Thanks for the memories.

Tim and I were getting in the car to go to Napoli's for lunch with some friends before we leave. It was one of those perfect timing moments. The song "Thnks fr th Mmrs" (Thanks for the memories - for all you people who use vowels out there) was on the radio.

To me, this pretty much blew my mind. For one, this song hasn't been popular since my freshman year of college. At the time I first heard it, it meant something so much different than it does now. Granted, the meaning of the song is something completely different from what I was interpreting in this moment. The lyrics "one night and one more time, thanks for the memories even though they weren't so great" couldn't have been any more perfect for us on our last night here in Rolla.

I was a big fall out boy fan back in the day, but now they bring back their songs just make me remember a very complicated time of my life. But who hasn't been 18 and a little disillusioned? This moment really made me realize that as much as things change, you can always remember where you've been.

So in honor of my last few hours in rolla, I want to take the time to remember a few memories from my time here.

- First and foremost, meeting Tim. When I first met him in class, he was a long haired smelly kid fresh out of football practice. My mind changed when he got a haircut and a shower and he brought me cheesecake after I busted my face and got a concussion at cheerleading practice. The next day he left me captain and a dr. pepper in his locker when we went to decorate for the game. He picked me up outside the locker rooms and we went on our first date to the park, then to Wendy's, and then back to his trailer. We watched grandma's boy but talked through the whole thing. He took me back to my car when I asked him to. He thought he blew it, but he totally didn't. I knew he was the one for me when I got back to my apartment. In some crazy aligning of the planets, three guys I had been head over heels for at some point or another in the past year or so were hanging around the hot tub of my apartment complex. None of them were even somewhat appealing to me anymore. Tim and I have been inseperable ever since.

- hanging out with sass, standing up guy, beans, fink, and even dosh at the shack. Mostly drinking and playing guitar hero and coming up with some ridiculous inside jokes about furry mouse tits and brownies. They always included me even though I was a leeching teenager. I always had fun and I am very happy to have met some actual nice guys that weren't out to always get me into trouble. I also owe them a decent amount of alcohol.

- this brings me to my girlfriends. the ridiculous things that we got into. We never got into trouble, but we were definitely always asking for it. Drinking in barns, rooftops, and various pools. Float trips, halloween parties, and beer pong marathons at quigleys or sigma chi. We stayed up all night and talked philosophy, then went sex toy shopping. They put up with my Ryan Adams obsession and the string of sketchy guys I always seemed to scrounge up. Things change and we drift apart, but sometimes friendships are explosive like that. No one can live like we did forever, but I'm glad we had the time that we did.

- cheerleading. we had a love and hate relationship. Deciding to quit was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but school had to come first. part of me wishes I could have done that last year, but it wouldn't have been worth my sanity, and I ended with very pleasant memories. Remembering nailing that final routine and that last game of the tournament where there were only about 6 of us, and we lost, but we had so much fun. I wish it could have been like that all the time. I wish there had never been any of the bruises, tears, or blood. I wish it could have always felt like it did at the end. But for someone who never expected to cheer again, I'm glad I had for the experience. Because looking back, all the bad times eventually led up to something pleasant to remember.

 So as we get ready to hit the road tomorrow, I believe FOB said it best.
"say a prayer, but let the good times roll."

California, here we come.