Times Like This

When school is hard and things are stressful, sometimes all I want to do is go back to the summer; when I was in Israel.  Junior year is a year full of ap classes, SAT/ACT, starting to look at colleges, the usual high school drama, and just trying to get everything done.  It is almost the end of the semester which means finals.  Finals can help out your average a lot, but it also causes a lot of stress making sure you have studied the right thing. Right now I am very stressed.  BBYO has taken a turn and we are trying to get things back on the right path, I need to get organized for finals and the few things that help me to get unstressed is to listen to music, think about my summer in Israel and write.  At the moment, I am doing all three things.  BBYO has had such a big impact in my life for the past three years of high school, that when something goes wrong, it is my job to help fix it, and that is what me and the executive board are trying to do.  I know it will all work out however it is supposed to, but it is hard to look at something I have put so much pride in to see it not succeed.  The girls in my chapter have become some of my closest friends.  I would do anything for those girls, they are my sisters so I will do anything for them.  When I think about my Israel trip, I remember how stress at home just didn't matter.  I was with some of the most amazing people I have ever met, and at the time, things at home were the last things to cross my mind.  As long as the people I love at home were safe and happy, I was okay.  Israel was the most amazing place I have ever been to, so when I am having a bad day, or I am stressed, I can think about the trip and remember that I can just let go of somethings for a while, and everything will be okay.  I know I talk about Israel pretty frequently, but I think it had a huge influence on my life, that now I can relate a lot of things to the people on the trip, the places we went to, and the experiences.  The people you meet on trips like I took to Israel, and in youth groups like BBYO or NFTY, become your lifelong best friends.  When people ask my dad if he was active in BBYO or NFTY, he can both point to his best friends today and say "I met them when we were in high school." Today one of his best friends lives down the street from us, we carpool to school with their 15 year old girl, and spend almost every holiday with them.  My dad's other best friend lives 10 minutes away, and we have the same relationship with his family as we do with his other friend.  No matter what happens with BBYO, I know those girls would do anything for me.  My Israel friends are by my side 100% of the time.  There has maybe been 2 days since we have been back that I haven't talked to one person from the trip. 

The best summer of my life was spent in Israel, and my high school career was partly shapped by Fannie Sablosky BBG #396.
Submitted with undying love for,
Israel, camp friends, raggedy ann, blue and black, sisters, a summer of a lifetime and everyone that I met in Israel or in BBYO,

I remain,
Danielle Jordan Glazer

I love my sisters

(that's how we conclude emails in BBYO)

The Ranch

For the past 15 years, every Thanksgiving we go to our family friend's ranch.  We go with a bunch of family friends, and over the years we have evolved into "the ranch crew."  Whenever someone say's the ranch crew, we all know who is being talked about.  It is a very close group of adults with kids ranging in college, out of college, juniors, sophomores and babies.  The group is just one huge extended family.  We are there for each other through thick and thin and that is how its been and how it will always be.  The crew is always just a phone call away no matter what.  All the families have been involved in each child's life and he/she grows up, they have supported one another through the milestones, including bar and bat mitzvah's, and who knows what else.  Every year at the ranch, we leave early on Friday morning so we get there around 11ish or earlier.  From then on the kids run around and don't show back up to the dining room until dinner.  It is a weekend full of hikes, ping pong games, pool games, backgamon, lounging on the porch, telling stories, reading books, laughing, cooking, eating, and late night song sessions.  This year was different.  Earlier in the year we were told that the ranch had to be leased and that this might be the last Thanksgiving we get to spend out there.  It went back and forth on if we could go out for Thanksgiving and unfortunately it was a no.  When we found out it was a mix of feelings.  As a joke we all said it should have been put to a group vote.  We were sad and confused.  It was the end of a tradition that greatly influenced all of our lives.  The family that owns the ranch is always there the Thursday of Thanksgiving and everyone else meets them there on Friday.  They did some research and found a new place, but this year everyone else just stayed home.  We all spent the afternoon at Ellen's, and it was just different, but fun.  We all love spending time together but we just wanted to be at the ranch.  Hopefully, somehow the ranch will one day be ours again and we can resume the tradition of the ranch.  It was a nice run we had there and it will always carry some of the best memories of our lives. Atleast we are all still one big group, some things just can't be changed.

Thanksgiving Break!

