Goodbye 2009!

Well, 2009 is drawing to a close. And I gotta say, this year, I'm glad to see it go. It's hard to classify this year. On the one hand, I want to say the year was a success. After all, I met the girl i want to spend the rest of my life with--something I never thought that I would do, but especially not so young. And yet, I have, and it's fantastic.

With that said, in the same year that I met my beloved, I almost lost her. Twice. I met her at the beginning of the year--one year ago today, as a matter of fact--and I almost lost her in April. A tornado hit and destroyed a good portion of my hometown. Several months later, I was in a horrific car crash that my girl and I are still recovering from.

So where does 2009 lie? Is it a draw? Or should it be packed up and shipped out with a "good riddance" to follow it out the door. These are questions I don't have the answer to.

So I talked about the bad things--a tornado, a car wreck, various drama's a college involving regime changes, major drama in the summer from my fiance's crazy family--now I need to talk about good things.

I met my beloved. We began flirting, and the first several months of dating-but-not was awesome. We talked on the phone for hours. It was amazing. We started dating, which was even more amazing. We had tons of fun over the summer, despite drama, and our relationship grew. We went to college, where things were nearly perfect. I was fortunate enough to come into a bit of money so that I could some things I've always wanted and a new car. I got engaged. I began planning the rest of my life with my girl. My fiance has made a dramatic recovery from the wreck. The doctor's said she's 3 months ahead of schedule. She's doing amazing, proving, once again, how awesome she is.

I think if there were a theme to 2009, the theme would be change. So much has changed this year. My brother is in his senior year, I got engaged, we both got new cars, friends moved across the country, others drifted away, some drift back and forth. I got a bit of money to start planning a life with. I walk with a cane. My town has been rebuilding itself. Hundreds lost their homes, and yet, I've heard some say that the tornado saved a drowning town--now many of the companies that had no work have work to do again.

Whether they're good or bad changes, they were changes nonetheless.

So, goodbye 2009. I really won't miss you that much. You gave me some tough love, and I'm not sure I've forgiven you for everything you've done. But you brought me some really good things, too. I extend a firm, curt handshake to you. Welcome 2010. I hope you bring twice the fortune, with none of the tragedy.

Word To Your Mother

So, PJ recently posted on her site about a word that sums up your year. A few others have done it, and I think it's a fantastic idea. So what word do I want to stand for 2009? Well, thinking about all of my resolutions and all of the things I want accomplished by the end of this year, I think the perfect word for me is "Discipline."

I have lots of things that I want to accomplish. I want to start working out to a consistent schedule -- one that has a minimum for when things are busier, but can be expanded for when I have more time. I also want to start reading more instead of wasting so much time piddling. I want to have a set time to sit down and study and get my school work done, instead of putting it off until the last minute and being crushed under the avalanche. I want to have time set aside to write so that I can get more writing done. I want to have time to hang out with my friends. I want to have time to DO things and gather real life experiences instead of sitting on my butt and doing nothing.

To accomplish all this, what I'm going to need is discipline. I'm going to have to be able to tell myself that no, I don't need that piece of cake. I'm gonna have to tell myself that no, I don't need that movie, no matter how cheap it is. I'm going to have to tell myself that, although unpleasant, actually getting the schoolwork done is preferred to missing out on all kinds of fun because you put off your crap until the last minute.

And so, I need to figure out how to strengthen myself -- how to control my impulses and to learn when to say yes, when to say no, and when to relax and just let life take the lead. If I can do all this -- and it's a plateful, then I think this year will be the bomb-diggity. And it may just be the "beginning of the year" optimism talking, but I feel like this is the year for me to become who I want to be.

It'll just take some discipline.