My timeline by Crystal Arellano

Jan 27th, My birthday

1072907_1 — 2024-01-13 23:27:11 UTC

The first thing I remember from 2023 is my birthday. I wanted tres leches cake. I've grown up with that cake because basically all the parties I've gone too were Mexican parties. The first time I ever tried a vanilla cake was in the 6th grade and I remember it tasted so dry and I actually hated it. I didn't want a party instead I just asked if I could go to the mall, I went to this place called the Stonewood Center. Since it was a special birthday (my 13th birthday) my mom just told me to get whatever I wanted. It was fun, but I only got 2 hours because we needed to pick up my siblings from school. It was a really good birthday. I was really excited to finally be a teenager.

Jan 4th, Mountains!!

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 01:14:00 UTC

During my winter break I remember I went to the mountains for the first time. Since it doesn't snow anywhere in southern California I was really excited to see snow for the first time. The drive was super long, 2 hours. I remember by the end I was too exhausted to enjoy it as much as I would've 2 hours ago. It was nice to be able to touch snow and being in a place where it actually snows. I remember I was sad when we had to leave because of how long the drive back was going to be. I remember it really sucked being up in the mountains just because of how bad the wifi was, you'd think that being higher and closer to satellites would if anything make it better. The drive home was really bad because I was so uncomfortable and covered in snow and hungry. The only good part about the trip was the fact that we got McDonalds coming back.

Jan 8th, 2nd Semester

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 01:33:31 UTC

I was so excited to see all of my friends after winter break. I had just dyed my highlights red and gotten some new clothes I remember feeling very prepared. I had this elective called the wheel and what it was, was your electives changing every quarter, 1st quarter I had basics of mindfulness, 2nd was career exploration and today was going to be the 1st day of drama. I was excited because I was 1 quarter away from Home Ec. I felt like I had finally gotten used to middle school and in around 8 months I was going to start the 8th grade.

Mar 20th, Track

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 01:44:04 UTC

3rd quarter had just ended, and I finally started Home Ec!! I had been bored and I wanted to do something so I decided I wanted to do a sport. I did not at all in a million years wanna do softball or any other sport like that so I decided I wanted to do track this quarter. I really wasn't good at anything else and I remember thinking to myself that running wouldn't be difficult at all. I was wrong, it was. I did this thing called an 800 and what it was, was basically running half a mile and I had to do that everyday. I also did; long jump, I wasn't good at it but it was either that or running another 800. The only thing I looked forward to was going to other schools, I remember going to Walker and Lexington. We also got a pizza party for participating so that was fun.

April, loosing cats

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 01:54:57 UTC

reading the title it seems like my cats died, but they didn't. I had these two black and white cats that I really loved, their names were Cherry and Misifu, they were both boys and their colors made them look like cows. I really loved my cats they were always there for me and I remember whenever I'd cry they'd come over and try to rub themselves against me. I remember Misifu would go and lay down on my lap. The money for taking care of them like food, their litter, and stuff for them in general just added up. My sister was the one paying for everything, but she also needed money to pay for other stuff like car payments and school payments. We ended up just taking them to a shelter, I miss them a lot and I hope they both got a really good owner who gives them really good meals and always treats them really good.

May 23, School Ending

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 02:01:51 UTC

I was so excited to finally be done with school, I finally finished my 1st school year of middle school. It was really fun because every other class I had was a free period with a movie playing in the background. I just spent the whole day catching up with my friends just saying our plans for the summer. I was nervous for grades because I ended up failing home ec because the only thing I would do was cook stuff, but not do the classwork. I remember when I got home I just kind of reminisced on my year, just because it was really interesting and a couple years ago I wouldn't have ever expected any of this to happen.

July 2nd, Mall

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 02:49:32 UTC

The Stonewood Center is literally my favorite mall. I love the stores and it's always really fun going there. I wanted to start going back to school shopping because I needed more clothes, I went with my mom and my sister. I think around this time I had also just dyed my hair black because the red had finally faded and I didn't like the orange tinted highlights. I got a bunch of pants and a couple of tops, it was really fun shopping, it's like my therapy. I think that my favorite part is going home and trying everything on and opening stuff, it's so satisfying.

Aug 10th, School

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 02:59:24 UTC

I was really excited to finally see my friends, It was also exciting to finally be an 8th grader. everything after July 4th really sucked I spent 2 weeks at a mental hospital and a couple days at a youth shelter just in case I needed more help. I remember it being really boring and I had to make friends with the other kids just to have conversations and make the days go by faster. When I came back from all of that my whole family treated me with a lot of care. I just wanted to go to school already just because I missed everyone. I remember when I got back to school I just hugged everyone, I was just so excited for the next couple weeks.

Dec 30, Imaginarium

1072907_1 — 2024-01-14 03:48:44 UTC

Nothing eventful happened during the 1st semester I just got to catch up with all the friends that I missed. Also I finally finished health with a B which is better than a D because I had a D most of the semester. I did fail PE though. My sister had been wanting to go to this place called the Imaginarium for a while and it sounded fun so I finally said yes to going with her, it was so pretty. I remember she bought me a churro. Also I ended up having to take a bunch of pictures of her because she wanted something to post on her Instagram. I don't think I have a favorite part I liked everything, it was so pretty