Reflections On A Great Year!

2018 Really Was Great

Oftentimes, when I take the time for some reflection (which really isn't a very commonplace practice of mine), I focus on the negative. I guess that is easier to remember. It leaves a mark on me, probably because it stings or hurts. Things that didn't go just right, just seem to stick with me. There were plenty of those negative or painful times this year as well, like there are every year. My wife tells me that I am a pessimist. I see myself as a realist. She tells me I need to smile more. I tell her, that I'm not unhappy. I just don't always see things as rosy as she does. Maybe it's a little like a artist that I think a lot of, Drew Holcomb: "You got your mama's sunshine, you got your daddy's rain....".

So, this post is to help remind me of all the positive things and all the blessings I have experienced in 2018.

January 

• My sister-in-law, Amy took me to a Grizzlies game.
• I got to reminisce while cleaning out things from my childhood home: old soccer jerseys, old photo albums.
• Got to hang out with friends.
  
  
  

  

  
  

February

• Went on a family trip to Gatlinburg, TN. Stayed in a cabin. Section hiked a part of the Appalachian Trail for the first time.
• Celebrated a late Christmas with our best couple friends in Greenwood, MS. Stayed at a great hotel and took a cooking class at the Viking Cooking School, all why drinking copious amounts of alcohol and sharing more laughs than should be legal.
  

  

  
  

March

• Took my youngest daughter, Caroline, on a date to the gun range (she is a great shot).
• Went down to see the renovated Sears Crosstown with the family.
• Watched the St. Patrick's Day parade on Beale Street with the family.

April

• Celebrated Easter with the family.
• Went to a weekend soccer tournament for Caroline in Decatur, AL.
• Celebrated my brother, Wade's 40th birthday.
• Watched Caroline go to her Junior Prom.
• Went to a local weekend soccer tournament for Caroline.

May

• Drove up to Knoxville and back to bring my oldest daughter, Hannah, back from her first year of college at the University of Tennessee. Stopped in Nashville for yet another weekend soccer tournament for Caroline.
• Went on a camping and white water rafting trip in East, TN on the Ocoee River with my best friend, Chris. Went down the river twice, cooked some great food over open flames, got soaked in the Jeep with the top down driving home.
• Outdoor concert at the Memphis Botanic Gardens to watch the Memphis Symphony Orchestra perform with Winona Judd with Becky and close friends.

June

• Outdoor concert at the Botanic Garden to see Rascal Flatts.
• Vacation to take a cruise with the family out of Mobile, AL down to Mexico. Spent time in a B&B, went to the beach, hit Cozumel and Puerta Maya. Celebrated Becky's birthday in Cozumel.

July

• Outdoor concert at the Botanic Garden to see the B-52's and Boy George & The Culture Club.
• Went to Nashville, TN to see the Indigo Girls at the famous Ryman Auditorium with friends.
• Went to Heber Springs, AR to spend a weekend on the lake with our friends and neighbors. Got to watch the Cardboard Boat Races for the third year in a row.

August

• Took Hannah to go vote in her first ever election.
• Multiple high school soccer games for Caroline's senior season.
• Took Hannah back to Knoxville, TN for year two at UT. She moved off campus for the first time.
• Celebrated my 47th birthday.

September

• Celebrated both my girls' birthdays.
• Got to participate in a weekend mission trip simulation exercise in poverty stricken conditions with the youth group from our church and Caroline in Floral, AR.
• Got to see and host at my home some family members that I haven't seen in maybe ten years or longer (unfortunately due to a funeral - Rest In Peace Uncle Rick).

October

• Celebrated Caroline's High School Soccer Senior Night.
• Danced with my daughters at a friend's daughter's wedding.
• Went with Becky to watch the musical School of Rock at the beautiful Orpheum Theatre.

November

• A long weekend trip with Becky to Gulf Shores, AL. We got to unwind and unplug and walk on the beach and eat a bunch of oysters.
• A weekend trip to Knoxville to see Hannah and watch the Vols "play" a football game in Neyland Stadium. Including a fun tailgate with friends.
• Our annual family Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day with Kona and hosting family for dinner.

December

• A quick trip to Knoxville and back, to move Hannah out of her house, so she can prepare to study in Spain next semester.
• Found some more photos and childhood memorabilia (report cards, soccer awards, etc.) at mom's house, as Wade cleaned it out.
• Got to go to a Grizzlies game with my sister, Ashley.
• A beautiful Christmas holiday seeing or hosting some of our extended family and then celebrating just with my little tribe on Christmas morning.

There was plenty of garbage throughout the year. There was a lot of yelling, fights, weight gained, disappointments, failures, people lost. However, when I look back on this list, how in the world could I not consider myself to be the Richest Man in Town? It really is a Wonderful Life.

 

 

One of my favorite quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson says: "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." I would amend that in this circumstance to say, finish each year and be done with it. Can't wait to see what 2019 holds in store.....