The Home Stretch

So here we are. It is officially the last Monday of 2009. On Friday it will be 2010, and I'll have to start getting used to writing a different year on everything yet again. I am actually excited for 2010, though, because I think it will be an interesting and exciting year. Before I divulge any of my plans for the new year, let's take a look back at 2009 one final time, shall we?

2009 started out like the years before it, with a New Years Eve celebration with the Albanians. We went to Port O' Call, and got to spend its last ever New Years in the original location. January, February went by without much excitement, and at the end of March I moved out of Midvale and ended my first marriage (which, not surprisingly, I have always looked at as a "first" marriage). During April and May I lived with my bff, T-Dawg, and I took a trip to Denver with my girl Jessie. During those months I also passed the time searching for a condo. I found one in the middle of May, and I closed on it on June 1. I moved in and have been loving it ever since!

The main focus of my summer was furnishing my first home, and I became good friends with the Draper IKEA. My nephie poo turned 2 years old on August 7. Two weeks prior to that he moved from the adorable, compliant little angel he was to a holy terror of two year old fury. I threw some parties, specifically one for my birthday. My pseudo-niece Paisley Mae was born on August 17, and I got to go see her and her parentals in September. Then I threw a rocking Halloween party, followed shortly by T-Dawg's birthday Tea Party. November and December got hectic with school and the Holidays, and I thought on more than one occasion that I will never do another semester of school if it kills me.

While events transpired in 2009 that caused much tumult and torment on a personal level, I have emerged a stronger and better person. I feel that way about it, anyway. And I also emerged from the tumult with a number of new friends, as well as a number of old friends with whom I was able to reconnect. So, all in all, 2009 was the best of times and the worst of times. Standing here on December 28, though, I look back and realize that the best of times far outweigh the worst of times. And for that I am eternally grateful.

So now away with the past and onto the fun future! I haven't made too many plans for 2010 yet, though there are several events that will happen. A) I will be ringing in the new year in Las Veags, which I am totally stoked about. B) T-Dawg and I will be taking a trip to Amsterdam and Paris in the Spring. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about that. Special thanks to the tax payers who are funding this vaca via the $8,000 first-time homebuyer rebate I will get as soon as is humanly possible. Screw paying bills. It is going to be awesome!

Other than that, like I said, I haven't made many other plans. I hope to be able to go to St. George sometime in the first quarter to visit with Ms. Paisley Mae again (and, I suppose, talk to her mom and dad for a bit). I would also like to take a couple of weekend trips to my favorite UT locales, like Moab and Panguitch. If I'm lucky (e.g. if I can afford it), I'd really like to go to San Francisco, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. I think I might plan a trip similar to what my parents did for Spring Break--drive to Laguna Beach and then up the coast and back down through Boise. That'd be awesome, and time consuming and expensive, but totally worth it.

Mostly I am just looking forward to having as much fun as possible over the coming year. Seeing how this year was mostly fabulous, I can only imagine that next year will be even more mostly fabulous, and that, my friends, is cause for celebration in my book.

I hope y'all have a happy new year!