15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Amara Pearl is turning 15!!! Every year I shake my head at how fast the years fly by. That quote, "the days are long but years short" is the absolute truth. During the day to day activities, I find that that I am often tired, short tempered or impatient with all the chaotic, mundaneness of raising a family. But when I look back over this past year and I see how much growth has transpired for Amara. It was then, I wish to myself to slow it all down, to be able to take in each moment more fully.  Because in a few short years, my girl will be an adult.  She will be a grown gem. Although I suspect Amara will still me small in statue if not in age!

Amara's fourteenth year around the sun has brought many, many changes. Here is a list of what has transpired for my pearl.  

Amara started High School at Bentley. It was a bumpy start as Ms. Perfectionist acclimated but she soon found her grove with sports and all that that entailed. She participated in Cross Country and Soccer. For Cross Country  she earned an award for most improved athlete and for both sports she won an award for maintaining a high GPA while participating in a sport.  She was challenged by academics in a new learning system but with her dads help, utilizing free time to check in with teachers and more recently some tutoring support, she has maintained almost straight A's.  Another of Amara's main hopes for high school was to make new friends. A pandemic and a teeny tiny middle school did not allow for making new friends.  Within a few weeks on campus, she made new friends who often socialized both at school and outside of school.  She found herself going to the city on BART with her crew, hanging around in Berkeley and other places and she had multiple sleep overs when we were not in a covid surge. She also made an effort to keep her old friends in her inner-circle, which has been very important to her.

Amara has started to babysit in the past few months. She only had a one gig so far but she is looking forward to growing her business.   It has been hard to do this with Covid but we are exploring ways to set it up. She is also is getting ready to be a counselor -in-training  for two weeks at Sugar Pine Girl Scout Camp this summer.

Amara completed some of her  High School required community service taking care of rescue sloths in Panama.  That was super fun for her and her mama!

Amara continues to be a fashionista with her own unique and sharp style. Sometimes we have to reign in her desires to go shopping and have more. We have had many discussions about this. But she is a teen  and a teen in school with others who it seems often have more. So we talk alot about what it means to have things versus the things she does get to do and how her life is full and rich no matter how much clothing she has. All that said, she sure does have her own unique style that makes her stand out.

Amara is more independent in the kitchen. She can make herself a meal or will bake some goodies.  However, ramen seems to be a favorite and I don't consider that cooking!

Amara has a 600+ day Snapchat streak going! The times she has her phone on restriction (we won't get into that!), we make the exception to let her do her snaps to keep up the momentum. 

Amara and I went out for a driving lesson. It was just up the street and it went okay.  We will continue this summer as she is very excited to get her learning permit this next year.

Amara went with Aniyah to homecoming. This was a super sweet experience. They went clothing shopping together and planned for weeks.  Amara got her first pair of heels, which she loved. I love their friendship and that they remain close and I love that they got to go to homecoming in person together. It felt like a right of passage for high school.

Amara has had a good year but there have been challenges as well.  Coming out of home school due to Covid, being a teen, some family issues and more, have for sure made life a roller coaster at times. But Amara is overall an amazing young lady. She is always willing to help out at home. She is always willing to help anyone out really.  She is thoughtful to a fault. We are working on her not taking things personal and not feeling she has to be over responsible for both others and herself.  She will sometimes push herself too much,  so we are working on giving herself time to relax and let go.  She is a hard worker, who does well with whatever she puts her focus on but she does not always see her own awesomeness. She is a bright young lady, who is just amazing.  I am always impressed by her and I look forward to what this next year around the sun will bring.

here are some photos of Amara from birth to now. i love reflecting on her throughout the years. she is for sure my gem as well as a shining star in my universe.