2011: The Year of the Unexpected

Running in the Snow...I told you it was the Year of the Unexpected!

Cake from my Boyfriend's Mom & Valentine's Day Party Outfit

Pillows I sewed!

For me, 2010 was full of careful planning. I went overseas (to Scotland) for the first time and I started my first 'career' job. I also bought my Prius after considering it for years, literally.

Trying a Juice Diet

2011 was entirely different. It seemed like everything happened to me and without my consent and it all sort of just happened, kind of on accident.

Exploring the New Condo

I bought my first home, the condo for which this blog is named. I moved from my home that I had lived in for two years without a second of planning or forethought; my boyfriend of three+ years and I now live in different cities. I started out the year looking for a house in an entirely different part of the city, a house for my boyfriend and I to share! So that just goes to show that things do not always go as planned. Last year was full of those types of lessons for me; I had to learn how to be OK with things not going as planned.

Last year I also went to my second semester of graduate school and my first semester of an MBA program. On top of that, I was accepted to an even better school (in a different city!) that I never thought I would be able to attend. (Namely because I had been rejected from a different graduate program at the same school two years before.)

I also visited my dad in Alaska and installed a point of sale system for him. That was something I didn't really plan and definitely could not have predicted. My dad also visited me TWICE, which is really unheard of since he is very busy all of the time. In addition, my grandparents visited my part of the country, as did my aunt and uncle and I even drove up to an extended-family-reunion in Tennessee.

My Suitcase next to my Boyfriend's Mom's (Guess which is mine)

I took trips to Palm Beach, Florida, Miami, Florida, Savannah, Georgia, and Orlando, Florida. Although all year I dreamed of going north (New York City, Portland), I ended up heading decidedly south, time and again. I'm not complaining, no way. This is just my reflection on how strange and unpredictable this year has been.

I visited Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens. That trip alone is one of the strangest I've ever been on. I also designed and had published my boyfriend's thesis - something I never could have guessed would happen!

The year ended with my brother having Christmas with me and my boyfriend's family, which was completely unexpected and last-minute.

What a strange year 2011 was! I hope 2012 is just as exciting.

Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens