Since then, a lot has changed in my life, but I have kept everything (okay, so all the important things and a bunch of random stuff) documented in my journals.
All of my journals
So, here is how this is going to work. I am going to ask some friends and family to pick a number between 1 and 1000 and I will tell you what was going on in my life on that day. Hopefully no one picks one of the embarrassing days! Here we go:
Sunny: 523
I went in to get an oil change at a Jiffy Lube or something like that and when the guy came out to give me my keys back he said, "Hey, so we noticed your oil was a little low, so we changed it for you." Let me repeat something real quick- I went in to GET AN OIL CHANGE. That probably wouldn't have bothered me as much if one of my roommates hadn't woken me up at 5 in the freaking morning by exercising right above my bed.
Jason: 13
Got asked on a date...by a guy who was already on a date. That was awkward on so many levels.
Cecil: 822
I decided to make flash cards to help me memorize generic and brand name drugs...probably the biggest waste of my life ever. I also helped Amy and Sunny move into their new apartment, which was sad.
Lindsay: 777
Probably the worst day of my life, good pick Linz haha. This was April 1, 2013. The day that I handed in my $500 seat holding fee for pharmacy school and then within the hour was told that my entire company was being shut down and I no longer had a job. Did I mention all of this happened before 10 in the morning?
As I was reading in my scriptures that night I came across this scripture, which I have tried to live by ever since. 2 Nephi 10:23, "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves- to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life."
Okay, I tried to start living that after I cried for a thousand hours and threw some stuff to vent my anger.
Derek: 479
The day that my good friend Cecil got married :) I went to the temple that day with Garth Gaylord and Emily Treasure. It was my first time just walking in to do baptisms. On our way there we read talks about the temple and Garth amazed us all by reciting 2 Nephi chapter 2. Seriously, blown away!
Bonnie: 76
I picked up some extra hours at work and then spent the evening with Mystie! We went to Subway and watched How to Train Your Dragon :) This was right at the end of a semester, so she was getting ready to move home. She ended up getting married and never came back! Jerk...
Brendan: 613
Went to Lagoon with Zach Sorensen, Arminda Crane, Haley Summers, and other people whose names I can't remember. We had stayed the night in Malad at Zach's family's house and then woke up and had pancakes and went skeet shooting before heading out. Also, it was Frightmares which is just cool. It was a good day :)
Katie: 962
Sunny and I did Zumba and followed it up with Jamba Juice. I will forever confuse those two names now. Zamba! Jumba! haha
Tarry: 737
This was during that time that I was writing letters in my journal to various people. On this particular day I chose to write a letter to myself. It was one of those days where I was thinking about someone (read: a boy) a lot and wasn't sure what I should do. Writing it down helps me see if what I'm thinking is absolutely ridiculous or not. In this case, I decided it was ridiculous.
Rebecca: 17
I had a talk with a guy that I had kind of been dating. We had fallen apart and I didn't know why. We finally talked about things and it was a relief to finally have things out in the open.
Sierra: 365
Bren and Witney's reception! Their reception was the day before they were married and it was absolutely wonderful. At that point we already considered Witney a member of the family, but it was great to have everyone together to celebrate it. Their cake was made of tutti frutti cereal and the whole thing was picnic themed and adorable!
Maci: 57
A talk in church really touched me. It focused around Hymn 124, Be Still My Soul. Also had a movie night with some of my best friends! We watched Flight of the Navigator at Tim, Zach, and Ryan's house :)
Nate: 541
Oooooh the joys of working overtime. Also, my family was in town and we went out to eat and got to talk to them. I love them. Also, I have one of my notes to a future person asking if two finger rings are still cool haha.
Mom: 943
There was a certain boy that came over that I was trying to avoid...yuck. I hate that. My first exam of pharmacy school was the next morning, so I expressed some anxieties over that as well.
Rachelle: 6
I was bitten by one of my clients at work while he was having a tantrum. Then hugged by my next client, so it made things better :) Also, it was the 11 year anniversary of when I started activity days...random fact. Also, I was sneak-a-dated. You know, when you are asked to "hang out" with some friends only to realize that no other friends were invited and you have to endure an evening with someone you don't want to go on a date with haha
Logan: 245
Brother Laga gave a really good talk at the Saturday session of stake conference. He compared getting an education to backpacking and how whining won't get you anywhere. "It's hard...TOUGH!" were his exact words.
Witney: 14
My brother taught me a very important lesson about loving people that do wrong to you. It wasn't one of those lessons that he meant to teach me...he just did through his example.
Brittanny: 850
The 4th, 5th, and 10th wards got together to go to Steadman's Ranch for an activity. We spent the day sliding down the water slides and playing volleyball :)
Carley: 49
Played football with some friends...which was interesting. I stink at football! But I made a touchdown, which was awesome. We also played floor hockey that night, which is seriously the coolest. My friend Ryan told me that he wanted to score more, so I was going to have to stop playing and I took great pride in that haha.
Dad: 43 (Show of hands, who's surprised by his number choice)
This was the week before Easter, but since my brother and his family were in town for conference, we celebrated Easter early (aka Preaster). Gwen and Phoebe had lots of fun looking for the "Easter bunny eggs" as they called them.
Conference was also amazing, as usual.
So, there you are. That is a very small glimpse of what has happened to me in the last 1000 days. I love my journals. As I go back and read the things I've written I find that sometimes I wrote about things that I had forgotten about.
There are so many memories in these pages...good and bad. Triumphs and failures. Moments of bravery and moments of anxiety. Times of relaxation and times of complete stress. New friendships. Failed relationships. Books I read that I couldn't stop thinking about. Quotes that helped me through a hard time. Movie tickets. Things that my roommates said or did that had me rolling on the floor.
I love that I have those memories, but what I love more is that my future kids are going to have access to those memories. There is no possible way that I would be able to tell them everything, so having it in writing is a comfort to me.
Let me ask you something, have you ever had a moment where you just stop and wish that you could live in that moment for the rest of your life? You can. But not if you lock it up in your mind. Eventually emotions fade and you won't be able to remember exactly how you felt in that instant. Memories are not eternal until you keep them in writing.
So that's my challenge to you. Keep it in writing.
