People I LOVE

Okay so I'm pretty much copying Linda's last post, I hope you don't mind Linda. I thought it was a really good idea though, and I LOVE talking about the people who mean so much to me. So here are a FEW of the people and things I love and am so thankful for.


MY MOM! Out of my two parents, I probably argue more with my mom than with my dad. But at the same time, I learn more from her than my dad. (No offense Daddy, it's just a mom thing!) Sometimes it's hard for me to look past the conflicts we have with each other but when I do I am so glad to have her as my mom. I am so glad that over the past few years we have actually become friends, and she is one of my best friends. She is always busy with something--teaching, organizing huge school projects, family history, scrapbook classes, cleaning, cooking, helping my aunt and grandma organize their things (they recently had an addition built on their house)...She does so much! She knows how to do so much. I am truley amazed by my mom and just what a great woman she is. I want to be like her as I improve myself. I think of all the moms I could have had (since I'm adopted) and I feel so lucky and blessed that she was the mom I got.

DADDY. I absolutely love goofing around with my dad. We have so many inside jokes (most of which my mom doesn't like because they are "potty humor"...yes, I know). "This cruise brings out the urine in me!" "Is it a toilet?" etc. I just think my dad is so cool. He is a complete goofball but at the same time a WORTHY Priesthood holder. I know that any time I ask him to, he is prepared to give me a blessing. He has done so much service for my family and for our church and I really admire him for doing it all without complaining. My dad is a convert. He joined the church in his 20s. When he first joined, his family told him he would go to hell for becoming a Mormon. (Needless to say I think their views have changed, though they are still strong Catholics.) He still joined the church and has such a strong testimony now. Through his example and through the choices he made (like marrying my mom in the temple) he has shown his family what true happiness can be. My grandma (his mom) lived with us the last few months of her life and I know that when she got to the other side she accepted the Gospel in a heartbeat because she saw how we lived. Now her and my grandpa are sealed forever. I am so grateful that my dad is so strong and has so much courage.

TRAVIS! When we were little, Travis and I used to fight a LOT! One minute we were the best of friends, the next we were yelling and screaming and hitting. Now, however, I can honestly say that he is one of my best friends. We have so much fun together goofing around, making stupid movies ("Baby Time I" is probably our masterpiece...ask any of my friends who have seen it). He is growing up. He's not a little kid anymore. I can now share a lot more with him than I could before. Ever since I've gotten back from BYU, we have grown so much closer. I think a year away from each other did us a lot of good. We missed each other and learned to appreciate each other. And now we get to see each other every day! I love this crazy boy.

LACEY my BEST FRIEND. I couldn't choose which picture to use. The first one is in band playing her bassoon (Renee Dawn Jane is its name...Lisa Renee, Lacey Dawn, and Rebecca Jane [see next person]) wearing the cloak I made her. The bottom is us in Hawaii. There is so much to say about Lacey. We always say we are connected at the spinal column. We are! Lacey has been there for me no matter what. I can tell her anything and she can tell me anything. We finish each others THOUGHTS, not just sentences. We have an inside joke about almost anything you can think of. We have lived together as roommates (in which there was a LOT of fighting) and have grown closer because of it, despite the many rough times. Now she is at BYU and I am here. I miss her SO SO MUCH every day. I love Lacey so much. We have had a brilliant plan for several years: When we're old grandma's, I will have long flowing silver hair and a monster truck. Lacey will have a motorcycle and a cape. We will beat up little punks who pick on our grandkids. She will keep her motorcycle in the back of my truck, and will be able to zoom out of it down a ramp to drive next to me at any time with her cape flowing behind her. It's happening.

This is BECCA. She has been one of my very best and closest friends since 7th grade. I have learned SO much from Becca. She is a great example of constant faith. She is so honest. She has a strong testimony. And she is absolutely crazy! I love Becca to death. She always knows how to make a boring situation come to life through her random noises, exclamations, and actions. She is up at BYU too and I REALLY miss having her around. One of my favorite memories of her (and Lacey): We were at Becca's house and decided to squish ourselves into the closet beneath the stairs. Due to the shelves, toys, etc., there was literally a 3 foot triangle of floor. We all stood on that tiny spot of floor, waiting for who knows what. We were laughing hysterically, then we heard Becca's mom coming so we got really quite. Her footsteps stopped all of a sudden and she opened the closet door. All she did was stare. She shut the door and as she walked away, we heard her say, "Whatever..."

LAUREN ASHLEY CARR. One of my roommates from BYU. The first semester Lauren kind of did her own thing while the rest of us grew closer. She didn't hang out with the best kids, she absolutely had no sleeping schedule, she skipped half of her classes. Second semester was a whole different story. She grew so close to us and got back on track. I LOVE Lauren SO much!!!! She has become one of my BEST friends I've ever had. I didn't know this first semester but we have so much in common. One of my favorite things is that we both love to yell at the top of our lungs for no reason at all (much to our other roommies' dismay). I miss Lauren like crazy (as you guessed, she's still up at the Y). She is a true friend. She really is there whenever I need her and she takes friendships seriously.

