I’d say the majority of my time online are spent either using these words, learning about these words or playing with these words. Pretty cool. Have you done one for your site?

December 23 Web tool. It came into your work flow this year and now you couldn’t live without it. It has simplified or improved your online experience.

Tonight I sat here a while thinking about all the web tools I use for both work and personal, trying to decide which one meant the most to me. I pretty much exist because of web tools. I’m not joking here. As the Community Manager and SEO for SEOmoz, I spend my entire day online. Usually communicating with people through social media, instant messaging, email, pretty much anything you can imagine. If I’m doing site audits, I use a gamut of tools from various Firefox plugins to Google Webmaster Tools.

Although all of these are essential to my daily life, there’s really only one that helps me focus during the day. Only one that can instantly pick me up if I’ve had a bad day, or take me back to a specific moment in time. Whether I’m working in a coffee shop or from home (and soon to be from the office… WOOT!) I couldn’t go through the day without Pandora.

As I type this Pandora is playing “Ixtapa” from Rodrigo y Gabriela and it makes me smile. How many web tools do you use that can put a smile on your face? Exactly.

Family

Career

Personal

Life

Challenging

Crazy

Engaging

Colorful

Tough

Tiring

Lovely

Eye Opening

New

Long

Short

Fun

Transforming

REWARDING.

This was a year for change for our family and for me personally. The one word that encapsulates 2009 for me better than any other is “Rewarding.” Oh what a year. Whether it was watching our sweet daughter grow into her personality, changing careers, or nourishing my relationship with my husband, 2009 was rewarding.

I can only hope 2010 has as much to offer as 2009 did.

Today’s topic for the #best09 blog challenge:

December 17 Word or phrase. A word that encapsulates your year. “2009 was _____.”

December 8 Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?

As a working mom it’s definitely difficult to find those moments of peace. Lately I’ve realized I need to take steps to ensure I get even short moments where I’m not working, thinking about my family or any number of million things that need to get done in a day.

Although I’ve started making sure to do little things like give myself a facial mask every now and then, stretch and breathe before going to bed or even play sudoku to take my mind off things, I still have a long way to go.

The view from my hotel room in NYC

The one moment though that stands out to me was on my trip to New York in October. One night after having dinner with co-workers I was ridiculously full and decided to go for a walk. I didn’t go too far really, just a few blocks around the hotel. It was a crisp night and it was great to feel the vibe of the city.

As I walked through Times Square (not normally an area of the city I love) where the flash of the lights and the sound of music and other noise is deafening, I ran across this man playing “drums.” In those few minutes as I stood there watching this amazing guy I forgot where I was. His music grabbed me and pulled me in. The craziness around me was gone.

The moment didn’t last long… a few minutes at best. But I had my handly flip video camera with me and had been shooting all sorts of random things that evening. I actually didn’t even realize I was taping (is that even the right thing to say??) him until I went to put money in the hat and remembered!

Walking through the city that night was somehow quite relaxing, and this man playing drums was the icing on the cake. I walked back to the hotel and the wind had picked up. When I got up to my room I realized  I was absolutely freezing, but the smile on my face made me forget all about it.

Oh! And I can’t forget this gem. Although it wasn’t the most relaxing part of my stroll around NYC, it was the most exciting! This is how my walk that night began:

Yea, uh huh. That’s Jude Law! Maybe this is what kicked off the serenity in my walk.

I <3 NYC!

December 6Workshop or conference.Was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial? Where was it? What did you learn?

This year I attended 8 work related conferences and spoke at 4 of them. One thing I’d like to focus on this coming year is speaking more in order to perfect that art.

As for the best conference this year, our own SEOmoz Training in August was by far the most informative, interesting and fun conference I attended. Each speaker had 30 minutes to an hour so they were able to really get into some in-depth information. Many conferences have 3-5 speakers on a panel, who have maybe 10 minutes each. This makes it really difficult to get anything other than high-level information.

Not only were the sessions great, but the entire seminar was a ton of fun. The food was great (which rarely happens at a conference) plus each night there were networking events that gave me the chance to talk with many of the attendees. I really look forward to next year and hopefully will also get to attend our training seminar in London as well.

