S'wonderful, S'marvelous

Today I got to see the prophet of the world. Wow. What a statement. I was in the same room as him today. Granted, it was a very large room, but the same room nonetheless. Something that my friend Don said really struck me. He said, "It's crazy to think that we're in the same room as the only man on Earth that speaks with God face to face". I hadn't thought about it like that, but it's true. President Monson's address at the fireside tonight was amazing. He made an impeccable parallel between our lives and the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, semi-ending with the quote, "Jesus Christ is the author of our great expectations". As I sit here eating leftover pasta at midnight, pondering life and all of its many, many aspects, I can't help but think about the many people who have had a great influence on my life.
First off, is my family. There's no debate about it: my family (which includes all of my extended family) is the craziest, most awesome family of all time. There's no arguing that. They're always a riot and are always there no matter what. There's a phrase that I like that says something to the effect of "If you knew my family, you'd understand". It is so true.
Someone I consider to be my greatest mentor is Mr. Price. He was the biggest influence on my in my high school years, mostly because I saw him every day for four years straight. But in those many days in class, on the Pride Pad, on band trips/ All-State trips, Mr. Price instilled in me some of the greatest wisdom about life; more than any other teacher ever could. For those of you that know him, and have had meaningful conversations with him, consider yourself immensely lucky. And for those who don't, by all means, drop whatever you are doing right now, take a trip to Lugoff, South Carolina and meet the man!
And I could never leave out my amazing friends! My friends are the greatest in the entire world. You can argue that, but I will win. Hands down. :) One of my best friends is my cousin (because there's no way either of our mom's could have handled us as sisters). haha. You're great! So many, many, many good/hilarious times! And my insanely awesome first semester freshman ward FHE group: we were definitely destined to all be friends. I'm sure of it. My roomies and the girls next door: what would I do without y'all? We were all meant to know each other. No doubt about it.
And right now, with a new semester and new apartment complex I'm especially grateful for new friends. I have about a gazillion new friends that I've made just in the past week that have all welcomed me with open arms, and I feel like I've known them forever. I can just walk in to their apartments unanounced, plop myself down and do whatever, and nobody thinks twice about it. It's just lovely. ;) Hooray for a new semester. It's going to be amazing.