Last night, AJ and I rang in the new year with our friends Kali and Haley. There was much cheese dip and some kind of cream cloud on a base of chocolate cookie dipped in a chocolate shell from the International Bakery.
We played Apples to Apples and the Oregon Trail card game – I died early in both attempts to reach the Willamette Valley. I’m sad to report that none of our party made it to Oregon. Alas.
Today we had a good first day of 2020. We had smoothie bowls for breakfast, saw one of our church members at his rehab facility, and ran a few errands before coming home. We had a good dinner; homemade chicken stock is cooling off on the stove, and my homemade bread is in a bowl on the stove, rising for the first of 2 times.
We are watching The Two Popes in the cozy glow of the Christmas tree lights (the season of Christmas does not end until Epiphany on Jan 6), and the luxurious scented luminescence of the maple bourbon candle smoldering in its designated corner of the baker’s rack.
While I wait to punch the bread dough and shape it into a loaf, I am thinking back on the last decade of life. In 2010, I spent my second summer translating for mission teams in Baja California, Mexico. Those summers were some of the best times. 2011 was the last summer for Baja translating. I hope to take Andrew to see the region and meet the people one day.
In 2013, I graduated from seminary and became a chaplain resident at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In May of 2014, I was called as associate pastor of Scott Boulevard Baptist Church; my first ministry call. In February of 2015, I was ordained, in September of 2016, I met (then) Andrew Scott.
We started dating in October of 16 and were engaged on September 9, 2017. That year, I co-presented at a conference on spirituality and aging with my pastor and colleague. On August 18, 2018, Andrew and I got married and became the Robb-Scotts.
In 2019, I had the exhilarating experience of seeing the Red’s star rookie play at the Great American Ballpark. Extraordinary! And in October of 2019, we got to see Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway. In the last decade, I have become an aunt 3 times, officiated 3 weddings and presented at many events within the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
I started a Master’s degree in Dementia and Aging Studies, watched lots of Star Wars and cooked lots of new recipes. And I have preached a lot of sermons.
In the coming year, I hope to preach more sermons and cook more recipes; I hope for more adventures with Andrew and have all my fingers crossed that the main adventure will be learning what it’s like to support my husband through a PhD program and the new experiences and challenges that will bring.
In the next decade, I hope to graduate, help Andrew edit his first book, have someone publish mine (it’s about halfway done), and become an expert dementia consultant helping families navigate the experience of caring for a loved one with dementia. I hope for more lazy day off naps with Reese the cat and squeals of delight from our guinea pigs Abbott and Costello.
Happy new year to all, and many blessings in the coming year, and the next 10!
SaraInRealLife 