Happy New Year!

I always look forward to a new year. I mean, who doesn't? I rang in 2012 with my sweetie (and for those of you who missed it, MY FIANCE!), my future brother-in-law (whoa!) and his GF. We spent the day on the National Mall. With spring-like temps, it didn't feel like December 31st but definitely a great way to round out one of the craziest year's I've ever had. One of the highlights from yesterday was visiting the new MLK Jr. Memorial. It's gorgeous! A few pics from the day - it was fun to play tourist, as now that I've lived in DC for a sum total of 2.5 years (split), I realized I don't have that many pictures of this place. Sad, considering who my neighbors are!...

No explanation needed - though it's usual occupants are in Hawaii right now!

Washington Monument

Part of the Korean War Memorial

The MLK Jr. Memorial

Check out my Flickr stream for some more pics of a few of the quotes from the memorial.

I feel like I have so much to say about this year. At the start 2011, I was feeling very unsure of where I was going. I had been underemployed for a year and was heading down to DC to explore job opportunities. Fast forward to today and I'm happily employed in a job I enjoy, living with my sweetie (and Louie!), planning for a busy exciting year including a wedding! I made new friends, read interesting books, continued to grow as a quilter, and started working on living a healthier lifestyle (which, let's be honest, took a backseat for the past 2 weeks but is getting full attention again starting tomorrow). I definitely like to set goals in a new year (call them resolutions or whatever) but this year I'm keeping it simple: stay healthy, stay happy, spend time with loved ones, and keep life in perspective. Last year I proved to myself that I'm strong, can persevere through difficult times, and am creative beyond my own expectations. I hope to have yet another year filled with fun, surprises, and progress. I finished 12 quilts this year and read 24 books. Below is a mosaic of all my quilts from 2011.This year:
- Make more quilts!
- Learn to sew clothes
- Get back into knitting more frequently
- Run a 10K
- GET HITCHED!

Happy 2012 everyone! I plan to try to be in this space more often. Hope to see you around here. :-)