Things Change As Seasons Change

I've never loved fall. I'm such a summer girl. Shorts, swim suits, tan skin, tank tops, light hair, gold eyes, no make up. Fall always kinda depresses me. School starts and my skin goes light again, I have to wake up early, and it gets so cold. So basically, I've never been a fan of autumn. But tonight was beautiful. I'm growing fond of driving around, cloudy skies, gorgeous sunsets surrounded by orange trees, and even some rain. I feel like every season brings back different memories.


Every summer in my childhood was some sort of adventure. I remember sitting on my swing set with Autumn Ivie in our swimsuits after running through sprinklers. We ate onion rings and Kool-Aid. Sometimes we would take my boombox outside on my driveway and do dances on my lawn for Brandon across the street. He was probably in high school and we were like 6. Haha that's so funny now that I think of it. I can still see us jammin' out to some real nice Aaron Carter or something. We were precious. The best summer memories were at the Pleasant Grove pool with my cousins, Chloe and Zoe. We were so funny. We would splash people and then jump under the water like they couldn't see us. After pool adventures, we would go to their house and play in the bath tub. We would pretend that we were at a hotel in a hot tub and put tons of bubbles in the tub. My aunt always had lilac bubble bath. I had really fun summers with those girls. I miss seeing them all. And I miss summer days at McDonald's with my aunt.


Fall was always the Halloween Parade in my neighborhood. I tried to win an award every year but someone always beat me. Chantel Miner always won the award for 'cutest costume', but she was a cat every year so that sort of pissed me off. No variety, no award, right?. Well I was always a rockstar or princess or something totally unoriginal. No wonder I didn't get any awards. I remember Autumn was a leaf one year, cause her name is Autumn. All the adults got the joke but I was just so lost. Of course, I pretended to understand the joke. The leaves were beautiful in Alpine around fall time. My favorite one was the one across the street in the Huggard's backyard. I would go take pictures of it, cause I thought I was some big shot photographer with my fake cell phone that took pictures. Get on my level, right? No. So lame Aly. I was always so bummed about fall though, cause that meant that it got dark quicker and it wasn't warm enough to meet Autumn at the park every night before and after dinner. Fall also meant basketball season starting, which meant no more daddy. No more playing baseball in the front yard, no more throwing the football at the park, no more watching ESPN with him late at night.


Winter. Winter in Alpine. So much snow is up there, it's ridiculous. It's beautiful at first, but then after the first week it turns into gross, brown slush that's not even fun to play in. Sledding is fabulous up there though. Sledding at Grandma Smith's was really fun. It was a really long, steep hill starting at the top of her driveway and going through to her backyard and then down to the bottom of their enormous lot. Halfway down, there was a huge rock wall. The kids didn't usually go down the hill by themselves because you had to steer away from the wall, or you'd be stone faced, quite self explanatory. The first time I went down by myself was a disaster. Let's be real, anything involving a steep hill, a rock wall, and needing common sense is NOT an activity for me. I started at the very top (which was also risky, cause it got icy up there) and started down the hill. It was fun, until the wall. That's the end of that story. Christmas day was always, well, like Christmas day. Grandma and Grandpa came to see our presents. I always wore my new cozy pajamas and we make yummy breakfast. Cinnamon sugar comes to mind. Then later, we'd all go to Grandma's and brag about the presents we got.


Spring always felt like a miracle, but it also felt like it took forever to come. The snow doesn't melt in the mountains until the middle of summer. But when spring FINALLY hits, the flowers in front of our cute little house would start coming up and my mom would get so excited. The whole city of Alpine smelled like smoke. Not like nasty smoker smoke, yummy smoke. Like bonfires and new beginnings. My little brother and I would go shoot hoops at the park across the street, and I'd go hit the volleyball around with my mom. It was finally warm enough to roll the windows down in the car, which I know my mommy hated (sorry girl).


So long story short, seasons change. It seems like just when you're getting to love a season, it changes. Kinda like life I guess. You get comfortable and then some sort of change hits. I've learned that this year. But sometimes the change is a good thing. In fact, the change is ALWAYS a good thing. At first it doesn't feel like it. It just feels like someone's messing with your happiness. Like your plans are being wrecked all together. But in the long run, that change really saves you. It brings you new memories. Not better memories, not worse ones. But new memories. Memories you'll never forget. But you have to know that one day those new memories won't be new anymore. They'll fade and new ones will come. But you'll always have the old ones to look back on. To me, that's the beauty of life. Some days are so boring, some days are so eventful. But it changes. And either way, you make memories. Only if you have the right attitude.

So buck up, kid... and make this life worth every single change.