Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New

What a year it has been - and what a year of excitement coming up!

Quickly thinking through the adventures of 2008, it was another wonderful year.  

We rang in the New Year at Shaun's house in Virginia.  In February, I went home to Phoenix and was able to celebrate Brianne's baby shower and see my dad, Kelly and Jamie.  March, April and May were very successful months at work.  It was June when we found out that a little Grovie was on the way!  Jonathan and I drove all the way across Washington and Montana to celebrate Seth and Bobbi's wedding in Fort Peck, MT...and we stayed at the ranch with Philip in Choteau, MT on the way home.  I tagged along with Jonathan on a work trip to San Diego, and we extended our stay for a few extra days of vacation time.  I also found out that I was promoted  as a Branch Manager at work.  In August, Eileen treated me to an amazing trip to Chicago - which was a great way to start the month.  However, I ended up on bed rest (part 1) for about 2 weeks for a subchorionic hematoma...if I only knew how short two weeks of bed rest really could feel.  I finally got into the swing of things in my new role at work in September, and Jonathan and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary.  October started well - but on October 8th, my incompetent cervix and I landed ourselves in the hospital for 9 days.  Jonathan's super-hero skills became even more apparent as he held down the fort and took care of me through October, November and December while I remained on bed rest (part 2)!  I turned 29 in November.  Mike and the Murphys all came to Tacoma for Thanksgiving, which was a great way to lift my spirits!  And a few short weeks later, both my family and Jonathan's family trekked cross-country for a white Christmas in Tacoma!

2009 is going to be a year unlike any other for Jonathan and me, as we welcome Grovie to the world.  It's pretty amazing to have someone like Jonathan as a partner in life.  We're looking forward to the adventures, laughter and joys of bringing a new life into the world.  We hope Grovie will take the best parts of each of us and grow up to be a kind, loving kid!  (We're choosing to ignore the lack of sleep and my worry-wort tendencies at this point!)

I think my biggest challenge in 2009 is going to be finding balance.  I've always been passionate about giving my all to my jobs and school work...hey, even my blood type is A+!  Keeping priorities, practicalities and performance in check might be hard.  It's not that I'm a perfectionist - and I'm fine with ambiguity - I just have a fear in the back of my mind that keeping everything balanced is going to be hard for me.  (Again, lucky to have Jonathan to help me through!)

Each year, I love to make a big list of goals/resolutions for New Years.  This year, my goals are a bit more nebulous because really - learning how to be a mom is going to be a pretty consuming adventure in and of itself!  Though, they say putting goal in writing helps make them become a reality, so...

1)  Complete at least 15 items on the 101 in 1001 List

2)  Complete my special, secret project that probably includes you, so I can't tell you what it is right now

3)  Be conscious of the really important things in life when prioritizing/making decisions

4)  Continue to deepen existing friendships and develop new friendships

5)  Continue to ask for help when I need it (I've become quite good at this over the past few months!)

So Happy New Year to you all!  Leave a comment if you have made any resolutions this year that you want to put into writing as well!