Carpe Diem 2010!

Wow. I was just looking through my photos and I have had an AMAZING year. 2009 treated me so well, and I'm sure that 2010 is going to be great as well. My mantra this past year has been ENJOY LIFE...EVERY DAY, and that's exactly what I've been doing - well, trying like hell! Last January I rung in the new year at Fred & Bridgette's beautiful home in Esterillos Oeste, Costa Rica. There was the beautiful Jeni throwing fire, the AMAZING band - Aaron Nazrul & The Boom Booms, and little did I know that from that night on I would have a wonderful, supportive family in the people of Oeste. I spent the following months surfing and eating and discovering my intense passion for YOGA. Taylor who owns the bar Que Nivel in Dominical hosted my 22nd birthday party and the whole town came out for it! When I came home to the States, Shawn and I worked on us, staying warm and finding an apartment. We ate and took mini-trips to Philly for vietnamese food and DiBruno's. I had some amazing shows with Christian and Sven at Coffee.Comedy throughout the season, and I learned how to finger-pick on the guitar. I became close friends with the lovely and wonderful and generous Jim and Eileen. They gave me the confidence in myself to teach yoga, and I was blessed with the opportunity to teach yoga 3 times a week at their home in Ocean City. I worked my ass off, sometimes to the point of a mini-meltdown...tears and all {sorry for this Shawn!}, but I made a bunch of money and used that to fuel a fun filled winter. The fall I spent surfing as much as possible, Shawn being my personal wave forecaster, and Jeff Pace being the motivation to put on a wetsuit. We had great waves this fall, and almost every evening was spent hanging out with my family and eating...a lot. I spent several days on the vineyard at Natali...picking grapes, drinking wine andeating good food. I felt a love towards the grapes and discovered a new respect for the process that goes into producing wine. November took me to an amazing adventure in Ecuador, with the amazingly adventurous adventurer, Pat, My "PIC" {partner in crime}. I got sick in the jungle-had to leave early and get a shot in the butt, drank beer floated with vanilla ice cream and fresh pineapple, ate a plate of Chugchucara, and made some amazing friends along the way {ie BAR from Israel}. I rode a horse up to the tippy top of a mountain in Banos, drank straight from a stream bubbling out of the earth, biked 60km down a mountain, and soaked every night hot baths, one that was 118 degrees fahrenheit. I sailed through the majestic Galapagos Islands aboard a hundred year old wooden sailboat, logging amazing experiences and makin great friends. I returned to Costa Rica, blessed with a beautiful house to watch for a month and a community supportive of my desire to share yoga {thanks to vago for letting me have classes at the bar, pat for being my cheerleader and for my wonderful dry-erase board, and for all of my dedicated students!!}. I had to return home to the States for Christmas for personal matters. My Dad discovered that his brain tumor {first discovered 8 years ago} began to grow, and that immediate action needed to be taken. The tumor is inoperable, and can only be treated with chemo and radiation. Shawn flew home with me and I've now spent the holidays with my family. I've always known how important my parents are to me, but this has made me realize even more how fragile life is - and how you need to be thankful EVERY day for the people in your life. Since the discovery of my fathers situation, we have received endless support from family, friends and even acquaintances. With their love and support we are bound to beat anything that comes across our path. 2009 - you have been wonderful: insightful, challenging, upsetting, exciting....lets hope 2010 is just as great.

“Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.”

Here are the highlights of 2009....some choice photos that I felt were necessary to share. Check them out - and play them as a slide show! (I'm told that you need to put in a password: the password is: cailincallahan)

Click here to view photos