Goodbye 2008

It's been some time since I wrote here. Got lazy during the holidays. But I have to write one more post before the year ends. 2008 has been a great year for me. And if I look back, this will be what I remember and what I've learnt...

1) I settled down in my new home. I get to see Yin How every night before I sleep and every morning when I first open my eyes. I fully utilized my kitchen, learning new recipes. I formed a new routine and began a new life.
Lesson learnt: Marriage is a commitment from both partners which involves a lot of work but results in absolute happiness

2) My baby sister has finally started university. Made me feel so old but excited and relieved at the same time. She's now a step away from being independent.
Lesson learnt: Oh gosh... I'm getting older

3) My team of originally 2 people has now grown to 8 people. A lot of new challenges to face at work.
Lesson learnt: Try not to takes things personally, focus on what's important and ignore what is not

4) My childhood friend, Soma, finally got married after being together with Raj for 12 years. We had a crazy Hen's night and it was a great grand wedding celebration.
Lesson learnt: Having a friendship of 12 years, then being there to witness her marriage is one of the most priceless experiences ever

5) I found freedom and broke free from my personal family problems. I started warming up to relatives and went to see my grandparents whom I have not seen for over 5 years.
Lesson learnt: Just because my parents are screwed up, doesn't mean that everybody else in the world is the same

6) The Hen's night my friends organized for me. Too bad I can only remember the first few hours of the night. I just remember being the happiest girl in the world. Of course, my dear friends enjoyed the night since I was their main source of entertainment, babbling the most embarrassing things which I couldn't remember the next day. But hearing about what I did that night from them was hilarious.
Lesson learnt: Never get drunk to the point I can't remember anything.

7) And of course, the thing that I will remember the most from 2008 is my wedding dinner. I spend the first half of the year planning for it and everything turned out exactly like how I wanted it to be. I broke almost every Chinese tradition there is about weddings and the wedding dinner turned out the be the craziest wedding dinner with an unexpected dance at the end. :)
Lesson learnt: Weddings are about celebrating the most important day of your life with the people you love. If you want to do something your way, don't bother what other people say, don't bother about the traditions, don't bother about the rules, just do it exactly how you want it to be and it turn out to be the best thing ever

Looking back at this year, I feel that it was really a great year so I am a little sad that I have to say goodbye to 2008. But I'm eager to say hello to 2009, another new year with new experiences and new lessons to learn. So before the year is up, I would like to say...

Happy New Year!~~