Goodbye, 2008

As the end of 2008 is almost here, I decided to look back a little bit on what this year has brought me. In 2008, I:

Got the stomach flu on Valentine's Day
Spent Easter in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, working (it snowed!)
Had my first jury trial
Watched KU win the National Championship in basketball
Started running after a 5 month break
Stopped running
Started running again
Lost my grandfather
Learned how to do 8-angle pose and side crow in yoga
Made my annual eating trip through the Kansas State Fair
Ran my first two 5Ks on back-to-back weekends
Went to New York
Fell in love with Seattle
Got coffee from the original Starbucks
Got my hair cut for the first time in over a year
Celebrated our first wedding anniversary
Found a running buddy
Trained for a 10 mile race
Got a cold 2 days before my 10 mile race
Finished my 10 mile race under my goal time anyway
Suffered my first running injury
Signed up for a half marathon
Started my own blog
Learned how to make really good oatmeal coconut cookies
Bought my dog way too many Christmas toys

So, 2008 had lots of moments for me, some good and some sad. Tomorrow I'll kick off 2009 with a 5K race, some pancakes with friends, and maybe a yoga class. It will be a good start to what I hope will be a good year.

Christmas Memories

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. I think there are lots of reasons for that - I love the pretty decorations, the treats, wrapping presents, Christmas music, and the festive spirit that everyone seems to have this time of year. But most of all, I love the traditions and the memories that I have of those traditions. When I was little, Christmas was a magical day. Decorating for Christmas at our house and wrapping presents were full-blown events. Every Christmas Eve we'd go to the candlelight service at our church, which I just loved. When we got home, my dad would read me "The Night Before Christmas" before I went to bed. I always knew that I was not allowed to come out of my room that next morning until someone came and told me it was okay. Then I'd have to go down to the kitchen and eat breakfast before I was even allowed to look at the tree. For as far back as I can remember, my mom always made bubble bread for Christmas breakfast, and we would eat that along with grapefruit that my parents ordered from Florida every year. Oh, it was always really hard to sit and eat before going to open presents, but we'd eventually finish breakfast and then my parents would let me go and see the tree. We always had presents under the tree leading up to Christmas Eve, but on Christmas Eve Santa came and more presents arrived, usually all wrapped the same way in a different type of paper, so that you'd know they came from Santa. And the stockings were always full of nuts and apples and oranges and little gifts. Years later my mom would tell me that the reason they always made me wait to see the tree was so that they could be sure to see my reaction when I saw it for the first time that morning. Eventually, Santa didn't visit any more, but we kept the same traditions - we'd go to the candlelight service, and we'd always have bubble bread and grapefruit on Christmas morning before opening gifts. To this day, I only eat bubble bread once a year - on Christmas morning. (Although this may change, as my runner friends and I have decided that the bubble bread is so good it might make an excellent post-run treat sometime.)

Now that I've gotten married and moved to a different city, my traditions are changing. Instead of Christmas at my parents' house, my parents visit my house and we spend the day between my house and my mother-in-law's house. I still make breakfast for my parents (bubble bread and grapefruit, of course, with my new addition - egg casserole) and we open gifts, but not in our pajamas. We share our Christmas dinner with my husband's family now. Sometimes I miss those traditions that I had with my parents when I was little, but am also enjoying creating my own new traditions and making Christmas breakfast myself.

I'm also learning a few things along the way. Now that I'm working full-time, I realize that my mom must not have slept at all for the entire month of December. Some days I feel like I don't possibly have enough time to do the decorating and shopping and wrapping and baking that I want to do, while still working and trying to stick to my workout schedule - and I don't have children yet. Somehow my mom managed to decorate the entire house for Christmas, shop for Christmas gifts, wrap Christmas gifts, bake Christmas goodies, and make Christmas dinner, all while managing to run me around to dance practice and holiday painting classes and whatever else I was busy doing. Of course, she had help from my Dad - but still, it's amazing what she did while having her own professional career. So, I'm sure I can't possibly say this enough, but thanks mom and dad, for working so hard and making Christmas so special for me when I was growing up. Because of that, Christmas will always be my favorite holiday and I someday I'll enjoy trying to make Christmas just as special for my family.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"

100 Things

For my very first blog post here ever, I'm copying off someone else's blog (Thanks Shop Jog Blog). Just so you know a little about me, the things in bold are the things that I've done so far in my life:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53.Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (depends on what you mean by involved - I am a lawyer)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day