Goodbye 2009...

I've enjoyed you, despised you at times, and best of all....

Here's what I've learned from you:

1. It's okay to cry.
2. It's okay to like yourself.
3. If you think you can't handle a class, don't. Drop it. Learned that the hard way. Twice.
4. Teachers are nice (for the most part).
5. Cookie dough can cure almost anything. So can chocolate. And peanut butter.
6. Forgiveness is hard. Forgiving someone doesn't mean you won't be sad about what has been done. And forgetting seems to be even more difficult than forgiveness. But anger and resentment is so much harder and hurts so much more. At least, I know it would. So I took the easier way out. (EasiER. Not easy.)
7. If you can't bear your testimony in words, bear it in the way you live your life.
8. A smile from a stranger can make you walk on air. Try to be that smiling stranger in someone else's life.
9. Don't be afraid. Not of anything.
10. Honesty is always the best policy. But ALWAYS accompany truth with kindness and tact.
11. Cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner is easy-peasy.
12. Sometimes homework is not important.
13. People are important.
14. The best times are inevitably paired with the worst times.
15. The brownie delights at Casper's are heaven on a little glass plate.
16. I really, REALLY love hugs. 
17. I'm a pretty good country dancer.
18. Sometimes shouting and throwing things feel really good.
19. People are people. Even those high up.
20. You don't have to do anything with your degree after you earn it.
21. French fries and ice cream always go together.
22. Cherish your true friends and your true friends will cherish you.
23. Beauty is happiness.
24. Happiness is beautiful.
25. Always take the opportunity to tell people that you care about/love/admire/look up to them.
26. All 13-year-olds are brats.
27. 13-year-olds grow up and change.
28. Heavenly Father loves me.
29. Prayers are answered. Not always when you want them to be. Sometimes it takes months. They are not always answered how you thought they would be. Sometimes you won't see them answered firsthand and you'll only get to hear about it secondhand. Sometimes you'll never know if they were answered. They're still answered.
30. The Church is STILL true.
31. How do I know this? Because 19-year-old boys are babies. They are babies. And we let them loose on the world for two years. And we let them represent and teach the gospel. And people join the Church! That's how I know the Church is true. 

Thank you, 2009!