remembering 2009

It is Jan. 1 and I feel drawn to blog about what I really liked and will be memorable about 2009.

Moving into our new house. When we bought the condo in Regina I always felt like it was Jurgen's house. Afterall, he lived there by hisself for two years before I got there. It was full of his decor and his furniture. Kind of like moving into your boyfriend's apartment - not really yours. I also had started to get the "baby ache" and thought that condo was way to small to raise kids in (although I was raised in house just a little bigger than that). So, we started looking for a new house. I am so happy with our house in White City. Sure, there have been a few problems (see my previous blog), but hopefully they will all soon be fixed. It is a beautiful spacious house in a peaceful neighborhood with a fantastic view. It is full of OUR decor and OUR furniture, and I can see us filling up the rooms with children and laughter. I love our new house.

Jennie's wedding. Everything from the shower in September, to the wedding on Thanksgiving, to the reception in Moose Jaw, it was all so fun! It was great to meet the people who are now such an important part of my best friend's life. Wonderful to get to know some of Jen's extended family (like Shawn, Eddie's parents, his brother, his sister). And truly great to get to better know the man who has stolen her heart.

Finishing my first year as a staff Anesthesiologist. Writing my board exams was a "right of passage", an awful thing that everyone must do in order to finally do what they have been trained for 9 years to do. It took everything in my soul everyday for a year just to put one foot in front of the other in order to get to the "big day" and sit in those little rooms until the end. Then, it was over and I had passed, and the world seemed so much brighter and better somehow. It was like the beginning of a new life. Now, that I have finished over an entire year of work, I realize something. I didn't pass because of luck, or even that I had studied so hard. No, I passed because I was meant to. Because I am good at my job. It really says something when the nurses who you work with everyday trust you enough to put them to sleep, enough to thank you with gifts and words of kindness afterwards. It says something when the nurses are happy that you are the one oncall with them - not because you are friendly to everyone, but because they are confident in your work. I am truly happy with my work here in Regina.

Watching my Dad progress. Last March my father had open heart surgery. He had a rough go of it afterwards with several complications including what could have been a devastating stroke. But he is tough. If life has taught me anything, it is that any toughness and perserverance I may have is because of my father. He taught me to never give up and to keep putting on foot in front of the other, even if it is with a walker at first. I watched him progress from struggling to speak and being unable to walk, to now joking and laughing like his old self and walking up stairs like he had never been bothered by them. Life may not be fair, and sometimes bad things happen to truly good people, but you have to be thankful for what you have. And, I am thankful my dad got a second chance.

All of these things helped me grow as a person this year. I can only hope that the next year will help me to grow even more.