2008 in Review

Overall highlights:

Travels:
Vermont
El Paso x2
Chicago x2
Ukraine
Unintended overnight stays in Warsaw, Poland and Fishkill, NY.
Newark, DE to visit Anne!
Lancaster, PA to hang out with Olivia

New Experiences:
Lots of snowmobiling!
Swing dancing
Learning Russian and a smidgen of Ukrainian
Running over the universal joint of a bus (and subsequently damaging my car)
Surprise weekend visit to my family
Catering on campus (and getting to enjoy tasty food)
Ninja tag, Ultimate Frisbee, short runs on Wolly Beach in the middle of the night
Michael W Smith / Steven Curtis Chapman concert
Red Sox game @ Camden Yards

Goodbyes:
Professors that moved (Doc/Prof to Chicago, Prof Fiacco to TX)
Mrs. Quimby, high school AP Calc teacher. You will be missed.
ENC Class of 2008
old Marley Park church building

Ukraine (gets its own section):
Meeting Charly and inhaling hot glue fumes (by accident!) and good times all night long on the deck. Exploring Kiev. Traveling by overnight train. Building relationships with families. Blowing bubbles with Katya and playing catch with Sveta. Playing with 3 year old twin boys who seemed to get in trouble all the time. Facing suffering, and finding that worship is the only feasible response. Attended a Ukrainian wedding and reception. Running over a tire-stopper-block (for semi trucks), but this time I wasn't driving! Seeing the end of the line for banana boxes of humanitarian aid. VBS's all around. Going to the Vapnyarka bazaar and meat market on my birthday. Using squatty potties. Eating dried fish, salo, and chicken-flavored potato chips. Tumbleweed Gulch Ukrainian-style. God keeping us safe throughout our travels.

Spiritual highlights:
Got baptized.
Trying to figure out if God is calling me to missions.
Having more questions than answers (not really a highlight, not sure how to describe it).

Academic highlights:
Declared a religion minor.
Education Club activities
Finishing all my major classes (only student teaching and an independent study left!)

Next year is going to bring just as many changes, I'm sure.
Ready or not, here I come, 2009!