Seasons of Change

I've always been the type of person to be very wary of change.

I've moved quite a bit in my life (not as much as the older members of my family, but still more than most), so I'm accustom to that kind of change. You just have to roll with the punches and hope that everything is for the best.

The first move I remember was from our home of 4 years in Tennessee, to our home in Shelby that would be our home for the next 9 years. I'm sure I was upset at the time, but I was in 2nd grade. After the first year in Shelby, I wasn't that sad anymore.

When we were moving to Marion, however, I do remember being very nervous, but excited. I didn't have the best childhood in Shelby and I was looking for a change...a place to finally fit in. I was just ready to come to Marion and see all that it had to offer (...which turned out to not be much, but the things that it did have to offer were top notch).

A lot of people complain about our little town. It's slow, there is nothing to do after 5:30 most days (unless you want to eat at one of our many Mexican restaurants) and virtually nothing to do on Sundays.

However, these are the things that made me fall in love with this small mountain community.
--
Foothills Community Theater
God bless those people. This group helped me through some very hard times, whether they knew it or not. After you do one show with us, you're in. You're in a {frankly} quite eccentric, odd, loving, caring, loud, happy, dramatic family.

They have helped me grow in not only my acting and singing, but also helped me see into different walks of life, and to just accept people as they were.

And I wouldn't trade that family for anything. I won't get to do anything with them this year, but I will try my damnedest to get to all them and support the theater.

First Baptist Church of Marion
Now, if you're involved in any church, I'm sure it's great for you.
But to be honest, I think my church is the best.

Why? When I first got to FBC, I had a very negative view of church (I still kind of do, but FBCM gives me hope). I hated it and just didn't want to be there. But after being there for a few weeks, getting to know the youth and the 5 other awesome people in my grade, I was sold.

No human is perfect. Therefor that means no church is perfect. There are always going to be differences of opinions, someone is not going to like the carpet and if the service goes "too long"* then someone is going to get antsy and complain about how it's too lengthy.

However, in my opinion, a lot of people at FBCM strive to set aside all those small details and focus on why they are really there. They welcome new people with open arms no matter what they are wearing, never {openly}** passing judgment. I might not be the most religious person, but that gives me hope that out there there are other churches that do the same.

The youth group also became my favorite place to be. With the exception of a few friends at school, they are the people I will miss the most. They are my sisters and brothers. We have all cried and laughed together and I will never forget them as long as I'm on this earth.

Crooked Door Coffee House
This is a place you can find me almost everyday of the week. I started going there when I was in 10th grade with my best friend (*waves* Hey Jordyn!) who often rode home with me to work on math while my mom was out getting groceries.

{to be honest....we rarely did our homework}

I started going there so much (especially now that I have a car) that I can just walk in and they pretty much know what I'm going to get. It started to become my second home, especially during the winter months.

During those months, Jordyn (hey, again :P) and I started to sing at their open jams. I was never very confident in my voice or in my improvising skills, but being at those jams and getting to sing really helped me grow in my confidence.

I've met some of my {now} best friends there, andddd I also met my boyfriend there at one of the jams (; So yes, that place is very special to me.

My friends
This one is more personal than the others, but just as important.
Before I moved here, I had never really fit in. For some reason, I had never felt accepted or appreciated.
However, when I moved to Marion, everything changed.
Everyone was so nice.

Now, people that went to MHS with me are probably rolling their eyes right now because they are thinking of someone in our class that wasn't nice to them/ that they didn't like. When you're all put into one high school, you're going to have that. Everyone one has different opinions and some of those people think their opinion is always right -- and by god, if you have a different opinion, you might as well be the devil in that persons eyes.

HOWEVER, you'd be surprised at how many open minded people there are. And how people stick up for one another when it comes down to it.
{And lord help if someone outside of MHS talks shit about our school. We go there - we can complain about it - and we do... a lot. But if you don't go there and you say something bad about it (especially the football team)... Jesus help you).

Almost every year, I had a different group of friends that I hung out with. With that being said, I still consider the people that I was really good friends with my 10th grade year as friends. All the friends that I made over the 3 years are still very dear to my heart and I will never forget any of them. They taught me that it was okay to be myself and people will accepted you anyway.

--

What I've learned is that if you don't get involved in a few things in your community, then yea; there is nothing to do. So you can sit there and keep complaining, or you can get off your ass and make the best of what's around you. Is this the most exciting place to live? Of course not. We live in a small town, guys. But if you actually look at what there is around you to do, there are quite a few things, there are a ton of places under an hour away that you can easily get to.

As I get ready for college this week, I'll have these things in mind.
I don't even hate to admit it -- I'm going to miss this place.*** Even though I'm only going an hour away, I'm still going to miss not being here with my friends and family. These three years {for the most part} have been awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So with that, I bid Marion farewell.

It's been real. It's been fun. It's been real fun.

*I won't make this a long rant, but just know that that will be a blog post at a later date.
**I say "openly" because people judge all the time. They do it without meaning too. I do it, and you're a liar if you say you don't. However, at FBCM I personally have never witnessed anyone whispering about a new comer or about giving them dirty looks.
***Understand me now -- I am not, by any means, saying I will miss the high school. Cause I won't. I'm a much happier/nicer person now that I'm out. I'm just saying that I will miss Marion the place and the people who inhabit it.