorted.

“I cannot believe you would take the advice of your parents over the advice of your peers,” commented Tati, “do you really not believe that we are right?”

“No Tati, it is totally not that I do not believe you or trust you. Honestly I know that I could trust you guys with my life but I just love to be at home and get away for a while and my parents have known me way longer than you two have. I feel like if I told them all the things that I am thinking and feeling they could tell me exactly what to do and it would be as if I had decided myself, or at least that is the way it has been in the past. We shall see what happens this time,” John quickly responded.

“Ok well whatever happens you are still our friend and are still welcome to hang out with us anytime you want, weekday or weekend. We like having you around,” Tati told him, blushing.

As much as Tati hoped that her persuasion skills would be successful and the boy would see reason and decide to stay on campus that weekend, she also had other ideas that she could use if things went for the worse. Her grandparents had a house a few hours from the campus that they wintered in. She was excited about this fact because it meant that she could get away for the weekend to this house if she wanted to. She had always loved going to the house when she was younger because it meant endless days at the beach; just relaxing in the waves or laying on the beach or her personal favorite going down to the rocks and shelling. Also this friend lived very near there so he could give her a ride to the house if she wanted. Mom and dad had taught her how to hook up the battery of the car so that she could get herself around the city if and when she went down there.

He surfed at the beach near the house so she could go to the beach with him and watch him surf. She also hoped that if she did go down to Dana Point area with him he would offer to teach her how to surf. One of her goals was to learn to surf by the time she graduated from college. She liked this thought of getting to spend some time with him away from campus but then again she also just liked him in general. She thought and hoped he might be feeling the same. In fact she was almost positive that he was feeling the same way since when she had given him her cell phone number he had said that he put her in his phone as Tatiana, your favorite person ever. She really hoped that something would come of this. He never used her number though or at least not yet. She had invited him to come to meals with them multiple times and told him to just send them a text if he wanted to grab a meal or something but it never happened. He seemed to just think that it was a joke or something that they were not serious about wanting to hang out with him, be friends with him. He enjoyed eating meals by his lonesome for some random reason thus he never invited her or her roommates to join him. She just couldn’t figure out what was going on with that. He was homecoming king from home as well as a total jock so thus probably popular back in his high school days. Why would he want to be all alone now, when he had been surrounded by people for all that time. What Tati would have given to have that kind of group back in high school. Did not matter though. She had it now.

She was a runner and thrower for the Track team in high school and now she would be as well in college. John, her neighbor and friend, was also going to be a runner on the team. They had started running together a lot just to keep in shape and that was like 30 to 40 miles a week often times. This was ok with her she loved it plus if kept dad from complaining that she was running off campus by herself. He could be such a worrywart sometimes. She was old enough to take care of herself now. She did leave over a thousand miles from home. She was in the best shape she had ever been in. She was insane in the eyes of all her family and friends but she enjoyed it and wanted to be able to eat what she wanted when she wanted which meant working out…something her sister had yet to figure out. She and John had lots of fun running and hanging out all the time but as far as she could tell he was not interested in her the same way she was in him. This was a big disappointment but it was one that she was used to because it was the same thing that had happened with every boy that she had ever been interested in back home for the past 8 years of her life.

Tati was slightly afraid of the track coach. He had not seemed very nice in any of the emails that she had sent him. He always seemed to be telling her she was not good enough for something. Whether it be a race or even just to be a part of the cross country running team. She was not excited to go into the office for a meeting with him but she would only hope that it would be a better experience and that she would finally be able to explain things to him. She did end up doing very well with the coach and deciding that he was an ok guy but she also did not get to convince him that the times of hers he had were old and that she could run a lot faster than she had been able to back then but oh well. She had a whole 4 years to convince him of that. She would run with the other runners for right now because that is what the coach saw best. She would go along with what he wanted but eventually she was going to convince him to give her a time trial to get a spot on one of the other running groups.

Religion had always been a big part of what made up Tati’s life. She had started going to church every Sunday when she was very young and had enjoyed every minute of Sunday school every time she went. She had gone to confirmation and hung on the instructors’ every words. She had been in each of the levels of church choir and also taught Sunday school for the preschoolers for six years of her adolescent life. She was also now her little brother’s mentor for his turn in confirmation. Life would have not been life without the presence of her religion in some form. For this reason, she wanted to go to church every Sunday because it was good for her spiritual growth as well as it relaxed her and allowed her to release a little stress. There was a service on Sunday nights on campus and she went to it every week with out fail. John went with her because he was back on campus already at that point and wanted to go as well. One week the service was cancelled so they walked to the nearest supermarket and bought bread and grape juice so as to have communion and their own little church service.

The service that they held themselves was the best that she had ever been to. They opened by singing one of her favorite worship songs that she had on her iTunes, thanks to Amelia. Then they did a reading from the book of Psalms, again one of her favorite passages the number 13. After that they did a “sermon” which consisted of them each sharing something that they had been deeply afraid of coming into college and if they were still afraid of it or not. The things that were shared there were deep actually well thought out fears. Neither of them was afraid to share things with the other. It was a relationship that was way deeper than anything anyone ever has in high school, but it did not scare either of them. After the sermon and the reading of a chapter from the book of John…number 3 because they are cool like that, they sang some more worship songs, said the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed before giving each other communion. Then they blessed each other sang a few more songs and ended the service. They then proceeded to watch a movie together before having to go back to the real world where homework was waiting.

College was new and exciting and so different from anything she could have ever imagined or dreamed. Never in a million years had she dreamed that she would have friends who wanted to do things like this with her nor friends who would actually do this even if they had that want. It was the moments like this that she was absolutely and totally at peace with her new life at the school in this new state.

September: Amelia Jesse Jones

Husbands come and go; children come and eventually they go. Friends grow up and move away. But the one thing that's never lost is your sister. ~ Gail Sheeny

Amelia is not the most popular girl ever and she has accepted this. She has been an outsider or outcast depending on how you looked at it since she was a very little girl. Even in Sunday School she was on the fringes of any group she was a part of. When you have that kind of a history it is easy to just accept the fringe status and life without rather than trying to push into the group and become an insider. Fringe…that was an odd way to look at it Amelia thought…the fringe of the group. Fringe equals outside…well she guessed that made sense. Fringe on a piece of clothing is on the outside of the article of clothing but still…what the colloquialisms countries came up with sometimes were just bizarre.

She is not a partier, never has been and never will be. She is not a big drinker either though this has the possibility of changing in the future, I mean she is almost 21 now... She has morals (sexual, legal, and otherwise) stronger than almost any other person in the world her age especially those in the United States. These three things alone put her on the outside of most groups both in social situations at home (as in the town she is from) and at school (as in at college) and now apparently abroad (in Spain). She was hoping that would it be different here in Spain, that everyone would just be happy to hang out with any one they could no matter who they are, or what they liked to do, but apparently she was horribly mistaken to hope for that.
“Hi! I’m Meghan but please call me Meg. What’s your name?” Meghan Coughlan asked as she walked into her hotel room in Alicante the first day of the program.

Amelia responded, “Hey! I’m Joelle. Where are you from?”

“Oh yeah forgot we aren’t all from the same place…I mean we are but we aren’t. The United States yes but that’s a big country. I’m from Long Island. You?” Meg asked.

“Long Island…like New York? Ok. I am from Minnesota.” Amelia pondered.

Meg, thinking aloud, “So like you are used to it being cold all the time. This has to feel beastly to you then. I mean I feel like I’m dying and it’s the same temperature at home.”

“No it’s about the same weather as here at home right now though it will be a wake up call when I go home in December. That’s going to be rough on all of us probably but we don’t have to think about that for like four months!” answered Amelia.

Meg exclaimed, “Really! Huh. I guess everyone just has the wrong image in their heads when they think of Minnesota then. So how long have you been here? Have you gotten to see anything of the city?”

“Oh I have only been here since like two but me and a few other girls walked around and got some money out of the atm and bought an apple and some other stuff. Didn’t want to walk around too much and get lost or something. You know?” Amelia explained.

“Oh so that’s not too bad. And I totally understand. We have four months to explore and get lost in this city. Are you like really bad at Spanish too? I mean is that how they put us into rooms?” Meg suggested.

“Well I wouldn’t say I’m bad at Spanish but I’m not great either. I actually think that we were put into rooms alphabetically. Me and a couple of the other girls are going to see if we can get some food around like five if you want to come with us. Because of the siesta nothing is really open right now but we haven’t eaten since they gave us breakfast on our flights to Madrid,” replied Amelia.

“Thanks but I think I’m going to lay down until we have to go down for the first orientation thing. I feel like I’m going to die at the moment from exhaustion. But first I need to go on the internet and let my parents know I have gotten here safely. They will be going nuts at this point,” obliged Meg.

“ok that’s cool. Sleep would be good but I want to stay up and then sleep well tonight. That’s what I was taught to do to help get over jet lag faster. I understand the parents thing. I had to contact mine as soon as I got to the hotel too,” Amelia retorted.

The majority of the participants of the CIEE: Language and Culture program (Intermediate to Pre-Advanced level of Spanish as a second language) took the first chance possible that they were offered to go out for drinks even though most were completely jet lagged having just gotten into the country a few hours before in some cases but she stayed in the room at the hotel because she was totally exhausted and wanted to get caught up on sleep before having to sit through multiple hours of orientation over the next couple of days as well as when she met her host family. That would have been embarrassing to be still jet lagged when she had to start talking Spanish all the time in the place where she was staying.

She did go out the second night there but she did not have anything to drink because she wanted to be able to be clear minded as she walked back to the hotel so as to start figuring out how the city worked when you were walking around trying to navigate your way. Who knew where she would be living with her host family come the next morning. This not having a drink, caused many of the other students to decide that she did not drink then of course because if one does not want to drink one night it means that they do not drink at all ever…can someone please explain this thinking to Amelia because it really did not make sense to her at all. Because of the outsider factor she has found only two people that she can and will consider friends in this completely new and foreign country; a girl also in her program named Eloise and a girl from Canada in a program similar to the Erasmus program named Katrina.

Eloise to start with, is a great friend but she can be a bit standoffish sometimes especially when she all of a sudden decides that you did or said something wrong or mean. She and Amelia seemed to hit it off on the second day of the orientation and stuck together because they were the only ones that were not out getting drunk seven days out of the week. They walked around town together simply exploring their new home for the next four months, they climbed the biggest hill in the city just for exercise and maybe for the view but they told people it was just an added bonus. Most often they would go and sit on the beautiful beach enjoying the gorgeous sunshine and the gorgeous blue water which they realized pictures would never do justice to. Basically anything to get out of the house and enjoy the gorgeous summer like weather, which the city was providing them in September!! Amelia could not believe how warm it still was this time of year. Minnesota was always at like 60 degrees at this point.

For the first two weeks of the program they had what was called an intensive Spanish course. This mean that class was only 4 hours out of the day five days a week and there was barely any homework since it was only one grammar class for all of those hours. They (Eloise and Amelia) very quickly became close friends and were able to talk to each other about almost anything and everything. Their favorite topic was religion. The only issue with this friendship, especially because it was Amelia’s only friendship in Spain, was that Eloise does not want to travel during the semester due to supposedly not the money to do so and being that she was Amelia’s only friend that meant Amelia did not have anyone to travel with. Eloise also had a mind of her own which was constantly doing things that Amelia had been taught not to do and she was African American, now do not get me wrong, Amelia is not racist nor am I but there were and are cultural differences between Eloise’s Northern California African American upbringing and Amelia’s central Minnesota white Caucasian upbringing that were extremely hard to overcome if they could be overcome at all.

