day 30

Day 30: A picture

I made it to day 30!! It's fitting that I end this blogging challenge while also ending the year 2010. I cannot believe that tomorrow will be the start of a new year. Time has just FLOWN by. So here (in pictures) is a wrap-up of my year in 2010:

JANUARY

[Celebrated Stephanie's birthday by going up a ski lift to Mount Baldy]


[Attended my best guy friend's wedding]


FEBRUARY

[Hung out at the Oldenburgs with baby Tess]


[Tried snowboarding for the first time]


MARCH

[Found out my Grandma was getting really sick and spent some time with her]


[Worlds collided as I went snowboarding with my sister, 12 year long best friend, and best friend from Hillview]


APRIL

[Celebrated my 23rd birthday...eek!]


[Spent time with my sister in Escondido, visiting a park from our childhood]


[Decorated cottage as "Alice in Wonderland" for Spring Break Day at Hillview]


MAY

[Became tourists in California when JB came to visit!]


[Got a second hole in our ears]


JUNE

[Got away for a couple days in Idyllwild with Stephanie]


[Spent time with my sister after celebrating our Grandma's journey to be with her Savior]


[Went to Joshua Tree for the first time]


JULY

[Vacationed in the beautiful Bahamas with JB for two weeks]


[Had a BBQ on the beach with some good friends]


AUGUST

[My little sister turned 21]


[Said goodbye to Stephanie before she moved to Washington]


SEPTEMBER

[Happily soaked up some sun on the beach while my sister surfed her little heart out]


[Went sliding off my first waterfall...and lived to tell about it]


[Celebrated Erin's 23rd birthday]


OCTOBER

[Visited good friends on a vacation to Indiana]




NOVEMBER

[Celebrated Thanksgiving in Escondido with my family]


[Spent time with Erin, going to church, eating at Applebee's and seeing a movie...yes, this is a big deal because we hardly have time to see each other!]


DECEMBER (after finding pictures for this month, I realized that I spent time with all the people I love in December...a good relationship month)

[Had game nights and a photo session with my co-workers]


[Stephanie came to visit after being away for 4 long months!]


[Stayed the night in Julian with Erin]


[Spent time celebrating Christmas with my family and had good conversations with my Grandma]

day 29

Day 29: Wishes

Hmm, what do I wish? I wish...

:for a brand new, nice camera

:to find a new job sooooon

:to have a more clear direction of where I want to go in life

:to be more patient

:I could be young again

:I had taken photography classes in college

:to take more risks

:to TRAVEL

:for more people to love other people


Today, I went down to Escondido to celebrate a late Christmas with my family and also to see my Grandma Roper, who is visiting from Colorado. I feel like I've been so busy on my off days recently, but it has been so satisfying to spend my free time being in relationship with other people. It is what I need.

[oooooh, she loves me....sort of]


[going on a walk with Michelle, Grandma and my sister...oh and the doggy]


[we found this super cool tree with a bunch of bright red berries]


[me and Grandma...it's been SO long since we've last seen each other]


[Gracey and her pretty jewels]

day 28

Day 28: Something that stresses you out

Oh, man. The first thing that comes to my mind when answering this question is MY JOB! My job, my job, my job. More than physically stressed out, I always feel so emotionally stressed out at the end of the day. I work long hours and with boys that like to be ridiculous every once in a while (aka every day).

Transportation stresses me out. I have been able to tolerate flying a little better, after being on airplanes so much. It's always the take-off and landing that freak me out. I have this fear that the tail of the plane will hit the runway as the plane is ascending. But don't worry, that hasn't happened yet. I'm also not a big fan of being a passenger while someone else is driving. I get super paranoid and all these "worst-case scenario" accidents are always running through my head. I guess the theme of all this is that not being in CONTROL while using transportation is anxiety-provoking.

Okay, I wanted to show a few pictures I took during Christmas. I worked Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after. It sounds like a bummer, but I was okay with it and the boys were relatively calm. They always get a crazy amount of gifts for Christmas because people donate a lot of brand new toys and clothes.

[the gifts under our tree in cottage...all these gifts are only for two children]


[before the staff put out all the gifts, they were separated in these huge boxes. I went over to the other cottage to say hello and all the boys were making forts out of the boxes. I loved the innocence of it]


[my stocking, that I'm pretty sure was handmade. I loved the bright colors!]

day 27

Day 27: Pets

Well technically, I don't have any pets (unless you count the 3,000 stray kittens that roam around our campus), but I DID have pets in high school.

My favorite cat was David. We had him for years and even though he was a grumpy, old, fat kitty, I loved him. He rarely played and mostly liked to hang out in closets. Sadly, he went to kitty heaven.




My step-mom adopted Gracey years ago. She found him in a huge construction site that was five minutes away from our house. She would go there almost every day until Gracey was able to trust her and would follow us home. She's still the most paranoid dog I know, but it's probably because she was treated badly in her past. We've grown to be friends.


Meet Abby, the brattiest cat I have ever known. She looks all cute laying here on my suitcase, but looks can be deceiving. I love her, but she never lets me pet her. She likes to run away instead.


On another note, I was off yesterday and spent the day with Stephanie! We met at the Lake Elsinore outlets and did some damage to our wallets (but got great deals, so that justifies it). After the outlets, we ate at IHOP and took some great, normal pictures. I followed her down to the Murrieta Hot Springs after dinner, where her church was having their annual conference. It was cool to get free access to all the hot springs there. But, it was sad saying goodbye to her. Our time together was too short.

[acting like she hates life, but really, she can't even stand how much she loves being with me]


[trying to take a normal picture]


[friendsssssssssss]


[look at the medal I won!]


[the food was so good...well, until Steph felt sick later]

day 26

Day 26: Picture of your family

I'm taking it old school.

day 25

Day 25: First ten songs on your iPod

one
Just Wanna Be With You [High School Musical 3]

two
There Was Another Time in My Life [Relient K]

three
Still Feels Good [Rascal Flatts]

four
Hallelujah [Hillsong United]

five
Lifesong [Casting Crowns]

six
Party in the USA [Miley Cyrus]

seven
Move this City [The Wedding]

eight
Perfectly Done [Shawn McDonald]

nine
Will I [RENT Soundtrack]

ten
Bubbly [Colbie Caillat]

day 24

Day 24: Something(s) I've learned

You can't take life too seriously.


Relationships change as life goes on, and that's okay.


It's okay to pamper yourself...we all need a little "pick-me-up" now and then.


Good friends are necessary for your health and sanity.


Family is so, SO important.

[meet: all my grandmas]


[wow, my high school graduation day in 2005]


[sissy-poo]


Life was meant to be shared (I just heard the T-Mobile jingle in my head).


Everybody needs a break from life sometimes.