ANAMINEE! I love Anamin so much! We were friends before I left to BYU. We had fun times together. But since I've gotten home we've gotten a lot closer! We have so much fun together at work! And I am so glad I have her for a friend. Having most of my best girl friends at BYU is really really hard, but Anamin makes it so much easier! She probably doesn't even know that. But now you do Anamin and I thank you for that! You are so hilarious and easy to talk to. I love your random quirks that only people who get to know you are priviledged to see. You are so sweet and I hope we can get to know each other even better! This past week has been so much fun and I've loved hanging out with you. :]

JORGE. Jorge started working at Organ Stop when I was at BYU. I don't really even remember how we became friends. But I am so glad that we did! Jorge is a funny kid. And I think he is great. Most people who work at OSP are either Mormon, or they're not and they don't really have the best of standards. Jorge is not LDS, but he has standards just as high as most of the Mormons I know. I respect him so much for that. I honestly don't know why he is so good but I admire him for it. Jorge is a great friend. I don't tell him my deepest secrets but I know that if I did, he would not say one word to anybody. He is such a loyal friend and he is SO goofy! I love playing the serious game with him. He makes me laugh like no other.

TRAVY! aka Giggles. To be honest, when I first met Travis I really wasn't too fond of him. That's just because of all the stuff that I knew went on with him and Jordan. He even made me mad sometimes because of how he'd treat Jordan at work. For the longest time our relationship was that weird relationship of "I know you exist, I have worked with you for several months, but we have reached a silent agreement not to recognize each other." What the heck!? Like Jorge, I don't really remember how Travis and I became friends. One day we just started teasing each other. And now I can say that he is a great friend to me. I hardly knew him 2 weeks ago. Yes we had the work-friends relationship but that's just "surface" stuff. Now we've hung out a few times and I've gotten to know him a lot better. He is a hilarious kid and he makes me feel special. That means a LOT to me because I don't always have the best self-esteem. Just simple things he says/does, like asking me if I'm going to come say bye to him before I leave, reminds me that he considers me a friend and cares about me. Wow I sound all mushy and whatever but really, he has helped me a lot in just the past week, especially since this summer has been somewhat of a bummer for me. Don't tell him I wrote this or I'll feel like an idiot. I'll tell him sometime or another. Haha.

Travis has helped me rediscover other things:

I always play the piano. I love the piano. But when I heard Travis play, it just reminded me how much I LOVE beautiful music, even if it is simple. I love the harmony in songs. Travis plays a lot of Coldplay on the piano. I've known several of their songs throughout high school, but I've recently listened to them a lot more. This is so scattered haha. What I'm getting at is that listening to Travis play the piano has helped me find happiness in music again. Good, uplifting music. I have been missing that. Not that I've been listening to bad music, just that sometimes I forget how much music helps me out and how beautiful and expressive it is.

This is KIT. I know, he looks like a thug. He looks like the kind of kid you don't want your kids to be around. Maybe in some aspects he IS that guy, but not to me. I went to high school with Kit. He is two years older than me. Not a whole ot of people know, but my sophmore year was TERRIBLE. I did a LOT of stupid things and I had so many emotional problems. I'm embarrassed to admit it because it's so juvenile and most people who haven't been involved with it in some form think it's due to desire for attention, but my sophmore year I used to cut my wrists and my arms. I was so depressed that year. Kit was my section leader in marching band and I loved him so much. We were buddies. I always tried to hide the cuts on my arms, but one day Kit saw them. He grabbed my arm and held it up. "Lisa Boatman! Are you cutting yourself!?" I was embarrassed he had to see that. "Promise me you won't do this anymore." Kit took such good care of me. There were 2 boys I kept having problems with and Kit would always stand up to them for me. I don't think Kit knows it but he helped turn my life around. I love Kit SO much, even though we hardly talk anymore. I am so grateful to him.

DEREK MATHIAS SCHELL. Derek's story is similar to Kit's. Derek is my age and we were BEST friends our sophmore year. We were ALWAYS together no matter where you looked. Derek took care of me and he comforted me so much. I am so grateful to him that when I think about him I just feel like crying. Part of that though is due to the pain I feel that we're not as close as we used to be. We were able to hang out a few weeks ago and it was almost like the old times again. Derek helped me realize I am worth something. I would always tell him about my problems and he would see me so sad. One day he made me promise I'd never hurt myself, which, as you now know, I did. We were sitting in band a little while later and he saw one of my wrists. I will NEVER forget the look on his face. I couldn't believe the pain I cause him. He looked really upset, mad, sad, scared, and concerned all at the same time. All he said to me was, "Lisa, why didn't you call me?" At that moment I realized that I really wasn't alone, and that for whatever reason, Derek loved me. I love Derek so much. I wish we were still really close, but life happens. We're still friends and he will be my friend forever.

Alright. Now that it is 2:30 AM and I have to get up in a few hours, I'll end my blog. I might start doing this type of post a little more often! There's just not a way to mention everyone I'm thankful for in one blog haha. Oh, I know I didn't write about Stephen. Don't get me wrong or anything, he is DEFINITELY someone I love and that I'm grateful for. But since I've written about some aspect of that in almost all of my other posts, I decided to focus on the people who have come to my mind lately. I'm sure I'll do Stephen later. :]

OKAY GOOD NIGHT! I love you guys too!!!