Really wanting to travel at least around Spain, Amelia found out about trips through the university’s foreign student organization that she could go on from her program, so she did. It was the only way she was going to get to these cities and see all of the country she had wanted to come to.
Her grandpa had suggested so many places for her to see and she really did want to see them. The first one to happen for the semester was to Malaga, another coastal town nearby. It was not originally on her list but it would work. She was just ready to get out of the city and house and see some new sights before the whole semester had been wasted away.

She met many new people both Americans and international students from all over the world on this three day trip and she really enjoyed the trip as a whole as well even if she was sick for most of it. The sights were gorgeous and the water was the most beautiful shade of blue. One of the many great people she met was Katrina, a Canadian girl who was stuck in a place similar to Amelia only she was not in a private program where classes were always with the same twenty eight students so she had a better chance at meeting more young people from all over the world not just other Canadians. Katrina and Joelle hung out the entire weekend except for when their nationalities separated them to tour the one museum they went to. They continued to hang out as the weeks progressed, becoming better and better friends.

The first night that Katrina and Amelia hung out they were in Malaga and had to go find food for themselves after having been in the city for just a little over two hours. They ended up going out to eat with the leader of the trip and having tapas the “real” way which is when you order a alcoholic beverage and you get free tapas to go along with it. This was nice because the girls got to have a meal and three drinks for less than ten euros. The next night they shared a kebap (a Turkish/Arabian dish a lot like the Greek gyro, which is found very commonly through out Spain.

October: Tatiana Linda Jones

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~ Isadora James

She was excited to join the intramurals in college because it was sports with out all of the pressure. Thus, she had joined the intramural soccer league. It is coed and she is one of three girls on the team but one of two that actually show up for all of the games. She loves it and she gets to play goalie again so that makes things even more ideal. She played in the games all the time and she continued to win them with the help of her teammates. She had really impressed the boys who thought she was an amazing goalie for some reason that she could not comprehend. All she knew was that it really helped to look good when your defense rarely let the ball past them but she liked that they thought she was good. Now if only one of them would think she was cute and funny as well…now that would be a really good thing. She’s going to keep praying for that. She knows it will happen one day. She will have her prince charming some day she just has to keep up her hopes until then. She knows that he sister is in the same boat. She has talked to her about it many a day but at least Amelia has had boyfriends. Sure most of them have been dinks but at least they were boyfriends. She has been kissed, unlike Tati. That was the big thing for her, not having been kissed. Being sixteen and having never been kissed is a big deal…you know the whole sweet sixteen thing but being almost nineteen and still having it be true maybe not so much.

The day that the boys told her how good they thought she was she had a long conversation with one of them. “Hey Tati!” The boy yelled.

“Huh? Oh hey. What’s up?” Tati responded, confused.

He explained, “Just wanted to let you know that I thought that you were really good out there tonight. I have never seen a girl play like that, especially one that has not been on the official school team for a couple of years. You really made an impression us guys. Just thought you would like to know that. Great game.”

“Thanks. You played really well too. I am glad that I get the chance to play soccer again no less play goalie again. It’s been too long. I am sad that I quit in high school now. I had forgotten how big of a rush I get,” she shyly replied.

“Hahaha…I always do. Well I have to go. Test tomorrow, but honestly GREAT game, girl. I cannot wait to see how you play next time,” He said as he grabbed his stuff and headed for the door.

“Ok. Bye. See you later. Good luck on your test,” she answered.

He smiled and laughed. “See you around Tati,” he said with a wink. Could this be the boy she was looking for? The one that would finally change all these things that had yet to come true? Please oh please let it be, but wait she did not even know his name. Oh great. How was she supposed to add him on facebook and of course get to know him if she did not even know his name. Gah. How could she have been so stupid? Oh well. She would see him at the next game. They were on the same team after all. She would just have to pay better attention to detail next time around as well as not let herself get so flustered.

She had gotten to play in all the games so far and she had yet to lose a game for the team. Which meant she was continuing to impress the boys with her athletic abilities. This was so not what she had originally planned to do gosh darn it all. She was supposed to be playing the sports to meet the boys so that they could become possible love interests not so that she could make a bunch of guy friends who think of her as another one of the guys. Why did she always manage to mess this up? Oh well, not just was it all the games that she played in but also the entire duration of each game because the rules of the league were that at least two girls had to be on the floor at a time for the duration of the game. She was very excited about the prospects for the rest of the season and she was very proud to be the only goalie they ever put in!

Then during warm ups before one of the games, the strongest kicker on the team kicked a goal on her and she hurt her wrist but she shook it off and kept going. Not wanting to let it affect her as she had done so many times before as well. An injury at the beginning of a game was not important; it could wait until the end of the game to get dealt with. She had to play, it was either that or her team was going to have to forfeit.

There was only one other girl there…she did not want to have to have them forfeit just because her wrist her. However she was still in tons of pain the next morning, so she decided that she would go to the trainer that afternoon after her classes to get it checked out. The trainer was pretty sure it was nothing and that she just needed to rest it and then it would get better. Tatiana being very sure that something had to be wrong other than just an internal bruise and a slight sprain decided that since she had to see a orthopedic specialist for track the next day anyway she would just ask the doctor to take a look at it. She did and the doctor said that it didn’t seem to be broken but there was always a possibility because there is a bone that could be broken, which would be very dangerous if not caught and very difficult to see.

So she went and had some x-rays taken. These did not show that the bone was broken so the doctor was called upon again. He said, “This bone if broken oftentimes does not show up on the x-rays as broken.”

Tatiana replied, “Well, this hurts so bad that it has to be something more wrong than just a minor injury that will heal itself in a few days.”
“Well we’ll set up an appointment with a specialist for you and you can talk to him or her about what the options are for figuring out what is going on and how to correct it once we figure out what is going on,” the doctor replied.

The appointment that the doctor made was not until the next week, which was not going to help anything. She was in pain and freaking out because of the issues that the doctor said it could cause. She needed to go in now not then. She called her mom and told her what was going on. Now her mom being unable to get there to comfort her and help with the situation felt really bad but did the next best thing she could. She called the office of this specialist and got her an appointment with a hand specialist instead of just a general specialist for that very day. Things were going to get taken care of in time for Tati (as her closest friends and family called her) to play in her soccer game on Sunday night…or so she hoped.

After that appointment she had ended up having to miss a bunch of classes and had to race to make it to her chemistry test. The doctor did some more looking at the x-rays as well as did some stress tests on the wrist to see what could be found out. From the results of all of this it was decided that there was not a break, at least not that was any way detectable so Tati ended up in a brace which she would wear for a few days and if it was still hurting go back in to figure out what needed to be done at that point. This meant that she could play in her game and probably even participate in the first track practice on Monday.

October: Amelia Jesse Jones

"There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom to simply be themselves." ~ Author Unknown

Amelia was having a hard time because of the barely any friends in this strange new place issue already and then she of course had to start to having problems with her host family as well. Her madre (what all of the students called their Spanish host mothers in order to distinguish betweens their moms and their host moms) seemed to keep insisting that she needed to eat way more than she would have ever eaten over the course of about five meals at home for just one meal and when she did not eat all the food that had been put on her plate her madre assumed that she didn’t like it and was offended. Please keep in mind that while her madre was insisting this, the woman was eating maybe a fourth of the food she put on Amelia’s plate a day.
This was also a problem because Amelia was able to communicate with her Spanish but it was not good enough that she could completely get across everything she wanted to say. This meant that most of the time she would just go along with what ever her madre seemed to want. This meant that her madre who seemed to just hear what she wanted to hear would often times push her around because all she wanted to hear was that she would do whatever it was that was expected of her such as eating a ton more than Amelia wanted to eat.

This problem seemed to be unfixable on her own. So, Amelia had deceided to go and talked to the housing director of the CIEE program who had suggested that she just tell the family that she was not accustomed to eating such large protions but that everything that was being served was very good and that it tasted amazing. She did just this as she had been told the outcome however was exactly opposite of what she wanted and what the housing director had expected. They just started trying to feed her the same amount of food more than twice a day…needless to say she ended up having to eat more and more than she wanted on a regular basis.

Apparently to her family if you like it, that means you should eat a ton of it all the time no matter what the outcome of eating that much would be. She wanted to lose weight not gain it. Though that was not always the case in this moment, the case was simply that Amelia did not have the room for all this food in her stomach to eat it as well as the fruit that would undoubtedly come afterwards.

Her padres also seemed to think that it was a must to go out and party all the time. She thought that she had explained that she did not like it well enough that they would understand but apparently not as they were still insisting she should be going out. Her padre even joked oftentimes about going to the barrio with her. Now that would have been something to see. Wow…can you imagine…a sixty something year old man with a twenty year old woman in the barrio…the night scene for young people. The gossip that would cause.

A conversation between she and her padres went a little something like this.
“¿Te vas al Barrio esta noche?” Her padre asked. (you are going to the barrio?)

Amelia responded, “No, no tengo planes par ir y no me gusta mucho. Pienso que vere una pelicula.” (no I don’t have plans to go and I don’t like it much. I think I’ll watch a move instead.)

“Pero necesito ir a fuera un poco. Tu no puede sentir en casa cada dia todo el dia. No es bueno para una chica a tu edad,” her madre responded. (But you need to get out for a bit. You can’t sit in the house all day every day. It’s not good for a girl your age.)

“Yo se pero ne tengo amigos con quien yo peudo ir al barrio o algunos sitios,” Amelia informed her padres. (I know but I don’t have friends with whom I can go to the barrio or other places.)

Her padre insisted, “Si, tu tienes amigos. No es possible que no. Tu peude ir con Kelsy o Julie la hija de Isabelle. Si quieres ir hay personas que puedes ir con.” (No, you have friends. It’s not possible that you don’t. You can go with Kelsey or Julie the daughter of Isabelle. If you want there are people you can go with.)

“Kelsey es diferente. No me cae bien. Julie si me cae bien pero ella tiene amigas quien no le cae bien a mi. Tengo Adrienne pero ella quiere salir a las 2 de la manana y yo no puedo hacerlo como eso,” Amelia said. (Kelsey is different. I don’t like her much. Julie I like a log but she has friends who don’t like me for some reason. I have Adrienne but she wants to go out at two in the morning and I can not do that.)

Eventually she realized she had to admit that she was not going to find anyone to go with her somewhere during Fall Break or at least not that was going to want to go the places that she was not going during her Spring Break with her French class friend, Amanda while they were in France next semester. So she talked to her mom and said mom I need you to come and travel with me. I need you to be my mom but also a friend. Her mom had already told her she would be happy to come in fact would love to come but she did not want to come because she did not want Amelia to think that she thought she needed her. Thus why Amelia had to say that she wanted and needed her mom there. She did not need her there but wanted her there. That was the nice thing about it all, they also realized that they were skyping a bit to much. A daily basis was nice but it was really not necessary.

