Link Up! Year in Review

It's the end of the year, and that calls for reflection. So, I started to write everything I did this year.


But this year, listing events just wasn't doing it for me. I felt like I should do a little more. I wanted to write how I changed. What were my successes? What were my challenges? How am I a different person because of this year? This was is harder, but more honest, more reflective, and more, well, more me.


So, here it is. Who I became in 2011.

JANUARY: I fell in love. Really really in love for the first time in my life. And that was a big deal for me.

FEBRUARY: I said it back. I learned how to be vulnerable. The good kind of vulnerable. I learned a lot about relationships in February.

MARCH: I learned how to balance school and work and boyfriend and stress. Lots of success in that department, and lots of failure.

APRIL: He engaged me. I walked on cloud 10 all through finals. Managed to pull all A's. I was WAY too in love and WAY to busy to sleep {who needs that anyway, right?}

MAY: May was a hard month for me. My dad got remarried, my brother left for a mission, and I got surgery, all within 5 days. Also, I was trying to plan a wedding without a mother to help me. All my good friends had moved for the summer. I learned what kind of person I am under stress. I learned that worrying doesn't solve problems.

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JUNE: More wedding planning, more angst, more casts from my surgery. On the upside, more and more in love. I learned that some days are so great, but on some days, you just keep on keeping on. And that's okay. Each day was one day closer to my wedding!

JULY: I learned that casts aren't permanent. I learned that vacations and family heal my soul. I got serious about planning a marriage, not just a wedding. I learned just how crucial Sam is to my happiness, and how blessed I am to have him.

AUGUST: I had that indescribable experience of putting on a white dress, looking somebody in the eye, and giving yourself to them completely. I realized what I already knew: I could never settle for "till death do you part." I needed more. I needed eternity. And that's why I got sealed in the temple to Sam.

SEPTEMBER: I was happy. We turned our grey-white apartment into a home. We each took on way more than we could handle. And then we did it all anyways. We learned that together, we can indeed do anything we make up our minds to. We were loving being newlywed, together.

OCTOBER: October was probably the hardest month of the year. I was doing my practicum at the elementary school on top of full-time classes, two jobs, and learning how to do this new wife thing. I had frequent encounters with Mr. Inadequacy, and his counterpart, Anxiety. I wondered if I could really do everything I signed up for. I doubted myself, and consequently everything around me. I looked for a way to escape all the pressure and anxiety.

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NOVEMBER: Robert Frost said that the best way out is always through. That is 100% true. I stuck with everything. I called upon my husband and the Lord and my family constantly, and with all their help, I did it. I learned to recognize and identify my anxiety. At the end of the month, when the crazy time was over, I took an amazing vacation to Arizona.

DECEMBER: This has been a good month for me. I finished the semester, got through my second Angel Day, and got to spend LOTS more time with the people I love, doing the things I love. I get to develop my relationship with Sam even further, now that we're not apart all day. I learned about unconditional love, especially how to receive it. I realized how blessed I am.

2011 was a crazy, exciting, changing, growing, top-of-the-charts year.

The Lord has blessed me this year.

How was your year?

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Link up! your Year in Review by clicking the blue button below.  Rules:

1. Your year in review can be anything. It doesn't have to look like mine! Pictures, long lists, summaries, New Years Resolutions, anything.

2. Link directly to your Year in Review post, not just to your blog.

3. Comment on the person who linked up before and after your post. And then, why not pick a random one and comment on that as well! This is a great way to meet new blog friends and get more traffic to your blog. The more comments the better!

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