The silver lining.

I was recently asked to choose my top albums of 2010 to bring in the New Year, so I thought it would be kind of neat to write about my top moments of 2010. I'm not a huge fan of rankings, so here goes nothing in no particular order! (Okay, maybe it's chronological...there has to be some semblance of organization. That's how I roll.)

• Playing keyboards for an eclectic, musical production of Batboy. (At the time I was overcome with the magnitude of learning 30+ songs in less than two months, but it reminded me how much fun playing music for theater can be!)
• Watching one of my best friends get married as her maid-of-honor. That was pretty amazing...I can't believe they're coming up on their one year anniversary! Congrats guys!
• A memorable camping trip in Key West which included: a 12-hour drive to Merritt Island, FL, 3 hours of naptime followed immediately by a free ticket to Disneyworld (awesome), another 7-hour drive to Key West followed immediately by setting up camp, being woken up at 6 a.m. by the thunderous sound of Navy pilots doing flybys in fighter planes (I neglected to find out that our campsite was right next to a Naval Base before I booked it. Lesson learned.), and four fun days spent enjoying the sun, sand, and friendship.
• Becoming a legit journalist...that's pretty high up there in my top moments of 2010 list. I got to write for two great online magazines this year: Strum Magazine and Interference.com. Seeing my name on the by-line of an article is so cool. :-)
• Experiencing the deep, southern charm of Savannah, GA. I definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a weekend getaway.
• A return to mi segunda patria (my second home), Costa Rica, with my entire family. I was so excited when by brother decided to study abroad in Costa Rica, too, and that my parents wanted to go down there with me to pick him up. Montezuma was as gorgeous as I remembered it, and I loved being around Ticos again!
• Seeing Paul McCartney live. Childhood dream fulfilled...one more thing checked off my Bucket List.
• Discovering a great band, seeing them 4 times in one year (that's a record for me), and then getting an internship as their publicist. (What?!) Here's my shameless promotional plug for an incredible up-and-coming rock 'n' roll musical force: The Dirty Guv'nahs.
• Opening for Mike Farris and The Cumberland Saints at the Backdoor Playhouse in Cookeville, TN. What a great gig!
• Getting a steady, well-paying job that taught me how to really be an "adult," and then quitting it three months later, because I realized I didn't want to be that kind of adult. (To all of those people out there that work at crappy jobs 40 hours a week and maintain emotional sanity, kudos. I just couldn't do it.)
• Really and truly knowing that God loves me...4 days after quitting that crappy job, I was given a new one. :-) Man, He's good to me. Some might call that a coincidence or an accident, but I don't believe in accidents anymore. From my perspective, things happen in life based upon your actions, other people's actions, and some unseen guiding force behind the two. I choose to believe that guiding force is God.

Wow...I guess 2010 wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I've been anxiously awaiting the approach of 2011, excited to have a clean slate on which to start over, but I hadn't actually sat down to consider all the great things that happened in 2010...the silver lining behind all the not-so-great stuff. It was a year of learning, a year of difficulties, a year of discovering who I am and what I'm capable of, and a year of great friends and family. Thank you to everyone that made this year great for me!

Love and peace,

Amelia