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Welcome to my first post! To start, my name is Savannah Madison Gregal. My middle name is relevant to my life considering I went by my middle name for a little over ten years of my life. When I was younger, my dad started calling me Vanny as some nickname for Savannah and my mom hated it, so she started calling me by my middle name, Madison.

This picture is from September 5th, 2002. It was the second 

day of school hence my peace sign, and around the time 

my mom started occasionally calling me Madison.

Somewhere along the road, it stayed and I was stuck introducing myself as Madison. Being called by my middle name was something unique about me that I loved. Only my Grandma called me Savannah all the time, and my mom and my sister only sometimes. Summer 2014 (the summer right before my senior year of highschool) I thought about switching back to Savannah. My mom supported my decision, which I'm thankful for because no one else really did. It took a long time for my family and friends to switch names, which I understand, since they only ever called me Madison. Even to this day, those friends of mine will have slip ups. I love being called by my first name now and wouldn't change it for the world.

Only a couple years after that picture (in 2004), my parents divorced. From then on, my dad was never the father figure that my siblings and I needed. My mom, Nancy, has been our rock since that day and still is. I will say this for the rest of my life: single moms kick ass. They are so strong. My mom did meet someone new, Eric. They've been engaged for at least ten years now, and I'm so beyond thankful to have him in our lives.

This is my mom, when she was around 15 
years old with her dog, Samantha. Samantha 
hated everyone except my mom.

I have an older brother and older sister, which makes me the youngest. My sister, Ashley, is 26 years old and works as a Special-Ed Preschool Teacher, and my brother, Hunter, is 22 years old and works as a Computer Engineer.  Our personalities are extremely different, so it's interesting to see that, now that I am older. 

I think this picture was taken in around 2003. My hairstyle 

was a signature look for me that my mom ALWAYS did.

I don't know exactly when this picture was taken, I'm 

going to guess in 2000, or 2001. It is probably 

the sweetest picture that I have with my brother.

~~~

One thing about me is that I LOVE all animals! I'm a vegetarian, meaning I don't eat any meat or fish. I'm slowly trying to become vegan, which is no animal products at all (no dairy, cheese, milk, ice cream, anything that comes from an animal). You'd be surprised how many food products we consume have ingredients that came from an animal somehow. I have been a vegetarian for almost three years now. I choose to be one because of my love for animals, the environmental impact (Cowspiracy is a great documentary on Netflix about the negative impacts that animal agriculture has on the environment), and my overall health (What The Health on Netflix is another great documentary about the health facts of diets with animal products).

Leading off of that, I of course have some pets, and I love them all sooooooo much!! I currently have two dogs and one cat at my parent's house, and two kittens at my apartment in the area. 

These are my two dogs, Bailey, the Yorkie, and
Cooper, the Chocolate Lab. A turtle appeared in my yard
one day, and they were sooo curious about this other animal.

This is my cat, Jack. His favorite thing to do is roll 

around and scratch his back on the sidewalk 

outside. I caught him in the act one time.

And these are my two kittens, Tito (with the green collar), and 

Stella (with the pink collar). They are brother and sister and 

absolutely adore cuddling with each other and with us!

~~~

To finish this blog off, I'll talk about one more thing that really interests me. I love taking pictures of sceneries, sunsets, and anything outdoors with my Canon camera. I'll post more of these pictures in later blogs if I can. Here's just two pictures.

This picture was taken in St. Wolfgang, Austria. Yes, the 

water was really that blue. This view was BREATHTAKING 

and hands down one of the most beautiful places I 

have ever seen. Pictures will never do it justice.

Some of you might know this view if you lived in

a river dorm! It was taken from Hardenbergh 5th 

floor just over the Raritan River. I love how the 

colors in the sky are reflecting off the river.

 Thanks for reading my first blog post. I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about my life and interests.