1) Derek doesn't like being the focus of a giant surprise. which is bummy because i LOVE giving giant surprises.
2) I am the worst liar in the world.
So Wednesday the 30 of July, when this conversation happened at lunch, i wasn't too thrilled with my lack of lying skills:
Me: So, what do you want to do for your birthday? Did you hear about that Remember the Titans thing Friday night?
Derek: Yeah, i was actually planning on that. sounds fun
Me: cool, yeah, it does. we should all meet at Rachel's before hand for like, a snack, or something. ...
Derek: Sure yeah.
...
wait, is this some stupid surprise party? this better not be a big giant thing.
Derek looked accusingly at Rachel and i frantically pantomimed me killing her so she wouldn't say anything.
Me: no! no! no! we'd just eat dinner. you know... and stuff....
(by this point he knows. and he's giving me a face that says, "i'm not an idiot" so i startled rambling and then spilling unvoluntarily. ) Dylan wanted to rent the Cinnamon Tree lobby and have a huge surprise party with the whole ward and all our coworkers, so be GRATEFUL. It's just snacks, and like pizza, maybe. that's all. that's it!
Derek: ...
Me: and it WOULD have been a surprise if you hadn't ruined it, ya jerk! *punches him in the arm*
Derek: okay well, you're the one who spilled the beans, sista.
me: uuuggghhhhgggghhhh
Derek: I'm inviting Dylan.
Me: already done. he was in on it the whole time, duh.
Derek: k, good.
Me: I hate you.
Derek: k, thanks!
Loser.
So
FRIDAY
rolled around.
Rachel, Phillipa, and I met early and got all the food ready.
Dylan was one thousand years late, and princess Derek kept texting me telling me to make some one go pick him up, hahahaha. "make it snappy".
FINALLY, he was allowed to come in, and he feigned surprise while we shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAYYYYY!!!!"
good sport.
since Derek was turnign 24, i decided on a theme suitable for any yound adult.
Pokemon
duh.
We made Pokeball pizzas and a Charizard cake.
neither of which i can take real credit for.
The pizzas were my idea, but once we actually got to Rachel's house i spent waaaay too long on the cake.
same old melissa, "oh my gosh, you guys i have all these time consuming ideas! here are the materials! why don't you carry out my orders while i curl my hair. k thanks, bye."
Phillipa pulled off the pizzas quite nicely.
I originally planned to do a charamander cake, but Dylan suggested that i do Charizard. A) because he's a million times cooler. and B) because then the candle flames could look like they were coming from his mouth AND tail. so i painted a charizard and painstakingly tried to make a frosting version on top of wax paper. blah blah. long story short i gave up, cut out the water-colored one, and threw it on the cake instead. (it looked way cooler in person, haha)
and Rachel did everything else.
so basically, i just showed up and curled my hair. hahahaha.
pizza, cake, ice cream, and a few "what's a favorite memory with Derek?"'s later, we walked to the stadium to watch "Remember the Titans"
stripey stripes.
Tuesday night prior, at the dance, i whistled with my fingers to round up my girls and Dylan was like, "WHOA. show me how."
Friday, as we walked to the stadium, we literally whistled the entire time. haha. but he and Phillipa both learned! we all walked in a single file line, whistling away into the sunset. I think that will stay one of my favorite memories of this summer.
Derek, Dylan, and our friend Matt, were holding each other's heads up. it was pretty cute.
disclaimer: Dylan's not bald. promise. his hair is just real blonde, and real short.
counselor clusters fo lyfe
after the movie we talked and laughed at the boys playing football with Dylan's Shoe, weaving in and out of the crowd, sprinting away from each other like it was a real game. we cheered. and whistled. and i squeezed Phil and Rachel's hands and wished real hard that this night could last a little bit longer, a little bit longer.
big giant impossibly happy smiles
okay, the whistling was really OUT OF CONTROL. hahaha. whenever one of us started it was like a chain reaction, the others joined it LOUD AND CLEAR! until we were all standing in a loose circle, whistlin and spittin and laughin our brains out.
the brigade:
(plus thomas, who randomly hopped in. but that's okay. we love Thomas, too.)
finally, the people in charge had to kick us all out because they needed to lock up, haha.
so we gave Dylan a farewell whistle, which he returned with zeal, and the rest of us walked back to rachel's for a few more chats.
we stumbled into Narnia outside Rachel's house first, though:
Friday was just plain good. the only bittersweet thing was that it was my last one in Provo to hang out!!
SATURDAY:
the buckle of my Dear Fanny Pack shattered.
Rest in Peace, Franny. you were loved.
i should have taken this as an omen. hahahaha.
Then we had Cafe Rio for lunch!
which, hullo, is the best.
i hadn't eaten Cafe Rio since May 2013.
TOO LONG, MY FRIENDS, CAFE RIO IS THE BEST EVER.
excuse my weird face and Derek's closed eyes, and instead, focus on the beautiful food we're shoveling into our mouths.
om nom nom
and after we'd coerced Dylan into joining us, we drove up to Vivian Park, whistling.
beautiful surrounding, GHETTO establishment. haha. we all warily handed over our debit cards and climbed into a rickety re-purposed bus, heading to our destruction.
but not before they forced us to take pictures with the creepy big foot statue. ha.
the lady told us that it would take an hour and forty five minutes at MOST. which was good, because Dylan had to go straight to work afterward.
well that was a lie, haha. it took at LEAST 2 hours, if not 2 and a half.
their website we could rent a big raft, with paddles.
also lies.
we each got an inner tube.
we were so excited. just look at the faith on our faces! this was gonna be good.
before:
#melissalearnhowtoopenyoureyes
WELP, GUYS.
it actually was wonderful for the first hour and a half.
