This Year in Blog Posts

Joining in on Writers Workshop this week with Mama Kat.  Today's prompt is to choose my favorite blog post from each month of 2011 and share it.  So I'm going to pick my favorites, even if there may be one or two extra in there.

January

20 Ideas to Make 2011 (or any year) the Best Year Ever

I wrote a great post about things you should do to improve your life and make your easy and wonderful! I should take my own advice more often!

Take Responsibility for YOUR Feelings 

A great post explaining why we should take responsibility for the way we feel, and not allow others to affect us so much.  Also, why we shouldn't dwell on the hurt people may inflict, especially if it is unintentional.

In Memory of an Amazing Woman

My friend Megan's mother died.  She was too young to go so quickly, and the hole she left in the world was great.  I never even met her, but attending the wake in support of my dear friend and hearing all the good she had done in the world, and how many lives she affected-really touched me and encouraged me to write this post about how I hope when I go that I will have that many people with that many loving stories to share.

February

Chinese New Year Party

A great photodump of all the pictures I took at my big Chinese New Year party. It was such a great time!

March

Ready to Love Again

It was my Musical Mondays post-a song called Ready to Love Again by Lady Antebellum.  I discussed how I was ready to fall in love again, but how utterly frightened I was to try.  I laid out all of my fears there on the page.

Lonely Can Be Healing if You Make It

I shared this video that I feel is amazing.

April

What's in my Bag?

A cute quick post that shows you what I carry in my purse.

May

You Have an Impact on the World
A great little post about the impact you have on the world, and how you should do your best to make it as positive as possible-because every little thing you do affects the flow of life for yourself and others.

June

Just Once, Understand
A AMAZING quote and image, and how I feel about them.

Currently
A great post that lets you get to know me as I was at that time.  Sharing favorites and talking about things I love.

July

It's the Simple Things
A up-beat post about how the simplest things in life can really make it amazing.

Things I Like About Me
A good list of things I like about myself.

August

A Return to Dating
The story of what finally made me break my year of celibacy and my two year hiatus from dating.  How a simple apology on my part really turned my perspective around.  See also: Emotional Brain Vomit.

September

Spoiling Romance
A lengthy post about how I feel like a lot of the things I do (and probably many other people) during dating can really spoil the romance of the relationship.

Where I'm From
An artistic writing prompt induced poem about where I'm from.

October

In All My 25 Years
A post about 22 life altering things I've experiences so far in my life.

November

Shake It Out
I had a break up of sorts, and this is based on Florence + the Machine's song Shake It Out and how I'm just going to shake off the worry about it.

December

Somebody I Used to Know
A friend of mine decided he no longer wanted to be friends.  This is a friend I have a huge history of and have cared for very deeply-and something silly that he thinks I did (I didn't) caused him to completely throw all of that history and all of my support away.  This talks about how I'm just going to have to move on and he's now just somebody I used to know.

What is your favorite post?
Leave me a link and I'll come check them out!

2011 in Review: July Through September

July

• Musical Mondays for July included: Dingue Dingue Dingue by Christophe Mae, Dante's Prayer by Loreena Mckennit,  Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae, and Grace Kelly by MIKA.
• I got hooked on the Documentary for Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.

• I listed a bunch of Things I Like About Me.
• I did the Juice Cleanse, only made it a week but lost 10lbs!
• My roommate announced that he wanted to move out.
• David moved to Sacramento.

August

• August's Musical Mondays included: Magic by La Roux, Arms by Christina Perri, and Wonderful by Rob Thomas.
• I headed out on an Epic Road trip with my two best friends!

• We got to see David again, since he moved to Sacramento.

• We visited Castro Street in San Francsico:

• And the Golden Gate Bridge:

• And I stayed in my very first Hostel.

• Took the subway in San Francsico:

• Visited Portland and found it to not be exactly what we expected.
• Ate at the famous Voodoo Donuts:

• Saw the longest running drag show in America.
• Went on Underground tours of both Portland and Seattle.
• Toured a lighthouse.
• Went to my first Gravity House.

