First of all — thank you for reading my blog. With each number on the stat counter — I am humbled that anyone comes here. I know that each number represents a life and each time you visit here — you are taking time out of your lives to do so. I truly hope it is and will continue to be worth your time. I am thankful for you and the community that continues to develop here.

I want to share with you briefly, a year in a review — the happenings in my life over the last 12 months. Most of which, I am sure you have already read about. Cause lets face it — I post about everything!

January 2008. . . I began sponsoring a second child from Compassion International (compassion.com). Her name is Mediatrix (Med-e-ah-tricks) Nabwire, is 8 years old and from Uganda, Africa. I also began leading a group at my church for women with sexual addiction. I was blessed to walk with women through recovery. Truly humbling.

March 2008. . . I got kidney stones!!! I had never in my life experienced that kind of pain. But I survived. The real bummer was that I got the stones the night before I was to leave for my 2nd mission trip to South Africa. Needless to say, my trip was postponed.

Editor’s Note: It was requested that I also mention that in March of 2008 I also had an unfortunate accident involving my vomiting in front of my boss… his boss… and his boss’ boss. Granted, it happened in the moment my kidney stones hit and for some reason I can’t seem to live it down.

June 2008. . . I had a baby. No, not really. I did however, buy a Betta Fish for my desk at work. His name is Sashimi, which ironically is a form of sushi. Kinda mean, huh?

August 2008. . . I got another tattoo! Hebrew for “faithful” on my left wrist. The decision to get “faithful” comes from a longtime struggle I’ve had with God and His call for me to remain faithful to Him despite life’s circumstances. This tattoo sits as a reminder of my call to be faithful to Him — and of His faithfulness to be all I’ll ever need. I also spent about 18 hours a day watching Olympics coverage. Michael Phelps is crazy!

September 2008. . . I was down but not out! Thankfully there was another trip to South Africa planned in the same year and I was able to use the support I had raised previously to go. It was an incredible experience and an absolute honor to get to back to this amazing country. We taught HIV/AIDS prevention and abstinence in a rural school, worked a couple soup kitchens, put on a soccer clinic, built a school and shared the love of Christ with the poor and diseased. On September 29, I started Weight Watchers in an effort to change my life! To date, I’ve lost 19.4 pounds!

October 2008. . . I attended Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA. It was by far the most powerful conference I have ever experienced. From day one of the conference, God was determined to grab my attention and correct some areas in my heart that I had let grow hard and bitter. I am thankful for the opportunity to attend.

November 2008. . . I turned 24 years old and became officially old. :)

December 2008. . . I have formed an online life group/bible study. It takes place on here Wednesdays at 8:30pm (CST). I am really excited about the relationships that will be cultivated as a result! Said goodbye to my pink hair. And I also had more babies… two parakeets named Mac and Twitter.

It’s been an eventful and crazy year. A lot of crazy happened. A lot of heartbreak happened. A lot of good happened too though.

What was your most memorable moments of 2008?