I know it’s the middle of January, which is nearly like being in the middle of 2010, but I had grand plans back at the end of December to post a 2009 in review. But that never happened. I never did take the time to write my very serious reflective piece about things I learned in 2009.

So, since I didn’t do it then, I’ll just share a few things now.

Movies

I think there were more movies I was excited about in 2009 than I remember being excited about for a long time! Among my favorites – Star Trek. I grew up a kid trekkie (sans Spok ears), watching the original, then Next Generation, then DS-9, Voyager, and Enterprise. Some time in my teens, I remember Star Trek phasing out of our weekly TV watching. So when the Star Trek movie came out, I was EXCITED. Watching that movie, I giggled and kept turning to Rich explaining the jokes about characters in the original Star Trek as though he wasn’t familiar with the series.

Later, when I realized that there were people who did not know about Kirk and Scotty, I was in shock. I felt…OLD.

Seattle Life

Growing up on “the other side of the state, where it’s dry and sunny,” Seattle was this place to visit on occasion. I really didn’t know much about what happened in Seattle. When I was in high school, I heard about Pike Place and how cool it was, but never visited it. Later, in college, I actually went to Seattle. I remember going to Pike Place and thinking it was cool, but really crowded, and loving the Piers. Never did I think of Seattle as a place that people LIVED in. Even visiting it with friends for a weekend vacation a couple of years ago, I commented that I couldn’t see anybody living in Seattle.

Z, my dear, eat thy words.

Seattle is cool. It’s pretty snazzy, even. There was finding Alderwood Mall (HUGE), walks around Green Lake, a kayak ride with Rich on Green Lake, taking a boat around Lake Union and stopping at the dock at Ivars on the lake with my team at work, but maybe the biggest highlight was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Dressing for the evening, I felt like I was playing dress-up. I even paid attention to the bag I was carrying and swapped out my canvas bag for a little bag that only held my wallet, my cell phone, and some lip gloss (you know, like those big girl evening clutches…kinda). Walking into the theater, I was almost giddy. Thankfully, my husband was helping me not make a fool of myself who wanted to act like a little girl in a candy store. It was definitely an evening to remember.

Friends

Having lived in one place basically all my life, it was hard to move to a new city. It was tough having to find all the basics, like grocery stores. It was even more tough to realize we’d have to exercise those friend-making skills. I was asked to work with the teenaged girls at church in the LDS Young Women’s organization, and I remember feeling extremely nervous. I didn’t know anyone there, and I was supposed to teach and help the girls learn about God and grow into beautiful young ladies. But I met