NEW YEAR...NEW BEGINNINGS

Wow. Another year has flown by. Christmas has come and gone. While 2007 may have ended a little rocky, the memories that I created this past year, will last me a lifetime. I am another year older now and quickly leaving my twenties behind. But if the rest of my thirties are half as good as my first year, I am hopeful and excited about what is to come. I anticipate that this new year will be full of transition and changes. Not because I will be moving every three months, but because I have decided to quit traveling at the end of this year. Where will I decide to roost? I have no clue...I'm kinda hoping it will come to me.


With the holidays and traveling home, that has not left much time for exploring. Since I have no new adventures to share, I thought I would recap my favorite moments of 2007 and revisit some of my favorite photos.


2007 started off with my first true "out of the country" experience. I counted down to the new year in a pub in Scotland. This is where I first realized that some men can make a skirt look good. I also realized that I have a deep passion for traveling and seeing new places. Now if I could just win that lottery. When I returned back to reality in South Carolina, it was there that I discovered another passion. I love working with voice disorders and head and neck cancer patients. I finally have some direction. Went snow skiing for my first time in NC and loved it.

Took an assignment in Oregon and made a cross country drive by myself. I was fascinated by the Indians in New Mexico and was left with my mouth gaping wide open as I stared into the Grand Canyon. I imagined the life of a movie star as I explored Hollywood and Malibu, and I was amazed at the beauty of the scenery as I left Northern California and entered Southern Oregon. I kayaked through small canyons and held on for dear life through rapids. I fell in love with nature and sleeping under the stars. I crawled through caves and hiked to the summit of mountains. I played in snow and marveled at waterfalls cascading over mountain sides. I felt small as I stared up at the Redwoods and saw the most beautiful coastline that I had ever seen. I learned to salsa. I enjoyed fine wines and beautiful views of vineyards in the valley. I completed "Harvest Bootcamp" and relaxed on a blanket while listening to great music. I fished in beautiful rivers. I saw the Golden Gate Bridge and dined in the top of the Space Needle. I made a cross country drive back home with my dad...a memory that will always stand out in my mind. We saw snow capped mountains, canyons, buffalo, and moose. We gazed at Mt. Rushmore and were left perplexed by the Corn Palace. But the greatest thing we saw was home.


Fast forward to Thanksgiving and visiting with family and friends. All it took was one little fall and landing in an awkward position. So, here I am, about to turn thirty one. I have a cast on my arm because I broke my hand and my focus is now on getting adequate calcium. My worries have now shifted to how to open bottles and button my pants. I started a new assignment in North Carolina and found myself challenged to perform my job with one hand. I soon acclimated and now have become quite ambidextrous. I lost my grandmother and faced another reality that time and life don't stop. It keeps going and you have to go with it. Which brings us back to my initial subject...the new year. Did I make some resolution to exercise more? No. Although I am trying to eat less foods with preservatives. What I did resolve to do is best summed up by Max Lucado: "Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest."