Leaving you is leaving my heart

This was it guys. My last Strawberry Days where I am definitely going to be a Pleasant Grove resident. Strawberry Days literally is my favorite week of the year. It was like everyone in my whole city was just celebrating. For once, I don't know how well I can actually convey my feelings. Just know my biggest fear for this post is that I start crying while writing it. That's how much Strawberry Days means to me.

Believe it or not, Missouri does not celebrate Strawberry Days. Neither do Wyoming, Nebraska or Ohio. So why am I here? Well, I wanted to go to my niece's baptism and my other niece's baby blessing, plus it was the last time I could get a chance to see my brother and his family before my mission. In complete honesty, if you offered me a free trip to anywhere that didn't have these family things mixed with them, and I had to go on the trip during Strawberry Days, the answer would be no.

Yesterday was Huck Finn Day. It's such a stupid thing for me to be sad because I missed, but I am. Helping with Strawberry Days wasn't always super fun, but I loved every second of it because I was making the magic happen. Somewhere there was a kid who is celebrating the first Strawberry Days that he will actually have memories of and I am making that experience just amazing. Huck Finn Day was one of the best. Every year I would be up to help with anything except lifting kids on and off horses and every year I would have to do that for at least an hour. I almost got sued because a kid stole a prize and his mom saw me grab his wrist. Little brat. I would have unlimited access to soda, doughnuts and bubble gum, not to mention plenty of time to flirt with the royalty while they painted faces. Huck Finn Day was where I could be in charge for a few minutes, where I could get a taste of what would be coming the next day.

The finale of Strawberry Days has been and always will be the Mammoth Parade (most people don't even realize that is the name of it). I would walk to the high school drag at 7:00 in the morning and then, then I had the power. If you watched the parade the past three years, the second half would have been a total disaster without me. I made sure people went to the right spot, made sure the knew who they were following, and finally I would make sure they followed that person. The amount of responsibility you have is directly correlated with the amount of times someone yells at you for something out of your control. This was the day that happened every five minutes, so basically I was the powerhouse of control. I was even in the Parade once, but I still organized it up until I had to put on the Viking suit and walk the entire parade route in a rubber head and 100 degree weather. Best day ever (NOT sarcastic). The one time I was in the Strawberry Days Parade and I was literally a walking symbol of Pleasant Grove, the high school mascot.

The city of Pleasant Grove is literally the best city in the world. No, I'm not exaggerating. Literally, nowhere else are the people as amazing as where I grew up. It was like everyone in PG was your best friend. It's a place where a kid could work so hard on the grease pole climb and the mayor himself would help him crawl to the top (true story). It's a place where love was passed around cups full of strawberries and cream. It's a place where no matter what happened to make your life worse than anything you've yet come across, you wouldn't have to worry because the people of Pleasant Grove still cared about you.
People say that on their missions, the hardest part is saying goodbye. The hardest part for me will be different. It will be driving from the MTC to the airport. Driving past the exit to the happiest place on earth without getting off. Seeing the G for one last time with getting the chance to consider hiking to it. Not being able to go through the streets I know so well and say hello to the familiar faces. Not being able to go to the high school and say thanks to all my friends and all the teachers who changed my life. The hardest part will be driving by for the last time with nothing but a glance.  I will be leaving my home for two years and the last time I see it it will be from the freeway.

I don't want to end this blog post because when I do, I feel like I'm already saying goodbye to Pleasant Grove. I guess I couldn't help but cry. I love Pleasant Grove. It is, and always will be, my home and the greatest place ever to exist.

Sometimes

You just don't know what to think. You don't know what you want to think. Everything is perfect in a twisted way, but you don't want to fix it.

The best thing to remember is thirty five days. Thirty five days and one hour and nine minutes. And my life is getting so perfect, I just want to be gone. Because no matter what, my life right now is going to end July 23. Everything. Everything will be different. My name won't be W.R. Duclos, it will be Anziano Duclos.

Wyatt will be gone for two years. Not just gone from Utah, but gone from everything. I don't want to be the limited, short sighted Wyatt anymore. This is going to be a change that will make me better, but the thing about change is you can't change halfway. All or nothing. I am going to embrace this growing experience and I am completely ready to do whatever Heavenly Father wants me to do.

I want to grow in the spirit. Nephi didn't question for a moment who was telling him to kill Laban. He knew is was the spirit. If I were him, my first thought would probably be, "Hahaha! Nice try Satan!" Nephi, Alma, Moroni, Abinadi. Those guys are what I need to aspire to be. It's hard. I have a lot that I could embrace instead that would honestly be more rewarding right now, but I don't think I can wait until July 23 to grow up. I need to do it now.