• Drove through the Redwood Forrest.  Magical.
• Saw the sun set over the ocean.
• Played on the beach in Oregon.

• Had a Donner Kabob
• Visited the Seattle Aquarium
• Met Beth in real life.
• Went to the Utah State Fair and ate Rocky Mountain Oysters and giant turkey legs.

• Went clubbing with Josh's grandma and her friend.

• Started dating again.
• My great grandpa died.

September

• September's Musical Mondays included: I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie, This Too Shall Pass by OK Go, Muppet Show Theme Song by OK Go & The Muppets, and There is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths.
• I Fell in love with Dr. Who.
• I started Carpooling.
• We took the paddle boats out as a last hurrah for the summer.

• We hung out at the bar a little with Shawn, Justin and Brian.
• I wrote a great post about Where I'm From.
• I hit 500 followers.
• Beth and I announced Swapoween! :)

If I Had Fashion...

Ok, so thanks to Camille I decided to give Polyvore a try... and now I love it.  It's incredibly fun and a huge time-waster when you need something to keep your mind busy.

So here are a few items I've made-if I was thin enough to wear these things, this is just some ideas of the fashion I might have...  Also, a lot of them I would have to find cheaper versions of... lol

Casual Teal by mysocalledchaos featuring pointed toe boots

Mustard & Blue by mysocalledchaos featuring a full skirt

Take Me Out Tonight by mysocalledchaos featuring sterling silver necklaces

Those are just the sets I have so far... Aren't they cute?
Have you tried Polyvore?  Let's follow each other!

Happy List

Hey everyone! Sorry this is late, I'm on vacation and lost track of my days somehow!

I'm happy that everyone I gave presents to seemed to like them.

I'm happy that I loved all of the gifts that people gave to me.

I'm happy for my family, and a fairly smooth Christmas.

I'm happy that I got to see my grandparents that I don't see very often.

I'm happy for all of these wonderful people in my life!

What makes you happy this week?

Confessing

I Confess...
That I'm madly in love with the song "Somebody that I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra.  I was before certain events transpired, but even more now.  Read yeserday's post to see more.

I Confess...

I'm feeling the need for change.  Either a lot of it in little doses, or a little in a big dose.  That's why the blog header and button got a new makeover.  What do you think of them?

I Confess...

Someone who has been my friend for a very long time, who I have a huge history with, doesn't want to be my friend anymore.  He accused me of overhearing him have a conversation about something that was none of my business this past weekend, and then running and gossiping about it.  This is not even slightly true.  It was told to me months ago, and then I moved on because guess what? I don't care.

I Confess...

I'm not hurt that he is wrong about this whole thing-I'm upset because any one who is a real friend would maturely approach their friend and say "I heard (or I think) this transpired, can you tell me if that's true?"  That's what real friends do. If that's how it's going to be, I'm okay with walking away from it all.

I Confess...

I'm having trust issues at the moment with other people because of this whole thing.  People who I'm afraid don't always have my back-even though it's honest.

I Confess...
It's times like these that make me insanely grateful for the other friends I have surrounding me.  No matter what disagreements we may have, annoyances, or issues that arise-these true friends stick together and discuss it honestly-then IF something has been done wrong we work it out forgive each other.  Why?  Because we love each other and that's what you do when you love people.

I Confess...
I'm going to miss him a lot.  I have loved him.  I have loved his family.  I will always love him and them.  But I will be okay with this new path I am headed down.

I Confess...
It may even be healthier for me to completely let go of this friendship.  At least for a while.  A sweet blog friend told me yesterday that she thinks exes can only be friends after enough time has gone by that everyone had actually healed.  We never gave it any time in between, so now it's time to.

I Confess...
Those friends I have that rally around me and support me are truly my family. I love them so much!

What do you have to confess?

Somebody That I Used To Know

This is my favorite song right now.

