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Sunday, August 24, 2008

First Half of '08

So it looks like so far for 2008 I haven't done so well in keeping up with my blog. I had high hopes at the start of the year that I'd have more free time but of course that didn't happen :(

But here I am again, ready to update you all on my recent happenings (If anyone even still checks this). So 2008 started off right with a lovely trip to Hawaii, not a new country or even state for that matter, but a fun trip none the less. Shortly after returning my life pretty much went into chaos with a bunch of changes. I decided to transfer to our company's San Francisco office and moved up to SF permanently in April. I got myself settled in and found an apartment and thew myself into setting up the SF office. I took charge of renovating the office as well as hiring on a new employee and all the while was in the middle of a promotion.

The summer has been crazy with getting settled in, hiring on, renovating the office, being promoted, and of course many trips. I traveled back home to Texas to celebrate my friend Kimberly's wedding and of course for her bachelorette party. I went to Atlanta for training and to prepare for the promotion. Labor day weekend I will travel back to Texas one more time to celebrate my dad's birthday and retirement. The best trip by far this summer though has to be my trip back to Europe! I went to visit my friend Shari in Madrid where I stayed for about a week and then headed to Paris for a quick stop over. Perhaps I'll write a blog on that trip in my usual travel blog style for old times sake!

Oh and prior to my move to SF, I ran yet another marathon (I know I might be crazy). I signed up and ran the LA Marathon and overall it was pretty crappy. Definitely not my favorite and one I would never run again. No marathons on my horizon right now, but I am trying to get back into running. I'll do a half marathon in Sacramento in October but that's all that's on my plate for now.

Let's see, so aside from all of this as I mentioned I have been promoted. I'm now a campaign team lead and for the first time am managing employees. It only just took effect so we'll see how it goes. So far though I have been having a blast working in the SF office and have made it my goal to get this office up to full speed and am really enjoying that.

Well not much else on my mind now. Just thought I'd check in again since it's been so long. I'll try to come back again soon and see what I can do on recreating my Madrid trip for you!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

I'm Still Here!

Wow so I've really dropped off the blogging scene for quite some time now. I apologize, I guess I just got busy and just didn't have much to say.

So with today bringing in a new year I figured it to be a good time to reflect back on 2007 and share my hopes for 2008.

Well 2007 started off with me running my first marathon and moving up to Campaign Manager. The marathon went well and I became addicted. I took about 2 1/2 months off of running (only running occasionaly and small distances) and then threw myself right back in and went into training for the Nike Women's Marathon which I successfully completed in Oct. Moving up to Campaign Manager was exciting but brought on a lot more stress and consumed much more of my time.

I had started the year taking Spanish Lessons but wound up stopping those since I would be gone for most of the classes during the summer. I have yet to sign up again as I seem to be way to busy with work lately. Still on my mind to get back into that, just not sure I really liked the classes I was taking.

So aside from work and running I was fortunate enough to have a few vacations during the year. I was able to go back to Switzerland for a bit and even managed a stop off in Paris for a few days where I was able to meet up with Skye, Mia, and Trudi again. I even stopped by my old office and was able to briefly catch up with everyone back there. A lot has changed at my old company since I left, it's gotten so much bigger! I was also able to spend weekends in San Francisco, San Diego, Thanksgiving week in Chester and of course went back to Houston and South Texas a few times.

Over the summer we had our official memorial/reunion for my Grandmother. My entire mom's side of the family met up in South Texas where we all got to catch up and spent the time remembering Connie before spreading her ashes in the ocean along with Timo (my grandparents dog who also had passed). It was a sad occasion to be getting the family back together for but it was great seeing all of the family, many of which I hadn't seen in years!

While one trip back home was to mourn the passing of a loved family member I did have the joy of going back home to watch two of my friends and one family member get married and start their life together. Megan had her wedding in Houston in March and Marie and Angelica both were married in August, all were very lovely occasions.

The year ended with Christmas back in Houston, of course there was a stop over in Austin the weekend before to see lolo and linlin! It was nice being back in Houston for Christmas as it had been a while since I had spent a Christmas there and seen some of my dad's family.

New Years eve was extremely uneventful and boring which was very disappointing. I was back in LA and wound up doing nothing due to last minute cancellation due to a friend falling ill that night. I don't really care that much about NYE anymore anyway I just hope that it isn't a determinant for how 2008 will go.

Well now today is January 1 and 2008 is finally here. My hopes for the new year are to get more traveling in (hopefully a few new countries will be visited), not work as much overtime, and to get out of LA. I'd also like to get back in to taking Spanish lessons and start taking some photography lessons as well as possibly some sewing lessons. I've also recently started doing geo-caching which I'm hoping to get more into in 2008 (just need to get my own GPS). I want to continue with my running, but may not do it as hardcore. Of course I also want to work on getting more fit and eating healthier since despite the fact that I run so much I still eat like crap and thus am still a little on the chunky monkey side. I also plan to really focus on my debt and work really hard at getting that cut down as much as possible. So far it seems I should make a pretty good dent in it in the next few months as long as I can control my shopping.

So I guess I'll go ahead and wrap it up for now. I hope to not neglect this as much as I did this year and hopefully will have more fun adventures to blog about in the coming year.

I wish you all the very best for 2008!