January. Started the year off with a good ole' trip to Springfield with three of my roommates. Lots of hilarious memories (as usual during road trips with these girls). I also rang in the New Year with friends at a house party down the street. My family took off for St. Louis to see Chicago at the Fox Theatre. That theatre never ceases to amaze me. I also started taking classes that were directly related to my major, which was pretty awesome. Even then, I was feeling GREAT about my career choice and was ecstatic about making a decision that I knew was the right one for me.
February. A short and pretty uneventful month. My dad wrote me the sweetest Valentine's note, and I got initiated into my Health Professions fraternity at MU!!
March. By this time, my dad's business had seen such great growth and development. My family spent time helping him move into his gigantic office and put together his website. There were many a 21st birthday celebration beginning this month, which was such an exciting and fun time for me and all my friends.
April. My family took a fun trip to Kansas City where I experienced my first meal at the Cheesecake Factory (incredible). I also took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo with my roommates on one of the most gorgeous spring days. Looking back at pictures makes me impatient for spring's next beautiful appearance. My wonderful sister turned 19, which is always fun celebrating birthdays with her. We hosted yet another Palace Dance Party, which of course, seemed to be quite the success! And in this month, my roommates and I made the decision to plan a HUGE yard sale benefiting our friend to financially support her and her husband's trip to Africa. We began collecting items for the sale, putting announcements in the newspaper, and soon enough, our living room transformed into what would have made the greatest "Hoarders" episode of all time. The giving hearts of my best friends was inspiring.
May. More 21st birthday celebrations! I was also introduced to Three Creeks. I went there a handful of times during this month to get some awesome outdoors-y adventures consisting of hiking, swimming, rope swinging, tanning on a sand dune, and picnicking. Oh, and reapplying the bug spray repeatedly. I went to Cooper's Landing with my family and my best friend and had delicious thai food overlooking the Missouri River. My mom, sister and I spent a morning going strawberry picking where we picked and purchased nearly 8 lbs. of perfect strawberries (one of my favorite foods if you know me). We also held the Yard Sale for our friend, which ended up raising $1,000! How cool is that?
June. I started my Physics summer class and made it through with sweat but definitely without any tears! It went way better than I could have expected. In celebration of my parents' 30th anniversary, the four of us went to Mark Twain Lake and spent the entire day boating, tubing, picnicking, swimming, and cliff-jumping. My parents even brought along the cassette tape recording of their wedding so that we could listen to it while we ate lunch. Such a sweet day... what a blessing to see my parents love each other for over 30 years! I started doing observations with a great physical therapist that I know from church at his outpatient rehab clinic in Moberly, MO. Throughout the summer, I spent over 50 hours working with him and learning to love my field. At the end of June, my 21st birthday celebrations were some I will never forget. They were so special, and having such an incredible group of people in my life, they made me feel more than loved.
July. Lots of fun times with the beginning of the 20-something's lifegroup at church. The 4th of July was also a hilariously fun day. My friends and I celebrated together at a cookout on a farm and then went to Faurot Field to watch the fireworks. A large group of all our friends went on a camping trip which included lots of tents, bunked hammocks, a campfire, a little boat, and creative games to say the least. At the end of July, my family took a roadtrip to South Carolina to visit family members on my mom's side. Living so far away from all my non-immediate family members, I loved being able to spend time with my cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandparents. The pool was our best friend in that sweltering heat.
August. Believe it or not, more 21st birthday celebrations! Also, my best friend from my childhood in Texas visited Columbia for one night! It was so great seeing her, and so great being able to reconnect. Even though we have grown into such different people, our memories seemed to make it so easy to catch up and talk about what we want out of life. In August, my friend and I went on a road trip to Arkansas to visit her family. The memories here were indescribable and I laughed myself to tears more often than not. Right before school started up again, I took the GRE for the first time after lots of studying. Went pretty well for a first shot!
September. Classes started getting into the swing of things, and as usual, life got pretty hectic and busy, but still enjoyable. This was probably the best semester (educationally) I've had in college thus far. This month I met a lot of great professors and started doing observations with the Columbia Public Schools physical therapist at Rock Bridge High School. It was great and I loved getting to work with all the high school students and creating personal workout routines for each of them. This month, I also continued volunteering for Adapted Gymnastics which is such a rewarding experience. I get to coach exercise routines to children with physical disabilities. I want to do this as long as I'm at Mizzou.
October. ESPN College Gameday came to MU!! It was pretty incredible being a small part of it. My dad celebrated his big 5-0 birthday which included a day of spoiling him with some of his favorite things to do.
November. My grandma visited for 2 and 1/2 weeks. Every time she visits, her trips get a little longer. We joke that she will just move down here one of these years... and in reality, she probably will eventually. When she visited, we took her to Branson (she's a distant cousin of Dolly Parton and has always wanted to go there). Of course, we did Dixie Stampede, shopped, ate at Lambert's on the drive there (she caught a throwed roll with her boobs! Yeah Grandma!), and just enjoyed spending some time with her for Thanksgiving. Last but not least, 21st birthday celebrations once again.
December. The end of the semester was refreshing. Finals went well and my GPA went up. I took many, many trips to the Magic Tree, got to spend wonderful time catching up with my youth pastor and his family from back in the day, decorated the Palace for Christmas, got some beautiful snowfalls, sang in the Christmas Eve service at church, and spent some really great time with my friends and family.
As you can see, this past year has been an eventful year for me full of lots and lots of growing. I'm excited to see where 2011 takes me! Here we go...
