The Solo Ending of a Wowing 2011

I sit here this New Year's Eve alone for quite possibly the first time ever. It's definitely the first year in a while that I haven't been with the beloved Mac6. I'm definitely going to miss going crazy with my cousins and our pots and pans at midnight, but I'm not sad to be alone tonight.

There have been so many people who have helped me through this year in one way or another, and I'm so incredibly grateful for the ways the love and encouragement has strengthened me for all this year contained. This year has been such a truly epic year from the onset, and it's been such a personally meaningful and defining year for me. I've been pushed to embrace adulthood fully and really give my own wings a go -- a terrifying concept but an exhilarating (and sometimes messy) reality.

I sit here grateful to be alone to contemplate the magnitude of this year as it dwindles down to the last hours; I sit here hopeful as I contemplate the possibilities the coming year holds. Oh, yes, God will do such amazing things, but as to what I will find myself thankful for at the close of next year...it's too early to tell.

2011 was shaped by
a 20 hour solo road trip to Texas
being away from home for 5 months -- the longest period away in my life!
student teaching 
nearly losing someone I admire and love 
a break up 
college graduation
moving to my own apartment
some incredible weddings of dear friends
starting a new (dream) job
gaining 21 reasons to look forward to getting up in the morning
getting my first dog
amazing people entering my life and leaving their marks on my heart 


Am I sad to see this year end? No, not really. I'm leaving this year still holding onto the fantastic memories that I'll be talking about and thinking about in the years to come. I'm actually kind of glad to see it go, to be honest -- it's opening up the opportunity for next year's awesomeness. :)


~"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." [-Hal Borland]~