Becca's Year in Review: 2009

Typically, when January 1st hits - I make a New Years Resolution and by February 1st, I will have failed miserable at keeping it. In an effort make me a happier girl, I made the decision to keep this one that I felt was one of the most important to my life as it currently is. The resolution: To have more fun! I told myself on January 1st, 2009 - I will find things fun to do every month (minimum of one time, but more is a bonus!). I have to say, I feel I did pretty good at keeping this resolution and I do feel a little bit better about myself and what currently is happening in my life - just by making a conscious effort to get myself out there more and do things to make ME happy! This may end up sounding like a Christmas Letter; but that's okay!

January: This is a very important month - since the first day of the year starts off with a bang with my birthday. In the past, my New Year's festivities were minimal. When I say minimal, I mean non-existant. It's sad really. My birthday falls on one of the biggest party days of the year and I literally never had anything really to look forward to when it comes to having nights out or what not. I don't know why, I just didn't. 2009 New Years, a group of friends and I went out to a very fancy dinner, and brought in the New Year with some wine and fun. I'm glad to say that for the first time in a LONG time - I had a great New Year's Eve! Additionally, my friends surprised me with a great birthday surprise! January marked my first visit ever to a Psychic! I've always wanted to go, but was scared to death for them to tell me I'd be hit by a bus tomorrow. Thankfully, it was not in my future. Really, hardly anything has come true - but the experience itself was fun and I am glad I did it!

**Friends at New Years Dinner at M in Columbus.**

February: I hate February. It is a hurtful month for those people like myself who are single and have the constant reminder of Valentine's Day. I'll be honest: nothing fun happened in February. The month is the devil, and personally I think it should be deleted from the calendar all together.

March: I was lucky enough to travel for work and went to a new place, Niagara Falls, New York. Granted, it wasn't the most glamourous of business trips - but it was a lot of fun and I was able to meet a co-worker for the 1st time in person! We had a great time getting to know each other and spent an evening wasting some money at the Seneca Niagara Casino. Love it!

**Freezing my you-know-what-off at the Falls!**

April: Birthdays were a big thing this year, and my friends and I decided it would be fun to have little birthday surprises for each other. After my trip to Niagara Falls, I thought it would be fun to take a friend there for her birthday. I mean, road trips, casino buffets and gambling... what's not to love?! So- off we went for a weekend up north and even crossed the boarder to Canada for some excitement. We live on the edge, what can I say? It's amazing to think that when I was there in March, there was ice so thick you couldn't even see the railing to the falls. In April, it was warm and short sleeves and capris were perfect!

**View of the Falls in the Springtime**

May: The Warren Family ventured to Alaska for a trip to see my cousin Keya graduate high school and enjoy time with family. Alaska is truly a great place to visit if you ever get the itch, I highly recommend it. I am much more of a girl to go exploring rather than sitting on a beach and looking like a beached whale. So - vacations to places such as this is perfect for me! We did so much car riding and saw so many great places, it was a lot of fun. Especially to see family, who we don't get to see as often as any of us would like!

**Trip to Homer, Alaska**

June: We started the month of June off by celebrating a friend's birthday in Hocking Hills and camping. I haven't been one for camping, but honestly - just thinking about going really excited me. Remember, I'm trying new things! We had a great time, for the most part. During this time of month, I was struggling with my gall bladder and virtually lived in pain or fear of pain majority of the time. I was so very thankful that my attacks did not mess with camping and instead hit 12 hrs before we left, and 12 hrs after we got home. Thank goodness! After my fabulous day of hiking the hills, and spending 2 hrs attempting to build a campfire - things couldn't have been better. The following week, I finally found that I had gall stones and I needed my gall bladder removed. IT'S ABOUT TIME! 7 years later! So - I am happy to report that June was a great month for the fact that I can now eat anything without living in the fear that I will have an attack later. Woo hoo! Granted, I've gained about 23948209842 lbs from "experimenting" with the foods I couldn't eat before. (Can you guess what my 2010 Resolution should be by that sentence??)


