Reflecting on 2011

Every writer or blogger goes through some type of writing slump (some more than others) and thankfully people have created these magnificent boosts to propel us back into writing. I recently discovered #weverb11 via Twitter and decided to give it a try! It's more of a reflection of the year, and I have some catching up to do, but I think it'd be nice to give a LITTLE insight into my life besides travel!

Here's the description of #weverb11 from their website.

#WEverb11 is a set of 31 prompts meant to encourage reflection on the past year (2011) and look forward to the coming year (2012).

You are encouraged to address the prompts in any way that you want (blog about them, take photos, tweet, etc.) and come back here to share your answers and links to those responses. This experience is up to you to design: you can answer one prompt, a few that you select, or all of them!

Of course I want to try all of them! So here are the first few prompts

1. Select one word. Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why. Imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you? Triumph. I've accomplished many things this year that I'm proud of. Graduation. Spain. Journalism awards. First job. 2011 was the year of triumph. 2012 will be the year of growth, in every aspect of my life.   2. Listen What song did you listen to in 2011 to completely change your mood?  Think about ways you can you add more music to your life in 2012. "We Found Love" by Rihanna. Even though it came out recently, it's picked me up more than any other song has this entire year. 3. Learn What lesson did you learn in 2011 from “The School of Life” rather than a classroom? People are in your life for a season for a particular reason whether it's bad or good. It may hurt or it may be the best thing you've ever discovered, but it definitely changes your life and helps to you to understand who you are. 4. Haiku Sum up your year, via haiku. All I need in life Is God, family, friends and some wine To keep me fully sane (it's horrible but deal poems/haikus were never my strength!) 5. Befriend Did you meet any new friends this year? How did they impact your 2011?  Ashley and I reunited in Tampa Ashley, a friend I met while in Spain is absolutely darling. Her personality and how caring and giving of a person she is, made me realize how selfish I was, especially since she's an only child and I have siblings! Also, Kendra, whom I met recently inadvertently helped rekindle my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which is something I needed. Thanks girls! 6. Favor What was your favorite month of 2011? Why did it beat out all 11 other months? May. I weeded out all of the unnecessary people in my life, graduated, traveled back to Kansas to see my brother graduate and have the entire family together again and move to Spain. It has all the other months beat by a LONG shot! 7. Travel Where did you travel this year? What was your favorite part? If you didn’t get to travel, where do you want to go next year? Spain. Philadelphia. Kansas. Gainesville (Florida). Atlanta. Morocco. Honestly, I don't have a favorite because they all had a different yet profound impact on my life in 2011 even if it was just seeing family.  8. Choose What was the biggest choice you made in 2011? What caused you to choose what you chose?  To accept that I am a control freak and actually try to work on it! Trust me, it's necessary that I work on it. 9.  Appreciate In which moment did you find yourself flooded with gratitude? How will you rally around gratitude in 2012? When I received praise for my articles which I doubted, my last internship throwing a "fiesta" for me to get to Spain. My dear friend, Aditi letting me stay at her apartment for two months while I looked for a job. I'm grateful for everything that I have and everyone in my life, but these particular moments in 2011 are the ones I'm extremely grateful for. 2012 bring it! 10. Create Share a creative project you undertook this year (art, writing, DIY, cooking, home decoration, crafts, photography … whatever comes to mind). How do you use your creativity to express yourself? Scrap booking. It's so therapeutic and allows me to be as creative or as dull as I want. I express myself through the little notes I write to the sides of the pictures or through the stickers I have. I can't wait to get started on the rest of my pictures! Look out for the rest throughout the month!