Missed these?
August (continued…)
We had a Wedding Rehearsal Luncheon
The next day we got married on August 31st, on a gorgeous sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky.
I posted lots of pictures. And more.
In September we left for our honeymoon. We went on a Mediterranean cruise….yeah baby!
I finally had the chance to unwind after my crazy and stressful year.
I.
still.
ran.
I was in the best shape of my life.
I saw the world’s biggest vending machine in a Barcelona subway! lol. Honestly what the hell! It’s a grocery store behind a piece of plastic!
On top of the world, or feeling like it anyways.
I also encountered the most horrifying bathroom ever in Istanbul.
The worst part of it was, this cost 1 Euro!!!!!!!!!
In October, we had a lovely Thanksgiving with Eric’s family. I baked. and baked. and baked. The plate of treats as well as the pumpkin cake (top right)
I flew my dad in for my graduation ceremony.
They were so proud. I was simply relieved it was all over. lol.
My proudest moment:
We went to my brother’s to celebrate that night
I was so excited I couldn’t contain myself. I baked and brought along a pumpkin cake.
Too much sugar. Too much booze. 
Late October, Oh She Glows was born. After my whirlwind of a year, I was ready to start a hobby for FUN. It was now time to find some me time.
I knew that I had been on an amazing journey to health over the past few years, and I thought that my story could help others too.
On Halloween day, I wrote my first post for Oh She Glows. It was really exciting.
The blog took off in the past 4 months, and I couldn’t be happier. I have the best readers.
In November, I worked, and blogged my lil heart out, and moved into our first house.
In December, I got my first treadmill
And registered for my first half marathon race in May 2009.
We traveled out West to visit my family for Christmas.
And there you have it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What the pictures don’t show are the tough times.
The weeks and months when I didn’t think I could handle working and grad school at the same time.
Feeling like I could never finish my thesis. The wedding stress.
The fights.
Oh yes there were lots.
These moments do not get captured on camera. But they are all too real.
I think it is important to also convey that life isn’t perfect. My life isn’t. and yours probably isn’t. It is an illusion. My life will never be perfect but that is the beauty of it all. There are ups and downs. The downs make us appreciate the ups. And so it goes.
There were lots of tears in 2008.
Lots of times I felt like throwing in the towel. I contemplated quitting my job and/or grad school many times. Eric and my family dealt with all of it, like the amazing people they are. I cannot thank them enough for getting me through this past year.
In periods of stress, I also struggled with my journey to health. Some days and weeks were tough. I was either eating too little or eating to fill a void. It is still something I work on to this day; how to deal with tough times and not revert back to old behaviours.
What I have realized this year, is that no matter how hard things were, I managed to get through it. I haven’t believed in myself as much as I should. I didn’t think I could do it, but I did.
So, in 2009, and years to come, I want to believe in myself. My abilities. My talents. My goals. My possibilities.
And you should too.