Here are a few of my write-ups on some of the conferences I attended this year:

Favorite Tidbits from PubCon 2009

SEO Training Series – First Day Wrap up

The Good, the Bad and the Funny – SES San Jose 2009

Best Thing About Search Conferences

Jane and Robot Search Developer Summit

This is my version of Rudy and my recent road trip. I wanted to document it as well as attempt to take a few good photos. Rudy is the real photographer though, and if you want to see amazing photos of the trip, be sure to check them out here: Road Trip: December 5 – Laramie and Brush.

As I was going through the photos and trying out various free editing software, an idea formed. Why not tell the story in photos? It was a fabulous day, although it was seriously freezing outside. We look forward to having this road trips in Seattle soon!

I set out last night to write the first post about my best trip of 2009 (the topic for December 1st) but instead I ended up upgrading Wordpress, changing the logo and getting the site organized. I figured what the heck, there will be a new topic tomorrow right? Lucky for me today’s topic is your best restaurant moment of 2009… which just happens to have happened during my favorite trip!

This year I’ve had the opportunity to travel quite a bit for work; both to conferences and to the office which is in Seattle (I’m in Denver… for now). Which means I’ve had plenty of options for both the best trip and best restaurant experiences over the year. But the one that really stands out in my mind is the one where my family was able to join me!

In early June I had a conference to attend plus needed to spend a little time in the office. We decided it was a perfect opportunity to get my husband and daughter out as well so we took a nice long weekend. I headed out early, then later in the week, they joined me. This meant that my husband was in charge of taking our daughter on her first flight, by himself. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t do it, but there is just so much that goes into traveling with a child that I think he was a bit nervous about it.

Needless to say, the flight went great and having headphones and an iPhone definitely helped. We did some of the touristy Seattle things, like go to Pike Place Market and see the Aquarium. But mostly we got to know Seattle. What we didn’t realize going into it, was that by the end of the trip we’d realize how much we’d love living there.

With my job being in Seattle and working from home in Denver, it was definitely a possibility. But until that trip, I wasn’t overly excited about it. I’ll have to write more about the future another time… but for now this was my favorite trip of 2009. Not only did I have my family with me, but we made a decision as a team that Seattle was the place for us. (Of course at that time it was sunny and gorgeous the entire week! hah)

Now on that same trip, one morning (early afternoon perhaps?) we met up with our good friends Eric and Lindsay Wassell for brunch(ish). They had recently found out she was pregnant with twins, and we were trying to show off our little Eva and how awesome kids were. Eric was sitting next to Eva and was trying to keep her entertained. He was pretty good at getting his spoon to not slide off his nose (we won’t discuss how big his nose is… kidding!!) and she wanted to try! What came of this was lots of laughter and our 18 month old daughter sitting in a restaurant with a spoon on her nose, happy as can be. We laughed so hard at her glee!

It was wonderful. One of those experiences where the company, the food and conversation all mesh and you simply have a wonderful time. It wasn’t a fancy place. We didn’t spend a ton of money. We just had a great time. It was truly special and I look forward to going back there when we move to Seattle! (ok ok more about that another time) Unfortunately the Wassells have moved away, but some day we’ll meet up with the whole gang (remember, they’re having twins!) one of these days.

If only you could see the smile on my face from writing this. What a fun trip, and wonderful brunch! I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t show off my husband’s photos of the trip (see the full set here). He’s a ridiculously awesome photographer and I’ve grown accustomed to always having amazing photos of our trips.

I love you guys. Thank you for a wonderful trip!

I remember this day vividly. It started off with me driving to work very, very tired. As with most nights, I didn’t sleep very well. My sweet Eva had been kicking me all night, and I had bad leg cramps. But off to work I went, my co-workers had planned a baby shower for me, and I was really looking forward to it.

Right off, I got into a fight with a friend/co-worker. Of course I was quite hormonal at the time, and probably picked the fight. I was a royal pain the ass! I feel quite sorry for my fellow co-workers and am grateful that they didn’t all completely shun me. Anyway, I remember being quite stressed that day. I had to leave a little early because I was getting my hair cut after work. So I was trying to get everything done before I left.

I also had a lot of stuff on my mind, you know, being pregnant and all. Thoughts of packing for the hospital, a list of to-dos, etc. had been going through my mind. Anyway, I ran out the door that afternoon feeling bad for leaving my desk a mess because I had planned to work from home the next day. And I was still a bit upset over the fight I had had earlier. But nonetheless, I had a hair appointment I had to get to! I would clean my desk, and mend my friendship later.

