I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

You know when you smell a certain scent and it reminds you of something? Or when you hear a song and you immediately think of another time when you heard it? I don't know what this is called or if it even has an official name(I know the scent thing was brought up in an Alias episode though), but it happens to me all the time. I love it. Well, most of the time. I love it when it reminds me of something good. Not so much when it reminds me of a bad thing that happened or of someone I really don't like. For example, I love the lotion from Victoria's Secret called Sweet Temptation because it takes me right back to a trip I took to Washington D.C. when I was a sophmore in high school. It was one of the best trips I've ever been on. I also happen to enjoy the faint smell of smoke because it makes me think of all the great times I've had on trips to Vegas or even Disneyland. I don't really know why it reminds me of Disneyland because I'm pretty sure smoking is not allowed inside the park but I know there is a place right by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where people are allowed to smoke. Maybe I think of walking by this place. I haven't really been able to decipher yet how I feel about Aqua Di Gio cologne because on the one hand, I do think it's one of the best smelling men's cologne. But on the other hand, it reminds me of an ex-boyfriend who used it. Needless to say things with him didn't end too well so it's not such a good reminder. There is also this other smell that I find quite hard to describe. The only thing that comes to my mind to describe it is that it's a mixture of urine, b.o., alcohol, vomit, garbage, cigar smoke, and bad cologne. It is such a terrible smell. It's not so much that this smell reminds me of a bad time or thing, but it reminds me of every other time I've smelled that terrible smell. It is precisely what Duval Street in Key West smelled like every day. Luckily, I haven't smelled it since coming back to Utah.

I find that music brings up more good memories for me than bad ones. I love listening to music and so I love associating it with great times that I've had. For some reason, when I listen to Norah Jones, it makes me want to take a trip to NYC. Certain Coldplay songs make me think of Vegas. "How to Save a Life" by The Fray makes me think of when I took a random trip to Chicago. "Chasing Cars" makes me think of the times when Grey's Anatomy was at it's best. There are multiple songs that make me think of So You Think You Can Dance and how much time I've spent watching that show(and how it was so worth it because it's FANTASTIC!).

The reason I bring all this up is because this morning I had my Ipod on shuffle as I drove to work. Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" came on and rather than quickly changing it, like I usually do, I decided to listen to it. All these memories of when I was 12 and 13 flowed into my mind. I then thought of how different my life is now than it was then. Not that it shouldn't be, that was 9 years ago, but I thought of how life was so easy back then. I breezed by all my school work. I had a ton of friends. Heck, even a boy liked me! I didn't have to worry about money or getting a new job. I didn't think about my weight every single day. I didn't have acne, I dont' even have acne now, but I recently had a little break out and I got semi-depressed about that this morning. I was oblivious to anything wrong that was going on in the world. Even more, I was oblivious to any problems that were going on in my family. Something that has changed and will forever been different. My biggest worries back then were about how I was going to convert Justin Timberlake to the church in time for him to be able to go on a mission so that when he got back, we could get married in the temple. Now I'm more worried about the fact that I might not get married at all. How different life was for me back then. When did I grow up and have all these responsibilities and worries thrust upon me? But the truth is, I know I brought them all upon myself. And that, my friends, is what sucks the most about it all. I know I've got to make a thousand changes in my life if I want to be completely happy. And the first one is instead of saying I need to change, I need to do something about it, starting yesterday.