I'm sitting in my room listening to the Backstreet Boys and dancing around like a little kid. I'm starting to remember why I still love life and continue to get through the days that are really hard for me.

The other day at my little brother's basketball game, this kid on his team took a total wild shot at the basket from way behind the three pointer line. Somehow, the ball made it perfectly into the net. The look on that little boy's face was priceless as his teammates lifted him up onto their shoulders and chanted his name.

One day when it was raining really hard, my boyfriend suddenly grabbed my waist and pulled me close to him and we were slow dancing in the rain. He took my hand and spun me around and we were both laughing and dancing and smiling and blushing. It was so romantic and wonderful.

My little sister's best friend is recovering from a skull fracture. She was just able to go back to school and be with her friends again. She is the sweetest little thing, and against all odds, even when the doctors said she was unlikely to survive, she made it.

I'm going to college next year and I'm going to be a psychology major. I want to teach people to find the simple joys in their life and make them count for more than their depression. I want to tell people that this illness is not something that can be imagined away, but I do want to remind them that it's the small stuff that counts.

These are the things that give ME hope. Hopefully they give you hope too, or remind you of something in your own life.

Our lives are made in these small hours… these little wonders… these twists and turns of fate!!!! <3 I wish all of you the most happiness and best of luck.