(You) got to have faith!

Top moments of 2008

1. Having my favorite person ask me to marry him. And lumped in with this one: wearing my ring around and staring at it during class, shopping for dreses with my Mom and sisters, and various other engaged/weddingish things. Also, going caneoing with Jared and going to see Wall E with him! Such a great day. Jared is wonderful. I love him very much!

2. Graduating!! It was about time. Also falling into this category: getting my two diplomas in the mail (which might have been more exciting then actually graduating - seriously), seeing my family and Jared at graduation, graduating with greek and engineering honors, and finishing all the classes that I never thought would be over.

3. The Delirious concert, in Richmond, the day after Jared and I got engaged. Standing in the front row, almost getting my hand shook by Martin, singing all my favorite songs, having Jared and my family there, and eating at my favorite mexican restaurant in Richmond. It was the best. Great great great night!

4. Living with the Howards. I was going to say Les Miserables and Fiddler on the Roof, but I decided to lump them in with all the things that are great about the Howards: Having meals made for me, having great desserts and ice creams around the house, being made to laugh all the time, and meeting interesting people when they come to visit. :) Yay!

5. Camping with my family! I love it. I am so glad we went last year. So much fun. That being said, I can't wait until Jared gets to come with us next year!

6. Making my quilted table runner with Jared. I need to get pictures of it, but I think it is so awesome and great. My crafts always come out a little lopsided and sloppy even when I try really hard, but this one is almost flawless and it just makes me so happy. I know it is because Jared squared all my corners for me and helped me pins stuff and iron it. He is great and I can't wait until it is on display in our own little house.

7. Our fourth of July party. Enough said. It is awesome.

8. Christmas. Getting my shopping done early this year. Making Christmas cookies and decorating them. Going to DC with Jared to see the Botanical Gardens and various other things. All the cookbooks that my parents gave me (such a surprise to get my favorite cookbook). The frames Sarah bought, the cute little Bath and Body set from Hope, the sewing stuff from the Sheltons, and my favorite present that I cried about, my scrapbook from Anna. So awesome I have wanted one for so long. :)

I guess also in here is buying all our Christmassy stuff for next year with Jared. 75% of our tree!! Lights for a dollar and bulbs for 25 cents! And making little stuffed felt ornaments with Jared - it is so fun when he wants to do craft things with me! Although, it is kind of annoying that is look better then mine (heh). Christmas is going to be so much fun next year!! Yay for us and yay for Christmas decorations.

9. Going to Colorado and spending so much time with Stephanie! I miss her greatly. Love love love! Spending time with Anna, getting to go to Whit's End (highlight of my trip), seeing Focus on the Family's headquarters (so cool), seeing Cater Rock, Pike's Peak, and the Air Force Academy (so neat). Did I say just spending time with Stephanie?!? Going to the little old amusement park with Sarah, Peter, and Anna and riding the little train. That was really neat.

10. Learning to forget about grades and spend time with my family and friends! I have to thank Jared for this one. Spending more time with my family and friends is totally worth it, much more then getting A's all the time. I learned that a B at the end of a semester that you know that you spent time with other people and made them happy, makes me much for happier then just an A during a semester where all I did was sit in my room and study. I guess I shouldn't have waited so long to learn that, but then my grad school wouldn't have been payed for, so I guess it had its benefits too.

11. TAing and getting into graduate school, at a top 2o engineering school, for free, and getting paid. Yeah, it was pretty sweet. I have to fight with them a lot to keep my non-thesis status, but only one more semester of filling out paperwork and I will be done forever!!

I am sure there are other great moments, but I can't think of them right now. So I am going to go back to reading my books and maybe I will add to this later, but probably not. I like spending time away from the computer during break. heh. But the main thing to take away is that I have so much to be thankful for! I love my family and I love my fiance and I love where God has placed me right now in life and I pray that he continues to show me how best to use my life to honor and glorify Him.

Happy New Year! May 2009 and be a grand year of growing closer to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Love,
Faith