Sorry I haven't written in more than 6 months. Being a senior in college tends to mean all my free time gets devoted to writing papers, not blogs. Anyway, here is my year in review:
January--Went on choir to California. Highlights included San Francisco, Laguna Beach, and Disneyland!
February--Begin to see how much love and patience I have for Special Education students. Sang in the Valentine's concert. It was my first solo performance in years. I went through the application process to become a Resident Assistant.
March--Don't get the RA job. My roommate and I turn 21 within a day of each other and keep the party to a minimum (mostly because our birthdays were in the middle of the week!). We both wind up going on a surprise birthday trip to Sherwood Forest Faire, a Renaissance festival in Texas. My boyfriend and I go home to Colorado for Spring Break so I can show him how beautiful the mountains are. We visited the Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods.
April--I switch majors to Special Education, partly because of the job market and partly because of discovering my passion for it. Sang in the choir's performance of "Elijah" and had tons of fun! Finals week is particularly rough.
May--Osama bin Laden is killed on the same day I move home from college. I spend most of the month volunteering at the high school I graduated from, helping my mom and brother out in their classes. Mom forces me into a workout schedule. We have a Memorial Day BBQ party at the house. I start my summer camp job.
June--I get my First Aid certification for my camp job. My friends get married and I have some troubles getting down to Austin to be a part of the wedding party (summer thunderstorms stink!). I dive into the summer camp job literally with swim days. Skate days with my campers are pretty fun too. My parents renew their wedding vows after 25 years of marriage. My cousin gets married. Yay wedding season? I fulfill a promise to myself by seeing my first and only midnight showing of a movie...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2!
July--More camp job. I am really going to miss those kids this summer. My parents went to Belize for their anniversary. While I'm in charge of the house and dogs, I decide I need to find a new hobby. So I take up drawing. Haven't had much time to practice lately, but I'm getting better. My grandfather figure passes away unexpectedly, and my best friend's son turns two.
August--Camp job ends and I leave to Austin before school starts to try to find a job. My senior year of college starts with a whole bunch of classes having to do with how we learn language. It's actually a fascinating subject. I didn't expect it to be as interesting as it was.
September--I find an on-campus job in the IT department. My main job is helping professor figure out how to use technology. Major fires occur around the Austin area. Tenth anniversary of September 11th. Roommate, boyfriend, and I go to the Celtic Festival at Sherwood Forest. My friend from Midland and her boyfriend come out for a visit (first time I've seen her in a few years, and it's always a blast when we get together).
October--Car starts needing things like battery replaced. Wasn't expecting that expense. I get assigned to a first grade classroom for my teaching observations. My IT job becomes more interesting and more challenging with learning new kinds of technologies. My school gives me the opportunity to give up Fall Break to go help out with fire relief in Bastrop. I go see an Opera for the first time with my class. Halfway through Halloween, I realize my costume isn't just an anime character, it's also Abby from NCIS. :)
November--First choir concert of the school year reignites my passion for music. I give a student symposium about the history of Japanese anime, then the next weekend perform as Hansel in a scene from the opera Hansel und Gretel. I travel home for Thanksgiving for the first time since my freshman year. I hate traveling over Thanksgiving...
December--The end of 2011 was very good to me. The biggest news was I am now engaged!!!! Other good things that happened: my brother turned 17, I got an iPad for Christmas, and my cousins moved out to Colorado from California.
All in all, 2011 has been a good year to me, and I hope it has been for you too. I hope 2012 is great for everyone!
