Who are you?

When doing a little spring cleaning I found a couple of folded up pieces of paper in my old computer bag:

Give Truth; Live Truth. Be Patient and Love. We all hurt and no one person can fully understand another. We all live together, but also we live by ourselves. Our minds must stay open. Open to the understanding that we are all different. And yet despite the differences we continue to need and to have desires that are just the same as the one who seems the most different of them all.

Who are you to say that your faith, that your beliefs, that your life is “the way”. I hope it is the way for you, but it is probably not the way for me. Is that not what makes this a beautiful world? Don’t judge me, I won’t judge you, but I will ask questions, because I want to know you. I want to know that gets you up in the morning. I want to know what gives you that sun on your face, cool breeze, content all over feeling. And I want you to know why I am the way I am.

Highlights of 2009...

Ups and downs, highs and lows; 2009 was a year with plenty to remember.
Here are a few (well, maybe a lot) of my favorite moments:

2009 began in new orleans celebrating with aubs and carl


just a month later, tom and kels made a trip down to get a taste of the big easy


then it was goodbye 23 and hello to 24


march brought mardi gras 2009


and parades for days


a few extra days off sent me flying to seattle to see the nunley's


to play in the snow


and to have a SPUG reunion


back in NOLA, KJ made a stop on her way down to Florida


and we realized how scary it is to row by an 8 foot alligator in an unsteady little canoe


my students continued to challenge me, but i tried to focus on the positive


and visitors always made everything a little brighter


and in the middle of it all, I was accepted to graduate school


so, in the spring, we took every chance we got to enjoy the sunshine and culture that is new orleans:

at the pool


and sailing over lake ponchartrain


and by joining a 2nd line with the mardi gras indians


enjoying our sunday night family dinners at nirvana


and at the st patty's day parade


and even in the blazing heat of jazz fest


and then before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye:

to teach for america


to my favorite neighbors


and to the ladies of burdette


so I packed up and dad and I adventured across the country visiting friends and national parks along the way


and then I was home in the northwest, with family


and old friends all around


i was lucky enough to find out that it really takes a special guy to buy a plane ticket that leaves 12 hours later, just for a visit


grad school kept me on my toes with a summer filled with intense course work


followed by a celebration with the ladies, vegas style


then T & K took us back to the ranch in wisdom, montana


and to my first rodeo


and on plenty of horse-riding adventures


then I found myself back at SPU as an assistant coach of the SPU Gymnastics team


halloween was spent as a jazzercise instructor with mario and luigi


after a long three month countdown, I had a special date during jack's thanksgiving trip to the NW


then a trip back to New Orleans was necessary, to see my old students


and friends


and most importantly, to be with this guy - in new orleans, then adventuring up north to meet his family in Indiana


a trip down to oregon was filled with ugly christmas sweaters


and a cross-country skiing adventure with michelle and flynne


and finally, the year ended, just as it begun - celebrating with wonderful friends, Aubrie and Carl - this time in New Mexico at their wedding!