2007, a recap

First, a weigh-in. Last night's partying put me up to 137.5. That sucks, but was foreseeable. Now I need to get down to 135 by Monday. For me "getting down" to a weight means I've been there for a day or two and usually have dropped below briefly. So the scale should read below 134 briefly sometime this week for me to have really reached that goal.

Now, a look back at 2007. A great, stressful, terrifying, and rewarding year.

January, Nate's mom had been in and out of the hospital needing a liver transplant. Nate's sister provided her with a liver and for a while we weren't totally sure about either of their health. It's a dangerous surgery because both parties have to completely change how they eat and drink and live.

Also in January I went down to Boston to visit with my sister Angela, see her new baby, Akiva, and got to see all of my sisters and brothers for a full week. We drank a lot of tea, walked all around Boston, bought the bridesmaids gowns and went to a science museum. It was a great week. Also a trying week. My mother told me she wasn't coming to the wedding when she was angry to know that we all got together in Boston. Don't ask, long story. But in the end, we had an awesome time, and my mother did indeed come to the wedding.

January 1st of 2007 Myia and I made the best New Year's Resolutions I've ever made. It was the first time I made a serious decision to lose weight and get healthy. And knew that I was going to make my goals because Myia was going to kick my ass into shape.

February of 2007 I finally hit the 150 mark for my weight, ran the Great Aloha Run (that time I actually ran the whole thing), and Myia and I went on a Dead-head on the Makani Olu. A good month of hiking, and being really focused on eating and living healthy.

In March the paddling season began again, 4 practices a week. Basically when paddling season is on, you stop having a life other than paddling. But, it was a really competitive season. I had made a commitment to continue to run, but it was hard for me. Myia did a great job of keeping in running shape, but I began to slack off on running. I did start to drop a lot of weight when paddling started though. At the end of March was Nate's birthday and I bought him a huge fish-tank to house his now huge snowflake eel. He loves that thing, so it was a good investment. And the eel is still alive even to this day.

I don't know if anything happened in April and May other than paddling, running, working and wedding planning. That part of the year is a little bit of a blur.

In June the paddling races began. I was lucky enough to be a part of the racing crew and raced consistently through regatta season. Unfortunately I didn't do the half-marathon because it was on the morning of a race. I'm sad about that, I really wanted to see how we had improved from the year before. We were so much more in shape and healthy this year's paddling season! The cross-training kept me in really good condition. And of course, in June, more wedding planning. Figuring out the last details, getting my dress fitting, doing everything last minute because for some reason that is always how it works for me. I am so grateful for Myia, Ananda and Joanna for getting me through June without cracking completely. Just knowing that the wedding was coming was an incredible stress.

In July, of course, was my wedding. What an incredible month. I somehow managed to get everything together before the actual ceremony began. My family came out, unfortunately Nate's family wasn't able to make it out here for the wedding. But my family really did their best to fill in for his family. They love him. I had the OHCRA championship races a few days before the wedding and my family got to come to a race. We also won, which was really cool. Nate and I got into a huge fight the night before the race. It is the first huge fight I can remember having with him in years. Weddings are a huge stress. But in the end the wedding turned out perfect. The beach and the weather were perfect for the ceremony. The bridesmaids looked gorgeous. Nobody was too stressed out or sick. Aunt Nancy took care of Titus. The pictures came out absolutely gorgeous. And Nate and I finally got married. The ceremony was so much fun, Katrina and Andrea put together music for the ceremony, Aunt Barb and Uncle Nick got the cake (since I forgot), and Boardrider's threw together a hell of a meal with very little input from us. It was fantastic and I'll never forget that day, that week, that month.

And then, at the beginning of August, Myia finally took the biggest challenge there is and moved to a cold-assed state to finish her degree. It takes a hell of a lot of guts to move from Hawaii to where you can't even go outside cause it's so cold. And I'm incredibly proud that she's gonna finish getting her diploma because so many people just give it up after time goes by. We had a hell of a party for her, we drank a lot (well, Myia drank a lot), we had the longest Aloha Circle I've ever been a part of that included shots of Tequila and a karaoke microphone, and then Myia had the best after drinking vomiting party. She was puking, there was ukuleles and singing, we were all chatting. And then Josh had to put her in the car with a, I forgot what Kara called it, a vomet helmet or something like that. Basically a plastic bag with the handles over her ears so she wouldn't puke all over herself. I'm gonna seriously miss that girl.

So, it is left to Ananda, Denby, Joanna and I to continue to the path to healthiness on our own, without Myia telling us what to do. It has taken 6 months for us to pull our shit together on that.
Anyway, August was State races for paddling on Kauai, and we came in third, which is pretty darn cool if you ask me. We were up against some incredible teams.

I'm sure more happened in August, but I think paddling, again took most of my time. After states we immediately started training for distance season. I continued to hear that it is all training for Molokai. So we trained hard as hell, I lost some more weight, we did some awesome long-distance races. I finally found out what it's like to do a water change. Scary as hell at first, but it really pumps you up. It's so hard to pull yourself into the boat. The scenery in those races is something that I will cherish forever. You don't usually get to see that part of the island from that close in the ocean.

In the beginning of September Nathan and I switched therapist positions. I moved from Hale Huli`au to a the voyaging house, Hale Ho`ohua. It was a good move, since I was so stressed out from this very challenging family I was working with.
Also in September there were a few more distance races and then finally the long awaited Na Wahine O Ke Kai. I did a blog on it in September. It was awesome, challenging, and so worth it. I don't think I'll ever do it again.

October and November were pretty routine, we did the Halloween thing, and we did the Thanksgiving thing. Mostly we just got back to work, paid off our wedding loan, shopped at Macy's with our wedding gift cards and relaxed. I think I probably continued to run through both of those months, but I most certainly didn't do anything spectacular. I did rejoin the YMCA finally so I can go to the classes and workout when it's raining. It's worth it.

December has been a fun month, preparing for the New Year. I decided on some goals to beat before New Year and was able to run 8 miles last Saturday. I tried to maintain my weight and did for the most part until last night when I ate a million pigs in a blanket trying to stay up for the fireworks. Christmas was excellent, Nate got 9 video games with the gift card I gave him, and he gave me scuba diving lessons. He got scuba diving lessons from his parents. I can't wait. We dogsat for two dogs and although three dogs is too many, Nate and I have decided we do want another small dog this year. We're gonna keep a watch for the right puppy.

All in all it was a great year, but I'm ready for 2008. I'd love to get our finances in better check, lose another 10 pounds, get a puppy, and find another job. This year was stressful, fun but stressful, especially since Nate's mom was in and out of the hospital so many times and couldn't fly out here. Mom Sullivan will be coming to visit in March. Hopefully we'll have the Preston parents out here this summer. I want to learn how to play tennis. I'm going to learn how to scuba dive. I want to paddle regatta season, but not distance. I want to run another half-marathon. I want to visit the east coast. I want to start working on getting my license for marriage and family therapy. I want to eat tofu.

I am sure there are so many things left out, like Andrew and Cristina getting engaged and Angela getting pregnant again.
2008 is a New Year, a new start. A time to get even healthier and more in shape. Here's to 2007, a wonderful year, and to a new start today!