a year worth remembering

today is june third. it's definitely a date i'll be remembering for awhile. it's our year mark people! i'm so happy with the person i have become throughout the past year. it has been so hard, not going to lie. but, the person i am today is a completely different person than the person i was 365 days ago when we moved. my priorities have changed, and i've learned that it's okay to not always have something to do on a friday night. early morning seminary ended two weeks ago for the year and let me tell you, i miss it dearly. because of the sacrifices that my brother and i made to wake up at five in the morning every day and drive fifteen minutes to the church to attend seminary i am a better person, and honestly looking back it hardly seems like a sacrifice anymore. i got so many blessings in return. being one of only a few mormon girls at my school this year has also been such a challenge and a blessing. i love being different, i love the fact that i stand out and that some people refer to me as "that mormon girl" sometimes i think that i'm not doing a very good job at answering the questions that people ask me on a daily basis and i wonder if there is someone else that would be better for the job. there isn't though, and every other mormon teenager out here feels the same way. we're just going to have to keep on trying. i've done so many things in the past year that i never thought i was capable of doing. not big things like climb Mt. Everest, but small things like try new foods, go running in negative twenty degree weather, bake a three tier cake, sing in sacrament meeting, become friends with people who live an hour away, strengthen my friendships with people who live back in utah, take drivers ed, fail my drivers test, drive a tractor, dance in the rain, catch fireflies, go on a two day backpacking trip, give up basketball, fall in like, fall out of like, fall back in like, cry over crazy teenage girl emotions, begin writing a book, become addicted to mint gum, switch lives with someone who i had never met until a month ago, learn to laugh through trials, continue to be an example for my friends, find a knee length skirt outside of utah etc. there are so many things i'm proud of that have happened in the past year. of course, there are so many things i wish were different too. my grades are nowhere where i would like them to be and if i want a chance at getting into BYU i'm going to have to work my butt of the next two years. of course, right now i'm just trying to enjoy the next two years. i'm so grateful to the people who have helped me through the past year. especially my parents and my best friend Julia. it hasn't been easy, but it has been such an adventure and i wouldn't change a thing. here is to another fantastic year people!
forever and always,
sarah leslie