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Birth
On May 22,2005 at 1:30 p.m Orange County, my parents were blessed with me. My mom knew right away that I was to be named Nathalie. All seemed to be going well, until my father noticed an unusual rising in my chest. After much examination it was determined that I had a hole in one of my lungs.I spent three days connected to wires and not being able to see my family. Eventually I was cleared and was on my way to meet my big brother for the first time. -
First word
Even though I had begun babbling before my first year, I still had not said my first word. Then one evening while my mom was feeding my beans, she asked if I would like some more. Out of nowhere I threw my hands up and said, "no!" She almost dropped the bowl from how surprised she was to hear me talk. So for the remainder of 2006, my response to almost everything was no. -
Utah
In 2007, my family made the drastic decision of moving from warm sunny California to snowy unpredictable Utah. We had no plan, no house, and my parents had no jobs. My aunt let us stay with her while we got on our feet. By our third month in Utah we had our own house and it all seemed to be going well. -
Vegas
My grandparents came to visit my family from Mexico and we thought it would be fun to take them to Las Vegas. On the way there me and my brother were crammed in the back seat along with the luggage watching ghost busters on his portable dvd player. We got to Las Vegas around midnight, and all me and my brother wanted to do was explore the hotel. So my brother, my mom, and I went down to the convenience store, got chocolate milk and wandered around. -
Preschool & Cinderella
This was finally the year I was able to go to preschool. My mom would drop off a very sleepy eyed child and would pick up a very talkative energetic child. As soon as I got home, every single day, I would grab the plate of Oreo's awaiting me and rush downstairs to watch Cinderella. Back then we still had a box tv and vhs tapes, so little 5 year old Nathalie was able to pop in the movie by herself. This would be my routine for the rest of the year. -
Bear lake
My family had heard of the Bear lake's famous raspberry shakes and we wanted to go check them out. I instantly fell in love with the shakes there. I finished a big one all by myself. Since then it has been a tradition for my family to go down and get one at the start of every summer. -
Rode My First Horse
My dad's boss had a bunch of horses. I would always come to work with my dad just to pet the horses. One day his boss said that if it was okay with my dad I could ride one of the horses. I was beyond excited. They helped me up, with someone else on too since I was just 6, and I rode the horse throughout the whole neighborhood. I had so much adrenaline and was in love with the horse. -
Mexico
When my brother was 15 and I was 7, we were sent to Mexico by ourselves. I wasn't scared about leaving or the plane, but I was nervous to see if Mexico had color. I had watched some of the movies my mom brought from Mexico and I had seen all her pictures in black and white, so in my head it only made sense that Mexico was also in black in white. Much to my surprise it was not. After my realization, my brother and I were greeted by our family and were spoiled rotten by all my aunts and grandpa. -
San Francisco
Although I was born in California and lived there for a bit, I never visited San Francisco. In 2013, my uncle had a timeshare in San Fransisco, so he invited us. We spent a week over there going to all the basic tourist spots. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as Alcatraz. We also ate a lot of seafood and bought a lot of souvenirs. It was the best time. -
New School
In 2014, my parents and I made the decision of switching me from a public to private school. At the time I was still very shy, so the idea of starting a new school without knowing anyone frightened me. Although I was picturing the worst outcomes and thought I was going to be eaten alive by the school, it turned out to be fun. I spent the remainder of elementary there and even middle school. -
New Puppy
It had only been three days since we lost my first ever dog, Michiko. We only had her for one month when we found out she had heart problems and they put her down. My dad's friend, who sold us Michiko heard this and gave us Michiko's sister for free. We were on the fence about getting a new dog so soon, but I saw Michiko in the new dogs eyes so I had to take her home. My brother named her Hatchin after his favorite anime, Michiko and Hatchin. -
Party Favor
My aunt had taken my cousins and I to a birthday party. The theme was under the sea, so they were giving out fish as prizes. I played every single party game in order to win a fish. I had one game left to play and I was starting to lose hope. Fortunately the game was musical chairs, and I dominated musical chairs. So I went all out in that one game and won. I took my little fish home and named him Richard. -
No Kids Allowed
My distant aunt thought it would be a great idea if she didn't allow kids at her wedding. So my 4 closest cousins, my brother, and I spent the day alone in my house. The only other person who was in the house was my uncle who decided that weddings were boring and stayed home. We had the best time ordering a bunch of fast food and having a marathon of scary movies. We did not fall asleep until 3 am that day, and our parents didn't come home until 5. -
California
I wanted to go to the Orange County fair for the longest time. So during my summer break my mom decided to take me and my brother to California. We spent the whole vacation eating at all our favorite places, such as raising canes and Bubba Gump Shrimp co. We also went to the beach every day at sunset. Finally at the end of the week I was able to go to the Orange County Fair. I had never been happier. I had the most fun and would definitely go back again. -
8th Grade Graduation
In the middle of May, I finally graduated 8th grade. I said goodbye to everyone I had been with for 4 years. It was very sad, but also very exciting to start something new. We had a graduation ceremony, and a reception afterwards. There were a lot of tears, but mostly just smiles. -
Drill
My freshman year of high school I had joined the drill team. We practiced every day at 5:30 in the morning. They also had us do after school practices and weekend practices. They had us work very hard in preparation for state. Once we had qualified for state, we all felt prepared and ready. We did our very best and gave it are all. At the end we got 6th overall!
