Year in Review & Welcome the New

A new year is upon us, so it is only fitting to recap all that happened in 2009.

What an eventful year!

I started 2009 with my best friends from college, lived in the ever-entertaining sorority house with the company of 45 other wonderful women where I had every meal prepared for me, went to class about 8 hours a week and spent the rest of the week goofing off. I did spring break, bar crawls, and date parties with grace.

In May, I finally graduated with a degree in Finance {yipee!}. In June I moved to the big city {to live in a newly furnished apartment, thanks to graduation money}. In July I was blessed to start a great full time job. In October dad moved 100s of miles away {hard for a daddy's girl to handle}. Essentially, my life has seen a lot of change.

I now live alone in a 1 bedroom apartment. I have learned to shower, sleep, and live on my own without letting my imagination {or loneliness} get the best of me {with the exception of the occasional nightmare or pitty party ~ it happens}. I am learning to cook and be independent. I am gradually meeting new people and exploring the town. I am learning more than I could have ever imagined at work. I am officially acting like an adult.

Reflecting on how much things have changed and how much I have grown in 2009, I can only imagine where I will be a year from now. 

In 2010, I hope to:

• Continue to meet new people and make the new city feel like home. I want to be more open to new things. Even though something or someone is different, that is ok.
• Create a better work-life balance {thus also supporting the aforementioned goal} while also learning and growing in my job.
• Start living a healthier lifestyle. I want to continue working out regularly, but "change" can no longer be my excuse for not eating healthy.  

I have learned so much about myself this year, and I hope to begin finding what truly makes me happy in the new year. This year has been full of good times, but has also been very, very challenging. I will continue to focus on the positive, and with that I know 2010 will be outstanding!

This has been a year of change {excuse the cliche Obama catch phrase} for many of us!  What is your favorite memory from 2009, and what would you like to change in 2010?

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday Dear AsFran, Happy Birthday TO YOU!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day and an even better evening! I'm so glad that I get to see you on your special day even though we are usually so many miles apart.

Love you, girlie! :)

HS Reunion

On Saturday night, we had our annual friends Holiday Party ~ tacky Christmas sweaters and all!

I am so glad that all of our high school friends still get together regularly. It is sooo much fun to catch up, remember old times, enjoy a couple too many drinks, and pretend like we can dance.

It seems like just yesterday we were going to prom, dressing up for basketball games, and having poker nights. I miss those days dearly, but am happy we are still such good friends.

Cheers to old times!

Tacky Sweaters to the MAX

Sarah's outfit put everyone else's to shame ~ so funny!

It was also Jason's birthday ~ Happy Day!

Santa Claus is Coming!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and enjoys time relaxing and being with family.

I am so looking forward to getting out of work mode, sleeping in, hanging out with old friends, and being with family this holiday season.

I love cooking, playing games, and watching movies with my parents and my brother over Christmas. Lil' bro beat us in a game of Settlers last night...tonight I plan to crush everyone in Jenga! :)

On Christmas morning, Tony still wakes us all up before 6am..even though he's now 20. Despite my initial grumpy morning attitude, I love that he keeps the excitement and child-like spirit alive in our home!

After opening all our gifts under the tree, we then look in our stockings for final little surprises, followed by mom's infamous "skinny pancakes" for breakfast {which are somewhat like crepes...but better :) ... for those of you not fortunate enough to have tried them}.

We spend the day relaxing and finish it with a delicious meal {which includes stuffing...my fav!}. Above all, I am so thankful for the love of my family!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Date a Driver?

On Tuesday morning I was once again the last rider on the shuttle that leaves from my parking garage and drops me off in front of work. Dyno the {40-something year old} driver took this as an opportunity to get personal {as always}.

As I was getting off at the stop in front of my office, he asked if I would like to go to a basketball game with him.

Thanks.

But No Thanks.

I sincerely apologize for my absense. When I got back to my apartment after being home for Thanksgiving, I attempted to turn on my laptop {to update my blog of course} and it gave me an error saying I'm missing a driver. That's funny...I don't remember putting it anywere ;)

I took it to the Geek Squad, and they essentially said they couldn't fix it and I need a new computer.

Hopefully Santa Claus is aware of this {hint, hint...}

For now, I can only post on borrowed computers, but I hope to fix this problem soon!