Happy New Year!

It's been a big year. How bout a quick recap of 2011, eh?

Jan-May:

- worked on Senior Thesis for UTK

- completed my last semestester at UTK

- graduated with my undergraduate degree in Russian from UTK

June:

- my aunt, Nancy (Chichi as my sister and I called her) died in a car accident

July:

- trips to Chicago and New York City

August: 

- my last month in Knoxville, Carthage, and Tennessee

- offered and accepted position as Junior High intern at Prestonwood Baptist Church

- moved to Plano, TX

September:

- started classes at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX

- started job at Prestonwood

Sept-Dec:

- completed first semester at SWBTS

- went home for the first time in 4 months for Christmas

So yeah, it's been a year of moving, change, loss, gain, and everything in between. I've said goodbye to many people and met many more along the way, some of which are already changing and shaping my life as I begin a new chapter here in Texas. 

Now, with a new year quickly upon us, I want to set a few goals as is custom for the new year:

1. no more sodas - as much as I love Dr. Pepper, I really do drink too much of it

2. memorize scripture - specifically the entire books of James and Titus (which coincidentally are the first and middle names of a new baby born this year who shouldn't have been born until 2012)

3. run - I ran a 5K not too long ago and it was a little more difficult than I would have liked it to be

4. study Russian - sure it was my major, but I still have plently of learning and upkeep to do and it's much harder to do when you're not in a class every week

5. keep up with friends - with Skype, there really is no excuse to not keep up with people, regardless of where you are

There they are! Goals for 2012. While I feel like not all of them are very substantial, I also feel like they are all very accomplishable. I've got friends holding me accountable so I'm actually hoping to follow through with all of these. 

And oh yeah, maybe another goal will be to blog more. I've found that if I add it to my "to-do" list, I'm more likely to do it, so maybe I'll add it a little more often. 

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

Home For Christmas

So it's been a while since I've blogged - so long that my grandfather made sure to mention it to me a couple times before I left his house. Here you go, Granddaddy!

I'm home for Christmas. For those of you who don't know, let me catch you up really quickly. I moved to Texas at the end of August and have been living and working there ever since. I'm in my first year at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX but I live and work in Plano, TX at Prestonwood Baptist Church. 

This is the first time I've been back to Tennessee since moving to Texas (I only live in states that start with T). I've been away from home for longer periods of time, but only because I've been overseas. It's a little different being away from home this long knowing that I am only a short plane ride from home. But this is the life I thought I was so anxious to have all throughout highschool and college: independence, a real job, living (kinda) on my own, making new friends, etc. I do love it, but sometimes I would like to get the earlier days back and enjoy them a little more instead of wishing them away. 

Anywho - it's been a great holiday at home. Short, but great. I fly back to Texas tomorrow (Wednesday) and go back to work on Thursday. I'm excited to be back to my Texas friends (I miss you, J-High team!), but of course I will be sad to leave Tennessee and my family and friends here as it may quite literally be NEXT Christmas before I'm home again. I'd like to go to Russia at some point during the summer and that will take up most of my vacation days. 

Well, it's getting late so I'll say peace out for now. Tomorrow I'll need to pack, figure out how I'm getting my winter clothes to Texas, and then get some lunch before heading to the airport. I'll try to touch base on the blog more often for those of you who read this (assuming that more than just my grandfather reads it, that is). 

Peace.