That is all it took because the next day, her mom had booked herself a plane ticket and had found a cruise for the two of them to go on. Two weeks later they were on a train from Cadiz to Barcelona ready for a week and a half of mommy daughter time. They spent the night in a pension (a hostel level hotel which was not the best place in the world but was going to work for their purposes), which was right on the main street of Barcelona, which is called la Rambla, and then the two spent the next day riding around the city on the hop on hop off bus. They hit all of the major sights of the city in less than 7 hours. This seemed like quite a feat considering how many things there are to see in a city that size with that much history.

They both agreed that their favorite sight in the city had to be hands down la Temple de la Sagrada Familia, a cathedral designed by Antonio Gaudi a famous architect from Barcelona. The cathedral was started in the late 1800’s but is still unfinished today and is not expected to be finished until 2030 at the earliest. Their second favorite was the Park Guell which is another Antonio Gaudi creation only this one is all out of doors and blended into the nature around it in what was supposed to become like a park out of London, England but never did because there was never enough interest in it, a shame because it would have been really cool.

Amelia and her mom really enjoyed their time together. Both were thoroughly content with what they had done and did not feel like there was anything that could have been missing. They both will remember the happiness and the wonderful moments that they had for the rest of their lives. Neither one had planned on getting the chance to do something like this ever no less this year during the time when they were not supposed to get to see each other for periods of time longer than the normal month or two, three at the most. Instead of getting to see each other for a week here and there in Minnesota, they got to spend eleven days together discovering Europe. It was all well documented with photos as well because Amelia took picture after picture of everything possible. Including her mother much to Jackie’s dismay. All of it would be remembered that was for sure.

The first day was in Marseille, France, the oldest port city in Europe, during which, they had no idea what to do and ended up riding a Disneyland ride like train to the Notre Dame de la Garde. During this three hour long ride, they also got to see Chateau d’If, which is the location where the book The Count of Monte Cristo is supposed to have taken place. They also walked around the city to see a few other places in the city and got some cookies called “Navettes” which are supposedly famous from the city. Another famous thing was soap but they did not get any of this soap. It did not really have any appeal for either of them.

The next three days were spent in Italy where neither of them could speak the language nor had any idea what was going on in general. The first day, which was Genoa, Italy, they just got off and walked around for a few hours seeing the sights that had been talked about in all of the guide books that they had read. The sights were spectacular but there really was no need for more time than they had allowed. The second day in Naples, which included the tour of Pomeii, a city which was created in 600bc and covered in ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, as well as a bit of walking to see the few sights in the city of Naples that had been recommended. The self guided walking tour of Palermo, Sicily, Italy was on the third day. During this tour they saw palaces, castles, cathedrals, and theaters and also sat down and enjoyed a bottle of wine.

The fifth day which was spent in Tunis, Tunisia, Africa where they got a independent self organized taxi tour of the city and surrounding area with two of their new friends they had met (Barbara and Alan Giblett) from Australia. During this tour, they got to see famous ancient Roman ruins mentioned in the Iliad by Homer (Carthage) and a gorgeous fishing village in which everyone is required to have their buildings be white stucco with blue trim (Sidi Bou Said). The effect of this symmetry of color on all the buildings was absolutely incredible. It felt like something out of a movie rather than something that would actually exist in real life.

The sixth day was in Palma de Mallorca, Spain where they again did a independent self organized taxi tour to all of the major tourist sights and then found some coca cola light for mom because she needed her caffeine fix. This day had many bad things happen and this I will not share them here as it would not be a good thing to re-dig up terrible things that happened in the past. What happens in the past stays in the past just as what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.

The dinner table at which they were seated could not have been more ideal. They had two couples that are empty nesters (One from Canada: Bob and Diane and one from Australia: Barbara and Alan) and two of ladies from Sweden (Christina and Liv). They were all extremely nice and easy to make conversation with. The wife of one of the couples even offered Amelia a job on the farm that she and her husband own…now that is not something that Amelia would every be interested in. She is so definitely not a dirt under the fingernails kind of girl. The waiter who was from Thailand was extremely cute and young and was constantly flirting with Amelia. She was flirting back but not openly enough for anything to have come of the flirtation. It was just for fun anyway. Nothing would have happened from it anyway. He was cute but they are from two completely different worlds, which would make it difficult to have a relationship that could actually go somewhere. Cultural differences are the hardest to get past though Amelia did know hot to get past them and was not one to care about the differences in fact she generally embraced and loved the differences.

Once the cruise was over Amelia and her mom went back to Cadiz where they enjoyed all the touristy things around the city as well as a day on the beach. The sun felt very good considering how cold they were in Italy the week before except for Sicily. Mom also got to meet Katrina. Amelia wanted her to meet Eloise but she could not get a hold of her to have them meet each other. Her mom stayed with her at her homestay. Her padres were ecstatic to meet her mom and often got so excited that they forgot that mom did not understand any Spanish. The time was successful and the two parted tearfully knowing that they would see each other in just a little over two months.

Amelia went back to classes in full study mode because there was only a week before midterms. She worked on papers and presentations and reading books and notes and just general studying to get things done. She could only hope that they would all pay off in the end. She got fifty pages of her Spanish novel read for her literature class in less than two days and got it all analyzed and put into an outline as well. She typed all of her notes into word documents as well. The first weekend after break she literally had no life. All she did was do homework and hang out with her family. They think that she is a boring student who does not have a life but that is her choice. She would rather be at home than out getting drunk…that is not a crime. So what she is a homebody? There are lots of those in this world. Maybe just not that study abroad in Spain apparently probably not those study abroad in general actually. Homebodies like to sit at home and hang out with family and just relax, not jet set across the world.

The week of midterms flew by quickly but the exams were frustrating because they required studying every night since there was only one a day. Amelia was honestly studying every day of the week that week (except Friday…her program does not have class on Fridays). She really enjoyed herself but it was slightly frustrating that she did not get to have any fun ever. The beauty of the exams being done is that she now did not have to study for them again until the end of the semester for the finals! If only that meant there were going to be no presentations and papers to happen in that time. That would be luck but alas no…there would be a minimum of one presentation and one paper in each class. Wonderful…just what every students favorite thing to do is.

Oh well…she is here to study not to have fun and lay on the beach every day even though that would be nice. It is what they (all the students) would ultimately like to be doing, as well as traveling to other places in Spain and Europe during their spare time. Most of them had traveled at least one or two weekends of the semester that far and they would eventually be going on trips as a program as well. Just not until November. Eloise and Amelia were becoming better friends again. They were doing two presentations together as well as going to do things such as climb the highest hill together just for exercise. This is something that both their madres thought they were nuts for doing but alas that is what they wanted to do especially since their madres are the ones that tried to shove food down their throats a minimum of three times a day, oftentimes it was more like four or five.
The weekend following midterms was Halloween weekend. This meant that on Monday it was All Saints Day and there would be no school as in Spain it is a national holiday. This was nice because it meant a four-day weekend. Amelia spent the weekend relaxing and taking time to hang out with friends. She went up to Katrina’s house and they tried out the recipes that Amelia had found on the Internet as well as went to a movie at the discount theater near the house. Then she lay on her bed and watched movies all day on Sunday to recuperate from the late night before going out for Halloween that night with some other people. The scene was extremely lame that night so they did not stay out very long at all. That was ok with her. She had not wanted to go out in the first place.

November: Tatiana Linda Jones

Sisters know the secrets inside each other's little girl hearts ... even when they're all grown up. ~Laura Ramirez

She got to practice at the first day of track and she got to start learning a new throw as well as perfecting the throws she has been doing since freshmen year of high school!! She was absolutely in love with college for multiple reasons. Everything just kept getting better and better. She only wished that she were closer to home sometimes so that she could share everything with everyone back there…but only sometimes. She loved being this far from home, she could be whoever she wanted to be and there was no one from back home who could say wait this is not you. She had talked to the coach about running some races this year and he had told her that it probably would not happen as her times were to slow. Well this is because the times that she had given him were from when she was running maybe one or two miles a day not now that she was running a minimum of thirty miles a week. She would show him and she would get to run that steeplechase…just you wait and see. That was her goal for the year and it had been a life long dream since she had learned that it existed.

She and her running buddy, John, would just have to keep training as much as they could. Not only would it help her get into better and better shape but also those runs gave them time to talk and that made their friendship stronger. John gave her hope in the male gender again and she loved him for that. He was the older brother she had never had but had always dreamed of. Yes she had a little brother, named Michael Francis Jones, who was now taller than she was and quickly on his was to being stronger as well but it is just not the same as much as he might want it to be. All through high school he was just this little weakling who would not have been able to do anything in the way of defending her. John was fulfilling that dream and filling the hole, which was just waiting to be filled. She hoped that he may become more some day and maybe fill another hole as well, but she was fine with allowing him to be a best friend and big brother figure for the moment. They were all just settling in to the routine of college still, she understood that. Significant others could wait until they had all figured out how this college thing worked. Maybe next semester her flirting skills would be better and she would catch some guys attention…maybe. Where is Amelia when she needs help with things like this? Honestly why did it have to be now that she jetted off to Europe for the year. At the time when Tati could have really used her here in the United States for that big sister advice that was supposed to be so helpful and that was world famous in multiple Hollywood movies.

“Hey you. How are ya doing? I was just thinking that we could hang out for a bit today. Do some studying, watch a movie, play a game, go on a run or a walk… Whatever you want to do. Just want to spend some time with you,” Tati blabbered into her phone as she left a message for John one day. She had hoped that he would answer. It had been a couple of days since they last did anything and she had finally gotten time to do something besides press on as hard as she could with the homework but alas she would now have to wait and hope that he responded like he usually did not. May as well be productive while she waited for a response however so she started to clean her room while listening to a recording of her textbook because she was really sick of having to read all the time for her chemistry class.

Fifteen minutes later her phone rang. It was John. He had time to hang out for the rest of the day, including eating dinner together. Gasp!! She had finally gotten through to him. Ok…Tati just breathe. You can do this. He is just another guy and you are just another girl. There is nothing special going on here, be yourself. That is how the best flirting happens. When it is natural. Boy did she wish Amelia were available to talk right now. That big sister advice would come in real handy. Why did she have to be over seas and unavailable during the first year of Tati’s college experience…why? Oh well. She would just pray quickly while she waited for John to get there.

After she had flirted and flirted all she could possibly do with John, she wanted to give up but knew that was stupid because it was not up to her when she would get a boyfriend. It was up to God. All she could do was to just continue to hope and to wish and to dream and to pray for that one day she would finally get the chance to feel what she had watched all the leading ladies in her favorite movies and books experience over the years. Especially a chance to be fought over like Bella Swan was in her favorite series, Twilight; she was a fan before it was cool just so everyone knows and she can make it clear. To have two beautiful men such as Jacob and Edward wanting to win her heart would be absolutely amazing and would do great things for her self-esteem to boot. This she knew and was very excited about but she would continue to wait. After all waiting was what she was good at, that and being in the background of everything, silently hoping that at some point the boys would wake up and realize that they didn’t want those blonde bimbos anymore but rather someone with substance.

