The Syndicate

It was a great time and the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to -- very fitting for two very beautiful people!

And yeah, that bar was the rocccccks.

That is so lovely, Socky.

I have so much gratitude this weekend for major things, but I will tell you instead how much I enjoyed the quesadilla special at Tijuana Flats.

I've been journaling and notating how many things I am grateful for versus how many things are bothering me or things I am perceiving as obstacles. I've noticed that since I started (Feb 4th) the lists have flipped on their heads and I have way more positive things going on than negative. Once you start chronicling your mindfulness and gratitude, crazy things might happen!

Wow, great newS! thanks for the update!

A Person wrote:I am thankful for Alison for being a confidante's confidante and also for the rest of my shred friends <3

Awwww, Matty!

<3 Shred

bea wrote:If you ever need someone to talk to let me know. I love helping people even when all I can do is listen. If you want, I'll pm you my cellie number.

Oooh yes, thanks! I'd want that anyway tbh

Aww bea, what a tragic and transcendent story! I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that though. Thank you for sharing. I'm glad it had a happy ending!!

It's definitely not easy -- I'm a pretty private person, you won't see any of that on facebook, so I appreciate all the nice sentiments you have all expressed today.

Awww, thanks, guys! <3<3

birdwithteeth11 wrote:I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm glad that you were able to find some healthy outlets for all the crap you've been through in the last year (none of which was your fault either). I say it's time to raise our glasses, say piss off to the last year, and look forward to a year that will be full of happiness and success for you.

Also, me visiting next year definitely means a better year. :P

Thanks, puddin! Many drinks will be had.

Gratitude is an important part of one's yoga practice. So I'm starting a new thread for things we are truly grateful for in our lives.

Today officially marks the end to the worst year of my life. From now on, I'm officially taking it back.

A year ago today I was in a car accident. I ended up having surgery for it in March. In January, my cat was diagnosed with diabetes and he nearly died. In April, my partner of 8 years left. It's been a lot of crap on a lot of conveyor belts.

But I had this amazing, transformative, transcendant summer. What was once a weekly yoga practice quickly became a daily one. I made friends and transformed my body and mind. Things that did not serve me were left on my yoga mat, which quickly became a lasting symbol of my phoenix moment. I left behind so much baggage, both physically (30 lbs as of today) and figuratively.

The year started getting better over the summer as well. After literally years of searching, I was offered and accepted a sweet senior attorney position in Tallahassee at DBPR. The offer came 3 hours after the completion of my interview. The one downside is that the job was 4.5 hours away. This meant leaving behind dozens and dozens of friends (40 people came to my going away party!) and my entire support network.

But it wasn't my entire support network. Because there was all of you.

Mattmatt, my frequent beloved confidante and virtual personal assistant. Sweet Matty, David T, Alan, Vomps, and the rest of the shred fb chat for constantly listening to my stream of consciousness outpourings.

Gratitude to everyone that sent me messages seeing how I was doing throughout the year. And a lot of you probably didn't know what I was going through (and maybe now you might be thinking back to games where I was super overly defensive or prickly and it might make sense, ha), but you still showed me love and light. You don't know how much I enjoyed that kind word on what was probably to you a normal Thursday afternoon.

And of course I had Logan was my rock all year. He got the brunt of it and he dealt with it aplomb and grace. Thanks for all those times you had to stay up late to make sure I was okay or take pictures of your food to distract me or answer an endless litany of banal questions. We'll always have Murder Park <3

I want to thank everyone that came to visit me this year (Alex/Annie/Lo/Rob/Tasha), and everyone that will come and visit me in the coming year (David et al). If you want to see me, you know where I'm at!

Thank you. Feeling strong.

Much Love,
Alison/Mongoose

The Life You Save May Be Your Own