Top 13 of 2013

This past year was amazing to say the least! If anyone would have told me the previous year that I would experience the things I did in 2013, I probably would have laughed. For all the bad and negative that 2012 brought me I experienced that times two in happiness and excitement in 2013.

I heard before that "The sweet is never as sweet without the sour." Well that proved to be true because I enjoyed everything just that much more this year. It is difficult to name just 13 amazing moments of this past year.

Without further ado here is my top 13 moments of 2013:

#13

Finishing my first year of teaching

It was a pretty exciting thing getting my job last year in 2012. Probably one of the few great moment of that year. This year I finished up my first year of teaching in my own classroom. It was a bitter sweet moment saying bye to my class and packing up the room. Although at the time I had no idea if I would still be in Kindergarten to me it did not matter. Although I wanted to stay in Kindergarten with all my heart, I was just proud and nothing could change that. I was so proud of what I had accomplished with those young boys and girls. I felt successful and confident in what I had done as a teacher.  Currently I write this as a Kindergarten teacher for the 2nd year and could not be happier. 

#12

Desert Sunset in the United Arab Emirates

I had made it to Abu Dhabi, UAE all by myself. The one evening I booked a desert safari tour. Although the dune bashing was really fun, riding a camel was cool, and sand boarding was a new 

experience, the sunset in the middle of the desert took the cake. The ripples in the sand from the wind looked like a painting. There was a light breeze and I was able to just stand there and take the whole moment in. In the middle of the desert, I was only a small insignificant person watching a beautiful scene unfold before me. Breathtaking 

#11

Reaching Everest Base Camp

Tired, Happy, Sore, and Scared. Just a few words that describe what was going through my head as I reached Everest Base Camp. Many people hear the word "base camp" and assume that this means it is at the bottom far down in altitude. Wrong. A base camp is where climbers make a camp to launch from. Many times this is at a high altitude already. In this case Everest Base Camp is already higher that the 2nd largest summit peak in the United States. 

Base Camp to be honest is nothing real special. You can't see the summit of Everest behind all the jagged rocks and glacier. But the idea of standing where so many expeditions start is thrilling. Knowing that many people launched from that point, only to meet their end or reach their dream shortly after, is surreal. 

Making to Base Camp around 4pm I smiled with joy while cringing as I heard an avalanche somewhere high in the clouds. With all the rain during this time of year the mountain was not exactly the safest place. I pulled out my last bits of chocolate to celebrate the victory and snapped some pictures. The view of the Khumbu glacier, on the path to the summit right ahead, is beautiful and terrifying. Although I was so excited to make it to this point I was excited to leave. The sounds of cracking ice, avalanches, and rock falls terrified me. I would later take in the full extent of this moment later that night safe at my camp.

10

New Kittens

Kittens, Kittens, and more kittens. This is the year that marks my mom giving in on my cat obsession. After a long road of convincing I finally got the ok to get a kitten, or two, or three. I picked these three little darling up about an hour away from home and could not stop starring at their cute faces the entire way.

9

Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple)

Number 9 comes in at this spot for two reasons, the temple and the monkeys.

Monkeys are little rascals at the zoo. They jump all around and pick bugs out of each others hair. When you watch them long enough at the zoo it is hard to deny a human link to these creatures. They are just all around awesome and I could just pick one up and cuddle them. That is until you take the glass away. Entering the temple I spotted my first monkey, ahhhh can you believe it a monkey?! A few moments later another monkey. And only a few more moments and about seven more monkey. I am in heaven. While snapping pictures I noticed these little guys can get a little aggressive with each other and getting even closer to me.

 Ok I am done! That was enough. But no, here my group leads up the stairs right past the families of monkeys. My heart is now beating fast. I come to realize I am absolutely terrified of these things. I 

swallowed my fears and cautiously made it up. Oh boy, there I was greeted by no less than 100 more monkeys. Terrified and Amazed I had to love this moment.

Tied with that is seeing the stupa. As a little girl wondering around Disney's Animal Kindgom with my parents I fell in love with the Asia section near Everest. Decorated beautifully with the prayer flags I knew I had to experience that culture when I grew up. Well here it is! I walked through the monkeys to see the Stupa in all its' glory standing majestically in front of me. Covered in thousands of bright prayer flags it was everything I thought it would be!

8

Meeting These People

 

Some of the most amazing people I have met to date entered my life this summer. Leaving the comfort zone of my friends and family at home and going halfway across the world was daunting enough. Doing it alone was even more of a task. I was beyond lucky to meet some of the best people only a few days into my trip. I learned a tremendous amount from these people. Elena taught me that it is ok to be out of my comfort zone. Claudia proved that you are never too young to take on the world. Ivan, well he is from Serbia so he does not matter. Just kidding. Ivan taught me to view countries in a new light. Daniel grew the most incredible beard. Albane and Shannee made me laugh at the most ridiculous of things. 

Meeting shortly into the first day of our program and slowly saying bye to these characters one at a time was a joy. Together we had taken sketchy jeeps up a mountain only to come back down the other side. We experienced our first Nepali strike and were the only people on the road because we were tourist. One night we had a blast out on the town only to get yelled at by our 12 year old looking hostel worker. We laughed uncontrollably one night in Chitwan, rode elephants, meditated with monks, crammed on buses, jumped in dirty lakes, and most of all we imprinted on each others lives. Thank you for everything!!!

