2011: A Retrospective View

ast post of the year! I can't believe that 2011 is just about done; where does the time go. Usually every year I do a best and worst list of that year. The list usually contains things from pop culture instead of my actual life. This year I decided to reflect on this year in regards to me and talk about a couple of things from the year. I took the idea from my friend Ashley and her blog Rich in Smiles and Miles. Reflection is always important and this blog has allowed me to do a lot of it. Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you all! 

 

January 2011

A lot of firsts happened in this month, including spending a New Years in DC.  I had an epiphany about some feelings about someone close to me; love and I realized that was an emotion I had never felt for someone else before. Looks like daddy issues haven't completely killed my soul. I just hope that moving forward I can remain open and not close myself off again.

February 2011

Moved into the best apartment with some of the best people a girl can ask for. As long as I live in D.C I will always be a Bay Streeter. I finally live in a place where I feel at home and enjoy laughing and lounging with my roomies. 

roommate helping roommate

March 2011

I think of this month as a transitional month; there happened to be a lot of shifting going on in my personal and professional life. I think I was struggling with a lot and didn't know how to ask for help. It was that middle of the year slump that a lot of people go through. I did however decide to apply to the Peace Corps (which I did).

April 2011

Camp City Year! One of my favorite things in City Year. We hold a camp during spring break for the kids of D.C. It is our time to spend time with different students and just have a little fun. This year's theme was Around the World in 5 Days. It was truly great and I also liked working with corps members that I didn't get to work with before. I still have to say that my corps year's Camp City Year was better but that is becuase I am completely biased. 

May 2011

My fellow senior members and I worked really hard on our Senior Corps initiative. We.WENT.BIG!  We decided to have a summit and bring together corps members from DC and NY. On our own we were able to get CYNY members to DC, get them places to stay, feed them, and lead them in a weekend of service and site seeing. It was one of my proudest CYDC moments. After all the headaches, long meetings, and some tears we accomplished something that had never been done before! I have really come to miss that group of people. Much love to the 10-11 CYDC senior corps.

June 2011

I finished my second year of City Year. It was rather bitter sweet. It was a very long year and I times I thought I wasn't going to make it. At the end though I was proud to say that I got to cross the stage with my entire team intact, hand in hand.  Also my beautiful friend Danni gave birth to her first child Brady and I fell in love with him instantly. I love watching Dan be a mom, she is such a natural and I love being Auntie Char to another beautiful little baby.

Pool time with X!

July 2011

The best 4th of July party on the planet happened on my street. We had a block party and closed the street down. It was so fun to spend a hot July day with my friends and neighbors doing the Cuban shuffle in the street. I cant wait for next year. 

dancing in the street

 August 2011

During this month I took a much needed vacation. I finally got to travel back to my home land of Washington state and it was one of the most amazing trips I have taken in a long time. I spent some quality time with my childhood friends and through this trip I realized that home is where the heart is! I would like to be back in the Pacific Northwest in a few years, nice and settled breathing in the cleanest air you've had the pleasure to sniff and taking in the spectacular views.  I also got to go to No.Cal and spend some time with my best friend Marge in her home town of Santa Rosa. It was absolutely beautiful, gosh I miss mild summers. 

Marge and I making faces on Lombard St.

Two of my oldest friends!

September 2011

I decided to start this blog and the rest they said is history. I wanted to be a more active participate in my life and just stop making excuses for all the things I wanted to try. I think I was always afraid of not getting it right or not being good at some things and then being made fun of for it. I finally decided to say screw it, I am going to do what makes me happy. 

October 2011

I got to spend an amazing Halloween with great friends and through that experience I realized how lucky I am! In  this post I talked about my experience with CityYear and the joy it brought to my life because of the people it brought into it. I am truly thankful and blessed to have those people for they have change me forever.

 November 2011

I turned 27! I got to attend the Jay-Z/Kanye West concert and that was truly an unbelievable experience. I would attend that concert a million times more. I also got to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and my friend Marge. I loved that she got to see my family after I got to spend time with hers. I got to reunite with most of my X teammates during the Heart Walk. X and Friends raised just about $3,000 dollars for the American Heart Association. I am so happy to have all of those people in my life.

December 2011

This month has not been an easy one. I have been dealing with a couple of things that have tried my patience in life. But through the difficulties I made some crucial life decisions and I think that I am stronger for it.  This New Years I will be keeping it low key and just spending the night with some movies and champagne and my pups; I am perfectly okay with that. There was a time where I needed to be at the hottest party and put on my highest heels and be out sweating at some club but I am very much okay just being with myself.

Look out for more List posts! I just signed up for my first tap class yikes! I tihnk 2012 is going to be amazing just because I'm living! 

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and happy New Year!