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....