It's gone.

It turned 2008. And then, like that, it's over.

In 2008, I....

-Moved. Again.
-Started my second year of nursing school.
-Was robbed.
-Was broke.
-Was scared.
-Was brave.
-Made promises.
-Broke promises.
-Kept promises.
-Realized who my real friends are.
-Watched people die.
-Watched people be born.
-Had my 23rd birthday.
-Watched Ava step fearlessly out in the world to start preschool.
-Helped Dean maneuver through the first hard year of being on this Earth.
-Hugged my dog about a million times.
-Visited my grandma.
-Cried because I can't visit more.
-Re-fell in love with my family.
-Re-fell in love with "my kiddos"
-Re-fell in love with my life.

One for each night, they spread a sweet light, to remind us....

...that anything is awesome if fire is involved.

So we did the first night of Hanukkah the other night because Ava is learning about other cultures. Well, we did a lot of things actually. We ate dinner, read the Hanukkah story, made chocolate chip cookies, make cookies for the dogs, put a Christmas record on the record player and took a bath while listening and played dreidel in the tub. I'll be darned if this kid isn't multi-cultured.

This year she could light the candles all by herself, so she was very proud. I know only one candle should be lit but hey, we figured we'd take her candle lighting skills and run with it and light all 8 for kicks.










And of course, my favorite. The look of sheer terror. Maybe at the thought of a big fat guy in a red suit sneaking into the house at night?