Hello, 2011!

Nice to meet you. (I guess we were formally introduced 10 days ago, but I've been a little busy. Sorry.)

I kind of haven't done "New Year's Resolutions" in...a really long time. Maybe elementary school? And I think I resolved to brush my teeth once a day--I set myself up for success by setting the bar pretty low. The definition of a resolution, as was pointed out to me, is "a firm decision to do or not do something." I'm not great at making decisions, so instead I made a to-do list for 2011. I would love to get all these things accomplished in 2011. I work well with lists, so maybe this will help me actually get things done. But then again, I often find half-finished lists around my desk/car/nightstand. Therefore, I am making no promises to myself or to you. If any of these things do get accomplished, I'll probably blog about them and I'm sure I'll revisit this list at the end of the year for a little re-cap post.

To Do in 2011:
(in no particular order)
1. Make a T-shirt quilt out of my camp shirts.
2. Learn to make delicious macaroni and cheese.
3. Run! in a 5K race.
4. Find a charity to passionately support
   4.5 Support it.
5. Travel. as much as possible.
6. Prepare a book proposal.
    6.5 Send it off.
7. Give up something for Lent.
8. Complete my first year of grad school.
9. Finish making my throw pillows.
10. See the moonbow at Cumberland Falls, KY.
11. Blog often (3 times a week? Is it possible?).
12. Exercise more.
13. Learn to make paper cranes.
14. Make some art for my office.
15. Write Bible Study curriculum with Mary.
16. Film DaddyJim telling his stories from childhood.
17. Finish reading The Brothers Karamozov.
18. Make a Quotebook scrapbook for my college roommates (and myself).
19. Send off some poems for possible publication.
20. Volunteer.
21. Procrastinate less!
22. Try to grow some veggies (then eat them!)
23. Get dental insurance.
    23.5 Go to the dentist.
24. Comment more on the blogs I read.
25. Make a prayer calendar (and follow it).
26. Do my taxes before April.
27. Guest blog on a blog I read regularly.

[Also, just a side note: I was going to write these out all fun and cool with little doodles and quirky handwriting, then scan it and put it as a picture on this post. The first draft was kind of rough and then I added things to the second draft and it got smudged somewhere between Nashville-Little Rock-Louisville. The third and, I thought, final draft was looking pretty good until I realized I had skipped numbers 10 and 11. Then I gave up. Maybe I should add "Learn to count" to the list.]


Do you have a to do list for 2011, or some resolutions, or maybe just opinions about them?

Goodbye, 2010!

2010, you were a pretty fantastic year. Just in case you forgot, I thought I would review our time together.
I started off January with a new job.
In February, I had an article published on one of my favorite websites.
In March, I had another article published on that same website.
It was in April that I went on a very cold camping trip that brought me a new appreciation for campgrounds with bathrooms and a new scar for my knee. Also, I was a seat-filler at the Dove Awards and turned 25.
There was a flood in Nashville in May which made me proud of my church and my city more than ever.
June was hot. I missed camp. I played a lot of ultimate frisbee.
My best friend got married in July and I got to be her Maid of Honor (an honor that is on my imaginary bucket-list).
I started my first semester of grad school in August. I also played some flag football.
By September, I was already procrastinating and sick of the heat.
October was wonderful, per usual, and included pumpkin-carving, Halloween, and fall weather...finally. Also in October, I went to Eastern Kentucky on a mission trip and hit up two weddings in 24 hours (not in KY).
I was in another wedding in November and had some crazy days at work. Then my family went to a cabin in the woods for Thanksgiving.
I completed my first semester of grad school in December and sighed in relief. I went to parties, family gatherings, and a concert. I shopped and wrapped gifts. I wrote an article, got it published, and did some creative stuff. Writing haikus also became a new hobby.

Good times. Thanks for the memories, 2010!

Things I Like Tuesday: Pictures

Pictures are so fun. Maybe they speak a thousand words, maybe only two, but I like to look at them. And they're great at capturing moments. As I'm looking back at the year we're finishing out, I thought I would combine this already-planned TILT with a look back at 2010.
Here are some of my favorite pictures/moments from this year (of the ones taken with my camera, not my favorite pictures I've seen. I don't have the rights for all of those.):

Haiti benefit concert with Darilynn. This is a picture of Andy Davis and Dave Barnes. They were two of many, many artists. One of the best concerts I've been to.

Camping/Hiking trip with Mary and Bryan. The hiking part was fun.

Dove Award seat-filling. I, obviously, didn't know how to look in this pic with Nicole Mullins. Mandisa took the picture.

I'm still very sad that the taped messed up during this filming. I think this script was some of my best work.

I don't remember what we're laughing about, but I do remember we laughed until several of us were crying.

Posing at Erin's wedding.

Wilson County Fair!

Family Portrait Session

Finals week--in the t-shirt I wore for three days, holding the mug that held countless cups of peppermint tea. 

Very Merry Neighborly Christmas concert

fun idea in action

Yeah, Yeah 2009. Blah Blah...2010!

While I'm not much of one for cliches (how do you get that accent sign?), I felt that it would be entirely wrong to skip right over a new year post.

....though, I suppose I did skip Christmas (Hope yours was happy!)...

A new year, though. I mean, that's right up a blogger's ally (like I said, hate cliches.). And there are so many directions to go with it...stuff done in the old year, stuff to do in the new year, lessons learned, resolutions, experiences. And lists! I love lists.

So, here's my new year's post:

2009 was a year, to say the least. So many things--first things, last things--happened. I really did attempt to list them all out (because, I love lists...are you keeping up with this?), but even I got bored, so I scratched that.

2010 is super exciting. And I think I'll leave it at that for now. (I would tell you my resolutions, but I read somewhere that if you tell someone your goal, you're less likely to do it, which only kinda makes sense, but I'll go with it.)

To sum it up: 2009=a year. 2010=super exciting.