New Beginnings

Well hello there blogging world! 

I know that most people who call themselves "bloggers" probably do a stereotypical reflective post from the year before.... and you can now add me to your ranks. Keep in mind, this will most likely be out of order. I tend to be scatterbrained. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you: 

2012.

2012 was a big year for this girl. I started me second semester of grad school and really started working hard on my thesis. It was great being in Abilene, but lonely sometimes because so many of my friends had moved away... so it was GREAT seeing them at SING SONG! Siggies did a great job and I was so proud to be an alum! 

 Dinner at the Beehive

 Seeing sweet Caroline

January and February flew by, and really all I can tell you I remember vividly from that time is thesis work.

Well... that, and seeing WICKED with my sweet friend Megan! It was our second time to see it together, and it was just as good as the first!
Finally, it came time to defend in late Spring, and my sweet friend Christine made me this precious thesis defense care package! As you can see.... I looked a bit ragged. It was stressful!

As we all know now, however... I graduated with my MSSW in MAY! It was so exciting to FINALLY be done with college, and walking away with my Master's definitely made the extra year worth it! It was so fun to celebrate having finished everything! 

 Maggie, Me, and Abby at graduation. We practiced their Sing Song faces. (It paid off by the way.... Abby made it into Freshman sing song. Just saying...)

 Me and my forever friend at graduation. It was so cool, for the first time ever, to celebrate a graduation together. Love my Missy.

 The whole family came to celebrate. It was so good having Daddy and Mama there.

SO GLAD TO BE DONE!

Also, during that semester of grad school, I started dating THIS GUY! 

 Britt has been such a blessing to me over the course of this year. Not only has he sat through many phone calls filled with crying over thesis writing, stress, and unemployment... but he's been a constant source of encouragement and affirmation. VERY thankful that he stuck around.

 Seeing Jekkyl and Hyde in Dallas

Six Flags in June

So graduation happened and I moved home to Henderson... and life kind of paused. It was nice being home... I hadn't lived at home in five years! We spent some great quality family time together.... starting out with a joint graduation present for me and Abby: a family vacation to New Orleans! 

We had the best time....

 I probably gained about 60 lbs over the course of the week.... from beignets at Cafe du Monde to little hole-in-the-wall Crawfish restaurants... the food was spectacular.

 We got to really enjoy the time together as a whole family after being separated for practically five years (since I worked at Leadership Camps most summers). From taking boat tours, walking the river, touring the French Quarter and Bourbon street, to our AIRBOAT RIDE.....

Where I held my first crocodile. Keep in mind... I hate lizards. So this was a BIG accomplishment. We had a great time. 

After our trip, we came back home and settled in for the summer. It was great to spend some time at home. From family crawfish boils 

 in July....

To hanging out with my mom in her classroom in August... it was such a blessing to spend a season of relaxation and rest with my family.

However, I'll admit that I was antsy to find a job. After all... isn't it everyone's worst fear to graduate, having spent all this money on a degree, and not being able to use it? 

And then I got my new job in the great city of.... you guessed it... ABILENE. Yes, ladies and gentlemen... I moved my little self right back to the place I left in May. However, I've loved my job so far at the Health Careers Promotion Coordinator at the Big Country Area Health Education Center. I get to travel a lot and interact with a lot of kids, which is awesome. 

I also did my first professional presentations this year... In Las Vegas in the spring.... 

 at a Technology conference...

and then at the Council of Social Work Education in Washington during November. It was really great to see all of our work come to fruition and for people to be interested. Thanks to Dr. Baldridge for bringing me on for the research....

And then there were other things.... Moved in with this gal in October when I moved back to Abilene....

Which has been such a blessing. Megan has been a great roommate and somebody to share this whole "growing up" adventure with. I'm thankful that God sent her to me at just the right time! 

I had some precious friends get married.... 

 Rachel

Megan

And spent some great holidays with family....

It's been a fantastic past 12 months. This post doesn't even begin to touch on how blessed I am to be where I'm at, and how thankful I am that God has brought me to this point in my life. I'm looking forward to seeing where 2013 leads! Blessings on you and yours!