2008 is so last year

It's hard to believe that 2009 is already here and that today I had to switch out all my old calendars and start back at the very beginning of a new year. I'm not sure that I'm quite ready for all of this but it seems as if I have no choice. 2008 has come and gone and now it's time to see how well I did in meeting my goals that I set last January:

1. Continue to stay in shape - A
   Since my college graduation in December 2006, I've lost 20 pounds. That is a huge accomplishment for me and I'm going to go ahead and give myself an A and forget about the last few weeks of chocolate and zero time at the gym. The gym just might as well close for the month of December - who works out when there are so many sugar cookies to eat?
   
   
2. Redecorate my Living Room and Bedroom - C
   A limited budget makes this a fairly difficult task. I did, however, purchase a new bookshelf for the living room which helped me get rid of tacky garage sale shelving. I added a few green plants, a new rug and rearranged a couple times for optimal tv viewing, and I can say that I'm much happier with how it looks than I was last year. I also bought a new dresser off of Craigslist and added some curtains to the bedroom, so there were minor improvements made there. Still a long way to go.
   
   
3. Pay off credit cards - B
   I successfully paid off 2 of my smaller cards which helps more than I anticipated. I did some research and got cards that have low APRs and good rewards, so at least I'm gaining something by being in debt.
   
   
4. Buy a new car (only if #3 is a success) - A
   Well, I didn't totally climb out of debt but since my poor Jetta died, I was forced to go out and make my very first car purchase. It's a great little car and the payments are affordable so it's really a win-win for me.
   
   
5. Fly to California to meet my Italian Roomies - B
   Okay, so I flew to California but meeting with the roomies didn't quite work out. Too many schedules to organize and not enough vacation time to make it work. But I did get to spend the weekend with my cousin and enjoy sunshine for a few days, so it was totally worth it.
   
   
6. Get a promotion or new job - A+
   Early in 2008 I got a pretty sizeable raise and in the Fall I was promoted to a Manager status. Oh, and I got an office. Pretty exciting year for me, career-wise.
   
   
7. Teach my dog to walk on a leash (eek!) - C
   This may be hopeless. She does okay but we have to be pretty strict with her, which is hard for me. She is too dang cute.
   
   
8. Develop better relationship with my Grandparents - F
   I'm horrible. I love my Grandparents dearly, but I just seem to forget to include them in my life as much as I should. I see them on all the regular holidays but rarely call them up to say "hi, how are you doing?" I really, really need to be better at this. Period.
   
   
9. Read a book or two (I would say more, but this needs to be realistic) - A
   I read 2.75 books this year (no, I haven't finished Twilight and yes I'm still at the same spot I was before Thanksgiving), which is 2 more than I thought I would get to. Nothing of major note, but at feleast I shut the TV off and stuck my nose in aw books.
   
   
10. Make cakes for all major holidays and birthdays (not counting New Years. oops) - D
    Besides a few birthday cakes here and there, I failed miserably. However, I have a Kitchenaid now and should be rockin' like Betty Crocker now.

So looking back, I didn't do too bad although there is definitely room for improvement. I fully expect 2009 to be a great year because we kicked it off with the most spectacular brunch ever known to man and any time you start with good food, you're golden.

Just to follow the trend and set some goals for myself, here we have it:

Raechelle's 2009 List of Things to Accomplish

1. Average 3 days at the gym per week. I would say 4 but I have to account for the holidays in which I spend an average of -2 days per week.

2. Finish Twilight. Okay, so it's taken me about as long to read the book as it did for them to make the movie. It's a good book, I'm just lazy. And sometimes the TV forces me to stop reading and pay it some attention. If I'm really good, I'll read the second book but I'm not optimistic enough to actually list that as a resolution.

3. Spend more time with my Grandparents. Seriously, Raechelle. You're a horrible person if you fail at this two years in a row.

4. Take a week-long vacation. Ah-hem. PAID vacation. Somewhere warm and amazing.

5. Become more open to ideas and suggestions. This will be difficult and I'm fully prepared to throw a tantrum or two while in the process. But this is one of my biggest weaknesses and something that I need to get over and take less personally.

6. Make a life-changing decision. I really have no idea where I'm going with this, but I feel like at 24, you should be prepared to do something that will drastically change your life. There are a few things that I hope fit in this resolution, but plenty of opportunities out there that I'm really just unaware of. I hope to make decisions in my life that open up doors and send me in a direction that is right for me.

I may add to this list, but for now it's all I want to say. Thank you to everyone who made 2008 such a great year.