new and shiny

it's a new year.
but i don't feel very new and shiny.
it's probably the weird cold i have had all week
and the 9 dogs who somehow came to live in my basement
who keep us up all night with their crying and whining
and pooping everywhere.
this very minute the huge black one i have named
"oprah"
is howling.

today, as i try to think of goals and ideas
for the new year,
i just feel old. tired. sick.

some really great things happened last year.
some really terrible things happened last year too.

i started school at the U.
(my third college in the list of my education)
and got straight A's :)

i met a dear friend who i know i knew
before this life.
His name is Levi Benjamin Shell
and we had linguistics classes together.
we write music together and just
really communicate well.

Travis got a job as a murray paramedic firefighter,
something he wanted his whole life.

travis and i took a trip to st george
where we climbed angel's landing
and i starting thinking he could be the guy.

my friend died of cancer.
She was young, beautiful, and smart.

travis and i got engaged.
i should tell that whole story sometime.
it involves a realtor's office and me storming out
pretending to be angrier than i really was.

i lost 30 lbs and got back into
a pants size i hadn't worn
since jr high.

my mom and i went to hawaii
and then lilian met up with me.
when i asked, the ocean let me know it was
a good choice to marry travis.

travis and i bought a house.
with great bones and wood floors.
and we have almost totally remodeled.

a friend i thought was my closest friend
let me down hard.

travis and i were married in the
Salt Lake City Temple.
we had a wonderful party and then
a honeymoon in Myrtle Beach, SC
where travis saw the ocean for the first time
and loved it.

i got a part time job
transcribing letters for eye doctors.
this job is a huge blessing
a blessing i can't wait to be
rid of. :)

travis and i went car shopping
and bought a car.

my mom became even more of
a sister, my dad a friend, and my
brothers hug me whenever i
go back to their house.

i made new friendships,
lost many more for choices i made
and ideas they had.

i dyed my hair blonde.
also a funny story.

i chose a major. finally.
in one year i will graduate with an
almost useless psych degree
and then two years of
grad school till i can counsel.

travis and i celebrated our first
married christmas. made some traditions.
surprised each other with gifts.

it was a good year. im ready for 2011.
still learning how to be married.
how to manage time.
how to be unselfish and kind even
when i feel like fighting and yelling.

this year i will be maintaining the straight A's.
recording an album with benny shell
not becoming pregnant. (ever)
and trying to be a better person than i was last year.