The Last One


Newsletter

The Last One!


by Esther on 17 December 2022

    2022… What a year. So much happened this year, and I can’t believe that it is already over. This year truly allowed me to experience changes that have pushed me forward in life. The year started with new volunteer opportunities in the church, then I became an adult, and I just finished my last full year of high school. These changes have really opened me up from my shell and expanded my horizons. I have met new people, some of whom became my closest friends for the time being.

This past month has been both crazy and memorable. My mom and I have been able to enjoy our Gilmer property/house more, and that has been super fun. I enjoy being in the mountains, and my appreciation for the place has grown so much since my acceptance at UNG. Senior year has been so go go go, going to Gilmer has allowed me to just stop. And when I mean stop, I mean it… Senioritis hits when you say “forget about the homework that is due.” I think part of the reason I hated going up to Gilmer was due to my straight-A mentality (I am nowhere near a straight-A student) of having to do my homework on time, but I have slowly come to realise how homework is really busy work and it’s good to step away from it to focus on myself and the environment God has given us.

On top of that, Andrew and I got to explore North Georgia as well! I am pretty sure that was the last time I got to choose the activity on our date, but he grudgingly agreed to hike Preacher’s Rock with me. He didn’t enjoy that part of the day too much, but we did discover something he does enjoy about the mountains. We decided to grab lunch in Dahlonega, and thanks to the route we took to campus, we spotted a very delicious BBQ place. We also got to explore downtown Dahlonega a bit more, which was nice.

Diving into December, I got to enjoy the best first no-homework weekend with the family. I arrived at Jess’s around noon and played with Sadie and Asher before heading to the Bowl. Chris’s friends throw a Christmas event each year for their BNI groups and their clients, and Chris helps them with it. Papa, Sadie, Jess, and I got to ice skate which was super fun. Sadie used the walker, but you could tell she was getting the hang of it. Asher didn’t enjoy the ice that much, so he got to be with Uncle Josh for a bit. The ice was so bad because they hadn’t resurfaced for a while, when I tried to glide, I hit a big notch in the ice and instead penguined. Papa said we will go skate again hopefully with better ice quality since Sadie is interested in learning to skate without the walker.

Well... That concludes the final monthly newsletter. Yup.. You read that right. This is the final monthly newsletter I will be doing (for a while at least). I have decided to continue these newsletters with quarterly updates due to the new chapter of life that is up ahead. With uni, the focus of these letters will be shifting a bit. For a bit of a backstory, the original reason why I began these (feel free to read those from way back) was to update my former teachers on what I was learning and how they could better prepare students, but with my current courses and upcoming courses not directly related, it is not something to focus on in the future newsletters. On top of that, the original structure changes and just the stuff I will be able to share is super isolated to where doing monthly updates will become spam rather than content. With this shift to quarterly updates, I can continue to entertain the mind with actual events that are worth sharing. Since most people can contact me directly now for daily updates and news, I will allow that to be the main mode of communication. With that said, I want to again thank those who read these every month and give me feedback! I hope you all have a wonderful last few weeks of 2022! See you in 2023!

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Extras


Other Resources

Essays of E.B. White is an amazing book that gave much insight into some of the inspirations E.B. White had to write many books. 2022 Advent Calendar. Here is my custom calendar which takes you through just a few of the highlights of mine this year. I like to call this a picture gratitude journal! 2022 has been such a fantastic year with so many new opportunities.


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