Can you be a good girl and still have fun?

So today at church I had a conversation with a couple of cute young women, and our conversation got me wondering about something that I think a lot of girls struggle with.
"Can you be a "good girl" and still have fun?"
First of all I think you "young'ens" look at us "old folks" and assume that we have always been respectable sweet little mommies who made all the right decisions. I am not sure where that idea comes from, but it seems to be pervasive-- I remember believing it about my OWN adult leaders back in the day.-- But the truth is that it is FAR FROM TRUE! We were silly giggling teenagers once too, we teepeed our friends houses, hung out at parks after dark (shock!) and got in trouble for talking or passing notes in class. I remember one particular Sunday School teacher that we teased unmercifully, and he got soooo frustrated with our continual class interruptions. And I know my early morning seminary teacher (who happened to be my best friends Mom) would tell you COUNTLESS things about our giggling and whispering in the middle of her wonderful, carefully prepared lessons.
YES, we were normal, we had a good time, we got in trouble occasionally and we didn't always make perfect choices. But were we "good girls" YES, I believe we were. I believe we spent a little too much focus on "having fun" but deep inside we knew the gospel was true. We knew that we wanted to stay clean and pure and prepare ourselves for our future husband. We shied away from the really dangerous things, because we knew they were BAD for us. We didn't go to wild parties, get drunk, or experiment with drugs and alcohol. But we HAD FUN!
What it boils down to, is that you can be "a good girl" and you can have a blast doing it. There is nothing wrong with WANTING to make right choices. There is nothing wrong with standing out for being the girl who doesn't drink, or play around with guys. I think that my friends inside and outside of church respected me for that- and knew that I was still a lot of fun at the same time.
I remember that my two best friends and I had this inside joke as teenagers. We would joke about the fact that we could get drunk on "Crystal Light". We could stay up all night laughing and giggling and having a blast without needing alcohol like most of our friends at school.
...Did we always make the right choices? No, I will be the first to tell you that we didn't. There were things that I wish I could go back and do differently-sure. But the most important thing was that we WANTED TO. We prayed at night for help making decisions, and wanted to be "good". We wanted our Father in Heaven to smile when he saw us having a big party with our friends-- without any mind altering garbage to get in the way. I remember one night playing twister for hours with a bunch of friends...we had SO MUCH FUN- harmless, laughing so hard you puke kind of fun.
So the bottom line is- BE GOOD. Make the right choices, and don't be ashamed of it in the process. "The sordid things in life leave you with nothing but tarnished memories" (Emilie Loring)
. Live the kind of life that you can enjoy...and look back on and smile and say "yeah, that was fun!"
Laura, Audrey- I miss you! CRYSTAL LIGHT FOREVER! ;)