Low

Dinner with my two favorite women

Gonna be honest with ya, this has not been an easy couple of weeks. Lots of drama, relationship issues, and a lot of trust has been put on the line. I've had to eliminate some friends from my life for best results. In a way, I've isolated myself to just a few really close friends whom I love and have supported me through this emotional roller coaster.

Other than that, though, I've been getting good grades and taken my mind off these things with my sports. Our school volleyball team placed 2nd in the district tournament, a great improvement from our 5th place seed at the beginning. My club basketball team is my soulmate. Yes, basketball and I have a love/hate relationship, for some days are frustrating while others I feel accomplished. But my coach, Sham, who I aspire to be like when I grow up, has already taught me so much in this short month. We're off to Salt Lake on Saturday, so wish me luck!

Cooper is doing well. My mother's 30th birthday was yesterday. ;) My sister-in-law is currently in Kenya delivering babies and hangin' with the zebras. Parker's got a sick job at Nike as always. My BYU Cougars are 4-4 in football, my lover Cam Newton is 1-5, and life goes on.

♥ Abigail ♥

The Simple Life I Lead

Me on the first day of school. I look so energetic and ready to go. Not.

Hey y'all.

I'm living life.

School started August 28th, and since then I've been pretty busy.

I have volleyball every day...

basketball three times a week...

piano...

and, of course, football games...

I'm keeping busy!

Our volleyball team is currently 2-1. We work well together and when we're struggling, we still have that drive in us that leads us to a win. It's great. :)

Life is great.

I got my tooth pulled yesterday.

Now I have a gaping hole where my molar should be, and it kinda hurts.

I also have a terrible cold.

I'm constantly blowing my nose, coughing, all that good stuff.

Straight A's so far.

I've got some great friends.

I love my parents.

I love my dog.

It's my last year of middle school, then it's off to high school!

I get my license in a year. What the heck?

I really want a purple Scion.

Tanner leaves for his mission in three months.

Gonna be honest, that's a good thing.

Go out and enjoy the fellow Chileans!

Welp...

talk soon.

♥ Abigail ♥

Floatin'.

You know it's been a good summer when you've made it productive, did some fun things, went on some trips, you know the whole sha-bang.

You know it's been a great summer when you've floated down the greatest river of all time, the Middle Fork of the Salmon. For five days, my family along with three others had the opportunity to float through the best water, camp at the best sites, shower at the best hot springs, and have the best time of our lives. I'd only gone once before, and I remember it fairly, but this is a trip you can't forget.

The night before we took out. A view of the river! 

The daily routine of packing the boats. Fun...

Meredith and me

Meredith's favorite hobby: popping my zits.

Mother and me! I think I'm taller than her now!

The three amigos 

Father and mother

Meredith and I in our tent!

Meredith flexing, dad peeing, me...I don't really know.

Meredith rowing. What a beast.

Flying B Ranch! Drinking Pepsi after a long week away from it.

Paddlin' through the canyon!

Our joke for the week. SUCCESS!

Meredith showing off our lovely tent. And then there's me creeping in the background.

Caught off guard. But I kinda liked it.

Palmer!!! Love that kid.

Dad doing his nasty eyelid trick, Sid Sullivan half doing it, and Sydney caught at the wrong time.

Meredith's blisters all wrapped up after rowing like a champ.

I jumped off a bridge. Ohhh yeahhh.

Bald eagle hidden in the rocks.

Goin' down the best rapid of all, Kramer! Palmer's effort at taking a picture.

The lovely paddle boat.

Kitchener and me laughin'.

Look at our beautiful rainbow of boats! All we're missing is a green.

Down a rapid.

Zoey! The greatest retriever you'll ever meet.

As you can clearly see from the pictures, I had a pretty good time. Hopefully we'll pull a permit next year!

♥ Abigail ♥

Valley of the Sun

Where I live, many people own homes in towns like McCall, Cascade, and Donnelly. They go every summer and spend time with their families there. It's what they've grown up with, a family tradition. With our family, though, we choose to go to Sun Valley. We rent our own condo and enjoy ourselves for a weekend or two. We swim, we bike, we hike, we golf, we eat, we walk, we shop, we do it all. This past weekend we had the opportunity to do just that.

Picture time!

That first Friday my mother and I went on a bike ride on the Trail Creek (seen here). Afterwards we rode along the golf course where we saw some HUGE houses. Pricey, too.

On Saturday we went golfing! I drove the cart, because I'd just embarrass myself if I tried. Thing is, though, I didn't look too good in the cart either. Let's just say I did some damage to the course. Ran over some trees, accidentally drove onto the green, crashed into a couple other carts, used my left foot for the brake and right for the gas, and when we were driving downhill I'd make gradual turns so I fell off the path a few times. I don't think I'll be getting my license...

Later that night we went to dinner at Rico's Pizza & Pasta. I wore mascara for the first time that night, so my mom took a picture of me modeling. Do I have potential? :)

The next day we went to church and then to the gondola where we rode up to the Roundhouse Restaurant and ate a tasty lunch. Then we rode up the Christmas Chairlift to the top of Mount Baldy and, of course, took pictures!

No comment?

I'll be retiring here someday.

♥ Abigail ♥

The Long Awaited

Finally.

