See Ya Later, Alligator

Today I want to tell you about my best friend in the whole world. He's an incredible human being and I honestly can't believe how lucky I am to have met him and that he's stuck around for so long. His name is Taylor and he's about to go dedicate two years of his life to serving the Lord. I'm so proud of him. So, as a way to commemorate our brief time together (it hasn't really been brief, it just doesn't feel long enough), I wanted to tell you the story of our friendship. It's been one of the most beautiful parts of my life so far, so this won't do it justice. But I'm gonna try.

My first memory of Tay was in 8th grade Spanish class. He was standing in the front of the room, giving his "Bienvenido", or welcome speech. It was a requirement that each Bienvenido be entirely in Spanish, which wasn't something that came easy to him, as we all soon discovered. He stood up, shuffled his feet a little bit, looked around nervously, and began.

"Hola," he said. "Bienvenido. Mi llamo es Tavo." ...and then laughter erupted. He hadn't pronounced a single word correctly. Not even his own (albeit Spanish) name. The thing I remember most was that he didn't get offended or embarrassed, as I surely would have done. He just laughed with that explosive laugh of his and continued. I came home that day with a grin on my face and told my mom of the experience. It was just so funny to me, for some reason. And even though we didn't become friends for a long time after that, I remembered it. I remembered him.

Taylor was always so much cooler than me in school. He was an Student Body Officer in 9th grade at our middle school, a football player, someone that was surrounded with friends all the time, someone that was really adored by so many people. I, on the other hand, was not that person. I was shy and awkward and still coming out of my shell. I had a hard time talking to people that I perceived as "cooler" than me, and Tay was definitely one that fell under that category. So for a long time, I admired him from afar, wished we were friends, and went on living my small life.

High school came, and we started talking. We, for some reason, had like a million classes together sophomore year and through that, we became friends. I had never anticipated how kind Taylor was, or how easy to be around. He texted me every Sunday night, almost without fail, about a homework due in classes the next day. I occasionally made him laugh. We told each other our crushes and about our families. I learned that he was an only child and he learned that I was a really terrible driver (he was one of the first people I told about failing my first attempt at the driving test). It was simple and I loved it.

Some things eventually changed, and Taylor, slowly but surely, became my very best friend. We spent all the time we could together, all through high school. We went through amazing times and really, really terrible times, simple and difficult, and through it all, things somehow always worked out. He was the first and last boy that asked me to a dance. He was the recipient of all my terribly thought out Christmas gifts and birthday gifts. He was the one that held my hand as we rode the Ferris (or as he calls it, Farris) Wheel at Town Days three beautiful summers in a row. He saw me at my worst and my best and cared about me through it all. I got to see him grow up, little by little. And now he's decided to leave everything he loves for two years to serve a mission, and it's the best decision he's ever made. Ahh. I can't even tell you how excited I am for him! Witnessing this transformation in him has been inspiring and has made me want to be better, as well.

So, here's to someone that has changed me for the better, and continues to do so everyday. Here's to someone that has been the best possible friend that anyone could ever ask for. We are both moving on to bigger and better things, and the future is becomes closer every passing minute, but I'll never stop being grateful for Taylor.


GOOD LUCK IN MEXICO, TAY BABY!! WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!

Thank you, my dear, for being everything.

Poetry On Billboards

I am not a poet. I have never claimed to be.

So with that said, here it goes.

Before you start this, click here. Read about it. Now I will explain this thing that I have done and you'll probably think I'm really very stupid. But that's really ok with me, because chances are that no one will read this or even care if they do. Ok. Why am I procrastinating telling you about this? I'm having a problem. Ok. Ok. Alright. Here it goes (I'm not a poet. Is that much obvious yet?)

Once upon a time, I wrote an essay about someone that became a Child of God. Not that they weren't always a Child of God, but they became one through my perspective. The essay was a little bit personal and involved some people that I don't want to embarrass, so I'm not going to post it here. But the gist of it was this: everyone is a Child of God, even if they don't even realize it. More importantly, everyone is a Child of God even if you don't even realize it. I've written about this before, so I won't elaborate too much. I just think it's really important and it's also something that's hard for me to remember sometimes. I write about things that are hard for me. Like remembering and loving and being happy. Not that I don't remember things and that I'm not happy. But life is hard and days are tough and those things easily slip through everyone's fingers at one time or another. Sand is beautiful and weird and fun to have but easy to let go of. So the point is to make your sand into a rock- and the only way to do that? Pressure. Really difficult times. Hard times will make your sand into a solid mass of sedimentary that won't be broken down again if you hold on real tight and pray real hard. So yes, if happiness is sand, then make it into a rock. And then let God do the rest, because really, He's the one that gave you the sand in the first place.

Moving on.

So what I did with this essay that I wrote was kinda cool, I thought. Wasn't my idea, and as you are aware if you obeyed my commands and clicked on the above link (another chance HERE). Being the graphic design artist that I am (ha), I created a poster on my handy-dandy laptop. I printed a few of them off and then put them up around campus. The purpose was to promote unique and uplifting rhetoric in people's daily lives, as opposed to the manipulative and annoying ads that seem to pop up EVERYWHERE. Words can knock people down or set them straight again, often without a person even realizing it. I don't think my words are all that special, but that's not the point. The point is to promote words, no matter whose they are. Get people to think. That's something that we could all use a little more of, even on a college campus. Haha. ESPECIALLY on a college campus.

So I put the posters up, froze to death in the process, took a few pictures because that seems to be the thing to do with everything (I saw a collection of the year's stupidest selfies today. A selfie at Auschwitz? Really? And sooooo many funeral selfies. Wow. I can't even.. it made me want to throw up. You will not find that link here), and then went home and wondered if anyone saw them. Probably not. But maybe they did, and maybe it sparked something in them. I guess I'll never know.

So there's my story. Sorry it took so long to spit out. Don't forget to make your rock and to remember always who's child you are. Because I can promise you that He's never forgotten.

This American Life

I was recently introduced to This American Life, a radio program that presents hour long podcasts on pressing issues and fascinating stories in American society. I spent some time listening and I was blown away. It's always floored me at no matter how much you think you know about something, there is always so much to still discover. This is what these podcasts provided for me, an opportunity to see the world differently. If you have time to listen, please do it. It'll be worth your time.

#1- Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde
This was a disturbing look at the American prison system and the way that people are treated once labeled with a title that they can't seem to shake, such as a liar or a fake. It's brutal and raw, but it made me reconsider the what I blindly accept as truth about people. Is truth always something that is self-evident? I don't think so. Especially not after listening to this.

#2- Harper High School, Part 1
Wow. I cannot come close to describing how much this shook me. School gun violence seems to be an exhausted topic among American rhetoric, but think again. There is so much that isn't covered in media, this podcast covering just one of these stories. Why isn't this talked about more?

#3- Harper High School, Part Two
If you listened to the first episode of this, you'll want to listen to the second. It's more personal, more intimate, less about the issue and more about the people. It will leave you in tears. Make sure to listen to the very end- the very last sentence unnerved me. Makes you want to figure this out.

So there you have it. Please do yourself a favor and take the time to listen to these. It will make you change. There's more at thisamericanlife.org.