Saturday, January 31, 2009

Missing:

I can't seem to find my Sew U: Built by Wendy book. I haven't looked through it in awhile and I wanted to see if there was a certain pattern in there.

I wonder what I did with it.

Puppy count

The count is up to 5. She had the last one around 11 pm last night. They all seem to be doing well.

Now the big question is: Is Jazz going to have puppies too? Brandy went into heat first and we never saw her and Solomon mate. We never saw Jazz mate either, but she is rather large. I guess we will just wait and see.

I went to see Penelope at Sarah's house tonight. My mom and sisters and I all went over for a movie night. It was fun to be with the girls. And Penelope was a cute movie. I liked the Penelope's clothes. :)

I have to finish my homework this weekend. Ick. I can't wait to take classes I will actually enjoy. I've pretty much changed my mind about dental hygiene. I am thinking nutrition now. Or perhaps education. I'm really leaning toward nutrition though. Maybe I can teach it when I finish. Right now I'm just tired and I don't know what I want to do or be. Sometimes I just don't want to think about these things. You know, like decisions. But they have to be thought about sometimes. I just get worried that I will make the wrong decisions and regret something. But then, it's not like I make decisions alone. My parents are pretty involved in most of the decisions I make. By that I mean that I get their advice in most things.

I wish I was a little more spontaneous and happy-go-lucky. Are those traits that can be cultivated or are you mostly just born with them? I like to have a plan before I do things. I have said to myself several times that I'm going to do something spontaneous like go out and get my ears pierced a second time or getting my hair cut or something without telling anyone, but I never do. Maybe that will be one of my goals this year. Do something completely spontaneous without telling anyone. Of course, getting my ears pierced again is out as far as that goes because when you've been thinking about doing something for over a year it's not really that spontaneous. And I'm growing my hair out so I won't cut it off now.

So someday, I might just write a blog post that is about something I did that was totally spontaneous and unexpected.

Just be on the lookout...

RADIATE 08

So I made it there! After trying and trying to get people at our school interested in going I ended up being the only person from school who was able to go. There were a few people who were interested, but unfortunately weren't able to go. But my friend Elizabeth who lives locally, but goes to Concord University was going to go so we ended up riding in together. That was great. I didn't know Beth very well before the trip but I got to know her a lot better which was wonderful. She is a sweetie pie!
As soon as we got to the Marriott I was surprised at how many students were there. The place was mobbed! And the elevators were swamped too. By the time our elevator reached the 12th floor (which is where our rooms were) they were so crowded that people were standing shoulder to shoulder and everyone was all smooshed together. The ceilings were mirrored so I took a picture of us in the ceiling. You still can't even properly see how crowded the elevator was and it got worse than this anyway. It was funny.
They had a lot of musicians come in for a concert. This was Jonathan Lee, but they also had Vicky Beeching and Brenton Brown. I liked Vicky the best. She was kind of like a cross between Rebecca St. James and Sarah Brendel.
On Tuesday we went out into DC for the Day of Faith. We split the entire conference into groups of about 100 each and everyone had different metro routes to take to get to the Washington Monument. It was pretty crowded. But the entire time we were at the conference we were crowded. I didn't really mind though. Everyone was really nice.

We reached the monument and we spread into a really big circle (and the circle was about 2-3 people thick in some places) and prayed.
I asked one of the girls from Concord if she wanted me to take her picture in front of the monument and she said sure. So we stopped and then three other girls jumped in too. After we prayed at the monument we split back up again and walked and walked and walked and walked (you get the idea) to South Eastern University (which is a school that's not actually much bigger than my school if you can believe it) and we split into even smaller groups of about 5 and we prayed together for the school and the community and the capital and the nation and our schools....and pretty much everything. My group found a pretty little spot in the park to sit and pray and before we left to rejoin the group we went down the slide a few times. :)


