a new year

a new calendar sits on my desk at my apartment, waiting to replace the old one still hanging on the wall... the one full of black and white photos of new york city, with dates and events to remember of the past year, 2009.

this new calendar is blank, simple, free. the old calendar is, well, complicated.

if you look up the word "complicated" in the dictionary, you will find this:

made up of different parts that are difficult to understand or analyze

2009 for me has been one of the quickest and longest of my life. i literally feel as if it just began. and i feel as if i packed three or four years worth of living into the past 365 days. complicated? absolutely. glorious? you betcha.

i began the year traveling with a cabinet secretary, serving as his staffer on a trip to Texas and to the White House for interviews. i finished the year wiping snot off of three year olds noses and trying to teach them the alphabet one letter a time. in short, i began the year with a blackberry on my hip and ended the year carrying a child on my hip almost constantly. hilarious.

its hard to remember life before Teach for America in 2009. in february i moved back from washington, d.c. i studied for the GRE in Houston. i spent a week with my great-grandparents. i went to three european countries with one of my very best friends. i signed my first lease as an adult with two awesome loveys. i became the proud owner my first legit bicycle - with a BASKET. i laughed a lot. i made new friends. i reunited with old ones. i hung out with some very sick kids at texas children's hospital. i went swimming and sat in the sun as often as i could. i went to my first texas A&M game as an alumni-weird! i taught fourth grade for five weeks. i ran a half marathon. i finished a semester of teaching preschool - and i came very, very close to quitting not once, but twice. i grew in my faith more than i could ever imagine.i was tested and loved by an awesome God in ways my small brain could not have previously fathomed.

all of those sentences start with the letter "i" - ew. how selfish do i sound right now? but isn't that what we're supposed to do at the end of a year? reflect on what we as individuals have done, felt, seen...and prepare for another round... i'm excited for 2010!

at the end of the day, as the ball dropped and i danced the night away, this is what i knew on new years eve...every day, every year, is a gift. i am blessed beyond belief. and i hope to spend 2010 using those blessings to bless others, and to pass on the love that has been so lavishly poured onto me. may your next 365-day trip around the sun be full of joy, hope, adventure, love, and truth. happy new year!