to review…

2010 was a big year for me. so big i thought it deserved a “year in review” post as we usher in 2011.

in 2010 i:

-wrote the biggest and most academic paper ever

-completed my bachelor’s degree

-planned a wedding

-got married

-traveled to one of my favorite places with all of the people i love most

-lived in my parent’s home, biola apartment, and my own apartment

-turned 21

-became a member of the full-time work force

-bought (?) my own insurance policy

-paid off student loans (post to come about this one)

-changed my name

-was a boss

-helped a bunch of 20 somethings travel the world for jesus

-bought a queen sized bed

-became financially independent

-became a small business owner (kinda, ha)

-lived with a boy

-planned events for hundreds of people to attend

-paid rent

-ate a lot of great food

-learned about myself

basically, i became an adult this year. this was the year that my life transitioned more than it ever had before and hopefully ever will again. i know life is always changing, but i’ve never experienced anything like the month of june 2010 before and hope to not have to do it again any time soon. i feel like i’ve said it many times before, but this year i learned more about myself than any other time in my life. i think the biggest contributor is the fact that all of the outer aspects of me and my life changed- i had to look at myself not as a student, a single person, or a semi-responsible young adult. i had to sort out what the non-negotiable parts of who i am truly are. does that make sense?

one of the most profound moments of the year came during pre-marital counseling when our counselor and i met for a one on one appointment. we were talking about how i had always equated myself with the things i do and the way that i do them. grades, work, reputation, etc. i had never been good at just being me and understanding that who i am is more important that the things that i do. i knew this and i think it is hard for everyone to do, but this moment was rough. counselor matt asked me what would happen if all of those things went away, how would i deal with it? i told him that i hope it doesn’t happen because then i’ve lost everything and he looked at me and said “shannon, to be honest, i hope it does.” it happened in a good way (thankfully) by the changes in my life this summer- not by my life and relationships crumbling around me like i thought would be the case. the things that i did well were over- school, singleness, and the semi-transient college life. i was forced to look at myself and not see the things i was comfortable with because those were gone. my life was completely different but i was still me and i needed to discover how i would still be who i am in a life that wasn’t what i had previously created for myself.

this year i felt like i was celebrated more than i ever had been. between multiple wedding showers, the best wedding ever, a birthday, graduation, and getting a job i don’t think i’ve ever received more well-wishes and love. i’ve been loved well my whole life, but this year was again, a big one. i’ve never liked the attention of birthday parties and a wedding terrified me, but i was loved deeply this year and i better learned about what it means to live life with people rather than live as an individual.

here are some goals for the year- not resolutions:

-be a better wife/learn how to be a wife

-improve my distance friendship-abilities with parents, brother, sister, and best friends in different places

-spend more time in silence

-learn how to sew well

-develop Love, SB.

-get trained on technology at work

-live it up.

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