Looking Back at 2013

Every month this year I said at least once that I was astounded by how rapidly time was moving--it feels like it was just yesterday we rang in this year, and now a new one is here! This past year has brought change upon change, in my family, in my career, in my diet, and in my body, so while the days have flown by, I've attempted to cram in as much as I could. As I started to ponder my goals for 2014, I wanted to reflect on where I've been and what I've done in 2013. So here are some highlights.

• In January I became acting manager of my little library, interviewed for the job, and became the real deal in February. 
• Over this past year as manager, I've been busy:

• I changed the staffing configuration (we got a second librarian!), 
• We more than doubled our programming statistics
• There were so many building problems (we had ~3 floods, HVAC problems up the wazoo, and people may or may not be using our roof for no good reasons)
• Our entire collection has been dramatically weeded, and we've removed an entire row of shelving to make a new space for patrons.

• In February, my parents left to serve a LDS mission in the Dominican Republic. They went first to Santo Domingo and are now in Santiago. My mom keeps an awesome blog of their service--helping the people of the DR become self reliant, finding education and employment. 

• March was when I decided I needed to become a responsible adult and start cooking for myself--with my parents far away I guess it was time to grow up (though that makes it sound like they cooked dinner for me every day, it was more that I didn't regularly eat meals, just junk food, frozen foods, and sandwiches) I figured if I was going to eat regular meals, they should be healthy, so I started using an app I'd downloaded when I'd got my phone. Called Lose-It, it allows me to track what I'm eating, how much I exercise, and track my weight. I didn't actually have a scale for a week or so after I started it, and my doctor said I weighed at 213 in my last check up in 2011.
• When the weather started to get warm in April, I started running using the couch to 5k app. At first I couldn't run for a minute without panting so hard I was coughing, but by July I could run 4 miles at a time.   

• For Cinco de Mayo I marched in a parade for the library!

• June is always crazy in library land, with school out and summer reading programs in full swing--and of course it was the time we needed to replace our youth services librarian. Good times.
• July was full of fun--I was in a pet parade, ran with my sister to watch my sister run a race, and finished the couch to 5k program, running my longest distance ever.

 

• In August, my sister in law ended up in the hospital for a week, with complications related to an ongoing illness she struggles with, and my brother needed to stay with her. My sisters, my brother in law, and I spent a week babysitting their 5 year old--it was great to spend time with her, but a challenge working around all of our schedules. And just a very short while after she was released from the hospital, one of my sisters was checked in the same hospital to give birth to a new niece! 
  

• I closed out September by running my first ever (and maybe last) 5k with my cousin--since it was my first race it was my fastest time for the distance at just over 28 minutes! 

Meya strutting in October

Note my not matching knee braces.

•  Unfortunately, in October my knees started to hurt worse from all the running, and after seeing a doctor and a physical therapist, I've been on the sidelines since then--though I've been swimming and doing my physical  therapy exercises. 

• For Thanksgiving, I visited my uncle and aunt bringing a tasty jello dish--I even got a photo!

Polaris Express Party!

•  December has been a crazy month--we had several huge software changes at work that we've been planning, training, and focusing on for the whole year. I did a lot of cooking for work related events--and started this blog in late November to track some of the things I've been cooking.
• On December 10th, exactly 9 months after I started with my resolution to watch what I eat and cook regular meals, I reached my goal weight--losing 75 lbs. Yay! Now is the hard part of keeping it off. It seemed like a long time while I was doing it, but a short time looking back.
• Just before Christmas my two younger sisters and I went down to the Dominican Republic to visit my parents. It was fabulous to see them, and see all the amazing things they are doing. It was also nice to be warm!