"The Dash" 2008 - 2009

2009 is coming and 2008 is behind us. I usually take this time to reflect/think about the year that has passed and make new goals for the year to come... that's what everyone does, right?

So what happened in the dash... Well the biggest thing that changed this last year was that in February Doug and I were able to move into our first home. We are definitely enjoying the benefits of home ownership. Considering that we have moved 7-8 times in the almost 4 years that we have been married, it's just nice to stay in one place for a while. We're hoping to benefit financially as well with an actual tax return this year instead of owing the government money like last year. I'm hoping for some fun vacation to Hawaii with the tax return, but it will probably go into savings like everything else. This summer I decided to get a job to put some extra in the savings account for the future and also to finance my Nikon D40 purchase. I had an "interesting" stint working as a nanny for a family with 4 kids with the oldest daughter going through chemotherapy. Looong story... Everything else this year continues to be much the same. I still work as a fourth grade teacher and Doug continues to work at his tech job. We are blessed to both have such secure jobs. In church, I was called as the Activity Days leader and Doug has been working as a Webelos leader. I enjoy my calling and even though Doug sometimes says otherwise, I think he really enjoys working with the boys. Also this year, we adopted an abandoned kitten and named him Darwin. He's definitely a survivor and a snuggler. He gets a long well with Lucky, our other cat. For now, these are my babies.

Goals for 2009: The usual... eat healthier, exercise more, and actually read/study the Relief Society and Sunday School lessons in advance. In addition to these goals which I make every year and will likely fail by January 2nd, I have made a few others. I would like to start leaving work earlier. I am admittedly a little bit of a workaholic. I LOVE my job, but I spend too much time there. I want to try to be OUT of the school by 4:00pm instead 5 or 6 (or 7). I'm doing this for Doug. I love him too much to let him continue being a neglected husband. The second goal ties in very closely to the previous one. I am going to try to get a hobby and stick with it. I've gotten into the bad habit of coming home and working. As a teacher, working at home can't really be avoided with all of the grading and planning that is involved outside of the actual teaching, but I'm going to try to reduce this... somehow. So I'm thinking, well I bought this $500 camera this summer, I probably should learn how to use it better. So this will be my hobby, photography. The last goal involves convincing Doug to start a family BEFORE we have a kajillion dollars saved up. This isn't so much of a goal, as it is a desire. Here's hoping!

Who knows what new things will be introduced into our lives this year? As an optimist I always hope for the best. I love surprises!