Sunglasses Always Fit

I just drove 10 hours by myself back from Portland, one of the best vacations of my life. En serio. I can be cynical about holidays like NYE, Valentine’s Day, etc., which seem to scream “Hey you! You’re single! And this day is going to be completely awful!” NYE especially holds too much expectation and the dreaded midnight kiss of death…so this year, BFF Ry and I decided to travel to Portlandia to visit a college pal. I had barely any expectations except to get out of dodge, but the place blew me away and we had non-stop fun. NON STOP! But I’m saving my Portland low-down for another post. This one is about out with the old, in with the new.

They say that as you get older, life starts moving faster and each year seems to fly by even quicker than the one before. This blog has been a fantastic way for me to document, lament, rejoice and remember the good times and bad. Looking back at some of my old posts, I can say that the things I will always remember from this year….

getting published by Huffington Post – seriously sweet deal. Although I would have preferred my first big published piece to be a little more respectable…writing about “Twilight” got a ton of attention. Its not hard-hitting investigative journalism, but I love writing about the peaks and valleys of being a single lady in 2011 and hope that leads to more in the future.

getting armpits waxed – oh yeah. This is my new addiction. The pain takes my breath away every time. Its not something you can get used to, but I feel like it’s slowly building my pain tolerance towards child birth. Also, my armpits look super cute after. I love talking about this and how weird guys get about it.

There are no pictures to show about this.

going to grad school – Although I change my mind every Monday as I start another week of teaching junior high, I think I do have a passion for young people and teaching. This year I started going back to school for my credential. The program is a lot of work, but I know it will open new doors for me to travel, meet new people, and always have summers off.

goodbye to Carly – I still have to remind myself daily that someone who was a big part of my life growing up is gone. Being in Oregon this weekend, particularly hiking and going up waterfalls, made me feel close to her and process more about her death. I will never forget the sequence of events that night, the harsh reality of her passing, the memories people posted of her, how it brought so many of us together. This year marks our 10 year high school reunion…it will be so strange without the Homecoming Queen and happiest person I’ve ever known there. But we carry her in our heart of hearts.

making bucket list – i have no intention of kicking any buckets soon, but making my thirtyX30 list has made me extra motivated to have dreams and do what I can to fulfill them. I feel so accomplished crossing off silly things on my to-do lists everyday, but to cross something off like “Run a 10K” or “brew my own beer” has meant a lot to me.

gave up soda. – this was huge. I was like two a day. Now maybe one a week. And what’s neat is that because I rarely have them, they taste like EXTRA delish!

did not get married. but a truckload of friends did! – While I did ring in 2012 with probably 10 kisses from new and old friends at the awesome bar we were at New Years Eve night in Portland, I went through the entire year of 2011 with only I think two real dates. Lots of near misses, always a crush, and the lingering hope that Brian Wilson is out there waiting as anxiously for me as I am for him, this year was a bit of a downer as far as love is concerned. But a TON of my friends are getting married and making babies. I can’t decide if I really want all that for myself just yet…usually to fix any urges I might have to settle down and procreate, I babysit something for a while and give it back. The weddings as a singleton can be tough….but there are also lots I love about them. Its just crazy to think we’re all supposed to be growing up.

One thing we decided among all our philosophical and existential talks we had this weekend over long hikes, Deschutes beers and low lighting in hipster dive bars in Portland, with some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and honest young people I know, is that we might be working on growing up, but this is the time of our lives we get to make mistakes, do crazy things, travel, take risks, talk to strangers, and hunt down chicken pot pie at two in the morning. My excuse is that I’m young. Single. Unprofessional. And super awesome. And the world is ending this year anyway, right? Might as well live it up.

My motto for this year is “I’M SO ALIVE!” 

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Viva 2012!