2009 Year in Review

For those who haven’t seen this before, every new year I take some time to reflect on the past year and take note of some of the major things that happened. I do this for several reasons:1) To keep a list for myself of things worth remembering2) As sort of a “Christmas letter” to people I care about3) To give myself perspective on my accomplishments and short comings to be learned fromThe plans I had for 2009: (list from last year)Accomplished:- New job at work- VA conference in late January- Promotion- more grad school- Playing Rugby this Spring for my old team- Buying a house in KoP- Va conference again in the summer SummerMissed:- Possible trip to CA- Possible trip to the South WestSo I did everything but the two trips. But there is a good excuse for this: My brother got married, so I spent 2 weeks visiting Italy, Serbia and Bosnia. Full list of 2009: (in general order)- Bought a house- Took on a new job at work with much more responsibility- Started playing Rugby again- lost 25 lbs- Promotion at work- Ran in the Broad Street run with a time of 01:50:00- Won best big wheel prize at the Big Wheel Pub Crawl- Went to IL for my cousins wedding (the ceremony practically turned into a Broadway play)- Last leadership conference for work. Got to visit the Air and space museum while there (before watching transformers 2)- Visited my grandfathers home town in Sicily.- Spent a few days in Rome (sadly, I experienced watching an old man die a block from the Colosseum)- Spent a week in Serbia and Bosnia for my brothers wedding. (eating goat and drinking Serbian moonshine)- 3 days of Jury duty. (criminal case - corruption of a minor)- Rugby tournament in Sea Isle New Jersey- White water rafting, paintball and getting kicked out of Shenanigan’s for a friends bachelor party- Family Reunion (my massive family with 50 1st cousins)- Had a GF for a good portion of the year.- Took 3 more Grad classes (3 left)- Had to do a Zulu for my Rugby team Halloween night- Finished with new years eve on the water in Baltimore, MD with some great friends.Plans for 2010:- Moving down to VA for work- Rugby tour around the UK in the Spring- Wedding in Florida (with vacation?)- Graduate from grad schoolThis year was a bit of a roller coaster. Plenty of ups and downs. I grew up a lot this year and have learned just how little I truly know. (jury duty, grad school and other life experiences will do that to you) But I have also accomplished a lot, recovering from the challenges from 2008 by taking some weight off, playing rugby again and finally doing some real traveling.I think 2010 is going to be another good one :)