One Cycle Complete

This time a year ago, I was in a car driving away from Delaware for the last time. I haven't seen it in person since then.

Sort of crazy, huh?

It's been a year now. I haven't seen the place in which I pretty much grew up for a year today.
Sorry, just trying to convince myself it's actually true.

I haven't posted here in a while (obviously) but I figured that if this anniversary didn't deserve an update, nothing did.

Since I moved, here are some of the things I've done or that have happened:

Driving here, my family visited many historical sites important to our church such as Nauvoo, Illinois; Carthage Jail, also in Illinois; and Kirtland, Ohio. Before we spent our first night here, we'd seen license plates for 47 out of 50 states (we were only missing Hawaii, Massachusetts and South Carolina.) At one point on the trip we found the entire alphabet in one go while sitting at one long stoplight.

I met a great deal of family I'd never seen before, second cousins and cousins once removed and such, and saw many more after a long time. (In some cases, it was the first time in five years.) I attended my own grandfather's wedding reception and the funeral of my aunt. For the first time, I was around for the birth of a cousin (all of my other cousins I've met probably a year after they were born at least.) And then I said goodbye to my grandfather when he moved to Taiwan as a missionary for our church.

I started at a new school. I had my Eagle Scout Court of Honor, met a bunch of cool people who are now my friends, got my first smartphone, and made it into the Utah All-State Band. I have a full driver's license.

I visited Arches, Goblin Valley, Capitol Reef, and Zion (national and state parks.) I saw a total solar eclipse in Idaho.

I took the PSAT, ACT and SAT. I started a discussion club at my school. I went to prom. I became the section leader of the trombones in band, which means I'm in charge of running sectionals and making sure they know their music and stuff.

Over the summer, I worked at a cub scout day camp, got a significant tan, made a lot of friends and earned some money. That was a really great experience. I also hiked more than 20 miles in pioneer clothes pulling a handcart over three days in the summer. It was a church youth activity known as trek, and the idea was to walk in the footsteps of pioneers, especially pioneer ancestors if you had them. (I have an ancestor who crossed the plains something like 5 times!)

And then there's the less definable, but perhaps more important, personal growth that's gone on over the past year. I change every year, of course. Everyone does. But it's been especially noticeable to me in the past year - the way my attitudes and tendencies have changed. I'm in a new place, and in some ways I redefined myself. I mean, my math class still knows me as the guy who makes puns, and I still have a tendency to be fascinated by nerdy stuff nobody else cares about. But I've also learned things about myself and developed important skills. I've even gotten used to the mountains.

And of course, all of the things that happen every year happened: I had a birthday, and survived another year of school. We celebrated a (very white) Christmas and Easter and mother's day and veteran's day and all the other anniversaries and dates that occur every year. This Sunday will bring it all full circle - it's the anniversary of our first full day here in Utah. Hence the title of the post.

One year gone. I hope it's been good for all of you!

I'm Still Alive

...But no post today. If nobody's reading them, potentially no posts for a while. Sorry I haven't written these past few weeks.

This blog's increase in your knowledge for today is that before last Thursday the 5th, my Utah school district hadn't delayed or cancelled school for years. Around six of them. But people aren't a ton better at driving in snowy conditions here, as far as I can tell, so I don't know if that's still a plausible reason for the difference in policy.