First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2011 was good for you. As I do most years, I'm going to take a few moments to reflect on this past year. Even though most of you reading this don't blog, I hope you all take some time to do the same. I'm not sure who said it but "if you don't know where you've been, you can't know where you're going." I'm also including some of the music that really truly shaped this year. Every year, I've said how important music is to me, but this year that was so very true! So press play and read on. :) And don't worry, it's not ALL Hanson. :)
So 2011 meant a great many things for me this year. One of the most noticeable, fun and hopefully long-lasting things was TRAVEL! I traveled more miles this year than I have I'm going to say my entire life. Being the math nerd that I am, I've figured it up for you. This is in no particular order and includes travel by Plane, car and bus and in some cases just the total distance away from home. I'll do a list so I don't ramble...
- Austin, Tx (3X) = 3,000 miles
- Lubbock, Tx (2X) = 500 miles
- Dallas, Tx (3X) = 2,100 miles
- Tulsa, OK = 700 miles
- Niagara Falls, Canada = 3,000 miles
- Albuquerque, NM = 600 miles
- Houston, Tx = 1,200 miles
- Corpus Christi/San Antonio, TX = 1,400 miles
- Paris, France = 10,000 miles
- TOTAL= 22,500 MILES
The next thing that comes to mind is my workout regiment. Thanks to my new workout buddy, Kristi, I joined a gym last January and worked out regularly for about 4 or 5 months. Now unfortunately, the fall semester did not bring me to the gym too often, but I think having done it regularly like I did will make it easier to go back. Looking back on where I was 3 years ago, I've lost 40 pounds! I'm hoping this year brings significant changes to my health goals. For one thing, I want to be proud of the pictures I take with my kids in Italy & Greece. Also, CRAZINESS- this year is my 10 year high school reunion. So I've started the year off right so far. I haven't had a soda since Tuesday and I'm hoping I can kick that awful habit this year. If I could go back to my 13 year old self and tell her to never drink a Dr. Pepper, I would do it in a New York Minute.
The next thing that was dominant through out the year was MUSIC! Most of you know about my rediscovery of Hanson. I'm still so blown away on the effect seeing that music video on VH1 in a hotel in Austin has had in my life. There may be people reading this that I only know now because of Hanson. I've had a very interesting reaction from lots of people to it. I've brought some people along with me. I mean, I saw Hanson 3 times this year!! I even got to meet them twice! I have to say that they were some of the nicest celebrities I've met, and yes I've met a few. I was able to go back and discover all of the music that they've been making the last 15 years and realized that I really liked it. I've also become more sure of the fact that I do not like listening to Amarillo Radio. I'm happy with my iPhone playing the music I want to hear, not what other people say I should want to hear. I also discovered new talent, Meiko, thanks to Hanson. In fact some of her stuff is playing on my playlist.
This year has also brought me to my 5th summer of being Assistant Camp Director. I'm in the middle of my 5th year of teaching! I can't believe that I've been doing it this long- either of those things! This year also found me back home with my family. It's been odd timing, cause I've been able to bring Bobby to school with me everyday. That has been an adventure as well! You know they say it takes a village...Oh, I've also spent this year tutoring one of the hardest working students I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. She's a senior and is looking forward to graduating this May! We worked hard all summer and got through all of her TAKS tests! I look forward to working with her cause I know she'll do great things!
I spent a few minutes reading some old blogs, some from this blog and from myspace blog. I started blogging 6 years ago! Reading a blog from 3 years ago, I was lost and confused and had no clue where my life was going. Something has happened in the past 3 years so that I'm no longer worried about where my life is going to be. I only focus on where my life is right now. That doesn't mean that I'm not making plans for the future. One reason I've been home this semester is to gain control of my finances. I'm so close to paying my credit card off that I can smell it. Now, sure it's a light smell, but it's better than nothing. One thing I do want to say, so it doesn't seem like I'm living with a blindfold is that I realize that life has not been great all year long. I'm just not sharing those things cause I think I'm still learning some things from them. One of those things is dating. 2011 was the year I gave dating a try. I'm not so great at it. Mostly cause I'm an awkward kind of person and I just need to find someone that finds the awkwardness charming. hahaha. But I did learn some things from it. One thing I learned this year, and I can't tell you exactly when it happened, is that even though things aren't always great, you can't focus on the bad. I'll give you an analogy, you know I love those! I'm terrified of the dark, it's one of those irrational fears that I've held on to from childhood. But I've learned to deal with it over the years, as long as I don't focus on the darkness. You have to focus on those small bits of light that help show you that the scary monster in the corner is actually just a coat rack and the man trying to grab you is just the window curtain.
Alright, that's what I got for my end of the year breakdown. I look forward to sharing what 2012 brings! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Make sure and listen/watch all of the videos on my playlist! You won't be dissappointed! :)
