A year of change, a year of growth, and a year of blessings!
• Graduated College
• Started my first ‘real’ job
• Watched my two best friends get married
• Traveled the world
• Moved to Houston and started my new life!
• Reunited with friends in Htown
• Left my amazing church family at Twin City, only to find my new niche at Southside in Pasadena!
I’ve never had a year jam packed full of such incredible memories, emotional moments, and character defining times. God has blessed me greatly in 2008 and I know He will continue to do so in 2009!
Happy Holidays and have a blessed Christmas!
This is probably my last post of 2008, so Merry Christmas or as they say in Hawaii 'Mele Kalikimaka.'
I LOVE lists. They appeal to my organizational fervor. I found this list to be particularly interesting in comparison to where I'm at in life. Skim over it and see what you think.
This list is from Craig Dunham & Doug Serven’s book Twentysomeone:Finding Yourself in a Decade of Transition
1. See the Grand Canyon
2. Get libretto, learn the words, and then take in a great musical or opera.
3. Go to Africa.
4. Read great books. Pick out a list and start working through it.
5. Meet with God every day.
6. Get out of debt.
7. Learn another language.
8. Go on a mission trip.
9. Reconcile with your parents and siblings.
10. Buy some original art and hang it up in your home.
11. Listen to classical music
12. Climb one of the fourteeners in Colorado (or the Alps for that matter).
13. Do something crazy—skydiving, swimming with dolphins, running with the bulls, etc.
14. Invest in understanding yourself by getting some counseling while you’re young.
15. Decide to marry only the Right Person in the Right Way at the Right Time. Don’t settle for anything else.
16. Occasionally give money away when it doesn’t make financial sense.
17. Adopt a team and root for them.
18. Take your kids, nieces, or nephews to a game of the team you’ve adopted.
19. See the castles and cathedrals in European cities.
20. Read through the Bible several times and get to know what’s in it.
21. Make true friends and keep them.
22. Recycle and start a compost pile.
23. Learn to like Bob Dylan. He’s worth it.
24. Paint, draw, write, sculpt, create.
25. Know what you believe and why. Truth matters.
26. Pay off your credit cards every month.
27. Swim in the ocean
28. Pray at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and walk where Jesus walked.
29. Thank your teachers.
30. Put some money in mutual funds.
31. Drink strong black coffee and grind your own beans.
32. Learn to make a dish that becomes your specialty.
33. Write letters like songs and songs like letters.
34. See the Egyptian pyramids.
35. Become a member of a church and get involved there.
36. Encourage your pastor
37. Visit your grandparents.
38. Mentor someone younger than you.
39. Take 500 spontaneous road trips that don’t have a purpose. Just to have fun on the road.
40. Plant some roses or tulips or rhubarb or anything and then learn to take care of them.
41. Memorize Bible verses
42. Vote
43. Read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien at least twice.
44. Listen to Garrison Keillor.
45. Go to a pro hockey game and sit as close to the rink as possible.
46. Learn to play an instrument, however poorly. Take lessons. It will help your other creative endeavors, and you may just love it.
47. Turn off the television.
48. Go whale watching.
49. Read a newspaper every day.
50. Go to nursing homes and hang out with the elderly every now and then.
51. Keep a journal.
52. Record an album of original music and lyrics and keep it for posterity, even if the quality is poor.
53. Send hand-written thank-you notes.
54. Visit your friends where they live now, and enjoy the time catching up.
55. Learn to take good pictures and throw out the ones that are bad so they don’t clutter up your desk.
56. Join a local softball, hockey, basketball, or volleyball league. And play nice.
57. Build your personal library.
58. Give away your stuff. (You really don’t need as much as you think you do.)
59. Come up with a realistic and workable filing system so you know where important things are and you can find them when you need them.
60. Disable your call waiting and just talk to whomever you were talking to in the first place.
61. Be mindful of the gas level in your car (and do something about it!) so you don’t frustrate your spouse.
62. If you’re married, don’t wait too long to have kids.
63. Call people older than you “sir” and “ma’am” just to be courteous.
64. Listen to good teaching tapes.
65. Fast once a month
66. Clean your refrigerator and bathroom regularly.
67. Volunteer
68. Know where the best parks and used bookstores are in your town and visit them frequently.
69. Camp out every once in a while, and enjoy sleeping under the stars.
70. Always buy used cars. (Let someone else pay for the depreciation).
71. Hang up a world map somewhere in your home.
72. Celebrate holidays for the real reasons they were created.
73. At least once a month or so, get up early and make sure you see the sun come up.
74. Keep a “People and Praise” file so that when you get notes of thanks and affirmation, you can keep them for when you’re feeling blah.
