Change? No, thank you.

I've never liked change. Never. When my parents told me we were moving to Florida six years ago, they let me know as soon as we got in the car for a 4 hour drive home. Seriously? I was SO upset, I'm sure they regretted that decision as soon as they said it because they had to deal with my 12 year old tantrum and emotional breakdown. I remember making a pros and cons list, in which I'm pretty positive the only two pros were "the beach" and "close to Disney World," followed by an endless lists of cons. I obviously had no idea that moving to Florida would be the best experience of my life. Words cannot express how grateful I am that I've had the opportunity to live here. I have met so many people and created friendships that I know will last a lifetime. It's crazy to think that I'm leaving. For the longest time, I've considered Utah to be my "home" because that's where my entire family lives, and we're always going there. But I truly feel Tampa is my new home. Even though I don't technically have any family here, there are so many people here that I love and that have welcomed me into their lives and taken me in, just as they would a family member. I feel incredibly loved here, and I'm really going to miss that. Several people have asked me how excited I am to be leaving and starting a new chapter of my life, and honestly I have no idea how to respond. I mean, sure I'm excited. It's just I feel like it's such a sudden change. I would much rather ease into the transition. But instead, I'm moving to a new state, starting college and knowing absolutely no one there-all in a couple of weeks. It's overwhelming, and I'm actually extremely nervous. I wish I could just freeze time and live in this moment forever. I love my life here. I'm comfortable with it, and I'm content with the people I know and love. I would be fine if nothing ever changed, but I know after time, I will learn to love Rexburg (maybe not as much as here, but I'm sure I will be able to find a few good things about the place). It hadn't hit that I was leaving for good until today. I made it through my last day of high school, graduation, saying goodbye to friends who have already started college without fully realizing that I will never see some of them again. I haven't really cried, that is until today. Today was my last day in the Odessa ward, and tears were streaming down my face. I've been saying for the past year that I can't wait to leave and move on with my life..but as I was sitting there looking around at the faces of those that have been my leaders, teachers, friends and examples for so long, I couldn't help but already miss them. And then, after church I had to go say goodbye to two of my very best friends. So, it's definitely been a hard day. I have loved living here..and I wish I wouldn't have taken living in this beautiful place for granted. I checked the weather for Rexburg the other day, and it was in the 50's! I am definitely not used to that. I will miss the sun, Hellas Greek bakery, Publix subs, sandhill cranes walking around everywhere, checkers' fries, palm trees, the cows that greet me at the front of my neighborhood, my ward, Frenchy's on Clearwater beach, the short drive to every theme park you can think of, my wonderful friends, and definitely the ocean! I'm dreading the next two days. I don't do well with saying goodbye, and it's going to be so difficult. Just the thought of it makes me tear up. I don't think I'm ready to step out of my comfort zone. But I guess I have no choice. I just feel bad for the poor soul that has to sit next to me on the airplane. I hope they have extra tissues.....

Oh Florida, you're beautiful....

Happy father's day to me!

I am the happiest girl alive today, because.....I got this!!

It is my new baby, and I love love love it! Photo shoots to come! :) :) :)

It's really a late graduation gift..I just happened to receive it on father's day from the best daddy ever! And since it is HIS day after all, I just want to say happy father's day to the #1 man in my life. I am so grateful for everything he does and sacrifices for us. He truly is a wonderful dad, and I'm lucky to be his one and only little girl. I hope that someday I will be lucky enough to inherit some of his many characteristics like his motivation, genuine love for others, hard work ethic and so many more. Love you dad! Thanks for all you do for me!

So I guess I'm kind of excited....

Lately I've been kind of bummed/depressed/upset about the fact that I'm leaving good ole Florida for well, probably forever. I've absolutely loved growing up here, and I will always consider Odessa to be my home. However, I came across this and now I'm actually kinda, sorta excited to go to BYU Idaho. I still don't have the most optimistic outlook on the situation, but I'm making progress. That has to count for something, right?

(I know it's kind of long..but at least watch the ending. It really is pretty cool.)

I want to be a reader.

Now that I'm done with school, graduation is over and my family has left town, I have a lot of time on my hands. So i decided that I want to become a reader. I honestly can't remember the last book I've read, just because I wanted to read it. (I mean, I technically never read the books I was supposed to in school either, but that's beside the point) But I realized that I spend way too much time on my computer, watching shows on netflix, and doing who knows what else to waste my time. So, I decided to take advantage of my last month living in Florida, and live it up everyday at the beach with a good book (that is of course, when I'm not trying to spend every second with all my best friends who I'm going to miss SO MUCH when I leave.) My goal is to have read all the books on my list by the time I start summer semester in Idaho on July 26th, so here they are:

Water for Elephants.

 I have heard such good reviews, and I will not allow myself to see the movie until I've read the book. Therefore, it's made the top of the list. I can't go much longer..especially knowing eye candy like Rob Patts is in it :)

The Help

I don't know much about this book, only that pretty much everyone I know has told me to read it, and I've seen the movie trailer (which has Emma Stone in it!), which is apparently all it takes for me to read a book.

One Day

I saw the movie trailer, and have been mesmerized by the concept since. It follows the lives of two people on the anniversary of the day they met every year for 20 years.

Safe Haven

Who doesn't love a sappy Nicholas Sparks love story??

Sing me to Sleep

I honestly don't really know what this book is about, but my teacher recommended it and she's the bomb.com so I'll trust her on it.

See ya...I'll be at the beach with my diet coke and frozen grapes. I have a lot of reading to do. :)

As we go on, we remember

It's over. I can't believe it. I don't really think it's fully hit me yet. I have been looking forward to the moment when my name is called to walk across the stage to receive my diploma for so long. I've been elated, joyous and excited to graduate high school, but once I got home on Friday afternoon I suddenly became kind of sad. I haven't cried, nor am I planning on crying about it. However, I will miss everyone at Steinbrenner High School, and it's so weird to think I will never see some of my classmates ever again. I have grown so much in the past four years, and have learned a lot about myself. I've learned to make the best of situations, and adapt to change. I've gone to three different high schools and have encountered rough times and faced trials, but I've also made countless memories that I will forever treasure. I've loved high school, but I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me!

The two best friends anyone could ever ask for

Kara, Becca, me, Sam, Courtney

Kellee, Miss. Match, me and Kels

I love him so much

Family <3

Everyone that came to support me! :)

I had a wonderful graduation weekend with my family, and I'm so thankful they traveled all the way from Utah and Idaho to be here! I'm so happy to finally be done with high school forever!