thanks 2009

2009. Seems like it was here, then poof, gone so fast. I have to say, it was a wonderful year. . . in a steady, relaxed way for me. This is the year I became comfortable and content with my life, just as it is right now. I realized it's more helpful to remember the past rather than reliving the past. . . to be truly grateful for this moment right now. . . and that the future holds so very much. My word for the year was threshold. Not a word I considered much until I read an essay about thresholds last December. It just seemed to fit where I felt I was a year ago. And I honestly believe a threshold was where I was more often than not this year. Standing between the past and the future, able to look back at the past, but mostly preparing to move into the future.

This is the year I learned how to live a happy life. I chose to be happy with how my life is right now. I planned for happiness, and more often than not, I found it all around me.
Maybe not exactly how I had imagined it, but it was there.

This photo was taken on one of favorite days in July. I took the day off from work and set out on an adventure, driving south on Hwy 35 in Wisconsin to Pepin, where I had dinner at the Harbor View Cafe. I arrived just before they opened for the evening and gathered among the others waiting in line outside the restaurant. It was a gorgeous afternoon. The menu is written on a chalk board hanging on a wall. I walked up to get a closer look and the woman next to me sighed and remarked that everything is fabulous here. I said this was my first visit. She smiled and said, "Girl, I love seeing a woman who takes care of herself, and this is a great place to do just that."

I savored every bite of that delicious day. And of this year.