The end and the beginning

So it has been another few weeks since my last post, but trust me when I say life has been busy and finding anytime to be alone to write up here and sort through my thoughts about stuff is quite the impossible task. Seriously, being alone has never been so hard to come by. I guess that's what happens when you have such great, crazy, amazing friends. They make sure to fill up your time and then school fills in the other hours and then just barely enough sleeping and eating to get by on fills up the rest. Never a dull moment these past few weeks. There was so much we did, it was quite ridiculous. I guess I should start off with the Six Flags Magic Mountain trip since it was probably the most monumental by far. It has actually been on the planning process since sometime in the beginning of January when Will and I decided that we really wanted to go to Magic Mountain just for the fun of it. He had never been and I just happen to be a die hard roller coaster fan. So it went through numerous phases of being planned and unplanned (including at one point either hang gliding there or somehow getting an RV to drive there) before the details were finally hammered out, the tickets bought, the people picked to go, and so on and so forth. In the end the group that ended up going was Sherrie, Courtney, Regan, Will, and me. And I don't think a better group could have been picked to go. We all somehow match up with each other perfectly - balancing out each other's insanities and craziness, introvertness and extrovertness, and so on. Plus we ended up being seriously one of the closest groups of friends I have ever been in. My really, really close friends back home in Mesa is the only one that could probably really top it. Anyway, it was a blast. One of the best ideas of the whole semester and one of the best and most fun activies of my life so far. I even found who I want to room with after my mission is over - Will Casper. Granted, he has been wanting to room with me ever since the beginning of Marchish, but I was never really sure if I wanted to back. There are so many people from Mesa to choose from, or the roommates I have now, but in the end after this trip I can finally say I am pretty sure he is the best option for a roommate for me. The only problem is that he happens to be a major slacker, but you couldn't find a more loyal, caring friend in the world. And there are very few who understand me and read me as well as he does. Call it a rare talent. I also found out this trip that my love life could very well just be the lamest such story in history. I am such a coward is what I learned. I liked both girls that went with us earlier this semester (much earlier) but had always been afraid to act on it because of my bad luck and experiences with such things in the past. However as we talked and talked waiting in lines or on the long drive home, I learned that they had both liked me when I had liked them (and I had liked them at different times, just clarifying - I am not a player). All it would have taken is for me to have told one of them that I liked them in January or February and this semester would have turned out a million times differently. But oh well, everything happens for a reason as well I figured out. One, I would not have become good friends with Will at all if that had happened, not even close or Regan for that matter. Two, I would have blown through a lot more money and got a lot lower grades which I can't really afford either so in the end it all works out for the better I guess. Just kind of funny the things you learn about the choices you made in the past and how much differently life could have been. Another interesting event that happened with in the past week was that Jared decided to have a yearbook party. He made the yearbooks and the food to go with them. But for some reason, I always end up being the one to invite all the people and planning out all the activies at the party. No one else ever steps up to the plate so if I don't do it, parties end up, well, lame. Regardless, this one was a brilliant idea. It allowed everyone to be able to say goodbye to each other and for us to take a very long trip down memory lane of all the crazy stories and events that have gone on for our freshman year at BYU. I also got voted quite a fair few of those personality awards. I managed to snag most outgoing, best at throwing/planning parties, one with the craziest late night plans, most likely to win a Darwin award, most likely to make Aaron a sandwich, and best at cutting hair (don't even ask). So maybe the last three are not the most enviable titles I found out a lot about how people actually perceive me because I honestly have no idea. I still am caught up from things that happened years ago in junior high and the beginning of high school when all I was thought of was extremely shy, a bookworm, and rather plump. The bookworm I don't mind, but the other images I have been constantly working on since about the beginning of my junior year in high school to change. And I guess change they have. I get called a "stick" now about my weight and got voted most outgoing. Boy have I have changed. But Im not always the biggest party animal, in my more personal messages I got a lot of comments from people about how nice I was, or how I was a great listener, or I am "the most amazing friend ever" (thanks Will). It just really made my day to know that people actually care about me and think highly of me because a lot of the time I really can't see how they do or why they would. It was the self-esteem boost I really needed going into finals and the end of my freshman year. Also, this week I went on probably the most random, crazy date I have been on ever. I took Courtney, Will took Sherrie, Tayler took Regan, and Jared took Amanda and it was a blast. We started off by thrifting for the most outrageous outfit we could find for each other. Mine ended up being a Jamaican dude/druggie thing complete with Aladdin green pants and I ended up getting Courtney in a baseball uniform. Then we went and ate at Red Robin and ended off the night by sitting around talking by a bonfire at the Central Building of our aparment complex. The stares we got and the laughter we got made the entire thing worth it. It was just a blast and and a great closer to all the best friends I have made here at BYU because that is probably the last time we will hang out in a group again. I plan on writing each of them and note and delivering it individually but altogether, last night was it. It was the end. And I am crazy sad to see it go. I really do want to go home, but I really don't want to lose all my friends and the atmosphere that is BYU. There is nothing quite like it anywhere else. So much fun, but always clean at the same time. Lots of work, but so many people to help you out. It just rocks and I am going to miss it terribly because it will never be the same again. When we all get back from our missions, I will room with Will and that will be awesome. But most of the girls will probably be married or engaged. Most of the guys I probably will only catch glimpses of between classes or something. It just won't be the same. Maybe it will be even better, butI doubt it. This year would be such a hard thing to top as far as college experience goes. Not going to lie. It is just hard to watch it go and it is a heck of a whole lot harder to say the goodbyes than I thought it would be. Anyway, finals and classes are going pretty sweet here at the end. I managed to score all A's so far on my finals with the exception of a mega retarded biology one but even that was still a B. I have one final left to go tomorrow and then a crazy amount of packing and cleaning to do. Also, finding time to write all those invidual thank you/friend notes is going to take awhile but I really need to do it. I just have the strongest feeling that I do. So here is some pics of my last days as a freshman, enjoy! This is a pic of Whitney and I when we all went out to breakfast before finals

This is Courtney and I on our date night!
This is everyone who went on our amazing group date!

This is all the guys that went.