Following are some of my year 2008 highlights–in no particular order, and certainly not exhaustive. If I took the time I’d think of more, but these are the ones that came to mind as I thought about this past year for an hour or so this afternoon:
- Meeting my niece, Ella, and seeing my sister and her husband experience the joys of adoption and parenthood for the first time. Likewise, seeing my mom and dad as grandparents and my brothers as uncles, etc. It’s been a joy to have a baby in the family and exciting to have another on the way!
- Spending the majority of the year in California and Colorado, two great states that I delighted to make my “temporary” homes. Both offered varied and exciting new experiences, places and lasting memories, including multiple trips to Disneyland, the Getty, the beach, state and national parks, and the great local breweries of Colorado.
- Listening to “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy (my first audiobook) as I drove through the dark of the heart of the Colorado Rockies as I moved from SoCal to Fort Collins. Amazing book. Amazing experience.
- Seeing The Dark Knight in theaters for the first time and every time since. What a movie.
- Voting in an election where the first African-American man was elected president of the United States of America. I may not have voted for the President-Elect, but I can’t deny I was moved and excited when the results came in. (This, likewise, is still one of my favorite graphics of the year.)
- Seeing the Pittsburgh Penguins roll through the Atlantic Conference on their way to the Stanley Cup finals in this spring’s NHL playoffs. I became a hockey fan in 2008, and I have the Pens to thank for that. (And, of course, the Pensblog.)
- Embracing Twitter and seeing my friends come to use it and love it, too. People tweet for a lot of reasons, I tweet to connect with friends–new and old. Follow me here and discover the joy of Twitter for yourself.
- Getting an iPhone. This probably shouldn’t be a year highlight, but it was a seriously great purchase.
- Pursuing God’s call in my life, specifically in relation to China. I’ve had a ton of AMAZING conversations this past year with friends and family at home and abroad about the work in China and what part I might play there in the future. I’m excited about where 2009 might take me, and that’s all because of the nudges felt and the obedience pursued in 2008.
- A visit from Brandon and Ashley Zangus back in the spring. I love my friends. I can’t say enough about the awesome, committed friends I have, but nothing brought me more joy than getting to host my best bud and his awesome wife for a few days in Southern California.
- A visit from my folks in Colorado. My dad’s been to L.A. and Beijing to visit me, but this was the first time my mom was able to see me away from home. It was a real blessing and joy to host them, eat out, hang out, cook and do a little sightseeing. They even let me take some pictures.
- Any time I got to come home to Pittsburgh. I LOVE landing at the Pittsburgh airport (even if I often don’t care for the journey to get there). There truly is no place like home.
- Working the same job for all of 2008. It’s been in two states, granted, but it’s been a great year at ELIC–I’ve done a lot of work I’m really proud of, but more than that I’ve done work for the Kingdom in Asia and made some amazing friendships doing so. I love the people I work with, and they’ve made this year fly by. (Seriously, how have I gone into an office five days a week since October 2007 and been okay with that?)
- Growing another year older (I’ve enjoyed being 25 and 26 a lot), wiser, less dependent (I hope) on anything the world says I need and more dependent on Christ alone.
Doddfodder 
