Dear Friends,

As the clock struck midnight and I watched the ball drop in New York, signaling the start of 2008, I put on my running shoes and headed out the door. I literally started the new year off at a run. I can't remember if it was on the right or left foot. It seems to have been the correct foot though.

For that first run of the year, I was bundled up in several layers and hat and gloves and had to avoid snowdrifts on the side of the road. When I go for a run at the end of this year, one layer will suffice and I will have to avoid the cactus on the side of the road. I started the year at a run and it seems like I have never slowed down.

I turned 30 this summer. I like being 30 a lot more than I liked 29. To celebrate, I talked my dad into running the Deseret News Marathon with me the day after my birthday. The idea was to qualify for Boston. But an ankle injury six weeks before the race changed my goal to just finishing. And I did! I even did better than I did when I ran the same race in 1997. There is just something almost fun about running a marathon.

I have been running through my personal library too. I set a goal to read a total of 52 books this year. I have been grabbing many different books off my shelves that I do not know when I would have gotten to otherwise. The variety of books I have grabbed has been quite fun.

Of course a few of those books have been textbooks. At the beginning of the year I left my job as the computer teacher at Mount Mahogany Elementary in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The direction I'm running has now taken me to Tucson, Arizona. I am a full time student working on a Ph.D. in learning theory at the University of Arizona and a part time graduate assistant. My name is on the directory for the education building! I think that is pretty cool.

I could not be running through my life alone. My family is a wonderful cheering section and great support team. This year they grew by one when my sister and her husband had a baby boy at the end of August. As a proud aunt, I can honestly say that he is the smartest, cutest boy ever.

I am grateful for all who have gone with me a mile or two or more in my life. May we all continue to run a good race, fight the good fight, and finish the course before us as we keep the faith.

May the blessings of the season be with you and your family now and in the new year.

Com amor,
Lisa M. Giles