Scrapbooking For Beginners and Beyond: Year in Review Scrapbooking: 2008 Appreciation Theme

To all of you who frequent this blog and to those of you have stumbled upon it for the very first time, I want to wish you a very Happy New Year!

I am sure you, like myself had found 2008 a very crazy year. Mine was full of really large UPS and really big DOWNS. I went through a ton of emotions with a high paced - worldwide career, a very active family and all that comes with the two.

I have been way less active than I would have ever liked to be - or even expected to be with my life and my business (especially the more FUN aspects of the business (like this blog)).

I have done much less scrapbooking and card making than I ever expected to. (Although I did do a lot of Paper Bag Scrapbooks...and Mini-Cards in 2008).

I wanted to create a picaboo album for the family this year and had much of it started - then I lost it all somehow and got completely discouraged.

And so the story goes....

But here are some of the most amazing parts of 2008 that I would like to share in my Year in Review Scrapbooking post here....2008 marked....

A rekindled relationship with my husband (that I can't wait to journal into a romantic scrapbook for the two of us)...we decided to work MORE on us in 2008 - since parenting, leisure & work took over in 07.
A new found love for my children. *They have both finally reached that age where we can hang out like friends and have fun together for much longer periods of time - without exercising discipline or life lesson training.
A new appreciation for being HOME ....(I recently counted 23 stamps on my passport that was issued in 2007! Which means for a min. of 1 week - 2 weeks at a time - I was NOT at home at least 23 times between 2007 and 2009). Need I say more?
A new appreciation for SELF...I learned MORE about myself in 2008 than I had in my entire 33 years of life! I now know what I want and don't want from life, love and all that surrounds me...but more important I know what I want FROM myself and I am all the more grateful for that now.
An intense love for vacationing! WOW! I never knew how therapeutic a real vacation could be! I have taken many trips to see family and to work across the globe...but having taken 3 vacations in one year (in 2008) alone to places like Hawaii, Mexico and Disneyland...I can't wait to take more. In fact I have committed to taking at least one VACATION to a dream destination each year. I can't wait to start planning 2009 already!
A new love for my friends. After being with my husband for 12 years and having 10 years of parenting on my belt now...I finally learned how critical it is to have your friends around and keep them close...no MATTER what path your life takes. They bring you peace when you no longer feel that you get any, they bring you conversation that you can't always have at home or around the kids (or even with the hubby...right Girls!!!), they also keep the FUN FACTOR going - even when you feel incredibly burnt out or even "stuck in the same ol' same ol' routines of life" - - they help you break the chains of the life you created - and remind you that you CAN and should always maintain a life of your own. Thank you friends! Thank you!.
A new love for dogs. I grew up with dogs...and then cats...and for many years had NO PETS...I was happy with that so naturally along the way I lost sight of how cool dogs could be. Our new family addition (Hershey)...is one of the most loyal friends I know. He loves us in a way that no human ever would. He follows me everywhere I go. He cries when I leave him and he kisses me when I cry (to movies of course). He's 8 in human years...but plays like a puppy! He's also incredibly intelligent and has so many dimensions to his personality it amazes me every day!
A new appreciation for work. I know that sounds insane on many levels...but I do love the work that I do...and I appreciate having that work in times of economic crisis. It gives me and my family a sense of security that I could never find in all of my years as a solo-prenuer.
A new appreciation for TIME. Time is one of those things we can never get enough of - but I now fully appreciate the time that I do have. And now - finally....I don't have regrets with how I make use of the time. If all I want to do is sit and do nothing...then I am overjoyed to allow that to happen now. I no longer look back at that time and think of the many OTHER things that I could have done with that time. I am now at peace with how I spend it. (Why, because I have finally decided to THINK about how BEST to use the time I do have since it is so limited...and I am much better for it).
A new appreciation for Organization. I know that one sounds silly too...but I have more clothes and items in the home than I do space (because all I do is shop on these trips away from home). In 2008, I finally encountered that feeling of having every inch of my walls and storage taken up by something (and a lot of it JUNK!)...so one of my 2009 resolutions is to RE-ORGANIZE. From my closets and dressers to the scrapbook room, my walls and even my outdoors. I figure that an organized environment = more time, more productivity, more freedom! So...Cheers to that!
& A new love for fitness. So here's the deal with this one....I am one of those people who pays for gym memberships for YEARS and never goes. I keep the membership because I know I should go and like the idea of "being able to whenever I want to". But I make ton's of excuses why I can't go. (ie: Too busy, too tired, feel sick, not motivated, gyms are boring...blah, blah, blah)...but then I found the Nintendo Wii & Wii Fit! Its pretty phenomenal actually. After only 644 hula spins on the Wii Fit (Super Hula)...my abs are killing all over and I am excited to go again. I am also excited to do all of the other fitness activities that my kids have unlocked (as soon as my Mii can unlock them!). I can't see any reason why I would make excuses for this one - as the interactivity of a Wii Fit workout - is exactly what I need to get me over the most common of issues I normally have with workouts! Wii Hoooooo! Gotta love that right!).

And that's it friends. That's my core list of things I appreciate after my Year in Review for 2008. I look forward to appreciating all of these much more in 2009 too.

So...what's on your appreciation list? If you are willing to share it...please do so in the comments area...if not...it might at least be worthy of a scrapbook of your own? Don't you think?