2016 was a year....

I think 2016 is going to go down in history as a tumultuous year. Between the crazy political year, the sudden deaths of so many influential people, and the constant news cycle that seems never ending, 2016 has not been a good year.   But, as we are about to finish this year, I have looked back on all of my posts for the year.  What I thought was horrible, was actually pretty amazing.

Some highlights:

  • I turned 40 and survived!  I normally love my birthday.  I mean, a day devoted just to me???  Um, yes please!  This one though, was tough.  Our church does a Christmas program for three Sundays in a row in December where the choir sang in all three services all three weeks.  My birthday this year was on Sunday and so I knew that I had to be at the church from 6:30-12:00 that day and that I would be exhausted.  So, I wasn't looking forward to that aspect of the day.  Plus, there is something about 40 that hurts.  I kept watching all of my old high school classmates turn 40 and it was hard to imagine that all of these children that I grew up with were adult enough to be that old.  So, I cried a little, laughed a little, and celebrated becoming a full fledged adult.
  • I finished a half marathon.  It is still surreal that I crossed the finish line.
  • My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage.  In today's world, that is an amazing feat.  I am truly blessed to have parents that still love, laugh, and like each other after so many years together.
  • I celebrated 5 years with my company.  Even though I miss teaching, I am blessed to have a good job with a great boss.  
  • I became even healthier and stronger.  I started working out two times a week with a trainer and have learned that I can do the hard things.
So while the world is a scary, crazy, awful place, 2016 hasn't been so bad after all.  Here's to an even better 2017!!!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On this day....20 years in the making

Image
  June 20,2004... A day that was full of crazy adventures.  See  Year 10-Moving Day! for all the crazy details.  Not sure how it's been 20 years since I left with a dream in my heart and thinking it was only going to be for a year.  I thought for sure I would only be gone for one year.  How naive I was! When I was writing the 10-year posts, I thought ahead about the 20-year post. Where would I be?  What would I be doing?   I certainly did NOT see my life where it is now.  I was in corporate America living my life, hiding the part of me that wanted to be in the classroom, shoving it way down so I didn't have to think about it.  I know that time in my life was important.  It gave me confidence in who I am as a person, it gave me the strength to stand up for myself, and it showed me truly how to be a team player and the importance of relying on your coworkers to help you out in any situation.  But it certainly wasn't my pass...
Read more

They will know we are...

Image
There is an old song that I used to sing in Sunday School when I was a child and lately it’s refrain has been stuck in my head.  “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, they will know we are Christians by our love.”  Over the last week or so, I have come to the sad conclusion that this statement isn’t true.  We as Christians have forgotten how to love. The other day I was on Facebook checking something during my lunch break.  What I saw, however, was so disheartening and so unbelievably horrid that it made me LIVID.  Our governor had announced the reopening plan for schools and that we would still be in phase 2 of reopening.  The amount of hatred I saw over wearing a mask inside any public place was absolutely astonishing.  People that I had respected for their faith were saying that it was not going to happen.  They weren’t going to participate in it and it was against their rights.  The fact that there was so much hatr...
Read more

10 years.... 6 weeks

Part 2 After spending most of the trip talking to my friend, trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened, (yes, I was talking and driving) I arrived home and then things went into overdrive.  What followed was strange, bizarre, sad, terrifying, scary, exciting, and surreal.  Here was something that I had wished for and dreamed of for as long as I can remember (well, except for the 6 months I wanted to be a nurse and then I realized what all that job entailed... ).  This was it.  I was going to teach first grade.   I remember calling all of my family and friends and going through the story so many times I felt as if I could have written it on a poster board and just showed it where ever I went. There were many tears as I packed up my room.  I had been in that room for 20 years.  The last time I had moved, I was 7 and my mom did all of the packing.  There were days when I was so overwhelmed with the decision, that I know I wasn't...
Read more