A reflection on 25.

• My 25th year began in Grahamstown South Africa surrounded by so many loved ones...
• Shortly thereafter, I finished my master's thesis,
• Went on an incredible trip to islands off the coast of Kenya and Tanzania,
• Flew to Idaho for Christmas and got promptly thrown into sub-zero weather up in Sun Valley for a family bonding session,
• Visited Houston for a quick luncheon with all of my loved ones and a presentation to the Rotary District who funded my year in South Africa,
• Went to Jerusalem for 3 months to participate in a Special Program on Human Rights, where I got detained, got angry, and had my whole heart swallowed up by the situation,
  
• Visited Jordan and Egypt,
  
• Returned to Denver to finish my last quarter of graduate school,
• Went to Nairobi, Kenya for 3 months to conduct research in the largest slum in Africa where I walked through human feces almost every single day and had my flight home canceled due to terrorist threats,
  
• Returned to Idaho in one piece,
• White water rafted Hells Canyon,
• Visited my grandparent's ranch in Arizona where I learned how to bake a pie and got to listen to more Fox News than any one human should ever have to,
• Snuggled with my loved ones and presented our findings about the slum to our funders in Denver,
• Took a Father/Daughter special trip to Yellowstone,
  
• Reconnected with beloved family at a reunion in Las Vegas,
  
• Accompanied of one of my dearest friends to his sister's wedding in San Diego,
• Picked pecans right from the trees in El Paso and heard Victor present about his hot shot new job,
• Became an excellent phone answerer and sub-par label maker at Fletcher Law Office,
• And got to hang out with my parents, lay low and breathe for the first time in a really long time in Burley Idaho.

So overall - it was amazing, exhausting, overwhelming, love-filled, drama-filled, gratitude-filled, ball buster of a year. I am certainly still processing everything that happened..

26 has a lot to live up to.