Everything Has Changed (?)

You know those times in life where you can feel everything in your world is about to change? You know the why and can see it coming—even can put a date on it at times—but you can in know way predict the extent of the change, speed it up, or slow it down. Instead, you feel you are resigned to sit back and wait for the avalanche to hit.

Or is that only me?

There have been numerous times where I can feel this of  type change approaching—almost as if it is in the very air I breathe, demanding my attention.

Three years ago last week I graduated from High School! (woot woot) I remember leaving the school for the last time with all of my friends, knowing the hours and hours over the years I had spent there were at their close. The nights of fall football games that brought the school together (even if we were never very good…), the classic dance planning and dress searching, the lunch hour after lunch hour spent working on ceramic sculptures, the times between class and after school on the “senior bench” with friends just hoping you get to talk to a certain special someone, the seemingly constant preparing for AP tests (“now THIS is a great AP question!”), joining club after club to look good on college resumes (now I KNOW I am not the only one who did that), Monday lunchtime seminary council meetings, and of course the never ending project of creating the greatest yearbook Viewmont has ever seen (shout-out to myself for designing the cover); my time in High School was well spent and well loved. Not to mention the time I spent outside of school with “the gang” aka the greatest group of friends I could have asked for. But even with all those memories and special moments, I could sense it ending. I could feel it was over--now only be revisited in my mind or in pictures. I just could not foresee what exactly would replace it.

“College” was just a word to me. It meant more school and living away from home and trying to be an adult. But even all of that was hard to fully grasp. It is only now that I have spent as much time in University as I did in High School that I can see the changes college made in me and my life.

Almost two years ago I packed up my life and moved across the pond to England. I remember sitting on the plane after saying goodbye to my parents early in the morning and just thinking “WAIT. What am I doing???” I knew that studying abroad would change me. It would change my life and how I saw the world and who I was in it. I just could not see how it would and what experiences would lead me through that change.

Here I am, five days away from arguably the biggest change of my life.

I am marrying my best friend for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. I know this event is going to change everything in my life—including myself—but I cannot know how. I can put a date and even a time on it, but the how.. The how evades me once again. These moments of approaching change are always special to me. It gives me time to self-reflect and evaluate where I am and who I am in that moment, so as to better compare & contrast in the changes to come. 

So let me tell you who I am right now, because in five days I will be a different person with a different name living a very different life, never to return to this one. 

My name is Aimee. 

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I love my Savior very much.

I am a nursing student with a passion for people and creativity. 

I love watercolors, florals, and anything gold. 

I think Anthropologie's dishes are perfect. 

I always wish I was swimming. 

If possible, I would probably choose to live off of salads, fresh peaches, gyros, and indian food. Oh, and smoothies. 

My favorite snack is an apple with peanut butter and graham crackers. 

I like to run; bake cinnamon rolls and applesauce cookies; and visit street markets, arts museums, ancient ruins, libraries, and parks.

My family is my best friends. 

My idea of a perfect afternoon is a bike ride and picnic in the park. 

England holds a part of my heart and is one of my homes. 

My grandparents are my heroes, and when I grow up I hope to be just like my mom.
I will love you forever if you scratch my back. 

I have had 27 roommates, and I am pretty sure they have all been better than yours. 

I would cut off both my pinky toes to see Adele in concert. 

I enjoy school, and if I have free time you will find me reading (probably Harry Potter). 

I love a boy named Austin.   

There you go! That's who I am right now. I will write again in a month and tell you who I am then. I hope to find myself with a greater understanding of my role in God's plan, more patience with myself and those around me--especially those closest to me, and even more love for my boy named Austin. 

Love Always, Aimee 

 

then & now.