Age 19

Well, I finished the year in the dorms. YUCK! I wouldn't do that again but I would still recommend it to anyone starting college. My friend, the one that was Mormon, went on his mission after the end of the first semester. I also became friends with my neighbor in the dorms. She actually moved into a house with me my sophomore year. I never did find a way to be friends with my roommate. And my friend and I decided to rush. I never really thought I would be a sorority girl but I had always belonged to something. Well I always belonged to the swim team or the band and I liked belonging to something. It also seemed like a great way to meet new people, since living in the dorms didn't really work out for me.

So in September Jaime and I went through rush. It is a very interesting experience and I wouldn't really call it fun either. Nerve wrecking is more like it. Well I decided to join Pi Beta Phi. The girls seemed real and down to earth and there weren't any girls from my high school. (My pledge class ended up having 3 of us from my high school, darn it.) Joining a sorority was a great thing for me. I learned how to talk to just about anyone and I met a bunch of great girls. It also kept me busy. I've learned I'm better when I have things to keep me busy. Oh and since Amanda never joined a sorority it was something that I did on my own.

Well, remember how I had planned on dating a bunch of different guys and not date anyone seriously? Well, that worked for the summer. But then I met Paul. Here is the real story of how Paul and I met... Back in the day, when I was 19, AOL Instant Messenger had search options. You could look for people who lived near you, who were the same age, went to the same school, opposite sex, etc. Well randomly one day Paul's roommate IMed me. I started "chatting" with him and then I started chatting with Paul. Well Paul and I have a lot of the same values. We both want kids, our parents are still married, we played sports, we don't swear, blah, blah, blah.... Needless to say we started "chatting" more and more frequently. Did I mention he lived less than a mile away from me? So after a couple of months (I think) we decided to meet each other. Yes, I had a friend. Yes, we went to a safe place. (I had him come to where I was working, Target, so I could check him out first.) He was the person I thought he was from "chatting" through IM. So we decided to start dating. We went on a date or two and then I met this other guy. His name was Kevin, we met at a party and I thought I'd like to get to know him better and he asked me out. I told Paul I'd like to date Kevin and Paul promptly told me NO. I could date that other guy but I couldn't date him too. Well, I never went out with Kevin. Paul seriously ruined my plan.