beauty:design:life

...2009!

Anyone who knows me well (or at all) would agree that I'm a fairly cynical gal.  I don't cry at movies, I tell borderline offensive jokes, and 95% of what I say is said with sarcasm.  Yet there's something about the end of one year and the start of another that gets to me.  I love the idea of starting fresh, of turning over a new leaf, of saying so long to the old and hello to the new, etc etc.  So that's what I'm going to do here.

As far as Major Life Events, 2009 was chock full.  I bought a house, got married, adopted a dog.  And yet I consider it a year of major growth for me for other reasons:

• This fall, I feel like I finally hit my stride in law school and learned how to study effectively and (better) manage my time.  Of course, it would have been nice if I had done this two years ago, but better late than never.  And for the first time, I actually started to enjoy law school.  But just a little.
  
• In the months leading up to my wedding, it became do or die time: if I didn't lose a few lbs, my dress was legit not going to zip up.  Stressful, yes.  But I lost the weight, and in doing so, I finally learned how to eat right to manage my weight and now I'm living more healthfully than I ever have.  And I felt amazing on my wedding day.
• The most depressing thing about law school, for me, was that so much of my prior life had to go.  There simply was not time to do all of the things I used to enjoy when I worked 40 hours a week.  But I've slowly found ways to work (some of) those things back in, and I have more balance in my life than I've had in 2.5 years.  And part of that is this lil' blog and those who read it.  For your support, I am so grateful.
  

I don't mean to discount the house, wedding, and dog, because those moments defined this year for me.  My wedding day was something I will always remember so fondly, because it was meaningful and beautiful and perfect.  As I cleaned and prepped for my New Years party tonight, I stopped and looked around and was reminded of just how much I adore my house.  And as I strapped on my silly little pup's booties so his toes wouldn't freeze in the snow, I couldn't help but laugh at his adorableness.

So yes.  2009 was good to me.  But now, I'll say goodbye and move on to 2010!

This year will be another year of transitions for me: I'll graduate from law school in May.  While I'm not under any sort of illusion that I'm going to graduate and jump right into my dream job (or any job, for that matter), I refuse to be taken down by rampant mass pessimism (Above the Law, I'm looking at you) and I'll keep the hope that law school will pay off in the end.  In the meantime, I'm going to be proud of my accomplishment.  Law school ain't easy, kids, and I've wanted to quit so many times.  Graduating will be a big deal for me.

Other goals for 2010:

• Keep building my blog, but remember why I created it and stay true to that.
• Spend more time with my kind and ever so patient husband, who might be more excited for the end of law school than I am (but probably not).
• Explore Minneapolis and St. Paul and finally try all those places I've been wanting to try for weeks, months, years.
  
• Be more active about the things I'm passionate about (vegetarianism, the environment, politics).
• Be better about keeping in touch with old friends.

So, goodbye, 2009 and welcome, 2010.  I'm truly excited for what's to come.