The Year in Review: 2013

Remember around this time last year I told you that 2013 was going to be the Best Year Ever? Well one thing I can tell you is that I grew out of saying things like "ever." Gah, everyone, let's let that go with 2013. "I have the cutest dog ever!" "My husband is the best ever!" I am going to start hiding your Facebook posts--for-ever.  Well, maybe not that far. But I do think that people should have to say "for me" after they say "ever". Your husband may be the best ever for you but I think it's an over generalization to claim any one is really the best at anything since the beginning of time. Unless we're talking about Usain Bolt. He really is the fastest runner ever.  Although there are probably some cavemen out there that have been chased by saber-tooth tigers that wish someone had been tracking their times. They should add a "run for your life" category to the Olympics and see how the results differ.
Anyway, I'm not saying I'm not guilty of the over usage of "ever" too, but let's all agree to move past it.

Well since this is a "Year in Review" I suppose I should tell you if it was the Best Year Ever. And you know how we should do this? With a Top 13 of 2013.

1-8. The most exciting and memorable thing I did in 2013 was travel extensively.
I took many flights from OKC to Lubbock throughout the year. You just can't beat some of those Southwest deals. I also put entirely too many miles on my car driving back and forth throughout both Spring and Fall semesters. That traveling was not my cup of tea. While I immensely appreciate the blessing of attending school, that was probably the worst part of 2013.
But then there's the fun travel. I am very fortunate to be in a department which supports graduate students traveling and presenting their papers at conferences across the nation. One of which is MPSA in Chicago. I was thrilled that they accepted my paper. PaPa Lo even came and got me for a day and showed me some great parts of downtown Chicago like the top floor of the Hancock building.

And Siva got to see Chicago and we even road tripped from Lubbock to Dallas for our flights. Looking back I'm not sure that saved us any money in the end, but we had a good time seeing new things. 

First Inn N Out Burger experience for both of us. 

And then there was the time that my life dreams were fulfilled when we went to Italy (and Greece and Malta and Croatia--which we didn't realize until about 2 weeks before we left). We flew into Genoa, Italy and took a cruise around the boot. This was an incredible experience and I am so glad I shared it with Matt. It turns out he enjoys travel more than I ever expected. 

The famous aquarium in Genoa, Italy. It really was incredible. 

Dubrovnik, Croatia. 

 I have always, always wanted to see Venice and I finally did. It really was as cool as I had expected. I feel so truly blessed that I got to have this experience.

GONDOLA RIDE! GONDOLA RIDE!!!!!

Over the summer we also went to Durango, CO (and Silverton) for John and Shana's wedding. It was like out of a magazine. We had a great time and it was great to be part of their day. 

Then we went on our annual lake trip. This year we went to Broken Bow, OK. I think it is such a blessing to get that many people together for a weekend. It is a little difficult to organize, but totally worth it. I hope we do it every year for-EVER.

And then Matt and I spent a large part of the fall meeting each other at conferences and other events across the country to spend time together. First stop: Houston, TX.

Fortunately, my big (Krissy) and her husband, Scott live in Houston so we had even more incentive to go to the first game of the year down in Houston. It was a great time even if my shoe did break as I was walking into the stadium. 

Next Stop: Portland, OR.

Portland was an extremely cool city. If you haven't been, stop what you're doing and start looking up good deals now. Rent a car and drive to the coast. Just do it. Do it sometime soon. Maybe 2014??

On to: New Orleans, LA.

We had a good time, but New Orleans is also kind of nuts and smells bad.
We (OSU) also lost to WVU which was supremely irritating and I thought I was going to get kicked out of the hotel for yelling at the TV.


And then there was Nashville, TN.
My little brother Joe and I presented a sustainability paper at a conference which led me to my dissertation topic which in and of itself was a HUGE portion of my year. HUGE. Like, pathway to graduating early and changing my life huge. It was an incredible trip and I can't understate the blessing of the whole thing. Spending time with my little brother was a memory that I will never, EVER forget.

Country Music Hall of Fame

And yes, I jumped on the opportunity to sing on stage. 

