2011 Year In Review

{Photo collage made in Lightroom.  Click on photo to see it bigger!}

I admit it.  I love the Year-In-Review posts on my blog every year.  It makes me really happy to go back through my favorite photos, stories, and statistics and post them.  It makes me feel blessed and full of abundance.  I’ve done a YIR post in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.  Here’s to looking back at 2011!  :D

In 2011:

• I ran 234 miles.
• I started regular strength training again.
• I ate a lot.  If it wasn’t for regular exercising, I’d be HUGE!
• I did at least one new thing every week in my New 52 project.
• I started scrapping my everyday life with Project Life.
• I completed 30 Days of Lists in September.
• I got three sinus infections that lasted about a month each.  Ugh!
• We adopted our cat Noodle.
• Noodle got picked for the San Diego Humane Society’s 2012 calendar as Mr. September.
• We went to a couple of plays at the Lamb’s Player Theater:  Mixtape and Steel Magnolias.
• We went to Anthology for live music and dinner four times.  We saw Poncho Sanchez, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Fourplay, and Stanley Jordan. 
• I was on the Digi Show Episode 032.
• Our Asian Food Club met several times.  We went to Tofu House, Punjabi Tandoor, Yakyudori, and Siam Nara.
• Todd’s parents and sister came from Ohio to help celebrate Todd’s 40th birthday.  We had a big party which we dubbed “Super Todd” since it was held on Super Bowl Sunday.
• Little Dreamer Designs store closed.  My stores at Mscraps and Digital Dandelions opened.  Digital Dandelions closed.  I decided to close my store at Mscraps.
• I celebrated my 41st birthday.  I also took my friends out for dinner for my birthday.
• We saw my cousin’s movie “Almost Perfect” three times.  Once in San Francisco, once in LA, and once in San Diego.  We also got to hang out with the stars from the movie.
• Todd ran the Xterra Black Mountain 15k Trail Race, rode the San Diego Century Ride, ran the Red Dress Run, swam/bike/ran the San Diego Triathlon Classic, and ran 4 miles and ate 12 donuts at the Krispie Kreme Challenge West. 
• I cooked some new recipes, including an awesome scallop dish and shrimp stir fry dish from America’s Test Kitchen.
• My blog and food photos appeared on the America’s Test Kitchen feed blog three times.  Once for the shrimp stir fry, and twice for Pesto Alla Trapanese.  (Once on the Fan Photos of the Week, and once in its own post when I was the “Blogger Spotlight”!)  
• Todd started a Soup Club exchange and they met several times during the year to exchange soups.
• We got hooked on the HBO show “Game of Thrones” and watched most of them with Dejah and Roby.
• We went whale watching but didn’t see any whales.  However, we did see a lot of dolphins and even a sun fish.
• I made two mini-books as gifts.  The first one I gave to my friend Sally for her birthday.  The second one I gave to Todd as an anniversary gift.
• I totally revamped my craft studio and did a DIY craft island.
• I learned to sew.  My first sewing project was a bag.
• I went vegetarian for a week. I also eliminated potatoes from my diet for a month. 
• We made Domo cookies for Monika’s birthday. 
• We celebrated our 17th anniversary by taking a couple of days off.  We went to the beach on Summer Solstice, stayed at Hotel Indigo downtown, lunched at Bernardo Winery, and had dinner at Roy’s on our actual anniversary.
• We looked back at 17 years of marriage, time machine style!
• Went on several outings with my high school friends Sally and Lara.  We went to lunch at Whisknladle in La Jolla in July, dinner at Café Sevilla  and Siam Nara in October.
• Went to two Padres games.  Once in July, and once in August with Sally. 
• We got an ice cream machine and made chocolate raspberry ice cream, peach ice cream, and salted caramel ice cream.
• I documented a Week In The Life in July. 
• We celebrated my dad’s birthday. 
• We survived the Great San Diego Blackout of 2011.
• We went to Ohio in September to visit Todd’s family.
• Todd dressed up as Sue Sylvester for Halloween.  
• We went to Dallas to spend pre-Thanksgiving with my sister’s family.
• I made a handmade holiday crafting kit, which I gave away on my blog, as well as sent to a couple of friends as gifts.
• We had our 2nd annual Elf Party.
• I made all handmade holiday cards, which took over 20 hours.
• We went to Oahu, Hawaii for a week-long vacation.  We went on a food tour, hiked to a waterfall, visited Pearl Harbor, hiked to top of Diamond Head at sunrise, went to North Shore, and hiked the Makapuu Trail to the lighthouse.  It was an awesome and unforgettable trip where we ate a lot but stayed active and saw lots of scenery.
• We spent a quiet Christmas at home.   
• We went to the Holiday Bowl with our friends Minnie and Mike.
• I took 7,853 photos.  Actually those were the ones that I kept.  I deleted some “bad” photos from my Lightroom catalog already! 

These were just snippets of a wonderful and busy year.  A lot more things happened and there was lots of hanging out with friends and sharing food.  Not all were documented on this blog.  Here’s to a great 2012!