Greetings from the hearth fire of my home which actually does not have a fire and I'm at my desk anyway.
I recently purchased a Roald Dahl calendar for 50% off and as I was updating it, flipping through last years' calendar, it occurred to me that this year has been quite the ride. Let's recap, shall we?
*I have to confess, I rang in 2009 in the most badass way to-date. I was in the center of Spain in a huge plaza with thousands of people doing the equivalent of the ball drop in NY. I managed to conquer the tradition of eating 12 grapes before the end of the 12 strokes of midnight as fireworks were shooting off everywhere.
*I spent 5 more months in Spain and a couple weeks in Italy. I got to see things and visit places that used to just exists in textbooks. :) All with Astin. All of it a huge growing process. Lots of painful, some of it really frustrating. Some of it ridiculously hilarious, and much of it pleasant. It left me wondering...what next. That had been my dream since I was wrong, it was the proof I needed to believe that I would escape my small town. Well I did it, and the future remains ambiguous as ever, but I grow more okay with that.
*Astin and I sprinted home to our families and I spent the next few months living at home, visiting friends, working for my dad, and taking a really amazing trip with some of the raddest people I know down to California to visit some other really rad people. I also went backpacking for the first time. I almost died, or at least felt like it, but getting to the top of the mountain was definitely worth it. :D
*I got a job, totally unrelated to my major but related to pretty much all the jobs I've ever had, working with 10-15 year old boys. Discipline has definitely always been my weakness. Since I have a pretty strong personality, you would think that discipline comes naturally, but it actually makes me sick. Therefore, this job is gradually changing that. I don't know how long I'll last, but I'm giving it a good go while I'm there.
*I became co-president of the rollerblading club I invented.
*I moved in with 3 people I already loved and one that I had never really met but now I love her too. Partially because we are probably both clinically insane.
*I got trapped on the top of a mountain in a snowstorm. Luckily I was in a suburban with 3 other people and a very smelly, wet dog.
*I ran my first 5K (about 3 miles). I am not aware that I have ever run 3 miles consecutively, so this was an accomplishment for me.
*Various friends have come to visit and The Sisterhood even had an almost-complete reunion.
*I got to celebrate Christmas with my family after being apart last year. And my grandma ended the year with a bang by eating a Hollywood Stars Liver Treat for dogs.
2009 was a big year. I honestly don't know if I'm a better person. I know I learned some things, and I know I should have learned others. Since I'm making that post-college relationships transition a year later than most of my friends, it's been a learning year. It makes me think that people who understand who you are, appreciate it, and want to see you grow are much rarer than I originally assumed. I am more aware of the smaller moments that are spaced further apart now. I'm pretty pumped about the people in my life who are those good things for me.
