Reverb 10 - December 29 - 31!

December 29 – Defining Moment Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year. (Author: Kathryn Fitzmaurice)

I'm sending you a blizzard, messin' your vacation up!

I'm not sure I had a defining moment this year - I had a whole lot of damn fun this year and I'm excited for 2011. If I had to pick something that happened this year that changed my life it was this week, when Ryan and I had our vacation cancelled because of the Snowmagedden.


We we're all set to fly to New York on Monday morning and have a few days in the city to take in the sights. A mega blizzard had other ideas.  Instead of crying about it, we decided to move our vacation to our hometown, which is also where we currently live. It was a blast - we saw a burlesque show and ate at tons of restaurants we wanted to try, but have never made the time. The zoo was visited, we took naps - it was a perfect vacation and it cost about 1/3 of what NYC would have cost. 


This week, to me, defined us as a couple - we're always game to make the best of something, which is super important to make a marriage work*. 


(*we've been together for 9 years, married for 5, so I'm pretty sure I don't know everything about marriage - I just know this works for us).


December 30 – Gift Prompt: Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year? (Author: Holly Root)


That's easy: surprise 5 year anniversary shower. It was unbelievable! 


December 31 – Core Story What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.) (Author: Molly O’Neill)


Holy crap - this is deep. How do you know what you're core story is? Isn't part of personhood being contradictory? Also, isn't saying "I'm this kind of person" akin to telling the world "Ok - I'm really wanting to come off as this kind of person, but I'm not quite there yet. Maybe declaring it will make it so!"? 


Looking back over this month of posting, one thing is clear to me: I'm happy. Not always, not all the time cheering "WOO HOOO!!", but honestly, most of the time I am like that. I'm loud, semi-obnoxious and always laughing or making a joke. I'm a happy person and I'm lucky to be here - my life hasn't always been this enjoyable (mostly because of my own damn doing). It makes me just want to be nice. To everyone. Even the ones who thing I'm A) stupid or B) disingenuous*. 


Another thing that struck me this year was that I need to be better about letting stuff go. I simply can't cling to anger, resentment or negativity as I have done in the past. This year I've made a real effort to improve this and guess what: my life has become so much better because of it. Duh Sarah. Duh.


So how can you share being happy with the world and not act like a jackass who's lording their happiness over everyone else? Help them be happy too. Make them laugh, share good times and make sure they know you like them - everyone likes to be liked, especially when it's sincere. You would be surprised how little some people hear compliments - try handing a few out now and again. Just be nice**. 


*I don't care what you think, I'm going to be nice to you so hard you won't know what hit you!
**Also, don't drive like a jerk or cut in lines. That makes people super mad - I get downright muderous when people do either of those things, and I'm a pretty nice person.