This past year has been fantastic. I didn't realize till I was telling my mom reasons why I deserved a great Christmas (I promise I'm not as immature and needy as that makes me sound). But really, it was a really big year for me, and while I can't say I loved every minute of it, I can definitely say that overall it was the best year of my life so far.
I got the first stitches of my life, in a highly traumatic experience. I joined my high school track team, for reasons completely unfathomable to me, as I hate running. Many of my clothes were stolen at my high school. I started my first real job, and actually ended up liking it a lot. I graduated from high school! I made so many amazing new friends, and said goodbye to many of them. I got accepted into every college I applied to, and even ended up getting scholarships to all of them. I made the decision to go to BYU, and finished my first semester there. I moved for the first time in my life. I got lost on the streets of Provo. I realized I can get along with, and even love, two random strangers who I suddenly had to live with (my roommates, if anyone was wondering). I drank water from a mountain stream. I promptly fell into a mountain stream. I developed a strange skin irritation on my wrist that pops up when I'm stressed. I realized I can actually make pretty good food, but still mostly live on frozen foods. I decided to serve an LDS mission, and then about a week later had that moved up two years sooner. I took up knitting again, thus joining the grandma club. I skipped stones in the ocean. I went to Disneyland for 14 hours straight, and had a magical time. I found out I'm going to be an aunt. I dyed my hair for the first time. I got sick for the first time in years, and remembered why I make the worst sick person ever. I went to a Baptist church, where my group was chewed out over the pulpit by the preacher for being too boring (many "Hallelujahs" and "Amens" ensued). I also went to midnight mass at a Greek Orthodox church for Greek Easter, and High Mass for Christmas at a Catholic Cathedral. I wandered around a tiny bookstore in Seattle. I broke more toes, because apparently that's a hobby of mine or something. I learned to appreciate home so much more, along with everything that entails (good cooking, free laundry, and much more space than is in a college apartment. Also family. They're pretty cool). My friends and I were accosted by drug dealers, angry old men, polygamists, and the police in parks after midnight. I hopped into a random person's car to try late night sushi. Overall, it was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to next year as being even better!
