Welcome 2009

I feel a need to welcome the new year officially on this site. I don't think this is the year where I'll actually make any resolutions but I do believe that it's an appropriate time to look over the year and see what it has meant for me and mine, along with what I might have to look forward to over the coming year.

It has been an incredible and, at times, overwhelming year for our family...

Nathaniel moved from being a baby to becoming a toddler. With this came full mobility, an assertive personality (lots of nos!) and way more fun than I ever expected... I finally have full use of my arms more often than not :)

We bought our first house, had our first major battle with ants and learned just how much water a small stand of orange trees takes.

My uncle Rick passed away this summer from a 6 month battle with lung cancer. This was quite overwhelming and painful for all of us, I think it's still something we're all working on dealing with in our own ways.

My aunt Gail battled breast cancer and is now officially a survivor, the tough cookie that she is!

Jed left the US Grant for a promotion at the Westgate Hotel, right across the street. The job has turned out to be challenging in many good, and not so good, ways for all of us.

I began a library tech program over at Palomar College. After my first class, I'm totally hooked and have enrolled in 3 (yikes!) classes for the upcoming semester. I also started volunteering at the Cole Library in Carlsbad to 'get my feet wet' and see where this all might take me.

We adopted our cat, Schwartz, from the Carlsbad Humane Society. Sweetest thing ever.

I came to a personal realization that the size of our family (3 plus cat) is feeling just right for me. I can't imagine it getting any bigger anytime soon (or even in the future) and am feeling content and grounded with this idea. I think my time as a teacher really helped me to realize that there's a lot of great kids out there and they don't all have to be mine (or come home with me at the end of the day)!

All in all, 2008 has been a big year. It's funny, before I started writing this all down, I really had no sense of everything that had gone on...it was just life and it happened one day at a time.

For 2009...

I look forward to living with a 2 year old, trying to figure out what makes him tick and not drive myself too crazy in the process.

I anticipate lots of learning ahead working towards my new career path. As for the three classes, we'll see if I stick with that- I'm not in any rush- if it feels like too much, I drop it and start again in the fall. I'm looking forward to some brain stretching and personal development.

I know Jed is also looking forward to changes and growth in his own career goals. Whether that mean at the Westgate or somewhere new all together, I think this will be the year that he really reaches that goal of self- fulfillment and happiness in the workplace.

This year will be all about 'laying roots' in our new home. We've already got the garden plans going for the upper and lower gardens at our house. We purchased some natives this afternoon from a nursery in town and are SO excited to see how they look as they grow throughout the year. Our goal is to plant 100% CA native- I'm not ready to pull out many of the things we have yet but we have lots of open spaces that could use some life, so we'll start with that. As a personal goal, I'd also like to start posting some pics/posts about the transition of our yard as Nathaniel is such an integral part of all our gardening, it could be fun to see a chronicle of my life growing a boy and growing a garden.

I'd like to continue on my path towards connecting with our community of Vista. I took a great 8 week course in the fall about how the city operates, what its vision is, the roles we all can play; and am looking forward to meeting with some leaders about how to move forward with everything we all learned.

I'd like to continue to deepen the friendships I have and to really focus on those relationships that help me to grow, be positive and strong in not only my choices as a mother but also as a woman.

I'd like to continue to grow and deepen the amazing relationship that I have with Jed. He is such a patient and understanding partner, not to mention an incredible dad. I am so very grateful to him each day and I would love to be able to make sure he knows that each day in 2009.

At that, I'll have to call it a night. Here's to wishes and dreams...happy 2009!