2011.

I was tempted to write a long, humorous (at least to me) recap of 2011, complete with pictures and stories, good and bad, about the year, but I've decided to keep it short and sweet. Because when I think of 2011, I'm most overwhelmed by those who did it with me. I don't know how, but no matter where I go, I always seem to be surrounded by the most incredible of people. We're never all in the same place - Indiana and Texas and NYC and DC and Baltimore and Chicago and Kansas City and even scattered overseas - but the short little bursts of time we get together are a reminder of how loyal and generous and kind and sweet and perfect the people who choose to love me are. I left too many in Dallas, I visited a few this summer, I met some new ones in Bloomington, and I regularly Facebook stalk those I didn't see in 2011.

You are so, so dear to me. You make my life richer. You show me love, you show me patience, and you show me grace. For some, I love your new spouses; for others, I love your new homes; and for still others, I LOVE your new babies. So many new babies. It's been lovely watching your lives change, always for the better, and I'm honored have been invited along for the ride.

Thank you for sharing your couches and beds with me. Thank you for feeding me. Thank you for making me laugh until I cry. Thank you for sitting on the bathroom floor with me and talking until 2am on a work night. Thank you for giving me advice about the same thing over and over and over and over. Thank you for surprise birthday parties. Thank you for dealing with the puddles I leave in the bathroom every time I wash my face. Thank you for asking me to pray for you. Thank you for praying for me. Thank you for listening to my ramblings. Thank you for telling me hundreds of times that I wouldn't get fired or fail school. Thank you for not giving up on me when you didn't hear from me - I don't make New Year's resolutions, but if I did, they would be focused around my apparent inability to listen to voicemails and return calls.

Here's to 2012.