I know it has been quite some time since I've written, but life has been so busy.  I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving break so far.  My whole break has been spent with family, laughing like always.  It started Tuesday after school, when everyone, went to dinner to celebrate Jordan's birthday.  It was the best way to start a long break.  From there, Jackie and I went to Cole's house to celebrate his birthday with all of our friends.  They have the best house, and we all just hung outside by a fire pit.  Wednesday we got up and started running around.  We went to Neimans Last Call, got our nails and toes done, cooked a little, and had a family dinner.  Oh I can't forget, we also had our first round of family pictures at the creek.  Then finally it was our day, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Everyone woke up at the crack of dawn to get all pampered for round two of family pictures back at the creek.  Of course it had to get freezing and mom and aunt Carol wanted us to take our shoes off because it was cuter, so our toes were freezing standing on rocks by the creek, but it certainly made for some good laughs.  We got those pictures done really fast because everyone wanted to get to the cars for heat! After pictures we went back to keep cooking! Cook, cook and more cooking, all morning is what we did for hours. But of course we did it with laughter and fun...and more pictures.  Everyone came over around 1 and from then on it was even more fun.  I think it was the best Thanksgiving we have had.  I'm so glad the Cohen's have been able to join us, we pigged out, took naps, watched the cowboys and the horns..although our teams didn't play like we wanted them to, it was still fun to watch and fight over spots on the couch. The evening settled down and Sarah, April, Sissy, Mom and I were all supposed to get up at 2 to start shopping, but that didn't happen.  We all passed out and got up at 5 to start our black Friday shopping.  And from 5 on it was shop shop shop till we drop drop drop.  We hit up everywhere.  At around 2, I went home and met Nathan to hang out at our house and eventually Jackie met with us.  Jessie is in town and we wanted to see her so we met her at Bayla's house for a little bit.  I am exhausted and now it is time for one last family dinner before Sissy has to leave us. It always comes and goes way to quickly, and Thanksgiving is our absolute favorite! It has been very weird not being at the ranch, and it is actually pretty sad.  The ranch was always the best closing to another Thanksgiving, and for the first time in 15 years we aren't there.  I miss it; the spinning bar chairs, song sessions on the porch, games of pool, ping pong, and backgamon, hikes to mini Mount Everest, the boys marination, girls spending hours in the kitchen, just wandering, the annual basketball game, and who knows what else, just being at the ranch with everyone.  I guess we will have to find a new tradition, with starting this year looks to be spending Saturday at the Mills/Presby house.  It is without a doubt going to be very different, but we will see how it goes.  Maybe next year we will find a new location! Enjoy the pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving.
I couldn't be more thankful for my amazing family and friends.  I love you guys so much. 

Veterans Day

This is the one day a year when every American stands up and thanks the millions and millions of people who have sacrificed everything they have to defend our country.  Thank you to everyone who has serviced, is serving or will serve, thank you for keeping our country a free and safe place to live.  At school today we had a Veteran's Assembly and a guest speaker.  The speaker told a story about when he had to personally deal with the casualties and families of 7 people on a fallen air craft.  He spoke up about the weeks after the accident, the families and their questions, the hardships of dealing with it, but most of all it was to honor those fallen soldiers who risked their lives to defend us.  It was moving to hear a story from a current member of the military.  Thank you veterans for everything you do.  

The Elisa Project

Yesterday for Pacesetters, our director had a speaker come and give us a presentation.  The speaker was from a non profit organization, known as The Elisa Project.  The presentation is about eating healthy, dieting, eating disorders and helping out someone you know if they have a disorder.  It was started by a Elisa's father.  Elisa was a girl who for most of her life struggled with an eating disorder, and when she was in college, eventually took her life because she just couldn't handle the fight anymore.  I have seen the presentation once before, and it was different each time I saw it.  It really explains that dieting doesn't work, you can't just diet for a few months, lose a few pounds and then stop.  Our bodies don't work like that, we have to eat frequently during the day to maintain a stable metabolism and eat proportionally.  Once Elisa took her life, her family found journals and diaries written about how Elisa wished there were more resources and places for people to go if they have an eating disorder.  That is when her dad created the Elisa Project.  The organization now goes around to different places, schools, and groups educating people about the seriousness of eating healthy.  The speaker was really motivating, personally I don't know anyone with an eating disorder thankfully, but there are people all over the world who do, and now I have more information and can help make a change.  The media today makes people seem like they have to be so extremely thin, when in reality if you eat healthy and exercise regularly, if you maintain a stable weight, than that is your normal, healthy weight! People always talk about how Barbie is the "ideal body type" but if Barbie was a real women, she wouldn't be able to stand up, her waist couldn't support her chest.  Every person is beautiful in his or her own way, and our media needs to turn away from the fact that every person needs to have a "model figure."  Now, I think I might want to even start writing about more things like this, ways for people to find help on difficult topics.  My dream job for a while now has been to be a fashion journalist, but maybe that has changed.  Maybe now I want to help make a difference while still writing. 

It's Been a While!

I know it has been quite some time since I have blogged, junior year is very overwhelming! Last week was just full of doing homework and trying to get ahead on work because this past weekend I was in Arizona! It was also the returning girl pep rally for Pacesetters.  The returning girl pep rally is a big deal, it is for any girl who was on the team the previous year.  It is always a tough dance but it is so rewarding. The costumes are always two colors but each girl gets to pick what she wants to wear.  This year our colors were black and gold, and we did the dance to Starstruk by Santigold. 
Right after the pep rally Jackie and I left to meet my parents so we could go to Arizona for Natalie and Caroline's bat mitzvah.  We have been family friends with them for years, their dad and aunt grew up with my dad and everything else is just family history.  Our families have been best friends for years and that is how it will always be.  We are there for each other for everything, and I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  We got in Friday night, hung around the hotel and went to Jordan and Lauren's house for Shabbat dinner.  Saturday morning, we woke up and went to services.  The twins did a fabulous job, we couldn't have been more proud of them.  After the luncheon, everyone went back to the hotel and just hung out.  It was relaxing and so fun.  Everyone was outside by the pool, laughing and catching up.  The party was a blast.  We danced the night away and the weekend was the perfect break from Dallas and school.  On Sunday, the brunch was a great way to close the weekend, goodbyes are always hard but we will see Jordan, Lauren, and the kids for Thanksgiving.  Our flight didn't leave until 3:30 so we went back the the Cohen's house with Reed and Rachel to relax.  I had a chance to finish up homework and it was nice to be in the Arizona weather just being in the company of some of the best extended family anyone could ask for.  I can without a doubt see myself in Arizona for college, and I wish we had the chance to visit the University of Arizona in Tuscon but we didn't have a chance.  Well I can't wait to see them for Thanksgiving, but now it is time to do some more homework.  It was a fantastic weekend and I can't wait for more extended family functions.  I know this is a long one but it has been forever since I've written!
Dani