Samuel

On the morning of June 16, 2010, my father woke me with a somber expression and told me to come into the family room. I walked in to see my sisters gathered around my dad, all with the same scared expression. He went on to tell us that my cousin Sam was driving down a windy country road after a baseball game late the night before when another driver hit him. His car rolled off the road and into the ravine. Sam went through the windshield. The first responders told my family that had Sam been wearing his seatbelt, he would still be with us today. He would have turned 22 that August. Sam lived with the rest of my family in Washington, Missouri, where my mother grew up. He had a passion for car mechanics. He often volunteered to work on his friends cars free of charge. He was incredibly gifted at baseball and played all throughout high school. His dream was to open up his own diesel mechanics shop on the family farm so that he could help his neighbors with their cars and farm equipment. Sam had two siblings: his older brother Zach and his older sister Kady. Zach has always been the serious one who rarely smiles. Kady has been sweet and quiet for as long as I have known her. I remember Sam as being the fun cousin. He was always smiling and laughing. He brought so much joy to everyone around him. My last memory of him was at my grandpa's funeral. I was too young to understand what was happening so he took me into the kids' room and played checkers and other games with me the whole time. It saddens me to this day that we didn't visit them more often, so that I could have spent more time with him. Sam was such an amazing person. Everyone adored him because of his charming, caring, and lovable personality. Every time I get in my car and put my seatbelt on, I can't help but think about Sam. To think that something so simple could have kept such an amazing human being on earth astounds me. However, it reminds me of Sam nonetheless, which makes me smile. Sam brought joy and happiness to all he encountered. He is and will forever be deeply missed.

