One Year in Review

I wanted to review my last year with all of you. I stole this from my dear friend Sara Po'oi who did the same thing on her blog...so thank you Sara!

Sept - Dec
This time last year I was in Ukraine teaching English to more people than I can remember. I was teaching my host mom Lena, my 3-8yr old students, as well as my students at the University near Lisova on the outskirts of town. I was in a city of over 3 million and found myself adapting and enjoying life in a place I never knew I could enjoy. I am constantly reminded of the lessons I learned from that four month period of time.
I learned about patience, about true friends, about how unfair life is, about loss, and how death can come so suddenly. I learned about how to comfort those I could barely speak to with words. I learned how to serve; I learned how to let others serve me; and I learned that service is the greatest joy in my life.
I traveled all over Eastern Europe. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world on all my adventures. I was with the only person who I could ever picture myself travelling Eastern Europe with: Deidra Lou Hawker. One of my most dear friends...every time I look back, she is the fondest memory of my events there. Life was anything but normal in Ukraine...it was completely opposite of what I was used to. I loved it so much. If you are curious about anything of that time, just look at my older posts on this blog.

Jan - April
After I finally made it home to Washington three days late on December 24th, I spent a lot of time with myself and my family...and all too soon I was off to school again. That is when life really became unreal. I went from being with children all day to being with peers. I was lost. I felt alone and unsure of why I was there. Luckily that changed within weeks. I found that school was to be my focus and I loved learning. I learned so much academically Winter 2011. Psychotherapy and Abnormal psychology changed my view on so many things.

April - June
In April during Spring term I decided to do something-I decided to be homeless. I was all too curious about life without a permanent home. I also kind of missed travelling and figured this was one way to feel unconstrained. Homelessness had its perks. People were helping me constantly and I almost always had a couch to sleep on. It was also very draining; I always had to leave early in the morning and I was in school, so I was balancing that with finding myself a place to sleep (easier said than done). I learned how to become very resourceful during this time.
After this adventure, I finished this term by going to Kauai...which was a four day hike and definitely the most amazing and beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life. I was so in awe and felt that during that time, I could live without people and was satisfied completely isolated in nature. A fabulous end to my term.

June - August
I headed home after this trip and felt a little bored, but I soon got over my boredom. It was nice to be home...it was nice to have a home. The most memories I will take from this summer is the time I spent with my nieces and nephews and my mother. I only wanted to spend time with the kids and had the most fun when I was with them. We had many memories this summer that I will never forget. They are some of my best friends and I currently miss them dearly.

Now
Now I am enjoying school and Hawaii and spending time with the wonderful friends I have here. Life is not easy, but it is oh so enjoyable. I am blessed beyond belief and this year testifies of that truth.