Growing Up

This morning, my 8 almost 9 year old sister came in to my room I was trying to get the willpower to get out of bed. My feet were cold, so she sat on them to get them warm, lol. But the coolest part about it was that I got to talk with her for a few minutes. We had Family Home Evening yesterday evening, and I stayed for the lesson, but I had to devote the rest of my night to a project due in for my class today, when my family watched Horton Hears a Who. She was kind of bummed that I didn't get to watch it with them, and told me so by saying to me, "I wish that you didn't have so much homework." I told her, not surprisingly, "Yeah, I do too." She then asked me, "When are you going to be done with school?" I kind of laughed and tried to explain to her that I was planning, once I graduate, to go on to graduate school (which in 8-year-old terms is: school for kids who have graduated from college but don't want to find a job yet, lol). To which she replied, no words minced, "You're going to have to get a job anyway." I laughed pretty hard inside. I told her that I wanted to be an English teacher, the kind that teaches people that don't speak English as their first language, and if I wanted to do that, I needed to go to some more school.

Then I realized the opportunity to get to know my little sister more (It's such a blessing to get to know siblings so much younger than me, I love having the ability to see them grow up). I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, and this is what she said, "A bus driver, or maybe a vet, or maybe a teacher, or maybe an athlete." I love her so much! I love the limitless possibilities that come so easily as a child! I have missed the carefree days of being a child, when the sky's the limit, and the biggest worry you had was if your chores or homework were done. I love being an adult; it's provided me with freedom and independence in so many ways. It's been exciting and exhilarating at times. But it's also been confusing, frustrating, and even sorrowful at times.

I get what I like to call “Snow-sickness” sometimes. My freshman year at Snow College was a wonderful time when I first explored my independence and made life changes and decisions. I love Ephraim, and the wonderful little town it is, and the wonderful times that it brought me. The thing (or things) that I miss the very most are the people that I met down there. I have never felt so loved and needed as I did that year (outside of my family), and the friendships that I made there have impacted my life forever. Every once in a while, when I feel stressed and overwhelmed, I remember what it was like to be a freshman, but I can’t ever go back. That’s the tragedy of a situation like this. But I’ve moved on, they’ve moved on, EVERYONE moves on. So I remember with fondness the people that have influenced and changed me into who I am today, and I smile at the memories that will never fade. I love you guys. Thank you for being my friends.