Merci 2012.. Bonjour 2013!

Last year, my year started with 7:30am mass at KasisisChildren’s Home in the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia followed by a 2pm flight out from LUS to SFO. It was a long journey home that even included being proposed to at JNB by the passport security guy. Cute, those South Africans. Awkward but cute.

Here we are the last day of the year and I showed up to work with my team at 7am because it's PCF Monday- yay (not really)!

Family – my heart.

Friendships- Thank goodness for friendships. Make the effort to keep the connections; being too busy is hardly ever an excuse.

Love – Dear Love: You were really funny the first half of 2012. Seriously, now let's quit the jokes. What I have learned in the past few years is that old school is preferred over new school. Slow it down; there is no rush in getting to know a person or making any decisions. Often times than not, you end up crashing and burning in the fast and furious route. Having said that, there are no rules, be you. 

Work- If you don’t like the course you’re on (with anything), change it. I was fortunate enough to put that into action pretty quickly this year.

Travel – France, a country of depth, you were a pleasant surprise. Movie moments do happen… in Paris. Time will tell where 2013 will take me... Vietname/Cambodia/Burma, New Zealand, Brasil/Colombia, or ?

Life – The world had a way of breaking my heart time and time again this year but it just serves as a motivator to spread kindness even further and deeper than the day before. Like Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I am not sure when I will be able to make it back to Kasisi but until then, I can spread it locally whether it’s buying that homeless person a hot cup of coffee, doing something a little extra for someone during the holidays or buying a garbage man that made fun of you for eating a soft serve cone on a cold rainy night. I promise you’ll get the BIGGEST smile in return.

Notables – Joe Quartini… Every day, I become less and less curious as to why the universe took you the way they did. I can only be grateful for the friendship that we had. Happy belated 32^nd birthday… I can still see your smile and hear your laugh.

Here’s to taking 2013 by it’s horns!