2011 Recap

Well, here we are again...kicking off another new year and looking back on the one just past.

2011 was great and a very special and memorable year. Lots of change for sure! Last night as we were ringing in the new year, Jason looked over and said, "Do you remember what I said last New Year's Eve?" I responded, "Yeah, you said 2011 was going to be a great year." We then looked at each other and said, "It sure was."

Some 2011 highlights include:

January

Must have been wedding planning all month...

February

My bridal shower

Turned 27

March

My bachelorette party -wine tasting in Napa

April

Our April 2nd wedding...definitely the highlight of the year

Followed by our honeymoon to Maui

May

Finally able to relax and settle into our first place together

June

Celebrated my friend Kirsten's engagement in Tahoe

July

Our niece Adalynn April was born

Jason turned the big 3-0

August

Annual family trip to Tahoe

Started my 5th year of teaching

We switched churches and got plugged into a small group with other young married couples

September

My friend Kristina's bachelorette party to Santa Barbara

Jason's cousin's wedding
October

Our friends Matt and Mary then got married

Grammy turned 100

Took my first cooking class

November

Kristina's wedding

Started leading the young adults group at our church

December

Our first Christmas together as Mr. and Mrs.

2011 also threw us some tough curve balls. The first was when Jason's mentor (him and his wife also did our pre-marital counseling) was diagnosed with brain cancer in May. Then, the next month, Jason's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Both came out of nowhere, but we have seen God's hand of grace covering both of these situations.

With the new year also comes by blog-o-versary. Which means it's time to check in with my 30 before 30. Well, this year was a mini-fail with the 30 before 30. It's funny because I came up with this idea when I was single and had recently ended a relationship. I didn't want to get caught up into thinking I needed to get married, buy a house, and have 2 kids before I was thirty. There are so many other great things to focus on. Hence, I started brainstorming things I wanted to do before 30 (besides those indicated above).

Funny because by the time I finished writing my list of 30 things, I had already met Jason, and we had been dating for a month or so when I started this blog. I was still all about my 30 things, though. That first year I checked nine things off my list!

Well, then this year came, and I got married. And...I only checked three things off my list (and I had intentionally not put 'get married' on the 30 before 30). Mini-fail because I'm now 'behind' (in the sense that I should have half my items done since I'm at the half-way point to 30...welcome to my math teacher brain). But, not a huge fail because I did have one major (and great) event in getting married and then learning how to live life with someone else. Plus, a lot of the items on my list cost $, which was lacking after paying for half our wedding ourselves and then setting up our place.

So, I guess my plan is kinda backfiring on me. But, I'm still moving on with my list.

Here is the updated list with what I accomplished this year and my changed items from the previous year. I definitely have a few more things I want to change, but I haven't finalized those quite yet.

Travel

1. Austin (completed June 4-6, 2010)

2. Boston
3. Thanksgiving in New York

4. Greece

5. Canada

6. Cruise (completed January 2010)

California Tourism

7. Alcatraz

8. Wine tasting in Wine Country (completed January 9, 2010)

9. Monterey Bay Aquarium (completed April 7, 2010)

10. Hearst Castle (completed August 8, 2010)
11. Lighthouses of California (from San Francisco to Santa Barbara)

Adventure

12. Skydive

13. Hike Half Dome (completed June 17, 2010)

14. Run a half marathon (completed October 3, 2010)

15. Triathlon

16. White Water Raft

17. Hot Air Balloon
18. Ski in another state

Intellectual/Spiritual

19. Read The Chronicles of Narnia ('Attempted' Summer 2011)

20. Memorize a chapter of the Bible
21. Take a Bible class
*Deleted Read 5 Classics*

Entertainment

22. Sharks Game (completed November 20, 2010)

23. NBA Basketball Game (completed December 31, 2011)
24. Live orchestra/symphony
25. Circus
26. Eat 30 ethnic cuisines that I have never had before (Added 9 new countries in 2011)

Personal Development

27. Cooking/Baking Class (completed October 2011)

28. Learn to sew

29. Start a blog (completed January 1, 2010)

30. *Learn Photography* (new)

I am looking forward to 2012, which I'm sure will be full of unknowns, uncertainties, and surprises, but rich with our God's love and mercy.