Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!! Tis the year of the Ox.
Wow - I cannot believe how quickly 2008 flew by. We just arrived in Tokyo a few hours ago and got settled into our hotel. I'm not sure, but I think we celebrated New Years three or four times on the plane. I know, it was very exciting... watching movies (Bottle shock, Ms. Pettigrew, Fred Claus) and eating airplane food (bbq beef, turkey sandwich, omlette).

Our holiday break in the US was fun but felt too short! Sleeping in our own bed felt fantastic. Driving was refreshing, eating American food was awesome. Our first meal off the plane? Chipotle - yummy. Christmas was celebrated with families on both sides - St Cloud with the Bergers and Connecticut with my side. East coast was everything we expected and more (seafood, pasta, steaks, cannoli's, dunkin donuts and so much more).

As I reflect on 2008 and our experiences, I realized how much I take for granted - friends, family, freedom and food! Other things to remember in 2008, in no particular order: (I'm watching CNN now - jet lag!)
*Bejing Summer Olympics
*Earthquake of Sichuan
*Melamine poisoning
*Myanmar cyclone
*Death of Heath Ledger
*Britney Spears breakdown (and comeback!)
*Democratic race between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama
*President elect Barack Obama
*Global economic downturn
*Opening of the 35W bridge
*Vote recount of Al Franken (who sang to us at our wedding) and Norm Coleman