Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

It's hard to think that a year ago right now, I was finding out and freaking out about the fact that I have a half brother that I never knew about from my dad's youth. It was kind of a life flipping moment... finding out about him. And, after a day of homework and freaking out, I went to a New Year's party at a friends where we took ridiculous amounts of PhotoBooth pictures on my computer and watched the Dark Knight.

Not a bad New Year's, but I think this one my just top it.

Today, after a day of homework (this isn't procrastination, I swear!... ha), I'm going to the mall with one my my best friends and (ALERT: classic teenager moment ahead) we are going to get our ears double (me) and triple (her) pierced together. I am very, very excited.

I will be spending the night at said friends house where we will have a lot of fun watching movies and hanging out and waiting for 2010 to start. I'll be starting the year off with my favorite people and I couldn't be happier.

So... what exactly happened in 2009? Well, let's recap.

I lost my best friend. You could say we grew apart, but I don't think that's what I'd call it. It hurt like hell and I hope it never happens again and that it never happens to any of you. There was a lot of drama that went down sophomore year that makes me more than happy it's over.

I gained four best friends. I'd always been friends with all of them, but something clicked this year that brought us all together and just worked. I know I've written about them before on here, on twitter... everywhere. But that's just because I'm so thankful for them. After being surrounded by people who didn't understand me, didn't like me because of who they thought I was, ignored me, expected me to be a person that I'm simply not, having people who actually know everything about me and love me despite my faults and shortcomings is such a joy and such a treasure. They've become some of the most important people of my life and I hope our friendships last forever.

I went to this law camp (that no one hears the end of, apparently) which really changed the way I look at things and really inspired me to be a lawyer.

For the first time in my memory, my family did not go to Lake Tahoe this summer. I know that it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it's the only time I see my cousins, the only time I spend time with them, and it's a place that I love to be because I've grown up there in so many ways. We went to Sea Ranch instead which was fun and absolutely gorgeous, but only one of my mom's two sisters were there, which really put a downer on it. It gave everyone something to complain about, though, which was kind of fun in it's own way. The thing that really pissed everyone off was that in the same week we were at Sea Ranch, that family was about 150 miles south of us, still in California. My family, one of my cousins, and I didn't get to see them at all and everyone else spent one dinner with them. I haven't seen or spoken to my east coast cousins in over a year. According to their mom, we have no kind of relationship.

I went to a Green Day concert. It was amazing. Beyond amazing. No words.

I went to my first small venue concert to see Mayday Parade, The Secret Handshake, Set Your Goals, and The Academy Is.... That was pretty awesome too, made even better by the fact we were in San Diego and I was with one of my best friends. Love, love, love, love, love.
Two weeks later, I found myself in the middle of Knott's Scary Farm.  SO much fun.  Lots of laughter, lots of memories. "In a general THATISH way..." We adopted monsters.
Junior Retreat is a big memory. I really didn't want to leave because things just worked... our usually dramatic class was pretty calm and I really liked it.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all of December has really been a mush of fun stuff, minus school.

This year has been a lot about ups and downs.  I've learned a LOT. I've learned about ups and downs.  I've learned the importance of true friends. I've learned about what it means to be who you are.  I've learned a lot about who I am.  I've learned if a person wants you to change, they aren't worth your time. I've gained friends. I've lost friends. I've lived, loved, and cried.
I don't think I would change a minute of this year.

Happy New Year's, everyone! Hope it's a blast.