Welcome 2009

2008 has come and gone and I can't help but to reminisce on the year that was... so much happened in 2008. A lot I shared, and so much more I did not.

2008 started unlike any year before. I was broke, unemployed, and living with family. Just a few months before, I had my own place, my own car, and a great (although low-paying) job that I loved. Who knew that it would have been the best thing that ever happened to me?

I've comprised a list; things I loved, things I learned, and mostly what I am thankful for in 2008.

1) I'm thankful I don't have to eat Reba's cooking - but appreciate that I had food to eat, and someone to cook for me.
2) I love being closer to my sisters and friends I had lost touch with - I'm glad to get to know my sisters better. We haven't spent too much time together in, I don't know, the past 10 years or so. They have grown into really beautiful and very very cool girls. I'm glad to know them and love them a lot!
3) I am thankful for the time I spent with my family in Memphis - I loved spending time with them (most of the time) and loved learning about the kids and getting to know them.
4) I am thankful that now I can visit the kids... I appreciate them much more that way (and they appreciate me too).
5) I am glad I made new friends and can't wait to see them again - I miss that Tammy Sue and Dave and Joy and Zap and Sam too. I appreciate the opportunity that FFC gave me, even though I hated smelling like gas every day.
6) I am thankful for a good job with good people and the opportunity to learn and to excel - I am very curious and interested in learning about various diseases and illnesses people present to the hospital with. I am definitely planning on nursing school now (when I didn't start this Fall, it was kind of in the air).
7) I am thankful that I have reconnected with my father's side of the family - it was all by chance and I was a little taken back but I am so glad to know about them and talk to them through letters and email. The internet is definitely a wondrous thing!
8) I love learning more about myself and learning how to be on my own again - this has definitely been one of the best things to ever happen to me. It may have sucked when it was happening (the unknown always does), but I sure celebrated in April - and haven't stopped since!

There are certainly many many more things about 2008 I could write about. It was definitely a different year. All in all it was pretty darn great, and although my New Year's Eve was very low key, my year ended a total 360 from how it began. I am thankful and am looking forward to 2009 and what it will bring.