27 of 27

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Being Three Cubed

(Three cubed = 3^3 = 27)

*In no particular order, obviously*

• Wore a funny hat and got a diploma, put on a sombrero and had a fiesta
• Had the best going away party EVER
  
• Moved away from Fort Collins...and cried as I looked in the rearview mirror and realized that Fort Collins had become home
• Returned to the desert and remembered how much I love it
  
• Became a nursing student
• Put many a Foley catheter in all my favorite mannequins
• Was astounded when amazing friends flew me home to Colorado from New Mexico
  
• Learned that therapeutic communication with the mentally ill = listening and loving
• Had my first visitors in New Mexico: Vanessa, Deanna, and Elijah.
• Sang Christmas songs during a torrential monsoon on a mountain top in East Nepal
  
• Slept in a hut next to a pile of roasting corn
  
• Became a dudh chiya (milk chai) addict
• Was totally stoked about drinking milk in Nepal without my lactase pills
  
• Trusted God to be my provider and He, of course, gave me all I needed and then some
• Hiked hundreds of miles on two continents
• Lived in a climate where I didn't need to put on winter weight to keep warm
• Said goodbye to and grieved the loss of a dear friend
  
• Went to my hometown 3 times
  
• Tried spinning classes...totally hooked
  
• Tried hot yoga...loved it!
• Became long distance friends with folks in Nepal, India, Colorado, New York, and, oh yeah, Chicago :)
  
• Made a whole mess of new friends in New Mexico
• Learned how to let winter be winter
• Became acutely aware that I am NOT in charge, PHEW!
  
• Became a green chile snob
  
• Learned how to eat with my hands Nepali style
• Sobbed with a Nepali woman as we prayed for her to be healed of cancer
  
• Sang in a warm summer rainstorm walking down the streets of Seoul with Kierna and Trissa and no umbrella
• Acquired some oh-so-essential (and stealthy) ninja band-aids
  
• Learned how to swim...sort of...in the shallow end
  
• Forgave...really and truly forgave someone when I didn't think I could do it
• Had the second best nap of my life on a beach in Kauai
• Made friends with a Nepali kid after I (accidentally) hit him in the face and then fed him cookies
• Developed a real deal friendship with my big brother
  
• Kissed my niece Miya's sweet little face hundreds of times
• Spent hours and hours building Lego cities with my nephew Xander
  
• Ran miles and miles and miles along irrigation ditches in pecan orchards
• Taught some Nepali kids my favorite church song, "Big, Big God"
  
• Became a fan of home church
• Fell in love with Jesus...again
• Was intentionally single for all of my 27th year
  
• Cried as I watched my kid sister graduate high school
• Discovered dark chocolate and chili powder covered mango slices. Yummy!
• Ate my first whole, raw garlic clove on my last evening of being 27. Thanks Mike! (Hint: if you try this at home kids, chew it up real fast and swallow with a glass of water)
  
• Wrote a list of 27 of 27 which turned out to be far more than 27 items long...oops!
  
• The years just keep getting better and better