The Blonde Diaries

In just a few hours 2008 will officially come to an end and 2009 will be welcomed by celebrations all over the world (technically it already started). So I want to take a moment to look back on 2008 before welcoming in 2009. It seems like yesterday, I was sitting here at home trying to stay up and watch the 2008 ball drop but by 11:30 I was out and fast asleep. I can’t quite remember a year going by as fast as 2008 did. It was quite amazing. So before 2009 comes rushing in, I think I’m going to take a moment to look back on 2008.

January/February – January was a rather uneventful month in the new year. Mike and I came back from our standard 2 week vacation during the holiday season to be hit with busy season at work. Busy season was not nearly as rough as it was in the prior year for me. I was able to be home by 10pm on most nights in January and February and managed to only gain about 5 pounds. Bleh! About this time, my family also thought my dad would be heading off to England in March so we started trip planning to go over and visit for a family vacation. I was pretty excited and squeezed a few days in London and Dublin into my trip planning.

March/April – Another couple of quiet months. April quickly came and we noticed my dad was still here in the States and there were no immediate plans for him to leave and go over to England. This led to our looking at the actual costs of going to England, the exchange rate, and other incidentals like hotel rooms and once we got a general idea, it was buh-bye England. Luckily, we were able to get a partial refund at the end of April but it didn’t come without some tears on my side since I really, really wanted to go and it just wasn’t fair. Plus I had the engagement bug since Mike had taken me in early March to just look at rings and well, I still didn’t have one. I swore I’d be 30 and single. April was also the month I launched The Blonde Diaries with a little help from Kimberly at All About Kimberly. I had no idea what I was doing but luckily she helped me figure out what I needed to do to get started and then I started googling and posting. So there were a few downs but some good ups during this time too.

May/June – I thought May and June were going to be fairly uneventful with my trip to England cancelled, work was starting to finally slow down a bit, and no immediate plans for anything big to happen. I kept my week’s vacation at the end of May to hang around the apartment since I was getting yelled at by HR for being too close to my cap on vacation hours. So hung around I did and while Mike was taking part of the CPA exam I ran off to the new outlet mall in Cypress, TX to pick up my Burberry handbag that I had been wanting for the past year. I thought it would be the biggest gift of the weekend but little did I know Mike was planning a surprise of his own that next morning at the zoo and with a ring. So May ended with a bang and June was spent in engagement bliss – you know that time before you have to start thinking about the actual planning of the wedding. By mid-June we had our date set and a reception place booked and I was ready for it to all be done.

July/August – Officially, 1 year to go until the wedding. I attended my first bridal show with my mom and maid of honor as an official bride. Mike of course was taking yet another part of the CPA exam so while I had a few days off here and there nothing exciting was going on as he was studying. I swear 2008 should really be the year of the CPA exam (part 2). We also experienced record gas prices here in Houston (and much of the USA) reaching $4.02 at one station for just a weekend before it dipped back under $4. Quite depressing but we resolved to stay in more and go out less. Board games started seeing the light of day again and so did Guitar Hero 1, 2, 3, and Aerosmith.

September – Vacation is finally here or so we thought until Hurricane Ike hit the radar screen. Mike and I had been planning our trip to Walt Disney World for almost one year and then the week before we were to go Hurricane Ike grew into a storm the size of Texas (literally) and threatened to ruin our vacation. Luckily, we did not listen to local officials and we evacuated to San Antonio for a one week pre-vacation vacation and Southwest was awesome to allow us to change our airports 2 days before takeoff. Vacation saved and boy was it a blast!

October – October started off to be a typical, boring month with nothing going on at work except the beginning of Q3 work. Then next thing I knew, I was booking a last minute flight to Pittsburgh to see my grandmother after her heart attack. It was quite scary and really made me think about my life choices. I was at an all time high weight wise – 162 pounds on my 5’4 body frame and there was no end in sight to my eating junk and drinking like a fish. Until I got the phone call and summons to go and visit. I am glad I went as she is not recovering very well and may not recover but I was able to visit and see where poor life choices could lead me. My journey on Weight Watchers began again.

November/December – Talk about some fast moving months! Work was dragging at a snails pace and the holiday season was quickly approaching. My holiday shopping drug out until Christmas Eve for the first time in years due to illness and trainings at work. Mike and I also moved into our first apartment and have taken a full two months to actually unpack most of everything (yup there are still a few boxes around). I also managed to lose a couple of pounds and return to the gym. It actually has felt really good to drop some pounds and head back to the gym. Mike is studying for his final part of the CPA exam. Of course it is over the Christmas holiday vacation but hopefully he will pass and it will all be over with.

Wow that is quite a long recap. Sorry it turned out to be so long but I felt a month by month type recap would be fairly easy to follow. I am excited to see what 2009 has to bring to everyone. I am looking forward to continuing on the path to being a little more healthier, a little more fit, and a little more wiser in the finances area. I am also looking to see how my blog develops and to see if I can top my #1 viewed post in the new year. Who would have thought a post blasting the DIS boards and the DIS Boards banning of over 100 members would still be going strong 8 months after it was written and I’d be pretty highly ranked on Google for it.