2008: A year in review

January:

I headed back to Grande Prairie for my fourth and final semester there. This was also the month that I began making lifestyle changes and keeping track of what I ate. I learned a lot about food and calories in vs. calories out this month. It was also REALLY cold this month, getting to lows of -50 C with the wind-chill! Brr!

February:

Eric and I celebrated our three-year anniversary at the beginning of the month. This month was a tough one for me as I was anxiously waiting to hear from the University and was constantly thinking about what I would do if I didn’t get in. Would we move back to Fort St. John forever? Would I switch majors? I had a bit of a break-down after my week long break this month, I didn’t want to go back to college because I felt like I was wasting my time, I was feeling pretty down the last half of February.

March:

My much-anticipated acceptance letter to TRUs journalism school came in the mail at the beginning of March! Things picked up after this. I was going to journalism school, something I had wanted to do since I was 11 years old!

April:

I finished my last semester at GPRC and moved out of the dorms for the last time. I also finished working in GP at the beginning of April, here I am with some of the girls I worked with the night of my going away party! It was a busy, sad month, as I had to say goodbye to many of my close friends in GP, although I did say goodbye with a bang! I also started working at the Uptown Grill this month and helped Eric move out of his apartment in Dawson.

May:

Eric and I moved into our second apartment at the beginning of the month, it was nice to be living together again. Eric got a new job halfway through the month and I started working at the Taylor Swimming Pool again on May long weekend. It was my third summer there.

June:

I was spending almost every waking hour working this month, by day at the pool and by night at the restaurant. At the end of the month, I took a road-trip (pictured at right, taking a picture while driving, how safe is that hey!?) to Kamloops with my friend Jen to visit her family and look for an apartment. I realized that I had my work cut out for me when it came to finding an apartment down there and started looking much harder for one. Eric’s sister-in-law had a baby at the beginning of June and his sister had a baby at the end of June. Two beautiful baby girls, below is Lena, Eric’s sister’s little girl. So freaking cute!

July:

This month involved a lot less work and a lot more play for me, I quit my job at the Uptown Grill, worked for a brief stint at Tony Roma’s (horrible decision) and then began working only at the pool. I had a couple of fun nights out in Fort St. John with old friends.

August:

This was the biggest month of the year for me. It started with my brother, Logan, and me taking a 10-day trip to Germany (there I am in front of a castle in Munster, Germany). We spent seven days staying at a quaint farm in Northern Germany with family friends; we also spent two days in Berlin. Five days after returning from Germany my dad had a heart attack and was flown to Vancouver. It was there that we learned he needed to have bypass-surgery on his heart. My whole family spent a week in Vancouver anxiously waiting for the surgery, but they kept putting it off. He eventually had a quadruple-bypass surgery, which means four veins running to his heart had to be replaced, he is now doing well. At the end of the month, I packed up all my belongings and my grandpa and I moved me down to Kamloops for University. August was also the month of my mom’s birthday, my grandma’s birthday, Eric’s moms birthday and my friend Michele’s birthday.

September:

This was my first month in Kamloops, Eric wasn’t there yet. My parents flew up from Vancouver, spent 10 days with me, and helped get me settled. At the end of the month Eric came to Kamloops. Other things that happened in September were, I started swimming on the master’s swim team at the Canada Games Pool three times a week, I celebrated my 20th birthday (there I am with my Louis Vuitton bag that Eric got me) and I started this blog.

October:

This Thanksgiving was the first holiday Eric and I celebrated away from home. I also voted for the first time this month when Canada held a federal election on October 14. We also got Webster in October, two days before Halloween, look at how little he is there!

November:

Another big month, the US made history when they elected their first African-American president, I went home for the first weekend in two months, we celebrated Eric’s 22nd birthday in the middle of the month and at the end of the month, we got into a car accident.

December:

At the beginning of December I ran my longest distance yet–three miles! Shortly after I flew home to spend the remainder of my holiday in Fort St. John trying to make money so I wouldn’t have to work when I was going to school. I celebrated Christmas with all of my family and I learned that it’s not easy to move back in with a parent after not living at home for over two years! Other things that happened in December were, my aunt had a baby girl; Abigail and I got a new job at the school newspaper, the Omega, as News Editor!

Overall 2008 wasn’t too terrible of a year for me! Some things went wrong and other things went right. I’m looking forward to what 2009 has to bring!

Tell me about the best or worst month that you had in 2008, or both!??