And now for something completely different...

I'm taking a break from Tracy on the Cheap today to simply be Tracy. I realized yesterday that writing about clothes and Photoshopping outfits can be viewed as pretty darn shallow. The truth is, the outfits and posts are simply a vehicle I use to more effectively express myself, both visually and verbally. I'm glad to have found a creative outlet.
Heather over at alis grave nil answered these 2009 Reflection Questions most beautifully this morning...I thought I'd give it a go as well.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?
There is nothing more amazing than welcoming a baby into your life. It’s a joy beyond words. She’s perfect.

 2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?
See #1. Becoming a mother requires a new definition of patience. This is convenient because, along with a baby, childbirth bestowed upon me a new sense of peace, calm, and purpose. This does not change the fact that being a mom is the single most challenging thing I have ever experienced. (I took a break from typing that last sentence to say, “Don’t put that leaf in your mouth!” I rest my case.)

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?
This little blog. Finding a creative outlet. Learning how to do something, and being pleasantly surprised with the results. Allowing myself to write incomplete sentences. Using ellipses to excess...and then some.

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?
Balancing being a mom with trying to earn a living and not falling victim to the guilt machine that is my conscious was a far larger obstacle than I had anticipated.

5. Pick three words to describe 2009.
Daughter, love, euphoric

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2009
Baby, blog, happy

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2009
Papa, proud, achievement

8. What were the best books you read this year?
Gone With the Wind and Middlesex. Middlesex has completely ruined any book for me in the near future. Damn that was a good book. (Don’t you like my literary critique skills?)

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?
My husband, my daughter, my parents, my brother. Family.

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
Can anything change one more than motherhood? I love who I am becoming as the mother of this amazing, delightful little girl. The personal growth that accompanies my growth as a mother is a surprising and welcome change.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?
I became so much stronger this year. I tolerate far less bullshit. I’m not (as) scared to let people read what I write and see what I create and open myself up for critique. I’m more centered and happy than I’ve ever been.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?
My personal beliefs have become more concrete in the past year. I’ve realized that having different views, ideals, and beliefs than others doesn’t make me wrong. You know what? Anyone who makes you feel that your beliefs are in anyway beneath their own seriously needs to evaluate their own set of principals.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?
I’ve always been one of those people who said, “I’ll start when”. I swore I’d start working out before I graduated from college, before I got married, before I got pregnant, etc., etc. So finally I said, “I’ll start working out after I have the baby.” And you know what? I did. A-freakin-mazing.

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?
Relationship lessons I’ve learned in 2009:
1)When two people work equally hard towards a common goal of a joyful marriage, the results are blissful.
2) On friends...true friends choose camaraderie over competition. Friends accept you without the asterisk that someday, some way, they will change you. Friends are able to emerge out from under the umbrella of their own ego to admit when they are wrong and sincerely apologize. Ending a friendship sucks, but life’s better on the other side.

15. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?
Ye old blog and that thar Facebook.

16. What was the best way you used your time this past year?
Kissing a little head, completely lacking in hair, over and over again. Telling an itty bitty girl how much I love her, time and time again. Allowing myself to be still, happy, and content with the moment at hand.

17. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?
Whenever someone asks my husband how he’s doing, he always says, “Fantastic!”And you know what? He means it. I’ve learned that by simply choosing to be happy, you create happiness.

18. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2009 for you.
Best year yet.