As I drove home that night from my getting my hair cut, I remember being so so sleepy. I told myself that I would go to bed as soon as I got home. Of course, that didn’t actually happen. I let the dog out, made myself something to eat, then got online. I was trying to finish up my to-do list, and was feeling chatty.

When I finally went to bed, I remember laying there thinking about what all I had to do the coming weekend. For the most part I was ready for Eva, but I have a few last minute details to finish up. But no worries, I had the weekend to do that. Luckily I also had been thinking about what to pack for the hospital (of course it would have come in even handier had I actually PACKED the suitcase). And I remembered thinking, wow only a month to go. I bet this little girl comes earlier than that though.

The next morning, I awoke to a very strange feeling and quickly realized my water had broke. Eva was here. My life had changed for the better. Happy Birthday my sweet Eva! Thank you for making my life more enjoyable. I love you!

The morning of the speech we left early because we knew there were going to be 70,000 people attending and we wanted to stay out of lines as much as possible (yea right). I went with two of my cousins (one happens to be my baby sitter as well) and Eva’s daddy. The only lines we really had to wait in was while we waited for the gates to open. We were so early that security was quick and when we got into the stadium it was empty! (Even though it was empty, I still managed to literally run right into the 9 News team). We had a great time roaming the stadium and checking out all the shwag. We figured that we already looked silly enough wearing our bright yellow-orange T-shirts that we might as well get every button, sticker, hat, etc. that we could find. I think I did pretty good, and had plenty of “flare”!

As the day wore on, the stadium really started to fill up. It was exciting to see all the smiles on people’s faces. I heard rumors of people waiting in line for 4 hours to get in, but I didn’t hear one person complain (of course I waited a total of 30 minutes!). The vibe of the entire stadium was of pure excitement. I noticed that people were chatting with their neighbors as if they were long, lost friends. It was amazing to see the entire crowd rooting for the same team. Normally, at a football game, most of the fans are for one team or the other. And when your team is losing, the crowd gets crazy… yelling, drunkenness, rudeness, etc. Not here. Not now! There was a buzz in the air. People were laughing, smiling, dancing, clapping, cheering and helping one another. For example, at one point in the day we came back to our seats with our arms full of food. The guy behind us reached forward and pulled our seats down so we could sit. I guarantee that wouldn’t happen at a Bronco’s game!

Favorite shirt of the day: “Burritos for Obama” from Qdoba

Favorite sign of the day: “Obamalicious Bar-B-Que Sandwiches”

Throughout the day, there were bands playing, and speakers talking about why they were voting for Barack Obama. It was fun to see Stevie Wonder, Al Gore, and all the real people who came out to speak. I got goosebumps many times during the day for different reasons. It was just such a feeling of excitement. And not like the excitement you get before you go to a concert, or before you get a book signed by an incredible woman (yay Hillary!). It was different. It was the feeling that all the crap that we’ve been dealing with for 8 very long years is about to come to an end.

Obama didn’t come on stage until around 8pm that night, but hanging out with family and being a part of that amazing crowd for over 8 hours was worth it! It was a night that I will never forget and I’m grateful to have had the chance to attend such a historic event.

I have been trying to write this post for almost 2 weeks now. Every time I sit down at the computer to try to put my experience into words, I come up blank! The other day I realized that the reason this has been so difficult to write is that I have wanted to keep the experience to myself. It was such an amazing day, that I didn’t really want to share it with the rest of the world. The entire day moved me. But I realized it was time to open myself up.

Also, this is post is about my experience that day. I didn’t want to give a play by play of the day, plenty of other bloggers and reporters have already covered that.

Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality is a great book about Zen Buddhism written in a way that “normal” people can relate to. The author, Brad Warner, does a great job of speaking at my level. Now, I’m an educated woman but when it comes to Buddhism I’m a newbie. And I appreciate his approach. The book was easy to read and every chapter seemed to hit me with a punch in the gut… “read that sentence again! remember what it’s saying!”

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Oprah’s Book Club, Selection 61) is one that Oprah has recommended to the world. Seriously… she had online course and many many shows on the topic. This one was not as easy of a read as Hardcore Zen but it is quite engaging. I also found a number of “aha!” moments in this book.

Next books on my list (which I’ve already purchased yay):

• The Tao of Pooh – classic!
• American Nerd: The Story of My Peoplee – hehe this was a gift, telling isn’t it?
• Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen’s Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye – The sequel to Hardcore Zen
• This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Do you have any good books you recommend? Have you read the ones listed here?