Strive to dream, laugh and love everyday

I was sitting with some folks today talking about how 2009 got such a bad rap. I believe 2010 will be even better but I’m kind of sad to see 2009 go. It was one of the best years I’ve had in over 5 years, and here are just a few of the reasons why.

1. I discovered Swissmiss.com – a site that brings creativity to my desktop front door every day. I’m almost guaranteed to find something every week that makes me squeal with delight.

2. I accomplished my life’s dream of cage diving with great white sharks in South Africa. Yes, I’ve livd a short life so far but that makes this experience even sweeter…clearing the way for new life dreams!

3. I got to spend a spectacularly fun-filled week in Hawaii for my best friend Rachel’s 30th birthday. Kauai is my favorite Hawaiian island and spending a week there is like a week in heaven.

4. I flew home for a quick three day extravaganza to celebrate my 10yr. high school reunion. Not only did I have an awesome time getting drenched and handing out candy during the parade as well as partying it up till 3am at the local dive bar but I reconnected with some of my dearest friends from high school. Yes there’s Facebook but nothing is better than reminiscing in person over a cocktail in plastic cup back home.

5. Just one small note about work, I moved into Mobile interaction design and it has proven to be just what I was looking for – a new challenge!

6. I met one of the most influential persons in my life over the past 6 years and her wondrous name is Yasmin. Best gift a girl could ask for on her birthday and it kept getting better after that. Cheers to new friends and all the gloriously positive influence she has brought to my life. She honestly has changed my life, perspective and may have largely contributed to the deflation of my wallet.

7. I lost 13 pounds! Not only does that make me super excited, and a bit dumbfounded that I had 13 pounds to loose, but it was so easy! I’m still loosing a few most this year too. Looking forward to it, even if I only have al limited closet to I settle on my weight to be.

8. I discovered the infinite joy of Etsy.com and all the lovely treasures I so enjoy every day. Cheers to creative arts who decorate my body with their mind’s jems.

9. I discovered yoga and it was a health Godsend. It makes my body and mind feel so much better and I even have a nice set of feminine little pistolas to scare away all those bad guys. Who knew you could combine relaxation and exercise. Who knew I say!?!

10. And lastly, well last for this list because this list could go on for quite awhile, I love my new found obsession with dresses. Unfortunately right now I’m really hate that obsession because it’s too cold, but dresses are one of life’s simple pleasures. They are super comfortable, sexy, feminine, versatile and make my morning so much easier. I dread the task of picking out a daily outfit and with dresses I just have to pick one thing, grab some shoes and waaa laaa…off to enjoy my day.

Now I realize that I’m one out of several bazillion persons who got lucky enough to have an amazing 2009 but I’m sure there are a few things you also enjoyed about 2009…maybe a favorite food you discovered or a moment filled with laughter. Whatever the little nugget of joy you might have had in 2009, I suggest you write them down so that you can look back on this year in the future and remember what was good about 2009, not what was so bad.

Here’s a toast to days lived and those to come. CHEERS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53lGG0XuA5o

This is what describes me at work, according to the Clifton Strengths Inventory by Gallup. They are in order of strongest to less strong, these being the top 5. I think there are over 15 strengths you can have.

1. Activator: people strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

2. Empathy: People strong in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others’ lives or others’ situations. Empathy should not be confused with sympathy.

3. Adaptability: People strong in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

4. Competition: People strong in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.

5. Achiever: People strong in the Achieve theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

Me in a 5 strength nutshell.

http://sixrevisions.com/design-showcase-inspiration/70-examples-of-product-comparison-tables-in-web-design/

I’d love to see us embrace some of the techniques employed in these examples. For example, I love how examples #1,2 and 29 use visual cues to communicate the option sizes to the user. I also love the simple terminology used in example #8. Very easy to understand, except Agent. I’m not sure what that means. I also like the tab design of example #5. The design not only uses a different visual color or outline to distinguish the selected tab they made it bigger.

This blog explains it all, why I get soo excited to have a day with no meetings and why meetings are so exhausting for some of us…because we’re makers! We need time. http://paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

It has always been a dream of mine, or crazy adventurous desire if you’d like, to shark dive and see those beautiful great whites in action. Well, this June I packed up my bags for dreary winter weather and ventured down to South Africa with my mom. We waited three miserable days to finally get out and see those beautiful creatures and it was fantastic!!