Favorite Memory of 2011 (and reflection) - Too Many to Choose From
It has been a very up and down year, both personally and professionally but I am forever grateful for all the detours I’ve had to take to get to where I’m currently at. 2011 started off shaky after finding out when I’d be let go from the Rockets. I went from having the dream job in 2010, to losing it only 6 months later and if that wasn’t devastating enough, my “love” life took a blow when I found out some ugly truths about a certain someone, but that’s life. Eventually I found my way again in my career with a new job, and with a slightly different path and entered someone new, things started to look up. But here we are again, at the same place I was at the beginning of 2011. Well, at least sort of in a way. I’ve come full circle yet again, a little unsure of what to do about my career and that very boy that had broken my heart is all of a sudden back. Not sure how this happened and in a matter of weeks, but I guess that just goes to show how random life can be and how fast things can change even and especially when we aren’t paying the slight bit of attention. As for my job, a few days ago I was unsure of which road I wanted to take, but now I know what I want. It’s just a matter of do THEY want me? I admit I was a little sad at the idea of parting ways with my current job, but now I realize it was more of just being scared of being out of a job. Not that I didn’t like working where I’m currently at because I really do love the people and I’ve learned a lot. I feel like I have this ultimate advantage in having the privilege of working for a small business. You come out of it appreciating things that big corporations take for granted. But at this point in my life I feel like it’s time to move on and really aggressively go after what I REALLY want and with the new year here, there never has been a more appropriate time to cease that. As for my personal life, heh…well, we tell ourselves (and our friends repeatedly tells us) that going down a certain path isn’t wise, but we do it anyways because we are stupid and blinded by that one guy we can’t seem to get over’s charm. I’M A GIRL, JUST LET ME BE OVER-ANALYTICAL ABOUT EVERYTHING OKAY?
Anyways, some highlights of my personal memories from 2011:
- All the road trips to Canyon Lake/Austin/San Marcos/Hill Country of Texas. ALL OF THEM. God, I love Austin. They have the best food trucks in Texas in my opinion and the ARE the live music capital of the world. Everything about that city is just everything. Nothing like spending time on the road and discovering parts of the Hill Country with good people and good friends.
- My Rockets Family. Unfortunately I don’t see them as much as before due to different schedules and Houston being humungous and not living close to one another. I know that’s extremely rare to love your work family and seriously, nothing has even come close to the bond that I shared with these guys. They will always be family FOR LIFE, no matter what. So many laughs and good times, especially when our time together was winding down. Bowling at Lucky Strike for Rachel’s birthday, to our last night together as a staff. I remember the almost tears that Rachel and I shared. How many times did we all try saying goodbye to each other? I definitely miss them.
- Those last games of the 2010-2011 NBA season, even though my boys barely missed the playoffs again I couldn’t have been anymore proud than I was. It was such a hard year for them but glad at how they managed to close out the season. Losing Battier was a blow (well, for me) but getting to see him see some success (and kick some spurs butt) in the playoffs was great. Chuckwagon’s first ever career triple double was amazing as well. I was in the stands for that game too!
- My mom’s 60th/Sister’s 30th Surprise Party. Seeing them both reach those milestones in their life and throwing a party in their honor was great (and a lot of work and frustration because my dad sucks at planning things). Seeing all the love, especially for my mom was touching too because she truly is a great woman who deserved to be noticed for her selfless love for her family.
- Being challenged, achieving and reaching new heights with my job. I was thrown into situations I wasn’t comfortable with, having very little experience with marketing and not necessarily knowing how to apply things I was supposed to have learned in school to REAL LIFE. Being responsible for a marketing budget and marketing plan is quite stressful especially when you are the only one held accountable for all of that. But it caused me to grow and my boss took a leap of faith with my inexperienced self and trusted me with the reigns to a big part of her baby. That I am grateful for.
- My odd, unfortunate, strange, interesting and often times bad luck with boys. And that is all I will say except that I have no regrets about certain people. Part of life is sharing parts of your life and trusting they’ll know what to do with it and even if and when they let you down, it’s also knowing that there IS someone out there who will take better care of your heart. You just have to be willing to fall even when you don’t want to out fear. But who are we fooling, even when we try to prevent it, it still happens anyways, right?
- Priceless moments with friends, staying up till the wee hours talking, laughing, crying with your “soulmates”/sisters for life. Talking about boys, life, how much you hate your job, wondering how you got to be so old, getting drunk, making bad decisions and then laughing at them later. Going to walmart in your PJ’s and buying disgusting cookies that make you throw up, having cryathons or TRY-CRYATHONS. Sharing your latest obsessions and your friends not thinking you are crazy, but secretly really thinking you ARE crazy. Fangirling over a 19 year old female ex-Disney star with your 23-year old best friend and having absolutely no shame in that.
- LOVE & video chat/phone dates!
- My family. Every single moment - from the fights, to the tears, the joy, the laughter, and pure bliss. All the family parties, our karaoke competitions, the inside jokes, vacations, new babies, watching the old babies grow into young teens/adults. And feeling absolutely blessed because your family is that awesome.
2011, thank you, THANK YOU for all the memories - good, bad, happy, sad, ugly and beautiful. Thank you for another year of LIFE and thank you to all who played a part, big or small in this past year. Whether your impact was negative or positive, thank you for playing a role in my growth in 2011.
Happy Happy New Year, everyone! 2012, I’m ready for you.
