5 years ago today...

A WHALE EXPLODED!

Holy Crap! HAHAHAHAHA

It's funny, right?

Sometimes animals can be fun!

I've never been an animal-lover. In general, animals freak me out. You never know what they're thinking or when they will attack! I'm just not confident around them. However, sometimes they can provide me with unwarranted hysterical amusement.

When I worked at Teksystems, there was a trash-talk email going back and forth between me and another guy in the office. My final blow to him was to email a picture of this dog:

I laughed out loud for several minutes straight. In fact, I remember laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. I would finally get control of myself, only to open the email back up an hour or so later and laugh just as hard all over again. It's just FUNNY!

My co-worker now shows me pictures of deformed animals that she sees on her Yahoo homepage. I don't know what Yahoo is about always posting pics of crazy-looking animals. For example: 2-headed turtle, 2-headed snake, a frog and a half, 8-legged cat, 2-faced kitten, etc. Each time she shows me one, my first reaction is shock and "Oooh, sad". But that is quickly followed and swallowed up by my crippling laughter. I can't help it! I'm not trying to be cruel. I just think it is HILARIOUS!! If you have the same warped sense of humor as me, check out THIS website. Guaranteed a WTF?!??

Before January is over..

I thought I'd better write down my New Years' Resolutions before January comes to an end, and since it is Chinese New Year today, I thought it would only be fitting to do so today.. I do need to post an entry about my awesome FL vacation, but that will come later. First things first!

So for some reason, the start of this year brought a very strong impression with it. A new year, a new start (well, duh). But a new start with a new attitude. I tend to worry way too much about things. So my New Years' Resolution is:

DON'T STRESS!

I decided that I will just have a 'laissez-faire' attitude about everything (within reason of course). If something bothers me, I will do everything in my power to change it so I can feel better about it; but if ultimately nothing changes, I'm just going to let it go with a final 'whatever' farewell. I will move on. I won't dwell on things I can't change. Too much energy is spent on 'what ifs'. I say what's done is done. I did my best to change things, but it wasn't meant to be. I will accept it and hopefully turn it in to something positive.

This is actually a huge weight off of my shoulders! I have already run in to things that I have mulled over and over in my head, getting annoyed at different things, asking the WHY? question again and again. (esp when it came to our ridiculous cut in the return of our deposit). And then I remember: "Wait! I don't have to do this! I will let it go and be happy that I don't have to spend energy on it. It is what it is. The End."

Ahhhh. Relief.

Still celebrating in January!

Usually when January rolls around, people are not that excited. January means the end of the holidays, the hard reality check when you go back to work and back to the non-vacation routine, and the realization that the euphoria of purchasing Christmas gifts has gone and you are left with your hefty credit card bill to deal with. It's cold outside and now that the Christmas season is over, you are kinda done with the whole winter thing.

Amidst all this comes my birthday. I don't really get that excited about it because I am kind of in the funk that I described above and I KNOW others are in that same funk. So I don't really expect much or make a big deal. I'm always surprised and grateful for the friends/family I have around at the time that make my birthday DAY special. However, my birthday DOES inevitably fall right around the Martin Luther King 3-day weekend, so each year I kind of try to plan a little mini trip somewhere to get away and have a good time. But each year it somehow falls through. When it comes down to it, people are just plain broke and done with traveling. Understood. I would be the same way -- if it weren't MY birthday.

This year my birthday conveniently falls on the weekend of MLK Day AND Inauguration Day! A 4-day weekend definitely merits a trip somewhere. And a trip away from DC during the inauguration weekend couldn't be any better in my mind. It just so happens that on your birthday in 2009, you can get in to any theme park at Disneyland or Disneyworld for free. FREE. Awesome. So I decided that I would try to plan a trip to Orlando. I figured this would be an easy sell to my friends, esp since I know somebody that we can stay with for free. From the bitter cold and chaotic inauguration weekend in DC, to a warm, sunny, fun-filled weekend in Orlando. Sounded good to a lot of people in December. It still sounded good to me at the beginning of January. But the understandable post-holiday funk had set in for everyone. I was a bit sad and was starting to convince myself that it wouldn't be so bad to just relax for the 4-day weekend at my own place -- get some projects done, get some good gym time in, pull out my couchbed and watch movies all weekend, catch some football games..... but I was still a little down about it.

Luckily I didn't give up. I tried to think of who I could count on to say yes to the trip. I first contacted my friend Michelle, as she is always up for a trip somewhere! I love that about her. But she had just started new classes and was currently looking for a job. Traveling from Seattle to Florida for a quick weekend just was not feasible. Who else? Then it struck me. My friend Mike! Even though he's also in the Seattle area and would have just as much travel time, his birthday is only 3 days away from mine and if anybody understands how crappy January birthdays are, it's him. I ran the idea by him and he was all for it! Hooray!

I leave tomorrow night. Friday will be spent working remotely from Orlando. Saturday will be Disneyworld, then Sunday through Tuesday we are winging it. Perhaps another day at Disneyworld on Tuesday since that is Mike's birthday and he can get in free. Or we might go to Seaworld or Universal Studios or Busch Gardens, maybe catch a cirque du soleil show... The weekend is ours to do with as we wish. I am so excited! Finally a birthday trip that has worked out! And while I think it would be cool to be in DC during the inauguration and be part of history, a bigger part of me is so glad to get away and not be forced to be on house-arrest due to all the road closures. The weather in FL won't be as warm as I hoped because of this cold front pushing through, but who wouldn't be grateful for mid-60's weather compared to a windy, bitter cold 20?

