I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships, so will our healing,
and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

14 Highlights of 2014

It's hard to believe that it's time to do another highlight post (Ok, it's past time, but cut me some slack!) but here we are. Without further ado, I present the fourteen biggest events in my life of the past twelve months.

1.  I kicked off 2014 by traveling to the Philippines with a mission team from SBU. We spent two weeks serving with a wonderful missionary family, teaching English in schools and worshipping with house churches there. I also came home with a cracked rib and was miserable for the next six weeks, but that's just a minor detail.

Feeding a real, live monkey!

World's most epic pyramid.

Manila

One of our classes.


2.  February brought one of the greatest thrills of my 25 years on the planet, when my beloved Seattle Seahawks beat those dumb 'ole Broncos to win Super Bowl XLVII by a score of 43-8. I didn't stop smiling for weeks!

Super Blue Friday!

Just look at that shiny trophy.


3.  March brought basketball playoffs, of course, and my basketball girls stormed into the MIAA semi-finals, so naturally I road tripped up to KC to watch them play. The game was great (think game-winning layup at the buzzer!) but the rest of the trip, not so great. As we were looking for a place to eat dinner before the game, another driver ran a red light, totaling my little Mazda. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the following weeks were a long, frustrating process of dealing with insurance companies and trying to find a new car.

Just after the game-winning shot.


4.  In April, my mom, sister, and her kiddos road tripped out to Missouri to visit me! They spent a couple days in Bolivar, then we drove out to Nashville for a whirlwind tour of Country Music USA. (Just a tip - if you're ever in Nashville, you must go visit the Opryland Hotel! It's incredibly cool!)

Grand Ole Opry, Nashville


5.  In the middle of April, I finally found a new car, and off we went to Effingham, Illinois to pick it up. (Yes, the name of the town was Effingham. The jokes never got old.) Here's to hoping that this sweet little Mazda 3 is my last new car for quite a while!

Roadtrip Friends

The new baby


6.  After school let out, we took a little Student Life vacation to the ACSD conference in Minnesota. We even got to go to a Minnesota Twins game!

#paigeisbeingridiculous

Target Field

7.  In June, I finally got to go out to North Carolina to visit Alise! We had a wonderful, relaxing long weekend, which mostly consisted of laying on the couch, watching Netflix, drinking wine, and playing with Gemma (her puppy) but we also took a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC for my first visit to the Atlantic Ocean!

Gemma!

Myrtle Beach

She's my person.


8.  In July, I went on a friend vacation to Colorado for a wonderful week of hiking and good food and taking in all the incredible beauty the Rocky Mountains have to offer.


Flatirons

Rocky Mountain National Park


9.  I flew straight from Denver to Portland to visit the fam for a few days and have one last Roommate Reunion before Mikayla moved to Indonesia.

PDX Carpet

Roomie Reunion


10.  At the end of September, my sweet friend Amelia flew out to Missouri to visit me! We had so much fun and I got to show her my life here in BoMo.

Audrey Assad Concert


11.  One of the big things that Amelia got to experience while in MO was SBU's Homecoming! My awesome RA staff built the coolest float I've ever seen, and we placed 3rd overall. It was an exhausting week, but also an incredible amount of fun!

Giant Flat Bearcat


12.  A few weeks after Homecoming, Mom & Dad flew out to visit over Fall Break. The Seahawks were in town (St. Louis) that weekend so off we went for Mom & Dad's first NFL experience.

Seahawks in St. Louis 


13.  Over Thanksgiving, I roadtripped to Texas with Landee to spend the holiday with her and her family. It was an adventure, to be sure, (anything with Landee usually is!) and I got the full Texas tour from Houston to Galveston to Dallas. We also stopped and had lunch with Vince & Jessie on our way home, and I got to meet baby Cora for the first time!

Roadtrippin'

Corban Friends!


14.  Finally, I ended the year with Christmas with my family in the beautiful PNW, where the PDX carpet welcomes me home and the Cascades take my breath away.

PDX Carpet

Mt. Ranier


2014 was, as most of them seem to be, a year filled with really good memories as well as some I'd just as soon forget, but I'm looking forward to 2015!

Cheers to a new year, and another chance for us to get it right.
Oprah Winfrey

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