Today is the final Friday of 2019. I can hardly believe it.
The Christmas festivities have passed and a new year is already upon us. As I look back on the last twelve months, I am filled with deep gratitude for the lessons learned, the challenges experienced, and the memories made.
Furthermore, since I’m basically an old nostalgic Grandma already, I decided to choose my top ten moments of 2019 and elaborate on them.
All glory be to Christ.
1. Launching emilyhopebrown.com
On January 11th, with the help of my brother, I published my first public post titled “Taking a leap” and launched the little blog you’re reading now. Since then I have posted every Friday and have been overwhelmed with gratitude by the responses I’ve received. Writing weekly has helped me become more disciplined and publishing this blog has taught me that scary things are often the most worthwhile things. I’m excited for what lies ahead in my writing journey and am grateful for all those who’ve been with me since the beginning!
2. Starting my new job at ASAP Tax and Accounting
Near the end of January I was hired on at the tax and accounting office I’d been interning at the previous Fall. I experienced my first tax season last April and have been blessed to receive valuable training and life experience that will continue to use in my schooling and career.
3. Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time
During Spring Break, me and my family took a little trip to the Grand Canyon which you can read about here. We had beautiful weather and I definitely beheld Gods majesty afresh through a sunset on hopi point, the clearest starry sky I’d ever seen, and the miles and miles of purple, red and orange rocky caverns.
4. Weekly prayer calls with Eli
During 2019 my boyfriend and I set aside a night each week to call each other on the phone and pray. Developing consistency in our prayer life together has definitely grown us closer to each other and to Jesus and I look forward to continuing this practice in 2020.
5. Getting my Chemex
While my brother was home this past February, he bought me my very own chemex!!! Many a morning, study session or Sunday afternoon has been made much, much, better because of this.
6. Listening to Podcasts
I used to be an avid music-listener in the car, but this year I have really hopped onto the pod-cast train. Commuting to school included many hours spent with Transformation Church, Daily Thunder from the Ellerslie Campus, Cleaning up the Mental Mess with Dr. Caroline Leaf and Confessions of a Crappy Christian.
7. Backpacking in New Hampshire
In August I went on the most exciting backpacking trip of my life with two of my favorite people using the new backpack Eli gave me for my birthday! You can read all about our adventure on the Pemi loop in New Hampshire here.
8. Biking to work this Summer
Since my job is only about 2.5 miles away from my house, I biked almost every day to work this Summer. It was a great way to start off each day and over-all I biked around 150 miles!
9. Hiking to Gunsight with my Dad
One of my last hikes of the Summer was to Gunsight Peak in Priest Lake. If you’re from the area, you’d know that there isn’t an official trail to Gunsight, so Dad and I basically trekked through the wild and put in around 16 miles in one day. It was a stellar way to end the Summer, especially since I’ve spent years looking at Gunsight and wondering what the view is like from the top.
10. Discovering oat milk lattes
If you have gone to coffee with me at any point in the last 6 months, you have probably heard me ask the barista “Do you have oat milk?” For the last few years, I have been a black coffee or americano kind of gal. But since discovering oat milk this Summer, my tastes have evolved. Black coffee is still my jam, but its hard to beat the fluffy, vanilla-y taste of oat milk that you get without the stomach ache of regular milk. If you’re ever in Sandpoint, Idaho, head to Evans Brothers and they’ll hit you up. You’ll thank me later.
Well thats a wrap! Thank you to my readers (AKA YOU! if you’re reading this), my family, my church, my professors, my friends, my boy and everyone else who has made 2019 a year to remember.
See you all in 2020!!
