I realized that, unlike what I did in 2010, I did not publish a set of goals for 2011. This does not mean I didn’t have any, I just didn’t get around to posting them (maybe that should be a yearly goal). That being stated, I did think it would be a good time to reflect on 2011, and focusing on some goals for 2012.
Home Life
Our new home in Frisco was completed and we moved in during March 2011. We are thrilled with our house and have yet to find anything that we really are unhappy with, or would have done differently (well… there may be a couple of things). Not only was the move being planned for March, but a week after our move in date, I hosted a surprise 40th birthday party for Chris. None of that would be have been possible without the amazing support of friends, and I’m thankful for them for helping make our move and Chris’s surprise such a success.
Since being in the home, we have made some of our planned modifications, and continue to schedule others. We have amazing neighbors, and had the opportunity to socialize with them a number of times already. Ending the year at the new home, Chris and I hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas. So from a home perspective it has been a great year.
As they say, when one door closes another opens. In 2011 we said a sad farewell to EGB (Eaglebend Lane); the home Chris and I shared for just over ten years. The house has a new set of owners who appear to be just as in love with the house as we were, so we have been comforted that we left EGB in good hands. We have been fortunate to get to know the new owners, and continue to get updates on the house.
Family
One of my previous goals has been to start a family, but this did not eventuate during 2011. With other priorities throughout the year, there never was a good time to do this. 2012 will bring a lot more planning in relation to this, and we hope to have at least started the process before the end of the year.
The most amazing and special part of 2011 in relation to my family has been my mother and sister arriving on November 28 for their vacation. So far we have celebrated mum’s birthday, Christmas and New Years, a first for me in over 13 years. Every day has been one that I have cherished, and though we have not been busy with travel or loads of other fun activities as we have prepared for the end of the year, I have enjoyed every moment.
Chris’s mother continues to live in East Texas, and this has created some challenges through the year, but we are hopeful that she will be making the move more locally in the coming months to reduce some of the stress that Chris and his brother are going through.
Friends
Our relationship with our Little Brother, Trey continues to be very rewarding. Chris and I have continued to meet with Trey every week doing the things that we seem to enjoy doing. I continue to be amazed at how much he is growing up and how different he is to the 10yo boy that we met nearly 4 years ago. He has become part of our family, and I hope that we will be there to enjoy all of his milestones in his life over the many years to come.
One of the major pluses for the year (besides plus added to Google+) was the decision of our best friends, Bobby and Ian to move into the same neighborhood (8 lots away). They continue to be our closest friends and for that I am grateful (did I mention that they are more fun to be around now that they have Parker?).
We continued through the year to celebrate our friend’s milestones, including TWO forty-year-old birthdays: Chris and Brian.
Community
One of the biggest projects I was involved with in 2011 was the Frisco Arts bond election. This ran from February through to May, and while every effort was made to defeat the proposition, it passed. While disappointing, it was also incredibly rewarding as I got to work alongside some of the most energetic and passionate individuals in our community; all sharing my disappointment about the decision that Frisco voters made. From that experience, came new friendships and the rekindling of some older friendships. In looking back, we did our best and lost, but in losing we gained so much, that I consider it to be one of my “winning” moments through the year.
Also through 2011, I have continued my tenure on the board of directors at Youth First Texas. I have worked with some talented people to bring about the start of change with the organization, especially after leading efforts for a new mission statement, vision and values statements. My involvement is not likely to continue in 2012, as the organization has taken a different route to get to where they need to be, and sometimes it is important to recognize the time to step back and hope for the best. As I have said in other posts, I try to take something positive from each experience, and the one thing I learned is that the youth that we serve are strong, they will survive and they are more adult-like than many give them credit.
Technology
Where would we be without technology? Well for starters, you may not be reading this (assuming of course, that anyone is reading this). Facebook continues to dominate our lives, but it has been a tremendous benefit to me in the planning on my mother’s trip to the US, in keeping up to date with family and friends, and in learning some crazy-ass things about people I know. I’ve been waiting for the “FB replacement” to come along, and thought that this may be in the guise of Google+, alas it does not appear that this will happen. Of course, in my thinking this is a good thing, as I can use Google+ the same way that I thought I would use Facebook (before it went public). So there is still hope, especially if you join my circle!
Twitter has been on the decline over the past 12 months. I’m not sure why this is, but it seems that overall I’m sharing less about what is going on with life and happenings in life that previously. Perhaps social networking fatigue is setting in after all.
Overall 2011 was a good year. There were some parts that I would rather not have to endure again, but these are outweighed by the many good things that happened throughout the year. I’m sure there are many other occurrences that happened during the year that are worthy of including in this post, and it will be one of my new goals to share these as they occur in 2012. For now, we move into the new year with hope, with love and with (almost) serenity.