Like Brother, Like Sister

So those were the big trips for the year. Those are really the top 8 of the year because we would be here all day if I counted that as just one thing. We all have stuff to do and I need to work on that dissertation I was telling you about. Oh, and study for comps. Can we all take a moment to say a quick silent prayer for Shanna and her upcoming comprehensive exams? It's actually really irresponsible that I am even blogging right now. See you in February after it's all over.

9. Finishing Classes

As I try to continually express, I think being in school is such a blessing. I am grateful for my education. That I can pursue it, hell, that women are no longer oppressed in that way and that women are able to achieve what ever they want, including education. It wasn't that long ago that a woman pursuing her PhD was just unheard of. Especially not a woman from a traditional upbringing in the south. I should have probably had several kids by now and waiting for when my husband gets home. I also have great resources at my institution (like an advisor who understands what the hell I am trying to do--and also redirects me when I start going down a crazy path). What I am getting at is that I am grateful for the whole thing. I am also grateful that I am no longer traveling back and forth to school because it was exhausting and I don't think great for my overall well-being. I had no routine. I missed my husband. Some days I didn't see sunlight. I drank too much aspartame. I saw this view basically all the time. Now I can look at my computer from home with my adorable dog in my lap who is apparently starving for attention.

10. This Girl Moved Back

I missed Lo so much and she finally quit that living all over creation nonsense (like I am one to talk). She is back in the great state of Oklahoma and I couldn't be happier. She is one of my most favorite human beings and I am so happy to see more of her.

Oh and she is standing in front of me in most of these pictures because we both think our left side is out best side and we are both stubborn and wont give up the left side. How anyone tolerates us, I don't know. 

11. And she got married. 

Oh Hef. Move back to Oklahoma already! It was so great to have her back for a couple of visits. We are the strangest trio of friends, but we just work. It was a high light of the fall to get to see my dear friend. 

12. My friendship with this guy grew

Siva is such a good friend. I just can't understate it. He helped me so much this year from school stuff to life advice. It has been so much fun being his friend. He also married the lovely Yamuna this year and now that she will be living with him come January I can feel better about the leaving him in Lubbock part while I stay here in OKC. I will try to visit them as often as I can. 

13. So deeply blessed and loved by God

I can't tell you how many times I felt God pushing me forward this year. He blessed me with an incredible husband who doesn't simply tolerate all of this craziness, but embraces it and supports me in ways that would have made all of this nearly impossible without him. God picked the perfect mate, not EVER, but For Me.

I did a pretty good job of avoiding work on Sundays even though some days that seemed entirely impossible. I thought, "If I give up Sunday there is no way I will accomplish this task." Every single time, not only did I accomplish it, but I thrived with what ever task I was concerned with and God proved that He is always faithful when I put my trust in Him. We had several financial benefits as well as hard ships. I was in 2 car accidents within 1 month in January. Both of which were my fault and I paid for them. I HATE to waste money. I also broke my phone and various other slip ups. We did some work on our home which were excellent improvements, but also uncovered some not so quality work of the previous owner which of course cost us more money. I hope that now I am home and we can have more routine I can better help in money management which is something I think people should continually pursue. 

I didn't really meet any fitness goals this year like I wanted (and want every year). I did discover Yoga and I love it. It really helps with a lot of upper back pain that I get from sitting in front of a computer all day paired with traveling long distances. 

 I think I became a much better academic this year. I learned SO much. 

I had to take cover for a tornado this year which was terrifying. I also witnessed so  much loss from the Moore tornado which really impacted our state. It also showed the resilience of our state, and a place I am so proud to live in. 

I got 2 B's this year. 1 I deserved and the other I didn't. I aim for the 4.0 each semester. I also learned to let it go. Some things aren't worth worrying so much over. 

