Goodbye, 2010. Helloo, 2011.

So, it's New Year's Eve. 2010 went so quickly, that's for sure. It's definitely been an interesting and eventful year. I began the year meeting a wonderful friend who introduced me to the man who is now the love of my life. I finished out my Junior year of college and went to DisneyWorld, did my internship in Minnesota, started my Senior year, got engaged, became an aunt, got sick and haven't been able to finish my first semester, and now here we are. I've done well in classes, done poor in classes, done some things right and some things very wrong.

I think this has been a year where I have made, or at least noticed that I've made, some of the biggest mistakes of my life. I have been mean and rude to people, I have said and done things that I shouldn't have, and through it all.... God has been good. He is incredibly good to me, and I have been blessed beyond measure. This past semester especially, I have realized what amazing people God has placed in my life. No matter what happens, no matter what stupid things I do, no matter how sick I get, I know that God is looking out for me, and He has the best plans for my life. He is so good and merciful to me through all of the situations that I absolutely mess up all the time.

I'm ending this year with some regrets, but ultimately knowing that even though I am messed up beyond measure, God has saved me and He is sanctifying me, no matter how long it's taking and how little of steps I have to take.

And now... I look forward. 2011 is coming, and it is a year that I have been waiting for for a long time. It's the year that I graduate college, and more importantly, it's the year that I get married. I am so ready to be out of school, and I am so absolutely in love with Eric Pegors, and I am so excited to becoming Bethany Pegors. :) Bethany Pegors.... I like that. It has a nice ring to it. I'm so excited to be a wife and to live in Minnesota with my husband with our own place.

I'm looking forward to learning what God has to teach me about Himself in the coming year. I'm sure it's going to be a challenging year, especially next semester -- taking 18 credits when I'm just ready to be done, working, and planning my wedding at the same time. I've never been a person to shy away from what's difficult though, so I will face this year head-on, knowing that I have a God who loves me unconditionally, will never leave me, and is incredibly merciful toward me, and a wonderful fiancé -- soon to be husband -- who will be with me no matter what, through thick and thin, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.

I thank God already for 2011, and for the blessings that I already know He's given and is going to give to me. And no matter what happens, He is in control, and He knows what He's doing.

As far as New Year's resolutions go, I don't think I'm going to make any. I have plenty enough that I have to do for the wedding: guest list, save-the-dates, invitations, cake flavors, flowers, music, lose weight, etc. etc. If I tried to do anything else, I think I'd go crazy. I'll have plenty of new experiences to keep me occupied this whole year, so I think I'm going to just be satisfied with that.

So, 2011, I welcome you with open arms. Let's make this year a fun one. :)

Health Again and Reflections.

Well, I'm starting to feel better. Praise God. I had some pain last night, but not nearly as much as the other night, and 3 Tylenol definitely did the trick and I slept all night. I hope this is the beginning of getting healthy again. This past week with all of this going on has been horrible.

For all of you who don't know, I went to the emergency room yesterday. Multiple people told me that I should go, so even though I didn't want to, I decided it would probably be safer to go. Unfortunately however, the labs came back inconclusive. *sigh* That's really frustrating to me. One of the doctors (an intern) just wrote me off and didn't see it as a big deal at all. He was a really strange doctor, too. I think at the very beginning he was trying to flirt with me, but then I think he saw my engagement ring (thank you, Eric. Among other things -obviously-, I love the fact that you save me from creepy guys). Then he became serious and explained things well to me, but then at the end he acted as if I was overreacting and nothing was really wrong with me. Oh well, I guess. One positive thing is that he did say that the place where I have my main pain is not a "dangerous" place medically. A lot of people have pain there, and it ends up going away through Tylenol and other things. He did say that it could very well be a small ulcer, so he suggested I continue taking Zantac, Tylenol, and then add Maalox (yuck). So, nothing has been discovered about what's wrong with me, but at least I'm feeling better. Let's just pray that it continues.

Now on to my reflections. As the semester has pretty much ended for me (I'm getting extensions on all my finals and assignments), I've been looking back at what an eventful semester this has been. Eric and I have been engaged for over 2 months already. At first it seemed like it would take forever for the end of the semester to get here, but now that I look back, it really flew by. I hoping I feel the same way about second semester, so then he and I can finally be married. I say "finally" facetiously and seriously because even though we haven't even been together for a year yet, I'm ready to marry my best friend. I don't want to wait anymore. Alas, I guess this is the place we're in, so I need to be somewhat content and deal with it.

