dear Nevis,

today is the day we ring in not only a new month, but an entirely new year. 2007 has been such a great year, i’m not sure i’m ready to say good-bye just yet…

but i have a sneaking suspicion this coming leap year of planet earth, intercultural dialogue, the scout, the potato, sanitation, and the rat has some pretty incredible things up its’ sleeve. i have been so blessed on this island for the past four months, it’s hard not to look ahead with a huge goofy grin on my face.

this time next year, i will be tromping through snow on my mom’s winter prairie acreage with Maddy or curled up indoors sipping hot coffee with french vanilla pseudo-dairy creamer. i will be preparing to return to Nevis for one last semester of MED 5. i will have four semesters successfully under my belt and so many textbooks, i have no idea how i’ll get them all back home.

this year, i spent the holidays tromping through sand on windswept beaches with Jonathan and was curled up in the hammock sipping hot coffee with french vanilla pseudo-dairy creamer (not something i drink year-round) nearly every morning. i am excitedly awaiting the return of the rest of my MED 2 classmates and am looking forward to hearing all about their Christmas adventures, while giving back their dogs and cats and cars.

as un-Christmasy as it sounds to some folks, our December 25th was just perfect on Pinney’s beach with a gorgeous meal at Coconut Grove. even friends and family felt close with interweb inventions like video chat.

2008.

each new year feels like it deserves a proper introduction, with polite farewells to the last. i never feel my New Year’s celebrations are appropriately up to the task.

… maybe standing in the ocean with a Killer Bee rum punch in one hand and the man i am head-over-heels for in the other will finally do the trick.

happy holidays to you and your loved ones. may the horizon of 2008 have wonderful things in store for you.