The pictures you've all been waiting for.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN!

Sorry this was so delayed.

5 months delayed, to be precise.

The view from our little house.

Church! The dramatic walking scene.

Chichen Itza

Tulum

The cenote! (Underground river)

The 'rents after snorkeling. We swam over a shark!

The family in the town! And then there's me attempting the half smile and failing miserably.

Best time of my life. I'll be going back one day!

♥ Abigail ♥

When ya just don't have time.

Wasatch Golf Course in Midway, UT! I drove the cart.

One of my best friends Clara Wood. Met her at the BYU basketball camp, baby!

City Creek Mall with the cousins. Coolest place ever.

My mother and I on the 4th of July

I don't really know what's wrong with me. Every day I check the blog to see if I got any comments or visitors, and yet I don't even consider writing another post. What I should be doing right now is punching myself in the face and saying, "DUH!"

The rest of school and summer so far has gone well. Mexico was amazing, although I lost my tan after one week back home. Bummer. I finished school with a 4.0 GPA all year long. I currently hold the school record for the 100M dash: 12.8 seconds. Super slow compared to collegiate runners and Olympians, I know, but I'm proud! My club volleyball season ended successfully, and I am currently attending a competition camp for the club, trying to prove myself to hopefully be moved up to the 16s age group. But I shouldn't really talk about that; it's an undecided procedure.

These summer days have been lazy at times, but mostly filled with work. When last year I was travelling all over the country for my brother's successes, I'm at home going to basketball practice almost every morning at 9 as an only child. Tanner is off to college, and I am alone. When I don't have practice, I go to the church gym and practice with myself and the chairs acting as defenders. I've really been working hard in basketball after what I realized I could accomplish at the BYU camp I attended a few weeks ago. I guess I should tell you what all went on there, huh?

I'll make it short and sweet. Went to the camp in Provo where Tanner met me at the Smith Fieldhouse. Got all registered, went to orientation, got with my group of 13-year-olds. Went to the gym, participated in one drill, got moved up to 14s. Met a girl who is now one of my closest friends, Clara Wood. We partnered up for almost everything, and we did great. It's because of her that I did so well. She was the one that helped me improve and encouraged me to work as hard as possible. After dominating in a 2-on-2 tournament, my new favorite coach Melinda asked me if I wanted to move up to the high school division.

SAY WHAT?! This is what I'd been praying for since I first signed up for the camp! Of course I said yes, and I was moved to the upper gym. There were some amazing players from all over the country. It was a challenge, but I think I played to the best of my ability. I was able to meet up with the recruiting coach, and he told me something I would never expect to hear from a Division I college basketball coach.

"I'd like to see more of you."

I think I've died and gone to heaven. My mother was able to set things up, and by the end of the camp, I was an official recruit for BYU. At 13 years old. Shoot me now.

Since then, I have been playing basketball almost every single day. I'll be honest; I'm not gonna get up at 5 in the morning and go to the church gym to practice for three hours. Aww heck naw, I ain't doing that. If I had to, I would. But on my own schedule, I go to the gym at around 5ish and I spend all evening in there until my parents literally drag me out of that place. I end up eating dinner at around 9. I freaking love basketball. I'll do whatever it takes to get to the collegiate level. ANYTHING.

Aside from intense basketball workouts, conditioning at the high school, and volleyball camps, I've been mowing the lawn like a pro and enjoying time mostly with family. I've hung out with people a few times this year, but mostly I've been having "play dates" with my sister, Meredith. Since she rents an apartment in downtown, I go over there a lot and we go on bike rides around the town, eat Goody's ice cream, go on hikes, shop, basically everything you could possibly imagine. She is one of my best friends, and it helps that she's my sister!


Went to the orthodontist. He told me that I'm just starting my growth spurt and that I still have a couple inches to go. Could it just be that I'll reach 6 feet?! :O

I've been waiting for a text from a certain someone for over a month. Should I just give up and take a hint? Heh, no use putting my boyfriend problems on my blog.

I will try to update more often. No promises.

Good night, y'all,

♥ Abigail ♥

So good, I can see us on a beach down in Mexico.

As quoted by B.o.B.

I followed his advice, and went to Mexico.

Cancun, to be exact.

Playa del Carmen, to be more exact.

All eight of us Mangums took the 7-hour flight to Cancun to lie out on the beaches,

to discover what Mexican culture is like,

to get outta town,

to get a tan,

to watch Hunger Games with Spanish subtitles,

to discover Mayan ruins,

to play volleyball and water basketball,

to eat lots and lots of Mexican food,

to shop,

to explore.

There will be pictures later.

But I will say now that I had the time of my life.

Yeeeuh.

♥ Abigail ♥

P.S. It's been almost four years since Truly Abigail made its first appearance! Holy.

The Picture Post

Since I was on a different computer when I last wrote, I was unable to add pictures from Florida on the post. So, here they are.

Splash Mountain. Not as good as the last, but still pretty awesome.

 

The castle all lit up!

What a beast.

Dancing with Pluto, my favorite of them all!

The All-American game

Cam Newton in the distance. I think I've died and gone to heaven.

Now you've got the visual.

Happy Leap Year, y'all.

♥ Abigail ♥