I could go on and on about this year but I better move on to another project. I am having a tacky sweater party/ornament exchange tonight because we had to reschedule it due to the weather last week. I think it will be a fun way to wrap up the year. We did a lot of party planning in 2013. We have had a great time, and gosh spending time with friend is such a blessing. One day we are all going to be too busy to get together regularly and so we should cherish this time while we can. I don't mind planning the parties so much as I am tired of chasing people down to RSVP. Let's all resolve in 2014 that if we're invited to a party we are going to be the sort of people who RSVP. Maybe I'll buy a stack of etiquette books and send them to people who don't RSVP after the event. I'll let you know if my Facebook friends start declining, haha. 

So was it the best year ever? I don't know. Since I'm not sure, I don't think so. As much as 2013 had a lot of great things, it was also really hard and too stressful. It was exciting, but I think I am ready for things to slow down a bit. My view of happiness is an unpacked bag, a dog in my lap, and my husband next to me in the chair and a half. It's home cooked meals. It's a glass of wine on the patio. Maybe 2013 aged me. Actually, I'm almost certain it has. I raise my glass to you 2014, let's see what happens. Maybe you'll be the best year EVER.

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18,478 Hello Finals.

18,478. Minutes? Midnight? Cups of Coffee? Miles? No this isn't a "Rent" song.... but now that I think about it, it feels strangely appropriate.

18,478 is the number of words that I have submitted in the last week and a half. That includes a research proposal (1,530), discussion questions for my Congress class (453), 1st Question of Final for Congress (1,700), 2nd Question for Final for Congress (1,781), Public Budgeting Term Paper (5,947), and my second year paper (7,068). 9,428 of those I submitted today.

I don't really like to complain about school because 1) If you look at Facebook, it's become a cliche, and I hate cliches 2) The majority of the time, my job (and yes this is my job- which I determine by the fact that I work much more than 40 hours a week, and I also get paid a salary) is actually pretty great. I set my own hours for the most part, I get to turn my ideas into potential pieces of (hopefully) valuable literature, I like to learn, I like to teach, and I get to meet a lot of really interesting people and 3) Complaining makes me feel really ungrateful because at the end of the day I am ridiculously blessed for this experience.

So I am not going to complain. This is more of a "State of My World".

Siva and I have decided to go nocturnal. Which means that we are now working late in the lab and sleeping during the early hours, contrary to the school year when I typically get up early. I think he's actually been going nocturnal for years, so it's more like I am joining him.  If you can get yourself to get past the sleepiness of the first few nights, working up here at night is awesome. No one is here! (Which is also sort of creepy). No distractions. Just one goal: produce papers like crazy.

This semester I have been going like a crazy person. I decided to take 12 hours instead of the typical 9 for graduate students because I want to finish my course-work early so I can quit driving to Lubbock. That was all good and well when I enrolled. Finals week is proving to be a little more trying. I've organized myself out day to day and as long as I stay on track I should be fine. Probably a few new wrinkles, but fine.

Now, to be fair, I have had my game face on, but it hasn't been all work and no play.  Last week I went to hang out with Kristina and her boys (which gives me baby fever. It would be helpful if they weren't so darn cute!). We drank wine and visited for a while and it was really nice. She some how has her kids go to bed at 7:30. I don't know how she does it, but when I do have kids I totally want her secret! They were total sports about it too! A-mazing.
Matt came down to Lubbock this weekend and brought my sweet dog and we had some family time. We went out to the Llano Estacado winery with my roommate Lauren and called it a chill weekend over all. It's really refreshing to see my boys, and helps me to propel through the rest of the semester.

Yesterday I spent 14 hours in the lab. I got so much work done though and I am on track for a good semester (I hope!). I promise my blog will get better over the summer and there are lots of exciting things to post about. I am looking forward to a great break, one step at a time. I suppose I'll start paying attention in class now. This guy kills me.

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Spring Break

I used to write in a journal regularly. I have probably 6-8 journals across my life at times being more motivated to write than others (sort of like my blogs, haha!). I had one of my journals at a trailor home that I was living in that my parents owned. This property flooded, and one of my journals drowned. It was extremely disappointed because journals take a long time. I still like to journal now and then, but often times I feel like my blog is sort of my online journal and it's nice to go back through from time to time to see how my perspectives have changed or how much fun I was having at the time. And you can't drown a blog.

