What A Way to Start the New Year

Yay, 2010!! So I know we're into the new year already, but here's the year in review.

I think I had a pretty interesting 2009. I went through some pictures to get some highlights of the year. I started off the year in Ohio, I went to a few Illini Basketball games. Really cool to experience a Big Ten school's game. Loved the atmosphere!

Girl's Night with Rachel,

Easter at home, New Tattoo during one of my trips home.

Went to the Children's Museum in Normal with Rachel, where I also experienced my first parking ticket!

Also started selling jewelry with Lia Sophia. I love jewelry! Experienced the Taste of Chicago with Danielle, Watched my first UFC game, where I also had my first (and last) Jagerbomb (ick!).

I also moved to Elgin and started a blog (did you know I started a blog?) Celebrated Heidi's birthday at Howl @ the Moon, Saw Mat Kearney and Parachute (blog title comes from them today) for FREE, and started classes at Judson.

Celebrated my 25th birthday and went kayaking along the Chicago River to Navy Pier to watch the fireworks. Erin got married, Danielle and I saw HANSON for our annual House of Blues concert, and I caught Isaac's guitar pick!! Rachel and I went to Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio in Oak Park, which was absolutely amazing. And I saw Addison Road and Sanctus Real at Judson.

November saw the Prosser Wedding and Thanksgiving with the Water's.

December included Christmas in the Chapel with Rachel, the end of the semester, a trip to Goose Island with Ryan and Katy, and going home for the first time since I moved in July. My year was full of change and new experiences.

2010 is shaping up to be another great year with new experiences. And the title of my blog says the most important thing. What a way to start the New Year. I've decided to pack up and move back to Champaign, and it's for a lot of reasons. I reapplied to the University of Illinois and asked them to make a decision by January 10, even though the deadline for applications was January 15. They did, and I just got the unofficial letter on Monday afternoon. I am in! And I didn't really doubt it, but it makes me feel really good!! So 2010 will be filled with moving back to Champaign, living with the Waters' (I love you guys and your willingness to have me), working at the bank again. I'm excited to go back and work with everyone again, even though there will be new people I've never worked with before. I am blessed with the opportunity that came up for me to go back. I will be starting school in August at U of I, finally! I'm so excited to start again. This past semester at Judson has shown me that I really do want to do this whole architecture thing, and I really enjoyed the first semester of getting into some basic design and learning to change my way of seeing things in order to create something.

So I've made a little mock Top Ten List to give some reasoning for my decision to move back, some of these are meant to be stupid, and some are serious. You can decide which is which.

Top Ten Reasons for Moving Back to Champaign.

10. I really missed going to Illini games.

9. I'm not quite ready for Windy City Winters.

8. I have to go to Champaign just to grab a drink with friends: and Elgin has nothing on Crane, Blind Pig, Piglet, Murphy's, Radio Maria, etc, etc, etc.

7. I really hate Chicago traffic, which explains why I didn't go into the city that much.

6. I don't really want to play big sister to classmates that have to deal with "the pressures of being on their own for the very first time"

5. Cost of Living in Chicago suburbs sucks (Read $600 for crappy cramped apartment vs. $500 for a spacious 2 bedroom)

4. Two extra years of being a productive member of society! (6 years at Judson; 4 at U of I.)

3. My family's personal fav: distance! 100 miles and 2 hours less between Champaign and Ohio as opposed to Elgin to Ohio.

2. Money, of course! All 6 years at a private instiution=$100,000+; 4 years at public university=roughly $40,000. You do the math!

And the number one reason why I'm moving back to Champaign...

1. Because I want to...and I do what I want!!

All kidding aside, when I really looked at the numbers and talked to financial aid at Judson, I realized the extent of what I needed to do, and things have just fallen into place for my return to Champaign. U of I has been incredibly accomodating. I have gotten a lot of correspondance with some of the staff there, and they made an early decision for me, which is something they don't normally do. I'm able to live with the Waters' and help them out while saving some money for myself. I'll probably be splitting rent when I move out of the Waters' too. Rachel and Sonny are in Mattoon doing ministry, which is closer to Champaign than they were before. It just feels good, and it feels right, and I feel really happy about it now. By leaving, I realized how much support I have in Champaign, so it just feels right to be back there.

2010 is going to be a great year!!