It's been quite a year. I've done enough in 2014 to cover about 5 years... it was busy, wonderful, hard, overwhelming, challenging, and rewarding all at the same time.
2014 began a year ago with... me sleeping in my bed because I had a terrible headache and went to bed at 9 instead of staying up until midnight. It was peaceful.
And then, less peacefully, came the 2nd semester of my junior year of high school... which meant a lot of school work, plus raveling to debate tournaments in Kansas, Bellevue, Minnesota, and Iowa. I got 3rd in impromptu at one tournament by talking about the failures of my past love life, and Natalie and I finally broke our 2nd place streak by getting first place in Team Policy debate at Regionals. Those were some fun times. I also spent the first three months of the year attending regular meetings every week to prepare for a mission's trip.
In April, I took the ACT for the last time, and then went on a mission's trip to Mexico (my first time out of the United States!) and got to spend a week sharing God's Word and His love with kids who were eager to learn. My heart was filled with so much joy.
In May, there was Regionals, home school graduation (where I thought: "That'll be me next year!"), and a ton of graduation parties to attend.
In June, I spent the first week living on the UNL campus because I was attending Nebraska Girls State. I made new friends, ran for a political office, and was elected chairman of the Nationalist party, so I got to be in charge of managing the thoughts and opinions of 200 girls. As soon as that week was over, my parents picked me up, I went home, packed a different suitcase, and we drove (along with Haley and Annie) all the way out to Virginia. We all read "the Fault in Our Stars" on the way out, and decided it was OK, but not great. That week we attended the NCFCA National tournament at Patrick Henry College. I was tired of people (which never happens), sick with a really bad cough (always perfect when you have to do a lot of speaking), but it was a fun week. Then we took another couple of days, after the tournament was over, to go into Washington D.C. and do some touring there, which was fun... and then we also made a stop at Colonial Williamsburg. Then we started traveling back and made a stop at Hillsdale, Michigan for a college visit, before finally making it home. You know, I love traveling and seeing new places, but getting home after that trip was one of the best feelings in the world. I believe in my heart that Nebraska really is the Good Life.
In July, I flew back out to Washington D.C. for Girls Nation, where I spent a week with nearly a hundred girls from all around the United States. We debated bills that we had written in a mock Senate, we visited monuments and memorials, had a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington Cemetery, visited the Holocaust museum and heard the story of a Holocaust survivor, we met with our Senators and Representatives, visited the Library of Congress, held an inauguration ceremony in the Capitol, and met the President of the United States. I made a lot of friends that week, but that week also taught me to be very grateful for the moral values and upbringing that I have been given.
In August, I said goodbye to all my friends who were heading to college, and then my family traveled to Colorado for some intense hiking experiences. We attempted to climb Long's Peak, and even though we didn't make it (at 6.5 miles up the mountain, there was a bad storm, so we decided to be smart and not continue), I still had a great experience. Climbing up above the treeline at 3 or 4 in the morning is an incredible experience... to the East we could see the entire city of Denver and the lights that illuminated it. Above me, the stars shined more brightly than they ever had before (probably because I was so high up). And then we got to watch the sunrise.... and watch as the sun's light slowly warmed and brought light to the world around me. It was magnificent. At the end of August, I also started dating my best friend Jonah, and the conversations with him and memories that we've made have been wonderful.
September began with the realization that everyone who had ever told me that "Senior year is so easy!" was actually lying. My life was quickly consumed with scholarship applications, a college application (ok, so I only applied to one place...), trying to make decisions for next year, and keeping up with homework. It was a good kind of busy.
October wasn't too exciting... just a lot of meetings to go to, campaigning to do, events at UNL to attend, homework to do, and a Physics class at a local college that stressed me out more than I should have let it.
In November, I had the opportunity to speak in front of some veterans and show them my appreciation for everything that they've done for this country. I turned 18, registered to vote, and didn't buy any cigarettes.
In December, I finished school for the semester (I'm 7/8 of the way through high school!!!), pulled off a high A in my Physics class, got 3rd at a practice debate tournament, and spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and several days after Christmas with family... just talking, telling stories, and learning how to dance better. And then somehow on the 31st of December I found myself sitting here, writing about what a year it has been.
I feel so blessed to have been given so many chances to have such wonderful experiences this past year. It's been incredible.... but not just because I've done cool things. It's been incredible because this year I met new people, made new friendships, strengthened old friendships, and had better conversations and laughed more than I have in any of the other years. Doing things and going to interesting places have given me a lot of good memories. But the best memories from this year have just been from people. Late night hotel conversations with Annie and Haley, going for a walk in the evening at the Minnesota National Open, meeting Israelis who were on vacation in Colorado and getting to know them, telling family stories around the fire on December 26th, talking about my faith and having it challenged, spending evenings playing games and watching movies with people that I love... those times have given me the best memories of this past year.
Thank you so much, everyone. You all have helped to make 2014 the best year yet. :) Now let's make 2015 even better.... ;)
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