The New Year

Here is my year in review:

Best Things 2008:
1. Getting married to Spencer Evans
2. Getting engaged in San Francisco
3. Two weeks in Hawaii
4. Losing my first grown-up job - not a blessing in disguise, just a straight-up blessing
5. Starting my own business

Not So Amazing Things 2008:
1. Some of the pre-wedding issues/stress with: the dress, the candy scam, the bankrupt honeymoon airline, only receiving 2/3 of the invitations we ordered, etc. (don't worry, it all worked out beautifully in the end!)
2. Michael Scott as a boss, continued (but only for 7.5 months!)
3. Not getting selected once again, for the Moab Half Marathon
4. A car accident (I nearly forgot about this one)

Places I visited in 2008:
1. San Diego, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Maui, HI
4. Kauai, HI
5. St. George, UT

Realizations of 2008:
1. Getting married is a pretty natural adjustment - much more so than I anticipated
2. Being your own boss rocks! You call your own snow days, sick days, vacation days, hours, pay rate, and you get to do something you love! Downside: no Christmas bonus, medical benefits, or paid vacation (small price to pay)
3. A 21 mile commute to Park City is much better than a 12 mile commute to Midvale - prettier, fewer annoying drivers, zero stop-and-go, and just as fast
4. If something has been in a box for a year or more, it's ok to let it go

Concerts I attended in 2008:
1. Coldplay, Salt Lake City, UT
2. Ben Folds, Magna, UT
(only two? I must be getting old!)

Things I checked off my list in 2008:
1. Marry someone I'm crazy about (who's also crazy about me, naturally)
2. Stay debt-free
3. See Ben Folds rock out in person
4. Get a job I love

-Death Cab For Cutie-

for people and things that went before

I really love this time of year, because I love thinking about new goals and a new year is a beauty of a fresh start. There are a lot of goals and projects I'm thinking about for 2009... Here's some of what's been on my mind:

• finish the quilt I started in 2007 (just needs batting and backing...)
• take an international trip with Spencer (we're thinking SE Asia or SE Europe)
• make a beautiful photo book of wedding events
• go through overwhelming book collection and sell lots
• consume less: buy nothing for the house or myself for as long as I can hold out (I need another stint to Brazil to help me remember how little we really need)
• finish a few projects around the house (touch up painting, hang art/photos)
• find a half-marathon to run that doesn't have a lottery...
• prepare and plan meals more thoroughly to waste less food
• expand and refine the sugarhouse ink product line; invest time and money wisely to grow the business
• find meaningful ways to serve and give and share with humanity to feel more real
• learn to drive stick shift
• stay on top of projects and learn to work more quickly, efficiently, and flawlessly
• get off of at least 80% of the email lists I'm on to simplify my life (goodbye macy's, j.crew, old navy, gap, jo-ann's, amazon... hopefully I won't see you again until I'm actually ready to buy something)
  

Part of Your History #3

I don't know how this didn't ever show up on my blog. Really. Two years ago was all about weekend trips to interesting places, Thanksgiving in a hostel in Athens, Halloween in our flat in Brussels, my birthday celebrated with a Bratwurst in Salzburg, all-night bus trips to the Alps, trains and planes to anywhere we could get to quickly enough to be back for work on Monday morning, and apparently... dancing everywhere we went.


Dancing Through Europe from Sarah Evans on Vimeo.

Cold Turkey

I realize I'm a little late with the Thanksgiving post (hence the cold turkey). We managed to have a splendid Thanksgiving celebration with both of our families. Spencer's brother and his family came to Utah and we had dinner at Spencer's parents' house, who were also kind enough to invite my parents to the feast.

Spencer often comments that his family isn't too big on tradition or ceremony, but a few days before Thanksgiving it came out that his family has one of the coolest Thanksgiving traditions around: every year before the feast they go BOWLING! This is definitely one that will be carried on...
-John Lennon-