So here's what I would journal about spring break. This will also result in few hand cramps =)


I traveled home on Thursday (perhaps skipped a class...) and listened to Jillian Michaels and David Ramsey podcasts counting down the miles until I was home. I'm not really the type to get homesick, but I was certainly sick of not being at home. Pistol was pretty stoked when I got home. He really knows how to make a girl feel welcome. I always imagine him thinking "Is it really you!???!??!?" and then he gives me lots of kisses and makes me play fetch, but he never actually gives me the toy. Makes me work for it.
That night Matt and I went to see Identify Thief. Pretty cute. Perhaps worth waiting for the rental.

Friday morning I went to Stillwater to get my hair cut. My poor hair stylist, I have to make her crazy because I always go wayyyyyyyyy too long before getting my hair cut. I also felt all together un-put-together in general. I was pale. I had crazy eye brows. My hair was nuts. My nails were shameful. So Donella got me all fixed up in the hair department and then I went to have lunch with my little brother. Then I worked in the OSU library. I felt like home!

On Saturday I went to Alpha Delta Pi State Day in Stillwater. It was a nice event. Meanwhile, Matt and Joe went to the Kansas State basketball game. We then ate and headed home. We went to dinner at Urban Wine Works in the artsy area of OKC (or at least that's what I call it) with Na'Cole and Jordan. We had a really nice visit and worked out some bridesmaidsy stuff for Heather's wedding.

On Sunday we went with Matt's mom and dad to a Thunder game! They played the Celtics and won! It was a really nice time and Lisa scored some impressive seats!

At some point Matt and I finally picked up a couple of items to fill this blank space on our wall that has been making me crazy since we moved in. We worked while watching Teen Mom 2. Don't judge us.

 It appears that I forgot to take an "after" picture.

Our good friend Matt came over on Sunday  night and had dinner with us. It was so nice to catch up with him! We are happy to have him in the city even if he works 160 hours a week.

 I went back to Stillwater to work on Monday and had lunch with Joe. He was very proud of the set up the Delts put together for Zeta Olympics. That's their flag raised the highest. Woooo.


On Tuesday I went to go see my best friend, Danielle back at home. She has a new place so I got to check it out. Sooo much space that house has! I'm really happy for her. We had a nice day with lunch, shopping, and overall catching up. I also got to hang out with her little girl who lights up my world!

My mom and I had a nice evening and got our nails done and had dinner.

On Wednesday I did a little work. Very little work.
Then Danielle and Kyle came over for dinner and a nice visit. I branched away from pinterest and actually made something out of a cook book that I got as a wedding present (Thanks Brandi and Rusty!). It turned out pretty well. The company was also really nice.

Thursday I had dinner with a few Adeepi's at The Mule in the same downtown OKC artsy area where Urban Wine Works is. It was a neat restaurant with good food, and again, great company. I did almost cause a ridiculous scene when I tried to parallel park in the street in a very awkward situation. I had to abort the mission to park a million miles away.

Then Meredith came over and we had drinks and planned out Lucy's upcoming baby shower. Well, we 10% planned, 90% caught up. Meredith probably doesn't know that she's one of my most favorite people. I always have a really good time when we hang out. AND Lucy's shower is going to be awesome. Super excited. I'm still trying to get Lucy to name her daughter Shanna, Octavia, or Eugenia (10 bonus points if you  know why those names are significant).

On Friday Matt was off so we started the garden project from crazy town.. It was fun though.

I also had a pinterest win! I don't always have pinterest wins, but this little macaroni mini pie was deeeeeeeeeeeeeelish. Find it here. This has to be the least healthy thing I have ever cooked, but my goodness, if the end is near I want to go out eating this every day. Matt also really liked them a lot too, so that was a plus. Typically he'll eat the things I make out of politeness, but I can usually tell if he would prefer that it's not a repeat event.

So we worked all day Friday and most of Saturday. Then we capped off Saturday with some wine-a-ritas and played the Modern Family board game that I bought brand new at Goodwill! We're a little obsessed with Modern Family.

