All right folks – the hoopla of Christmas is now safely behind us and thankfully we can now lend our attention to more important matters at hand: the upcoming close of yet another year.

You know, I remember when I was a kid and August rolled around… the thought of Christmas and the first time I’d get REAL time off from school, seemed SO – FAR – AWAY. Now that I’m older it seems that I blink and all of a sudden it’s fall (well, spring here now) and then hello, it’s Thanksgiving. And from there, it’s a sleigh ride into Navidad and all its commercial glory. After New Year’s it’s Valentine’s before you even have a chance to double check your resolution list and well, from there it’s just a matter of seconds before you’re planning your Memorial Day bbq’s. I mean, the space time continuum has significantly shifted to high gear since I was a kid. I don’t know. Maybe the 80s were just a slower decade… perhaps each decade before that was even slower! For all we know, maybe the 1930’s took an entire 20 years to complete! I’m just sayin…

For this reason related to the speeding up of time, I’m especially glad that prior to my adventures in blogging, I kept a diary, a detailed account of my days really, ever since I was 7 years old. Just as I started to slack off on my diary entries, I started to blog. Somehow, somewhere, there is a full account of my life, should the case be that I ever become famous and a highly controversial public figure (as this will prove to be QUITE the arsenal in my life – either for or against me.)

In short, I can sum up this year of my life, from Jan 1, 2009 to these last few days remaining in December 2009, as having been full of love, growth … and technology.

Leaving aside the egocentricity of my blog, right now I’d like to remember (as well as capture in writing) the love that bloomed for my dearest friends this year. Beginning with Amanda and Adam, who were married at the New York Botanical Garden on May 24th, 2009.

Followed by the marriage of my friends Corey and Chris on August 8, 2009…Happy, happy, happy couple!

And on December 25th (or 24th, not sure since I don’t have the full scoop yet) my dear friend Lauren received the much anticipated proposal from her boyfriend (now fiancee), Mark. To say that I’m beyond thrilled is a fierce understatement and I won’t even THINK such an inappropriate sentiment… I’m over the moon happy for them both and no words available to me in either Spanish or English can adequately sum up how happy I am for them.

Somewhere in between all the love my friends were getting (and giving) I myself got the proposal I thought I’d never, ever receive. I swear, there were times in my past life when I’d sit in my room, hearing story after story of college classmates who were dropping like flies into the realms of marriage. WHAT ABOUT ME??!!!, I used to think. What was wrong with me? Was I not lovable? Was I forever destined to be with men who didn’t appreciate me, respect me or regard me? Or was I forever meant to be with boys who were about a mile short of becoming men? For the above-mentioned two type of guys were the only ones I seemed to land! So I spent time and again feeling sorry for myself regarding men and wondered if I’d ever have a husband and a family of my own … until finally I came to terms with being alone and I was actually relishing the new found contentment about being single when LO AND BEHOLD, when I least expected it (as cliche as that sounds) in walks destiny.

June 7, 2009 – the day I wondered about for about two decades, the day I feared would NEVER, EVER come… finally came… :o)

Note that the first thing I said to my mom when we called her (about 15 minutes after this picture was taken) was “OMG mom someone wants to MARRY ME!!! Can you believe it?” That caused a good chuckle from her and him alike, but trust me, there was a part of me that was kind of in awe with this concept. Grateful, but in awe nonetheless.

But none of this love shmlove stuff could have POSSIBLY happened without the other two things that are prominent about my 2009: technology and the move.

Technology could only take Gonzalo and me so far. While he lived in Santiago, Chile and I lived near San Francisco, CA I’m not sure how long our relationship would have ultimately lasted with such a distance. However I do know that it lasted as long as it did despite being apart thanks to mobile communication devices (i.e. cell phones), Skype, email, Facebook and the Internet in general. I can’t imagine it now, but my life pretty much evolved around my Skype time with him … did I make plans after work with girlfriends? Yes I did. But trust me, they were far fewer than my life prior to Skype time. And well – what woman doesn’t appreciate lugging herself up the steps to her apartment after work only to find a box from 1-800-Flowers containing tulips, or roses, or what have you, sent from her boyfriend living thousands of miles away?

Ultimately though, the only way our relationship would survive was for one of us to transplant themselves to where the other one was … that person ended up being me since 1) I don’t have kids and he does and 2) I speak both languages fluently, thus the likelihood of my adjustment being faster was greater. That move was well documented as it gave rise to this blog … for more details on that part of my life, check back to past entries. Notably, those from July. Hence, one of the major marks of my 2009 was the move from the U.S. to Chile to be with my one and only. Obviously something so maje rightfully takes center stage this year.

The final element of 2009 that I mark with great significance is that of my job/career. I sadly watched as many of my coworkers were laid off earlier this year due to the flailing economy and our company’s reaction to such a decline was that of self-preservation. This makes sense and when my coworkers left, I was (thankfully) left to step into roles that were left empty … and these roles helped me learn a great deal about 1) being thankful to have a job, 2) adjusting to (corporate) emergency situations 3) appreciating that one’s company has such confidence in the abilities of the (remaining) employees and 4)turning on auto-pilot and just getting things DONE. When I realized that it was time for me to leave California and move to Chile, once again my job showed me that life could go on with them in tow too, as they allowed me to keep my job even after I moved. Maybe it was because they need me as much as I need them but either way, it was a great moment in 2009 when I realized that my company really did like me. I like them too. Oh, I have my grrr moments (and definitely had them earlier this year after all the lay offs) but in general, it’s been a good 2009 job-wise and I’ll be forever thankful that I was one of the people that could say that about 2009. I realize that many people can’t.

So now that the Christmas bit is over and I’m about three days away from welcoming 2010, I’m sad to see a pretty good year come to an end. Each year on December 31st, I’m anxious about the upcoming new year especially since past years haven’t been as great as this one has. I hope 2010 is even better (hi, the year I’m getting married and the year I start my Masters program!) but even if it’s just as good as this one, I’ll be more than happy and equally as grateful.

So until 2010, fellow bloggers and blog readers, I’ll leave you with all my best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful 2010, in all ways! And don’t drink and drive. :o)