Reflections...

Over the Past Year

• I started the year off with no new year's resolutions. And I stuck by every one of them!
• Spent Valentine's Day with Elissa experiencing a rare snowfall in Austin. We went outside and had a snowball fight and made snow creatures!
• I was sick as a dog over my birthday in March, but still managed to speak every day at Real World that week. I also got to see mom and dad when they drove down to Texas to spend the week on the coast.
• April and May were rather uneventful months that I was mostly engaged with work and hanging out with Lis.
• I came back up to Minnesota so I could be in Adam and Andrea's wedding (I was an usher). It was a beautiful wedding, and a great time spent with great friends.
• July saw me back home, this time with Elissa. She came up with me late in the month for her first trip to Minnesota ever. We went fishing, met relatives, went to the zoo and bunches of other fun stuff.
• Most of August was spent recovering from the previous trips back up home. Kept my nose to the grindstone at work and managed to stay out of trouble.
• September marked a first for me -- Elissa and my one year anniversary was Sep 21. She sure made it past the dreaded three month mark. ;-)
• Halloween season, and my favorite time of the year. I spent it relaxing most of the month, enjoying the weather in Texas -- couldn't ask for nicer summer weather!
• In November, I came back home and spent Thanksgiving with my family. I went down to my Uncle Paul's house to spend time with a lot of mom's side of the family. Ate too much, as usual!
• And just a few short weeks later, I flew back home for Christmas. This year I was able to come up early enough to make it to my family Christmas party (on dad's side of the family). We had about 50 people show up (a few families couldn't make it), and it was the first time in nearly four years that I was able to go to a decent-sized family function.

Things I am Grateful For

• Even though I've had a cold for the majority of my vacation, I am thankful that I have had good health this year. Along the same lines, my family's health has been good as well. Dad's recovered nicely from radiation treatments and his PSI levels continue to be normal -- so hopefully he is cancer free!
• I'm still working for REAL Software, and enjoy my job. I've had jobs in the past which I absolutely hated going to, and I'm very happy that this job is not like that.
• For the first time in my life, I've dated one girl for the entire year. Elissa and I started dating in Sept of last year, and we're still dating now! Pretty strange. ;-)
• Pixel is in excellent health (and is as cute as ever), which is a good thing. We had a pretty shaky start when I got her because of her health, but all this year she's been doing great. She's been a real blessing in my life.
• I got to see family and friends many times this last year, which makes it a lot easier for me to be living so far away (and yet, it also makes it harder because I realize what I am missing).
• I got a new truck this year, and it's been running great so far (knock on wood!). I bought dad's truck from him when the Escort died on me.
• Life has been good this last year -- no complaints from me!

I just want to stress how thankful I am for my friends. When I was out bowling with everyone, I realized just how lucky I truly am. I felt like I was right where I belonged -- everyone's been so wonderful and supporting with all my crazy endeavours. It's good to know that no matter where I am in the world, my friends will always be there for me to share in the good times and the bad. Basically, I'm just damn blessed.