Above all else, she knew that she was worth it; she knew that she was pretty not necessarily a knock out but pretty none the less, but she also knew that she was way more intelligent than most people her age and this was something, which most males were intimidated by. A smart girl was something that all boys were afraid of. The males of our species have egos that are very easily bruised and any small thing that shows a female as better than them in any aspect of life is something that they want to stay away from and generally run in the other direction from. Tati understood this and had accepted it years ago…she had no other choice but she couldn’t help but hope that there was someone out there that would be able to get past that weak ego and take a few hits to get to know her and maybe just maybe like her as more than a friend. Alas this had yet to happen and she was now 18 seriously not many girls at the age of 18 can say they have never been in a relationship no less that they have still yet to be kissed in today’s society at least. How embarrassing.

On to the sports in her life, she was an athlete by nature. Her dad had been a three-sport athlete so she came by her athleticism naturally and had never really has to work hard at being good and one of the best. She had never spent a school year without at least one sport. She was going to continue this trend in college. She had one sport instead of her usual three but it would take up the equivalent of two sports seasons or more. This was the first time she had been able to start the school year just relaxing and enjoying life…haha yeah right. There’s this thing called homework, you may have heard of it, which consumed all the time that would have been spent at practices and competitions in other years. She literally spent all day one Tuesday when she did not have class reading for her chemistry class the next day. Is that really necessary? Students should get to have fun sometimes too. That is what part of being in college is all about. Those last four years of freedom before you have to go out into the real world.

Real world…what does that even mean. Is there a real world or is it just a figment of the imagination, which everyone strives for but can never reach? No one will ever know the answer to that question or if they did it would not be shared with the young people who are the ones who really need to know the answer. No that would be something each human being has to discover for him or her-self, sadly. Telling us would make things just that much easier. Maybe the people who graduate from college should get to know what it means. That would give them the upper hand in life, not that they needed it. A four year degree these days will give you a major upper hand over the people who go immediately from high school graduation to the work force.

Life was great she had enough to do that she was never bored and never had time to just sit there and think about things thusly never had a chance to be homesick. The only thing that she was very upset about was the fact that her older sister was not available to talk to whenever she wanted her. Amelia would have been a great deal of help to Tati as she was adjusting to college life and the partying that went on around her as Amelia had very similar morals to Tati which did not include partying all the time. However as Amelia is a double foreign language major she is studying abroad all year…great for her, not so good for the rest of the people in her life. Thus when Tati wanted to talk to her big sister she had to write on her facebook wall or send her an email or gasp…skype her…what actually get on something face to face…what would one want to do that for. Tati was not a fan or skype mostly because she had not been able to figure out how to do things that first night when she downloaded it to her computer. It was not the ideal situation for someone who wanted to talk to someone else to get a little piece of mind about the situation at hand but it was the way it had to be for the time being. It was only a little over a month until they would be able to sit in the same room and talk for hours on end! That was something that she could definitely look forward too.

She was able to get through it though and tell her sister of her triumph after the fact and make her feel good by telling her that it was her that she had wanted to talk to in her time of need. They had been really close when they were younger but that had fallen apart when Amelia had started kindergarten at age 5. This friendship had become very weak and stayed that way until the end of Amelia’s senior year of high school when the two girls all of a sudden started to gain a better appreciation of each other again. So by the time Tati went off to college exactly two years later, the two were tighter than they had been in years and the separation was a hardship not only for them but also for the whole family.

November: Amelia Jesses Jones

"Sisters are for sharing laughter and wiping tears." ~ Author Unknown

The day after Halloween, so November first also known as All Saints Day or Day of the Dead, she got up around eleven in the morning and got dressed ate a breakfast of cereal, juice, milk and galletas. Then she did the homework she had left until it was time for lunch, which was pretty much all fish so she had a “special meal” as her madre called it of leftover pasta from the past Saturday when she was not there to eat what was considered her favorite meal. This was fine with her as it was her favorite meal that she had eaten her thus far besides the vegetable paella.

Noelia and Ivan her host sister and brother-in-law were there for lunch but none of the other family members were. This seemed extremely weird to Amelia because all she had ever heard about was how fiestas were days when the family was all together for a big meal and such yet there were days where the whole family was assembled that were just normal days of the week and today a fiesta they were not. She did not really mind as it meant it was quieter and there was less to try and understand because there were less conversations going on at the table.

Noelia was pregnant. She was getting very large, when Amelia had first met her she figured that she was about seven or eight months along which meant that the baby should be born during the time that she was home however she has since learned that she is only just starting into her third trimester and not due until early January. This means that she has just gained a dangerous amount of weight during the most recent months of her pregnancy. So much so that her doctors have put her on a special diet that restricts every little morsel of food that is put into her mouth. She also is probably going to get put on bedrest. She is a elementary school English teacher which in the United States would be an unknown thing that does not exist well the English part because all the children speak it but the foreign language part is more what I meant. The doctors were thinking about just making her take a break from the school because the children are little germ machines that could carry anything and everything and it was too big a risk to take with a pregnant woman during her last months of pregnancy. The decision has yet to be made however so she continues to work and just take days off now and then whenever she feels like she may be getting sick.

The only thing that was missing from her host family was her siblings close to her own age. She had never realized how much they were a part of her and of her life in general until she left two years ago for freshmen year of college seven hours away from home and again now she is having to realize how much she takes them for granted as well as how much she had always taken them for granted when she is actually at home and around them. The people that talk about how what we have is always not good enough until we do not have it anymore is one hundred percent correct. If and or when all of a sudden someone (or even something) who has always been there as a part of your life, is not there any more, we as humans go into shock mode and have issues adjusting and then also remembering how to cope without that someone or something.

I have found that it is easier to live life not missing those people when you are away from them but cherishing the memories of the times when you have been together through pictures and stories and also remembering that you will see them again at some point because sitting around pining for those that are not in your life at that moment makes you not realize who is there in that moment which means that you will eventually be in the same position with those people that are there. Being sad until the ends of time because someone is gone from your life is not the way to deal with one’s life and one will not get any where by doing that either. I prefer to let things fall as they may and live each day as full as I possibly can, knowing that each day is not promised to me by God but is a gift from Him. In this very moment that I tell you my outlook on this part of life, Amelia is realizing these same things and how they apply to her own life and how she needs to start living them rather than just telling others how to live them out.

So many times this semester Amelia had felt the urge to pick up her cell phone and call her sister but she could not even though it was what she wanted at those moments more than anything else. She probably would have given up on this amazing experience of living in Spain for just that short phone call with her sister. It was way to expensive to do that though so it was decided for her that she would have to be ok with simply the writing on walls of whoever she wanted to talk to including her sister and mother and brother as well as sending emails which had always sufficed during the past few years she had been hours away from home at school. It was only four months after all anyone could deal with something for four months. They could make it, she knew they could.

It would make the time they got to spend with each other at Christmas that much more special. Amelia could not wait to hear all about her little sister’s experiences at college, especially since that college was in California. She hoped that this meant they would be extremely different from her experiences in Wisconsin but she also knew that it was a different state not a different country. She knew they would be great no matter how similar or different they were. She missed her little brother too but the bond between the two of them had never been as strong as the bond between the two girls, they were sisters after all.

Amelia being a girlier girl than Tati meant that Tati and Michael had their sports, which they bonded over all the time as well as their hatred for most romantic things included their older sister from time to time as she was a hopeless romantic. The other two had been the best of friends for years where as it was only recently that Tati and Amelia had become best friends. What Amelia hoped was that as they got older the three of them would become better friends and get to have more fun the three of them. Maybe best friends all three of them who knew…but however she was just going to be happy with what she had no matter what it was which for the moment was two siblings that she got along with incredibly well despite all the sibling stories that suggest siblings should not get along.

The family style of the Jones’ is one that is becoming more and more rare as each year goes by and the decades pass. Each of the children knows how important family should be in his or her life and he or she keep it as such. This model of family is still found very often in other parts of the world these days but in the United States it is a hard to find thing actually is a dying form of family if you can believe it. In Spain, Amelia had found out it was a major thing to be completely oriented by family in your life and you did everything based around how things were going in your family. Where you live, where you go to school, what you do for work, when and where you go on vacation, if you go on vacation. When we would send off our grandparents to the nursing home when they start to need around the clock care for this or that issue, the Spaniards take them into their home and make sacrifices to figure out how the care they need will happen for them.

Friendships were a different story here too both with other Americans as well as with Spanish students. Most Spaniards stay within a fifty-mile radius of the city or town in which they grew up. This makes it very easy to form a group of friends as a young child and keep them through out your whole life. Amelia’s madre was a good example of this. All of the friends of hers that Amelia had met were either from the same town as her or had been friends of hers since elementary school. They all had moved to Alicante together. This is a very nice thing for the young people of the area but for people who come into the environment later in life such as study abroad students, it is very hard to deal with because the groups are so tight knit after all those years of being together that it makes breaking into them extremely hard if not almost impossible and also take tons of work.

For this reason, most study abroad students form relationships with other study abroad students and never make Spanish friends which means they also never get to practice their Spanish with young native speakers because they do not have the time to get to know them and form the friendship or they simply do not want to put forth the amount of effort it would take just to have these friends for a semester which amounts to four months of their life. It is a sad fact of the life for Amelia because that is what she was looking forward to was getting to know other young people. The one thing that was against her was the fact that most of the people meet other people by going out at night and she did not do that very often because she did not enjoy it and also because she did not have any one to go out with.

The program had tried to help the students out with this issue by supplying the option of intercambios, which are Spanish students with an English major whom want to practice their English as well as help the Spanish as a second language students practice their Spanish. One class period was even spent devoted to working in intercambios so as to jump-start the process. How ever this was done much to late in the semester to actually help the students out with this option. This did allow the students to meet a few Spanish students however but the effort to keep the relationships going was not worth it for most of them as there was only about two months left. If the effort was not worth it at the beginning of the semester you can bet it was not worth it about half way through the semester.

Amelia was in this exact situation. She had met a very nice girl who shared her sister’s name whom she wanted to be friends and would have loved to be friends with but she was not very sure she wanted to put the effort forth that it was going to take. So she kept up what had started with talking to the girl on facebook but that was as far as it ever went because there was no point in anything else for either of them. She needed help with her homework she went to Tatiana. She wondered about a cultural aspect which she was not sure how to explain to her family and did not want to wait until the next day to ask a professor, she went to Tatiana. It was almost always the same thing in the same way…write on her wall or send her a message and get a response with in the next 24 hours.

It was not a friendship yet it was not just a thing of the past either. It was a mere acquaintanceship by default because they had met at some point and were able to help each other with things that were necessary to know. Had either one wanted to get something going towards the more than acquaintance range of relationships, they could have put forth the effort and it would have gone swimmingly well because the other one would have reciprocated, however neither one felt that the little over two months that they would be friends in the same place were worth the effort it would take for those first couple of weeks.

Relationships with friends and relationships between sisters (who most of the time are also friends coincidentally) have one thing in common, which is the fact that they do not have to be majorly numerous as long as they are strong, stride, and true. Amelia was dealing with that fact one step at a time. Relationships with sisters were not numerous for her that was for sure…she had one, Tati but she was definitely a true one, always had been and always would be if Amelia had anything to say about it. No matter how mean or neglectful or down right rude she had been in other times of their lives, Tati was there at the end of it all still wanting to be just like her big sister at least when they were really little once they were both in upper elementary years it was not so much that way so much as wanting to just be accepted by her big sister and be friends with her as well. Then they started to get closer again but she was still a little bit mean every once in a while but true sister that she was Tati was still there waiting at the end of the day, month, week, or year. There was never anything that could end that bond they had from birth. The saying, “Sister’s by chance but friend’s by choice,” was so very very true in this case and Amelia was glad because she needed a true best friend from time to time. Amelia was glad that she had that bond with her sister and felt bad for the people who never got to feel that same kind of bond.

