Top Five of '08

As the W2's start rolling in, I cannot help but reflect on 2008 with money on my mind, and my mind on my money.  Here are the top five purchases that I (we) made in 2008:

1. The condo -- we have place to live and we love it.  Enough said.

2.  Bare Escentuals -- I love my Bare Escentuals.  It's all natural.  It's all awesome.

3.  Wrigley -- Not a day has gone by that I have thought, "Gee, it'd be nice if we didn't have a puppy right now."  That's how you know you've made a good purchase - when you don't regret it...unlike when I buy new trendy clothes and then I get home and realize that I'm really not that trendy.  With a puppy, I thought I'd love her...and I do!!! (So does Scott, but he won't say it out loud).

4.  Macbook -- Even though we lost half of our pictures and nearly all of our documents, finance spreadsheets, etc..., I'm secretly glad that our computer crashed.

5.  TV -- Like the macbook...it stunk that I made the decision to put our old TV on the couch as I moved furniture around and it decided to leap off the couch to it's death.  And, although Scott was not happy about having to spend money on a new TV, I'm pretty sure he loves his HD and I do too!

Now that I officially feel petty and materialistic thinking back on my favorite purchases of 2008, I will now reflect on my favorite moments of 2008:

1.  Making Jelly -- My mom helped me...we picked grapes from the farm and I made jelly for the first time.  There's a certain pride that comes along with making something useful with your own hands...very cool.

2.  Crafting with Susie -- At Thanksgiving, Susie and I attempted to make a ribbon wreath that Susie had seen on the internet.  I believe Susie already blogged about this experience, but it was fun sharing a love for crafting with her!!  Love it!

3.  When Wrigley learned how to roll over -- I realized then that she was the smartest dog in the world.  I've never had a dog that knew how to roll over.  All future dogs will be measured by this high standard.

4.  Summer - Although this is not really a "moment", I think it qualifies because it is my favorite time of year, each year, no matter what.  Going to lake George, going to my "small lake big pond," having time to do whatever I want, basketball camp, visits from friends, Dairy Queen, weddings galore....I could go on and on!

5.  The month or so that I committed to spending time with Jesus everyday -- I admit that I am the worst when it comes to "quiet time", "devotions", "daily reading", etc...  I usually pride myself on being consistent and reliable, however this is one area of my life that I am not.  (Especially since bball season started).  I know that I wouldn't feel so frazzled all the time if I would take some time to chill with God consistently, but I don't.  However, the month or so that I did last fall was really really great...peaceful, insightful, it just felt right.  Each morning I committed the time, even though I had to turn off Meredith and Matt and was late to work nearly every day.  I got to get 2009 back on track, although that might not start until after bball season...

I'm just saying that 2009 has a lot to live up to....