One thing I've been realizing through looking back on the semester is this: I am incredibly blessed. And I almost always take it for granted. I have a family who loves me, and now we have a wonderful new addition (my nephew), and my family is going to definitely grow in June when I gain a whole other side to my relatives. I have a man who loves me deeply, and I don't always see that clearly because of my selfishness. He's so good to me, and I'm... well, I'm just me. I don't deserve him, that's for sure. I am blessed beyond anything that I could imagine. I have wonderful friends who love me, and are willing to take care of me when I'm feeling like crap. Annie Bolger has been absolutely amazing to me in the past few days. She drove me to the hospital, stayed with me while I was in the emergency room, and make me cream of wheat after we got back from the hospital.

Yes, I'm very blessed. I don't deserve anything that my wonderful God has given me. He loves me unconditionally, even though I am a wretched sinner, and I do not take nearly enough time to thank Him for that. He is so good to me. I really need to learn how to be more grateful to Him and to others. Instead, I normally just tend to focus on myself.

I'm looking forward to the start of a new year in 3 weeks. It'll be nice to start fresh, and look forward to so many new things in the months ahead. Graduation, getting married, moving to Minnesota, (maybe) getting a house, being a youth pastor's wife, getting a new job, and starting a new life. It's going to be wonderful, and I'm so excited to start it all with my best friend, knowing that our focus is on Christ and on His plan for our lives.

God is good, all the time.

And all the time, God is good.

Health Issues.

Oh boy. I really hate having UC, and not being the healthiest that I could be. But.... I need to remember that God has a plan and He's in control of everything.

For the past few days, I've been having intense stomach pains, and the first day I was bleeding. I'm really not sure exactly what's going on, but I really appreciate everyone who has been praying, and I want to ask for prayers from everyone else. I think it started as a flare-up of my UC, but now it's something else. Right now I'm thinking that it's actually an ulcer. This, even though it sucks, would actually be welcome as opposed to the alternatives, which could either be that I'm having a really bad flare-up and thus would need to go to the hospital, or I'm lactose intolerant, and it's taking forever to get out of my system. It would make sense for it to be an ulcer as well, because since I have UC I am prone to getting ulcers. I haven't had one in the 14 years I've had this disease, so maybe it's just time that I had one. Buh.... Not fun.

I talked with my doctor, and he just told me to take Zantac until it gets better, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm really praying that this is what it is, and it will get better with just powerful antacids. I really don't want to go to the hospital....

I'm at a point where I'm really trying to see God's purpose in all of this. I hate being sick, and I've been able to live a relatively normal life, but it's times like these when I really feel like I don't know why God put me into this situation. It's been nice however to continue finding out other people who have this disease or know someone else who has it. It really makes me see that I'm not alone in it.

Thanks again for the prayers, everyone. I really appreciate it. Please be praying that I start feeling well enough that I'll be able to do well on my finals this coming week, and that the 8-hour drive to MN won't be torture for me on Wednesday. Thanks, guys.

Auntie Bethany.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am a new aunt. My first nephew was born on December 4th, 2010 at approx. 8:15 in the morning, weighing in at 6 lbs. 8 oz, 20" long. I...am an aunt. :)

And a very proud one, at that. Don't believe me? Just look at the pictures:

Caleb Michael Brunstetter

This baby has the cutest nose I have ever seen. I don't care if he's splotchy because he's a newborn. He's BEAUTIFUL.

He looks so perfect in the arms of his mama. :)

I almost die every time I look at this picture. His expression and his hands are ADORABLE. :)

Grandma gets to hold him. :)

So fetching in his dad's arms.

This picture made me cry the first time I saw it. My dad, now a grandpa.

So again I say, I'm a very proud aunt. I have the cutest nephew that anyone has ever seen, and no one can convince me otherwise. He is absolutely adorable, and a huge blessing to our family. I am so excited to watch him grow up and see how God decides to work in his life. I'm so sad that I'm going to be so far away from him during these years, but that just gives me even more of an opportunity to spoil him when Eric and I visit Colorado.

Little Caleb, welcome to the world. Welcome to our family. We all love you very much, and we are so excited to have you in our lives. We want to take care of you and love you, no matter what. We are your family, and that is what we're here for. May you look to God always in your every pursuit in life, and may God use you in abundant ways for His purposes and for His glory. Love you already, little one. I'm so excited to meet you in just a couple weeks. :)