July: Honestly, this was one of my most favorite months in 2009! We decided to surprise Courtney with a trip to Chicago for her birthday! We found a great deal on a plane ticket and we decided to venture off for a day and spend one night out there. We ventured around the city, had a great steak dinner at Gene & Georgetti's and all around had a great time. Additionally, July was my 10th High School Class Reunion where I reconnected with great friends and have had some great times with them following the reconnection. I even had a surprise visitor come, Lisa Beck, who I worked with closely for the first 2 yrs at Cardinal. She came to Columbus from Sacramento, and it was great to see her- even if it was only for one day!

**Posing with Obama at the Sears Tower**

August: Started the month off with a bang at the Dublin Irish Festival. Loved the Bailey's, loved the music, loved the food, loved the people! Not much more to say other than had a great time! August was also a sad month to counteract the fun. Big changes were mad at work and I lost majority of my team due to changes. I rolled from being an HP-eHRO employee, to a Cardinal Health employee. Where the changes are very positive, and I can understand the reasons, it was still hard to say goodbye to such great friends! Thank goodness for a Martini Party to help with my sarrows. :)

**Mary, Courtney & Becca at the Dublin Irish Festival**

September: Another great month! Earlier in the year, my dear cousin Rhiannon announced that she was expecting a wee one. Music to my ears! Typically, various September's some of our family head's back to Seattle for the Western Washington fair. (Mom loves the fair!) Rhiannon had her Baby Shower the same time we were in town so we could attend. I had such a great visit catching up with one of my childhood best friends, Jessica, and her girls - Ally & Kamdyn. I was able to spend lots of time with my cousins Jaclyn & Rhiannon. As well as spend time with other family members I miss terribly! All in all, the trip was great and I loved every minute of it! During September, I also ventured down to the Short North in Columbus and for the first time - went to the Greek Festival. A blast! Would love to go back every year, it was a lot of fun!

*The proud parents to be! Kenny & Rhiannon at the family dinner during our Seattle trip.**

**Caught up with some other family members during our trip!**

October: Things are starting to get busy in the Fall! Between Michael Jackson's movie coming out and seeing that 3 times, having a small Halloween Get-Together at our apartment among other things, I was one busy bee! I was able to meet a dear co-worker for the 1st time with his trip to Dublin, and it was a great night! It is so great to meet someone for the 1st time and have worked with them for years. I also ventured north in October and attended a Wine Train, Halloween themed. Riding a train, eating snacks and being served wine - nothing could be better!

November: Oh lord, November was BUSY! However, a lot of fun too! Before somethings started coming around - the most exciting thing for me was that New Moon was coming out in the movie theater! I mean, that made my month enough already - but then a few more things came about which made it even more fun. Took a road trip to Peoria, Illinois to watch my dear cousin run in a cross country event. Poor girl came down with mono among other things, and wasnt able to run. However, we did get to spend time with her and my uncle - and that was fantastic! I love seeing family! Thanksgiving was great, Black Friday was amazing, and the HR Columbus Blue Jackets event was a BLAST! It is so nice to attend these fun events with co-workers, and mingle about!

**Steph, Callie, Susie & I at the Columbus Blue Jackets game!**

Finally, the last month of the year - December. I love Christmas Time! Now that we are Cardinal employees - we were invited to all of the great Holiday parties. We were able to attend 2 parties, and that was GREAT! Being that we are all Cardinal Health employees now, it really brings a sense of togetherness! As I do every year, I volunteered again for the Delaware County People in Need Holiday Clearinghouse - as Toyland Chair Person yet one more time! We had a great turn out and my trusty volunteers were great as usual! We handed out toys to 555 kids (Newborn-9 yrs), and everything went perfectly. Hopefully those toys bring a smile to some kids face this year! Additionally, I went to see the Columbus Ballet perform the Nutcracker, and saw Jim Brickman in concert in Cleveland. Nothing more perfect than a marriage proposal at a Jim Brickman concert... it was very romantic and of course brought a tear to my eye.

The most important thing of 2009: The birth of Cohen Patrick Brovold. I love this baby with all my heart! I couldn't be more happy for my dear cousin to experience something as great as this! Baby Cohen was born on December 10th, and is absolutely perfect. I love this baby as if he were my own. I cannot wait to start of 2010 with a trip to Seattle to meet him in person, and to give my dear cousin a great big hug!

Wishing everyone a great 2010, and hope that your Holiday Season is better than you can ever imagine!