I know that it is cliche to do a year in review, but it is also a lot of fun, and it helps me to see that a lot can happen in just 365 days. By taking the time to look at how far the Lord brought me in 2010, I can begin to take bigger steps with Him this year.
2010 In REVIEW:
January:
Hmm... I'm trying to remember back 12 months! Oh yes the mini breakdown! What a way to start a year. I guess I can look at it as a way of purging so that I could move beyond what was bothering me.
February:
I joined match.com and was matched with on Mr. DJP! We began communicating via the match.com e-mail and talked that way for quite awhile. Because online dating can be quite anonymous I wanted to take it slowly and be very careful. In February I continued singing in the TRBC choir and was loving it.
March:
I turned 27 and had fun celebrating with friends w/ dinner at my favorite pizza place in the city. I continued talking with D online and via text messages. Our relationship was budding, but I was still being careful and making sure I knew him before I met him.
April:
Celebrated Easter with the big service the TRBC choir sang in. That was a lot of fun! D and I met for our first date. He came over the mountain. We played mini golf and had fun and went next door to a little Italian restaurant where we talked till the place closed. Then, I went over and dished with 2 of my really good friends and relived the best 1st date of my life!
May:
Celebrated the graduation of a few friends, continued my relationship with D. I also went to Charleston, SC with one of my best friends. Met her family, explored the Holy City (named for its many church steeples that dot the skyline). I also really enjoyed the warm weather.
June:
Spent a LOT of time going back and forth across the mountain to see D as much as possible. He also came over to see me too. A girl I grew up with (one of my sis' best friends) lost her husband to meningitis and that was a low part of the year. We know that he is up in Heaven, and while we are excited for Nick, it is hard knowing that our time with him here was so short. My great Aunt also died, which was sad but she had lived almost 100 years, so it is a different sad.
July:
Spent the 4th of July with D. Spent the day in the mountains with some of his friends, went 4-wheeling, saw the fireworks in Staunton (all on the 3rd). On the 4th I was home and spent the day and evening with friends and hung out on campus for their celebration.
At the end of the month M and I drove down to Charleston, SC for the wedding of 2 of our dear friends (B&E). We stayed in a hostel and that was a really fun adventure. We were right downtown. The wedding itself was GORGEOUS, the food was amazing. It was a great way to celebrate the wedding and see Christ reflected in the day.
August:
Continued to work on my novel in hopes that the publishing company I was working with would like it and pick it up (alas it didn't happen, God has other plans).
End of the month: D proposed and I said yes! We had gone on a hike that I'd been pestering (ok nagging) him about, and he proposed on the cliffs over looking the valley. It was perfect!
September:
Began to plan my wedding for late March, so Dad could be out here during his Spring Break. Ended up moving it to December 4 (for a variety of reasons).
I also realized that I needed to work on some stuff in my spiritual life, and I started to get serious about it.
Went to David's Bridal in Roanoke with: B, E and M and found MY dress! It brought tears to my eye. Once I put it on, and saw it in the mirror I knew it was the dress for me! It meant so much to have 3 people there with me to celebrate the day and be there for this momentous part of planning a wedding, especially since my Mom, Grandma and Sis couldn't.
That day, and those people really reminded me of how much our friends become our family. They don't replace our family in our hearts, but they are an extension. Especially in the American culture where so often we are separated by many miles from our biological families.
October:
My lease on my apartment was up, so it just seemed natural that it would be a good time to move to D's side of the mountain, since that would be where we made our home (in his house). It was exciting to move, knowing that it was to get married. It was also really sad, the hardest move I've ever made. Sad because I love my city friends so much, and even though it is only an 1.5 hr drive it still meant that I wouldn't see them every day or even every week. It is hard to leave people that you love. I knew I was making the right choice though. I knew that D and I would love living in our house, that I'd enjoy being in the country, and most of all that I was living with my favorite person. Moving is always bittersweet I think. I chose to focus on the exciting and hope filled aspects.
November:
Ok, so the wedding began to come up REALLY quickly! There was much to do! There were dress fittings, design plans, etc. It was fun and crazy. D and I continued our pre-marital counseling. On Thanksgiving night My Dad, Grandma and Mom arrived from Wyoming and the wedding blitz began. Oh yes, and D's alma mater RHS won their division for state football. It was fun to go to games with him.
December:
I GOT MARRIED!!! The ceremony was beautiful, the lead-up was fun, and the wedding night in the B&B (with snow falling outside and a crackling fire inside) was just about perfect!
Christmas with my in-laws was different but very special. There were moments when I wished we could be in my home town, but I got to talk with my family and I had just seen them. I had time to get to know my new family and I loved that. It was a wonderful first married Christmas!
New Year's Eve we had a little get together with friends and that was a fun way to ring in 2011.
And now we are 5 days into 2011. A lot happened in 2010 and may even more fill this year! May this year be a year of finding: a job, a publisher, and most importantly a deeper and abiding walk with Christ.
As I look back and see all that happened it is easy to see that God was at work orchestrating events. It excites to enjoy the memories, but to also anticipate what is coming up, so that I can always continue to move forward and grow.
-JP-
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