We had all of our main sessions in the ballroom. It was really big and there we still didn't seem to have enough chairs for everyone. We had the sessions, the concerts and the New Years party in there.
These were two of my roommates. The one on the right is Lauren. I roomed with her at Sneak Peek too. It was really nice to see her again. She is so nice. :) The other is Jordan. I didn't get to know her as well, but she was really nice too.This is my other roommate. Her name is Brionna. She was a lot of fun. We spent a couple of hours on New Years eve finding her a costume for $5 prom. Look at how horribly messy our room is! I have to admit that I got kind of spoiled having people come in and make the bed for us and clean our bathroom...I miss that. :)
This was a wing that they named the Prayer Journey. Some of the Radford students helped to set it up. There were Bibles in there and different 'stations' set up with Bible verses to read and topics to pray for (ie: country, government, military, family, schools, friends, etc.). It was a really nice place to go to when you wanted to be away from the noise and crowds and read your Bible for a little while.
Here we are! All ready for $5 prom.
I thought our costumes were a little bit tacky, but this guy's costume trumped everyone. A chicken suit topped with a pink dress suit. I can only imagine he was dying from being overheated.
I had a great time, but by Thursday morning I was ready to head home. I was exhausted and getting sick. But I still miss Radiate sometimes. I miss the seminars, the speakers (which were wonderful!), the students, the Marriott, and even DC (I am not really keen on big cities). I am really glad I went. I am looking forward to next year too! Beth and I are hoping to go to Sneak Peek together if our campuses don't want to send anyone else. So that's something to look forward to. :)

So there...I'm a month late, but there is my Radiate post!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Doggy update:

Brandy has 3 puppies now. They all look like Newfs. :)

Snow and Ice

The weather has been so icky this week. I got a snow day out of it, but I missed an afternoon of work because of it. I think I would have rather gone to school just so I could work too. This college student is broke and has a bill to pay. I take that seriously.This was the residue of the ice we had. The trees are clear now. The ground is still icy and snowy. But we've been lucky because we haven't lost power at all.

News flash:

My dog (Brandy) just had a puppy. We didn't even know she was pregnant. Imagine our surprise! We are just hoping they aren't half collie because she went on a little overnight trip with our neighbor's collie, King a while ago. So far the first one looks very much like a Newfoundland. Brandy is very calm and seems happy. Mom and Dad are monitoring her.

I'll update later.

Completed project, WIPs, and a self-portrait. In other words, its time for some photos on this blog!

Here is a picture of the bag I made on Christmas Eve. I stayed up late and finished it in the wee hours of Christmas morning. Merry Christmas to me. :)

The bag itself started out as a sweater a friend gave me. I loved the color of it, but it looked pretty bad on me. So I cut the bottom off and sewed it up and turned it into a bag.

The inside is lined with some fat quarters I got on sale from Joann's. The inside can also be used as the outside. It's reversible. I just love reversible things. I don't love that the handles aren't centered very well. Such is life.
Here is my current work-in-progress. A scarf in Mountaineer colors. It will be for a WVU student most likely!
Here is my other work in progress: Help please!
Chemistry is kicking my butt right now...and it's only week 2.

And here is a self portrait of me. This is to show how much healthier my skin looks. I didn't even edit out any acne on this picture, which is what I normally do. Just let me get good and stressed though and it will become very splotchy!

Tea for Two

When you're really sick, sometimes something hot to drink and yummy to eat (even if you can't taste it) helps to make your day brighter. While I was sick I was really bored. All I did was watch TV all day and sleep. After I passed my sickness to Holly I decided that instead of letting her be as bored as I was, I was going to throw a tea party for us. Complete with tea, cookies, tuna on crackers, a quesadilla and applesauce. Not entirely conventional for an afternoon tea I'm sure, but we enjoyed it. Or at least I did. :)I think it's the least you can do when you got someone sick to begin with. Whoever it was who got me sick at Radiate owes me a tea party!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Snow days...

I haven't had one in a really long time. Over a year at least, but I don't remember school actually being canceled due to bad weather when I was in school before. I just wouldn't go when the weather was bad.

