Castles are royalty.

last friday was the most amazing day of my life. I, Miriam Elaina Castle, was Sophomore Homecoming Princess at Timpview High School. coincidence?

I hadn't ever really thought about the possibility of this happening, until....it happened. one of my really good friends, Jackson, had been sophomore royalty the previous year. I had only heard about it, because I was still in Japan at that time. I didn't know how it worked, how you got chosen, if you needed any qualifications, if you needed to go on a date with the person you were royalty with. and most of all, I didn't think it would be me. but a week before homecoming, one of my friends tweeted "Miriam Castle for Homecoming Royalty 2013." so then I kinda got really excited and wondered if enough people would see it and vote for me. after a while, the tweet had been retweeted several times, and some other people were tweeting similar things, just a different boy every time. that day, a lot of people said, "hey I voted you for Sophomore Homecoming Royalty, I hope you win!" I was really happy, but I was still confused of how it worked. finally, someone explained that you get a piece of paper in English class, and you would write 4 names: a boy and a girl for your grade, and a senior boy and girl for Homecoming King and Queen. if enough people all agreed to put my name in, I had a chance of winning. but I tried to prepare myself for not winning, because there's at least 300 different sophomore girls at Timpview, and only 1 could win.

on the Tuesday of that week, I had to get checked out of seminary to go get my braces tightened, and on my way out, my friend Gabby, a senior on the tennis team who's also on Student Government, told me that I won Sophomore Homecoming Royalty! I hate to admit it. I wasn't surprised at all. but what did surprise me was that I won by a lot, and that no one else really had a chance! I was so grateful to my friends for getting the word out fast, to vote for me! she explained that I would appear in the homecoming assembly on the day of the game, and I would ride out on a moped with my prince at halftime at the game that evening. I couldn't believe that it would actually happen to me. I wasn't surprised that I won, I was just surprised that so many people thought of me. I'm 5'0'', and while short girls are cute, tall girls are beautiful. I would expect someone taller to win. but I was so excited, and while I was instructed to keep it a secret, I told my mom, who told my grandma, and no one on my mom's side of the family can keep a secret! and I told Jackson because he was the same thing last year, and he was probably more excited for me than I was. that really helped, knowing that he was happy too! I wasn't as nervous as I would've been if I hadn't told anyone! but the problem was, after I told Jackson, I thought, "well, I want Brooke to know, too! and Madi! and Raquel! and Haley!" so then all my girlfriends knew by the next day. but did I care? NOPE! as exciting as being surprised may sound, I'd rather have people support me and share the excitement!

Friday was the Big Day. I had to wake up at 5:30 to get my hair done, because of dumb drivers ed at 6:30. my poor mother had a migraine and didn't want to wake up. but she was so nice and did my hair and took me to school and told me that she would sleep until I needed her to come bring me my dress for the assembly. she really wanted to see me, even with a bad headache. I guess it's kinda a big deal, if your daughter is Sophomore Homecoming Princess!

the assembly was one of the best parts of my big day. not everyone would come to the football game (which is pretty pathetic because who doesn't love football?), but everyone would be at the assembly. Josh Lillywhite, my prince, sat next to me while we watched dancing football players and the Drill Team and Dance Company and Cheerleaders and all that stuff. we were both excited to walk on, I think. I don't know. he seemed pretty excited! before we went on, he would practice escorting me and giving me my flower, and how we would look. when it was time, the freshmen walked on first. that was amazing. the freshman prince was Kollin Galland, who is one of my really good friends. 2 weeks before, he was doing a double backflip on a trampoline, landed on his head, and broke his neck. He is still in the ICU at Primary Childrens, and it has been hard on everyone. the day I found out, I couldn't stop crying, and to make me feel better, I took Wes to the temple with me to do baptisms for the dead and we both prayed for Kollin. I felt so peaceful and I had a feeling that he would be okay, even if it would be a long recovery. our whole family fasted for him, and every night, Justin reminds us to pray for him. that makes me so happy. but Kollin was chosen as prince, and his brother Ethan, who is in my grade, walked on for him. this is what I love about going to Timpview. When people are going through hard times, the whole school gets involved and every student is very supportive. we all come together to do whatever we can to support anyone who is affected. after Kollin's accident, we all wore blue and signs were hung all around the school, reminding us to pray for him. I am so proud to be a Timpview Thunderbird! I love how everyone wanted to support Kollin and honor him! his mom has a blog for him, prayforkollin.blogspot.com and I tear up everytime I read it. Ethan escorted the lovely Nicole Curtis, one of my favorite freshmen girls! we played tennis together once, and she is one of the nicest girls I know.

After Kollin was honored, it was time. Josh and I linked arms, and walked across the gym for the whole school to see. as soon as we emerged from the "secret lair", everyone cheered. and I was just overwhelmed with happiness. Josh handed me his flower, and the audience went nuts. people were cheering our names, and that just made me even happier. junior and senior royalty walked on, and after that, the assembly ended. Everyone walked up to us and congratulated us and told us how good we looked and how well we did.

by the time the assembly ended, my curls had straightened out. problems of having really thick hair. I didn't really care, I would just redo it before the game. throughout that day, I got so many compliments: my dress, my hair, my prince, everything. but the ones that really made my day were "You just looked like the happiest girl alive!" and "not only did you look gorgeous, you were smiling, and that just made you look even more beautiful!" if this was only the assembly, I couldn't wait for what the game would bring.

I went home and took a nice long nap before I had to get ready again. My whole family except Wes, who decided that his scout campout was more important than supporting his sister, went to the game. the plan was to watch the beginning with my friends, find Student Government during second quarter, and make the entrance during half time. the lowerclassmen would all enter on mopeds, and the seniors would drive cars. Josh was pretty excited about driving a scooter, and he took it on at least 5 different test drives before he took one with me. I was a bit nervous about falling off, but he didn't go too fast or intentionally try to throw me off, so it all went very smoothly. everyone congratulated us, including people I have never met in my life! it was amazing.

 the prince and the princess. 

after half time, I got a million more congratulations, found my friends, and watched the rest of the game. Timpview won, 40-7! that just added to the greatness of the night!

so as you can tell, I loved every minute of it. and I'm so glad I got it my sophomore year, the year that I wasn't quite old enough to date, but I could still participate in the whole thing without going to the dance. It was honestly the best day ever.