December 18 Shop. Online or offline, where did you spend most of your mad money this year?

There's probably quite a few of these.  Shade Clothing earlier this year -- I bought a ton of undershirts from them before we left for California in April.  Target, most definitely.  Fry's Marketplace -- I mean, that's where I grocery shop about once a week.  Best Buy -- we bought two laptops this year.  I'm more than positive that there are more, but these will have to do.

December 17 Word or phrase.  A word that encapsulates your year.  "2009 was _____."

2009 was beautiful!

December 16 Tea of the year. I can taste my favorite tea right now. What's yours?

I'm not a huge tea drinker, more of a Dr Pepper gal.  But when I do drink tea it's generally Arizona Green Tea w/ honey or some raspberry tea.

December 15 Best packaging. Did your headphones come in a sweet case? See a bottle of tea in another country that stood off the shelves?

This one honestly stumps me.  Packaging is something that always catches my eye, but for the life of me I can't think of any great packaging.

December 14 Rush. When did you get your best rush of the year?

I'm going to have to say when we got married.  I was happy, nervous, scared, excited, thrilled, anxious and so many other emotions.  But it was a great rush and I was so happy!

December 13 What's the best change you made to the place you live?

Going from this:

To this:

Then to this:

And finally this:

December 12 New food. You're now in love with Lebanese food and you didn't even know what it was in January of this year.

Eggs. Steak.  Not much else, but lately I've been trying to leave my comfort zone -- my food comfort zone, I mean.

December 11 The best place. A coffee shop? A pub? A retreat center? A cubicle? A nook?

For me, the best  place is being right at home.

December 9 Challenge. Something that really made you grow this year. That made you go to your edge and then some. What made it the best challenge of the year for you?

I guess I'll just go ahead and pick to obvious challenge I've had this year -- marriage. Even though to me it doesn’t particularly feel like a challenge, more like a blessing. I feel blessed that I’ve found someone who loves me and who wants to spend the rest of their life with me.

But it’s still a challenge. You have to make the relationship work. You have to communicate. When you fight, you still have to talk it out and resolve the problem. It’s always worth it though.

December 8 Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?

La Jolla, CA

December 7 Blog find of the year. That gem of a blog you can't believe you didn't know about until this year.

I can't really pick ONE blog.  I'm going to have to say it's almost every single blog I've found this year.  It's the entire blogging community.  I started my current blog in April of this year and didn't really expect to get much out of it.  But I've actually found a great community of women (and an occasional man).  I had no idea how large the blogging community was until I actually got into it.  I've actually made some great friends.

These women are there for eachother.  Whether it's during the two week wait, or trying to pick out a gift for their husband or boyfriend, or trying to pick out a new tattoo.  They're there!  Ask them for help, and you'll get at least one willing person to help you.  It's great.  I haven't had many friends lately, in real life.  So it's wonderful just chatting with these women.  They're all remarkable.  I'm glad I've found each and everyone of them. :)

December 6 Workshop or conference. Was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial? Where was it? What did you learn?

I honestly don't have one.  For my work we don't have to go to workshops or conferences.  The only worked related thing that I leave the office to go to are client lunches and they're pretty boring.  I mainly end up sitting around the entire time because I'm the youngest one there and can't relate to anyone. 

December 5 Night out. Did you have a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked your world? Who was there? What was the highlight of the night?

The best night that first comes to might was my "Bachelorette Party".  I wasn't 21 yet, so drinking was out of the question and my house wasn't available because Hubs was having his bachelor party with poker, beer pong and a keg.

For my party we went to Olive Garden for dinner then to Castles N' Coasters for some goofy golf (putt putt, whatever you'd like to call it).  Then afterwards we went to Sonic for some drinks.  When the night was over we went back to my house and crashed the boys bachelor party.

It was a great night.  I got to hang out with my best friend (at the time), mom, sister-in-law (Nicole), family friend (Nanette), and soon to be mother-in-law (Marie) and sister-in-law (Krysten).  We had some good laughs.  They gave me a crown, sash and some necklaces that I got to wear all night.  At Olive Garden they gave me some naughty gifts, which made people at the resturant laugh.  Golfing was great, until I got HIT IN THE HEAD WITH A GOLF BALL.  Yes, you read the correctly.  I got hit in the head with a golf ball that a little girl hit.  Her parents were more concerned with finding her golf ball than apologizing to me.  THEN they tried to steal my golf ball.  Even though that was the worst thing that happened that night, it was definitely the highlight.

The rest of the night went by pretty well.  No more golf balls to the head, which was nice.  When we got back to my house I was showing off the huge knot I got in my head from the golf ball.  Everyone found it pretty humorous.

I know it's not your typical bachelorette party, but then again I'm not your typical girl.

December 4 Book. What book - fiction or non - touched you? Where were you when you read it? Have you bought and given away multiple copies?

There are two books that I've read & I fallen in love with in 2009: 

I read both of them mainly on the bus and on the way home from work.  But occasionally when I got a chance I would read some from home.  If you have some spare time, ever.  I suggest you pick either one of these books up! :)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen was actually recommended to me by a friend I went to high school with.  I'd never even heard of it before, but I'm really glad I decided to read it.  It's one of the best written books I've ever read.  I literally could not put it down.

I can honestly say that I am in love with every single one of Nicholas Sparks' books.  Realistically all of his books are the same.  They meet, fall in love, something tears them apart but then they always end up together -- for the most part anyways.  But I guess that's just the hopeless romantic in me that loves these books. 

I didn't give out multiple copies of either books.  But I did send Water for Elephants to Whitney in Missouri and I let my sister-in-law, Nicole borrow The Lucky One.

December 3 Article. What's an article that you read that blew you away? That you shared with all your friends. That you Delicious'd and reference throughout the year.

Now forgive me, but I can't really remember an article that "blew me away", per se.  But there's one article that I read recently that definitely stands out.

Study Touts Success With 'Female Viagra' Drug

What I want to know is; what was going through those women's minds when they thought they were taking an antidepressant and all of a sudden they started feeling hornier than usual? 

December 2 Restaurant moment. Share the best restaurant experience you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?

The only resturant moment that is standing out in my mind right now would have to be the place we went to right after we got married for our wedding dinner -- The Spot.

It was just a great time.  My new Hubs, family, couple of friends, great food and good laughs.  There's not much else that I could really ask for.  And guess what I had for dinner?! A CORN DOG!  And it was amazing.  So amazing that I even went back for another a few days later. (Yes, I did wear my wedding dress to dinner!)

What is it with me and awkward faces?

December 1 Trip. What was your best trip in 2009?

By far I would have to say the best trip of 2009 was going to La Jolla, CA with my fiance (at the time) and family to get married!  That's definitely something I'll never forget. <3

I think everyone should check out this post from Gwen Bell's website.  Join in on the Best of '09 fun! :)