2009 and Me

An affair for the ages, I'd say. Here's how it went down:

January

the marriage of Chris & Corey. had a minor breakdown early on in the semester when I discovered that I had to drop all my beautiful writing classes and take 18 credits of stinkier ones, but ultimately decided that Special Education was still worth it. our wild rumpus of a year began with the first ever Dare Night.

February

was finally accepted in to the Special Education major--and felt great about it! Also, Brie made it in to the art program, which called for a double celebration.

March

studying, learning Romanian, reading Levinas, etc.

April

finals. goodbye to great roommates and the blue house. goodbyes to my family, who are growing used to this sort of thing now. embarked overseas to the mysterious land of Romania. settled in to my new, quirky apartment.

May

familiarized myself with Romania. made surprising friends in the Iasi branch through peculiar means. attended two Romanian baptisms. found myself in the dancu apartment: one part frustration, two parts laughter, three parts adorable. ran. a lot. saw my first European circus. took a weekend trip to the prettiest corner of Romania: Maramures. I've never seen so much beautiful greenery in all my life. here the men tip their hats at you as you walk by and stray chicken run across the road.

June

continued work with the kids. visited several monasteries near Iasi. made a mid-semester pilgrimage to Brasov with Trish and Rands. filled a week and a half with unbelievable raucousness and met some of the most interesting people.

July

turned 21 and celebrated by playing BS with shots of warm carbonated water. saw Harry Potter 6 in theaters. gave a talk in Romanian in church that went somewhat awry. [so humiliating!] organized and held a mini girl's camp as a part of my calling in the branch as YW activities coordinator.

August

said the hardest goodbye i may ever say. cried my guts out. traveled around a bit in Vienna, Prague, Munich, and Salzburg. landed on American soil. renewed my driver's license. took Michelle's senior pictures. flew to the Alaska State Fair to flip burgers and dip dogs at Dean's Corndog Corner for a few weeks.

September

moved in to the world's most adorable house. began school again; fell in love with my classes, fell in love with my professors, fell in love with my future in Special Education. started my new job at the Writing Center--man, i love that place. [check out the podcast.] adventured for a few days with my dear Courty who traveled all the way from Auburn to see me! roadtripped to Rupert for Brie's farewell.

October

fall happened. Tuffy moved in for a while. went home for Nigel's homecoming. decided to start work on my mission papers. had a weekly Sunday D.P. (dance party) in our living room in front of the open window. ran in to a bout of carbon monoxide poisoning and hung out in a hyperbalic chamber for a few days, yet still had time to save the galaxy (or at least a big, happening party) with my main man han solo as princess leia for Halloween. all in a day's work.

November

hosted a mini Christmas party early enough that I think we made Thanksgiving feel bad. we just couldn't wait! spent Thanksgiving reading the Hunger Games and chowing down with the fam in Salt Lake City.

December

ate my first protein burger at the new In-N-Out in Provo for the first time. perused a very eclectic, very awesome Beehive Bazaar, where we picked up some gifts for all our little sister missionaries out in the field. saw my visiting teacher perform in the musical Savior of the World, which took me back to the Holy Land for a couple of hours. finals. goodbyes again. packing again. had wisdom teeth removed and have probably never been more talkative or more of a crybaby. drove home. took this mission photo. Christmas festivities of all sorts--Chris and Corey even came. slept in past 8 on Christmas morning, which is unheard of, with positive feedback from the old Saint himself. rang in the new year at Merrits. Classic.

whew.

who even knows where I'll be in 2011?!