We finished up our garden project on Sunday and then we went to a hot tub show "just to look". Then we impulse bought a hot tub.....

Post to come on our back yard make over!

Overall, I feel much better after having spring break. I got to see so many people including both sets of parents. I spent quality time with Matt and Pistol. I got myself put together. No longer pale, ugly nails, split ends, and I got several days of good work out! It all went by too fast, but I'm still grateful for the time.

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Top Events These Days

I'm a horrible blogger these days!! Which never means that I'm not up to anything so I have nothing to report (triple negative?), it means that I am up to too much and don't have time to report. I have about 30 minutes before Meredith gets here to take me to the airport (Bless that Woman!!) so I'll try to squeeze a post in.

 Well first, school has started up again. I really enjoy my classes, but whew, it's hard work. Just for grins (or frowns) I started writing down my hours for the week. I like numbers, what the hey! 62.5 hrs between Monday and Friday. Ouch.

I have been working on some really cool projects though! I'll spare you the details but if you're an environmental nerdy nerd it would be right up your alley!

 In more exciting news, I found a coffee shop that I like to camp out at and get work done. Working in an office of 4 people isn't so bad. Working in an office with 4 people next to 4 offices with 4 people and one of those offices SCREAMS the game Risk (what the hell is Risk?), well.. that's not conducive to good nerdy nerd environmental work.

Football season has started which is exciting. I don't care so much about the football part, but I DO love getting to be with family and friends and football seems to bring all of that together. Yes, I do commute up to Oklahoma for all of the OSU games. Yes, I am looking forward to when I live her permanently.

Now go back through and look at the pictures of Matt and I. Notice the lady in all of our pictures??? She's even smiling in one!

 

 

I got to be in the first wedding that wasn't my own! Matt's long time friend Marrik got married in September and she asked me to be a guest book attendant. I was really honored and thrilled to be part of her special day. Matt was an usher in the wedding, so it was fun to be in a wedding together (well, another one).

 

 

 

I was also asked to be a Bridesmaid in one of my dear friend's wedding next Fall! Hef (Heather) is going to be a beautiful bride and I am REALLY excited about this event. I want to create a "Hef's Wedding" board on Pinterest but decided that might be a little nuts. See, I have self control.

 

 

 

 

 

 Last week, I went to L.A. for a Sustainability conference to present a paper on how universities adjust their water usage during droughts (nerdy nerd, I know!). It was a GREAT conference. I like being surrounded by "my people". We went to Hollywood Boulevard and I am crossing the street and WHO do I see?????? HONEY BOO BOO CHILD!!!!!!!!!!!!! I walked backward back to the side I originated on and talked to her and her ever so eloquent mother, June. June was wearing make up. I was very proud of June. They gave me a signed picture which is going up in my office just as soon as I get to Lubbock.

I also went to Disney Land!!!! (One day I'll blog about the baby bucket list). I finally got the ride the tea cups. This has been a life time endeavor. When my family went to Disney World when I was 7, my mom wouldn't let me ride the tea cups because SHE got sick on them when SHE was like... 7. So this was a first order of business. And I didn't get sick.

As a Political Science student, and as an overall citizen, I've been trying to keep up with the election. I hope to do a political post (you love 'em!) soon if I can find the time. No matter what side you're for, I hope that you at least take the time to vote. A lot of people have fought for the right to vote, so if nothing else, just honor them who made it a possibility. Plus it's fun. Wear Red, White and Blue. I do.


I'll try to post again soon! Now I gotta get my bag together because Meredith will be here in a bit!

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Okay, I'll Update, then Back to the Thesis!

I am going to provide a brief update and then get back to work. I get all of these great ideas and then I realize that if I don't get myself in gear, I'll never finish this crazy thesis. I'll give you a little run down of the last week, because in the world of Shanna, it was actually a pretty big week.

Monday- Finally made it back to work! I never thought I would be so happy to go to work. I HATE snow! I also am a busy body and staying in the house for 6 days straight was wayyy too much for me!

