i think i did this to myself

happy new year!!

last night was new years eve. what an over-rated holiday, second only to valentines day. i have high expectations. everyone else has high expecations. and when i go back to work, the first thing everyone will ask is "what did you do for new years?"
i wanted to sit at home and watch a movie or two. it almost felt like a chore to stay up until midnight. but i decided that i shouldn't do that, so i ventured out. days before my not so favorite holiday i had no plans, which led me to an unlikely group with a random set of plans. i wouldn't have had it any other way.

started the day at the temple
took a nice nap
headed up to park city for an exchange at the outlets
dinner with great friends
appearance at a work party (great friends tagged along)
went to a lumberjack dance party
promptly left lumberjack dance party
showed up to institute building
danced
rung in the new year
movie at my house
dozing off
out of town friends joined the party
went to bed way too late

now that you know more about my new years eve than you'd probably care to know, let me tell you another story. we were all sitting in the car waiting for other friends to show up for lumberjack. i was telling a story that for some reason required to to stick my hand out the window. long story short, the window rolled up...on my hand. i flipped out. i yelled at the person in the drivers seat, who i thought had rolled it up as a joke. the window came down. my hand hurt. it started to swell. it started to bruise. and friends suggested it might be broken, so naturally, i started to cry. the last thing i wanted was a broken hand. seriously??
it didn't take long for me to realize that while being distracted by my hilarity and quick wit, i had actually rolled up the window on my hand. and everyone laughed with me, when through half real tears and laughter i said, "i think i did this to myself".
i know you're worried about my hand. don't worry....it's not broken. it's still a little swollen, and it still has the potential for a stellar bruise, but otherwise i'm fine.

are you ready for an incredible parallel to rocket you into the new year?? i look back on events from this past year and it's easy to say through half real tears and laughter, "i think i did this to myself". i've had my fair share of lessons learned, and i wish i could say that with all of them, i woke up the next morning a little swollen, but otherwise just fine. not always the case i'm afraid. some lessons learned left me with an extended case of the "i'd rather stay home and watch hgtv" blues. it's those times that i was blessed with incredible friends, family, roommates, and coworkers who reminded me of the big picture. i'm always grateful to see the big picture, and even more grateful for those who help me take a few steps back to help it to come into view.

today at church a girl sitting next to me pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. i looked over and saw the heading 'goals for 2012'. i should have looked away, but instead my eyes traveled down to number one. 'go bungee jumping'. now, i'm the last person to say that i'm better than the next guy, but it did prompt me to get out my own list. i pulled up my 30 before 30 list and did a quick scroll through. i was proud of my list. i was excited about my list. i can't wait to let you know when i cross things off my list.

question....have you made a list? do you make new years resolutions or stick to goals? (or are they the same thing to you??)

teaser...i have convinced 6 friends to run a half marathon with me in june. training starts tomorrow...and i'm not saying tomorrow because i'm procrastinating, but i'm saying that because january 1st was on a sunday and i can't start training for a half marathon on sunday. booyah.