Goodbye, 2011!
Sayonara. See you… well, I won’t see you again.
I don’t know about you, dear readers, but 2011 was quite a year for yours truly.
It was a year that held some of the darkest days of my life, but my intent is not to wallow in the past. Life is too short, and there is way too much going on to focus on the bad.
Instead, looking back, I want to focus on some highlights of this past year.
- Joined Writer House and met the awesome folks who comprise the SciFi/Fantasy writer’s group.
- Traveled 8 hours and across many state lines not once, but twice, to see my favorite band perform live. I also saw them locally, but the road trips were a blast.
- Took over the webmaster position for Charlottesville Earth Week and then subsequently redesigned the site.
- Started a transition to veganism, after being vegetarian for 9 years.
- Attended the World Domination Summit in Portland. Met some incredible movers and shakers, including my friend Brandon from Atlanta – a fellow environmentalist and social do-gooder.
- Took my first steps towards living a location independent lifestyle.
- Hit the one year mark of owning my own business.
- Moved to Asheville, NC for the summer.
- Got arrested (and subsequently spent three days in jail) for civil disobedience, protesting the Keystone XL pipeline, with Bill McKibben, Lt. Dan Choi and my Tar Sands Sisters.
- Experienced my first earthquake while picking up my stuff from the Park Service property office (upon release from jail).
- Went back to DC two weeks later for the final day of arrests. Got to see my friend Brandon again, and to meet the incredible miss Devon Haas.
- Was part of the Asheville350 planning team for the city’s Moving Planet day of events.
- Moved back to Charlottesville to become the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Earth Week organization.
- Won my 4th National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
- Surrounded the White House with Tar Sands Action, Brandon, Devon, Bill, Dan, Matt, Duncan, Charis, Virginia, Kristy and 12,000 other people in support of the president denying the Keystone XL pipeline.
- Finally sold my car at the very end of the year. I’m officially car-free for 2012!
- And, just a couple of days ago, I found out that I was selected to be a part of the leadership team for WeArePowershift.org!
I didn’t realize quite how many cool things I did this past year until I was looking back to put together my list. Wow. What a year!
And… hello, 2012!
I know that the year ahead holds just as many amazing opportunities, and I’m looking forward to every one of them.
I’m standing here at the dawn of the year, facing into the rising sun.
Let’s do this!
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