Love Month starts this week. When I think of February, I think about love, hearts, the colors red and pink, and flowers. It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year. I feel like I was just throwing our jack-o-lanterns out yesterday and saying goodbye to Halloween. Time, where do you go? Wasn’t it just last month when I was becoming a teenager and started getting really boy-crazy??

At 13, in 8th grade, I had my first real boyfriend. I still remember that feeling of having someone else truly like me back. He was a good guy, and we rode dirt bikes/four-wheelers together. His dad was a biker like my dad, and my brother just loved him. I thought maybe, just maybe, he could be the one. About eight or so months later, it just wasn’t working out, and I moved on.

He was my first real boyfriend that my parents actually let me hang out with, and he came along to our youth group with me. My brother held a grudge for the longest time that I broke up with him.

He rode around with my nine-year-old little brother at that time, and to that nine-year-old, this boy walked on water with his super cool four-wheeler. It took a long time for my brother Luke to let this go. Haha. It’s still a standing joke.

That following summer, I was getting ready to go off to high school. I knew there had to be some foxy boys at that huge school. But first, that June, I went to Bible camp.

Oh man, the eye candy there for teenage girls was top-notch. I knew I was there for the Lord, but the Lord put these boys on the earth so teenage girls could gawk. Come on, I knew he wouldn’t mind. Jesus wanted me to find another Jesus lovin’ man, and where is a better place to find that than at bible camp!?

There was one boy in particular I could not take my eyes off. He was the skater punk type. I seemed to be attracted to the bad boys. He would steal my huge Pooh bear I took with me to camp and definitely flirted with me the whole week. I liked him so much! After camp was over, we started dating.

My cousin was dating his older brother, and she had her driver’s license. (I still have notes from my cousin and I at camp talking to each other about these two brothers.) So, for the next few months, I was able to go see him. My parents let me because my cousin, who was older than me, was with me. One thing I’ll never forget is when he went on a cruise and came back with all this stuff for me. It was so sweet!

I started high school in September, but I continued my relationship with this boy.

Another thing I won’t forget is that my dad DID NOT approve of this boy. Not one bit. He had good reasons, and the reason was very accurate and still up to date. I think I just started to see what my dad was saying and broke up with him. Plus, his going to another school wasn’t easy either.

It’s OK; I had a whole new school filled with lots of fresh meat. Ba-haha! I was 14 and completely boy-crazy. I started in band and had a serious crush on a drummer in this class. Biker, skater, and now a drummer — do you see a pattern here?? Oh my gosh, I had the biggest crush on this kid.

In the meantime, I was in this math class where another boy would not stop harassing me. He really liked me, and I wanted nothing to do with him. Eww — as if, buddy. It got so bad that the teacher ended up moving me to another math class.

At this point, it was my third time switching math classes because when I first started high school, they put me in a class that was way above my brain comprehension. Like future presidents of the United States were in this class. The boys were nerds/pretty boys, and the girls were completely stuck up. I wanted out.

Now, the second class didn’t work out either, but then I walked into Mrs. Bucks’ class and knew “this was the class.”

Ohh the boys in this class. Phew! So many cute ones! I dated one for a few weeks. Nothing serious. Then, he moved to a different state. I liked another one, but he had a girlfriend. But there were others in that class who liked me, but I didn’t like them back.

Then there was this other guy who sat at the opposite end of the room than me. Very different from the rest. He was cute but super quiet. This was the guy who, during my very first day in Mrs. Buck’s class, told me my bag was leaking. (That was so embarrassing.) This guy shared his cheese Ritz crackers with me once Mrs. Buck changed seats around after Christmas break. She sat me right next to this guy named Chris McElroy. We became friends, and I constantly talked to him about this boy I was crazy about in the band. He always told me to just talk to him, but I never had the guts to do it, which is pretty crazy for me. (Me, shy!? ) I just kept yapping in math class to Chris about this boy until something changed one day.

*lifting eyebrows up and down with a very big smile*

TO BE CONTINUED……

Fall In Love with these Protein Balls

Ingredients:
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder

Directions:
Mix all together till blended. Scoop out with a cookie scoop. Chill and enjoy.