2008-09 – Twenty-Second Year

2009-10 – Twenty-Third Year

Thankful for a Car Named Molly the Mazda

I paid for her with my own money. And yes I named her Molly. No, she isn’t the most beautiful or up-to-date, but a)I owe no money on her and b)she runs well without complaining … what more could I ask for? I’m so thankful that I took that year off after returning from Capernwray to work, buy a car from my parents, and spend more time figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.

I’m thankful for my own transportation that I often take for granted … until God reminds me [in a somewhat tough way!] that everything I have, including my means of transportation, can quickly be taken away from me … and I always need to be thankful for it. I’m thankful that she’s a stick-shift … :] (I feel like it gives her more of a sense of depth than just a boring old automatic …) I’m thankful for all her hundred-and-one quirks from the seatbelts to the locks on the front doors to the rolly windows. I’m also thankful that she doesn’t have a lot of fancy gadgets, making her much less likely to be stolen! 😀 I’m thankful that I have a daddy who takes care of her for me … although I’m making it my goal in the coming year to learn all about cars for myself. I refuse to be an ignorant woman when it comes to a vehicle I own myself. Most of all, I’m thankful for all the adventures had in that car, and the memories that she houses. What will I do when I have to move on to a different one? Ahhh, good ol’ Molly …

Thankful for Twenty-Two Adventures in 2010

For those of you who followed/gave suggestions for my epic list of “22 Things to Do in 2010,” you’ll most likely know that I consider 2010 to be one of the best years of my life – due greatly in part to this to-do list. I’m thankful for friends and family members who gave the suggestions; I’m thankful for the ways that it opened my mind to new things; I’m thankful that it gave me such a sense of purpose; and I’m thankful for the adventures that came out of it all. You know me … there’s no better way to get me to do something than by making a challenge out of it – and the joy that I get from checking things off a list was so much of the motivation behind finishing this “22 Things” list. Everything from cliff-jumping to sending a message in a bottle to learning chess and writing a novel … it was breathtaking [quite literally], it was diverse, it was physically and mentally challenging, but best of all, it was loads of fun. Although I usually never repeat things exactly the way I did them the first time, I’m always up for a good challenge/adventure if you ever have one for me. 🙂 Who knows? It might get published someday in that book I’m going to write and get published! (that’s from a different bucket list …)

2010 was a great year, and I’m so thankful for its goldenness. I’m thankful for the ideas and inspiration that came from it … and I’m thankful for the beauty that infused age 22.