75. If you’re single, invite over your married friends; if you’re married, invite over your single friends.
76. Eat popcorn and apples on Sunday nights.
77. Attend community theater, no matter what the review in the local paper says.
78. Call talk-radio shows and make good points if you get on.
79. Allow people at least one quirk.
80. Start a book club with nonbelievers.
81. Be gracious (especially in public) when you don’t get your way.
82. Sew together a blanket out of all your old T-shirts so you don’t have to throw them away just because you don’t wear them anymore.
83. If you have a hobby, invest in good equipment so you can do it well.
84. Throw a surprise party for someone.
85. Try to develop the habit of eating meals at the same times each day (this will help if and when you ever start eating regularly with someone else later on in life).
86. Get a library card and use it at least once a month.
87. Take walks.
88. Get to know the person who delivers your mail.
89. Got to free art shows and pretend you’re at the Louvre.
90. Get some of your wedding pictures taken in black and white.
91. When you eat out, forgo the chains and support local establishments.
92. If you own a vehicle, keep it from becoming a pigsty.
93. Go to the dentist and eye doctor regularly.
94. Bring doughnuts or bagels to the office for your co-workers every now and then.
95. Sing hymns or original songs to your kids before you go to bed.
96. Seek out someone to mentor you.
97. Look at your baby pictures and reflect on where you’ve been since they were taken.
98. Talk to store clerks.
99. Start to memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
100. In everything you do, seek to answer the question, Who am I?
I like that list!! I think I'm gonna swap out some of those for new ideas though, and do all of them, I mean I'm not 20 yet I have 10 years still :) haha..
I was talking with a coworker who gets appalled every time she hears “Seasons Greetings.” She always tries to respond with “Merry Christmas”
because she said that is what the holiday is all about anyway. We even got into how she knows that Christ wasn’t born in December, it is just a time she chooses to celebrate His birth.
i'm annoyed with the people that insist on happy holidays. it's so ridiculous. say whatever you want to say. it's the christmas/holiday season. just be happy :)
why would we need to set apart a day to celebrate His birth if we are told to commemorate His death every first day of the week? I see nothing inherently wrong with it, but its not necessary to single out a day.
If someone wants to talk about it, then I'll bring it up..but I'm okay w/ people focusing a little more on God. Course I'm not about to put up some shepherds and wise men together
Good for her for not worrying about being politically correct... for real. Romans 6 talks about how some choose to esteem one day over another and others esteem all days the same. So if you choose to use the time to focus a little more on God that's great do it in full faith. If you choose to not at all and choose rather to remember God and Christ's birth (His death is what is more important anyway) that do it whole heartedly. Just my opinion. But I get annoyed when people try to hard to be PC... just say Merry Christmas... if you're Jewish say Chanukkah... et cetera...
i think it's funny that people can't leave the "Christmas really isn't Jesus' birthday" comment unsaid. who cares?!?! there's nothing wrong with people wanting to remember the Savior's birth, even if they celebrate it on the "wrong" day (as if there is a wrong day to celebrate Jesus)
lace! if you are trying to call me my phone doesn't work! it won't take or make calls. and I tried to text you and it won't let me! must be the weather or something... i will try later tonight!!!! love you!!!
I'm so excited the holidays are finally here!!! I've been looking forward to vacation for SO long! This is my favorite time of year!
THIS WEEK: Headed to Mountain View, Arkansas to spend time with my Mimi and Pappy & Family for the Holidays!
NEXT NEXT WEEK: Brandon's Graduation in CS!
NEXT NEXT NEXT WEEK: Lacy and Travis' Wedding!!!!
DEC 23 Nutcracker Ballet
DEC 24/25 Kirkwood Christmas festivities!
THEN DEC.26-JAN 3 Christmas in Hawaii with the whole family!! I'm very much looking forward to that!
Have a wonderful Holiday!! We have so much to be thankful for!
I see you know my family! A couple of them were mentioning your name and then it donned on me lol. Did you know Jennifer Dulak, Stephanie Nite, Anna Kay Meadows, and Cara Moseley (not sure if you know her) are my cousins and Michael Nite is my uncle. Hehe. :D
Hawaii for Christmas? Sounds amazing! If you're on the island of Oahu, you should attend church at Leeward COC. The preacher there, Anthony Genton, was our preacher in West Virginia. Hope you are doing well!
