2012 In Review

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It's that time for the obligatory year in review post.

I did the Opening Lines meme last year, but came across from Tracie's version of a yearly summary yesterday and decided I liked her format, so I stole it. Of course I let her know I was stealing it, so hopefully she'll not be too upset.


I am going to finish 2012 by looking back at twelve posts that will give you (and me) an overview of my year.

These posts are not necessarily the ones that had the most traffic, comments, or shares. They are simply my favorite posts from each month. The ones I really enjoyed writing.

JANUARY - A Picture Can Speak A Word Or Two - This was written soon after Mike and I started officially dating, and addressed my need for balance. I'm still not there, but I've certainly made progree.

FEBRUARY - I didn't manage to write a single post in February, and since one of the items on my 2012 To Do List was to write more, I'd say the lack of a post speaks volumes.

MARCH - My Favorite Stalker - Where I finally told the story of Mike. Making our relationship public was a huge risk for me, fearing that once I did he'd run away and I would look like a complete fool. *SPOILER* He hasn't run away ... yet ...

APRIL - Where have all the bloggers gone? - My first inkling that blogging had really changed, that personal blogs had gone the way of leg warmers and big hair. I'm still looking for a few good blogs to read, blogs where writers interact with readers, bloggers who write more original content than sponsored posts. Let me know if you've found any of those.

MAY - Can I Be Awesome? - Where I commit to a blog post a day for 365 days. Guess how that went? About as well as the Project 365 I started in January. But you know what? I'm actually okay with failure ... maybe I'm a little too okay with failure.

JUNE - Who Am I? - Not exactly an uplifting post, but I think an important one. I need to give myself permission to be in a funk - to be less than what I want to be - without beating myself up.

JULY - What Kind Of Friend Am I? - Relationships and working in a large group were rough spots in July. This post was one of several written on that theme, and was instrumental in helping me set boundaries in a situation where there were none.

AUGUST - Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Letting Go - Where I toyed with spontaneity and intentionally allowed myself to publish bad writing. The world didn't end\. It was another good life lesson.

SEPTEMBER - 6 Things I've Learned About Volunteering - I stood up for myself in this post - dared to "talk bad" about a well-liked, big name blogger. And you know what it did? It made loyalties very clear. There was a price for writing this post, but there were rewards for writing it too, and the rewards were far greater.

OCTOBER - Should I Die Before I Wake - Where I admit that seldom do I do things out of obligation, and acknowledge that some people find that quality rude. I want to live a life where I do things because I truly want to them, and if that is selfish and rude? So be it!

NOVEMBER - Moving On - As difficult as it has been to pack up the old house, it has been putting a dent in a very heavy weight I have been carrying around for three years.

DECEMBER - Is that a sleeve on your stomach? - This was a hard post for me to write. I feel shame because I've failed at maintaining a healthy weight, and because I am now considering "cheating" by having weight-loss surgery. Writing this post helped to decrease some of that shame.

And there you have it - lessons learned in 2012 - most surrounding relationships - romantic - group - and the relationship I have with myself.

Was there a theme to your lessons learned last year?