2009 is all mine!

Yes, it is a tad bit cheesy, but that is my theme for this year. My life has been so crazy for the last several months, I decided that I need to take some time and seriously work on being the person that I want to be. Thus, the theme was created.

Along with my theme for the year, I decided to come up with a mantra as well. For those of you who have ever done yoga, you know that a mantra is a phrase that helps you reach your zen state. My mantra for the year is a quote from Ghandi that I discovered at the Bodyworlds exhibit a few weeks ago, it is: "Wherever you are, be there with your whole heart." While I'm not counting on it to get me to a zen state, I am using it to help myself get into a better, healthier state of mind. The phrase just reminds me to spend my time doing things that I can fully devote myself to. And even when I'm having a hard day at work for example, I remind myself of it and it helps me get through. I am here by my choice and if I can't put my whole heart into it, then I shouldn't be spending my time here.

Lasly, my one and only new year's resolution is to be happier at the end of 2009 than I was at the end of 2008. That's not to say that I was not happy at the end of last year, but there are many things that I want to accomplish and so many things about myself that I would like to change this year.

So to kick start the new year, I made a dinner on New Year's day of traditional foods to bring luck in the year to come:

The shrimp, black-eyed peas & collard greens are a tradition in the southern US that are thought to bring wealth and prosperity to the new year. Pomegranates (I couldn't find whole pomegranates, so this is just the juice) are a similar tradition in the Mediterranean.



I'm glad I finally got to post this! I've been trying to get it done for the past three weeks and it feels nice to have it finished. Wish me luck!

Today I'm proud to be an American

I am a proud American every day, but today especially. I don't usually like political posts because it just causes arguments, but I felt like I had to say something about the historic significance of today's inauguration. I'm not sure how many of you are Obama supporters, but I am. And all I can say is, he's got a tough job ahead of him and we all need to be behind him. God bless America!

Jazz game & the D-Loreans

Through my company I get to buy into some pretty sweet Jazz season tickets. On Monday night I had 4 tickets to the Jazz vs. Pacers game, so I took a friend and sold the other 2 tickets to my friend Britt. I haven't seen her in about 5 years, so it was way fun to catch up on life. Thanks Britt:



Then last night I was able to go down to Provo to see my friend's band play. The D-Loreans are a fun '80s and '90s rock cover band. So we donned our fanny packs and headed down south. Here are a few pictures of the good time we had:



Me, Mike & Melanie bringing fanny packs back


I'm a happy girl. Friends, giant otter pops, good music & fanny packs


Rock on D-Loreans


Mike & Mel


Melanie & I

Tis the Season.................

..........For Weddings! Three of my good friends have been married in the last month. I can barely keep up! Here are a few photos. And for some reason, I didn't ever get a picture of the bride and groom. So they're just of me and my friends.

12/20 - Me & Liz. I met Liz in my ward here in Salt Lake. We've been friends for about a year now and she is one of the greatest girls I know!



12/27 - Me & Tiffany Wyatt Yack. I've known Tiff for about 10 years now. We lived a block a way from each other and grew up in Young Women's together.



1/3 - Me & Mindy. I met Mindy in my ward here in Salt Lake as well. She is the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I know!

Christmas 2008