ringing in the new year in style

"they always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." 

andy warhol

LO-LO-LO-LO-VE

morgan at hinkle fieldhouse
BUTLER BULLDOGS

the year 2011 has come and gone.  i accomplished sundry small victories with a warrior-like attitude.  i defeated loneliness and i put to shame my expectations for the year.  with ups and downs, my fears and failures, high points and low points, 2011 was an incredible year.  looking back, i have grown emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally.  i can not say for a fact that i know how to run this business called "life" nor do i know what i am going to eventually get out of this melting pot, but i can say that a journey begins with a single step, and i'm not afraid to move in any which direction anymore.

so to ring in this new year of 2012, i have special goals and daily reminders to help me become the very best woman, Christ-follower, leader, submitter, friend, runner, daughter, volunteer, student that 2012 could possibly allow.

my roommate, morgan, came to indianapolis to ring in the new year.  we both wanted to keep new years low key yet adventurous, exciting yet calm.  major success on our parts.  getting us together is a force to blow the cosmic's minds yet we managed to keep our festivities under wrap.

morgan and i went to kilroy's downtown indy to watch the IU-Ohio State game.  the atmosphere was intense, being that it is a strict IU bar.  IU ended up beating number 2 Ohio State in the final seconds.  it was exhilarating to be around such enthusiastic fans.  i truly showed morgan the hoosier hospitality.  we each got a drink and shared an order of stuffed breadsticks.  these stuffed breadsticks aren't just your run of the mill, rinky dink bread sticks.  no, these breadsticks are severed piping hot from the oven and jammed pack with several varieties of cheese so when you pull apart the stick or bite into it, the cheese flows like lava and you can savor every morsel.  i know, my mouth is watering too just by typing this.  rest assured, these are the best breadsticks one could ever taste.

after kilroys, i took morgan to the circle.  i showed here the beautiful architecture that indianapolis has to offer and the wonderful monumental christmas tree.  the winter air was biting our nose and caressing our bare legs, so we simultaneously decided we needed to go eat food and get inside some place.  i took morgan to the old spaghetti factory.  here is were our new years luck continued.  not only were our drinks free at the bar, but at dinner we received free salads because one of the waiters had accidentally brought salads instead of soups to another table.  he said they were just going to be thrown away had we not eaten them.  being the high-metabolism, 125 pound athlete bodies that we are, we devoured them.  morgan order a pasta dish and i a giant slice of chocolate cake and a warm coffee.  we sat in the restaurant talking away until about 11PM.  with one hour left until 2012, we needed to figure out where we were going to ring in the new year.  we decided on a new place downtown called, the titled kilt.

at the tilted kilt, morgan and i had a great time.  there was a small dance floor with a decent dj.  morgan and i danced the night away, with class.  we showed our swing dance and line dance and our "i don't even know how to dance but i'll try" dance.  the crowd was an older crowd, mostly around late 20-40s, so morgan and i had the time of our life just to ourselves.  with a complimentary champagne toast at midnight, morgan and i toasted and drank.  we both didn't have new year's kisses, but we both agreed that ringing in the new year without someone's lips stuck to our's gave us a one-up.  we get to start this year on a clean slate, pure. after midnight we danced to one more song and then left, we both were pretty tired and our feet had been hurting.

because i was sober, i was able to drive home without fear of ruining my life.  before meandering home, however, i drove around downtown to show morgan just a few more buildings, architecture, scenery so she could get her bearings around this phenomenal, friendly city.

our luck continued into the new year.  on january first we went shopping and while in the check out line, a guy (who is with his girlfriend so he obviously wasn't trying to flirt with us), says, "hey, we don't shop here, this is a $50 gift card, would you like it?" i was dumbfounded.  morgan and i got our goodies for free.

we had the time of our lives hustling and bustling around the southside and northside.  having morgan in town for 3 days was the best 3 days of my whole entire break.

i hope everyone had a superior new year's and have made resolutions with intent to keep.  don't make a promise you can't keep.

this is a year of reflected growth and eagerness to grow even more.  as i have stressed so much in the past, i am not a perfect dove.  i am tainted, scarred, bruises, and even dirty; but, through the blood of my King, i am made new and pure and whole.