recap

what a few weeks! minor recap: got home, spent time with my family, went skiing. christmas was superb. met up with old friends i haven’t seen in a while. got a super awesome new jacket! it’s soft and cozy – i may never take it off. won my first blog giveaway! and ya know, pulled my head out of the sand and watched the news and saw some crazy stuff.

i hope yall had a wonderful christmas.

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a brief catching up of best of 2009 challenge:

car ride: my best car ride of the year was probably the back route i drove every day to school from my 1st year apartment. it is a department of defense highway, right on the bay, passes an old battle cruiser, and is pretty cool. i love driving on windy roads with no one around, and that’s the only place i could find in new england.

new person: a lot of new people came into my life this year. particularly, i made marvelous friendships and connections in dc with people who challenged me, made me think harder, and believe in myself. they know who they are and i owe them an immense amount for that.

project: a new project of the year was working for the think tank and getting published. my name in 4 books and one lecture series is pretty freaking cool. 🙂

startup: a new found business i love is, without a doubt, tucker blair. it’s products are unique, exude a certain attitude, and are just wonderful! i can’t wait to get my new flip flops in.

web tool: since google rules the internet, it’s fitting that i find one of its products to be the best – the google reader. streamlines my life and is a nice refuge from studying all day.

learning experience: definitely learning that my dreams may not be my reality, and that’s okay. i love my life and have always had an image of the future higher than the thermosphere. i think this year was the first time i truly recognized that some of my dreams are just not likely to happen, and i need to learn to love the present, the here and now, instead of forgetting it in lieu of the future. nothing’s ever promised tomorrow today. [NB: first and probably last time i’ll ever quote kanye west.] i’m probably not going to be a big time judge or president, but through a lot of work, i might be able to eke out a slightly different and no less lofty dream.

gift: something i gave myself this year that has kept on giving has absolutely been curiosity. i get that i’m a big nerd, but i love to learn, and i’ve only this year discovered that learning doesn’t have to have an end goal. instead of learning to regurgitate on an exam, i can learn for the sake of learning. and that’s really freakin’ cool.

insight or aha! moment: my epiphany of the year had to have been the realization that life is totally what you put into it. yes, there are outside influences, but you choose your attitude, you choose how hard you work, and what you get in life reflects that.

social web moment: i definitely discovered twitter this year, but my absolute favorite has been getting to know people’s blogs and growing from them. i rarely comment, but i get so much out of many of them. i feel like i know these people so well, yet i haven’t even met them. of course i read dcblogs, and most of the blogs in my reader are dc-centric, but that’s where my heart is.

stationary: handwritten notes are just special, and i absolutely love buying a set with a design but no words – so versatile. i bought wonderfully thick cards from the paper source in georgetown this summer – a cream colored thick cardstock with a turquoise peacock on the front. they are just perfect for a quick note.

hope y’all have had safe travels and are gearing up for 2010!