Then there were her relationships with friends or so called friends anyway…she had two friends that she could really count on available to her at the moment or originally she did (One was being kind of hot and cold and driving her absolutely nuts. However beggers can’t be choosers.) and that was ok with her because she knew they were true friends ones that could possibly still be friends ten years from now when they were all done with school and all were married and all had families of their own. She knew this was especially true of Katrina as they were already making plans for next semester as possibly the coming summer if it could be worked into budgets after all of the stuff that school year which would be draining money.

The one person, friend, sister that she wanted to be there though was her real sister, Tati and the two girls had only talked once over SKYPE since she had left for Spain and Tati for California and they had chatted on facebook once or twice if that but that was it. It had been forever or at least it seemed like it had been forever. She could not believe that it was that hard to find a time when the two of them could sit down at their computers and actually converse about things in one of the two ways. She had never realized how attached she was to her sister until now. No one ever does realize it until they are not around the thing they are attached too. It was just as well though to not be talking all the time; they would eventually both be living in different places with different lives. This was good practice for them with that. It was supposed to happen eventually this space between them that caused a bit of lack of communication or at least that is what she was going to keep on trying to tell herself.

December: Tatiana Linda Jones

“There can be no situation in life in which the conversation of my dear sister will not administer some comfort to me.” – Mary Worley Montagu

Tati though not on the other side of the ocean was having just as many problems with the separation as her sister was. She had so many times wanted to pick up the phone and call her big sister to get some peace of mind about this or that but she could not and it was one of the hardest things she had ever had to deal with. It was frustrating to not be able to do so when everyone else could with his or her older brothers and sisters. She had been able to get through it and understand things herself but that sister contact might have been nice. It was just something about talking to your sister that made you feel better…Tati could not explain it though she tried to many times. She decided that she wanted to work on the relationship she and her sister had but at the same time she knew that she needed to work on the here and now as well. That meant that working on the relationship she and Amelia had was going to have to take a back burner. It did not mean that she would not be working on it but it just meant that it was not the most important thing on her plate. It was not something that would affect life immanently.

The two sisters did SKYPE one day however and it was a good time to be had by all, after all of the frustration of getting the connection to stay connected that is. The conversation was between them and their mom. The only thing about that was then you could not see each other, when it was three people instead of two. That was a sad fact of the matter but that did not matter to the three Jones women. They were just happy to talk to each other and all at the same time not in many separate conversations. There was no misinterpretation and no gossiping about each other either. That was another nice thing. The conversation went as follows.

Tati started off the conversation with her mom and big sister, “Hey guys. I only have a little bit but I am glad to get to talk to you both. Wish I could see you though.”

Amelia replied, “Yeah. That would be nice to get to see each other. I thought you could. Oh well. Talking and hearing each other’s voices is just as nice at this point. It has been three months now. Geeze how did we let it go this long?”

Jackie exclaimed, “Oh my girls. How nice it is to hear both of your voices at the same time. I have been missing this so. I love you both so much. But I think that I will hang up so that you can see each other and then I will talk to you both later.”

Tati racing to stop her mom, said, “No mom really it is ok. We have gone this long we can make it longer. I honestly have to be productive here soon. Right Amelia?”

Amelia quickly agreed with her little sister who was really only younger at this point, “Yeah definitely mom. It is way better with the three of us talking because we cannot do this as often as just two of us talking. We both love you too mom.”

Jackie giving into her daughters resolved, “ok then I will continue in the conversation. What is new in your lives?”

“Well I just finished my second presentation for my grammar class so now all I have left to do is study for my final and the regular day to day homework. Which is nice. I am also all done with big things in my literature class as well as in my society class. All that is left to do is study study study. Yay!!” Amelia informed her mom and sister.

Tati added, “It is pretty much the same as Amelia for me only I have one more paper to finish and then it is study study study until it is time to come home. Whoo hooo. Cannot wait.”

Amelia teased and encouraged her siter, “Welcome to your first set of college level finals. It is such a party…not. Do not worry though. It will not kill you. It will just stress you out and make you wish you were done with school already but that will make coming home that much more fun and relaxing. You have almost crossed the finish line…keep hanging in there with your head down. The race is going to be your best yet because you have nothing else to base it off of!!”

Jackie replied, “Wow Amelia, I did not realize you had that kind of advice in you. I am very impressed. I am proud of both of you. I know I say it all the time but it is the truth. I cannot believe how much the two of you have grown up in the past four months. Your dad and I both cannot wait to see you when your planes land in the mother state of Minnesota. We will be waiting there to give you huge hugs!! Good to hear that you are both all caught up on your papers and projects as well as the pidily little busy work that teachers so lovingly use to fill time…I have to admit that I was one of those teachers to give out busy work when I was teaching before you were born.”

Tati verbalized to her mother, “Thanks mom. We love you and are proud of you too. You have dealt with those boys very well, while we have been gone. I do not think that I could have done it. They are just too something. Congratulations. You have made it through almost one semester of all boyness.”

Amelia said, “She is right mom. Everything that you can say to us we can say right back to you because of everything you put up with at home. Those boys cannot be easy to deal with on a daily basis without any girl time. You are the one that people should be proud of. I bet you can really understand what Grandma went through when you left for college now. Probably appreciate her a lot more now too.”

Jackie affirmed, “You are perfectly correct girls. I should be proud of myself just as much as I am of you two. But that is what part of being a mom is. Not realizing the things you should see in yourself because you are so absorbed in the lives and achievements of your children. I love you both and am so proud of you both. Are there any boys? New friends, I do not know about? I want to know these things. I do not get to see you every day to find out anymore. I know it is not any of my business any more. You are adults after all and I really do not want to be like the mom from Brothers and Sisters but I want to be involved in your lives still and all I know how to do is ask the questions and hope that you both will respond with truthful answers; which I have never known either of you to lie about such things.”

Tati contested, “No mom. There is nothing new to report from the last time we talked. I am still flirting with the same guys I was then and am still just getting to know the same people. Soccer has some promising prospects of new friends and boys but has yet to show me the fruits of that labor. I will tell you when there is something to report. Amelia on the other hand may just hide it like she did with Joe in eighth grade…”

Amelia retorted, “I did not hide it. I just did not say anything about it because I knew that it would not be a favored choice at our house. That and I was not sure if I had made the right choice or not. But Tati is wrong. I have told you everything about pretty much everything since the day I landed in Alicante. There is nothing new to report however on the boy front or other wise. Eloise is not speaking to me for who knows what reason again but honestly I could not care less at this point. Katrina and I just got back from a fantastic five days in Madrid during which we also got to visit Toledo, Segovia, and Salamanca. It was wonderful. I just know she and I will stay in contact long after the end of this semester. It is only 13 days until we are all back under the same roof again though!!! I cannot wait even if it does mean I have to leave this warm paradise to return to the cold and snow.”

Jackie said, “I honestly cannot wait for that day as much as I know that it will be hard to lose you two again after the six weeks are up.”

Tati exclaimed, “Mom you are not losing us. You are letting us go so that we can grow up and make you proud in bigger ways. If you did not do that we would just stay in the house and never do anything great ever again. We would just be reliving our high school days over and over with no where to go but backward.”

Jackie confirmed her daughter’s thoughts, “I know and your father keeps reminding me of that too but it is hard to remember sometimes. Especially when I have been so used to having all three of you around to be proud of for almost fifteen years now. Can you believe your brother is almost fifteen? Only five days now. I am so glad he will not have his permit until summer.”

Amelia replied, “Mom. You have so much to be proud of and so much to look forward to in each of our lives. You will never be cut out of them. You and dad have done such a good job raising us and we will never want you guys out of our lives I can promise you that. That is a scary thought that Michael will be fifteen in a few short days. Gosh, I feel like it was just yesterday that he was following Laura and me around the house with a big crush on her. Oh the memories I can come up with sometimes. He will hate us at his wedding. I cannot wait to share the stories I have, oh and the photos…do not even get me started.”

Tati exclaimed, “Oh my gosh. I had totally forgotten about his crush on Laura. That was definitely the first crush he had on one of our friends but definitely not the last. Those were some fun times. I cannot believe it has been fifteen years since he was born and I was mad that he was a boy. How times change and how time flies.”

Jackie affirmed all her daughters had said, “That it does…and it does not ever slow down, take it from me. It just keeps going by faster and faster. One day you are marrying the love of your life and the next you are watching your youngest child with that love of your life go off to his or her first day of high school. It is insane how short an amount of time it feels like this last twenty seven years have been. Please hear this one thing if you do not hear any advice I give you for the rest of your lives. Cherish every moment that God gives you and never take anything especially each other for granted because time is going to be against you before you know it and you cannot get any of that back ever.”

Tati and Amelia obliged, “We will not. We promise.”

Tati said realizing the time, “Sorry guys but I have to go. Homework has been piling up and today is my day to play catch up and get everything done so that I can have maybe a little fun this weekend. John is actually staying on campus for once!! I love you both and cannot wait until I can give you both hugs!”

Jackie said, “I love you Tati. Enjoy your homework and your weekend with John. Hope that you can get all you need to done. I know how much fun it is to be able to actually relax during the weekend like the reasoning for it is. Talk to you later.”

Tati proclaimed, “Thanks mom. Talk to you later.”

Amelia confirmed, “Love you tati. Cannot wait to see you and give you a hug either. Good luck with the homework and make sure you flirt with that boy. Something will come of that relationship yet just you watch, even if it takes until the end of the year to do so.”

Tati attested, “Thanks Amelia. I will make sure to do some flirting for you. See you both in a few short weeks.”

Amelia and Jackie exclaimed, “Bye. See you soon. Love you.”

