29, you have big shoes to fill

Dear 29th year of life,

You have your work cut out for you. Why, you ask? Well, that would be because 28 was the best year of life yet. (That may have been because 27 was a pretty rough and tumble year and the only way to go was up.)

Why was 28 the best year? Let me tell you. And what better way than a list of 28 reasons : )
*This is not an exhaustive list. It is just the first 28 things that come to my mind.

1. Being home for my birthday for the first time in years and bringing mom back with me for a visit.
2. Israel. My first real overseas travel. Wonderful, beautiful, fantastic, educational. I would go back right now.
3. Debt free! School loans and a trip to Israel all paid for and still holding at debt free.
4. 2 contra weekends in places we didn't really know anyone with my friend Aly and the Great Bear Trio!
5. Home for the 4th of July. (I would choose the 4th over Christmas any year)
6. Checking off 2 baseball stadiums from the list. (and 2 states in the process)
7. My awesome roommate, Lindsey.
8. So many new and wonderful friends!
9. Another year with a (mostly) reliable car and no car payment.
10. Eleuthera trip and all of its wonderful-ness.
11. Many opportunities for learning and growth.
12. Losing 40 pounds!
13. Learning to enjoy running. Never in my life did I think this would happen.
14. Catching up with some old friends.
15. Wick-Fam reunion 2K12 in November.
16. Friends that become more and more like family.
17. The list of 28 things to do before 28. (another post is forthcoming on this one)
18. Cutting my hair short (for me, still long for others) and liking it!
19. Hiking Table Rock last week in a personal best time and not feeling the need to stop on the way up aside from the blisters forming from my new hiking shoes.
20. Getting to support and encourage many friends as they left the country or their regular life to seek what God was leading them to.
21. Random gifts from family just because.
22. Choosing positive over negative more often than in years past. And learning that it is a choice.
23. Reading so many good books. I love books!
24. Learning and growing in my faith and beliefs more than in the years past.
25. Playing in a Volleyball adult rec league.
26. Seeing Switchfoot yet again. Oh how I love them. (and happy birthday to my birthday buddy Chad, the drummer)
27. Meeting more people that I have weird connections with making the world smaller.
28. Ending the year with a positive and hopeful outlook.

There were many other things that made 28 great, but for now, I will leave it at this list. Here's to 29 kicking the tail off 28 in great-ness and many more great years of life to go.

Sincerely,
28th year

How was your last year of life great?