My word for this year, as many of you know, has been BRAVE. I’ve been following it since January, and wearing it around my neck since May, when I ordered a custom necklace from Etsy. It has led to, and coincided with, a lot of things I didn’t expect to happen. Here are a few:
1. Moving to Boston with my J – at the same time as five of our friends – and loving it as we do.
2. Joining a group of amazing women for the Integrate Retreat in Brooklyn.
3. Teaching English classes at ACU this spring.
4. Celebrating my second-ever Thanksgiving away from family, and enjoying myself (even while missing them).
5. Showing my parents around a new city.
6. Knitting a wearable sweater and starting another.
7. Turning back to many, many comfort books – Anne of Green Gables, Mitford, Harry Potter and others (I do this regularly, but didn’t expect to reach for these books so frequently this year).
8. Being freshly pressed on WordPress.com!
9. Actually coming up with 52 lists for this blog.
10. Attending two fabulous concerts at SXSW in Austin – almost by accident – and falling deeply in love with several new indie artists.
11. Meeting so many blog-friends in person at last. (More to come in 2011, I hope.)
12. Going to St. Louis on a job lead for Jeremiah that didn’t work out – and having that be okay.
13. Morphing from a full-time ACU employee to a freelancer (I am so thankful for this one – they still need me/trust me, even though I’m far away).
14. Related: Having my name on feature stories in three issues of ACU Today.
15. Opening my own custom knits business/Etsy shop.
16. Being kissed by a llama.
17. Taking up yoga, and loving it.
18. Joining my first CSA, and being overloaded with fresh veggies for months.
19. My dad going into the hospital with a freak infection in January (he’s fine, but we were scared for a few days).
20. Blogging five times a week with astonishing (to me) regularity.
21. Finding community at Brookline – for which I am so thankful.
22. Buying a down coat – and snow boots!
23. Working my first temp job since I was 19.
24. Entertaining strangers who became friends.
25. Watching several seasons of The Muppet Show.
Whew. Small wonder, then, that I’ve had to be brave.
Anyone else? What unexpected delights/challenges/newness came across your path this year?
cakes, tea and dreams 
Looks like a year filled with much, much more good than bad.
Wishing you and even better year for 2011!