In the past few days she had not only gotten to know John better but she had also met new people and taken care of her wrist situation all on her own. Amelia was not the only one doing some growing up. She was in love with the feeling of accomplishment that she felt and she knew that it was going to continue throughout her life. All she had to do was continue to do what she felt was right and rely on God with all her heart soul and mind. She knew that these two things she could do. John had really helped with getting through the things she had had to do lately. She was glad she had him and that he had been there when ever she needed him so far this year but at the same time it was nice to be meeting new people finally. Hopefully these people would turn out to be non-partiers as well. They were athletes after all.
Life was going well. That was for sure. She only had about two weeks of classes and finals now and then it was home for a few weeks of family time and relaxation before the start of spring semester and track season. They were going to fly by Tati knew that. She just was not sure how fast. Class, after class and day after day that was how life was going during this month of December. With homework, runs and church thrown in there with the odd soccer game. Life was still good. She was hanging out with John just as much as when the semester started if not more. They had finally gotten him to stay on campus during the weekends…at least once in a while.
This past weekend was one such weekend and everything was great. They went to the beach, Tati, John and her roommate, Lisa. It was a little cold to be in the water but they did not mind. John was teaching her how to surf. It was great. She was not very good yet but she could get up on a wave and ride it for a few feet. She was pretty sure that had to be a record or something. They were having a blast and spent the whole day there on Saturday. Then that night they all had pizza for dinner in the room while watching random movies on Netflix Instant Watch. The conversations they had were very interesting. One was all about the “Harry Potter” movies vs the books. Tati said, “Guys we should definitely do a Harry Potter marathon before we go see the movie of the first half of the seventh book. I think it is going to be really good. There cannot be much they cut out considering they are making it into two movies instead of just one two hour film.”
John groaned and replied, “Oh no anything but that movie. Count me out of that one please and thank you. I cannot stand to watch those terrible excuses for movies. The director totally butchered the books when writing the script. Quidditch is only in each movie like once or twice total when it was the focus of the first four chapters of the book one time. No thank you, I will definitely find something else to do that night or day depending on when you decide to go. I can save tons of money by just waiting until it comes out on DVD to see it.”
“I am not going to say that they are that bad and I do love them as well as the books but I can see your point John. Tati, why don’t we just watch them one weekend when John is gone? Then we have stuff to do and we still get to have time with John. We did have to do lots of coaxing to get him to stay on campus every once in a while. I would hate to see that stop just because we decide to do something rather than hang out with him,” Lisa answered trying to be the peacemaker.
“I guess,” whispered Tati, “I don’t really see what the big deal is. It was just an idea and I know that the books are better. I have complained about the same things before but I just think that it is a way easier way to remind yourself of the rough outline that is the series before watching the movie than trying to read all of the books in the next week or so.”
“I totally see your point. Maybe we should but can we split them up a bit so that it isn’t a total Harry Potter engulfed day or week or weekend or whatever?” John asked.
Tori replied, “Oh definitely. I was not even thinking that we might possibly watch all six in a row. That would be murder no matter if you like the movies a lot or not. What do you think Lisa?”
Lisa never wanting to create a problem answered meekly, “That works for me.”
So it was decided they would watch the movies over the course of a week or so and then go and watch Harry Potter 7A together before they all went home for Christmas. Tati was the most excited about his because she had been dying to see the new one more than anything. It had been out for almost a month now after all. So in between the classes and homework and studying for finals the threesome went to the theater and saw the movie of which they all agreed was one of the best ones yet.

December: Amelia Jesse Jones
"For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands." ~ Christina G. Rossetti
December started in Spain with another drop in temperature. Making a very sad impact on the lives of all the study abroad students there however, they had been going to the beach every chance they could get to be as tan as possible so that they could rub it in when they got home about how tan they were and how white everyone who had been in cold places for the last four months were. That was going to change now that the maximum temperature during the day even was 60 degrees. This was going to be detrimental to the tans that had become so dark that they all blended in perfectly with the Mediterranean community however it could be dealt with it was only a few weeks until they went home hopefully they would not lose too much tan by then.
With December also came another long weekend because of fiestas!! This one was six days because there were two fiestas one Monday and one Wednesday, which meant that they got the day in between off as well plus they always had Fridays off. That meant that the week of the days off the program had only one day of classes…why would you do that…do you know how many people are actually going to go to class? Not many that is how many. Amelia and Katrina were going to Madrid from Friday night until Wednesday afternoon because Katrina had class Thursday and Friday so there was no possibility of skipping class for Amelia because Katrina needed to be at those classes. The two of them were such peas in a pod…neither of them was in Europe to party and travel. They were both there to study and traveling was an added bonus of being there.
The trip to Madrid would be five wonderful days of seeing the sights including everything in Madrid, the capital of Spain as well as Toledo (a walled Medieval city near by) and Segovia (another smaller city near by). She was very excited about the prospects of this trip and could not wait to get out of Cadiz again for a few days. She had also been talking about going to Scotland with another new friend to see Edinburgh for the end of that week which was another 5 days!! That would be another country added to the list as well as just another new thing added to the list of things she had done because she had never skipped class just because she could before.
Things were shaping up to be good for the end of the semester. She only had one more project to do and it was almost half finished. It was a twenty slide powerpoint presentation which she did not actually have to present to anyone just email it to the professor! This was the easiest thing she could possibly have to do. Basically take the notes from one of the topics they had talked about in class and compare and contrast it to the way that topic is in the United States and then find some video clips to supplement it. It was a solo project too which was even better because it meant that she could get it done in her free time rather than having to coordinate schedules with someone else.
The Madrid trip went really well! They saw all the sights and it was absolutely gorgeous and full of history. They also of course had all the Christmas decorations up which meant that there were lights all over to see. The hostel was great. The location was amazing. The sheets and bathrooms were clean and we were able to eat our meals there in the kitchen, which saved us a ton of money! The trains to and from the places we went to were great and quick and on time despite the fact that they were on a Sunday and a fiesta day. She had found a Real Madrid Soccer Jersey for her brother for less than forty euros so he know had a super cool Christmas present. She could not wait to see everyone. It was only two weeks now. She knew she should not be wishing away her time her but at the same time she had been missing her little brother for a long time now and wanted to be able to wrap her arms around him and then throw a snowball at him.
Edinburgh happened like she had been hoping it would. She and Janelle had a wonderful time. They got to see the most gorgeous sites as well as see one of Amelia’s friends from home named Ashley. Ashley was studying in Glasgow, Scotland for the whole year so she came to meet them for the weekend in Edinburgh even though she had already been there once. The museums there were really something to see as were the cathedrals. The pubs were pretty good too and they did a pub crawl their last night there.
When they got back it was time for seriousness. There were only two days of classes and then it was time for finals…wow. Where did the semester go? Was it not just yesterday day that they were all arriving in Spain with not a soul that they knew with them? Were they not supposed to be still doing piddily little homework and only one class of grammar a day? With plans of going to all these places during the semester set up, with dreams of more yet to be planned? It was amazing how fast time could fly when it was something that you had been looking forward to for a long time. She had been counting down to that day that she would leave for Spain, since the day that she sent in her final parts of her application. Now that thing she had been looking forward to was almost over. It was back to reality in less than two weeks. Granted reality would include four days of holidays in the next month…so if you could count that holidays. At least that meant she got to see all of her family in the next few weeks, she missed them all so much it was not even funny.
The Society project that was due on Decmeber 13th was sent in and it was now time to do her last homework of the semester for her literature class. Then it was time to study for all of her finals. One Wednesday, one Thursday and then she had the final weekend in Alicante to study for one on Monday as well as enjoy herself and the night life one last time. It was going to be a sad day that day when she had to leave her host family and all of this new life behind but she was pretty sure she would be back at some point to live for longer than four months. She just was not sure when yet, it would happen though even if it was not Alicante or even Spain. She knew she would be living in a foreign country someday. She did not know when, how or where but that would come. All she needed for now was to know that she wanted to.
She had to remember to call her brother today…it was his fifteenth birthday. She had called her sister last year for her birthday when she was out of the country…granted it was much cheaper in Guatemala and it was Tati’s eighteenth birthday. Much more important in Amelia’s mind than the fifteenth birthday especially when you are not even getting your permit that day but she would call him because that is what good sisters do. She could not wait to hear his voice. She was sure it was different than the last time she had heard it even though it had been really low then. He was probably a good couple of inches taller now too not that it mattered he had already been a good six inches taller than her back in August.
“Hello?” said a low voice on the other end of the phone.
She replied, “Hi bud! It’s me. Your sister!!”
“Oh. Hey honey. I will go get your brother. I love you and miss you though,” her dad responded with a bit of hurt in his voice.
“Ok. I miss and love you too Daddy. We need to skype again sometime soon,” she answered with care in her voice.
The new voice on the other end of the phone said, “Talk to me.”
“Hey buddy! It’s me. JJ. Happy Birthday!!! How’s the day been so far?” She exclaimed all in one breath.
