28, almost

so i (accidentally) spent the large part of this year (well, almost of all of it) telling people i was 28. i wasn't, i was 27. for some reason, in my head, i was 28. now that i'm about to be 28 (in a few hours here), i feel sort of sad to have missed 27. i tend to like odd yeared ages better. (actually, they're often worse years for me, but i like the sound of them better.)

one of my wyoming profs (who i absolutely love) turned 40 this year. i remember riding in her car one of my last days in wyoming and she was talking about all the things she hoped to do in the next decade and all that had happened in the past decade (a lot!). it's strange--but i'm beginning to think that 30's about the time people start thinking in decades. i never thought that way at 20. of course, at 20, i never (ever) thought i would be in a phd program. i was hoping to get out of school as soon as possible. it's funny how these things change in just a few years.

these past eight years since then have been packed. in some ways, i'm still all about the same things (wilderness, good conversations, hot chocolate, art, not working), but in the past couple years i discovered all these things i never knew i would love (writing, norway, latvia, harry potter, the west, the charismatic church and the presbyterian church, the chicago cubs, snowshoeing, kittens.)

this was a long and weird year (sick for 8 months, finishing my mfa, moving to missouri.) some good things happened too (namely making some great friends in wyoming), but i do hope the coming year will be less stressful. i'm also hoping to get back to feeling wholly good again. (& to get past these blasted headaches!)

in other great news, just in time for my birthday, allie is walking and talking (dada)!! woah! big week.