Good Bye 2011....

Since I haven't blogged in like FOREVER, I thought I'd do a little list recap of a review of this past year. Just for the fun of it and to reflect on the past year a bit!


Here it goes....

• Got 2 new roomies in my Jenkins apartment,  Debby & Missy.  Loved rooming with these 2, they truly were a  blessing during my last semester!

Loved rooming with these 2, they truly were a  blessing during my last semester!

• Started my last semester at Moody. 
• Last Founder's Week as a Student. Pretty bitter sweet though, will miss the week of great speaker but not the long cold walks to and from Moody Church. 
• Survived the Great Snowpocalypse blizzard of 2011. 

We even ventured out to play some snow football in the abundance of snow.

• Went to Memphis to interview for a job over spring break, never really fell in love with the organization or the city. Didn't get the job, but it still hurt knowing that I didn't get it even though I wasn't 100% sure about it. 
• Met up with Dad and Will in Charlotte, NC after my interview for a fun little mini vaca. Dad got to Drive a Nascar and Will & I got to do ride alongs. It was so much fun and I got to cross one thing off of my biucket list! We also got to visit the Billy Graham Library, which was really neat. So much fun history there. 

Here we are in our super stylish  helmets,  waiting for our turns to take the track. 

• Went to JSB with a great group of friends and had a wonderful time!

Our Table, minus Debby & Ben. 

• Interviewed for a job at Lydia Home Association/Safe Families.
• Finished all of my classes for Moody, including the pesky online Science class I took.
• Enjoyed a week of no finals and hanging out with friends before everyone dispersed.
• Trudged through the week of packing up my apartment.
• Gained 2 new siblings officially. Landon & Ayanna's adoption was finalized!!
• Endured the extremely long  and boring graduation rehearsal.
• Graduated with honors from MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE!

2 of my besties! 

• Moved into my first post college house. It is owned by Lydia and sits at the edge of Lydia's parking lot. It is such a beautiful house but needs lots of work. 
• Started my first real "grown up" job, working at Lydia Home Association in the front office and with Safe Families for Children as an assistant of sorts. 
• Went home to Indy for a graduation/adoption party. Loved seeing lots of family and friends.
• Little sister Rachel got engaged! 
• Spent a pretty lonely summer alone in Chicago, living by myself in a huge house. 
• Learned a lot about what loving my neighbor truly means as I struggled to love Miriam through lots of different stuff (the lady who lived in my basement until December and is the lady who works under me in the front office)
• Got to be a bridesmaid in Missy & Steve's Wedding and had so much fun in Michigan during the wedding week! Also included a fun road trip from Chicago to Michigan with Katie!

Photo by Rebekah David

• Went to Iowa for the first time ever to hang out with Katie's family for the 4th of July.
• Had my heart captured by a sweet 17 year old pregnant girl rescued from Human trafficking, named Felisa and started a dear friendship with her over the next 2 months before she moved to Nebraska. She and her sweet baby Neaveh still keep in touch through skype.
• Roomate #1 moved in...Heather, a Moody grad student who is working with SF & Youshare.
• Roomate #2 moved in...Elizabeth, my long time friend from Moody who is working with Lydia Urban Academy.
• Crazy 1 day round trip road trip to Detroit to get Elizabeth's belongings. Just FYI, the Chocolate Garden on the way to Detroit is just a tourist trap to try and get people to buy really expensive chocolate. 
• Was a mother for one week to an 11 year girl in Safe Families. Loved having her here, but learned that motherhood is really hard!
• Roomate #3 moved in, Bethany, a Moody grad who is working as a teacher in Lydia's preschool.
• Went home to Indy to celebrate Neighborhood Fellowship's 15th anniversary!
• Little sister, Rachel, got married!!! I now have a brother-in-law!

10/22/11, Rachel Glaser became  Rachel Richards

• Thanksgiving at home with my fam, including the traditional volunteering for the Drumstick Dash and Black Friday shopping with BooBoo.
• Family came to visit Chicago and we had so much fun walking around downtown and going to all our favorite places. 

The kids loved riding the 'L'

• Had a Just Dance/ Christmas party with a bunch of people from Moody. Just Dance became my new favorite video game!
• Experienced Christmas at Lydia and it made me feel like the Grinch or Ebenezer Scrooge. It made me loose all sight of what Christmas is supposed to be about and made me hate Christmas.
• Got to have dinner with my old roomie Gretchen, who is teaching 2nd grade in Ibadan, Nigeria, while she was in Chicago for a few days. 
• Went home to Indy for Christmas and refound my love for Christmas and my excitement in celebrating Christ's birth. Loved being with my fam for a few days!

Oh what a year it has been! My oh my, it has been filled with so much. I look back at this year and see how I've grown in so many different areas. God has been so faithful this past year and looking back now I can see just how good He is in is timing. I am so glad that 2011 is gone and 2012 is now here. I am looking forward to lots of exciting things happening this year and looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me this year!