So today was very relaxing. I worked out, took a shower, browsed a few blogs, worked on my scarf (knitting) and drank tea (green chai...I love green tea blends) while watching the Dog Whisperer. Cesar Milan is one cool guy. He is amazing with dogs.

The new season of Lost is on. I saw the premiere last week. It's been a long time since I watched those shows. I think they're kind of annoying. I kinda miss not having satellite TV. It seems like the TV is on all day now between the news and people's favorite shows. I have to say, National Geographic, Discovery Health and TLC seem to be the favorites. At least they're pretty educational. It's funny, but last semester I would come home from Bible study on Tuesday nights and my parents would be watching the Biggest Loser and they have since gotten me hooked. I love that show. Every time I watch it I want to go run 5 miles. So I get on the treadmill and after 5 minutes I've got a stitch in my side and my shins hurt. But I've been trying to increase my time. My best is 10 minutes. I just walk the rest of the time.

I think I'm going to go back to the living room and knit some more and watch Lost with the family. Then I think I'll go to bed. I am working tomorrow and possibly going to a store called Good Natured which is a very *green* and natural store. I'm excited about it!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Inclement Weather policy: stay indoors!

It's snowing. It's supposed to snow all day and night and we're supposed to get freezing rain too. For some people this is cause for rejoicing. I don't like this weather though. I am looking forward to spring so much, even though I get really bad springtime allergies.

I think I've gotten a little bit better about coping with winter. I used to get really mad every time it snowed (like getting mad is going to change anything) and I'd mope and pout until the weather cleared up. This was partly because it seemed to always snow on ballet days or youth group days and we wouldn't be able to go. Now that I'm in school and I work I don't mind a day off as long as work and/or school is closed. If they're open though and I just can't get there because our roads haven't been salted or plowed or something then I get really upset. I worry that I'm going to get behind on my homework or something and it stresses me out. But these past couple of winters have gone by quickly for me. The years have been going by quickly actually. It seems like I blink and they're gone. It's a little scary.

So it's 11:45 and I'm still in my pajamas. I left all my textbooks and yoga stuff in the car last night since I got home at 10 pm. I think I'm going to go bring them in and finish up some homework. Then I am thinking about making a yoga mat bag. I don't even have a strap to carry mine with and it's always coming unrolled. I got rid of a lot of fabric and now I have some extra storage so I might try to do some organizing too. I was talking to my friend Diana yesterday and I was saying how messy my room is and she said she thought I was the kind of person to have everything organized and labeled. I wish! I can be kind of a perfectionist at work (this doesn't mean I don't forget things at work, just that I take it to heart and panic and feel bad about it all day and it makes me miserable) but it sure doesn't overflow to my homelife. Or even school. I make good grades and all, but my homework goes in at the last minute and I never keep track of my work very well. I should do better. I think that was one of my New Years resolutions...I think? It's been a long time since New Years. 27 whole days!

<> I'll figure it out. :)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Yoga: Ohm Ohm Good!

Forgive my spin on the Campbell's Soup commercial...I couldn't help myself. You know, I am a self proclaimed lame-joke-teller. But I've come to terms with it, even embraced it, and I'm able to cope.

Hey, by the way, the 9th Annual Weblog Awards are going on and you can vote by going here. PW is in a few of the categories so go vote for her!

So this post is actually about yoga. Sort of. At least thats what the title implies. I started my yoga class tonight. It was great. I've missed it a lot. There are lots of reasons why I enjoy yoga. One of them is it's a low impact exercise that can be really challenging. It promotes spinal health. It's not a competitive exercise. You aren't trying to keep up with anyone or be better than everyone, you just do the best you can. You get a lot of stretching in and you build a lot of muscle. You feel really good once it's over and you sleep like a rock. Plus sometimes you lose 5 lbs. Which I really hope happens to me. Again. I lost 5 lbs the first time I took yoga and I'll be honest and say that one of the reasons I'm so enthusiastic about yoga is because I'm hoping I'll drop another 5 lbs. I figure between yoga and the treadmill my prospects are bright!

