Before officially starting the new year, I'd like to acknowledge the changes and growth that took place over the past year. It was a whirlwind of changes, sometimes so dizzying that I wondered what I was doing and occasionally questioned whether, or not, I was making mistakes with my life. I followed my intuition, however, and it served me well. I'm here today, remembering the past year and ready to announce plans for this new year that has just begun. It's a beautiful life, isn't it Even when things seem dark and like there is a lot of pain, there is a tremendous amount of potential for new growth and a brighter life than ever imagined.

I ended 2008, perched on a summit and ready to take flight. Before I fly, however, I'm standing still for a bit and enjoying the view. I feel like the entire past year consisted of climbing to higher and higher plateaus of an enormous mountain. While climbing to each new plateau I stumbled, held on for dear life, saw amazing things, and became stronger.When reaching each new plateau, I'd spread my wings and leap, circling the mountain's circumference. But, I wasn't strong enough to fly straight to the peak. It was a year of gradual growth and change -- and I found myself becoming stronger and stronger as I reached the summit.I'm certainly not the same person who started this climb. I have transformed into a more genuine version of myself, a younger and stronger woman emerging from a lifetime of guilt and fear. As I stand on this summit, I feel youthful and invigorated. What lies ahead may be unknown to me, but I know it's within my ability to fly to the highest heights of ANY mountain, to see and do and experience ALL that I desire. It's going to be an incredible future and I look forward to sharing it with all of you!

In recognizing all of the accomplishments of 2008, I think it's important to admit that it wasn't one steady climb to the point I'm at today.The few years prior to 2008 were almost like my training in mountain climbing. Last year there were a lot of tears shed, along with a releasing of physical and emotional baggage that was still clinging to me. I openly shared what I was going through, however, after learning that keeping things inside was slowly killing my spirit. I think if I had to sum up 2008 in just one sentence it would be: In finally releasing everything, I woke up as my true self.

Positive Highlights of 2008:

• Officially launched PureJeevan.com and blog
• Continued preparing for Pure Jeevan's Raw Food Spiritual Ashram Retreat (including creating new raw recipes)
• Adjusted to having a puppy in our home
• Hosted a Kirtan Satsang
• Experienced mono meal eating for 9 days of Navratri
• Hosted multiple Raw Food gatherings in our home
• KDcat selected to perform as Kelsi in a "High School Musical" production
• Held a public Raw Food Q&A Session
• Conducted an extremely successful Raw Food Spiritual Ashram Retreat at Peaceful Valley Ashram
• Planning throughout the year for a MAJOR project (will be announced in Part 3!)
• Continued eliminating excess possessions from our lives
• Listed our home for sale and created a Web site to aid in sale: TheLuckHouse.com
• Online raw food friends came to visit at different times (Rawbin, RawTN, Blaq Berry, Kevin and Annmarie Gianni)
• KDcat officially sold her first piece of art to Annmarie Gianni
• Created and launched the world's first community-run raw food directory: AllRawDirectory.com
• Attended Raw Spirit Festival in Sedona, AZ
• Had life-changing experiences while in Sedona
• Pure Jeevan was fully embraced by Jim, who now shares Wendi's vision for, and commitment to, the raw food community
• Mapped out steps to reach some major goals involving the raw food community
• Invited to spend the day as a personal guest of Dr. Doug Graham for a conference in Pittsburgh
• Created Transformation video, documenting my raw food journey to health: View on YouTube
• Worked with Kevin Gianni on a book he's producing
• Worked on my first book, to be published in 2009!
• Launched a video series: Know Your Food
• Did prep work on a new health reporting series we're launching in January
• Attended Green Festival with Rawbin to assist Jeff Rose, president of Natural Zing
• Interviewed by Bunny Berry of RawFu.com
• Interviewed Kevin Gianni for an exciting event we'll be conducting in 2009
• Nominated in the Best of Raw 2008, Favorite Raw Vegan Educator category
• Completed two incredible eBooks that will be offered for free to all who visit Pure Jeevan

WOW!? Not too bad for a year, eh? Well, we're even MORE excited about 2009! Right now is the most auspicious time of our lives. The excitement is palpable here, friends! The very moment our home sells, we're heading full-on into the unprecedented new growth and a brighter life mentioned above.