2008 wasn't too bad.

I learned and loved. Loved and lost. Lost and learned.  Not necessarily romantically, but overall. All relative, really. And I spent more of my year here than anywhere else. Weird thought.

One of my best friends started a blog (ugh, that word!) and linked mine, which reminded me that it existed in the first place. (pssst, she is intogold.) My initial intention with this was achieved. I'm still positive and if I were to really name everything I was grateful for in every day, it'd be pretty sickening. 

That's not to say I don't get sad. Oh yeah, I get sad. Real bad. But I can always pick myself up out of it within a day because I've counted my blessings so many damn times.

So I'm thinking of a new angle. My small joys? Lord knows I can make lists of those. Maybe they'll remind people of their own.

So here's something to celebrate for today: I no longer feel like a stranger in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I remember quoting a Bright Eyes song every time I came home from college. (You know the one: I feel more like a stranger each t ime I come home). Well, that's not true anymore. Everything feels familiar again -- familiar enough to the point where I'm really going to miss it when I move to Portland, Oregon, this summer.

Speaking of Portland, isn't that something else to celebrate? The future? The possibilities the unknown holds? A year ago, I wasn't planning on being here, but I am. More proof is that you never know what is going to happen in your life. The thought of that alone is enough to keep me going.

Tomorrow, I'll go an hour and half southeast to see my cousin in the hospital. She got diagnosed with leukemia last week. And I'll tell you what, if she can smile and laugh knowing she has a road to recovery ahead of her, I can, too. And so can you.