It's snowing outside -- giant, fluffy snowflakes. They're deceptive, though -- they look warm, fluffy, cuddly, soft; if I were to grab them they'd be harsh, cold, wet, and instantly disappear.

So I'll sit here and enjoy watching them fall, part of my brain believing that perhaps they really are warm, fluffy, cuddly, and soft.

This has been a year of changes. I don't know that I've ever grown so much over such a short period of time. And the future has never shone before me as bright as it does now.

I saw the bottom of despair this year, and I saw the heights of joy and hope. It's all relative, of course. I could fall further, and I could be lifted higher. I know this. But these extremes were new for me.

I have never believed in myself so much, nor trusted myself so much. It's about faith. I have faith in myself. I know myself, and I can't help but have faith in myself.

I know I'm not flawless, nor faultless, nor infallible; no one is.

When I am old, I suspect I'll look back on 2008 as a revolutionary year for me. A wonderful year, a difficult year, and it will be bittersweet. No matter what happens, my memories of 2008 will always be bittersweet.

And may this next year, the year I turn 33, be the most amazing year yet, though it will also probably be the most difficult.