Saturday, January 2, 2010

the lucky one.

That’s 2009 in a word. Lucky. It was one of those chapters of life that you could never forget. And you’d never want to. Somehow, the stars aligned and life led me through a series of unbelievable experiences that are etched in my mind and hopefully will stay there. Here’s a little taste of what made such an impact this year:

A growing family with three new babies (and two more on the way)



A Holy Land



A weekly trip to the Garden Tomb



A camel ride along the Nile




A dance party in ancient Roman ruins accompanied by bagpipe playing Jordanians.


A hike up Mount Sinai to see the sunrise



An Indiana Jones reenactment in Petra


A better and truer celebration of Palm Sunday and Easter than any other


A verse of "Master the Tempest is Raging" on the Sea of Galilee


An unbreakable bond with 77 new friends


A new perspective on an ancient conflict




A trip back to Romania


A chance to see the people that changed my life


A chance to show my parents my home of 18 months


A reunion of three close friends


A quality week with the ones I've missed


A reunion with delicious Romanian sarmale



A summer sales job in Washington and all the growing that comes with daily frustration :)


An occasional break from the blessed job to swim in the ice cold Columbia River



A necessary slurpee run almost daily to the 7-11 with 18 flavors


A camaraderie of kindred spirits I worked and lived with there


A happy hour at Applebees as needed


A first-ever car accident and a blessed soul who fixed my headlight for free




A Lake Powell extravaganza with the Hales and their 20 newly adopted children


A near-death experience


A move back to Provo


A new addiction to SYTYCD




An apartment full of the greatest roommates a girl could ask for
Like I said, it's been a lucky year. And I've been a lucky soul. I've laughed and cried and felt every other emotion on the scale. And I've loved every bit of it. 2010, you've got big shoes to fill. Let's see what you can do!