“Thanks JJ! It’s been good. They sang to me in every single class and said my name on Tornado TV. It was pretty cool. Mom, Dad, and I are going to Famous Dave’s for dinner tonight. I can’t wait for ribs. There has been talk of Bob, Tina, Grandma, and Grandpa joining us as well but I don’t know what has happened there or not,” explained the boy.
“Well sounds like a successful day so far. I’m glad you are enjoying high school. Dinner sounds great. I could go for some Famous Dave’s fries right about now. Enjoy! I have to go, but I love you!! Tell mom and dad I say hi and love them too please!!” Amelia said as she said good bye.
“Will do. Bye JJ! Love you too!!” he replied to her with a bit of sadness in his voice.
It was hard to sign off at the end of that conversation but what was nice is that they both knew they would see each other in eight days making anything possible. He was doing well and that was all that Amelia wanted for her little brother and his new life at the high school. She knew that he would do well and continue to do well all of his life. Girls had always flocked to him both for him to be a boyfriend and also just to be his friend. He was nice to them all the time and that was all that girls wanted was for boys to be nice to them no matter what age they are. He was definitely nice to them but then again if he was not he had three different women that he had to respond to, his mom and two sisters. He knew that and he was nice to the girls not because of this but because he wanted to be. He had no reason not to be nice to them after all they had not done anything to him at least not that he could remember. He did not understand why some of the other boys were so mean to some of the girls. They did not deserve it that was for sure and it seemed like the guys were just doing it for fun. What the heck was that all about?!? She was proud of her little brother for always being nice to the girls.
Class was good today, all they did was review everything they had learned all semester in order to get ready for the test. At least one of the professors here had their priorities straight. One should not be forced to learn so many new things right before a big test such as the final, she could start studying now though. Society test tomorrow at 9 in the morning. So early to start thinking about things in Spanish for a test….gah. Oh well…her Spanish was so much better than at the start of the semester…people would probably not even recognize her Spanish from a year ago now. It was amazing how much better one could get in a month of speaking with native speakers no less four months of that. She could not wait to see what would happen with her French next semester.
Two finals down one to go. The last weekend in Spain has now begun. I spent the first day of it sitting on the beach studying grammar with some classmates. It was too cold to lay out in our bikinis to do so but we were still on the beach in December soaking up the sun all the same. It was good and we got some real ground covered which will make studying Sunday night that much easier. She was glad that she was finally able to have taken part in a large group activity for the whole of it even if it did take all semester to get to that point where she was able to and invited to by someone other than Elliot who she saw for a total of an hour the whole time she was at the event he had invited her to.
Another Saturday has come and gone and I have still yet to stay out all night except for once all semester. This means that Monday or Tuesday night I shall have to rectify this issue…though I am not sure who I will do so with as I have only one friend I would want to do so with and she will have classes to attend to each of the following days. She would figure it out. Hopefully it would end up being decided that they were all going out together or something so that she did not have to try and make plans. That was what she was going to hope for.
Grammar final this last Monday morning in Spain, Amelia was not sure she was ready for it. She had studied as much as she could but the actual understanding of that studying she was not so sure about. She had done fairly well on everything else so this should be just as good but then again she never really knew because when she felt like she did really well she did awful and when she felt like she had done terribly she did really well. There was no rhyme or reason to it. All she could do was the best she could do and then turn it in. There was no way to get a better grade by cramming now. If she did not know it she did not know it that was that. There was no way around it.
After the exam she went home to get a sandwich and then she and some friends headed to the beach where they all just say around and talked about memories of the fun they had in various parts of the semester. They also were just avoiding the inevitable packing and saying good bye that they all had to do shortly there after. They spent all afternoon on that beach. Just talking and enjoying the views of the sea and the castle and each others company as well. It was the second to last day they would be together after all.
Amelia went home to start packing up and hang out with her family around five o’clock that day because she wanted to spend time with them as well since she had not been very fun during the last week while she was studying. She did not want to leave them. They had been so good to her. She did not know what she would have done had she had one of the other families some of the others had this semester. Those first few weekends when she did not have anything to do were murder. She would probably have actually packed up and gone home had it not been for the fact that her padres made the effort to make her happier.
The program had said that it was not necessary to give them a gift but she wanted to so she had gone and found a nice frame in which she put a picture that had been taken while her mom was there of her padres and aunt with her. She thought that this would be a nice way to say thank you but also a nice way to have them remember her by. She was going to try and stay in contact even though that would be hard because neither of her padres knew how to use technology very well. She could write letters though. She did that well. She also kept up on them as much as she could most times writing another before she had even received a response to the last one. She had proved that with Josh this semester.
It was Tuesday…last full day of the program and day of the closing ceremony for the program. She had no idea what the closing ceremony was going to entail but she was excited for it because it had to promise to be cool. It was the last night so every single last one of them was going out tonight too just to hang out and celebrate it. She and Janelle were planning on going out together so that they could walk back together and save the money for a cab. They were pretty sure that Maria was going to be with them too because she would want to go out but not necessarily walk home by herself nor take a taxi either. It was their last night together, they were going to live it up. No one had to do anything the next day so they could also stay out as late as they wanted to because all they had to do was move from bed to the airplane for an hour and then sit in the airport for a few hours and then they could sleep on the long flight back to the states.
That night Amelia had the time of her life. She stayed out late partying with everyone else. She paid maybe three euro total for all of the drinks she had all night. (The Spanish boys really liked her for some reason.) She got completely and totally drunk and was out until 6am. She got home just in time to sleep for two hours before she had to get up to leave to go to the airport to catch her flight. It was a tearful good bye as she said good bye to her host parents and got in line to go through security. She went through security and made sure to wave as she was about to go out of sight just as her mom had made her due as she left back in August.
Then it was off to her gate. The Cadiz airport was much easier to navigate than the Madrid airport, which was nice. That meant that she only needed to be there an hour early. She got to the gate and half of the program was already there waiting to depart on the same flight as she was. They would all be together for another few hours before they had to leave each other most of them for ever. Amelia new she did not have a special enough bond with any of these people that she would see them again after this day but she was glad to get to see them for awhile anyway since it was going to be a very long nine hour flight by herself across the ocean and then three hours in the airport by herself and then a two hour flight as well.
Once they were all on the plane they had all some how miraculously ended up sitting together so it was a fairly loud flight the whole hour it took to get to Madrid as they all sat there talking and laughing reminiscing about the memories they had to take back to the states with them and the stories they were going to tell to everyone back home. When they landed everyone got their stuff together and got off the plane together and then worked on figuring out where they had to go. Each of them had a different destination to go to. Some had to catch a plane to yet another layover in Europe while some had direct flights to their home states and some had flights to a US destination where they would have a layover. Amelia was in that last category…luckily that is where most of her classmates were as well so she got to hang out with them for a while longer while they waited in the customs line and then while waiting for the plane as well. A few of them were even on her flight!
Once she had gotten on to the plane to the Fort Worth/Dallas Airport, she could not sit still. She was so excited to see her family in just a few hours it was not even funny. She knew it was nine hours to the United States then a three hour wait and then a two hour flight away but she did not care. This first leg meant that she was closer to her family that she had been in months. She had thought about taking melatonin and sleeping but she had decided that she was going to try her hardest to stay awake because then she could sleep really well that night when she got home so late and get up in the morning and hopefully not be too badly jet lagged for Christmas which was only two days away. This was the least in the Christmas spirit she had been in a long time. She was hoping that would change quickly and that she would be in the spirit as soon as she saw her family. She was tanned and thinner than when she left. She could not believe how much a more grown up person she was. That was a good thing though. It was a much needed change.
When she arrived in The Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport’s Lindbergh Terminal later that day she could not believe how mixed her feelings were. She had been so excited to get home she had not even thought about how much she would miss the place she had just left as well. She was just minutes away from her family now. They were her life and that was what she wanted right now was to be with them even if it did mean being freezing cold with lots of snow all over the place. She got to spend six whole weeks with them before she left again which she would spend a bit of in Wisconsin visiting friends but she still got to be around them for along time after being away for so long.
“Mom, Dad!! Over here!!” She shouted when she saw them in the crowd as she entered the baggage claim area.
They immediately turned and started walking towards her quickly as they could. It had been such a long time since they had gotten to see their little girl who was no longer that little girl but a young woman of whom they were very proud. “Hi honey! I missed you so much. I love you more than you could ever know,” her dad said with tears in his eyes.
Tears in her eyes as she gave them each a hug. She responded, “I missed you too Daddy. I love you so much. I missed you too mommy.”
They moved to the carousel to gather her luggage and then moved out into the freezing cold air towards the car. An hour later they were home and her siblings were just as excited to see her as her parents had been. There were hugs and kisses all around and a call made to Grandma so that she could stop worrying and know that they were safely home with her along. It was all that she had wanted for months yet Amelia was having troubles comprehending that she was back in Minnesota.

