Dear elder.

Meet my best friend and the boy I've been dating, give or take, for the past 6 months: Tyler.

He is leaving tomorrow for two years on an LDS mission to serve the people of Ireland and Scotland. I feel it's only right to relive a few of the memories.

• Labor Day weekend when a group of us headed down to St. George, stayed in Melissa's grandparents' house, and had all kinds of adventures that included caving, getting free Iceberg shakes, Insidious, the very first Game of Things, and hiking in Zions. I think, looking back, this was one of the best weekends of the whole year.

• Bonfires, hay rides, and playing "Never Have I" or whatever that game is called. 
• Modern Family and Game of Things on Sunday nights.
• I think what really solidified our friendship was when Tyler asked me to draw a beard on his face with eyeliner for Halloween. All I can say is, he came to the right place.

• Basketball games, Virgin Diaries, and bowling.
• The Messiah, which I doubt he will ever go to again, but I liked it!
• Temple Square during the first few days of winter break.
• When I got my wisdom teeth out and Ty was the only person that wanted to come over and watch movies with me. We watched Scott Pilgrim and skyped Marissa and I remember it being so fun... but that was probably just the drugs. I doubt he will ever do that again either.
• New Year's Eve. Even though Tyler got lost for like three hours, so I don't know if you can really count that as a memory but we do have a picture!

• Gymnastics meets, especially the time we thought there was one but there totally wasn't.
• Learning blackjack and then playing it all the time like the world was ending.
• All of our many, many movie nights: Fired Up, Sydnie White, Facing the Giants, Paranormal marathon, etc.
• Both being there when Marissa faceplanted into the wall at church.
• Going shooting for my first time ever!

• This video.
• Our first date (finally!) along with Mike and Dylan. Me out-eating everyone, winning Cranium, and watching In Time.
• Making the sushi bet during the Superbowl. Me winning it. Going to Ninja.
• The prank war. (It's still not over. A two year intermission won't stop me.)
• My favorite Valentine's Day ever. Double date to Texas Roadhouse with Daniel and Sarah, winning mini golf (we win everything), jumping in a freezing cold pool, Iceberg shakes, and watching Star Trek. Nothing can beat that. (Also, no, the cactus is not a hat.)

• So much Call of Duty.
• Geocaching.
• Institute.
• My birthday when we all went to St. George and partied.

• All the nights we spent watching Lost. Unfortunately we didn't get very far so now I have to wait two whole years to finish it! The suspense is killing me already!
• Hunger Games midnight showing.
• Skiing/snowboarding at Brian Head. Still haven't gotten over the windburn (whatever that is). Luckily Tyler didn't show an inch of skin so he was unaffected.

• Lunches and dinners in the dining hall.
• Sundays spent indexing at church... or in the dorms.
• Spring break! There are too many things to even name. Bellagio fountains, Truth or Dare at the hotel, flying water at Hoover Dam, sneaking into the pool, the hour long treading water competition for more sushi (luckily I haven't had to pay up on that), Fremont street, and driving the Mustang down the strip.

• Movie nights and game nights at Mike's house.
• Making dinners and the occasional cookies/brownies.
• Bowling bets.
• The drive to Draper when I got something in my eye, cried the entire way, and made Tyler steer my car for me so we wouldn't die. Then when we finally just switched places it came out.
• The Festival of Colors and the night we watched Indiana Jones. It's way up there on my list of favorite weekends.

• Our mini spring break in St. George with Janessa, Andrea, and Katey. Caving, glowsticking, swimming, and more Iceberg shakes.
• The nights we forgot about watching Lost when we discovered the Walking Dead.
• Free pancakes at Ihop.
• When I was house-sitting for my aunt: playing with their dogs for hours and playing N64 for hours.
• Double date with Marissa and Brayden. Making the best pizza and decorating the best Easter eggs.

• Our soccer team! So many good memories.
• Double date with Marissa and Chase to see Titanic and play games.
• Ty getting his mission call.
• The Mustang car show in St. George.
• Camping. Tyler was sick, it was freezing, our tents got flooded, we didn't sleep, and we went home early, but someday we'll be able to laugh about it. It might still be too soon though.

• Running through the sprinklers and playing that stupid game of sardines that I'm still mad about.
• Skyping when I was in France.
• Drive in movie, days at the park, swimming, volleyball, Will Smith movies, Game of Things,  sparklers, and whatever else we have done in the past month.

He has taught me to take risks and do so many things I thought I would never ever do. It's seen in the way I now get excited whenever I see a Mustang, how I can play hours of video games, and know how to shoot a real gun. Even though I still don't think sunscreen is poisonous for your skin or think buying a bullet bike is a good idea, maybe someday I'll come around. Who knows?

What I do know is that I'm going to miss this boy. The people of Ireland and Scotland are one lucky bunch. See you in two, Ty.