School is in full swing now. We had our first chemistry lab today. My professor tried to instill a healthy fear in us about working with dangerous chemicals. He succeeded a little bit but I'm probably more afraid of working with fire than I am about working with caustic chemicals. I'm really excited about lab. It's my favorite part of classes. I'm a hands-on type of learner so I get more out of actually doing work than listening to a lecture. I turned in my first assignment in my Human Growth and Development class and I've started my homework for Algebra. This is the first semester I've actually read any of my textbooks for classes other than English. Usually I fall asleep if I try to read a book on sociology or psychology or something like that. I feel like I'm off to a pretty good start. Let's hope it stays that way.

Pam called me tonight while I was between classes and told me that the 9 year old we took a tooth out on this past Friday wasn't the kid we thought she was. Basically, the kid's mom used some other kid's medical card and pretended it was her daughter's. The kid responded to the name on the medical card and everything so she must have been seriously coached so it's sad that a 9 year old had to be involved in that. We found out because I wrote her a doctor's note for school and apparently this morning the school called and said that when they got the note the name we had written was crossed out and the child's real name was written on top of it. After some phone calls and investigation and a police visit it turned out that the Mom was committing insurance fraud. The thing is it's really hard to know when stuff like that is happening. A lot of the medical card kids we see have different last names than the parent who brings them in. We don't usually think twice about seeing a different last name when we get their health histories and things like that so I guess we're going to have to be really strict from now on.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow. Ick! Holly told me she is dying to go out, so if the weather is alright I might swing her down to Target or something. I used to get cabin fever like that too. Now that I work and go to school though I don't mind hanging out at home. When the weather gets nicer though I start to get antsy. I can't wait for warmer weather...hurry up spring!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

My blogiversary!

I can't believe I've been blogging for a whole year now! January 20 was my 1 year blogiversary. In that time I've written almost 200 posts. This blog has been a source of much inspiration and a wonderful place to record the little things that have happened throughout the year. It's also motived me to take lots pictures which I think has improved my photography skills a little bit. In the year I've been blogging I've become quite attached to a few blogs out there and have even been able to get to know a few other bloggers out there via email. It's been a lot of fun. I'm grateful for this experience. I believe the proper thing to do is hold a giveaway or something like that right about now, but I don't have anything to give away at the time. I would like to do a giveaway at some point so maybe that is something that will happen this year. Since we had our high speed internet disconnected and I started school I haven't been able to keep up with this blog as much as I would like to. I miss it. I miss making things and posting pictures. I miss recording the silly little things that happen in my life throughout the week. I'm hoping to start posting more often. We are still trying to find a way to get a faster speed internet connection and if we can then I'm anticipating a lot of blogging going on. I can't wait!

Today I went up to Becca's house with Jacqueline and Susan for a knitting party. So fun! Becca has caught the knitting bug and I'm hoping I catch it from her. There were a lot of ladies at the house and all had brought some kind of project to work on. It's hard not to get excited when you are in that kind of environment! Becca showed me a bunch of knitting magazines that she had and there was some great stuff in them. I want to try to knit a sweater vest. I think that will be easier than knitting a whole sweater. There were also lots of knitted skirt patterns in the magazine...they look awesome! I'm toying with the idea of trying to make one of those. They look so comfortable and pretty. If you knit it tight enough they won't be see-through or anything. Most of the magazines I had brought were from 2005. I can't believe that it's been 3 years since I was really into knitting. I really haven't done any serious knitting in a long time. Mostly just sewing. I've been so busy that when I do a project I want it to be finished fast! Sewing provides that instant gratification since I can usually complete a project in 1 or 2 days. Knitting takes a much longer time, and can take even longer if you make a mistake! But maybe knitting will remind me to slow down and take some time out to relax.

