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Friday, January 7, 2011
New Year, New Life
Okay, so I mentioned in my last post that 2010 was a little disappointing for me in some ways. I think partly because I'm used to being really busy, doing so many things all the time, always in the midst of some means to and end of bettering my life. Nursing school, fixing up an old house, etc. This year most of those things slowed down and I had a lot of time on my (odd) days off to become a little depressed about my new, frustrating and disappointing job and its effects on my whole life, and the uncertain direction in which my life was going. This new year, 2011, I want to change that. Over the next few weeks/months I will be unveiling my new plan for my life. I don't know that I will see a huge change in my career (the biggest stress in my life right now) in 2011, but at least I will hopefully be on my way to finding something that I love in which I can still use my education and background. So I started with a change in the look of my blog! Changes in 2011...let's see them! What are you going to change in your life in this new year?
2010: My Year in Review
2010 was an interesting, if challenging, year. Challenging because of the challenges, but also because for the first year in a long time, I don't really feel like I have much to show for the challenges. Through the last half of my 20s, I tried to do at least one new, exciting thing each year that I hadn't done before and could be proud of. I don't feel like that really happened in 2010. So, I'll rededicate myself this year to making my 30s about accomplishments again. But for now, here's 2010.
Baby sitting my nieces a bit and watching them grow has been so fun. Looking forward to welcoming a new nephew this year, that will even up the score on my mom's side a little!
Annual trip to St. George in February. Always a winner. We also went on a cruise that month, blogged about that here.
Went to Girls' Camp for the first time as an adult. Now THAT was interesting. And fun. And, I was glad it was over by day 4. I never realized how much work the leaders put into camp. I think all I did was cook for 4 days! We had a good time though.
Speaking of camp, I spent most of 2010 as a Young Women leader. I learned a lot, and really gained from it, including some great friendships. Yes, I eventually got called to YW again in my new, reorganized ward. Most of the same girls, some new, and new leaders to work with.
A few more home updates. We did some redecorating in the bedrooms, including finishing the room in the basement (I'll have to post a picture of that later) and finished the backyard. I wish I had taken a picture of the backyard while it was still green and beautiful - it looked great! We had a great garden too, so I'll post a picture of some of the things we grew instead.
We took an awesome trip to San Francisco that included seeing my childhood homes and elementary school, time with friends/family, riding our bikes from the Ferry Building to the Golden Gate bridge, across, and back, plus an extra 8-mile ride along the bay on the way back after getting on the wrong ferry, seeing Wicked, eating at the Cliff House, walking in Golden Gate Park, eating lots of sourdough bread, and our car hitting 100,000 miles on the way home.
We also hiked Timpanogos during the summer. It seemed to be the height of wildflower season, and very beautiful. My knees prevented me from getting to the VERY top, but we made it pretty close.
2010 was also a year for change with family. I mentioned above how I appreciated spending time with my nieces, one of whom was born in 2010. But I also lost my Uncle Fred in July and my Grandma in October. Very sad, but the funerals were a wonderful opportunity to celebrate their lives and reconnect with extended family. My grandma's passing was especially emotional - I was very close to her and pretty much had her near my whole life. All of her daughters were present at her passing, and most of the grandchildren were able to make it to the funeral. We had fun celebrating her life by making a video with photos from her life and visiting the old homes she lived in around Salt Lake City.
My Grandma and her life were an inspiration to me. I especially loved seeing her old homes, as I always love old things and I'm a sucker for nostalgia and all things meaningful. A few weeks after we went to look at and photograph the homes, Chase and I were leaving our house one day for a walk. Just as we were walking down the driveway, two men approached us to ask us if they could take a picture of our house, because it was the house their mother grew up in. They also pointed out the house down the street that their father grew up in. Of course, we told them to take all the photos they wanted. I was glad to be able to do that for someone after all the people that let us take pictures of their homes in memory of our grandma. And I love living in an old house in a historic area, just blocks from where my grandma grew up. I can imagine her childhood there, and now I can imagine the one that happened in my very own house 80-something years ago!
Finally, I celebrated my Golden Birthday - 31 on the 31st! - in October. One of the highlights of my year, because it supposed to be the best year of your life right? Oh, how I've waited for this! If you know me at all, you know I'm kind of obsessed with dates (plus the fixation on meaningful, nostalgic things mentioned above). From the moment I was told of this tradition, I waited for this birthday to happen! My sisters experienced their golden birthdays early in adolescence - 12 and 15 - but I would be the oldest one could possibly be to celebrate this amazing birthday! Finally, the long-awaited day arrived, and I couldn't have asked for a better day. Chase and I went to Las Vegas and stayed at Treasure Island for the weekend. For my birthday dinner, we went to Max Brenner, an amazing restaurant in Caesar's Palace that specializes in CHOCOLATE! What could be better? After spending an hour or two there and becoming thoroughly drunk on love and chocolate, we went back to our hotel to see Cirque Du Soleil's Mystere. After the show, the hotel gave us free sparkling cider (we opted out of the free champagne they offered) and we had a toast in our room. We also enjoyed some hiking at Red Rocks and some shopping that weekend.