January: Tatiana Linda Jones
A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves—a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison
It was great to be at home with all five of them there again. She could not believe how much she had missed this. Granted she also missed her home away from homes too. The fact that she was content where she was yet wishing that she was somewhere else was an odd concept for her. She loved these people that she was with and could not and would not be who she was today without them in her life yet the people out at school had also begun to affect who she was as well. It was a good thing though, or at least that is what everyone kept telling her. Amelia told her that she was not who she was as a beginning of the year freshmen anymore.
New years eve was the way it had been every year for the past four or five years now. They went over to Grandma and Grandpa Pearson’s and had fondue (cheese, pizza, and steak for dinner and then chocolate for desert, only this year they also added butterscotch). It was a great tradition and she did not want to see it die.
She knew that this as many things in life was inevitable though no matter what they did to try and stop it. At some point they would all be grown up with kids of their own or just places of their own to be at. Who knew when that was going to be, it could be next year or the one after that or even five years down the road they could still be doing this same thing on new years eve. She hoped it would continue for longer even if they had boyfriends or girlfriends in their lives.
Dinner had been full of great food and great conversation with great company and now it was time to move into the den to watch the ball drop in Times Square in New York City at 11pm but midnight there time because grandma wanted to go to bed since it was “past her bedtime.” That was ok with Tati. She would rather be home at midnight than over here because that meant it was safer to get home before people started leaving their new years party locations drunk and undoubtedly driving themselves to wherever they are going…most likely home. She liked it better when she was home at the safest time of night to be driving possible. It was the same on any regular night when the bars closed.
When they got home Amelia and Tati turned on a movie so that they could stay up to welcome the New Year and with it what they hoped would be their best year yet. For them 2011 had to be a great year, there was no way it could be any worse than the ones that had come before. She was hoping this New Year would bring a boy into her life. She was not even going to be picky about what boy nor how long he was there at this point she just wanted a boy in general.
She was going to talk to Amelia about what she could do to be more appealing to guys there age because she was not convinced that mom really knew about today’s men. She knew that she had been a fox with the men in her day but now she was not so sure that Jackie Jones nee Petersen was really up on her game with the same age group of guys in today’s society. This why Amelia was the better choice even if she had not had that great of luck with guys ever in her life. She had at least had four different boyfriends or was it five…Tati could not seem to recall but it did not matter the point was she had had them.
Amelia asked, “Hey little sis! Why you look so haunted with thoughts? It’s New Year’s Day. You should be joyful and happy, full of hope for the coming year.”
“Just thinking about the things I hope more than anything will happen this year but do not know how to make them happen like I want them too. I was actually just thinking that you might be able to help me. Boys are my main focus for resolutions this year. I want to know how to make them notice me and mom says all the time that the she knows all about them and all that but I am really not convinced she does. She was good with boys over two decades ago… things have changed since then. She just does not seem to understand that. So can you help me? I know that you have not had all that much luck but it is definitely more than I have ever had,” Tati responded and asked all in the same breath.
“Sure I can. You are right I have never had great luck with boys but at the same time I have never had bad luck with them either.The best thing you can do is to be yourself and let them know that you are looking and available. Some guys prefer a girl who is unavailable but for the most part they will go for the ones who are available because they do not want to cause problems. Once you have them interested keep flirting but make yourself seem a little bit unavailable as if you are not really interested in something with them because the chase is fun. Once you have them and have gone on a date with them you just show that you are interested but that you are not going to go anywhere nor try to control every little thing that they do either. You can do it, I know you can and I am only a SKYPE call away if you need reassurance of that. Anything else I can help with?” Amelia quickly informed Tati with a kind tone.
Tati said, “Thanks Amelia you are really the best big sister a girl could ask for even if we do get on each other’s nerves sometimes. I am myself around the guys I am interested in. Always have been. I do not know how to be any one else. Never have been very good at acting. I do not think either of us has been. You were just always good at putting a little drama into everything with is why mom decided you were good at acting. The Anoka Children’s Theater plays just helped because there was lots of dancing which you are amazing at. No offense to your acting skills. I do have another question though. Is it going to be hard to go back to school after being home for almost a month?”
“Oh gosh. I’m not sure. I was never home for much more than a week here and there freshmen year so I really could not tell you. I was kind of sad to go back after Christmas break that first year but I think part of that was that I was only home for like a week and felt like I had barely gotten to spend any time with anyone at all. You will be fine. With practice for track you will not even have time to think about it on top of your classes. Just go into everything with an open mind and a smile and you will be fine. Also always keep your eyes open and looking for new friends of both genders, male or female,” Amelia instructed her little sister.
“The advice you give is always so amazing Amelia. I wish that I had good advice to give you in return except for the fact that I do not have experience in anything that you would want advice in probably because most of it is just class stuff which you have been through as well. Thank you so much for this talk tonight it has made things so much cleaner and clearer where boys are concerned! I do not think that I would have been able to get through some of the stuff I have this year if it were not for you. You are going to do awesome in France and I have a feeling that there are some absolutely life changing events coming our way this year. I just can not put my finger on what those might be. We shall just have to keep faith in God and trust that he will show them to us when the time is right. I LOVE YOU!!” Tati reassured her sister.
Amelia retorted, “You are the best little sister a girl could ask for Tati. I have been down right mean sometimes and you have still stuck by me no matter what. I love that about you. You never give up on someone just because they were a little mean or a little too over board on something. It is a part of your nature that if anyone got to know they would be nuts to not want you as their girlfriend or just a friend in general. You are going to go so far and there are good things coming in your direction as well. God is the way to all things! You are definitely right about that.”
“Why do I have to go back to school in a week? Why does it have to be that we get like no time together this year when we are finally getting closer and actually want to spend lots of time together? It is just not fair. I want to just be able to sit her with a mug of hot cocoa or hot apple cider and talk like this for like another month or so. It would be so great. We would probably be able to solve all the problems of the world and just have to find a way to put our plans into action so that we could actually get them done. One of us is going to have to be some one with a lot of authority some day so that we can actually make changes in the world some day. I just do not know which one of us it is going to be yet,” Tati reminisced.
Amelia responded sounding years beyond her age, “That is just the way things are. Life is that way. I think most sisters have the same kind of thing happen to them as we did. I know the Croteau girls had that happen. I mean the whole not close until they were all of a sudden not under the same roof any more. It gives you less to fight about and less time to be frustrated with each other which in turn lets you see the good in the person rather than just the things that bother you all the time. There are so many songs that are about things just like this. You honestly never know what you have until it is gone and then that is when you want it the most.”
It was nights like this when Tati realized how much her sister truly cared about her as well as how much she could learn from her sister. There had been times when the two would barely speak no less be able to stand to be in the same room for innumerable amounts of time by choice. That was a typical sister relationship however especially for a couple of sisters who were less than two years apart. Sisters are irreplaceable and no one has ever asked to replace their sister younger or older… once you realize how wonderful that sister is nothing in the world could break that bond. It just takes both of the sisters realizing the worth to make the bond the strongest it can possibly be.
The next week flew by. The girls had been joined by Jackie for a trip to Chicago, Illinois to the consulate of France so that Amelia could apply for her student visa for her semester in France as well as a visit to Ripon University where Amelia went to school so that she could visit all of the friends that she had not seen since she had left school last May. It was a good trip for the Jones women to make together because it gave them time to bond as well as to just catches each other up on everything without having to deal with all the stuff that the boys usually interjected into the conversation.
The visa got taken care of and then so did the visiting of friends though the visiting would happen again because Amelia still had planning to do with Ashley for the semester that was about to begin, yet another new adventure with tons of little ones included inside of it. Tati was not jealous because she knew that she would get her turn but at the time she wanted to be traveling as much as Amelia was. She had now been to Italy, Spain and TUNISIA… that would be AFRICA. That was not fair. She could deal with the European countries but Africa. That was one she was not sure she wanted to admit to herself because it made her so jealous.
She would get her turn and she was most likely going to get that turn in Australia so she would then be going some where that Amelia had not been to but wanted to go to, so there would be justice in this. She needed to stop comparing them just as Amelia needed to stop comparing them. They would each have their triumphs and failures in life and it was not healthy to constantly be comparing themselves to the other one. From today on she was going to promise herself not to compare herself to Amelia. If that would actually be a promise that was kept she would be amazed but that was what she was going to plan on.
On her last night at home before heading back to school, the girls stayed up late watching chick flicks and talking about anything and everything that came to mind. It was not just that they would not see each other for like five months but that they had grown in their relationship as sisters in that past month so it was going to be hard to be with out the other for that long. The nice thing after this coming semester though was that they would always be in the same country so a phone call to the other girl was going to be way cheaper since they had the family plan with unlimited minutes to all other t-mobile phones. She could not wait for that day to come.
She was back at school and everything had started full swing again. She could not believe that she was already 19 years old and that her older sister was going to be 21 years old in April of that year. Could it really be that they were getting that old already? It did not seem like that was possible, but then again their little brother was 15 years old already and that seemed even less possible so it must be true that they were that old now. She hoped that Amelia did not start drinking a lot just because it was legal for her. She did not want to have to deal with that kind of a thing in her own family. She knew that her sister would never be like her roommates that loved to party but at the same time she was not sure if that was because it had not been legal or she truly did not enjoy the partying. Only time would tell what the truth about that was.
Tati and John had spent lots of time together in the days that they had been back and they were both doing really well with keeping everything balanced. She could not believe that it was already time for track to be starting up. It seemed like it was way too early for that but then again there were two seasons that they would be competing in now not just the one that begins in March like they did in high school. She could not wait for this six straight months of track and field or close to six months anyway. She and John were bonding to more than just as friends, or at least that is the way it seemed to Tati. She was going to have to take things into her own hands and talk to him it seemed, but that was ok… she had grown up a lot during the last few months and talking to a boy about something like this would be just fine. She was definitely not going to die if she decided to talk to them about (gasp) feelings.
“Hey John. Can we talk about something?” Tati asked hesitantly.
John responded, “Yeah. Sure. What is up?”
“I was kind of hoping we could go on a walk or something. I do not really want to talk about this in front of people. If you would not mind, that is,” Tati explained.
“It is not as cold here as in Minnesota Tatiana. I am definitely up for a walk with you. I do think it is a little weird that you want to talk just the two of us however. What is going on?” John answered her skeptically.
Impatient Tati groaned and responded, “Just come on I will tell you as soon as we are out of the building. Trust me it is nothing bad. I just want to talk to you about it away from everyone else because they are annoying me.”
Leading the way, John thought deeply about that she could possibly be wanting to talk to him about that she would not want anyone else to know about. The only things they had ever talked about before would have nothing in the conversations that they could not be talked about in front of everyone else granted she could also be telling the truth and she was just getting annoyed by her roommates and the boys that they always had in the room. He was just going to take her word on that for now because the only other reason he could think of for her to want to talk away from everyone he was not sure he was ready to talk about. He was going to ask, “Hey chica. What gives? Are you ok?”
“Chica? Now you sound like my sister. Amelia was constantly calling me chica and tia and our brother chico and tio over break. That was way to much Spanish culture influence on her part I think but oh well I was happy to have her home she could have called me way worse than that I am sure and it would not have phased me at all.But nothing gives I just have decided to take my own life into my own hands rather than letting other people dictate how I live my life anymore. I am perfectly fine just a much stronger and much more forceful me. That is all!” Tati informed him.
“Wow. Ok. Yeah. Tia, something definitely gives. Please tell me before I have to dig it out of you,” John struggled to say.
“Well if you would quite being so skeptical I would have already been able to have started talking about what I want to talk about genius,” Tati jibed.
John laughing said, “Then I am done. I shall zip my lip until you tell me I have the ability to take the floor again or until I feel it necessary to talk again. Ready 1... 2… 3… zipped.”
Tati relieved responded, “Thank you. Finally. I thought we were going to have to walk around for like hours until you finally let me get to where I could talk and not be interrupted by a change of subject or something...”
“You are welcome. Now continue or start which ever fits better in this situation,” John interjected.
“Ok. So over break my sister and I spent a lot of time talking about what we wanted to happen in our lives in the next year, I mean New Years did happen during that time so it kind of made sense for it to come up. Both of us had very similar resolutions however mine has a little bit more focus than hers does as I am actually in the country and she is not. Most of these resolutions had to do with relationships that we have or want to have. Mine was that I wanted to take more chances and put myself out there. Hopefully end up with a boyfriend by the end of it. I just do not want to wait for that to happen since I have been falling for you since we met. Do you get what I am trying to say?” Tati explained.
John sat there in shock staring at Tatiana like she had a pair of antennae that she had just shown him for the first time. Was this really the Tatiana he had met at the beginning of the year? She would definitely not have talked about this then. He was sure that this sister of Tatiana’s who ever she was had to have done something to her because this was not the Tatiana that he dropped off at the airport for winter break actually nor was it the one he picked up after break either. This was going to be an interesting conversation if he did not try and get his wits about him soon. He liked her he was sure about that but he was not positive that he wanted to have something happen between them… he liked this friendship to much to possibly have it end. “Ok. I understand where you are going with this and I like you too. I do, but I am not sure that we should do any thing about it. I really like our friendship and I do NOT want to lose that. I really do not. Do you understand?” he finally responded as he came out of the funk.
Trying not tear up, Tati said, “I understand but I do not think you have reason behind it. I honestly do not think we would mess up our friendship by starting a relationship. I mean I am not naïve enough to think that I do not know some things would change because of a dating relationship but I also know that things would change for the better and that if it did not work we would both be able to be adult enough about it that we could just more on and it would not matter. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah… I understand. I am not sure I see your logic but I do understand what you are trying to say. I guess if you really want to give it a try and honestly believe we can be friends if it does not work out we could give it a try,” John declared completely unsure of himself.
“I do believe it, I really do. Oh John, why can you not see it? Our friendship is going to end up dying if either of us were to start dating someone else because we would want it to be us with the other not this person that just came into his or her life. Please. Just take a chance on me!” Tatiana pleaded.
“All right fine. But we have to do this the right way. I am a traditional guy. I can not have you be the one asking me out. So we have agreed that we will give it a try some time in the near future, however you do not know when where or how I am go to ask you on a date slash to be my girlfriend. Is that clear?” John agreed taking control of the situation.
Tati grinning from ear to ear responded, “Works for me. I still get my way in the end and in the mean time I can just flirt with you and try out the new tricks my sister gave me. Can not wait to see how they work.”
“Oh gosh. This frightens me. Your sister seems to have helped you out a lot. Considering I am almost positive that a month ago you would not have been able to have this conversation with me,” John said.
They both went back to their respective rooms to do homework when they got back because it was Sunday night and they both needed to start the week ahead on homework so that they would not end up behind because of all of their track practice they had to do. Tati knew that she was not going to be able to pay attention to her homework for awhile yet so she got dressed in running clothes and went out for along run around campus to clear her head so that she could focus once more on the task that was at hand. Reading classic novels for her humanities tutorial class. It was the one class that she actually felt like she needed to work harder than she normally would have in high school for. That was saying something. She did at least two hours of homework a day per class in high school.
She had just finished her hum tut homework and was moving on to her biology lab report write up when her phone went off signaling a text message. That was odd. Everyone who would normally text her on a Sunday she had already talked to or was in the other room so there was no reason that any of them would text her. She picked it up thinking maybe it was someone checking to see if she was going to service that night since she had been so swamped with homework last week that she had not been able to make it. But that was not it. It was still three hours until the service would begin. There is no reason that someone would be trying to get to her about that now.
Tatiana quickly looked at her phone and she was pleasantly surprised, it was John. She had not been expecting to hear anything from him again until when it was time to go to church that night as they always went together. She opened her phone to look at the message. It said, “Meet me outside.” That was it.
Kind of a cryptic message but she would deal with it. She was intrigued to she sent back, “when?”
“Right now,” he answered.
So she went outside making sure to sign out of face book and take her keys as her roommates had taken to thinking it was funny to change things while she was out of the room and they had also locked her out once or twice accidently.

January: Amelia Jesse Jones
"You should never look down on a sister except to pick her up."
Author Unknown

February: Tatiana Linda Jones
A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty

February: Amelia Jesse Jones
"Sisters share the scent and smells - the feel of a common childhood."
Pam Brown

March: Tatiana Linda Jones
If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. ~Linda Sunshine

March: Amelia Linda Jones
Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other. ~ Carol Saline

April: Tatiana Linda Jones
A sister is always there to defend you no matter what. ~Felicity Martin

April: Amelia Jesse Jones
Of two sisters, one is always the watcher, one the dancer. ~ Louise Gluck

May: Tatiana Linda Jones
What sets sisters apart from brothers and also from friends is a very intimate meshing of heart, soul and the mystical cords of memory. ~Carol Saline

May: Amelia Jesse Jones
A loyal sister is worth a thousand friends. ~ Marian Eigerman

June
When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?
~ Pam Brown

July
Sisterly love is, of all sentiments, the most abstract. Nature does not grant it any functions. ~ Ugo Betti

August
More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you've been bad and good.
~ Linda Sunshine

NaNoWriMo

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

NaNoWriMo 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011

So it's been about 4 months

Sunday, December 12, 2010

I Finished!!!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Beginning of Day 19...This is where I am at...

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