2010

January: I made many New Year's resolutions, some of which I kept, many of which I did not. One of them was to keep a faithful journal, and that I have done. I taught my second quarter of the two and three year old Sunday School class at church and loved it. I got a facebook account (maybe that was a little earlier, I can't remember); whether that was a good thing or not, I'm not quite sure, but I have been very blessed by many wonderful people on it, and I pray perhaps I was a blessing to some. My cousin had her first baby, and I became a first-cousin-once-removed.

February: My awesome cousins, the Murrays, made a ridiculously long trip from Maine to visit us. We spent some lovely days with them. I starred in a play that I wrote and directed. I performed in a piano festival and got scores that were far higher than I even knew I could get. My Sunday School class put on a Girl's Afternoon Out for the younger girls at church.

March: Isaiah, Josiah and I went to the Spring Theology Conference in Greenville, SC. I found out my mom had miscarried her baby, and in that week I cried more than I ever have. I made my first medieval gown and wore it to a Historical Ball with my brothers and some good friends. I performed in a Goldilocks play with my little sibs -- extremely fun, and very nostalgic because it was the first play I was in, years and years ago when I first started drama.

April: Jon and Lindsay Sanchez moved to NC and started attending our church; we had them over for lunch the first Sunday they were here. They're two of the coolest people I know. I decided I knew what I wanted to do when I 'grew up'. I wanted to get married right after high school, forget about college, have kids right away, and live with my dream husband, in my dream house, filled with my dream kids. I started this blog.

May: Isaiah took me to see How To Train Your Dragon in the cinema, and I fell in love with it. I turned 15. I had a piano recital, and played a hymn arrangement I composed myself. My dad took me to a production of The Sound of Music that a couple friends from church were in. It was positively magical. I performed in my first Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing, and made the majority of the costumes for it.

June: I went to the Biblical Worldview Student Conference (BWSC) in Tennessee with a group from our church, along with my brother Zachariah. Very possibly the best week of my life. We listened to hours of lectures, spent time with awesome people, and danced till midnight every night. We went to see Toy Story 3 in the cinema; very good movie.

July: Isaiah and Josiah left for a 3-week trip out west with their uncle and cousins. I read the latest Redwall book, The Sable Quean. I discovered how much I love writing poetry. I found out the mission trip to Haiti that a team from our church was planning (myself included in that team) was cancelled. I illustrated a board book for my piano teacher's expected baby.

August: Some of my best friends, the Barrs came to visit us. We spent hours discovering and playing in the creek, laughing, watching movies, and singing together. Very possibly the best week of my life (Yes, it's definitely possible to have two of those). We went to see Inception in the cinema, three times. I loved it. I got an LotR bookend from Goodwill -- Gandalf knocking on Bilbo's door. It's now basically the best part about my room. I found out that Zachariah is pretty much incredibly awesome. My piano teacher had her baby; a tiny adorable baby girl.

September: We borrowed my uncle's RV and drove up to Maine for my cousin's wedding. I'm pretty sure it was the most beautiful weekend of my life. My awesome cousin Seth asked me to dance in the parking lot after the reception -- something I've wanted to do ever since I heard Taylor Swift's Fearless. :) We played Capture the Flag and talked and laughed; I would do almost anything to replay that weekend. I joined our homeschool choir. I taught a million sixth graders (slight exaggeration) about blueberries at the Cabarrus County Fair and received $85 dollars for it. I read A Quest For More by Paul Tripp. One of the best books I've ever read. I met a second cousin (as in, she is my second cousin) and discovered another kindred spirit (she's super awesome, by the way).

October: I discovered I knew what I wanted to do when I 'grew up'. I want to live a life of passion -- I don't know just yet how exactly that will play out -- maybe I'll get married, maybe I won't. God knows. I discovered that even while I feel lost and without a trace of loveliness, God is there, and I'm beautiful and special beyond all imagining to Him.My younger brother Jed, became a teenager. I started Drivers Ed. I decided James Shafer (my drama teacher) is one of the coolest people in the world. I watched the first Harry Potter film and loved it.

November: I got my braces off. My younger siblings performed in a play. I was (and still am) excessively proud of them. Josiah and I went to see a Celtic Thunder concert in Durham, NC. Definitely the most exciting, magical, beautiful and exhilarating night of the year. Worth every penny. A longtime friend got married. Josiah and I went to the seventh Harry Potter film in the cinema and loved it. We celebrated Thanksgiving with most of my dad's family in Georgia. It was amazingly fun. I have awesome relatives. Our choir had its concert. I had a dream that I met Celtic Thunder and Ryan Kelly asked me to dance. :)

December: I got the highest grade in my Drivers Ed class. I found out that my pastor and Michael Card are both speaking at BWSC next year. Now it's even harder to wait for it. I watched two versions of A Christmas Carol, read the book, and fell in love with the story. I also finished A Tale of Two Cities and cried. Good book. We went to another friend's wedding. That's the most weddings I've been to in a year. I had an amazing time at our Youth Group Christmas Party. My youth group is amazing. We went to see voyage of the Dawn Treader in the cinema. I am now officially in love with Edmund Pevensie (not that I wasn't before), and Lucy is one of the prettiest girls I know. I made a Celtic Thunder calendar. Christmas was a lovely time, though horribly nostalgic (because it is most likely our last one together as a family for a long time). We made a lot of memories. On Christmas night, it snowed. The most beautiful snow we've had in years.

It was the longest of years, it was the shortest of years. It was the worst of years, it was the best of years. It was a year of forgetting, and a year to remember. It was a time of discovering, and rediscovering. I saw a lot of pain, and I felt a lot of hurt, but I saw and felt a lot more love than the hurt and pain combined.
The greatest thing I learned in 2010: That God is beautiful and He is love, and that I'm His princess and He thinks I'm beautiful too. And that a lot of really cool people are convinced, for some inconceivable reason, that I'm beautiful, inside and out. All in all, it's a year I wouldn't trade for anything. Even the bad moments, which there were a lot of. Am I where I thought I'd be? No, but in some ways, I'm in a far better place than I even dreamed of. Am I who I wished I'd be? Not really, but inside, I know more of God's love than I ever thought was possible, and that's more than pretty cool. It's awesome. It was a good year. A great year. 2011, here I come.