The End of a Chapter, The Beginning of Another

Well, it's that time again. The year is coming to an end. This means two things. 1. I'm reflecting on the entire past year. 2. I'm thinking about everything I want to do next year. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, but I figured I would share my thoughts with you.

My 2010 was, as always, full of drama. For the first five months, I was battling another episode of depression while trying to go to school, move on from a awful breakup, maintain my friendships, and build new ones. I moved back home to be with my family and friends and got the help I needed.

I've made some great new friendships and gotten closer to some old friends. Unfortunately, I also lost some friends due to snotty girlfriends and lack of control (not on my part). I miss them, but there's a reason they have chosen not to be a part of my life anymore, and I've accepted that.

I somehow ended up going the entire year without being in a relationship, though I was almost in a few. They never happened, and again, there's a reason for it. I've finally learned to be happy without a guy. I don't let myself get in too deep with anybody, and it has saved me a lot of pain. That doesn't mean I don't care about anyone or that I'm heartless. I'm still very emotional. I've just taught myself not to get too attached to anybody. It's done nothing but hurt me in the past, and I refuse to let it hurt me in the future.

I had an amazing summer, spending a lot of time with my church friends. I met a new friend at VBS and a lot of new friends at camp. High school week of camp was by far the best week I have ever experienced. Of course, I loved Tim's week with the little ones too. I'm so excited for next summer so I can see my wonderful friends again.

I spend my Fall semester overloading myself with 21 credit hours. I was a full time online student at Southeast and a part time student at John A. Logan. It was a boatload of work, but I managed to pull through with 5 A's and 2 B's in some fantastic and some not so lovely classes. As far as I know, I'm officially a junior. I also work part time in our office doing a ton of paperwork so I was busy as always.

I got to take a week away from school in November and went on family vacation to Disney World. It was so fun to just spend time with my family and not worry about school or work. We're already planning our vacation for next winter. No details yet though.

Some big decisions were made in my life this year. I decided to go back to Southeast starting next semester and pursue two Bachelor's degrees, management and psychology. I'll definitely miss my family and the friends I actually see now, but I really feel that this is the best decision for me right now.

On to 2011.

As I said, I'll be back at Southeast starting in just 20 days. I'll only be in 15 credit hours, which should be pretty simple given what I survived in the fall. I got my housing information yesterday. I got in the building I want, but I haven't talked to my roommate yet. I think she's in France with no computer so I hope she gets back soon so we can talk before move in.

I'm working on my list of goals for 2011. I'm thinking maybe a couple big ones thrown in with a whole bunch of easier to attain ones. Setting small goals can be a huge confidence booster because you accomplish a lot in a shorter amount of time. You should try it. I'm not going to post any of them just yet, but you'll get to see some when I get my list going.

Looks like the dog needs my attention. I hope you have had a wonderful 2010 and are looking forward to an even better 2011.

Love,
Brittany

Weird Things About Me!

So I was reading another blog that I follow and saw a post written by the author about things she calls her personal oddities. I've never considered myself exactly normal, so I thought I'd make one of my own. Here we go.

1. The volume on the television has to be on a number ending in 0, 2, 5, or 8. If it's anything else, I will change it.
2. I don't watch MTV. I'm a 19 year old who watches Disney, TLC, and HGTV on a regular basis.
3. I eat the toppings off of my pizza, then the cheese, then sauce, then the bread part. I also eat the middle part of pizza rolls first.
4. I live on a fish farm, but I don't eat seafood.
5. I can't drive unless I'm singing obnoxiously loud.
6. I have a slight obsession with penguins so I get really excited when I get anything involving them.
7. I sometimes play out situations in my head so I know what I would say or do.
8. My nervous habit is picking at my lip.
9. A lot of times, I go out of my way to get someone's attention, and I usually realize how stupid it was about 10 seconds later.
10. I always say I'm going to eat better and exercise to help myself look better, but I never actually stick with it.
11. I make a character in Sims 3 that looks like me and play out what I wish I had the confidence to do.
12. I fish for compliments way more than I'm willing to admit.

That's all I have right now, but I'll try to come up with more and make another post in the future.

Holt International

Hey there everybody! It's been a while since I've posted anything here because of a lovely little thing called school. Professors feel the need to throw everything at students in the last two to three weeks of class. Well, it's finals week, and I have a snow day so I decided to take a break from studying to write about something truly awesome.

ME!

No, not me. Actually, it's an organization called Holt International. I first heard about it last week at the Newsong/Newsboys Very Merry Christmas Tour concert. Holt is a Christian international adoption organization. I know what you're thinking, "Why the heck are you telling me about this? I can't adopt a child!" Well, neither can I, but there is another way to help.

You have the opportunity to sponsor a child who desperately needs your help. These children are either orphaned or have been given away by their parents in poor countries. Holt steps in to help these children to get adopted, but they still need help while they wait for a forever family. For just one dollar each day, you can help provide a child with "food, shelter, clothing, medical treatment, and attentive care." Not just any child though, you get to chose a child (or more than one if you want). Once the child is adopted, your sponsorship is over, but you get the amazing feeling of knowing that you helped care for your child until he or she was adopted.

I became a sponsor at that concert. My little girl is named Nominerdene. She is a six year old from Mongolia who loved music and singing. There is a lot of poverty in Mongolia so a lot of parents are abondoning their children. Holt International went in in 1999 and set up the Rainbow Baby Care Unit to help homeless children. They try to stabalize the children's birth homes so the children can be with their biological families, but when that can't happen, Holt works to find a family to adopt.

I am so thrilled to be able to sponsor this beautiful little girl and help her continue to sing. If you want to adopt, sponsor, or just want more informmation, go to www.holtinternational.org and look around. I hope this post can help more children to find sponsors.

Lots of love in the holiday season,
Brittany