I’m a little bit slow with the 2009 recap, but it’s always fun to look back on the year and remember what happened. Here are a few highlights from 2009:

• Philosophy of Profanity – I shared my philosophy of profanity, something I’ve formulated over the years and finally tried to express in blog form.
• Nothing is Secret – Although it’s always been true, the Internet makes this painfully obvious. Integrity is the only response that makes sense.
• You Can Change the World: Help People Find a Job – This has been a tough year and I’ve seen a lot of friends and family lose jobs. It underlines the importance of helping one another.
• 25 Things About Billy Graham – I launched a blog about Billy Graham this year (and then promptly ignored it). These are the kinds of random, goofy posts I love to write.
• Surviving the First Week – I sound pretty optimistic about surviving that first week with both kids all by myself. Silly me. I didn’t realize that survival mode would be my life for the foreseeable future.
• Dependence Day – I’ve never been entirely comfortable with over-the-top displays of patriotism (especially in church), and this post is perhaps my best stab at explaining why.
• Family Photo Shoot – This spring we ventured out to a farm in Western Wisconsin for a family photo shoot. That’s where the current image at the top of my blog came from.
• Conference Week: Story & Cultivate – For the first time in five years of working in church marketing I actually attended not one but two church marketing conferences.
• Homeless Advocate Mark Horvath – We were able to spend some time with the founder of InvisiblePeople.tv when he came through the Twin Cities on his 2009 road trip.
• Lexi Does Johnny Cash: The Devil’s Right Hand – Best Lexi video of 2009.
• Now That’s Funny: Christian Chirp – I explored the phenomenon of a Christian alternative to Twitter, with hilarious results.
• Christians Demand Retailer Lip Service – I bemoaned the Christians who demand retailers pay our faith lip service.
• The Yo-Yo Anniversary – My company gave away yo-yo’s to celebrate our five-year anniversary.

Two of the biggest highlights this year were traveling to Ethiopia to bring home Milo and celebrating my 30th birthday with clean water. Those two events deserve their own list of highlights.

Adoption & Ethiopia

• Say Hello to Milo – We passed court in Ethiopia and officially became Milo’s parents.
• We Leave Tomorrow – Breathless excitement as we get ready to leave for Ethiopia.
• Live from Ethiopia – Meeting Milo for the first time.
• Live from Ethiopia 2 – A more thorough account of being in Ethiopia.
• Home from Ethiopia – We made it home.
• Reflecting on Adoption and Ethiopia – Trying (and failing) to summarize the experience.
• Milo’s Day in Court – “We’re a family!”

Bald Birthday Benefit

• Announcing the Bald Birthday Benefit – I wanted to celebrate my 30th birthday with clean water for 30 people in 30 days.
• Bald Birthday Benefit Day 1 – Wow. You donated $275 in the first day.
• Bald Birthday Benefit: Beyond Baldness – You hit the original $600 goal in less than a week.
• It’s Fairly Strenuous – I carried five gallons of water (weighing about 40 pounds) two miles from the Mississippi River to my house. You can watch the video here.
• Bald Birthday Benefit 2009 – It’s all over but the shavin’.
• Bald Birthday Benefit Thank You – In the end you donated $2,605, enough to provide clean water for 130 people. Wow. Best birthday ever.