Happy New Year

Hello, my dear readers!  I promise that soon I will post about my last two field trips and M&D's visit...right now I'm in the middle of reading days, so once my finals are out of the way and I'm just working on my papers, I'm hoping to take some time off to update you all on that.  (However, I have recently gotten a Tumblr, so for mini-updates on things like my new haircut, feel free to follow me!)  Failing all else, I'll write those posts on the plane ride back in six days!  In the meantime, I've been writing a reflection on the New Year that I wanted to share with you.

2011 didn’t quite turn out like I thought it would, and I’m ending the year in a different place than I thought I would on this day in 2010.  Not just physically (although that too!), but also emotionally, mentally, psychologically, and spiritually. 

This has been a year of enormous growth.  This has been a year when I have pushed myself to my breaking point and beyond.  This has been a year when I have learned to fight for what I deserve.  This is a year when I have realized that sometimes, the strong and right thing to do is to walk away, even though it can be incredibly hard.  This has been a year when I have had my heart broken, broken a heart, and begun to heal.  This has been a year when I have worked toward finding a balance between academics/work, extracurriculars, and personal life.  This has been a year that has brought me some incredibly dear new friends and renewed my bonds with old ones, and this is a year that has taught me to value and appreciate them to the fullest.  This has been a year when I have learned a few lessons the hard way, but they’ve made me stronger.  This has been a year when I have gotten a little better at saying "no" -- but I'm still working on this one.  This has been a year when I have figured out how to be happy by myself and developed my independence.  This has been a year when I have challenged myself in a big way.  This has been a year when I have decided to try and let go of my planning and scheming for my life and just follow my bliss.  This has been a year when I’ve taught myself to look for the good inside the bad, and to always find something positive to take away.  This has been a year of enormous opportunity and amazing new experiences.  This has been a year when I have cried until I couldn’t cry anymore; when I have laughed until my abs were sore; when I have tossed and turned all night; when I have smiled until my cheeks hurt. 

So based on my experience of 2011, what do I expect from 2012?  I don’t know, and I’m learning to be okay with that.  But I do know a few things.  It won’t be a perfect year:  it will be a year of tears and anger, but of laughter and joy too.  It will be the year of my 22^nd birthday.  It will be the first year in almost a decade that I spend the better part of the summer away from California.  It will be the year I take my last college classes.  It will be the first year in half a decade that I will begin as a single woman.  It will (hopefully, application pending!) be the year that I officially begin my teacher licensure program. 

I think that’s about all I know for sure about the next twelve months, but I also have a few hopes for the year ahead.  I hope it will be a year of love, adventures, friends, and more personal growth.  But there’s 366 days to look forward to (bonus!), and tomorrow’s just one.  It’s time to live in the present.  I’m not sure I believe in resolutions (not that it stopped me from making a few), but I guess that’s my biggest challenge to myself for 2012.  Have a happy new year, everyone...I plan to :]