It's a new year!

What a year it's been!  In a lot of ways I feel like this year has transformed me into a different person; I feel lucky to have survived.  It's been a year of scarce highs and unbelievable lows.  I really think, more than ever, that God really doesn't give us more than we can handle, but this year it felt like i was in a vice, and someone just kept tightening it, squeezing, way past when I would have like them to stop.  In three words: lonely, overwhelmed, desperate.  But there were bright spots, too.  Times that my heart felt like it might float away. i was so happy, so free. beauty in the midst of a time I didn't see the end. wonder, hope, love.

And this new year has just begun, and it's still new and bright and shiny!  Not that life is perfect, or all of the things that made last year hard have magically disappeared.  But I have so much hope, and I'm excited for so many things!