I wake up bright and early, 7 o’clock on the dot. But instead of getting ready for a day full of skiing, one million thoughts race through my head and remind me of the first day of 5th grade. A memory crosses my brain.

“I don’t want to go Mom!” My 9 year old self exclaims.

I hear the echo of my beating heart, its thumps almost as loud as a dinosaur’s stomps. My blood begins to boil and heat my whole body leading to palms filled with sweat. My stomach is in so many knots I don't eat. I wonder if I will make any friends, who I will sit with at lunch? Are they gonna be nice? My thoughts are racing through my brain at 1,000 miles an hour. This isn’t like a normal first day of school, this is the first day of school at a new school.

I arrive at my new school, Terrace Park Elementary, I walk timidly and don’t know where to go. I wander the loud, crowded hallways hoping no one will notice the new girl. After what feels like forever I find my classroom, again thoughts swarm my brain. Did I wear the right clothes? Where do I sit? Has anyone noticed me yet? I take a seat and am so nervous I feel nauseous. My stomach is a black hole swallowing everything in it. I can't stop thinking about lunch. Will someone invite me over? I dread the bell ringing. Is the teacher is going to introduce me to the whole class, I really hope he doesn’t. I don’t want the attention from anyone.

“Lyla! Emme’s mom is going to be here in 30 minutes, get up.” My mom shouts from the kitchen. I snap back into reality.

Today is going to be the best, I think but that memory is still lingering in my mind. I get out of my cuddly, soft bed and rush around to find my snow gear. The sun is just barely coming up, peaking over the horizon, but I am wide awake and ready for a day of skiing. I double check all my gear and quickly eat breakfast. A ripe banana, tart and sour. Perfect! 

“Emme’s here!” My mom shouts from the dining room.

I sprint out the door trying not to drop anything, everything is wobbling around in my arms. I plop everything into the trunk, it’s already overflowing with the other girls' stuff.  The car is so full I have to squeeze into a chair with Katie. The drive up to Perfect North is 45 minutes without traffic. The whole way we are jamming out to songs, all of us hitting off key notes. Once we arrive, it takes us about an hour just to get on the slopes. I put on my chocolate colored pants, clunky boots, and a chunky jacket. We rush to figure out who will ride with who, I get on with Ella and Lily. They are talking about soccer and I zone out looking at how bare the mountains (hills) are. They have enough fake snow to be able to ski but everywhere but the slopes are dead grass which makes me sad that I am not skiing in Utah’s fluffy powdery snow. That gets me thinking of how I found out I was moving. Another memory flashes my brain.

“Kids come sit down, we have to tell you something,” my parents said firmly from the couch. 

My 9 year old self takes a seat along with my younger siblings.

“Do you kids know where me and your mom were over our trip?” My dad says.

“No!” All of us clueless kids shout.

“Well,” they hesitate to say, “We were in Cincinnati because Dad got a job offer and we really think it would be a great new chapter for us, we are moving to Cincinnati in 4 months.” My mom says very calmly.

How is she so calm, this is going to ruin my life. I will have to leave all my friends, there is no family in Cincinnati, no more Cafe Rio. I burst into tears, the saltiness of them pooling in my mouth. My parents try to reassure me that it will be amazing but to me it just seems like they want to make me angry. Every night until the move I dread having to say my goodbyes. Telling everyone just makes me more upset, seeing their face turn sad just like mine makes me want to cry. I don’t want to move, I already have great friends and why would I need more, what if I don’t even make friends. 

“Lyla, can we lift the bar?” Ella says to me.

“Yeah,” I say, bouncing back to real life.

As I ski down I think about how lucky I am that I moved here. It was so rough when I first moved here. When I found out, I didn't think of how good it would be, I just thought of how bad it would be, I thought of the cons. But even the cons such as no friends turned out to not be true because now I am skiing with all my friends and having a great time.

We all race down to the bottom and spend the rest of the day on the mountain. We stop for lunch and get Dippin Dots, we shove them in our pockets. We are like cheetahs getting ready, we don't want our Dippin Dots to melt. We ski down about half way before we merge to a hangout on the mountain. We all sit on logs and talk forever. When it’s finally time to leave, the car ride home isn’t filled with giggles like before, instead it's filled with silence and peace because all of us are exhausted. As soon as I walk into my home, I immediately thank my mom for moving us here. I feel so grateful that now I have double the relationships. Moving here was a wonderful and extraordinary experience. Now I know that not all moments that seem bad will turn out bad. Be grateful for all the experiences. Moving here was the best thing that happened to me.