Thankful for....

I thought I'd just write about a few of the many blessings in my life. It's been a year filled with happiness, hardship and hope. Thank you to those of you have encouraged me to write this blog - I apprecate the support. TMSW has been a really great outlet for me and I'm grateful for that.

Thank you:

DC for your love and for making me laugh during good times and bad. I have a feeling 2009 is going to be our best year yet.

MMA for being my other half. You have no idea the positive impact you have on my life, everyday.

SDA and TA for being two incredible parents who do a fantastic job making their kids laugh

I'm grateful for the amazing friends and family DC and I have. We're blessed with people who care so much. I'm thankful for our jobs, our health, the home DC and I have made and the dog we both ridiculously love. This year I made new friends in Cali and I'm thankful for them and the role they've played in making 2008 a good year. Here's to a good 2008 and an even better 2009.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Life's regrets: Few and far between

Hello all, Happy Friday! Seriously, this week couldn't have ended any sooner. Tomorrow DC and I are traveling with the entire family to Hawai'i for a much needed vacation. DC and I haven't been on vacay since our honeymoon so needless to say we have been counting down the days to some R&R and fun in the sun.

I generally try not to look back and reflect on my life with feelings of regret but lately I've made two realizations about what I want to do differently in 2009. First off, I want to make it a point to take a vacation alone each year with DC. I'm not talking about a three day weekend to Napa but taking a few days off to spend together and enjoy alone without the distractions of everyday life. This seems like such an easy and obvious thing to do but it's been alarmingly difficult for the two of us to even plan weekends to Austin for weddings or trips to see friends. My good friend SP says that in her four years of marriage having an alone trip like that to look forward to has been the glue of their relationship and I wish we had done that this year.

My other major life's regret is petty, nothing significant at all but when I bought my car in 2006 it was a total impulse buy and I should have bought the Prius or Civic I originally wanted. Considering I've lived 28 years having 1 major life regret and 1 minor regret isn't bad.

I haven't fully developed my list of changes and resolutions for 2009 but I'm making a mental list of things I want to work on personally and professionally that will hopefully lead to a greater sense of overall happiness. One thing I'm particularly proud of myself for doing in 2008 is working out a lot. I'll admit this has been more of a Q4 thing but experts say you need to do something consistently for a month to make a habit out it and I think I've done that. I'm looking forward to continuing this in to the new year.

Besides planning on taking a vacay alone with DC I'm going to work a little on my temper. Now don't get me wrong 85% of the time I can keep my cool in situations where I'm frustrated, sad or just plain furious but I've lost it a few times this year and found myself in consequently worse situations after the fact. I'm least proud of the fact that I had a few very undiplomatic words with an executive at work about the layoffs last month. While I of course don't regret what I said I should have used a little more tact and diplomacy. Accosting someone in a packed elevator wasn't the best strategy in trying to get my point across.....

I hope you all have a rgeat weekend. I'll try to post from the islands but if I don't here's to a very happy thanksgiving.

Marital Bliss in Austin

I'm the worst blogger ever. Over the past few weeks I've been totally uninterested in being an optimist and cheerful, happy-go-lucky writer so today I'm just going to write about whatever I want.

This weekend DC and I were in Austin for PJP's wedding. We had a fabulous time visiting, eating and drinking with friends and even managed to hit up some of our favorite restaurants (Salt Lick, Hula Hut, Kim Phung, San Francisco Bakery and Amy's Ice Cream).

The reception was a great time with awesome music- highlights included an impromptu singer who had a very interesting voice and some really high-energy dancers from Beaumont. More importantly though was the ceremony which was breathtaking. It was definitely one of the most beautiful and emotional ceremonies I've ever been apart of -you could definitely feel the love and gratitude shared between the bride and groom. It definitely made me reflect about my own marriage and how I felt on my wedding. I remember being really happy and feeling an overwhelming sense of peace and preparedness.

Sometimes it's hard to remember the purpose and meaning behind a wedding between all the details, planning and of course the big party. The emotional, social and spiritual implications of marriage are huge. I don't think there is a lot more I could have done to prepare for the commitment and life changes brought forth by marriage but I do often think about ways to make my marriage stronger, more fun and more meaningful. This week I'm working on listening more and talking less :).

Again, thanks for reading and I promise to be better about posting.

Things are looking up

After a tremendous night of sleep, I woke up this morning with a renewed sense of hope. The rain had finally stopped, the sun was out, and it's election day. These three things alone would brighten any one's day but the icing on the cake was really the switch from white to red cups at Starbucks. This documents the beginning of The Season. November and December are my favorite months not just because I get lots of presents for my birthday AND Christmas but because I love Thanksgiving, Red Starbucks cups, sugar cookies with icing, Christmas carols, red nail polish and of course, spending time with friends and family.

Bottoms up!

An ugly break-up

I've been crafting this post in my head since last Monday. At first I thought I wouldn't even bother writing this week but SV said I had to and jW sent me and email asking why the blog has been barren. This post is dedicated to my girls at BE and of course, to MMA.

Long story short - BE did a very aggressive round of layoffs without any warning, explanation, rhyme or reason. I'm not claiming to be any sort of expert on human resources or corporate communications but laying people off on Mondays and Tuesdays seems to be a little strange, especially without a peep from senior management or HR. All week I've been sitting in fear that I'd be like one of the many vice presidents, directors, managers and coordinators who lost their jobs. I watched my friends, colleagues, teammate and most disappointing, my sister walk away from a company they loved and source of income they relied upon.

I'm being very selfish, I know. I'm bitching about what's happened despite the fact that I have a job and am "safe" but since the lay offs ended and the healing began I've been reflecting a lot on the economy, the presidential race and my greater purpose. I woke up feeling duped on Wednesday morning, I felt like a sell-out. I thought BE was different, I thought working for a company that helped women feel beautiful meant we weren't as motivated by the bottom line, yada yada yada. I should have sooner realized that working for a public company means I've already accepted and embraced the values and objectives of capitalism. Don't get me wrong, I believe in capitalism and am doing my best to "stimulate" the economy (I'm buying Christmas presents and lots of goodies on Amazon as I write this) but I stupidly thought I was a part of something different.

Today was the first Monday in months that I woke up and wasn't excited about work. I think I need a good kick in the ass because I have a job but I can't convey how affected I've been by all of this. First off, not seeing MMA's everyday is going to be hard and secondly my job is half as fun as it used to be. I almost wish it had been me. She loved her job so much, it's rare for a 24 year-old to find a dream job so early on in life.

Along with MMA went Paris who was my teammate but more than that the closest friend I've made since living out here.

I told myself that today, Monday would be a new start. It's so much easier said than done. If anything I'm missing Austin and my parents more than I thought I could at this point in my life. I've been remarkably happy the past six months. Between work, being so close to MMA and finding Paris I really felt like I was on my A-game. This week, not so much.

DC has been so supportive and understanding. If anyone gets me and MMA it's him. I'm really grateful he's so in-tune to my relationships with my family. Weeks like this remind me of the power and strength of marriage.

So on to tomorrow when I'm hoping it gets a little easier for everyone. Like Scarlett infamously said, "tomorrow is another day."