Hey!

I couldn't let the summer just slowly fade away without writing a blog about all of the blessings and life-changing events I've experienced over the past few months.

It all started with Graduation back in May. In my eighteen years on this earth, I've never experienced such a bittersweet day. It was such an exciting day, full of so many goodbyes, but it clearly had a huge impact on me because I still have dreams about that day, and they are always changing, much like my life! My life is never the same, but that's okay. All of my life, I've been the girl who let fear drive, but not anymore! It is my hope that by the end of this blog, at least one of my friends reading this will have a different outlook on life or even just crack one smile :)

The BIGGEST event in my summer was obviously my excursion to Tennessee; the trip that everyone has heard about! Ha! Needless to say, I am not going to go in great detail about it; I'm simply just mentioning it because it would be wrong not to. It was an incredible experience...a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and there isn't one day that goes by where I don't realize how blessed I was to take part in it.

As soon as I returned home, my life started changing in ways I didn't see coming. I never could have anticipated what was going to happen next.

I met a girl named Natalie. I met her through Facebook, and upon receiving her friend request, I already knew she was a fan of Reba. Her display pic was a pic with Reba taken a few months earlier. We started talking and my mind became a curious thing. As far as I knew, the only VIP deal for Reba's tour this summer was a charity auction, and there was only one person who would win per concert. So, the wheels in my mind started turning and I wanted to know how she had managed to meet Reba because I wanted in on it. I was being so selfish. Here I had just returned from "CMA Music Festival," and I wasn't content with it; I was already thinking of how "I" could make another concert. Then Natalie's response hit me like a ton of bricks. She was a candidate for Canada's "Children's Wish Foundation," and it had been her wish to meet Reba. I knew what they meant. It meant she was sick and it must be pretty bad because foundations like that are out great expenses for each wish they grant. I felt like the most ungrateful person in the world. That was the last day I wanted to make another concert so badly.

A few days after this experience, I signed on with the "Make-A-Wish Foundation." Natalie wasn't my only inspiration for this..many people were. I knew in my heart of hearts though that it was the perfect time. Although I am still waiting for a training session to be scheduled, I haven't given up on volunteering and I know that something will come together soon.

In the meantime, I began working at least twenty-five hours per week at Hastings, and I really began enjoying it. In the past, I had had the world's WORST attitude about my job, but I really started getting to know my co-workers, and establishing those relationships and actually putting some effort into enjoying my job saved me. After a year and a half, I am still working there.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't try to leave though. I went on two job interviews during the summer, and they were certainly for interesting jobs! One was working for Vector, a company that specializes in selling high quality  cutlery and the other was as a support instructor for PMS's Project Shield. I couldn't figure out how on earth I managed to score such odd interviews as a teenager, but I know God has a sense of humor and He was very creative in getting me to realize that I have a good job.

I do have to admit that I seriously thought about taking the job at Project Shield. My heart was torn. I wanted to help others in any way I could, but I just wasn't ready for the amount of responsibilty it required...not when it came to the life and well-being of another. I think I did them a favor by turning the job down. I know now that I was trying to rush into a career instead of a job. AND, there is something else I know now too: I can make a difference working at Hastings by being dependable, by smiling at someone who needs it, by asking (and truly meaning it when I ask) "how are you today?" And, every once and a while, someone comes through my line and makes a difference in my day. I even got nominated into the top four for the All-Star Award. I didn't win, but then again, I didn't deserve to win. Being nominated was enough.

This summer, I've realized that I've made a difference in at least one life just by being who I am...and that is a person who cares. I'm a girl who would do anything for a friend, and sometimes my heart is too big and I end up getting hurt, but that's okay. Things are supposed to be that way.

I've started looking at the lives of ppl around me in a psychological way. I want to know about the different factors that have made that person who they are, and I've learned a lot about the ppl in my life. I'm amazed at how many of my friends were abandoned by one parent, who lost a loved one in a tragic way, who constantly get criticized and feel like they can't do anything right, who have had babies at a young age (the perfect example of how something that seems like a huge mistake can in fact be a blessing.) I'm amazed because they are amazing human beings who still live in positive ways. They're able to take a chance and love again after losing everything when I, who have lost nothing, can't even be that brave at times. I have the BEST friends in the entire world. I'm lucky. In Eighteen years, I've managed to seek more happiness than some people who live to be 100 do. I'm loved and appreciated. I love and appreciate others. Everything that I'm going/gone through has value to somebody out there because it makes the road they're traveling on a little bit easier and I can't think of how many lives will be saved just by that.

Come Tuesday, I begin COLLEGE. I begin my journey into becoming a counselor/psychologist and I can't wait. I'm going to have a career that seeks to improve the quality of life for another human being and I'm psyched! :) THIS is what life is: laughing, loving, helping, sharing, caring, and appreciating every single thing you've been given.

This summer was amazing, not to mention fun. I've cherished every moment and I've really started loving the people in my life more. I've watched my parents, who have been together for twenty years and I SEE commitment. I see what it means to say, "I do," and then to actually carry out that promise. I've laughed until my face hurt. I've cried when I've seen someone I love getting older or going through a hard time and I know why. It's because over the course of this summer...

I grew up.