Three More Friends Leave

I feel like this picture says it all about James

I went to my friend's farewell a couple of Sundays ago and as I was sitting there listening to him speak my friend Sharissa leaned over and said, "I can't believe our little James is all grown up."  Exactly what I was thinking.  Where has the time gone?
I first met James on the bus ride up to Lagoon for science day in 8th grade.  On the way home, my friend Karli and I, and somewhat Mireya, became good friends with him and his friend.  The next year we had AP human geography together, along with the rest of the gang.  James kept the whole class laughing.  Sharissa and I used to tease him by giving each other looks and pretending to have conversations.  James would try so hard to understand what we were saying.
That year we also became better friends through track and science demo team.
The next year we started high school and we stayed friends. He took me on my first date the day after I turned 16 and he also took me to prom that year and I had a blast.

Our junior year I was in Spain and James was one of the only ones that actually sent me letters.  They always entertained me.  One time he asked me if I was the only white person in Spain.  He's been teased plenty since, but really, that's why we love James.
When I got back James had become too cool for me.  No, he's still my friend.  It's been way fun to see him change through the years.  He still catches me by surprise sometimes with the things he says and I love him for it.  You will be a great missionary in New York James.

This past Sunday I had two farewells to go to but I only went to one.  The one I didn't go to was for one of my friends that I made at college.  I wish I could have gone, but it was a little too far for me to go (ok so it was only 30 minutes away and I know that makes me look like a bad friend but I had seen him a week before).

Mikey and his step sister at bowling.
Yes, I realize it's creepy I stole this from facebook but he needed a picture

Mikey, you will be missed especially this upcoming year when bowling starts again.  Thanks for being such a good friend and good luck in Chile.
The next one was for my good friend DJ.  DJ is one of those friends that you keep for years and years.  He's been with me since second grade.  Almost as soon as he transferred into Señora Petrie's spanish immersion class we became friends.

I'm in the front center and DJ's two to my left in the blue shirt
And yes, out of all of these years, this is the only picture I have of both of us

In Jr. High we had some good times in Señora Silito's class but once he gave up on spanish we sort of lost contact for a while.  However, senior year rolled along and we once again had a class together and DJ became my study partner.  We made bets on the outcome of the end of the year tests and I won so he bought me costa vida and an apple pie.  He's basically the greatest.  Even this past year when he was 3 hours away, we stayed in contact.  Every time he came up to visit his family, we would go get ice cream and we would talk about my bubble, calculus, and his tutoring.  Once school ended we attempted to have a harry potter marathon but we only got to number 4.  And then I got sick and now he's leaving.  But it's alright because when he gets home I fully intend to start on number 5.  Since this is a monster post, the last thing I want to say is (as cheesy as it is), those Filipinos are lucky to have you DJ.
The End

A little bit disorganized

My life has been a disaster lately.  Normally, I tend to focus on one aspect of my life at a time.  Last summer I focused on my social life.  I hardly worked and I spent everyday either training for my triathlon, hiking with Annie or just watching movies with friends.  Once school started I almost entirely dropped my friends and I focused on school (to be fair, a lot of them moved away).  Now I'm just kind of floating around.  This spring term has really messed me up.  The classes I took really didn't require me to study, so I didn't spend a whole lot of time focusing on school.  My friends are either gone or busy, so they're not taking up a lot of my time either.  I have another triathlon coming up but since I've been terribly ill for the past month, I haven't trained at all (which is actually a big deal because it's next saturday and since I'm still weak I can barely run 3 miles).  I do work but it doesn't take a lot of brain power so I'm not putting a lot of effort into working hard.  Basically, I'm lost.
The End

The Kissing Disease

Yes, I've had mono for the past 2.5 weeks and it's been horrible.  Spring classes are already fast paced, but add work and mono to the bundle and they seem impossibly hard.  That aside, I do have to say that I only missed three classes and I got in all my homework on time.  But let's start from the beginning...

A couple weeks ago I went and saw the avengers with my friend Carson.  It was a friday night and it was a blast.  I went to bed that night with a lot of plans for the summer in mind.  The next morning I wasn't feeling my best but I had promised Karli that I would hike stewart falls with her so I made the trip despite my illness.  When I got back I felt very achey and fevery so I took a nap.  That was also the day of the national rugby championship.  When I woke up from my nap, I still didn't feel well so I stayed in bed while my family went to watch the game.  By monday I thought I would feel well, but my symptoms had only gotten worse.  Because I had a spanish presentation that week, I went to school anyway.  On wednesday I finally went to the doctor because four rather painful lumps had appears on the back of my head and I had a severe headache because of them.  Within one minute, the doctor diagnosed me with mono.  So I got a B-12 shot and I was on my way.  I thought that was the end of it so I agreed to go to St. George with my sister that weekend, and that's when my sore throat started.  I honestly thought I was going to die.  But after lots of advil, vitamin C, B-12, excedrin, and an allergy pill, I went to Zion's with my sister and hiked 8 miles.  Let me tell you, they aren't kidding when they say mono makes you tired.  Within the first half mile my body was done.  It was awful, but the view at the end was nice.
So then I got home and school was no longer an option.  Swallowing was excruciating.  Hey!  I lost five pounds!
Thursday I got home from work and my mom brought me a juice press.  After I drank it, I went to sleep and I woke up at 4:30 the next morning.  My throat felt raw, but not swollen.  So now I'm just tired all the time, but I feel much better.  I was even well enough to go to my cousin's baptism on saturday where I met his primary teacher, Sister Kitty Butt.
And that's my story.  Long, but I have nothing else to do right now.
The End