A Fresh Start to the NEW YEAR!!

I am going to Boston for the Winter Classic early thursday morning and will not return until January 2nd (which happens to be my 21st birthday!!!! WOOHOO) so I decided to do a little New Year’s Post before I depart …. I also have a great recipe for baked penne pasta from Matt’s Blog coming soon too!!!

oh and just to warn you– this one is a little lengthy…its a bit tough to capture a year in one blog post!

This year has had its ups and downs…

• I started blogging!
• my sister graduated college

• I ran in the Sea Isle City 10 miler with my 2 older sisters (ah look how tan I am there!!! I am now a white ghost haha)

• Went pumpkin and apple picking with my roommates!

• I was a nerd for halloween!

• I ran my first marathon- the philadelphia marathon
• …and I qualified for the Boston Marathon

• My grandmother passed away- love you forever and ever <3

• We got a new puppy named Bradley!

• I had pretty much the toughest semester of my life in school!!
• We got hit with a huge snow storm

• my roommates/best friends from school are all going abroad (minus my direct roommate- court!)-4 girls I became friends with last year are moving in this semester. I will miss my friends very very much…but I am excited for something new and different!!

well there you have it… 2009 in a nut shell….well sort of anyway.

I cant say that I had the best semester ever this past fall.  While I definitely had some awesome times with my roommates…it honestly was not a walk in the park for me.  I know I never really showed this through my blog but for the first half of the semester I was really down in the dumps.  and if you do not know me…this is very unlike me.  I am usually a happy-”look at the bright side of things” type of person… I think I was just overwhelmed with school, training for the marathon, and my grandmom’s health getting worse with each passing day (and seeing my mom upset and everything).  I honestly would cry myself to sleep five out of the seven days of the week.  and most of the time…I couldnt really pinpoint why I was crying! And then my grandmom passed away.  I expected everything to just get worse but instead I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.  I came back to school from my grandmom’s funeral a much happier person.  Of course I still cry from time to time.  and not a day goes by that I do not think of my grandmom; I keep her funeral card taped to the side of my bed and I pray each night (or close to it) to my grandmom before bed…its a nice reminder that even though she is not physically present- she will be with me for the rest of my life.

Even though I finally dug myself out of the rut I was in… too bad it was already almost November by this point.  For awhile I thought WOW I wasted a whole semester but I came to realize that I did not “waste” this semester at all.  For starters, I did have alot of fun times this semester (I was not down in the dumps all the time people!!!) and ….I honestly grew as a person during this semester.  I feel like I am a much more mature/independent/”tough” person.  I figured out what is important to me in life.  This semester I had to sacrifice going out (and having fun with my friends) as much as I would have liked to so that I could train for my marathon and get myself as best prepared for it as I possibly could.  I also had to sacrifice time to study for my classes- (I set myself up for a extra tough semester when I thought I was going abroad.  As it turned out, I didnt end up going abroad and so I was stuck with a hellish schedule!!!)  but dont worry- even through it all- I still managed to have a good amount of  fun

so if you are still reading…here are my goals for this semester/year:

1. Learn how to deal with stress in a better way- when I am faced with difficult circumstances such as a loved one passing away or a tough school load- I would like to learn how to deal with the situation in a better way instead of keeping it bottled up.
2. Have a bit more fun this semester (which should be a bit easier since I lightened up my course load a little bit- stil wont be a walk in the park though!)
3. Do well in my classes
4. floss everyday!!!!
5. if I do not end up getting in a charity for the Boston Marathon- train for another race- 10 miler or half-marathon
6. find time each day for myself- whether it is going on a run outside, writing in my diary, praying at night, just sitting in silence for a bit, or practicing yoga
7. be a better person
8. wear real clothes…AKA not workout clothes EVERY day of my life…only some days haha
9. work on my cooking skills!!!!!
10. While I would normally put…FIND SOMEONE (as in a guy haha) I honestly dont care about this anymore!  Over christmas my mommom (grandmom) told me to find someone who loves me more than I love him and someone that would die for me.  haha…those are some pretty tough standards I must say.  But I think she is right in a way!  Anyway… I feel like I do not need to worry about finding anyone at this point.  Why not just have fun with people and be myself?  I mean I would love to find someone obviously…who doesnt?  But where is the fire people!?  Eventually I will find someone…but for now Im just going to be myself and have some fun, okay? okay.
11. never lose sight of how lucky I am.  Sometimes I take what I have for granted.  I have an awesome life, a great family, amazing parents and two awesome sisters (plus two pups ).  Sometimes its easy to overlook the gifts you have in your life.  and you honestly never know when these things will be gone forever.
12. be more careful with my moola!
13. become a good golfer…okay maybe a decent golfer…orrr just a good enough that I can finish 18 (or close to it) holes with my daddio haha
14. I am sure there is more but for now…thats all I gots!!!

p.s. go over to Katye’s Blog and check out her HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY!!!!,  Sunday Funday, and 1,010 miles for 2010 challenge!

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