A Look At the Past year

With the new year coming upon us, I took a few moments to think about the past year and how everything panned out and things that have happened good and bad.  The best thing would of course be meeting Tom because he is simply wonderful but aside from that there are so many good things and some bad things to go with them.  I don’t have to go into detail with them on here; but acknowledging that yes I struggled greatly this year makes me appreciate the good things I have now and the good possibilities of the coming year.

When I look back on this year I realize things that I may not have thought of at the time.  Or seen why something had to happen the way it did, or rather seen things that happened which I thought didn’t happen.  I think about friendships I made, and some that I have lost and the realization that maybe some friendships have drifted and are no longer what I thought they once were and that other friendships are more than what I thought.  I saw different ways that God has helped my finances which helps give me hope for the future.

Sometimes when the new year approaches people are preoccupied with what they want to change in the new year and things that they want to do when the new year comes like lose weight by April or whatever and I admit I may have done some thing like that such as saying I will have my credit card paid of by a certain month.  But the most important thing to do as the year comes to a close is to look back and possibly learn some of the lessons that life was trying to teach us this year.

New Beginnings

The Christmas holiday is over and preparations for the New Year has begun.  Many people are making New Year’s resolutions and goals for the coming year.  Little thought is put into what the year might bring or what this past year has brought.  For me the New Year is new beginnings.  Tom and I got the apartment we wanted, a gorgeous duplex with lots of space.  We just need to repaint the kitchen and dining room (yes we are allowed to repaint).

But this is a new thing for me.  Moving out of the house, as well as moving in with my boyfriend.  Its a new beginning for me.  The chapter of me living with my parents and its a beginning of me living on my own, as well as beginning a family with Tom.  Its exciting and scary as I said in a previous post.  It is a big step, a huge step.  But a big step in the right direction to make some of my dreams come true.  THe new job is a step towards being a teacher and having the experience under my belt to help me get the jobs that I want, hopefully the one at an Autism school in Pittsburgh.  I am ready to see what the new year has install for Tom and I.

Tis The Season

This time of year people tend to be nicer to each other, sometimes though road rage and the such comes out more.  I have seen more people get angry about traffic and crowds in malls than normal.  People get more stressed out because of different expectation, but also seem a little more generous.  I know myself I gave more to the Salvation Army folks standing outside Walmart than i normally would.  Why is this?  Why do we feel more inclined to give to charities whether it be schools, churches, or groups like the Salvation Army than we normally would?

Do we think that there is some being out there watching us so we use the Christmas season to make up for the rest of the year?  Would it really work that way?  I don’t think so.  When it comes to treating others and being generous shouldn’t we carry this sense of not so much obligation, but desire to help others throughout the year instead just around the time Christ was born?  Shouldn’t we help our fellow man throughout the year and not just in December?  Doesn’t that seem I don’t know hypocritical?

I think as this season comes to a close in the next few weeks and people start making New Year’s Resolutions I think one of those resolutions should be to take the caring nature we have this season and carry it throughout the year.  What do you think?  That shouldnt be too hard should it?

Thanks To You

I know I havent done my thanksgiving posts in several weeks.  I honestly admit I didnt have the time or energy to write something. Though sometimes I wonder if anyone actually reads my blogs.  But nonetheless I will keep writing.  The last thanksgiving post I post dealt with someone specific: my mom. This one is no different aside from that it is some one different.  My Daddy.  So here are the things that I am thankful for, that is my dad.

Always being there

Taking in two teenagers and loving them as your own

providing a wonderful home

working hard at everything you do

taking me to treatments and sitting in the waiting room…just knowing you were there helped more than you can know.

being Santa…seeing the joy you bring to kids every year makes me thankful for your child-like happiness

being a hard worker: makes me proud to say Im your daughter

being there when I graduated high school and college:  That may seem small but means the world to me

saying you have boyfriend (or rather ex xboyrfriends) names written on bullets in case they broke my heart…such a daddy thing

I am thankful for everything my dad has done for me.  He has always been there.  He raised my brother and I as if we were his own, that is a real dad.  i love my daddy.

New Adventures

Since I titled the last one new chapters…i didnt even talk about any of the new chapters for but thats okay when a blog takes a different direction that I anticipated.  Many new things are in the works and will be happening in the near future.  I got a new job, just waiting to start it, maybe after the new year or somewhere around there.  I hate to have to leave my clients and kids behind but I have to.  The stress is making me sick and I don’t like the inconsistancy and no benefits.  I will be working with the Pittsburgh City schools as a substitute teacher, so it still has the flexibility I was looking at but also more pay and the potential for benefits.

Also happening soon, I might be moving out within the next month or so.  Tom and I looked at a place we like..okay I adore and filled out the application.  We are waiting to see if we get accepted for it.  Which I really hope we are because it is a beautiful place and is perfect for us.  Hopefully we will get the money needed to move in, which I am worried about with me having to take time off because I have been sick.  But it will all work out.  I am excited about this new chapter, because it is indeed a new chapter.  This is the first time I have moved in with a boyfriend.  Sean and I were talking about it the other day and the level of committment to one another that it takes to move in with someone.  It shows how committed I am to this wonderful man…big step for me. 

New Chapters

I came to the realization the other day that as we all enter into new chapters in life the characters in our books change.  I have come to realize that while my friends and I have each entered new chapters, that some of us have grown apart.  Its not by fault of anyone, just a natural thing.  Certain people who were the closest people in my life are not longer as close and others have become incredibly close, like family.

I keep going through it and asking myself how in a few short years did a certain friend of mine and I seem to drift away to talking to each other maybe once or twice a month.  Calling to check up and see how things are going.  The only conclusion I came up with is life changes.  We both have jobs, she has a new family, Im just beginning what could be a family.  Life moces one and we all drift apart with moving away to start families, demands of a job such as mine and so much more.  You cannot pin point one specific thing that makes people drift apart, but still doesn’t take the sadness away when you realize that you have drifted.

While i have come to realize some friends have drifted away or I have drifted from them, never know which is which.  I also have realized I have become closer with other people in my life for various reasons.  Its something that happens.  As you drift from one friend or even one set of friends, others become closer.  New chapters…new characters.