Tuesday- Got rollin' with the thesis. Seriously made some progress. Stayed the night with Meredith and had dinner with she and Jess. I always love an opportunity for good fellowship. Then Meredith and I went back to her house and watched The Biggest Loser to feel better about ourselves. Don't judge.

Wednesday- More freakin snow. I spent the whole day at Meredith's house while she was at work. Sometimes I'm glad that I work for a school. It's nice to get a paid day off. Meredith also has an awesome house so I was comfortable. Her townhouse reminds me of Sex & The City meets Tulsa. Her closet would make any girl go weak in the knees. She also has about 9 million episodes of How I Met Your Mother on her DVR, so between that, Breaking Dawn (don't judge!) and my thesis, I was entertained all day!
Someone put this on their facebook, I literally laughed out loud, and I couldn't agree more!

Thursday- back to work! Oh, and my uncle who lives in England showed up with a friend. It was a good visit, but how many things can happen in one week? Lots.
Now I'm applying to the Texas Tech Political Science Ph.D. program. When I visited back in August they said they only accept and fund 6 applicants. 6. Yikes. Well I put all of my information together: letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, transcripts, GRE scores, and of course the application. I sent it in and then I waited desperately by the mail box every day. Is the letter here yet? Yes or no?!? Put me out of my agony! All the while knowing, I have no back up plan. The Lord will always make things work out, but I put my whole heart into my application and I'm counting on it. I prayed the whole way home on Thursday because I had a pretty good feeling my letter would arrive that day (stupid snow delayed the mail!). I walked to the mail box. Bill. Bill. Magazine. Solicitation. And at the back... big, very light, manilla envelope. Holy Moly. I took it into the house. I made my dad come into the kitchen while I opened it. I read the first line and put it down, crying. "Dear Shanna, I am pleased to offer you a teaching assistantship in the Political Science department at Texas Tech University." The only other time I can think of crying from happiness was the day that Matt proposed. What a blessing! Matt called as I was crying, I answered "I got into Tech!", he replies "What?!? You got in a wreck!??!" He gives me a new reason every day to marry him.
I have been living on Cloud 9 since Thursday evening, and I don't think anyone can bring me down. Not for a little while anyway.
Friday- I had a meeting with all of my committee members on Friday in Stillwater. That was stressful. Not enough to ruin my time up on Cloud 9, but those men make me crazy. We straightened things out, and now I've got about a million and seven things on my "to do" list. I also found out that I am winning an award for presenting at the research symposium. They told me I won because I'm the only person in our department participating. I'll take it!
Saturday- I learned that if you sit in Starbucks for 2 hours working on your thesis, you will indeed smell like Starbucks for the rest of the day and there's nothing you can do about it. Katie met up with me and she helped me pick out 2 dresses for up coming bachelorette and shower parties. Yay! Then we had lunch at Cheddars and made it over to see Josh & Aimee and their precious new addition to the world, Myles. Ah he's a cutie. I would show you a picture but I forgot my phone cord. Then Katie and I took care of some errands, went and saw No Strings Attached, and finished off the evening at the Cheese Cake Factory with appetizers, wine and of course, cheese cake. It was Divine! It was such a fun day. Glad Katie and I randomly decided to hang out. I like that girl.
Sunday- Got myself organized after a crazy week. Danielle's sister, Roxie, had a baby shower so I went to that. Then when I went to leave I got stuck in the mud and it was really frustrating and covered my car in mud, but eventually I got out. Obviously. I had a dellllllllllicious dinner with the fam and Danielle came over and talked wedding what not.
Monday- Today is Valentine's day. I think Valentine's day is dumb. I have the luckiest future husband in the world. This is a made up holiday and I just don't get all worked up about it. It's never been my thing. I also think it's criminal how much flower shops charge on Valentine's day. I would totally prefer some "Hey it's Tuesday and I was just thinkin' of you so I sent you some flowers to make your day" flowers. Matt usually just sends "I'm sorry" flowers so I guess my favorite flowers are the ones that I buy for myself at the farmer's market. Matt did send me and awesome card that I waited to open until this morning. It gave me a huge smile and is probably the best Valentine's gift I have ever gotten. So, if you're into Valentine's day, then Happy Valentine's Day !!! Woo! Go feel loving and yada yada! If you're like me, then Happy Monday!!! Do something nice for someone just 'cause!