We started along and it was all good fun. we stayed together mostly. laughed and talked and played unintentional bumper cars. we used our arms as oars to avoid the banks and trees. splashed water, told stories. like a summer indie film.
and then, i don't know what happened exactly, but Derek and Dylan were going way faster than us girls. they stopped and stood up in the river and waited for us to catch up, and then we all went again. but again, within minutes, Derek and Dylan were too far ahead to see. Phillipa, Rachel and i stayed together, but we kept being on the opposite side of the river from the currents so we were going at a SNAIL'S pace. Then i swatted a large creepy bug off of phil's forehead, but accidentally hit her sunnies, too. gone forever. we kept getting swept to the banks, under trees, into rocks. Phillipa's tube deflated, so Rachel and i held onto each other's tube and Phillpa held her tube and draped herself across me and Rachel. little children in kayaks kept passing us. i don't know. My hand got stuck under a rock in a rapid, my hair got stuck in a tree branch, and all of our shoes kept falling off. first world problems.
IT
WAS
ROUGH, GUYS.
hahahahahaha.
at one point i literally just got out and walked because it was faster.
all the while, we kept thinking we were almost done, so we were whistling as loud as we could, and calling out Derek and Dylan's names.
FINALLY, we reached the end. Derek and Dylan had been waiting a solid thirty minutes, i'm sure.
we literally crawled out of the river, laughing hysterically because we were exhausted and going literally insane. I was swallowing tears as we walked back to the car. I just wanted Derek to have fun on his birthday. Now i know that he totally DID have fun! the boys river trip was vastly different than ours, haha.
we compared tube burns and scrapes, laughed at our misfortunes, and piled back into the car to speed Dylan to work.
after:
I went to Rachel's house, napped, did laundry, ate, and gabbed until Dylan was off work, and then we all went to Derek's apartment to watch "Noah."
i would definitely recommend it to everyone in the world. you know, so that all our movie scales are starting from the same 'worst' rating.
but at least i got to laugh. that's always good.
we all left smiling. Saturday was great, too. just the fanny pack, the end of the river, and the movie were bummy. BUT WORTH IT. AND those things are what made the good things so sweet.
Sunday:
twas my last, which was sad. but i didn't let myself be sad.
It was the first Sunday of the month, which is the Sunday that we fast two meals to give our prayers extra strength. we also give the money that we would have spent on food for those meals as an offering to the poor. That first Sunday of the month is also a testimony meeting for the first hour of church.
ours was wonderful! i have loved this ward so much.
I assumed that because i was only living there on the weekend between camps, that my complex would merely be a roof over my head.
no, no, no.
It was the perfect ward for me to be in.
happy humble people just living life and loving it. that's what my complex was.
I loved hearing all of their testimonies on my last Sunday. a fond farewell for my full heart.
i loved those people.
Some Sundays after Church Derek and I would play our Harry Potter Trading Card Game. maybe accompanied by Reese's Puffs. good times, even though Derek beats me every time. darn that 'Vermillious' Spell!! gets me every time.
BUT THAT SUNDAY, I WON.
TWICE IN A ROW.
needless to say, a large victory laugh ensued.
and then he beat me again like usual and things went back to normal, but i still DID IT!
that night, i finished my journal.
It was really fitting, considering i was finishing Sports Camps the next week. it also literally jut happened to be exactly six months since i started it. February 3 - August 3. and exactly 300 pages of my writings. (not counting table of contents or the index.). those things working out just so made me smile.
I LOVE JOURNALS.
And i loved THIS journal.
it was so happy.
but finishing a journal is literally the epitome of bittersweet to me. i flip through the pages and smile at my handwriting telling the story of my life. so many changes have come in the last six months! the girl who started this journal was not the same girl who ended it. and that's good, but a little sad at the same time.
but that's life, i guess.
To recap:
I hope Derek had a good birthday weekend. it was fun for me. I miss him already.
the real bittersweet will come on Wednesday, when i close the book on my dream Summer.
for now i'll leave you with something fun.
at the end of every journal, i write my reader a note.
ha.
maybe that's weird.
but if i spent all day reading someone's ranting chicken scratch about their daily life, i'd want a pat on the back. hahaha.
okay, so prolly not, but i like the idea of telling my reader goodbye.
here's some of what i wrote most recently:
"Dear Reader,
How do these endings always sneak up on me so? you know Reader, you're pretty lucky.
this journal was very, very happy. I mean, there were definitely some vulnerable, hard days. After Ryan, before Provo. But they were easily overshadowed by the joy that fills the rest of these pages.
I am fully confident in saying that this summer has been the best decision of my life. and the happiest 7 weeks I've ever experienced. I know a huge reason for that is my striving to be obedient to the commandments of the God that i hold so dearly in my heart. My Heavenly Father.
the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, is what brings this joy of mine, Reader.
You can have it, too!
Melissa Michiale
S 8.3.14"
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