I had a dream a few days ago that my eyebrows were as long as my regular hair (which is getting pretty long). It was really weird. I kept trying to tuck my eyebrow hair behind my ears so it wouldn't fall in my eyes. I was hoping that people wouldn't notice it that way. It was the weirdest dream. In the end I tried to cut my long eyebrows so they would look normal and I ended up cutting them almost completely off. I'm not sure what brought that whole dream about. It was funny albeit a little disturbing.

I went to Charleston last Thursday for a 'business trip.' I went with my Doc and Pam. It was fun, but I roomed with my doctor and that was stressful. I love my boss and she's great and all, but wouldn't you be stressed out if you spent 3 days sharing a room with your boss? I took a few pictures. We stayed at a Marriott. I love those hotels. :) They're my home away from home. It was right across the street from a 3 story mall. Nice. :) We spent a lot of time there between classes. It was so cold out that there wasn't a whole lot else to do. Pam and I wanted to go to Capitol street because we heard it was really pretty there, but the temperature was in the teens and we weren't ready to freeze to death just to see a pretty street. There was a beauty pageant going on while we were there. I'd say there were about 100 girls running around with their sashes on over their clothes and they were all dolled up. We saw a Miss Timber and Woods, Miss Volcano, Miss Woodchopper, Miss Hot Dog Festival and the funniest was Miss Roadkill. There were a lot of others but I can't remember what all their sashes said. We were at the hotel to attend a bunch of expanded functions courses for dental assistants and doctors. It was really interesting. I enjoyed it. This Thursday we had CPR training at the office which is very interesting and also quite painful. My wrist was very sore and bruised the next day. Yesterday was a very long day at work. 10 hours! It's good though. Since getting my hours cut I've been trying to put in as many extra hours as I can and I'm glad I was able to work a lot this week. That will put me a little bit closer to paying off my school bill! Speaking of school this was my first week back. I think I'm going to really like my chemistry professor. I think the class will be really busy and probably hard, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. Ditto that for my math class. I love math, but it's been over a year since I have had a math class. I hope it will go well. Yoga starts on Monday! I'm SO excited! I hope my teacher is tough!

The inauguration was interesting. I hope Obama does well. I think the best part of the day was watching Bush's speech at his welcome home rally in TX. He looks so happy to be finished with his 2 terms. I'm happy for him. His speech was funny. It made me miss Texas for some reason. I think I'm going to miss President Bush. While he wasn't the perfect president, I liked him and I feel bad that people are so negative towards him. I remember when he won the election 8 years ago. I can't believe how quickly time flies. It doesn't seem like so much time has gone by, but 8 years is a long time. In his speech, Bush said, "the days are long, but the years are short." Too true...too true.

What a day...what a year.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Oh dear

Well, I lied. We don't have high-er speed internet because it's not working. We are still on dial up and it is iffy! And I can't upload pictures. :( So all the pictures I've been taking will have to wait until I get up to a coffee shop and can take some time to post things.

Bad news: I got my hours cut at work. As far as I can tell, they are being cut in half. I'm going from about 20-24 hours a week to 10-11. Not good. I am not even able to pay for my school bill. Mom and Dad are helping me until I can pay them back, which is really wonderful of them. I've gotten 2 textbooks for free and have to get one more before the semester starts. Boy am I glad I'm taking yoga this semester! No textbooks involved, I have everything I need for the class and I can definitely use some stress relief!

On a lighter note I am feeling much better. This cough is improving and aside from being extremely tired all the time I would say I'm pretty well recovered from my cold. It seems that every time I catch a cold it ends up settling in my chest and I get bronchitus or something unpleasant like that. Thanks to Mucinex this cough is much better than it would have been if I wasn't treating it (which is how I normally act when I have a cough)!

