Well, this is just a bit more information about me, Erica. I'm nothing really special, just your normal small-town girl with big-time dreams.

her family

    As a 16 year old girl, I find life to be interesting. I say interesting because it's not good, but it's not bad either. In general, my life at home is great. I live in a small Northwest Ohio town with my mom and sister. My mom and I used to not really be that close, but I'm so much closer to her now. I can tell her just about anything which is awesome to have in a mom.
    My sister, on the other hand, can be a handful to say the least. Alli, that's her name, enjoys pestering me to say the least. She always takes control of the remote, plays the piano by reaching over and pounding on it from her favorite chair, and making obnoxious noises that she knows bother me. Of course, that's just the start of things. But in general, she alright. She knows her limits for the most part. She just needs to get past the awkward stage. She's 12. I think you understand.
    My mom and dad are divorced, and my dad lived in China for a good two years plus. He works for Cooper Tire and he really enjoys his job. He recently moved back from China to our hometown to continue working at the Cooper station here in town. It's been nice having him back, he always has something for us to do!
    My grandparents on my mom's side are some of the best grandparents you'll ever meet. I absolutely adore them. They are always there for my mom, sister, and I whenever we need it. My grandma is an amazing cook and baker; she makes the most awesome cookies ever (and I would know.) My grandpa has a Snoopy obsession and he's always the practical jokester. He's always trying to steal our food, without intention of actually stealing it - he's just getting under our skin, and he's got the wittiest comebacks ever. It's always so much fun to be together as a family.
    My grandparents on my dad side are equally awesome. Unfortunately, my grandma passed away on August 9th, 2008, and that was an extremely hard time for our whole family. We're all still devastated today. She had the cutest laugh and was always up for playing any kind of game. My grandpa is just so much fun to talk to, he's always got a good view on any issues and he loves making us laugh. Now that grandma has passed, he and my aunt are discussing him moving in with her family to keep him safe, God forbid something happen to him.
    As for the rest of the family (who I'm sure you have figured out are awesome too from the extensive use of the word), I love them dearly. I'm truly very lucky to be a part of such a great family.

her friends

    In the aspect of friends, my life is pretty good. I have some of the best friends in the whole world. Well, the world that I've come to know. And although everyone says it, I think it's 100% true that the friends I have in my life are some of the best anywhere. Take, for instance, my best friend Devon. She's awesome in general. I can tell her anything and she'll listen no matter what it is. She gives out great advice and I (hopefully) return that to her when she needs it. When we're just talking as friends though, we talk about girly stuff - including our special obsession, Twilight. We were those two crazy girls who weren't going to buy into the whole Twilight thing, we went to see the movie as a kind of joke in a way (both secretly wanting to see it, mind you) and naturally, we had to read the books.
    Theresa is another one of my best friends. Though we've never actually met, we went to the same Inaugural conference together in 2009 and we met through Facebook. We got to talking and exchanged numbers. We just clicked right away and I'm so glad we did talk at first. I never got to meet her at the conference, which we both regret not putting forth the effort to do so now, but she just gets me better than anyone. She always is there for me when I need help or talked through something. I know some day we will end up meeting and we'll have a great time.
    Riley is another one of my best friends. She is one of the funniest girls you'll ever meet, and she and I have been through a lot of the same things and struggles in life, so we get along great. She's always up for shopping or party hopping, and I absolutely love her funloving spirit. She and I are both in the band and show choir, so we get to be around each other a lot. I absolutely love her and she's amazing.
    On to the guys! Richard has been one of my best guy friends ever. He's always good for a laugh, and we have the same political views, so once we get started, it's no stopping us! It's almost funny to see us friends, because when he moved to my school in the 5th grade, I absolutely despised him for no reason. We ended up being friends with the same people and since freshman year, we've been great friends.
    Sam is also a very good friend of mine. We're currently dating, but it's kind of on the rocks. We dated once during freshman year, but it ended up not working out, so we separated for a while and this year during musical and health class, along with Riley, we became closer and decided to date again. Even if something happens, I plan to keep him close as a friend as I hate to say goodbye to someone over a lost connection as boyfriend/girlfriend.
    The Matthews! These two boys are amazing. They're both in band and they play in the show choir pit as well. Matthew is dating Devon, while Matt is single. They're both great guys and they're best friends together. When they're together, it's always hysterical because they get so intense with each other. It's a great time when they're around, and they're also good for a current events talk every once in a while over the government and such.
    Those people, minus Theresa unfortunately, are my school posse and best friends. I love being around them and life is ALWAYS a party. I couldn't ask for a better group than these 6+1.