Also in 2010: Chase became a full-time teacher at Legacy Preparatory Academy, he started his Master's program in Special Ed at Weber State, I did some more canning (I even canned pickles all by myself), I became an avid reader of Feminist Mormon Housewives, and we had a great holiday season spending time with friends and family. Here's to a great year in 2011!
Baby sitting my nieces a bit and watching them grow has been so fun. Looking forward to welcoming a new nephew this year, that will even up the score on my mom's side a little!
Annual trip to St. George in February. Always a winner. We also went on a cruise that month, blogged about that here.
Went to Girls' Camp for the first time as an adult. Now THAT was interesting. And fun. And, I was glad it was over by day 4. I never realized how much work the leaders put into camp. I think all I did was cook for 4 days! We had a good time though.
Speaking of camp, I spent most of 2010 as a Young Women leader. I learned a lot, and really gained from it, including some great friendships. Yes, I eventually got called to YW again in my new, reorganized ward. Most of the same girls, some new, and new leaders to work with.
A few more home updates. We did some redecorating in the bedrooms, including finishing the room in the basement (I'll have to post a picture of that later) and finished the backyard. I wish I had taken a picture of the backyard while it was still green and beautiful - it looked great! We had a great garden too, so I'll post a picture of some of the things we grew instead.
We took an awesome trip to San Francisco that included seeing my childhood homes and elementary school, time with friends/family, riding our bikes from the Ferry Building to the Golden Gate bridge, across, and back, plus an extra 8-mile ride along the bay on the way back after getting on the wrong ferry, seeing Wicked, eating at the Cliff House, walking in Golden Gate Park, eating lots of sourdough bread, and our car hitting 100,000 miles on the way home.
We also hiked Timpanogos during the summer. It seemed to be the height of wildflower season, and very beautiful. My knees prevented me from getting to the VERY top, but we made it pretty close.
2010 was also a year for change with family. I mentioned above how I appreciated spending time with my nieces, one of whom was born in 2010. But I also lost my Uncle Fred in July and my Grandma in October. Very sad, but the funerals were a wonderful opportunity to celebrate their lives and reconnect with extended family. My grandma's passing was especially emotional - I was very close to her and pretty much had her near my whole life. All of her daughters were present at her passing, and most of the grandchildren were able to make it to the funeral. We had fun celebrating her life by making a video with photos from her life and visiting the old homes she lived in around Salt Lake City.
My Grandma and her life were an inspiration to me. I especially loved seeing her old homes, as I always love old things and I'm a sucker for nostalgia and all things meaningful. A few weeks after we went to look at and photograph the homes, Chase and I were leaving our house one day for a walk. Just as we were walking down the driveway, two men approached us to ask us if they could take a picture of our house, because it was the house their mother grew up in. They also pointed out the house down the street that their father grew up in. Of course, we told them to take all the photos they wanted. I was glad to be able to do that for someone after all the people that let us take pictures of their homes in memory of our grandma. And I love living in an old house in a historic area, just blocks from where my grandma grew up. I can imagine her childhood there, and now I can imagine the one that happened in my very own house 80-something years ago!
Finally, I celebrated my Golden Birthday - 31 on the 31st! - in October. One of the highlights of my year, because it supposed to be the best year of your life right? Oh, how I've waited for this! If you know me at all, you know I'm kind of obsessed with dates (plus the fixation on meaningful, nostalgic things mentioned above). From the moment I was told of this tradition, I waited for this birthday to happen! My sisters experienced their golden birthdays early in adolescence - 12 and 15 - but I would be the oldest one could possibly be to celebrate this amazing birthday! Finally, the long-awaited day arrived, and I couldn't have asked for a better day. Chase and I went to Las Vegas and stayed at Treasure Island for the weekend. For my birthday dinner, we went to Max Brenner, an amazing restaurant in Caesar's Palace that specializes in CHOCOLATE! What could be better? After spending an hour or two there and becoming thoroughly drunk on love and chocolate, we went back to our hotel to see Cirque Du Soleil's Mystere. After the show, the hotel gave us free sparkling cider (we opted out of the free champagne they offered) and we had a toast in our room. We also enjoyed some hiking at Red Rocks and some shopping that weekend.
Also in 2010: Chase became a full-time teacher at Legacy Preparatory Academy, he started his Master's program in Special Ed at Weber State, I did some more canning (I even canned pickles all by myself), I became an avid reader of Feminist Mormon Housewives, and we had a great holiday season spending time with friends and family. Here's to a great year in 2011!
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