So I got a letter in the mail from WVU saying they need my immunization records. For heaven sake! I already ran around town getting my immunization records for them but it seems that I forgot to call my doctors in NC from when I was like 8 or 9 or younger even to ask for a copy of my immunizations so I could apply to colleges for the fall. Honestly, it never even crossed my mind to think about calling my doctors from 12 years ago. But then, I am pretty forgetful these days. I don't think I'm going to WVU this fall. And that's okay. Don't tell my boss this, but I think I've changed my mind about dental hygiene. Yeah, go ahead and say it: I change my mind way too much. It's true. But between back pain and arm pain and just not really loving the idea of dental hygiene, I have been rethinking my decision to become a hygienist. And I'm rethinking my application to WVU. I am not sure I want to leave my home and family just yet (someone please just force me to do something!). Especially with my niece due in March. I want to be part of her life so much. I know I can't stay home forever, and truthfully I don't want to. But with all the fatigue I've been having I sometimes really wonder how I'm going to work and go to college. I don't know if I trust myself to live on my own. There. I said it and it looks as sad as it sounds, but I actually do get really overwhelmed when I think about putting in 2 or 3 more years of college when I'm this tired and when I'm having this much trouble thinking right now. I feel so ADD sometimes that I scare myself. I don't even like driving when I feel like this. So let's just say that I'm thinking of applying to a school a little closer to home for a degree that is not dental hygiene. I'm planning to speak to an admissions counselor on Monday. And I'll let you know what happens from there.

Well, I am going to go think about other things now. Things like getting organized someday and maybe getting rid of some of the junk I've accumulated these past few years. Anyone want any fabric? I may be getting rid of some soon!

I'll check back in later~

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Sick

Well, this break has been wonderful. Relaxing, fun, lazy...I was so exhausted from school and work and it's been such a relief to have this vacation! God must have known I really needed one.

New Years was fun. I spent it in DC at the annual Cru conference RADIATE. I had a lot of fun there and met quite a few lovely people (and an overly friendly security guard, but more on that in another post) and learned a lot from the wonderful speakers! I came home and got to see my aunt and cousins (which was awesome! I haven't seen them in a long time.) and then I got sick. I knew I would. I said I would even before I left for the conference. And I was right. Because in less than 8 hours of being home I was sick. As in sore throat, headache, fever, congestion, fatigue and a barking cough kind of sick. I'm feeling much better today. After 3 full days of simply laying on the couch sleeping and watching TV and browsing the computer occasionally and then of 2 days feeling a little better, but sticking close to home, I'm feeling really good and I'm going back to work today. I really need to work because school is starting in a couple of weeks and do you think I'm ready to pay my school bill? Not even close to it! But that's okay. I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

The worst part of being sick has been that I gave my cold or whatever this is (it's a mean cold!) to both my sisters. I hate that! It makes me feel guilty. I tried to stay away from Jacqueline as much as possible because I really didn't want her to get sick since she's pregnant, but she still caught it. The other worst part was that I had to cancel plans to go out with my sister and our friends for coffee. Our dear friends Rebecca and Courteney that I've known since 7th grade were both home for Christmas. Court was home from college and her sister (she and Jacqueline both got married during the same year) was here with her husband and they were visiting their families for Christmas. They live in Indiana, so we don't get to see them very often. Now Rebecca has gone home and Court is going back to school on Friday, and I don't know if we will be able to manage to squeeze in one more visit or not. Bummer!

Well, it is 10:30 and I have an hour before I have to leave, so I will stop here. I do have a bunch of pictures to post and things to write about. We have 'higher' speed internet now. It's not as fast as high speed, but I think it's faster than dial-up. Plus I have a free internet card to use at our coffee shop so maybe before this break is totally over I'll be able to kidnap one of the laptops and spend an afternoon blogging my little heart out. Once the sun comes out I'll take pictures of the stuff I SEWED! I have ideas for some more sewing projects that I would like to do too. And of course I want to post my pictures from RADIATE. And I'd like to write about the stuff I learned while I was there. :)

So until later~

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Looking back on 2008:

What a crazy year! It was so fast! I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on some of the major events of the year (cause I'm sentimental like that.).

