swingchickie | 2008 recap

ganked from

pennycuts... since i'm home sick for yet another day, this would be a good time to look abck on all that 2008 brought and look towards the future.

career
this time last year, i was thinking of leaving the training department, but had no idea where i'd look in my company for my next position. little did i know that weeks later i'd get the scoop on a cool job in a new department that ended up being a huge promotion as well. the job has brought its share of frustrations, but it's helped me to learn a lot about myself and what i do and don't want out of my next move.

hobbies
the hoop business grew slowly, and i started getting back into practicing my hooping once my herniated disc started to calm down over the summer. i learned some new tricks, and took an awesome workshop in december that will propel my skill to new heights in the coming year. i also got a chance to do a west coast swing performance with a team, and then started drifting away from west coast to learn more salsa. i'm still looking to find my dance "home", i miss performing and competing and hope to find that happy place in the coming year.

relationships
in our second year together, jack continued to be wonderfully loving and supportive and fun. we've developed a really nice balance of "we're very comfortable with each other" and "we can have a kick-ass time when we're out and about". i'm so grateful that he came into my life. my family is good, except for the little vertigo scare with my dad everyone is happy and healthy. i didn't get to see my friends (philly and boston) as much as i'd have liked, but hope that will change in 2009. i also joined facebook, and am now back in touch with people from all different chapters of my life. it's wonderful.

travel
did a little bit of traveling in 2008 -- puerto rico with jack in the spring, and then a short trip to boston. had a few short business trips as a trainer, but with the new job my travel plummeted from every month to just once all year. 2009 will be vastly different -- we have a vacation planned for the spring, a concert in NY in a couple of months, and 5 weddings to go to, so there will be several road trips.

health
knock wood, my health was good this year (except for several nasty colds). i managed to finally start eating healthier and exercising more and am ending the year 15 pounds lighter, and hope to lose another 30-40 this coming year.

finances
i managed to pay off some debt and started looking for ways to save $$$ as the economy started to tank in the fall... re-allocated a lot of my 401k into smarter investments, started working on refinancing my mortgage to get a lower rate (cross your fingers it goes through soon). goal for 2009 is to pay off a chunk of my credit card, and fix up a couple of things around my house.

that's all i can think of. i'm really looking forward to 2009, so much coming my way! i hope everyone has a wonderful new year full of fun experiences with people you cherish.