If I had to limit it down to one moment as being the best, hands down it was our fun night in Chitawan. 

7

Becoming a Godmother 

What a little nugget! All dressed up in his Sunday Best my little nephew Damon was ready for his baptism. Although I am not deeply religious the symbolism of becoming a godmother is really important. On that day I become tied to him for life. I can not wait to share memories with him in the future. 

6

Swimming with Sharks and Stingrays

I have never been scuba diving before let alone in a tank with sharks and stingrays. This morning start off a disaster when my tour cancelled on me after waiting for two hours. Out of no where I decided to take some scuba diving lessons and jump on in with sharks. It was perfect planning since it did happen to be shark week after all. Although I was scared at first it was an oddly thrilling experience. Viewing ocean life from within is a whole new world. I felt like I had hoped into the Avatar movie. This is an experience every person should have in their life, with or without the sharks. 

5

TomorrowWorld

Magically Musical. For days I camped with some of my best friends and met some new friends. We dance, we sang, we had a ton of fun. Tomorrow World can not be explained, it can only be 

experienced

4

Goodbye Ceremony from Shree Bal Patriva School

Oh man! Where do I start with this one. My last day in Sarangkot was an emotional one. I packed my bags and set off to my last day in the school. At the end of the day I waved bye to all the students thinking it was my last time to see them. A few moments later Aatma, the school principal and host dad, told me "Ok, come." 

As we walked up to the school meeting ground I saw the students all lined up waiting. Tears began to fill my eyes and I tried to pretend they were not all there for me. But they were. Each student held in the hand a bunch of flowers they had picked from the surrounding area. Many things were said as they had a going away ceremony. I was floored by the kind words spoken and gushed over with happiness that I had in fact made a difference in these lives. There is still not a day that goes by that I do not think about these children and families that I had met. Little do they know, they changed and influenced me in so many ways and made my life better.

3

Buying a new car

This past year I had the luxury of buying a new car Jeep Wrangler. I have had my car since the summer going into my junior year of High School. Ester, my Subaru Forrester , was an amazing car and a tough  choice to say goodbye to. In the end I decided that I had graduated college and landed a job so I should have something to show for it. Without any hesitation I picked out a Jeep Wrangler to be my new car and within two weeks of deciding to buy a car I had it in my driveway. Every morning since when I look out the window I fill with pride knowing that I am paying for that car with my own hard work.

2

Summit of Kala Patthar & Everest Photography

Tired and angry, I panted as I made the final stretch to the top of Kala Patthar. I was tired from the lack of sleep with the pounding headaches I was receiving from the lack of oxygen at that altitude. I was angry because I was with a terrible guide who I could call every name in the book. As I was nearing the top about ready to give up Miley Cyrus's "The Climb" came on and I started laughing. How perfect and corny, right? I threw my anger out the door and made that last stretch. All trip long I had been thinking about actually making it this far and questioning if I would follow through. As I hit the top I turned to see Everest for the first time this whole trip. Tears gushed from my eyes as I reached and grabbed my camera taking one of my favorite photos of my entire life. The two of these things happening simultaneously overwhelmed me. 

I had done it! I had seen it! 

There I stood in absolute happiness. My anger at my guide melted away as I starred in awe at the summit of Everest. It looked harshly beautiful as the sun began to light it up and the snow violently streamed off the peak. I had dreamed of this moment for years upon years. Like many things in my list from this year I had dreamed a lot about culture and icons of Nepal, and here I was. My dream was to reach the summit of Kala Patthar and to see Everest and that is exactly what I had done!

1

Holding my nephew for the first time!

The only one I did not have a hard time placing on the appropriate number was this moment. Hands down this moment was the best, most exciting, happiest moment that I experienced in 2013. Actually, this could probably top the charts for a list of my lifetime events. I had imagined for 9 months what it would be like to meet this little nugget. Even more so once he was born and I was 7,579 miles across the world. Although I was sad to not be there at the actual birth I enjoyed that moment meeting him even more. Completely jet lagged, covered in henna, and pretty gross (I am not exaggerating just look at that grease in my hair) from the flights I held my nephew, and the first baby ever, in my arm!

This was an extremely hard task to come up with only 13 things from this past year. I am so blessed to have had so many great experiences. To say that cutting my list down to 13 moments was ridiculous hard is an understatement and something I can not complain one second about. Honorable mentions are just screaming to be made here. Not in any particular order.

* Meeting my best friend's baby- It is crazy to think that I am old enough to have a child. Although I know I will at some point in my life, I know at this moment I am no where near ready. Seeing one of my best friends have a baby is just mind blowing to me. Holding the baby even more mind blowing. Congrats Kayla and hello Tristen!

* Sunset at the Grand Mosque- I love sunsets as I previously stated. They are beautiful and majestic. When you take a sunset coupled with the beautiful marble surrounding of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and then add a Burka on top, consider my mind blown. This was a mesmerizing experience happened at the start of my summer journey and set the tone for what was to come. I was alone, a little scared, yet feeling like I was on top of the world. 

*The Nutcracker- As a little girl I always adored the Nutcracker Ballet. This winter my mom, sister, and I went back to the theater like old times to see this gem of a performance. It was like being 5 years old and wanting to be a ballerina again.

* New York Trip with my Mom and Sister- We had such an amazing weekend going out to eat and seeing the broadway shows. With no baby on board we had a great girls weekend. I love that we can all get together and just have some family fun!

Watch out for:

The Best Photos of 2013