Andy Gapin

I can’t believe that it’s 2008 already! I could swear that it was June only a few weeks ago! 2007 flew by so fast. It was a crazy year too. I had a lot of change in my life and in the things around my life as well…

The relationship that I was in for almost five years ended and I started a new one a few months later with the girl who I had met and become best friends with earlier in the year. I was “promoted” to a new position at my job. The radio station upgraded it’s signal by leaps and bounds. I got a new roommate. I reached a point where I could actually start saving money, albeit not a whole lot, while affording a decent apartment and all of my loans. I started this blog. And this is just what I can think of off of the top of my head right now. In the end, I would have to say that 2007 was a pretty good year for me and looking back, even though there were some really hard decisions that I had to make, I’m pretty happy about it.

Looking forward, 2008 is going to be starting off with a bang…literally. Just a few minutes after midnight when we lit off hundreds of fireworks to bring in the new year and I’m surprised that New Brunswick is still standing after it. I also am kind of surprised that there have yet to be any casualties during this New Year’s tradition.

In about a week and a half, I’m going to be going to San Fransisco. It’s a business trip, but it looks like I’ll have plenty of time to see the city and do fun things. I already got a ticket to see Cirque du Soleil. So that should be fun. I’m also planning a trip to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend and a road trip to Toronto to go see Evil Dead: The Musical again. I’m really excited to see it again since it was pretty much the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I also will probably be going to Vermont for a couple days and I’m trying to make it to Cedar Point later in the year. And as usual, I’ll probably be doing the radio station retreat to the Poconos.

Now that I’m actually writing all of these down, I can’t believe how many places I’ll be going to this year. Most of them will just be weekend trips, but still, it’s exciting! In the past five years, I haven’t really gone anywhere outside of NJ, PA, NYC so it’ll be nice to get away a bit. I used to go places more often, but in the past few years it just didn’t happen.

Beyond all of that, I will probably scale back my role at the radio station and for the first time in years, not have an elected position.

I don’t really believe much in New Year’s resolutions, since they tend to be the kind of thing that last no more than a few weeks. I also don’t think that you need a new year to make change in your life. However, there are a few things that I want to change with this year. I want to read more. I love reading, but it’s just something that I never find the time to do. So I’m going to try to find, or make, the time to do it more. I want to start exercising more, even if that just means that I start mountain biking regularly again. I got out on the trails a couple times in 2007, but if I could got at least a couple times a month in 2008, that would be awesome. And lastly, at some point this year, I want to get my software ready to be sold to other radio stations.

I also want to continue something that I started in 2007. I want to try new things. I started liking Thai food and, to a degree, sushi in 2007 and I’d like to try out more foods as well. I also want to do and experience new things beyond food too.

While I’m sure that things will be just as hectic as they always are for me, I am looking forward to living a life with a lot less stress this year. I think that some of the changes that happened in 2007 will help this happen in 2008 and taking a step back at the radio station can’t hurt either.

Cheers to 2008!