Year in Review
2008-to begin by sounding just a little trite-has had its share of ups and downs. I’ve weathered more than one storm-literally and figuratively. It’s been both what I call a “building” year: and a year of waiting, with its fill of uncertainties. Here are some reminiscences of 2008.
I began the year with a trip to California. Little did I know when I flew into the golden state that day in January, that I would be heading into one of the biggest storms to hit the area in a while. Hurricane force winds meant uprooted trees and downed power lines. Most of Yuba City was without power while I was there-including a usually well-lit highway. While driving with a good friend of mine, we became victims of the storm as we collided with another car and did a 180 on said highway-winding up with a totaled car, in the middle of the road facing oncoming traffic. Kinda scary. The reason I bring this up is not to rehash what's in the past and over and dealt with, or even to make anyone feel bad; but just to point out that in life you just never know what's going to happen: one minute you’re making plans to go to San Francisco-the next you’re standing next to the highway looking at the remains of your totaled vehicle wondering what the heck happened?
But I realized that not only can you never guess what might happen in life-but often times blessings can come from those seemingly awful events. Not that I didn't know this before-but it was shown to me in a real way this year. In the end, my friend ended up replacing his car with a much better one. Nobody was hurt in the accident-thank God. And since the stoplight was out in the intersection-and it was pitch dark- the police ruled that no one was at fault in the incident.
As for the rest of January and February-well, they passed without any similarly horrifying incidents-unless you count that devastating Patriots loss. yikes.
March was my long anticipated-and much-dreaded comprehensive exam: the culmination of two years of study in my Italian program. It was certainly a milestone for me.
Much of the rest of the winter I spent looking for jobs, sending out my resume-and dreaming of returning to California.
Finally May came, and I celebrated my graduation. It was a time of pride for me-and I relished the moment. The future was uncertain, but I was at peace about it.
Summer was spent looking for work. My hope was to find a summer job so that I could save money and move to California-become a substitute teacher and look for a more permanent job. At least that was the plan. Alas-two temp agencies, and many interviews later-still no work.
As the summer came to a close I became desperate. Sticking to my original plan of finding a summer job to save up for a move-I applied at a local supermarket in the town where my parents live. Within a couple days of submitting the application I got a call and went in for an interview and was hired right away.
Wait--I look for work an entire summer in BOSTON and don’t find anything-and yet go home for a weekend and within a week have a job: in a town not even 1/10 the size? Could someone be trying to tell me something? Now, I know there is more to it than just that. For one, I was looking for a different kind of summer job in Boston-had I looked for a simple job like the one I found in NH I might've been more successful. (Even though I couldn't get work from even TEMP agencies). But, I do think it's peculiar that after I had already found this job, after it was certain I was going to move back to NH I started getting calls for jobs in Boston. I got offered to do the job starting in the fall that I applied for at the beginning of the summer-teaching ESL. It wouldn't have worked-it was only part time and wouldn't have paid enough to allow me to stay in Boston. I also got some temp calls to answer phones at WGBH. That would've been awesome! And, I was offered some tutoring jobs. In the end though, I felt like I had made the right decision in moving to NH and turned the jobs down-frustrating as it was. I just felt like I was supposed to leave Boston. And to be honest, that was alright with me.
For a while, going to work was a daily struggle. It was just another example of how sometimes with life-you just can never tell where you will end up. It was mainly the uncertainty that scared me. Could this be a sign of things to come? Would I EVER find work in my field? All I could do was keep my eyes on the prize, and remind myself that I was saving to move to California and that everything would be fine.
My birthday was spent packing my things from my apartment in Boston and bringing them home. And of course there was a fireworks show in Jaffrey. I had passed the quarter century mark-and was starting on another.
Fall came with many surprises. First of all, I applied to be a substitute teacher in the Jaffrey-Rindge School District. At first, my goal remained to sub as a way to earn extra money for moving. But then…
Well then-I found a job teaching an Italian course at a College just 20 miles from where my parents live in New Hampshire.
I realized that in all my single mindedness about moving to California I was forgetting some basic things-namely I was putting my desire to move ahead of my desire to find a job in my field. Moving, not finding a job had become my end. After I took many things into consideration I decided to release my hold on California and surrender. Not that things were completely settled-or even that I felt they would be completely easy from then on. This is a part time gig but the hope is that the experience I gain from this job will lead to more opportunities in the future...
And I found that I really enjoyed living in New Hampshire. Even though I have been on the East Coast for a while now, I had never really experienced the beauty of the leaves changing colors before. At least not in the same way. I found simple pleasure in driving to work early in the morning-and passing under trees while the leaves swirled in front of me. Or having to stop to let a family of turkeys pass in front of me on the road. Driving through Jaffrey and seeing Mount Monadnock in the distance-Simply being back in a country setting made me happy. 
And I really enjoyed working in the schools and meeting people in the area that way. The kids in the schools are really great-and I enjoyed learning about this state through their eyes.
In November I got to visit my friends in California. No storms this time! It was a great trip: not only did I get to see my great friends and visit-but I also got to return to Disneyland! I am so grateful I had that time.
December ended the year with yet another storm. One cold Thursday night we in Southern NH and Northern MA had an ice storm, which left us without power for 8 days. That was a trying time-but I learned a lot from it. I realized just how much I took for granted. And I saw people come together-opening their homes to people for showers, offering the use of their generators, feeding overtired work crews. And most people didn’t complain or look sad. Everyone stayed positive. It was really a thing to see. Especially around the holidays. It's kinda funny how the year seemed to come full circle in terms of storms. I'm starting to feel like I'm bad luck or something. lol...
In summation, I would just like to say that even though this year was one of uncertainties-it was also one of great blessings. And I truly saw God guide me in the way to go and that fact alone makes me rejoice: just to know that He has a plan for me and a place He wants me. Things didn't always go my way. I'm not going to lie, I can be a very stubborn person. If something isn't exactly what I want I usually don't want anything to do with it. But, I realized this year that even I may not know exactly what I want all the time. Sometimes when you are so single-minded and stubborn you don't see opportunities that are right in front of you. My hope in the next year is that I will be able to take more risks-and not be so stubborn-to see opportunities that I might have otherwise ignored.-among other things. Here is a verse that I think sums up nicely my year.
Romans 5:3-8
And not only this but we exalt in our tribulations
Knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance proven character, and proven character hope; and hope does not disappoint.
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