Day Before Moving

I had a list of things I wanted to post about, but my ipod seems to have eaten that list.  I think I should forgive it -- it serves quite faithfully, all things considered.

So here I am, posting about something else entirely.

Like how I'm getting ready to move tomorrow.  I've been sad about it all week, despite the fact that I'm crazily excited about where I'm moving to.  (I've missed living in a university town.)  Saying goodbyes are rough, and yanking up roots and starting somewhere new is also hard.

But it's been a good year, and I'm grateful for it.

compilation from Thanksgiving

Here's a few random highlights.

Being around awesome people who helped me get through the transitioning from China-to-America thing.  Which means putting up with a lot of me reminiscing, ignoring them to talk to people on qq, and generally being slow about how life in America works.

my "little" brother Ib 

Travel.  Lots of trips to PA, a vacation with my family in Virginia, meeting friends old and new in Indiana, a reunion in Chicago, a museum in Kentucky, two trips to Canada, and a bunch of exploration in Ohio.

tools in the gunsmith shop in CW

Story crafting.  Spending a year living in an apartment with one of my best writing buddies means that we talked a lot about story worlds and hammered out countless small details that have granted a lot of richness to everything being imagined.

Deer in the yard next door.  Because really, who expects to live in an apartment and get to see deer grow up and come back with new babies the next summer?

Friends.  Working at Panera was, by turns, stretching and boring, but I had some fun coworkers and a lot of good memories with them.  I had a fantastic bus driver at 5:23 am and a good church and other people who I got to know a little, customers, and clerks at ALDI and my friend Richard, the prayer warrior.  There were lots of unexpected friendships and chances to catch up with old friends, too.

Mel... squishing an owl so we could send a picture to Hilary

Turning laundry purple.  Just one more of the hazards of me doing laundry.  And having a shirt that was wayyyyy over-dyed.  And having the laundry machine decide to fill with boiling water and refuse to drain.  Good times.

The sky.  The sunrises, sunsets, and everything in between out here are gorgeous.

pick any given day, the show is always open and there's lots of room to spare

trick is to give away the thing you're always doing that keeps you stuck somewhere

{Glory Streams, Michael Kelly Blanchard}

Incredible food.  Okay, so there were a few *cough* meals that were not so great.  Some because they were just blehhh and some because I got a little carried away with the spices and they were sort of inedible.  Kinda like the time in China when Bridge and I made curry and quadrupled how much curry paste we put in.  But overall, with a long, cold winter and a kitchen for me to play in, I had a lot of fun experimenting and making meals.

we got pretty good at jiaozi.  and satay.  and butter chicken with naan.

Beautiful parks.  The metroparks around here are a huuuuge perk to living in this area.  They're like playgrounds for adults, if rock hopping and hiking is your cup of tea.

from the Creation Museum

Good libraries.  Both the official libraries and getting to raid my roommate's impressive collection of books.

then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

how great Thou art

how great Thou art

God has been very good to me throughout this past year.  And although I'm sad to say goodbye to what has become familiar, I'm anticipating seeing His goodness in the year to come.