Well Hello 2009!

Happy New Year! I feel like it's taken me forever to blog in the new year, but I've been a pretty busy girl. I hope that everyone had a happy and safe new year and that 2008 ended well and 2009 was welcomed brightly.

I think for me 2008 ended with a bang. About two days before Christmas we had a robbery at the bank where I work. Talk about chaos and stress, and all right before Christmas. I learned a pretty big lesson through it all though. So, I work with the same people day in and day out, and usually that is a lot of fun. We all have pretty fun and outgoing personalities and I generally get along with everyone. Except for the Monday before the robbery. One of the guys and I were having what I would call a "personality conflict". I was getting annoying to him and he was being a jerk to me. Kind of just one of those things that happens when you're with the same people every day. I went home that night thinking, "Ugh, why do I have to work with him. He is such a .... (no need to go into detail :>) The next day I came to work and we got robbed. And I was sooo appreciative of the people I work with, I think I hugged them all, hehe. I was especially thankful for the guy who I was so mad at the day before, because he made me laugh and took some of the stress off. And so, the lesson I learned was to try to see the bigger picture. That sometimes "personality conflicts" are really just us or our pride getting in our own way and we should try to get over them and understand that most of the people in our lives are there for a reason. And so, they haven't caught the guy who robbed us yet, but I at least am optimistic that they will get him. With that and all the snow and staying in Utah for the holidays, I was pretty much ready for 2008 to be over and to start anew. Hence, welcome 2009.

I've decided that New Years' is one of my new favorite holidays (right behind Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day ;) ) It is such a great time to start fresh, to make new goals and to realign things. And this year, I was even on top of it. I usually make New Year's resolutions and try to stick with them throughout the year. Last year, I even made mid-year resolutions in July, hehe. So for my 2009 resolutions, I decided to get a head start (..that's not cheating, right??..) and I got my head start on one resolution the last two weeks of December. I decided to jump on the 'health and fitness' bandwagon and get more fit for 2009. So I started around the week of Christmas, heading to the gym every morning before work. And I've continued it!-which is the biggest suprise to me. Excluding holidays and Sundays, I've worked out everyday since. Yay! I have learned a few things along the way too. First of all, that number on the scale is meaningless. Like I said, I've been to the gym everyday for about two weeks and not only has that number not gone down, it's even gone up! Ack! Talk about discouragement. So I decided, it is just a number and it's not gonna get me down. Also, I've noticed other signs of improvement, I'm happier and I feel healthier, and to me that matters more than a number on the scale. Also, I've been able to track my progress by a remarkable mile time. I run on the elliptical (I'm still a little intimidated by running on the treadmill...) and I decided to try to run a mile under 10 minutes. Well, first I made it in 9:45 and then I topped that by running it in 9:38! That might not seem like an accomplishment to you who run a mile in 6 flat, but I was coming in at like 12 minutes before, so running a mile in 9:38 is a huge accomplishment for me. Take that number on the scale! :) So that is my most accomplished goal of the new year, others I'm still working on... we'll see. Other than accomplishing resolutions, I'm really excited about 2009. I am thinking about moving in with an amazingly great friend (props to Heather!) in April and hopefully making a trip home in May to see everyone there. We'll see. Happy 2009!