Until next time.....

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The Top 10 of 2010

Yea Yea it's already the 5th and 2010 is long gone, but that video blog took me forever to upload so I was a little burned out on blogging for a bit. But to celebrate the year, I thought I would do another "Top 10" and we'll do it for the entire 2010. These are in chronological order, not order of significance. Here goes:

10. Going to Vegas with Matt for Valentines weekend was too much fun. It was our first big trip together. We had so much fun and it was a great opportunity to realize that we love doing things like that together. I also made my first sports bet and won. Go Pokes!

9. Watching the 2 sweetest babies grow into 1 year olds has been such a blessing. I consider myself an aunt to both of them. Serenity is my best friend's daughter and Ian will actually be my nephew in May (Ian is Matt's sister's son).

8. Completing my course work for my graduate degree was awesome. I really felt accomplished and gained a great deal of knowledge that will be very beneficial to my future. I am glad that spring 2011 only holds my thesis work. I am using the term "only" rather loosely, I'm probably going to be an enormous ball of stress before too long.

7. Getting Engaged!!!! (If I were ranking these in order of significance, obviously this one would be #1). Planning a wedding has had it's ups and downs, but knowing at the end of it all, I will be marrying Matt makes every thing else seem small.

6. Going to Costa Rica this summer was incredible. The 1st part was educational, and not only taught me a lot about science, but also a lot about relationships and who you can trust. I learned some important life lessons on that trip and learned them in the most beautiful place in the world. I will never forget backpacking for a week. I really proved to myself what I am capable of. I was really blessed to backpack with the 2 people who went with me at the very last minute. They are brave humans!

5. My Big's Wedding. My big in Alpha Delta Pi, Krissy, is extremely special to me and I knew the moment she told me that she was engaged that no matter where it was, I would be at her wedding. She got married in the mountains in Keystone Colorado. It was the most beautiful ceremony. I also had the opportunity to stay with some great friends (and fellow sisters) in an amazing condo. The place was nice, but the fellowship was incredible. I walked away from that trip with a memory of a life time. What ever it cost, it was worth every penny.

4. This year has been phenomenal in the relationship department. Matt and I are learning a lot about ourselves and who we want to be as a wedded couple. He has been so amazing and generous. I've loved the opportunity to fly to Midland to work on what will be "our" house. Our home. It's where we got engaged, it's where we will start everything.

My other relationships have thrived as well. 2010 was a great year for catching up with friends. I visited my friend, Amanda, in Denver twice this year. I also have got to love on her sweet baby Claire too. I'm her Aunt Shanna too. That's 3 babies. I also have a cousin Khi that's about 1.5 years now and he makes my heart melt. that's 4 babies! I've gotten to spend more time with my aunt and cousins this year and there's nothing more important than family.

Finally, it's been a great year for spending time with my girlfriends around Tulsa. Specifically Meredith and Hasley. You know I'm so nostalgic, and I really do savor every moment I get to spend with my girlfriends before I move. Even Danielle has moved back to our home town so it's great to just drive a couple of miles to get to see her. I even Skype with little Lo Lo since she moved. Anna and I email all the time.

I have even gotten closer to Matt's family in the last year. It's been really nice to get to know my new family better. His sister is letting my borrow her veil for the wedding and I thought that was the nicest gesture. AND it's beautiful.

3. My baby brother. He gets his own section. I have had such a great year spending time with him. He really is one of my best friends. I love watching him play basketball. He is an incredible human being and I am going to miss him so much.

2. My child! I really do love our dog. It's silly and I would totally make fun of someone for acting this way about an animal, but aw, he's so precious.

1. I woke up every morning this year. I am free. I am breathing. I am loved. I have been so blessed this year, more than I ever deserve to be.

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