Packed Into One Year

In 2011, I...

• took my first cruise
  
• visited Mexico for the first time
• saw Chichen Itza, the "Vegas" of Mayan ruins
  
  
• had my first "published" article since college
• wrote several articles for Smile Politely, a local online magazine, including three installments about my cruise
  
• won my first tennis tournament, and won a league also
  
• went 8-0 in singles tennis in one of my outdoor USTA leagues (yet still couldn't beat my big brother in our annual Schreiberfest tennis challenge)
• discovered new music: Ben Folds, The Book of Mormon, etc.
• read at least 35 books, according to my Goodreads bookshelf
  
• was inspired to blog about eleven different books
  
• made several new pen pals (and Facebook friends) through blogging
• went to a conference in Chicago. Realized that for the past 11 years I've lived 150 miles away from one of the most vibrant cities in the world. Made it a goal to start visiting more often.
  
  
• visited Chicago at least once a month for the next eight months
• attended my first Green Festival (in Chicago)
• went on 6 different first dates
• took a road trip to Wilmington (NC)-- hung out with my brothers and an old high school friend
  
• visited Denver, hiked in the Rockies, saw Red Rocks for the first time
• attended my first Bar Mitzvah
• took on my first major lawn project: filled in the Portal to Hell in my back yard
  
  
• switched to green kitty litter, started making my own granola bars, ate more greens (fell in love with arugula), and in general become a little more hippie-ish and foodie-like. Also, switched from drinking Gatorade as my main drink to water.
  
• joined a second book club, created the FB page for it and became the co-organizer
  
• organized my own (very successful) tennis league
• attended my first pro tennis tournament, was spitting distance from Roger Federer (!) and countless others
• had my first in-real-life meeting with a blogfriend (who lives in Germany, but we met in Chicago)
• played tennis on a clay court for the first time
  
• turned 40
• threw a successful Night Before Timageddon birthday party
• painted my living room (with much help)
  
• finally got past a second date, made a new girlfriend
• got to know Evanston (suburb of Chicago) and became well-acquainted with the 154-mile route between my house and my girlfriend's.
  
• took my first trip to Belize (which I will write about soon)
• a wild monkey touched me! took fruit right out of my hand
  
  
  
  (Just got this one in, since it happened on the last day of the year.)
  
  
• met dozens of new people, learned hundreds of new facts/ideas, tried new foods, read new books, heard new music, saw new sites, gathered hundreds of stories, smiled, laughed, cried, mourned, ranted, and felt joy, pain, and contentment.
  

For someone who thinks of himself as a slacker, that's quite a list of experiences. I may have had lots of ordinary everyday occurrences, but when you add them all up over the course of a year, it's amazing to see all that can happen.

I'm not the kind of person to make resolutions or set goals for a coming year. Because I know that, merely by living my life, I'm going to experience new things and grow in ways I can't anticipate.

I know 2012 will be no different.