Looking Back

I have a post forming in my mind that I will write...but it's another month or so in the making. But the mere thinking of it took me on a little trip yesterday. A little trip through the last five years and what was happening in Bekahland on that day in each year.

2010.

January 11th, 2010 found me reading through my yet-to-be-published book. Again. Editing, editing, editing. Reading through familiar words and trying to teach myself to be willing to chop some out. {My main gift is not the revision process.}  That particular day, I was trying to read as a reader, not a writer. I was trying to imagine what my mysterious readers out there would find worth underlining. The book was still a screen-dream that day.

What a beautiful journey has come to fruition on that little book. I have loved each stage of the journey. I have loved the people I've me through sharing it. I have loved the chance to have book signings, the chance to read aloud to audiences, the chance to hear from those who gave and received it as a gift.

2011.

January 11, 2011 found me discussing the never ending E word: exercise. I was a few months on the other side of my unexpected weight loss, compliments of the love life drama I endured in 2010. I was still working at Indiana Wesleyan, and they had a wellness program incentive to try to increase healthy living among the employees. I was trying to introduce some variety into my exercise world...learning I was not a zumba girl and trying hard to find other DVD programs that might work for me.

Welllllll here we are in 2015, and it's still a source of contention! I have no more coordination now than I did then, so I'm pretty sure I'm still not a zumba girl - and I still struggle to find things that work for me. It's even worse now, because we have to factor in commuting, which takes the time I used to spend in the gym when I lived next door to work. This is an area where I have to continue to search for answers and ask God to help guide me to something that works for me in a commuter's world.

2012.

January 11, 2012 was a Q&A day in Bekahland. It was still Bekahland back then. Wasn't even dating on this day in 2012, and who knew that by the end of that year, I'd be married!?!?! I was, by this time, working at WBCL, and we were about to head into our Share fundraiser, and I think my brain was tired from gearing up for that! {Hence the Q&A.} In this little post, I revealed that as a child, I desperately wanted to be named Brittany, and the most unfair punishment my parents ever bestowed upon me was the drama of the peaches.

I still don't know if I ever told you that story, so here it is. We were a clean your plate family, when I grew up, and one night, when I was probably somewhere between 5 and 8 years old, Mom served fresh peaches for dinner. I don't know that I'd ever had peaches before, and I did try them, but I did not like them, so I elected not to finish them. What ensued was a battle of the wills between me and the Mama, and the bottom line became...I would eat those peaches. Period. In fairness to Mom, it probably became a matter of principle because I probably had a little fit about it. After sitting at the table for a couple of hours, stubbornly refusing the peaches, she let me get up, and I thought I won.

I was wrong. When the next meal rolled around, the only thing on my plate was that bowl of peaches, which had been hiding in the fridge since the aforementioned dinner. I cried, but I ate them. She never asked me to eat them again. And I probably haven't eaten them of my own accord, either, unless encased in a pie or cobbler!

2013. 

January 11, 2013 was recap day for our honeymoon!!! We'd been married for over a month at that point, but with all the holiday recaps in December, I still hadn't fully told you all about our honeymoon! This was the day I recounted our adventures on the tandem bike. Ryan so wanted to rent and ride a tandem bike, and this girl, who once broke her leg riding a bike, was a little more cautious. He was fully engrossed in the joy, ringing the little bell twice and shouting Hellooooooooooo! to everyone we passed. We rode into Siesta Key, ate some lunch, shopped in town, watched a sunset on the beach, and then rode home at the edge of the water, which was packed down hard and was something like a road desperately in need of filled potholes. Oh how I miss that honeymoon - and today, those temps!!!

2014.

January 11, 2014 was a Saturday, so it featured the Saturday Six. But in it were some pictures of little Braeya Jo Jo, drinking milk out of a glass. I know we're the crazy cat people, since we don't have kids, but my goodness. That little bundle of fur brings us more joy and more frustration than any one little bundle of fun should. Her little personality is so much fun, even when she's leaning more toward naughty than nice. She will turn nine this year, and I'm so thankful for her little life. {Even though the little traitor is completely a daddy's girl now.}