Some Kind of Ride

There’s a lot to be said about watching the sun rise over a new and unfamiliar town. While driving through New Mexico on a road trip the last day of 2009, saying a silent “thank you” for coffee and watching the thermometer drop to single digits, I thought about how lucky I am and about how much one year can change your life.

This past year has taken me to new horizons in every possible way. From my incredibly exciting, constantly growing relationship, my new and consistently challenging career and my unbelievable travel itinerary, 2009 truly changed my life. For the first time I was able to see that there is a fantastic world outside of Florida and there are places to visit other than Disney World. My eyes have been opened to unique cultures, new friends, true love and a winter wardrobe full of incredibly cute scarves and boots. I have seen presidents carved into a mountain and tasted my first crawfish. I drank a Guiness in Ireland on Saint Patrick’s Day and caught my first Mardi Gras beads. I bruised every part of my body in attempt to ride a board down a mountain and realized that sometimes there is nothing better than being at home with a bottle of wine, a good movie and the love of my life. I have learned that I have so much more to see, so much more to do, and that life is so much bigger than I ever thought it could be.

So, this is the story of my “perfect ride.” This is my journey, my account of where I’ve been and where I’m going. This is for all the people who are too far away to know just where life has taken me and how it changes me with every trip, every new experience and everyone I meet along the way. Life is a gift; I plan to treat it that way.

Before I go to start the dreaded task of packing for yet another adventure, I leave you with one of my favorite StoryPeople from the remarkable, ingenious and ever-inspiring Brian Andreas…

“Feels like some kind of ride, but it’s turning out just to be life going absolutely perfectly.”