I'm was just hanging out in the Denver airport, listening to some Joshua Radin and waiting for Katherine to arrive when I realized, today is the last day of the last month of 2010. The year will be over in a number of hours, craziness.
It's been a good year, a long year, a hard year, a changing year, a growing year, and quite a lot more. I became a vegetarian January 17th of this year. That was a big change. I hung out a ton in January with Charlie and Andre while they worked on recording music for the band they had, Walter Hall and the Fireside Chat. I worked at the pool and Delia's and somehow managed to do homework on top of it. 
In February we celebrated the fifth anniversary of Alex's adoption. On the one hand I can't believe we've had him so long, but at the same time I feel like we've had him forever. I can't really remember a time when Alex wasn't a part of our family. I remember the whole (lengthy) adoption process, but the kid is such a part of the family. I love him dearly, even if he can be a bugger at times. I don't think of him any differently than I do any of the other kids.
March brought a debate tournament, the last one I ever participated in in St. Louis. I debate with Charlie and we broke to Regionals. Totally unexpected. I remember also visiting KU's campus and eliminating the University of Illinois from my college list. At that point it was down to KU and DU, though I hadn't visited DU yet. I was pretty convinced I would attend KU...but that was before I visited Denver. 
April got crazy because of all the college applications and visits and acceptances. Insanity. The highlight though was definitely prom. I went with Samantha and Kelsey and Tess and Theresa, plus Kaitee and one of her friends. Mom made me a beautiful pink dress that I love. We got dressed at Samantha's house and almost got flooded in! It was raining super hard. At one point we looked outside and realized that the rain had gotten so high it reached nearly to the top of the wheels on my stationwagon. I tip-toed out, turned the car on, and slowly drove it through what looked like a river, parking it safely on the other side of the road (where there wasn't a ditch to collect the water). I was so afraid the car wouldn't start, or would stall, or float or something! We finally made it to prom, and managed to keep our hair and makeup and dresses dry. We danced so much. I'm a terrible dancer, but it was so fun. I'll never forget that night. 
Towards the end of May I finished highschool, and homeschooling, forever. Best feeling ever. Then I went to Houston to visit Grandpa and Grandma Gloria. They're the best grandparents ever. I love them so much! Grandpa gave me an awesome camera and taught me tons of stuff about photography. I have the worst memory and fear I've forgotten most of it, but I still definitely learned a lot and I appreciate his patience with me. Grandma Gloria is literally the sweetest person I've ever met. I don't know what I'd do without her. One night we went out and had dinner and watched Letters to Juliet. Such a cute movie. So cheesy and predictable from the first three minutes of the film, but sweet and adorable and heartwarming. The perfect watch-with-your-grandma movie. June brought summer and the opening of the pool. Oh how I love MFAC! We're one big family. It's fun and crazy and most definitely the best job ever. I so hope I can go back again this coming summer! I also became friends with Kaitee Bailey. We're not really friends now, I'm not really sure what happened. I guess some friendships just end, or maybe I'm just really incredibly boring. Regardless, we had a great summer hanging out, talking, staying up late, being crazy, and having fun.
August was a crazy rush of vacation and realizing that I left for college in a month! We went to New Hampshire for vacation, stopping in New York to visit Aunt Sharon, Uncle Ed, and little Mac on the way. We went in to NYC one day. It was great! I could never live in a city that huge and booming, as much as I love cities, but I do enjoy visiting them! The weather was lovely and I took lots of pictures. Plus Megan and I found pirate jackets that were the absolute bomb. In New Hampshire we visited the Kimball family. I love them. They're the best and such an inspiration. We always have so much fun visiting their family. I also got to talk to Brian a lot and my relationship with Jesus started to grow a lot after my conversation with him. Hearing about his college experience and how much God's grace and love and mercy have changed his life was very impacting. I got to hang out a bit with Jazzy in August too. I haven't seen her in years and it was so great to reconnect with her! Some friendships can just pick up right where they left off, no awkwardness or years between you, that's how it is with Jazzy. We had a great time, Marti and Megan too. We went and saw Despicable Me...definitely one of my all time favorite movies now! I've probably seen it around seven times. The last week before leaving for Denver was super hard. Many friendships seemed to end, a lot of people stopped talking to me. It was hard, losing so many people all at once. I didn't (and still don't) know what happened, or if I did something wrong. It's a struggle a lot of the time. I mean a lot of friends have left, and I can't help but wonder if I'm a common denominator to that. But I try really hard to love people and be the best friend I can be, and I just have to pray and trust for the best. I pray that if there is something I am doing to scare people away, God will show it to me so I can fix the problems. Either way, I'm gonna be here for people, to love them and serve them, no matter what. 
September meant...SCHOOL. And DU! Oh how I love college! The first week was a little hard. I didn't just connect with anyone and feared that college would be the same as highschool...all work and no play due to the sad lack of friends. Soon I really got to know my floor, and I love them to death! They're the best. The first month of school flew by, and I loved every minute of it. Really all the rest of school has been documented on here. September through November were great. I've made a lot of wonderful friends, especially Katherine, Alaina, and Andy. I love them all so much. A few friendships ended, sadly, but maybe for the best. I've grown so much in my relationship with God over the past months. I've had a relationship with Him for awhile, but never like this. I never understood the people who could be completely and totally happy with only Jesus. I wanted to, but I simply couldn't comprehend it, nor feel that way. I've come to that place. As much as I truly enjoy human company, food and clothes and shelter and internet and all the comforts of life, I do know that all I really need is Jesus. He's my father, best friend, comforter, savior. I can tell Him anything, and He will never stop loving me. Remembering the pain of losing friends, and dealing with the fear of other people leaving, there is so much comfort in the knowledge that He will never ever leave. He is here to stay, faithful and true and loving me more deeply than I can ever imagine, even when I mess up or fail or run away from Him. He's there, arms open, ready to love me and care for me and forgive me. So this year's been hard, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Senior year sucked, and some days I barely thought I could get through the loneliness and pain of rejection and few friends. But I got through it, by the grace of God. And college is more wonderful than I could have hoped. I didn't hope, for fear I would be disappointed. I've met such wonderful people who have helped me grow and loved me and I love them back. I pray they'll be there for a long, long while, but Jesus is here, no matter what. I've grown so much as an artist, too. Since taking my first official art class last year I knew that's what I wanted to do, but I've been able to explore it so much more in college. Not just photography, but painting and drawing and the 3D class was marvelous. I spent all of break painting a giant spoon on my wall. It's probably around 3 or 4 feet long and has tall buildings growing up out of the mouth of the spoon. I love it. I painted designs on the drawers of a bedside table and decoupaged the sides and top for Megan's Christmas present. I drew and took photos and am falling more and more in love with art all the time.
I've learned and stretched and hurt and laughed and cried and grown and smiled and I wouldn't trade anything for the experiences that have helped me grow closer to my Best Friend. I look forward to the next year, continuing my vegetarianism, friendships, education, art, and most of all, Jesus.
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