A New Year...

This year has been no doubt one of the most eventful years of my life and has housed many a change, up's and down's and all kids of in between's. But as I am sitting here today looking out at the vastness of the ocean in front of me and on the very cusp of yet another year, I find myself looking forward with a much different outlook than I have in a very very long time...if ever. I feel a freshness about life, a newness about the adventures and possibilities that lay before me. Never before have I been so very excited to begin another year and again I as I have mentioned many times recently, I am full to the brim.

Yesterday afternoon my Dad and I went off the the beach to swim in the Gulf and how I felt as I dipped into the ocean was certainly no exception to the many wonderful "moments" I have enjoyed over the course of this journey. I walked confidently onto the beach in my bathing suit and cover up and took it off to run headlong into the huge breakers crashing against the shore. Dad and I swam and swam in the beautiful ocean for what must have been an hour. In those moments with my Dad as the billowing waves gently heaved me back and forth, I was reminded of the lightness that I now feel about life and most importantly I was reminded of the burden that has been miraculously lifted from my shoulders over the past months...I was reminded of the awesome power of the One who not only crafted the very essence and beauty of the ocean I was enjoying, but who also made my very own personal journey possible...this was for me what I have always called and "eternal moment"...a moment of epiphany and revelation....and my heart was overjoyed!

This year, 2010, if I were to make any sort of resolution, it would be a promise to myself that I will just keep on keeping on...in other words, keep on moving forward Ally and journeying forward and enjoy the newness of life each day...don't go backwards and only revisit the past to remind myself of the learning that has been done along the way and remember the lessons learned as a result of my journey thus far...the good, the bad and the ugly...

Although somewhat cliche and maybe a bit flippantly overused, God is good...and I mean that. He is. Of absolute tragic, life shattering, brokenness, He has brought about such good...and I can honestly say that I would not have wanted life to be any different for me because had it not gone this way, I would not be the Ally I am today...I would not be enjoying the beautiful opportunities and possibilities that I am on the verge of at this point in my life...so, Happy New Year and feel free to share my motto for 2010....JUST PRESS FORWARD (and try to do it with a smile...even if you have to force it!!! Trust me, it helps!!!!!!!!!)