2011 A Year in Review

Another year is drawing to a close. It hardly seems possible. The years, they fly by and leave lots of laughter and smiles and an occasional tear or two in their wake. As long as the smiles and laughter come more often than the tears I call it a successful year. This year was successful.

For a few reasons I haven't written here. Namely a reader or two who I no longer care to share any of my life with but I've decided I can't shut out those I DO want to share info with and the best revenge is a life well lived right?

So, I'm going to try writing again and filling you all in on my life. A lot of changes have happened in the last year and a half since I walked away from this blog.

Most notably my oldest son went away to war. It was hell letting go of him but our job as parents is to raise them the best we can and set them free to fly and hope they soar. I believe he is soaring.

I completely changed my course of study in college. Although photography is fun and is where my heart is, let's be realistic, it's never going to make me any money because most people with a passion for photography don't go to school to make it a career. They buy an entry level DSLR camera and charge 10 bucks for a disc of pictures. That will never pay my student loans back so I changed to a program that will support my family if I need it to.

I blogged this back when it happened in February but our 14 year old dog died. It was one of the saddest events of my life and ranks right up there with the loss of an actual human family member.

After the death of our old dog we brought in a new guy and holy moly he has turned our lives upside down and shook us around. Pip rules our world. Last week he was neutered in hopes he will try ruling our house and our car and our yard a little less. So far, no go. Good thing he is the cutest, sweetest boy I've ever laid eyes on outside of my actual human sons.

That's about it for the update of the last year. So much has happened that I have no idea how to put into words. My world is always changing but I'm a whole lot less resistant to it than I used to be. I'm learning that kids grow up and move away and no matter how hard you try to raise them right they will ultimately make their own decisions in life. I'm learning that it's best to never open yourself up fully to any person. A soul must always keep secrets to spare itself untold pain. That was the hardest lesson I've ever learned in life. I've learned that friends come and go and some of them you aren't at all sad to see go but your family will always be there for you and love you and to treat them with love and respect is of utmost importance. One would think that was a given, not so much. Life is a learning experience and I'm glad to say I'm always learning and morphing. I had a reminder of that this month. A few people from my very long ago past made contact with me and I realized the path I was on and the path I'm on now are barely even on the same planet. Always learning and growing.

I sincerely hope your 2012 is happy and prosperous and full of as much joy as you can suck out of it. I hope the smiles out way the tears ten to one. If they don't, change your perspective. Happy New Year from my family to yours!