I'd like to say I'm as wise as the Future Nicole, but I can't take credit for all of the life lessons she wrote about. Most of them came from Aunt Lu. She says these wise things to me all the time and I usually roll my eyes at her, only to find out later that she was right all along. She just has this light around her. So much positive energy and love radiates from her. I hope to be like her someday. I want to be able to see the good in people and show them so much kindness.

Josh, too, taught me some of the lessons. The one about things happening in their own time. Those were his words exactly. At the dance last week I was telling him that I wanted to set Alex and Alicia up and he told me I should let things unfold naturally. I wasn't hearing him. I kept saying that if someone had given us a push we would have been together sooner. He disagreed and said that things happened the way they were supposed to and if they had happened too soon it might not have worked out.

The other thing he taught me was that I don't have to prove myself. Shortly after we became friends we had a conversation and I told him how hard it was starting over and that I had to prove myself. He asked what things were like in Florida, and I told him all about my friends and how I felt like I was a success there. I'll never forget it. He said, "Then you've already proven yourself to be a success. All you have to do is recreate it." It just made so much sense to me and took a lot of the pressure off.

The one about being where you are because of the choices you made came from Dr. Phil. I read a lot of self-help books when I first moved here. I guess I needed a lot of help. That one always stuck with me.

The rest are things I've learned from Aunt Lu. She always says that if it doesn't make sense to just hold on to it because some day it will. She says that the student has to be ready to learn the lesson.