Now and then I think of when we were together

Like when you said you felt so happy you could die

I told myself that you were right for me

But felt so lonely in your company

But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness

Like resignation to the end, always the end

So when we found that we could not make sense

Well you said that we would still be friends

But I'll admit that I was glad it was over

[[chorus]]

[But you didn't have to cut me off

Make out like it never happened and we were nothing

And I don't even need your love

But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough

No you didn't have to stoop so low

Have your friends collect your records and then change your number

Guess that I don't need that though

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know]

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over

But had me believing it was always something I had done

But I don't wanna live that way, reading into every word you say

You said that you could let it go

And I wouldn't catch you hung up on 

somebody that you used to know

[[chorus]]

When do you decide that something is actually over?  How do you determine when it's time to let go of something that you've held onto so tightly and fought for over and over trying to make it work for so long?  Can exes ever actually be friends without it being weird?  I used to think so, but I think I may have been wrong all along.

Something always goes wrong.  There's always a certain kind of awkwardness between you, a tension that neither of you can ever quite let go of.  I fight that tension by joking about it.  Nothing is sacred.  Make fun of the things that feel awkward or make you sad, because then they become less-that's how I was taught.  That's how the world shaped me.  Make fun of it until it becomes a joke, and you can just laugh at it instead of feeling hurt.

Unfortunately that doesn't work for everyone and some people would rather just ignore any of the history you had together to avoid having to think about it or resolving it.  They swallow it down and pretend it never happened. Maybe those people aren't meant to be a part of your life. That reason you broke up in the first place, maybe it's the reason why you can't actually be friends later on either.

I held on for a very long time, because that's what friends do, and because there were kids involved. Kids I love more than I could possibly explain-kids that I loved like they were my own.  I held on because he was someone I cared about very much and who I enjoyed hanging out with.  Because despite the fact that I had loved him very much, he had always been a friend who I enjoyed -and that to me was more important than any intimate or romantic relationship we'd ever had.  

But it's over now.  We can't be friends.  All because of something I didn't actually do, and can't figure out why I'm getting all of the blame for it.  I wont go into details, I'm just saying that it's done.  But I think he was just looking for an excuse to burn the bridge.  So I'll let him burn his bridge if it makes him feel better and I'll walk away.  Change can be good, maybe this will work out to be better for me in the long run.

2011 in Review: April through June

April

• April's Musical Mondays included: Where is My Mind a cover by Yoav & Emily Browning, Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti & Spearhead, Be Ok by Ingrid Michaelson, and Rolling in the Deep by Adele.
• Beth and I hosted the first annual Handmade for you Swaparoo and it was awesome!
• My goddaughter Kailee broke her arm.

• I made my first sale on Etsy.  Thanks Janna! 
• I got a fancy mattress pad for my bed, and now I'm in love with it!
• I posted my first vlog ever.

 

• I showed everyone what is in my bag.
• Josh's step-grandpa died.
• I got cute new business cards from Vistaprint.

• I met Isha in real life.

• I turned 25.
• I had an awesome birthday party!

• We got to see Hal Sparks Live and meet him in person! 

May

• May's Musical Mondays included: Dust by Eric Himan, Black Crow by Namoli Brennet, I Want You by Kelly Clarkson, and Someone Like You by Adele.
• I had Spring Fever really badly.
• I got to spend time with my favorite honorary neice and my godkids.

• I stated my feelings in You Have an Impact on the World!
• My Great Grandma Dorothy passed away.

• I started my new blog: Health Not to Health Nut.
• I hit 400 Followers and had a huge giveaway to celebrate.
• I decided to try taking 21 days to a lifestyle change, and did pretty good for a while.
• We partied "like a Lohan" to celebrate Meggy's 30th birthday.

June

• Musical Mondays for June included: Ridin' Solo by Jason Derulo, Raise Your Glass by P!nk, My Boy Builds Coffins by Florence + The Machine, and Blow by Ke$ha.
• I got my first Hula Hoop from Haley!

• Matt moved out from downstairs.
• We went to the Gay Pride Parade.

• Elisa and Julie moved in next door.
• I got to go to Lagoon for the first time in years.
• I developed a love for cute little summer dresses.
• I went to the Arts Festival.
• Threw an awesome gold-themed birthday party for Elisa's 25th!

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