Just Another Day

Good morning!  I am still in my pajamas and on probably my 10th cup of tea, trying to drum up the strength to drive up to my parents' place for New Years Day shenanigans (aka competitive charades).  Even though January 1 is actually a pretty arbitrary deadline, the act of flipping the calendar over to a new year tends to make me reflect on where and who I was just 365 days ago. Needless to say, a lot has changed since January 1, 2011:

One year ago, I was engaged to this guy:

Newly engaged in India, May 2010

...and now, as of July 9 2011, I am a married lady.  Sometimes this still hits me at weird times, like when I am sitting in meetings or at happy hour and I'll suddenly think to myself holy crap, I am married! 

...I was in a long-distance relationship and was living by myself for the first time:

My old bedroom on Emerson

Living room on Emerson

now I am living with husband in our first shared home.  I was worried that this would be a huge adjustment but really it isn't.  In all honestly, living alone got pretty lonely sometimes - and this is coming from a serious introvert who really needs her space.  Living with Ben has been a really welcome change, and it's nice to have someone to share vaccuming, cooking and dishwashing duties with.  Oh and also I love him a lot.

...I was still in grad school, studying with these kids:

MBA Charity Auction

"Spring Break Training."  Pow.

but in May I graduated...

Big kids

and now I have an amazing job with a ginormous corporate entity. Woo.

...I had just discovered Anusara Yoga and was nervous about the upcoming immersion. I now count the immersion as one of the most transformational experiences of my life, and can't imagine my yoga practice without Anusara as the cornerstone.

Being upside-down and curvy...not as scary as you would think

...I didn't have any pets (except my vicarious pet Maggie). Now Ben and I are the proud rescue parents of a dog named Sidney and a cat named Minerva McGonagall (aka Mini). Last year I lived alone, now I have a cozy family(ish) of four.

Mini

Sidney

But I also realize that despite all the ways in which my life has changed, much is still the same. Yoga always challenges us to see sameness and harmony rather than difference and division and when I think about it, I realize there is more about my life that is the same than different.

I am still blessed with the most amazing family and friends a girl could ever ask for, I still have music, reading, my yoga practice...and I am still in love with my best friend.

Yay friends!

Our amazing wedding party - brothers, sisters, cousins and friends

At the wedding with all of our college friends who made it there

With my High-School girlfriends at the wedding

Pre-wedding Twins Game

At my 10-year (!!) High School Reunion

One conclusion I've come to over the last few years that one should never define who you are by your job, your wealth, what you are studying, what degrees you have, your appearance, or how others see you. If you let yourself be defined by things you have no real control over, you are ultimately setting the stage for major disappointment. Obviously I'm not perfect and I am still working at this, but I know that what defines me are the things I love and believe in - the aspects of myself that would hold true no matter what job I hold, no matter where I live in the world.

And with that bit of cheesyness, I hope you all made it safely into 2012. And also I hope the Mayan calendar is wrong and that the world doesn't end this year, because life is pretty damn good and I would prefer that it continue. :)