Best of 2008

Holy crapola, I’m back in action!

The top 10 things I’ll remember about 2008…

1) Engagement

After spending the previous day in the hospital with the worst sickness I have had in my life, I pulled the ultimate surprise on Katie without her having an inkling of a clue. We both knew and discussed that we would not be financially ready to take the next step in our relationship for at least a couple more years, but little did she know that I had won an engagement contest through 1-800 Flowers. On a crisp, cold morning on February 11th, I popped the question on national tv, on the front page of YouTube, and in the presence of our closest family and friends.

2) Contests

After winning the engagement contest, Katie and I went on to becoming finalists in the “Made of Honor – Get Married at the Premier” contest with a video that we made. We fell short of winning, but it was still cool being featured on Entertainment Tonight. In the following months, I wound up winning V.I.P tickets to Lollapalloza in a photography contest and then a trip to Vegas through Q101 and Sierra Mist’s Prank contest. What a crazy, crazy year!

3) Obama

Our history books have a new chapter to start writing and I hope it’s a great one. I got swept away in the months leading up to November, which was both a positive and negative experience for me. I am excited for the change, but I am also saddened about all the hatred and negativity I saw in this election.

4) Running

After registering for the Chicago marathon in February, I mapped out a training schedule on a calendar for the next 8 months. It ended up being one of the greatest experiences that I have had in a long time. Over the course of those 8 months, I got into the best shape I have been in since high school. I also enjoyed and developed an awesome relationship with nature. Thinking of those beautiful days in Busse woods and along Lake Michigan’s lakefront brings a big grin to my face. On a hot, sunny day in October, I carried all 200 pounds of me across the 26.2 mile course’s finish line. I can’t wait to do it again.

5) Traveling

Vegas with friends, Florida for Sarah’s graduation, camping in Door County, Vegas again with my dad, and an amazing cruise with my family to San Juan, St Thomas, and St Maarten. I was truly blessed last year. And to only think that this year may be better…

6) Pranks

I had a lot of fun pulling pranks this year, especially at work. Yes, I can be an a**hole at times.

7) Books
I developed an obsession with reading this past year out of nowhere. I used to be a Cliff Notes / Spark Notes kind of dude. Heck, in college I was so stubborn about reading that I gave an hour speech presentation on a book that I never read (thank you internet). So yeah, Amazon and Barnes and Noble should be sending me a thank you card for my business this year. Thank you for all those that gave me reading suggestions, please keep them coming if you read any good books.

8) Concerts

Discovering Bon Iver at Pitchfork and a great opening night by Radiohead at Lollapalooza made both those weekends memorable ones.

9) Tickets
The one downfall to my year was when I thought it would be a great idea to start buying concert tickets and sell them for a small profit. After making an easy $200 from Maroon 5 tickets, I went hog-wild and started snatching up tickets like it was my job. I mean if I can make that much with Maroon 5, I thought I’d be making thousands with all the other tickets I bought. A month later, and after going to many, many concerts with unsold tickets, I finally agreed with what Katie called me from the get go… an idiot.

10) Cubs
Dear Cubs, thank you for an awesome regular season.

Dear Cubs, #(*$& you for ruining my hopes and dreams for another year (or century for that matter).

My top 5 albums of 2008…

1) Kings of Leon – Only by the Night
2) TV on the Radio – Dear Science
3) My Morning Jacket – Good Intentions
4) MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
5) Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

My 2009 New Years Resolutions

1) Learn a new language
With my fiancée being a Spanish teacher, I definitely need to take advantage of improving my Spanish. I would also like to start learning another language. I think that being able to speak more than one language is the coolest / most useful skills someone can have.

2) Divulge more into video editing
I splurged and bought a used HD camcorder a few months ago with intentions of making some short films. I know that I’d like to make some promo stuff for my brother, who is a professional triathlete, but I’d also like to take on some other projects. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

3) Practice my guitar more
I’ve played for about 8 years now, but have not made any progression for the past few years. I’d like to learn more about music theory so I want to attempt to spend at least 30 minutes a night watching online lessons.

4) Volunteer
I wrote about this in a previous post, but I would like to make volunteer work for specific causes / people a more important part of my life.

5) More progress on my projects
I have so many little projects and ideas on my plate that there will never be enough time in the day for me to make significant progress on them. For this reason, I definitely need to prioritize them. Keep in tune to learn more about these projects. I’m sure I’ll be writing about them.