This is The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge.

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How to participate:

1. Write on one or all thirty-one of the prompts below for the month of December
2. A post can be a sentence, photo or 3,000 word essay
3. Tag your posts and photos #best09. Follow others sharing their stories from the year. There's a widget at the bottom of the post aggregating mentions of the tag on Twitter.

Share your best moments of 2009 over the course of December. Don't get hung up on details or length - if there's an aspect of the question that doesn't resonate, change it to meet your needs.

December 1 Trip. What was your best trip in 2009?
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?
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.
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?
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?
December 6 Workshop or conference. Was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial? Where was it? What did you learn?
December 7 Blog find of the year. That gem of a blog you can't believe you didn't know about until this year.
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?
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?
December 10 Album of the year. What's rocking your world?
December 11 The best place. A coffee shop? A pub? A retreat center? A cubicle? A nook?
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.
December 13 What's the best change you made to the place you live?
December 14 Rush. When did you get your best rush of the year?
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?
December 16 Tea of the year. I can taste my favorite tea right now. What's yours?
December 17 Word or phrase. A word that encapsulates your year. "2009 was _____."
December 18 Shop. Online or offline, where did you spend most of your mad money this year?
December 19 Car ride. What did you see? How did it smell? Did you eat anything as you drove there? Who were you with?
December 20 New person. She came into your life and turned it upside down. He went out of his way to provide incredible customer service. Who is your unsung hero of 2009?
December 21 Project. What did you start this year that you're proud of?
December 22 Startup. What's a business that you found this year that you love? Who thought it up? What makes it special?
December 23 Web tool. It came into your work flow this year and now you couldn't live without it. It has simplified or improved your online experience.
December 24 Learning experience. What was a lesson you learned this year that changed you?
December 25 Gift. What's a gift you gave yourself this year that has kept on giving?
December 26 Insight or aha! moment. What was your epiphany of the year?
December 27 Social web moment. Did you meet someone you used to only know from her blog? Did you discover Twitter?
December 28 Stationery. When you touch the paper, your heart melts. The ink flows from the pen. What was your stationery find of the year?
December 29 Laugh. What was your biggest belly laugh of the year?
December 30 Ad. What advertisement made you think this year?
December 31 Resolution you wish you'd stuck with. (You know, there's always next year...)

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<b>December 25 Gift. What's a gift you gave yourself this year that has kept on giving?</b>

Personal training! So, in the past, i have always worked out <i>with</i> people. Sara Crodes was my gym buddy for awhile, and Heather was in two different phases, plus i had the karate school and could go to class with people i liked.

In CO, i found myself knowing nobody, and wanting to be healthy and active. And, you know, i know almost enough to work myself out and get the job done. But the job wasn't getting done and so i finally realized that not doing it with people made me less accountable, more lazy, and it was less enjoyable. So, for me, it is worth it to pay Nick to work out with me! Also, he is incredibly hilarious.

<b>December 26 Insight or aha! moment. What was your epiphany of the year?</b>

It is all recapped in <a href http://buzzlitebeer.livejournal.com/247825.html> this entry </a> but what it comes down to is that i finally realized and was diagnosed with real live endocrine issues. That has made all the difference in how i approach my quest to exercise, and eat healthy towards controlling my weight, but more so, how i treat my self psychologically. i am no longer mean to myself about my weight - bad pun, but a weight has been lifted!