2007: Year in Review

2007 has been an amazing year. Dave and I did and experienced things we only dreamed we would get to do.

Let’s start with running. In March I received a surprise and found out I had been selected to be a part of the Goody StayPut endurance team. I received massive hair care products in return for representing the team at local and national races. My first race as a team member would be the Boston Marathon. After training for 12 hard weeks, we showed up in Boston this year greeted by a Nor’easter. Weather bulletins looked grim and after shuffling down to Boston Commons to catch the bus, I decided not to do the race. In hindsight it was a poor decision as the weather improved, but I had no desire to sit in the pouring rain and wind for hours waiting to start the race. Three weeks later, though, I ran the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati and ran a great time of 3:38. I had the privilege during the summer to run with five of my track girls in a half marathon. It was an honor to be a part of their tremendous goal. Dave and I, along with several of our friends, decided to run the Columbus Marathon this year. I chose to do it to help my friend Mary qualify for Boston. Leading up to the race, Dave and I ran several smaller races, including one half marathon in which we both did great. Dave achieved one of his Life List goals by running under two hours. He smashed his personal best by 10 minutes. Unfortunately, the weather tripped us up again this fall and we were not able to run the Columbus Marathon the way we had anticipated. I ran a 3:44 and failed to help Mary qualify for Boston, and Dave ran a 4:38. He says he is never running Columbus again! :) I am looking forward to running Boston again this spring (Nor’easter or not). This will be my 10th marathon and I plan to do it up in style.

Dave and I took our dream trip this summer. Years ago we wrote our Life Lists and in 2007 decided not to wait to accomplish our dreams. Early in 2007 we decided to just go for it and booked our airline tickets to Italy. After months of planning and much studying by Dave, on June 3rd we boarded our flight. We flew, we traveled by train, we utilized the subways, and made friends with the water taxi all in an effort to experience Italy. For 2-1/2 weeks we toured Milan, Florence, Montalcino, Lucca, Rome, Venice, and Zermatt, Switzerland. There are so many stories that it’s hard to condense into few words. Dave loved Florence; I loved Venice; and we both want to return to Zermatt. We ate great food, drank lots of wine, and soaked in the Italian goodness. I am so glad we decided to take that trip.

Continuing along the theme of accomplishing our Life Lists, there were many other things we got to check off. For our fifth wedding anniversary this September, Dave surprised me with a hot air balloon ride. Although I was a little bit scared, it was amazing. We got to watch the sunrise and surprisingly the ride was very smooth (although not the landing). During the summer I was contacted by a publishing house in Cleveland that wanted to use one of my pictures, a self-portrait nonetheless, in a book about Ohio State fans. My picture was credited and I received two complimentary copies of the book. “For Buckeye Fans Only” will be available on December 28th, 2007.

And finally I took a leap of faith this fall and started my own business. For years I have wanted to go into business for myself and on October 31st that dream became a reality. Meredith Gordon Photography was launched on Halloween and we have been busy ever since. People have been saying such kind things about my art and I look forward to further growth in the years to come.

I never imaged at the start of 2007 my year would go the way it did. What will 2008 hold? I hope to continue pursuing my photography business and hopefully it will develop into something full time. I plan on running the Boston Marathon again this spring and will be pursuing new personal running goals. And mostly, I want to search for new life goals and dreams and begin checking more off my list.