Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year!!! I hope 2009 has been treating everyone well.

We've had a busy start to the year with moving into the house we are renting, settling in and decorating.... You know, making it feel like home. I think we are there. We got everything unpacked, put away, decorated and even painted a bathroom in less than one week... I was pretty proud.... There's still some more work to do on the yards and in the garage, but that will come in time...

It seems that when a new year begins everyone always makes those lovely resolutions that most don't stick to, and few actually achieve.... I don't want to put the pressure on myself to make unattainable resolutions but I have certainly in my mind and in my heart made my "personal goals" for this year. Just a few simple reminders that I'm not getting any younger and I need to take those steps to achieve what I want to eventually achieve... This year will be my last year in my 20's.... And while a lot of people I talk to say that their thirties have been their best years, I don't want there to be "best" years. I want to remember why each year was so great in my life. I want to remember what I did to be grateful for the days that I have been given on this earth. Be it seeing an old friend, visiting with family, going out with the girls, taking a vacation, laying on the couch with my hubby watching a movie.... you get the drift..... Nothing in this life should be taken for granted. Not the smallest seemingly insignificant act should be taken for granted. They all count.

I received a few quotes regarding the subject "Loving your shadows"

Here they are:

"There is that part of ourselves that feels ugly, deformed, unacceptable. That part, above all, we must learn to cherish, embrace, and call by name."
-- Macrina Wiederkehr

"The first step toward change is acceptance. Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. That's all you have to do. Change is not something you do, it's something you allow."
-- Will Garcia

As always.... I agree!!! I am my own worst critic. It is amazing to Mark how he can see me wearing an outfit and think I look beautiful in it, and I stand there next to him looking in the same mirror and wonder what he is seeing..... I've been trying really hard to let go. Let go of the ideas that have been beat in my head by the media and people in general. I will never be a size 2, I will never weigh 100 pounds.... It will never happen. Look at me, my wrists are almost the same circumference as Marks, I have acne, I have very broad shoulders for a girl, I am WAY overweight, I have big feet, I have a ugly broken tooth I so lovingly named my gimp tooth... All these things make a girl feel not up to par with the rest of the world. But I will not give in to them.... I will work as hard as I can to change them until I make myself feel better. Once I feel better, nothing else matters! So look out world, I'm on my way!

Well, I guess I better get driving home..... I was promised I wouldn't get called in again, so I'm gonna go home now, and get some sleep before I have to go to work again in 5 hours! Gnite!