A Year Well-Lived

Here it is, almost the end of another year. As I look back on this year, and prepare to face the next, I find myself feeling really, really proud of the way I lived this past year. I was reminiscing over the last few days by looking back through this year's blog postings... It was a year well lived for me, indeed! So, on that note, I have decided to do a little 'Year in Review' post here and now, and look back on my year with the help of my photos...

JANUARY 2008:

This year began for me with preparations for a good move. I truly feel that making the decision in December 2007 to move out of the basement apartment that I had living in alone for nearly two years was a pivotal decision. Alas, the moving itself was not without it's stresses...

2008 began for me with checklists and motivational post-it notes:

February 2008:

Finally, my 'moving day' arrived. It was the first weekend in February, and the day after the first major snowfall of the year... You know, the one that caused airlines to cancel flights and such?

The one that looked like this the morning after:

Yes, I drove a moving truck in this weather! (And gave my friend Mark a minor heart attack in doing so, I think...)

Oh, it was a snowy, snowy moving day - but thankfully I had a great team to help me!

Best Moving Team EVER! Pictured above: Mark, Me, Devon & Alison (Also part of the All-Star Team, but missing from the Pic are: my ever-faithful moving heroes Johnny Hall & Thea Lim, who were further supported by Brandon G., Guntar K., Laura and Louis!)

Alas, February also brought a big move for my best friend Alison - she got offered a one year contract with CBC Radio, stationed in Bathurst, New Brunswick! So great for her. Sad for all of us here in Toronto to have to say 'goodbye for now'...

At Ali's Goodbye Partay:

March 2008:

The cold and snowy winter months of February and March were lovely and cozy for us at 73 Vine... Lots of time spent at home settling in, eating dinners together, days spent playing with roomies Laura and Henry, evenings spent drinking wine and knitting by the fire... In short, general loveliness.

Here are my roomies; Laura, Louis & Henry at their 'first family show' to which I accompanied them one chilly saturday morning in March:

This winter also brought yet another pivotal decision/change in my life: the quitting of my retail job at The Bookstore and a return to teaching drama to little ones... I truly believe that the coincidental timing of one of my former employers contacting me with several drama teaching contracts that she needed to fill and me reaching the end of my rope with my not-so-fulfilling bookstore job, coupled with the strong support and encouragement of my new roomies, was all an act of the universe conspiring to help me make my life better... And better it continued to get!

I cooked my first turkey for Easter 2008:

And served it up to a very pleased community of dear friends & family:

The Easter Dins Crowd 2008:
Anthony Johnston, Louis Marrone, Robert Swan, Pam Pinch, Devon Elke and Victoria Swan!

April 2008:

The Spring was an exciting time of auditioning for, and being cast in, a children's show that would send me to live and work this summer in St Louis, Missouri, USA! I continued to teach throughout the Spring and re-connect with some dear old friends...

Helping Nikki move from Peterborough to Montreal:

Road-trip adventures - woo hoo!!!

And re-uniting with the old gang from my summer of serving at 7-West:

Always a fun and crazy time!

May 2008:

As the summer drew nearer, I began to prepare for my time in St Louis...

Meeting my fellow performers (and the Six Flags America cast & crew), and making new friends at rehearsals in Montreal:

Basking in the love of my 'Keeps it Real' crew at the SURPRISE good-bye party that they threw for me!!!

Aaaaand further basking in the love and friendship of my dear ones at our "Hello House/Goodbye Meg" Partay:

June, July & August 2008:
My Summer of Six Flags St Louis!!!

America The Beautiful:

My New Friends at Six Flags St Louis:

My fabulous colleagues and roomates and I being good 'Canades' on Canada Day 2008:

Me with my Best Besties Evs:

Meg, Jon & Audry at Six Flags St Louis' End-of-Summer Entertainment Dinner & Awards Ceremony!

Oh, and my other Bestie, Evan!

