Thoughts on 2011

I meant to do this before 2012 started, but as you can see, it didn't happen. Anyway, here are some thoughts on everything that happened last year.

We didn't start out the best. Jeremy was still working retail and not happy. I was feeling more and more like I was living with a zombie instead of the man I fell in love with. I was still working three or four part-time jobs, including my home-sales job.
As Spring approached, Jeremy searched even more diligently than he already was for a teaching job. He got a couple of interviews and maybes and hopes, but each one turned into nothing. When the one he had really set his hopes on and tried so hard to get let him down, that's when he hit the bookcase and broke the bone in his hand right above his pinky (I thought we had it all paid off, but we got another bill the other day -- go figure). It seemed like nothing was going to go right. He only had one more year to finish his accreditation course and we weren't sure but that it was going to be a waste after all.
I worked summer camp again in the summer, hating the hot weather that didn't seem to give any mercy. All the plans we had made seemed like they would never happen.
However, things took a turn toward the end of the summer. Jeremy got a job interview in July when I was in Chicago for the national conference for my business and he was offered a teaching job at a Christian school in east Texas. He took it and everything changed quickly after that. My Mom and sister spent the week with me to help work on the house and spruce it up. Jeremy went ahead and moved to the new town while I worked a month at my old job and waited on the house to sell. I don't know how I'd do it over if I had the chance, but I would try to not be apart from my husband for so long. That was probably the hardest part of it all.
Finally, late in October, we were both moved along with all our things to a small apartment. We went from having 1300 square feet to having 800. It's definitely been a test to our patience and sanity. Our house finally sold in mid-November and I finally got a job through a temp agency in early November. The only problem with selling our house was that we took a loss. This means, that even though I got the escrow check the other day, I still owe more on the new carpet we had to put into the house. Sigh.
I did achieve my 50,000 words in November for the fourth year in a row, but have not achieved my goal of getting closer to being published. This goal has been moved forward to 2012.
December was almost a blur. It went so fast. I barely had the tree up for long and it just didn't feel the same as it usually does. I don't know if it was because I was working full-time and didn't have as much time to enjoy it, or if it was just that kind of a year. I will say that I enjoyed getting to see our families at Christmas for the first time in three years. That made it the best Christmas in a while. It was hard going back to work last week, though, with Jeremy still off.
So, 2011 wasn't terrible. We're several steps closer to being where we want to be. Still no kids. Still no master's degree for Jeremy, but he got his prospectus approved and is scheduled to finish this semester. Still not sure where we'll be after this school year, but I'm just trying to enjoy the wonderful friends God is giving us here in east Texas. So, thank you God, for a wonderful 2011. Let's do even better in 2012!