Thanks to my friend KayeCee for this great meme idea! Reflect­ing on 2011 and look­ing ahead to 2012. Head over to LifeOverHere.com to join in! KayeCee has one of the best out­looks on life, and I love what she said — Res­o­lu­tions, not regrets.

So… here goes… 2011, it was nice know­ing you!

1. Did you keep your New Years’ res­o­lu­tions from 2011? Will you make any for 2012?

I don’t think I kept all of them. The impor­tant one, I did, yes. 2011 was my Year of Pos­si­bil­ity. That was my main res­o­lu­tion. I made (or helped to make) many things hap­pen in 2011 that I’m very proud of! Sev­eral friends now have Face­book Wel­come tabs, I held more suc­cess­ful shows than I had in past years, I attended more Net­work­ing events, and I met my best friend for the first time when she trav­eled to the United States from the Czech Repub­lic for the very first time! 2011 was the Year the Impos­si­ble became Pos­si­ble.

Yes, I will make res­o­lu­tions for 2012. With a few short excep­tions, I’m keep­ing the res­o­lu­tion as open-ended as I did in 2011. 2012 will be my Year of Growth. Emo­tional. Finan­cial. Spir­i­tual. Busi­ness. Health. I do want to write more (includ­ing this blog), work smarter, play harder and pro­cras­ti­nate and sleep less. Do more of what worked in 2011 and less of what didn’t.

2. How will you be spend­ing New Year’s Eve?

It was last night, but we spent New Year’s Eve at home. I cooked a per­fect pot of black-eyed peas with jalapenos to bring luck for the com­ing year.

3. What was your biggest achieve­ment of the past year?

Join­ing a women’s net­work­ing group and attend­ing nearly all of their meet­ings. I have to give credit to C3 for Women for not only help­ing me find clients, but help­ing me find per­spec­tive as well. The cats’ adop­tion became final in 2011 (we were fos­ter­ing them since 2010). Spend­ing August with my best and dear­est friend.

4. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Not really mine as much as my best friend’s. She’s the one who trav­eled thou­sands of miles to an unknown coun­try that speaks a dif­fer­ent lan­guage. What I did that I’ve never done was be host­ess to some­one from another coun­try.

5. What was your biggest fail­ure?

Tak­ing on clients “because I needed the money.” One turned on me unex­pect­edly while another became a thorn in my side. (If you’re one of my clients, don’t worry, it’s not you. They know who they are.)

6. Do you have any big events planned for 2012?

I hope to hold a home/studio show in the spring or early sum­mer. That does involve mak­ing a res­o­lu­tion of de-cluttering the house though. lol.

7. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

A clutter-free house. (See above answer. )

8. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Shar­ing with the peo­ple I love.

9. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Fight­ing with the peo­ple I love. Sleep­ing. Pro­cras­ti­nat­ing.

10. Do you hate any­one now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

There are more “actions” I’ve seen that I hate. I choose to hate the action, not the per­son.

11. Did you suf­fer ill­ness or injury?

I started the year with a com­pletely frozen shoul­der. After months of ther­apy that only made it worse, an ortho­pe­dic sur­geon who refused to help, I finally found a chi­ro­prac­tor who not only gave me the treat­ment I needed, but also exer­cises to do on my own, so with her help and the help of my SH, I can say I’m start­ing 2012 with a fully func­tional arm and shoul­der! ***waves her right arm like mad***
Hello, inter­webs!

12. Did any­one close to you give birth?

No.

13. Did any­one close to you die?

Thank­fully, no. Sev­eral of my favorite celebri­ties and artists did, as hap­pens every year. 

14. Did any­one close to you get engaged/married?

No.

15. Where did most of your money go this year?

Bills, bills, and more bills!

16. What was the best thing you bought dur­ing 2011?

Some­thing spe­cial for my SH.

17. What places did you visit this past year?

My own home­town! With my best friend vis­it­ing, I got the oppor­tu­nity to become a tourist in my hometown(s) of Fort Worth and Grapevine! Loved every minute of it.

18. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Rihanna — Only Girl (In The World)

Katy Perry — Last Fri­day Night

19. What was your favourite TV pro­gram?

Super­nat­ural. Sea­son 7 started out much more promis­ing than I expected.

20. What was the best book you read?

I’m going to give a shout-out to another online friend. Dream­ing of You by Bar­bara Mack. 2011 was the year I down­loaded Kin­dle reader for PC, so I’ve got lots of great read­ing to do in 2012!

21. What was your great­est musi­cal dis­cov­ery?

Adele. Thanks to Dean!

22. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

For me (This is from Dobie Gray, one of the great artists we lost in 2011. RIP. Thank you for the music):

Thanks for the joy that you’ve given me

I want you to know I believe in your song

Rhythm and rhyme and har­mony

You help me along

Makin’ me strong…

Lyrics that sum up what’s hap­pened in our coun­try in 2011 (Sun­shine is also my reminder of why I don’t re-enter the cor­po­rate world):

Sun­shine go away today

I don’t feel much like danc­ing

Some man’s gone, he’s tried to run my life

Don’t know what he’s ask­ing

He tells me I’d bet­ter get in line

Can’t hear what he’s say­ing

When I grow up I’m going to make it mine

But these aren’t dues I been pay­ing

How much does it cost, I’ll buy it

The time is all we’ve lost, I’ll try it

But he can’t even run his own life

I’ll be damned if he’ll run mine, Sun­shine

Work­ing starts to make me won­der where

The fruits of what I do are going

He says in love and war all is fair

But he’s got cards he ain’t show­ing

Sun­shine come on back another day

I promise you I’ll be singing

This old world, she’s gonna turn around

Brand new bells’ll be ring­ing

23. How would you describe your per­sonal fash­ion in 2011?

Tie-dye with a twist. Flowy sleeves, jew­eled tops and skull/roses Keds go equally well with dress slacks or jeans.

24. What was your favorite film of 2011?

We didn’t go to the movies, but I had the won­der­ful oppor­tu­nity to expe­ri­ence some old favorites with friends see­ing them for the very first time. Fan­ta­sia. Aris­to­cats. Wiz­ard of Oz. 

25. What did you do on your birth­day?

Din­ner with par­ents and spent time with my SH. Nicely quiet evening.

26. What kept you sane?

My SH and my best friend. The first lyrics I quoted are for them.

27. Who did you miss?

Every year I miss my grandma, my 2 aunts and my cat, Sassy. That will never change but they’re always in my heart.

28. Com­pared to this time last year, are you:

a) hap­pier or sad­der? b) thin­ner or fat­ter? c) richer or poorer?

a) Def­i­nitely hap­pier. b) almost exactly the same weight c) poorer (Just proves money doesn’t buy hap­pi­ness. 😉 )

29. Were you in love with any­one in 2011?

Yes.

30. Tell us a valu­able life les­son you learned in 2011:

Don’t take on more than you can han­dle and don’t let the small moments pass you by. Embrace every one of them.