My Parisian Spring Break

My spring break of 2015 was the best spring break I have ever had. Usually, my family stays at home for spring break. However, since my 21 year old sister had the unique opportunity to study abroad this semester, we spent this spring break with her in Paris, France. We left early Sunday morning and arrived early monday morning. Even though it was still 10 at night in Arizona at the time we arrived (6 in the morning), we had to adjust to the time zone, so we jumped right into our day. Since most places in Paris are closed on Mondays, we went to Cathedrals. We first climbed up an incredible amount of steps to get to Sacre Coeur, an enormous Cathedral on a hill in Montemartre. From there, we walked all the way to Notre Dame. In hindsight, we should have taken the metro (the underground train system) to Notre Dame, because it was a couple miles away. We ended the day at Sainte-Chapelle, a beautiful church made almost entirely of stained glass.
On Tuesday, we took the RER train to Versailles, the former home of Louis XIV, Louis XVII, and Marie Antoinette. The main house, the Chateau, is gigantic and the surrounding gardens are even bigger. Versailles is so grandiose and elegant it made the White house look like a shack. Everything is gilded in gold. The hall of mirrors is incredible. What was even more incredible about being in the hall of mirrors was thinking about the history that has occurred there. Multiple treaties have been signed there. Germany became a country there! Overall our day at Versailles was amazing.
On Wednesday we went in the Catacombs. I was initially nervous to go into the catacombs because my sister had built it up as being very scary. What made me even more nervous, was that as we were walking though the 15 minute long, narrow passageway to get to the main catacombs, two girls ran out crying. That was a little more than concerning. However, once we got in there, it wasn't that bad. There are six million bodies in the catacombs. Their femurs are stacked into walls with skulls thrown in. Sometimes the skulls were made into designs, like hearts and crosses. The grossest part, aside from the mysterious liquid dripping from the ceiling, was the miscellaneous bones thrown on top of the bone walls. After the Catacombs, we walked down Champs Elysees, went into stores, and saw the Arc de Triomphe. Then we went to the Eiffel tower and went to the very top. Our feet hurt so bad we couldn't even imagine ascending the 500+ steps, so we waited in the lengthy line for the elevator. The view from the top was incredible.
 On Thursday we visited the Louvre. My sister, Alexandria, who currently lives in Paris and frequents the Louvre, showed us a metro stop that actually lets its passengers off under the pyramid and allows them to skip the long line above ground. The artwork inside the Louvre wasn't nearly as impressive as the building itself. With beautiful paintings on the ceilings and incredible architecture, the museum is a work of art in itself. Among the many famous pieces of art we saw, the one that sticks in my mind is the Mona Lisa. However, I don't remember it because of how amazing it was, but rather because of how disappointing it was. I imagined the painting as being a rather decent size, like all the other art in the museum. However, the Mona Lisa is only 30 in. x 21 in. It is in the center of an enormous white wall that further exaggerates how small the painting is. After the louvre, we went to Musee d'Orsay. This museum was originally a train station, but now serves as an exhibition for Impressionist art. Impressionism is my favorite kind of art, so I greatly enjoyed this museum. It featured artists such as Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh.
Friday, the next day, we took a day trip to Reims. Reims is a city in the champagne country of France where WWII was surrendered, and where almost all of the french kings were crowned. In Reims, we took a tour of the champagne caves of Taittanger. The deepest parts of the cave were initially dug out by the Romans to be used as a quarry. Then monks used it as a facility to make wine under the abbey that was built there. Now it serves as the production site of thousands of bottles of champagne. While in Reims we also visited the Reims Cathedral, where all the kings were crowned, and the room in which World War II officially ended. On Saturday, we went through the mall near our hotel and bought souvenirs and gifts. Saturday night we attended mass at Notre Dame. Even though I am not Catholic, it was an incredible experience. On Sunday, we visited the Opera and took a tour. Then we went to Musee d'Orangerie, the museum where Monet's largest water lily paintings are kept. There are two rooms, each with all 4 walls covered in his water lilies. These are my favorite paintings, so it was wonderful to be able to experience them like that. After that, we went to a museum that featured all the medals of honor from all the different countries. Then, before we went back to the hotel to back our bags, we got Nutella crepes in front of the Louvre gardens. At this spot, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Seine, and the Eiffel tower are all visible. It was a pleasant way to end our time in Paris, even though I accidentally threw my glove away instead of my crepe. On Monday, we had a flight to London at 10, and a flight from London to Phoenix at 2. The last flight was ten and a half hours. I had never been on a flight that long, so it was very difficult. We returned late Monday night and I had to go to school the next morning.
My trip to Paris was the trip of a lifetime. I had an amazing time visiting with my sister and spending time with my parents and other two sisters. I am incredibly thankful that my parents brought us to Paris and worked their hardest to make it the best experience possible. I learned so much and actually improved my French! It was most likely the last vacation in which my whole family will be together, since my sisters are out of school and starting jobs. However, if this was our last trip together, I'm glad it was this one. It was such an incredible experience and I wouldn't have wanted to share it with anyone other than my family.

Beauty

Confucius once said, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” When people think of beauty, they may think of natural scenic view or a supermodel. For some, beauty goes beyond the visual aspect and translates to emotions. Everyone views the world differently. Some let their experiences and personal beliefs shape the way they see beauty, while others allow society to tell them how they should perceive beauty. Beauty is a word used to describe an experience that has evoked a feeling of awe.

Beauty is not necessarily the lack of flaws, but rather a harmonious symphony of imperfections and different elements that make something beautiful. An old chair that is hand carved out of mahogany with small scratches and imperfections that has been passed down through a family can be far more beautiful than a perfect, factory made metal chair. “Imperfections” are most often the qualities that make something beautiful. For example, freckles on a woman’s face are often airbrushed out in magazines because they are viewed as imperfections. However, freckles are most often viewed as unique markings that make a person uniquely beautiful. In fact, imperfection is not the right word for qualities such as freckles and dimples. These qualities do not make someone imperfect, but rather unique. Individuality, not perfection, attributes to beauty.

