This is the year...: My thoughts...

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential.”
-Ellen Goodman

I’ve been inspired for a long time to start a blog and I’m finally doing it, in true New Year’s style, I’m making a resolution to start a blog and keep up with it this year, hence my blog is aptly titled “This is the year…” There are so many great blogs out there and at times my life is for sure not always the most interesting but I like to give my opinion and I love learning about the opinions of others, so if nothing else I hope to spark healthy discussion. Sometimes I will talk about my life, things that inspire me, new cds that I enjoy, books I’m currently reading and other times I hope to discuss my views of the world, maybe even a little college football.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to figure out what my goals for the New Year are going to be and what I want to accomplish, let’s not kid ourselves, I try to predict the future everyday of my life, some would say that I’m a control freak, I like to call it being organized. At times in the past it could be easy to assume or predict what would happen in my life tomorrow and the week after, but as I close my first full year in the “real world” it’s getting harder and harder. Who would’ve thought that last year I would move to New York City and then back to Dallas, live with a surfer from Rhode Island, buy a new car, or become infatuated with an Alaskan Governor?

Below is a list of my favorite things from 2008: (in no particular order)

Movies –
Role Models
American Teen
Doubt
Baby Mama
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
HSM 3

Books –
Same Kind of Different as Me
Twilight
The World is Flat
Marley & Me
The Reagan Diaries
A Letter to America

Music –
Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
Viva la Vida by Coldplay
We Sing We Dance We Steal Things by Jason Mraz
Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie
Good Girl Gone Bad by Rihanna
Paper Trail by TI
Where the World Comes Down by All American Rejects
Sleep Through the Static by Jack Johnson

As selfish as it sounds, 2008 was all about me, I started making decisions that were good for me, my well being and my happiness. I may have just labeled myself as a selfish prick, but that’s so far from reality, hear me out. Many of my choices revolved around taking personal and professional risks, reigniting my relationship with Christ, becoming more healthy and working out more often, all of which I feel attribute in some way to being a better son, brother, friend, colleague, and neighbor.

What this year taught me was expect the unexpected. No longer can the world accuse my generation of being naïve to world issues of war and recession, we have endured both. Nothing about 2009 is easy to predict, maybe it will bring a new love, a hobby, or even tragedy, but one thing is for certain, I’ve learned to be proud of the individual that I am, the things that I’ve accomplished, and the decisions that I’ve made. As so many people look to forget 2008, I feel so blessed to close the year with the fondest of memories, experiences, and the most amazing friends in the world. 2008 was all about learning about me and I want 2009 to be the year that I take these lessons and apply them in a way to help others.

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.”
-Benjamin Franklin

Below are a few of my favorite pictures from 2008

New Years Day 2008