Well, I was going to call this....

something about the obligatory New Year post, but then I realized that that's Daddy's most recent title. So now I have the beginning of the sentence as my title, which is infinitely more boring, but whatever.

I was sincerely touched by all the tearful farewells on my leaving post. It's so nice to know I was missed. I must contribute so much with my half-unreadable posts and unnecessarily lengthy words. The people on Facebook were equally distressed by my absence. :P

I actually have a whole bunch of posts that I wrote while I was off, but I'm not sure if I'm going to post them or not. *glances expectantly over crowd of readers* *readers respond with thunderous silence* I guess I won't.

Well, if you're still reading, you're now going to get a summary of what I learned from 2008, so this is your chance to run. The exits are located to the top right, top left and top center of this page. They are not lit with bright red "Exit" signs, so proceed with caution. Beware the hole in the floor.

Okay, now I'll be serious. To be honest, 2008 wasn't a great year for me. I spent most of the year in chronic depression and confusion. My faith in God was challenged, everything that made my world secure seemed to crumble, and most of my memories have to do with the most complete sadness I've ever felt. And it seems silly for me to say this, because no one I knew died. Not even our little cat (who had kidney failure). There was really nothing awful; technically I should have had a great year.

It's hard for me to say if it was just my attitude, or if it was maybe some sort of spiritual attack, but whichever it was, I learned a lot of things that made this one of the most meaningful years of my life so far, even if it wasn't packed with fun and pleasure. My faith was challenged, but now it's stronger, I am closer to God for the loss of my worldly security, and through the sadness, God has given my His joy.

I guess I'm finally escaping the horrible teenage years. I'll be 18 this summer, legally an adult, but not able to drink, and older than I've ever been before. I'm going to graduate, but not legally... don't worry, I'll graduate legally next year. I just decided that since I'll finish out this school year 17, that I may as well do another year and graduate at 18 (but then I'll be almost 19...) Yes, it's confusing. If you don't get it, please don't read that paragraph again.

Happy New Year everyone!

~Lizzie