2009 was a busy year in the Burns household. We FINALLY completed the Ike repairs in February. Nothing makes you appreciate your home intact more than sleeping in your living room for 5 months! I know many others had it much worse, but I'm glad that's a chapter that completed. And we upgraded some flooring in the process, so we made a positive out of it.
On the volunteer front, I was asked to serve on the board of the Junior League of Houston. It's been a lot of hard work and mornings, lunches and nights to get all the meetings/tasks in, but I have found it extremely rewarding. It's given me an opportunity to learn about all the great things our organization facilitates in our community via volunteer hours and grants. I also have gained experience and expanded my leadership skills, which has been a great learning opportunity. I also took some of this into the community and joined the Heart Association's young professionals group. As a co-chair of their service committee, we are working to establish a volunteer opportunity with heart patients at Texas Children's Hospital to kick off in early 2010.
I've been at my UH job for nearly 1.5 years now. I had a successful first year and am enjoying the experience I am getting in areas of fundraising I previously did not work in. I'm also grateful that over the past year, I went from a one-man band to having part-time and now full-time help in my office. It's cool to be a two-man shop!
I've worked hard to stay physically active this year. It started as a challenge on NYE last year to see how many days I could be active in a row (49 was the best right out of the starting gate). I switched around April to attempting only 65 days off. I ended up at 70 (well, I still have to work out today!). Not bad considering I injured my toe in July and took quite a few days off resting from that. Sure, I weigh about the same now as I did this time last year ... but I improved all my levels (cholesterol etc) and I also feel healthier between being active and eating more naturally and locally. Besides, maybe I would have gained more if I hadn't been active. Considering all that's happening in my life, that's not far-fetched.
But the tipping point that means the most is maintaining balance, and especially working hard to find time for family among it all. I feel a lot less stressed as I end this year. I'm also trying hard to make time to be the best wife I can be ... I can't always be here in person, but I try to make up when I can (like my cooking marathon over this winter break) and remember the little things can go a long way (like setting the coffee pot each morning ... sure, I benefit from that too, but I know Adam appreciates it). I am hoping my focus on this now will make me a better relative to all my family members, especially my niece who was born this year.
So what's in store for 2010? I'm still finalizing that plan (I refuse to call it resolutions as those are SURE to be broken). Sounds like I need to start 2010 with another blog entry :) Happy New Year everyone!!
