nine for 9

I know most people do "best of" or "the ten most" of the year at the end of the year, but I've been known to be fashionably late. I decided to have a post of nine pictures that defined 2009. These aren't the best-photographed, the most life-altering (necessarily), or the nine pictures that I'll (necessarily) have framed in 20 years, but here are nine pictures from 2009.

1. For christmas 2008, patrick got me a homebrew kit, and this is me making my first batch of homebrew.

2. In a lifetime journey of wanting to go to all 50 states, I went to North Dakota with my friend, Audra, and crossed off #49. So, this is North Dakota.

3. In moving in with some friends from church, the friend list grew exponentially and in the best way possible. One thing we do regularly, which I love, is themed house parties. Here is one of our parties, a Quincinera-themed party.

4. Through connections from my roommate, I was able to meet Andrea Hamilton, an amazing writer/singer out of Los Angeles. No matter where she is touring around the world, her music has been truly inspirational to me in 2009.

5. Probably the most defining part of 2009 was volunteering on a medical mission trip to Malawi. This picture was taken of one of the orphans. I am thankful that the picture worked out as well as it did. I will probably have this picture framed at some point.

6. Anyone that knows anything about me knows I love games (any kind possible - except scrabble) and I am very competitive with all of them. During the summer, I played lawn games as much as possible. Although I'm trying to get better at Washers, I have a 25ish-game win streak at a game called Polish Horseshoes with my roommate Tim, and I have a 30ish-game win streak at a game called Cornhole with my roommate Josh. Yes. I love the games.

7. My 2-year old niece is getting bigger and more beautiful every time I see here. She is an awesome girl, and I can't wait to see her continue to grow. Peter and Ginny are doing an awesome job (as I would expect) with raising Anna.

8. The Janelle family continues to grow as Peter and Ginny welcomed their son, Simeon James Janelle, into the world in October. He is definitely a cool kid, and he is definitely lucky to have an awesome sister and amazing parents.

9. Last but not least, another addition to the Janelle family included Benjamin. Congratulations to Patrick and Benjamin. We are very lucky to incorporate Benjamin, and I have never seen Patrick more happy. On Christmas day, my parents and I met Benjamin's family via Skype (although his family is French and speaks little English, so we had translators).

2009 has been a great year for me. It has been a year of adventure and new beginnings. It has been a perfect stepping stone into 2010. I don't know what 2010 holds, but if it is half as good as 2009, it is sure to be a good one.