Some of the highlights:
  • Blogging. That's probably a funny one to start off with, but I really am thankful for this blog. I have 178 posts from last year to look back on and remember. I'm so glad that I can go back and read those posts and remember the little and large things that happened last year. So much changes in a year's time.
  • Bringing in the 2008 with Cheryl and the Tyners and Beidlers and Josh. I begged and begged my parents to have a party and they agreed and I ended up SO tired that I felt like I was going to fall asleep the whole night. It was still a lot of fun. I'm glad we had a party.
  • Tuesday night Bible studies. These came at a time when I really needed it. The importance of fellowship with believers can't be underestimated.
  • Finding out that I am going to be an aunt. That is actually some of the most exciting news I've had ever. Life is so precious, and this new little life has me so excited that I can hardly contain myself.
  • TEXAS! Need I say more? Maybe not, but I will! I love that state, and I love Cheryl! I had a great time down there.
  • My new job with my old boss. :) It's nice to be back with Dr. H and Pam. Even though work really stresses me out sometimes.
  • Visits with friends. Friends are truly one of God's greatest gifts! Each of my friends are a blessing and I love them and the time we get to spend together whether it's at a Bible study, sewing-get-together, movie night, annual Christmas shopping trip, holiday gathering, etc., it is always a precious thing to spend time with your friends.
  • Going back to school. While I don't particularly like my school or enjoy my classes, I am glad I went back and that I finished the requirements for my 2 year degree. At least I got that much finished.
  • Campus Crusade for Christ. It's been frustrating and discouraging at times, but I'm really glad that I get to be a part of this group. All in all it's been a real blessing.
  • Sneak Peek. A free weekend in DC and an opportunity to meet new people. Fun fun fun!
  • Cheryl's visit in October. Cheryl is one of my favorite people. Hands down.
  • Phil Keaggy and Fernando Ortega concert. Those guys knocked my socks off. They were A*W*E*S*O*M*E!!!
  • Thanksgiving with the Freys. I got to be a Frey for a day and it was fun!
  • The price of gas dropping to below $2 per gallon!
  • Christmas with my family. It was one of the nicest and most relaxing Christmases I've had in a long time. It was 'loverly.'
  • RADIATE 08. 5 days in DC with Cru and bringing in the New Year with new friends met there. It was a good conference. The speakers were awesome. But that's for another blog post, which will come soon!
So those are some of the highlights of this past year. It was a good year. Here are some of the not-so-amazing things that happened, but were still pretty big:
  • Getting laid off at my job. Layoffs really stink. I feel sorry for people who go through them.
  • My sister's miscarriage. It affected us all. Not only were we really sad that their baby died, it is just really hard to see the ones you love in pain and grieving.
  • Gas prices reaching $4 a gallon.
  • My job at Dr. C's office. While this wasn't totally bad (I mean I got paid to be there and it was experience and a reference) it wasn't my favorite job.
  • The election. Not only was this one of the nastiest elections I've seen so far, I was also disappointed with the outcome. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
  • Seeing all our Weimaraners leave. I miss my little Hank. And Dancer. And even Jumper. Goodbye forever.
  • I got my first cavity and filling. It was quite an experience. I feel like I can relate to the patients better now. It sounds weird, but aside from the shot (which really wasn't that bad) I kind of enjoyed it. It was a different experience. And I wouldn't let any other doctor except the one I work for give me a filling because so far she is the best doctor I have worked with, and I've worked with 5 dentists by now.
  • Grandma getting sick and losing her vision.
  • The move, which never happened. I'm not sure if I should put this under the 'great' category or 'not-so-great' category. It made life a lot more stressful which wasn't great. It is not going to happen anymore so now we have some idea of what's going on in our life which is 'great!'
You know, even during the difficult times that tried us and discouraged us, I can look back and say Jesus was with us during the whole thing. And I can say that Jesus loved us through the whole thing.

So that is my brief recap on 2008. Here's to the New Year and all the joys and trials and opportunities and obstacles that will come with it. Here is to family and friends and to a Savior who loves me and everyone else more than I can even fathom.

Now I'm off to take a bunch of vitamins and cold medications (I got sick from my week in DC) and I'm going to bed!
G'night!