1994

1994 wasa big year. It continued my saga of a sad Senior year. But also had some good positive notes.

Dinece and Carrie began hanging out with a crowd that I would not normally hang out with and they began to distance themselves from me. Once I asked them why they never invited me to go and they said they knew I wouldn't want to. It made me feel good that they thought enough of me not to ask me to compromise my values but it hurt me because we never did anything together anymore.

Even though I didn't have any close friends at school I still enjoyed going most of the time. One group I hung out with had a major fight and broke into two groups and I was kind of in the middle.

I had my fantasy lit. class with Kody. It was the first time I ever admitted I was a writer and my teacher would always ask me about my stories, characters, and stuff like that. It put me on the spot but most people in that class thought it was cool. Kody and I ended up sitting in the back of the room across from each other. He and I became friends by the end of the trimester. Never went out with him though.

The year before I became friends with a boy named Jeremy (my age) and Wes (a year younger.) Our ward was learning to country swing dance and asked the girls to invite guys since we didn't have enough guys to go around in our ward. I invited both of them and Wes ended up dancing with my friend Janet and Jeremy learned it with me. The first dance of 1994 was a girl choice Sweetheart dance. I debated which of the guys to ask since they were both good friends. I decided on Jeremy since he was the one that I learned all the dances with and we were pretty good together.

Something happened though after I asked him. Some girls, I think, started talking to him and convinced him that I had a crush on him and that he would give me the wrong message if he went with me. Instead he never answered me, never told me no, and went with another girl. I found out the Monday after the dance when some of my friends told me they seen him there. He was in my other English class that trimester. A few days after this happened my friend Lee was giving a presentation on dating etiquette in the class. After he was done he asked if there was any questions. My friend Amoretta who sat behind me and next to Jeremy slowly raised her hand. I felt my face turn bright red. She was livid with how Jeremy treated me. Lee called her and she said, "What if a girl asked a guy to a dance and he never answered her and then goes with another girl to the same dance?" The room erupted in angry replies about what a jerk that guy would be and stuff like that. I never turned around but she told me that she sat there glaring at him the whole time and he was just turning red. I just sat there smiling. I had written him a note telling him how it made me feel to have a friend do that to me and he told one of my other friends I was a b**. By the end of our Senior year we had moved past it and became friends again but never as good as we had been. I regretted chosing Jeremy and wished I had asked Wes since I know he wouldn't have done that to me. He went with whatever girl asked him. I never did go to any dances that year.

I started applying for colleges. I applied to BYU, University of Idaho, Ricks, and an all girl school in Missouri. I was accepted to all four and given scholarships to three of them. Ricks was the best scholarship and also my friend Julie was attending that school so I decided to go there. I am so glad I did.

I graduated from High School on May 26, 1994 with High Honors. My whole family was home for it. My brother surprised us about a week before my graduation coming home on leave from the Army. That meant a lot to me to have him there. His friend Justin liked me and I liked him. We went out a couple of times before graduation and then he came to my graduation and gave me a watch.

I attended the alcohol-free all night party sponsored by the booster club out at the fair grounds. I lost one of my earrings my grandmother gave me for my 16th birthday while I was there. I forgot I had left them in after my graduation and took them off later that night and put them in my parents car but it was missing later when I went to get them. I was very sad about that. I also hit my parents jeep with their station wagon while I was trying to leave for the party. I was busy trying to avoid my sister's, aunt's, and brother's cars parked behind me and didn't realize I turned right into the jeep. I caused a huge dent in the back passenger door. I bawled and bawled. My dad was not mad, which was a shocker.

The day after staying up all night I went back to Utah with my aunt and grandma. I was going to live with her during the summer and try to get a job there in Salt Lake. My grandma had just moved from Tooele to a condo in Salt Lake.

I applied to a bunch of different places and one day we went down the block to the Hardees to get something to eat. We saw they were hiring and my grandma told me to apply. I left that day with a job. That's where I met my first real boy friend, Wayne. We dated off and on for 7 years. He was 18 months younger than me.

The first part of July I received a phone call from my dad. He told me I needed to sit down. Then he proceeded to tell me that my best friend Dinece had drowned and she was on life support in the hospital. She was swimming in a canal with her younger step-sister and must have hit her head diving in or something. Her sister ran to the nearest house and got the farmer that lived there. He pulled Dinece out while someone called 911. My father was the first officer on the scene. I had to go to work right after learning that and when I got to work I must have been really pale or something because my boss asked me what was wrong. I told him that my friend had just drowned. He sent me home. Five days later her parents made the tough decision to take her off the life support and she passed from this world. Wayne drove me home to Rupert for the funeral. The night of the viewing (for family and friends) my mom took my sister and I (and the rest of the family) to it. At first I couldn't look at Dinece but then when I did I lost it and cried and cried. My mom later told me she wanted to take us early because she knew at least one of us would have a really hard time with it. The funeral was packed and so was the graveyard service. Carrie and I reunited after that and we have been in touch off and on through the years.

I started Ricks that fall. That first semester was a real adjustment for me. I loved Ricks but I was still very shy. My roommates didn't like me at first. I later learned one told one of her friends (who later became friends with me) that she should stay away from me because I was a nerd. I had one roommate I became friends with. Unfortunately she had some issues in her life that she needed to work out and left after the first semester. About a month into the semester my sister called me and told me to tell my roommates something not very nice. I didn't know one of my roommates had answered the other phone and heard that comment. She hung up but then heard my side of the conversation. We started to talk about my sister's roommate that lived with her and her husband but from my side of the conversation it sounded differently. I went home that weekend and asked my dad to give me a blessing.

When I got back that Sunday night my roommates confronted me. I didn't know what they were talking about. Soon they got frustrated and just said it was pointless to talk about it if I wouldn't admit it. Later I figured out what they must have heard and went to each and told them what actually had happened. I don't think they really believed me at the time.

I had a really easy accounting class I was going to drop but there was a really cute RM that would ask me questions and he and I became friends. Sam was his name. Wayne and I had agreed to date other people since we were so far away from each other although around Christmas time we officially broke up. My roommates wanted to set me up with a guy I really couldn't stand for a girl choice dance but my roommate I did get along with helped me ask Sam and he said yes. My roommates were all shocked when they saw how cute he was. Maybe that is when their opinion of me began to change. I don't know. Sam and I hung out a few more times that semester and then also during the next semester on occassion.

My one roommate Marianne also started to date a guy name Jeff and he liked me. I think he influenced her changing her mind about me and during Christmas break she called and asked me if I wanted to share a bedroom with her. Her roommate and mine had moved out at the end of the semester and we were getting two new roommates. I agreed. Best final decision I made of 94.