1.1.11

Happy New Year 2011!

Well, I don't know about you, but 2010 seemed to fly by to me! Looking back, it was a really good year filled with a lot of growth and lot of blessings. Let's see... I finished my first year of medical school and finally started to settle-in in Chicago, I got rid of the womanizing man in my life who I unfortunately fell in love with back in 2007, I got to meet my best friend's family in Colorado, I became part of the Arts of Life family, I made the most amazing girlfriends in my medical school class, I was blessed with an opportunity to be part of the Summer Institute for Medical Students at the world renowned Betty Ford Center in Palms Springs, CA and on the same trip I was able to visit my cousin, Lonnie, for the first time in Bakersfield, my little sister, Kelsey, graduated from high school and started college at IUPUI (woot!), I went through a ton of spiritual growth, and the list goes on and on. What a great year! I'm giving all my thanks to the Man upstairs!

My dear friend, Anh, challenged me earlier this week to write down on paper all the things I want to do or continue to do in 2011. I have to admit, I initially thought this was a silly, useless act for me. I've always been the kind of person who just knows what my goals for the near future are (and I don't make New Year's resolutions), so in my mind there was no need to write goals down. I did it anyway, mostly to appease him. :) I must say there was something very liberating and empowering about putting those things on paper. They're not huge, lofty goals, just realistic changes and continuances that I want to do this year. I'm going to share what I wrote down below, and I also want to challenge you to write down what you want to do this year. It actually feels really good!

2011--->
1. Study HARD for the boards!
2. Get healthier- more yoga and running, less cookies and french fries
3. Don't let boys distract you
4. Volunteer at CHC, the soup kitchen, and Arts of Life
5. Keep up your blog
6. Call your sisters and Lonnie more often
7. Take Abby to agility
8. Visit Steph in Nashville
9. Go to church
10. Treat yourself every now and then with good movies and books
11. Find a new apartment
12. Count your blessings every night
13. Explore and enjoy Chicago- Hubbard Dance Company, concerts, the beach, take the dogs to the park, museums, and more
14. Work hard on all your rotations and learn as much as you can
15. Be a good friend, daughter, sister, and mom to the doggies
16. Save as much money as you can and invest it in your future

Then, I wrote 1 Corinthians 13 on the bottom of the page. Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us. The greatest of these is love.

Thanks Anh for the challenge! :)