 Beauty is not physical perfection attained through computer enhancement. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s first definition of beauty is “the quality of being physically attractive” (Beauty). This definition best reflects society’s perception of beauty. In the media, physical appearance is the basis of beauty. The creators of an advertisement cannot sell a product to consumers based on the charming personality of their model. No one looks at a Victoria’s Secret advertisement and comments on one of the model’s caring and kind nature. In media and business, this standard of beauty that is set negatively affects society. Young girls develop eating disorders because they believe that they need to achieve the perfect toned body that a swimsuit model has. In current times with photo enhancing technology, companies can take a woman or man who is already incredibly fit and attractive and airbrush him or her to be even more physically appealing. Many people see no harm in the use of photo enhancing software in magazines and advertisements. Unfortunately, these images are setting unrealistic standards for people to achieve. Now young men and women are striving to look like a person in a magazine that does not even exist. Men and women of all ages feel inadequate because they don’t have the sculpted abs and perfect skin of a computer generated model. Airbrushed and unattainable physical qualities are not beauty.

Beauty can be experienced through senses other than sight. Merriam-Webster’s second definition of beauty is “the qualities in a person or a thing that give pleasure to the senses or the mind” (Beauty). This definition goes beyond the visual aspect of beauty, as it should, because there is so much beauty in aspects that we cannot see. If beauty is based solely on sight, a blind person could never experience it. There is a survey in which multiple blind people are interviewed about what they believe beauty is. One woman said, “I think beauty is experience. The smell of warm, baked cookies. The warm, breeze against your skin. The feeling of grass underneath your feet” (Mosbergen). Tommy Edison, who has been blind since birth expressed his belief that he is blessed to be blind because he “sees” individuals for themselves, rather than what they look like. He does not recognize race or stereotypes. He is virtually immune to society’s perception of beauty because he can see the beauty in people through their character and personality rather than their appearance (Ericson). Tommy Edison proves that beauty is so much more than a physical appearance.

Some people believe beauty can be achieved with wealth. Many people will dream about a beautiful, perfect home, which they believe can only be achieved through money. This is partially true, because without money, an individual cannot afford a beautiful mansion. Most of the United States owns smaller homes. Many of those homes are incredibly beautiful and quaint, mostly because of the unique and eccentric families who live in the houses. Billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have said that there is no joy or beauty in large amounts of money and a large mansion, but rather in the family that lives there. Although sights are satisfying and exhilarating, it is the people that one experiences the sights with that make it truly beautiful.

Society’s perception of beauty is constantly changing. Throughout history, humans have always created art that illustrated their idea of beauty. By looking at sculptures and paintings from all of history, one can see how the perception of beauty has changed. For example, in the renaissance, women were depicted as motherly and soft. They did not have flat stomachs because the ideal woman at the time was a mother who could nurture her family. They did not need to be fit because it was the husband’s job to do laborious work. Even in Ancient Greece, men were painted as incredibly masculine, muscular warriors, fighting off monsters. Perhaps the fact that the idea of beauty is constantly changing proves that there is no concrete definition of beauty. Society has always possessed an incorrect idea of what a man and woman should look like based on stereotypes, unrealistic expectations, and a false idea of perfection.

Beauty is not strictly a physical appearance. Beauty is the sound of birds chirping in the morning, the feeling of rain on the skin, and the soft touch of a puppy’s fur. Beauty is the sound of children laughing. It is the caring heart of a friend. Beauty is so much more than what society leads us to believe. It is in every person no matter what they look like. Beauty is not the lack of imperfections, but rather the qualities that should inspire society to embrace imperfections and enjoy life.

Blog Name

I named my blog "C'est la Vie" because I admire the meaning of the saying and my last name is Vie. I was in Paris for a week and many people mentioned the saying when they heard my name. It means "that's life" or "such is life" . I admire it because sometimes when life is not going very well one can simply say "C'est la Vie", and it can make that person feel better. It is a way to encourage people to keep going even when life is hard.