Year in Review

So, I know it's been a long time since I've been on here, but I'm trying to learn balance, and sometimes things fall by the wayside.

This Christmas was wonderful and it's been so neat having all of my family in town. I'm excited for the new year, but I'm kind of sad to see this one go. I feel like I've learned so much this year and I have to admit I'm a little nervous about trying to carry on with the momentum.

Things that happened in 2009:
1. My sister Jen moved back to St. Louis with her 4 1/2 kids(She has two girls and two boys right now. The half is due mid-January of 2010 and looks to be a little girl.)

2. I gave up coaching Speech and Debate. (After getting really, really sick last January I came to a realization that if I don't take care of myself, then I can't do anything for anyone else either. My debate kids still come visit me, but I miss them and it's really hard not to be involved. I still manage to put too much on my plate, but this year I managed to make it out of survival mode more often.)

3. I lost 35 lbs. (Thanks to WeightWatchers, Jillian Michaels videos, a gym membership [with a great personal trainer--temporary I'm sorry to say] and a new love for running. This was part of trying to take care of myself. It was very difficult and I'm really only about half way to where I need to be, but I'm staying patient and staying on track.)

4. I ran a 1/2 marathon (In retrospect this was really hard . . . not because of race day, but because of the 4 months of training leading up to it. Once again I'm striving to stay balanced and even though I wanted to do another one in March or April, as of right now I think I'm going to keep running, but not stress so much about training, just keeping miles.)

5. I balanced my classes a little better with school. (Notice the phrase "a little" here. This is something I'm continually working on. If anyone who's working full-time and going to school has the secret on how to do both really well, please let me know.)

6. I wrote words down on paper and showed them to other people. (As part of a summer writing institute through the National Writing Project and the university I'm attending I got 6 graduate hours in a class on how to teach writing. A major part of the work was also doing our own writing--something that was difficult, instructive, and rewarding. It made me view my own writing process differently and helped me to see how my students write in a new way.)


So really, 2009 was awesome. I'm excited for 2010 and I'm trying to figure out my main goals. I'm planning on doing a better job at posting and I'm also planning on reading and writing more. I realized that in my ten-year plan (okay, so I just came up with some goals I want to work on in the last couple of weeks), most of the things I'm working really hard on right now aren't really things that will help me achieve my goals. So, for next year I plan on reading more, writing more (and not just in my classes), and getting out to get to know more people.

So, happy holidays and I promise I'll write back soon. (And by soon I don't mean in February.)