It was hard to say goodbye at the end of the summer...

September 2008:

But then I came home to 73 Vine in Toronto, and my lovely roomies Laura, Louis & Henry. And it was good to be home! I spent a lot of time this month just taking care of me... Meditating and walking a lot, and discovering my favorite new yoga teacher (www.movementcentre.ca)! I also worked at a great restaurant in my neighbourhood and made some lovely new friends. But as the winter neared, I began to feel restless and longed to be performing again...

October/November 2008:

Well, on Thanksgiving weekend my desires were answered - I was called by my boss from the summer and asked to jump in and replace an actor that he currrently had on tour who needed to return home to Canada. So two days after this call, I was on a plane to meet up with my new tourmates as they wrapped up their shows in Columbia, South Carolina!

The new CSI:Live! Tour Cast:

Me as Sydney Mathis and Dave as David Hart... CSI's!

This twist of fate made for a really great autumn for me - so full of fun and adventure! I toured with two great guys, in a truck, all across the USA! We performed in 12 different venues (and about 9 different states) over the course of 5 weeks! I travelled from South Carolina, to Texas, to Colorado, to Montana, to Washington, to Oregon, to California, to Nevada, to New Mexico, to Alabama and then back up to Canada! And I loved nearly every moment of it!

My Cowboys, er, I mean tour-mates Bryan & Dave in Wyoming:

Enjoying our two days off... in Vegas!!!

And yes, I spent my birthday (Nov 2nd) on tour, but I managed to stay faithful to my 'Project Birthday' (see blog posts from Sept '08) and I really was able to celebrate how well I'd taken care of myself and feel excited about the year ahead of me!

December 2008:

And the next thing I knew, it was December... I returned home from my whirlwind tour at the end of November, full of good memories and good feelings. But it was nice to be home again...

"Home for the Holidays"...

...with roomies Laura, Louis & Henry!

Laura even made me (well, decorated with Triple M's) my own stocking to hang by the fireplace!

And I got to spend another christmas with my dear friend Robin and her parents, Holly and Paul, and their extended fam on another 'whirlwind tour' of sorts....

Holly with her parents on Christmas Day at her sister's place in Kingston:

Robin & Ethan, also on Christmas Day:

"Best Friends" / "Sisters" Reunite for Holiday Happiness:

And here we are now: nearing the end of December, and the end of 2008 - a year well-lived in my books! It's been great to be able to look back on an entire year during which I feel I made consistently healthy and wise choices for myself, and then reaped the benefits! I am thankful, truly, truly thankful.

Looking back to this time last year, I am also reminded of my usual lack of new year's resolutions (though I did resolve to send more mail this year - which I did, and also reaped the loving benefits of!!!)... Last year I chose 3 words, instead of "resolutions". My goal (and I quote myself here) was "to examine each of these words/concepts throughout the year, to discover what they mean to me right now and how they represent my goals for myself this year." Those words were:

Community
Balance
Truth

Well, that was a pretty cool idea, if I do say so myself. And I certainly did examine each of those concepts, and their ever-changing meaning and relevance to me, constantly, throughout 2008. I liked this idea so much, that I decided I would do the same for 2009. My words for 2009 came to me a few days (maybe weeks?) ago, strangely enough with the assistance of my 2 year-old roomate Henry (don't ask how he helped, he just did.)

And so again, my "New Year's Goal" will be to examine the following words... what they mean to me now, and how my relationship with these notions will surely change and evolved over time. I shall examine both my desires for these concepts, as well as how they repell me or how I avoid them. In 2009, I shall examine my relationship to...

Adventure
Stability
Fear

And I'll keep trying to send at least one piece of real mail per week - so keep sending me your updated mailing addresses my dear ones!

And so, until your eyes meet my words on the screen again, I wish you all the very best that 2009 has to offer you, as well as all the best that you have to offer the world in 2009!

"Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist - keep fighting & keep loving!"

*NAMASTE*