her involvement

    As for me, I'm Episcopalian as a religion, and my church family is incredible. They are so supportive of everything I do and I love that. Outside of church, I'm in band (both concert and marching), choir (including show choir, concert choir, and women's chorus), and Junior Statesmen of America (JSA - a discussion about current events and how we think things should be handled.) I'm also a computer specialist on the yearbook staff this year, which is partially why I was inspired to ask Bella to work on a website together this year, that way I can get back into the swing of things graphics-wise. I also love the idea of being on stage and performing as an actress. Though I've never actually acted in my life as a character, I'd love to experiment and make it big on Broadway or on television. I love to sing and dance and have other people feel the love that I do for performing. It's an empowering experience, and if you have never performed, I encourage you to. You won't regret it!

her personality

    Though I may seem extremely well put together in type, I am not close to being so in person. I'm usually pretty random, not making sense at times, but I tie everything together eventually. I wish people would just understand my train of thought! I'm very introspective, always overthinking things and worrying about the worst. I have amazing gut instincts and I love giving out advice to anyone who needs it. I usually see the best in people, and I've come to realize that all people are good deep down, I just have to open myself up to them to get past their often hard outer shell.

her background

    I have never lived outside of my hometown, and I've gotten very bored with it. It's a very quiet town, not that I'm complaining about that, but many events around town are geared towards adults and they don't have many teenage activities. I have moved houses once when I was three. I moved all of 2 miles across town, if that, and have lived in the same house ever since. I often wonder how we're going to sell the house after all the little things that we've done to it in our years here, from the small dents in the wall from leaning back on the chair one to many times, to the glitter marks my sister thought would be funny to put on the walls with a glitter pen. I absolutely love this house and it will forever be home to me.

her favorites

    I am a Disney girl through and through. At the age of sixteen, I still love watching the Disney Channel, and I've recently rekindled my love for classic Disney movies, the good animated ones. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite movie of all time, and The Little Mermaid is in a close second. I also love a lot of the Disney Channel stars, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato in particular. I've always aspired to get into acting with Disney, but I haven't yet, and since I've had a tremendous lack of experience, I highly doubt I will. I love Disney music as well, from the classics from the old movies to today's music produced by their stars. Demi Lovato's music is absolutely amazing in my eyes and I love her voice. It's so powerful. As much as I dislike her, Miley Cyrus's music is fairly decent as well. Her voice isn't the best in my eyes, but she's got powerful lyrics to live by. (Good writers? I think so.) I also enjoy many different movies and music outside of Disney. Music including Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz, Brandi Carlisle, Taylor Swift, & music from Wicked, Legally Blonde the musical, Rent, The Little Mermaid on Broadway, and so much more. (I'm a musical freak, in case I didn't mention that.) As mentioned before, I love Twilight the movie, Marley and Me, The Notebook, and many others I'm drawing a blank on. As for TV shows, Glee, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sonny with a Chance, Here Come the Newlyweds, Wipeout, Pushing Daisies, Grey's Anatomy, Full House, My Wife & Kids, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and LOTS more. I've got a schedule down for almost every night of the week of what I HAVE to watch to make it through the next day.

    That's all for now, but I'm sure I'll add more eventually. Here's links to my other personal pages, if you're so inclined to look.