The Tale of Two "Packings"

3 more weeks! Time flies...

Well ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow will be 3 weeks until I report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. I'll be there for 2 months learning Spanish and learning how to be an effective teacher to all the people I meet. It's pretty crazy how quickly it all came! One second I'm graduating high school, the next starting college, then finishing my first year, now I'm going on a mission.

Things have been pretty busy and hectic with my life lately and I apologize to all my friends who it seems like I haven't seen in weeks. I had been home a couple weeks hanging out, then I went to Virginia Beach to see my brother in All-State Choir. Not too long after that my family decided to go to Disney World for my last vacation before I leave them for 2 years! It was pretty fun, but a little hard for me to hide how it also made me sad. My childhood is pretty much over. Pretty much after my mission I will be my own man, an adult who has taken care of himself for 2 years on his own. I mean, sure you are always your parent's kid, but now when I come home for holidays or the summer I'm "just visiting".

I guess I'm just one of those people who isn't much of a fan of change. I know it happens and time is constantly slipping through your fingers, but sometimes the future is a bit scary.

So now I get to explaining the title of this Blog post... "The Tale of Two Packings". You see, as I have been getting ready for my mission I've been packing all the stuff I'll need to take (Packing #1). But the second packing is the packing I'm helping my family do as we move out of our house (Packing #2). The same day I leave for the MTC, my family leaves back to California.

We have been in here in Virginia almost 3 years, and its been a wonderful experience. I believe that my family was meant to be here. Without moving here my life would be very different, especially with Sammi. Yes she is my girlfriend and I love her, but mostly she is my best friend :) I am so thankful for the change and happiness she has brought in my life and I'll definitely miss her when I leave.

But also I want to thank the many other people who have been such great friends, neighbors, and second family to us. With all of my relatives back in California except for a cousin in New York and a cousin in Philadelphia, our friends here in Virginia have become our second family and have really made living in Virginia so wonderful.

I know I'll come back and visit after my mission, and who knows how things work out in the future, but I hope I'll come frequently :) Virginia and all the people in it will always have a special place in my heart, and if I don't end up seeing you when I come back and visit... God be with you till we meet again!