2010: Bright Lights

Ever since I was a little girl I've kept a shoebox worth of stuff for the year. In middle school, that means an entire box of notes from friends, in high school I kept the paper from the first flowers ever given to me, and my first bottle of perfume (even if it was from Pac Sun).... Pretty much I keep everything slightly sentimental as long as I can fit it in the shoebox.


This year, I labeled my box " BRIGHT LIGHTS"... I was so excited for 2010, a fresh start with no ugly divorce to muddle up my year. I'd have to say it lived up to my expectations in a lot of ways. Oodles of sparkly memories & relationships developed. If there was a subtitle for my year, though, it might say "& the year of the self-esteem issues". What I wasn't expecting from 2010 was to have to heal from the wounds of an abusive relationship, which not only included forgiving & moving on, but also how to learn to love myself again, and believe that I am of worth. To be honest, I was quite surprised. In high school I was probably a bit too sure of myself and my awesomeness, and now that I'm an adult(25!!!), I've been dealing with all sorts of insecurities. I'm not pretty enough, I'm not smart enough, I don't contribute enough... Seriously some days I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin!


Thankfully I've moved on from (most of) those thoughts, and deep down I always know I am of worth to at least one person, the only one that matters really.


2010 was an amazing year, and I feel so blessed in my life, and have SO MUCH to be thankful for.

& with that, I give you... my year in pictures. at least, one picture per month.

JANUARY

WOW! that is some dark hair! (at normandie bakery with my favorite caprese salad)

FEBRUARY

fell in love with snowboarding...really.

MARCH

got down n' dirty @ a family (+tyler & roxy) ATV trip to Green River (Moab)

APRIL

shortest road trip EVER to San Diego for our friends' wedding

MAY

wow, it's hard to choose just one from this month. be satisfied with my cute-as-a-button cousin Katie Anne holding Sprinkles on Mother's Day at the park.

Did you just melt all over the floor?

JUNE

went bowling with Sarah before she traipsed around Ukraine to find herself a husband:)

JULY

Days of '47 Rodeo

AUGUST

camping. lots of camping. I miss it right now.

SEPTEMBER

HICKEN FAMILY REUNION.

Best thing of the summer.How have I not blogged about this? I so am going to. I don't even care that it's been months!

OCTOBER

road trip to AZ to visit pals & the sun. did I take enough shoes for the weekend? please note the flats stacked up. oh my.

NOVEMBER

threw a baby shower for my meggie-now proud mama to baby logan! love.

DECEMBER

my first christmas abroad -AKA out of state.

some of our time was spent in San Francisco. Can I just tell you how bad I am craving SF right now? really bad.

wow that was fun, I did a lot more than I thought in 2010. you guys are so lucky I didn't post more pictures!!

Here's to 2011(wait we're all pretending like it's January 1st, right?)!!

Parts I and II

Have you ever looked back over parts of your life and seen the wreckage and fiery crash that was behind you, and wonder to yourself, "how in the world did I make it through that"? That is how I feel about half of 2009(part I:2009). I experienced things I never imagined going through, and during the whole tha-ang, day by day I did what I needed to do to get it done. Now when I look back at all those days lumped together, I have to say that I gave myself a little pat on the back!

I can't credit myself very much for getting through the tough times though, I had a lot of people carry me through it. Wonderful family members, magnificent friends, delicious Diet coke with lime(I'd be cheating if I didn't mention it), and most of all, my loving and kind Heavenly Father. There's a little lump in my throat just thinking about everything everyone has done for me to help me feel loved and be truly happy.

I know I made the right choice that started(or ended, depending on how you look at it) the whole fiasco of Part I:2009, and I feel there have been priceless lessons learned that couldn't come any other way.

Part II:2009 was quite the opposite for me! It was one adventure after the next. After adjusting to being single again (NOT the same as when I was 19:)), moving into an apartment with roommates and into a singles ward (I love it more than I thought imaginable), I have had quite the blast! I am loving doing my own thing, on my own agenda-maybe a little too much... I have been places I'd never been before! I've taken up new hobbies and gained new interests. I've made alot of new friends(one being a little pup named Roxy, whom I adore... possibly as much as her owner:)) and have strengthened long time relationships (i.e. one of my BFF's Sarah moving in with me!).


So 2009, parts I and II, you sure put me through the ringer, but you made it worth it by giving me so much to be happy about at the end of it all.

BUT...I'm still happy to close the door on 2009.

2010 is sure looking bright!