Hello 2015

                With a full new year ahead of us, it isn’t only the future we are saying hello to. We’re also waving goodbye to the past year, 2014. Now I don’t know about you (and no, I’m not feeling 22… I’m only 18), but 2014 was a year I will never forget (minus a few minor details maybe… Simply because my memory is most likely getting worse with age, and I also took a nice blow to my cranium which gave me my second concussion). I obviously will be leaving out a tremendous amount of details… mostly because I don’t have time for that and you probably aren’t interested in reading about my entire life story anyways.  

                Now before you really get too deep into this, this is simply just a way for me to express some feelings, write for fun (yes, I am one of those people who actually enjoys writing), and share a little of my life with you. You may like it, and you may think I’m the worst writer in the entire history of all writers in the universe. I really don’t care, so feel free to think what you wish and read as you please.

                I’m sure I experienced almost every emotion possible this past year... some of these include anticipation, indignation, surprise, rage, joy, sorrow, anxiousness, shame, fear, envy, courage… the list goes on and on. I had quite a feat of firsts and conquered a mountain of lasts.

                First, I’ll tell you some of my firsts… It’s only logical.

I graduated high school, yes that is a first (and thankfully a last.) With my senior year came some fun, exciting, and yet grueling athletic firsts. I had the privilege of playing for the volleyball team which went to state to become back to back state champions… (Technically this occurred in the year 2013, but hey… this is my blog so I’ll write whatever I want). Then, I had quite a unique experience with basketball and getting to go to state with my team for the first time ever in our entire school’s history. That was quite awesome…that is… until we lost and took home 5^th place. Although it legitimately pains me to write about it, it really was a great experience. Not because we didn’t win, of course, but because basketball in a strange way became the love of my life. And then, I signed to play college volleyball which led to my first time leaving home and going to college, my first time playing college volleyball and my first time spraining my ankle so bad that it looked like abstract art...

2014 also marks some pretty cool traveling adventures for me. I traveled a lot for volleyball, to places like Las Vegas, Reno, Spokane, San Diego, and Missouri. I also went to New York for the first time with my senior class. That was really an amazing trip. For the first time ever, I realized how much I really did love my class and how much I would miss the good times we had together… But then I graduated and left for college and high school became like, so 6 months ago.

Another adventure, the most life-changing two weeks of my life, was my trip to Israel. If I were to tell you what I learned, this blog would be a whole lot longer than you probably would ever want to read, and I don’t think I could ever write well enough to do those life-lessons any justice. But I will tell you this:

1-      God loves you and me more than I can ever and will ever be able to fathom

2-      There is a whole other world outside of my own, and I wasn’t created to sit back and do nothing… I was created to be a light, to be an En Gedi (more on that in a future blog post hopefully), to be a city gate, to love the least of these, and to love God with everything I have.

      Now, I won’t go into too much detail on some of my lasts… because I think a lot of my firsts allude to my lasts. For example, it was my last year of high school, my last year of playing basketball, and my last year of club and high school volleyball. I met some cool people this summer that I wish I could’ve gotten to know better. And I also lost some friends that I thought I might have in my life forever. I had to say goodbye to some really amazing people I met in Israel, which was a last I wish never had to have happened.

                Speaking of goodbyes, I had my fair share of those this year. And to say the least, I am absolutely terrible with goodbyes… my family and close friends can attest to that. But sometimes it seemed like with every goodbye, came a new hello. And I think that’s what New Years is really about. I’m not saying I’m going to close the door to 2014, lock it, and never open it again. No, I’ll keep a small window to 2014 open so I can look in every once in a while and remember the good times, the bad times, and all the lessons that came with those memories. But once I lock that door and wave goodbye, I’m heading straight for another door and getting ready to say hello. I don’t know what is even beyond this door… maybe some more traveling adventures, meeting new people, or finally meeting the love of my life. Only God really knows what is in store, but I trust his timing and I am done with goodbyes for now and saying hello. (Cheese factor of this last paragraph may have just blown through the roof… you can be the judge of that).

So long 2014, maybe I’ll see you around, and hello 2015… Let the memories begin.

Happy New Year’s guys! And thanks for taking the time to read this. Hopefully this is a new year’s resolution that I actually stick with and you’ll be seeing some more blog posts soon.

And I will say, if you are reading this, thanks for the support, the love, the laughs, and the friendship you’ve given me this year. I wish you all the best for 2015!