This post could be really vague, it could make a lot of sense. I am tired because I just had a great night that won't happen again until a long time from now. I don't know what to think. But I think the easiest thing is to just be done with everything, because Italy and I have a date set up for a couple years and if you can say one thing about Wyatt, it is that he does not neglect his date. Those Italians need me and I need them. It's weird that I love people I know not at all, but I do. These people are the ones that Heavenly Father sent me to. Ammon and King Lamoni type friendships are overdue for sure.


So say arrivederci to girl crazy, lazy, flirty, weird, loud, random Wyatt Duclos and remember why he is leaving. Because I mean, come on, Anziano Duclos is about a billion times better.

And that is worth it to me.



Oh yeah, "anziano" means "elder" in Italian. Fun fact for you.

I'm so lucky

I met this girl. She is amazing. She is just like me in the right ways. It was a fluke that we met but it was definitely not a coincidence. The only problem is thirty five days. Why? Why do I find a girl who is what I've always wanted during the one time in my life where I am not looking for her? It's just my luck, really. Now, it'd be perfect if she didn't like me. Then yeah, I'd like her but that's no big deal. But nope, she likes me. A lot. To the point that I think she needs therapy because no one in their right mind likes Wyatt Duclos that much. So yeah, here I am, stuck in the most depressing situation of my life: finding a perfect girl when I can't think about her for two years. Just call me Bad Luck Wyatt.



Plus kissing isn't bad. Like, pretty much the opposite. 

Things I want

A turtle, a lion and an elephant.

To go on my mission.

Girls to be unattractive for a couple years (if you don't understand, I don't really want to explain).

I feel like the sooner my mission is, the more girls just love me. I just. I can't type it. So...

VLOG

It's different, vlogging. I think I prefer the written word because I can't just speak gibberish. And apparently "gibberish" is spelled with a "g" not a "j." I don't hardly care. Sorry it's really low quality. Blame the fact that I am not trying to do well. That's why I made a video and didn't type. I am being what we in the business call "lazy."

Potential to be a hero

I seem to forget.
I forget, in moments when I want something so trivial.
I forget that I was made for something better.
I have potential to be the best I can be and what I desire in those small moments are not what I need to become better.
They will do nothing but hold me back.
I am made for better things.

This world will never be enough for a son of my Father.



But I can be more than enough for it.

This is Clark Kent

I have been aware of the releasing of Man of Steel for a very long time. So long, in fact, that once people starting asking, "Did you know they are making a new Superman movie?" I was amazed that it was news to them. I cannot wait much longer. I get to see it at 7:00 PM tonight then again at midnight. Sorry if you had plans of capturing my attention for the next ten hours, but I think you will most likely fail. Today is a day I have been waiting for. Imagine how excited I am to witness a film produced by my favorite active director, Christopher Nolan, about my favorite superhero of all time, Superman. Not only that, but Hans Zimmer is doing the soundtrack? What. I don't think I have ever been this excited for a movie. Ever. 

They will look to you as a beacon of hope. What will you give them?

The Future

I blog a ton these days. Wow.

I don't know what I will be doing in the future. I probably will go to the University of Utah, but I don't know what I am going to study. I don't know what career I will pursue. I don't even know when I want to get married.
So to know that starting July 24, 2013, Heavenly Father will be telling me exactly where He wants me to be and do what He wants me to do really brings comfort. There are forty three days and eleven hours left until I enter the MTC. I don't plan on changing much. I think the biggest change is I will have seen Man of Steel. Granted, that is huge for me, but really that's about it. My life for forty three days is completely planned out.
I will have to say goodbye to Maren earlier than the rest of you guys. She is going on vacation to Italy (go figure). I have been really scared to say goodbye. I crushed hard on her, guys, let's be real. It's not completely over. So when I thought of saying goodbye, that was scary because what if she is married? What if I get back and there is no way she can be in my life anymore because people don't have crushes on their married friends? I was scared because if I had to say goodbye to Maren, it could be forever, basically. When I say goodbye, our friendship would have to end.
But tonight Heavenly Father blessed me with the gift of tongues. Not in the traditional sense of the term, but more the ability to say something I didn't realize I felt. Maren was about to get into her car and I confessed my love for our friendship and I told her that more than anything I am glad we weren't more than just that: friends. Her liking me back could've made life better, but I think chances are it would've been worse. With every inspired word I spoke I felt more and more relieved. Suddenly I realized she was my friend, no matter the past. I cannot express how truly happy that made me feel. Maren is one of my closest friends and the thought of losing that relationship scared me more than an army of Italian Catholic Priests. She never became the girl who finally loved me back. It wasn't a cheesy romantic comedy ending. No romance. Way too much comedy. A little drama. But in the end, she and I became close friends. She really has helped me become a better person in ways I don't think any one else could have because I have never thought of anyone else quite like I thought of Maren.

Life is changing. It's hard and sometimes it seems to be getting worse. But it will always be getting better if you are following the Lord.

Side note: Last night I basically slammed my face into my night stand because I thought I was two feet in front of it. Nope. That's what I get for thinking I can do things in the dark. It hurt a lot.