- I said goodbye to a guy that I was completely convinced I was going to be with for a very long time.
- I had emotionally draining, stressful roommate drama that even went so far as to involve the cops.
- I lost my job at a school I felt like was home and had to say goodbye to amazing coworkers that became good friends and a great community.
- I endured the job search once again.
- My great aunt passed away, which was the first close family member death in 15 years.
I honestly don't think I've cried so much in a year as I did in 2012. Many of those hard things above not only made me cry, but they made me ugly cry. Oy. Guess I'm not totally dead inside.
But, with those tough things came some great things. In fact, most of those hard things happened within the first half of 2012. The second half brought some awesome things.
- I co-captained a frisbee team and had a blast making losing fun.
- I grew closer to an awesome group of girls who I can laugh with, be spontaneous with, but also be real with and find support in.
- My niece Emily was born :)
- I found a new job doing what I love.
- I found a new (normal!) roommate that I get along with.
- I've continued to keep in touch and spend time with some close friends from my last school, which have included dinner dates, girls' movie nights, pool floating, a Badger game, and a Halloween party.
I love the New Year. I love reflecting upon the previous year, the good and the bad, and feeling the motivation to work on new goals. I went back and read the goals I made for 2012. I stuck to them okay, but I think I want to keep some of them (for a form of some of them) to hopefully continue to make them habits, not just goals to be accomplished once in a year. For 2012, I wanted to:
1. Have a NOR (Night of Reflection) once a week. - I stuck to this pretty well for a good portion of the year, but I've kinda fallen away from it recently.
2. Read 1 Christian devotional or "self help" book a month. - This is a lofty goal considering I'm not a huge reader during the school year. I'd like to keep the goal of always reading at least 1 devotional-type book, but I'm not going to put a time limit on it.
3. Blog about what God is teaching me or doing in my life once a week. - Again, I didn't really stick to this timeline, but I'd like to continue blogging on a somewhat regular basis to give myself time to stop and process life, as well as share it with those closest to me.
4. Read through the entire Bible with Blackhawk in 2012. - I stuck to this pretty well (I read 75%!), despite having to skip a few sections due to falling behind. The goal of this for Blackhawk was to make Bible reading a habit, not necessarily just reading through the Bible in a year. I feel like that goal was accomplished in me. I have made the time I get ready in the morning when I listen to the Bible passage for the day, and I enjoy reading on lazy weekend mornings. In 2013, I'd like to use the other plans on my Bible app to keep me in the Word daily.
The one goal I'm adding to 2013 is to work on finding/learning what my strengths are and figuring out how to use those to serve others. For Kenya, we had to take a spiritual gifts assessment, which was interesting. When I think of my strengths, I usually only can say I'm a good teacher. So, it was interesting to see what other things this assessment said I was good at. I'm also currently reading a book called You're Already Amazing, which helps women find their strengths, realize they are made exactly the way God wants, and live in a way that uses those strengths. Like I said before, I usually just see teaching as my strength. But, to be honest, the last thing I want to do on a Sunday is volunteer with/teach kids. That's what I do all week! I feel like it would just burn me out. So, this year, I'd like to realize my other strengths and learn how to use them to serve (at church, at school, with my friends, with my Kenya team, etc.). I'm tired of thinking about what I need/want to work on...it's time to start thinking about how I'm already a great person!
Happy New Year! Bring it 2013! :)
