Goodbye, 2011

2011 was a wonderful (and at times challenging) year. I think I learned a lot and grew in so many ways through the process. I thought it would be fun to jump on the "Year in Review" bandwagon, and take a little chronological look through the events of 2011... 

I kicked off the year by starting in a whole new career direction. After quitting my 9-5 work as a government employee, I started working as a part-time voice and piano teacher. Wow, it was like culture shock for a while (but in a very good way!). I got an email one day from the music school where I teach, asking me what I wanted my schedule to be, and I broke down in a fit of happy tears. It just felt SO good to not be forced into a rigid work schedule under constant micro-management.

As you can see from the photo below (taken the day after my last day of work, we went out to dinner to celebrate), I was a little crazed from the whole experience!

In early January, I sweet-talked my husband into letting me bring home an adorable, furry creature whom we subsequently name Agatha (Aggie, Aggs, or Aggs Benedict for short). We have never regretted this decision... except for perhaps when we came home at quarter to midnight on Christmas Eve and found that she had puked in our living room a total of EIGHT times...

It's ok, we still love her.

(one more gratuitous cute kitty photo)

We undertook one of the biggest home improvement projects we've done so far, and painted our ugly cabinets! We also replaced the flooring with tile, and re-laminated the countertops.

It's like a whole new kitchen!

On the blogging side of things, I finally delved into the world of fashion blogging. My "Blue Skies" refashioned skirt garnered quite a few rave reviews, and I was totally encouraged to keep on with refashioning and posting about more sartorial topics. These posts have definitely been my most popular, which is super fun! I hope to have quite a few more in store for 2012...

In June, Josh and I took our first "real" vacation as a married couple, and went on a big road trip to Virginia to visit my huge family. Note: my family members are not overweight, there are just a lot of them.

In VA, I got to meet my blogging buddy Jane from The Borrowed Abode in real life! She and her boyfriend (now fiance) Ryan invited us to there casa for a BBQ and the most delicious strawberry cupcakes I have ever tasted. Meeting a blogging friend was one of the funnest experiences! It made blogging seem so much more "real" and helped me realize it's value in my life even more. Yay for blogging!

In July, I got to be a part of an opera program here in MN. It was a little nerve-wracking, and the first time I sang classical music in public for 3 years, but it was so rewarding. It opened up a new realm of possibilities for my singing and teaching career!

My family celebrated not one, but TWO engagements! (Well, technically, engagement #2 happened on January 1 of 2012, but who's keeping track anyway?).

So far, 2012 is looking to be a pretty awesome year. One of the things I'm looking forward to most is going to California with my handsome man for a wee vacation in February... should be fun!

Blog-wise, I'm really inspired to keep truckin' along. I'm hoping to keep up the same types of posts, but add in quite a few more fashion/refashion inspired posts. My goal is to write at least one each week! 

What are some of your goals (I hate the word resolution... it just begs to be broken in my book) for the New Year? Is there anything that you would like to see more of on this ol' blog? I would love to hear your thoughts!