“I would describe myself as a talkative, caring  and creative person. I love to draw, color and paint, also think outside the box.  I love to challenge myself to do different and not do what others have done.  Being talkative is right up my alley, I love to talk, laugh and giggle for hours on end!   love to be wild and have fun with everything I do.  Also I LOVE llamas and cats they are my favorite animals!”

Meet Braxton Lovelace, Class of 2019 senior from Pekin Community High School.. she pulls on this photographer’s heart strings and I whole heartedly agree with her self assessment of her personality. So much so.. that it’s an utter miracle that we got any serious/fierce faces but that look was something else!  (Actually some of my favorites.)  Braxton is soooo versatile in front of the camera and makes my job so easy.   Thanks to Grandma Gloria who is probably just as camera happy as me; Braxton has had her photograph taken 100’s of times, so I think I have to attribute it to Gloria for prepping Braxton for these amazing images! She’s amaaaaaaazing!

After high school, Braxton plans on attending college to major in Special Education, specifically for kids with sensory disabilities.  Her favorite high school  class is child care. “The little kids are so fun and exciting. They keep you on your toes the whole tile and put a smile on my face the whole tile, even when they are being wild and not following directions.”  Braxton has been a cheerleader for the past threes years at school and has also swam for a year. She has started to do diving outside of school.  Braxton enjoys drawing and painting, hanging out with her friends and family, playing with her dog and watching Netflix.   Advice to incoming freshman. “High school has so many more opportunities than junior high, branch out and see what incredible things it has to offer. The years go my fast so don’t waste time and energy on things that won’t matter after high school, focus on school and a few friends. High school isn’t a competition to see how popular you can get, it’s about the memories made and the fun you had!”  She is most looking forward to Friday night football games this year. “the weather is always nice and I have my friends with me cheering on the schools football team. And looking up in the stands to see all my other friends laughing.”

“A moment I am most proud about is when running the St. Jude run ( St. Louis to Peoria). There was so many times where I just wanted to give up and go sit in the chase van but I didn’t because I was running with my friend who kicked cancers butt and never gave up. And for me to not give up and kept running with her makes me proud of myself.”

She would describe her “perfect day” like this:  “My perfect day would be *summer time* I would wake up around 9 and start my day with a shower. I’d get ready for the day and go into town to get my nails done with a friend. After that we’d grab late breakfast/ early lunch. Then I’d head home to go lay out on the pool deck and chill till dinner time. I would have my dad grill out so we would have hamburgers and hotdogs and all that jazz that’s so delicious.”

Three things on her bucket list include 1. Going to England or Australia 2. Skydiving 3. Flying in a hot air balloon. 

“My hero is my friend Katlyn. Because she always pushes you to do better and be better. Never gives up and is always positive in every situation. And I’m that way she’s a hero to me because I can count on her when I’m in need”

“My dad is always trying to lift up my spirt if I’m feeling down or if he notices I don’t feel good or just not myself he’ll try to make me laugh or he’ll make my favorite foods for dinner.”

Here are some of Braxton’s fun facts and favorites:

1. When I was little, I wanted to be a dentist
2. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten? Squid
3. What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done? Zip lining in the mountains and we had to hike up to it!
4. If you could travel any where in the world where would you want to go and why? Fiji. Because all the pictures I see are so pretty and the water is so blue.
5. Favorite holiday – Christmas.  Favorite tradition – Christmas morning my dad makes cinnamon rolls and we open presents and then head to my moms house to open more presents and eat more breakfast over there.
6. Favorite holiday tradition?  On Easter my grandma would give each grandchildren a color and in the yard or behind things would be all these different colored eggs but we could only grab our color and inside wax of them would be money or candy. When finished hunting for them all of us would go trade out candy.
7. Who is your favorite singer and/or band or song? SAM SMITH!! Thomas Rhett, Adele, and country music or today’s hit
8. My favorite family trip was to Six flags because my family all went on rides together and I wasn’t a week long trip so we didn’t get sick of each other.
9. What is your favorite childhood memory?  When my dad would till up the garden I would run out to it and roll around in the dirt and mess around with him while he was trying to work on it.
10. What’s your favorite family recipe? Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
11. Something random about yourself: I can’t go cross-eyed!

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