The "end" of an amazing journey

I don't like to use the term "end" since unless death occurs, the journey of life goes on. It is the end not of the journey but of an extraordinary episode of my life. The journey continues and I am very excited for whatever comes next.
So here I am back in California. I apologize for not posting anything last week but it was a little crazy between Thanksgiving, the return to the west coast and updating my website. I hope everyone spent a nice holiday. Mine was special for many reasons. I was in Salt Lake City where I had seen Coldplay a few days before. What an awesome concert. Such great performers and just there for the love of it. It was my 30th birthday gift from Brooke. Thank you so much!
Thanksgiving was special also because it marked the last day of the amazing journey I set out on a year ago today. How fitting... I have a million things to be thankful for but I'll just mention a few. First and foremost Brooke who went on for the ride without any idea what she was getting herself into and trusted my ideas and judgments along the way (well, most of the time... I was far from always being right). Secondly my parents who have shown so much support over the years and welcomed me back home for a few months over the summer. What a great opportunity to spend all this time with them after leaving the house nearly ten years ago. Finally I want to thank all the people we came across this year and welcomed us into their homes. From South Africa to Switzerland and over to the US, we had the privilege of staying with great friends and family. Their generosity and kindness touched us enormously.
More importantly we found that we are all the same. No matter whether black, white, African, European, native American, democrat, republican, religious, atheist, healthy, sick, redneck, liberal, poor, wealthy, old or young, we all respond to the same emotions. We all love to breath fresh air, see beautiful sights, share experiences, laugh, eat, drink, etc. Where our opinions or tastes may differ, the core of our spirits remains the same throughout. And that's what gives me hope that although this world will never fully come to peace, we are working towards understanding each other a little better every day.