YAY

A year in review

One thing is for sure -- 2008 was a CRAZY year! When I think back on it, I mostly feel stressed, but so relieved that it is over. So much happened. And the end of 2007 was so great! I went on a fun trip to celebrate my friend Michelle's 25th birthday to see stuff in DC, NYC, Philly and Gettysburg. Then in December I had the awesome opportunity to go with friends to Italy for a week. Not even a week back to work after that, and I was off to WA to spend Christmas & the New Year celebration with Mom & Dad and Matt. 2 weeks home. It was awesome. I came back to VA in the early days of 2008 and went back to work. The night after my first day back to work, I found out my company went bankrupt and I abruptly lost my job. So started 2008. (and today marks the one-year 'anniversary' of that shocking day filled with panic). Luckily there were some good things that littered the year as well.


An incomplete list of events of 2008:

JANUARY

• Lost my job unexpectedly
• Became an independant contractor
• Despite stress and a horrible day at work, my roommates helped me celebrate my 26th birthday and actually turned my day around
  

FEBRUARY

• Found out that the townhouse that we were renting was getting put up for sale.
• A group of us girls went out to dinner and then saw Step Up 2: The Streets on Valentine's Day. I can always count on the gals to make V-Day fun.
• Ordered the Twilight books and got immediately and totally obsessed.
  

MARCH

• Uh......... I got nothing.... Although I can probably accurately say that I was stressed at work.
  

APRIL

• Took a sister's trip to Richmond. Comedy club, ordering food to hotel room and lots of shopping were involved. A GREAT time!!
• My bathroom flooded
  

MAY

• Bathroom finally got fixed
• The annual trip to the Outer Banks (Duck Beach) commenced. Again got totally fried by the sun, but had the best time!
  

JUNE

• Traveled to St. Louis for my Nephew's 8th birthday and his baptism.
• Got on a road bike for the first time ever (bicycle - not motorcycle) and LOVED it.
• Became a W2 employee again -YAY! - of a newly formed company; BVMP (Bohlin Vendor Management Professionals). One of 3 employees (including owner/boss), new job title: Senior VMS Analyst.
  

JULY

• Awesome Independence Day celebration with fun set-off-yourself fireworks including exciting and kind of scary mortors.
• Lots of house hunting
  

AUGUST

• Coldplay concert; Viva La Vida! AWESOME.
• BVMP trip to NC. Weekend spent on the lake wakeboarding, tubing and driving the boat.
• All the roommates split up. We all moved to different homes, and the process couldn't have been more crazy or stressful. Sad.
• Traveled to Utah for Tasha's wedding and got to meet up with old friends again and see some family.
  

SEPTEMBER

• Because none of the things that were supposed to get fixed got fixed in my new place, a fresh rain storm caused a ton of water to pour through the huge hole in the ceiling of my bathroom.
• My friend Michelle paid me a visit from WA
• Bought myself a new 46" LCD flat panel tv
  

OCTOBER

• Took a trip to St. Louis to celebrate Matt's 19th birthday
• Finally bought myself a road bike!
• Went camping for the first and only time this year.
• Road trip down to Charlottesville to watch UVA take on UNC in what turned out to be a really fun football game
• Hosted a fun pumpkin carving night
• Went trick-or-treating with my Nephews and Niece in WV.
  

NOVEMBER

• The huge laundry list of items to be fixed in my new place finally got taken care of
• Met with a tax consultant to help me figure out the crazy 2008 tax year - the result of which caused much dread...
• Recieved the sudden and very saddening news that my Grandpa Blakemore died.
• Traveled to WA for my Grandpa's funeral and had my whole family together. Got to see some extended family members that I hadn't seen in many years.
• Thanksgiving at Tami's with Richard in tow - it was the last year of this tradition of Thanksgiving at Tami & Jeremiah's home, as they are moving to Germany.
  

DECEMBER

• This month started off with a bang of Christmas decorations and Christmas music. All things Christmas were welcomed by me. Such excitement!!
• Traveled to NYC with Julie for a quick whirwind tour of Christmas in New York! (accompanied by Richard - hooray!) I have wanted to do this for years.
• All Christmas shopping was done online, with the exception of some purchases from the DC outdoor Christmas Market. Brilliant.
• Spent an evening in the District to admire the National, Capitol and state Christmas trees with fun friends.
• Christmas Eve I picked up my parents from the airport (thank goodness for that 24 hour window of time with no snow in Seattle so they could get here!) and we visited Arlington Cemetery to see all the Christmas wreaths displayed. An awesome sight.
• Whole family was together in WV starting Christmas Eve and the excitement could not have been more tangible.
  

Much football was watched this year. I loved it and it is fun to be with people who get excited about the games. Takes me back to growing up with my older brother and my dad who instilled this excitement in me as well. I was happy to be among friends that brought out this recessed interest of mine.

Throughout the year, I have gotten in touch with old friends, strengthened existing friendships, made new friends, and even let some friendships go dim. I appreciate all the friends I have had and all the great acts of kindness they have showed to me.

Always constant in my life year to year is my thankfulness for an awesome family. I have always felt and continue to feel loved by them. I can count on them for love and support through the most joyous, heart-breaking, stressful, and happy times in my life. I've found that it never wavers.

The close of 2008 was a special time. It was a time that I will remember forever, as my entire immediate family was together for Christmas - all 17 of us (my parents, my siblings, my siblings' spouses, my nieces and nephews). Mom & Dad with all their kids haven't been together for Christmas in at least 10 years and it won't be able to happen again for another long while, as Matthew prepares to serve a 2 year mission for the church and Tami & Jeremiah start a new 3-4 year adventure in Germany. It was our Christmas Miracle.

More details on the fun and activities in another post. I'm excited and look forward to a new year. I'm putting my hopes in to 2009 and am eager to see how it plays out. I'm working on a list of resolutions to post later. But for now...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!