How was your 2011?

[PhoenixAzul]

So, fast away the old year passes, n'at. How was your 2011?

Lots of stuff happened in my family this year. I moved to Oklahoma, and then moved back. I'm going to be an aunt (yesss...perhaps a tiny little legacy!). We just (as in, within the last two weeks) bought a house. I now work for myself. I launched a website.

But things were hard this year, economically and personally. Definitely better than crap-tastic 2009, and better than 2010, but still tinged with a healthy dose of anxiety and sadness.

So how about the rest of GC land?

[DreamfulSpirit]

The majority of the year was great...the latter part got bad.

My husband and I got new jobs that we LOVE and moved to Atlanta! We got married in June, honeymooned in July.

My oldest dog, Rusty, had to be put down in November. Originally diagnosed with pancreatitis, but I think it really was cancer. She was 13.

My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 49 on Tuesday. Doctors are saying they caught it early though! I think that is the best Christmas present I can ask for!

[carnation]

We got 2 new grandsons and had some good times but we also had some bad things happen right out of the blue. Oh please, 2012, be tons better than 2011!

[dukemama]

Lots of ups and downs:

I was employed at the start of 2011 after being out of work for close to 2 years. Then, I was laid off again in July. I'm still looking for work and am set to make a complete career change come the New Year.

My husband, on the other hand, had a MUCH better year business-wise than 2010, which was a godsend when I lost my job this summer. Going forward, things look good for him.

My mom finally sold her house in FL and is up here living in PA near us full-time.

We lost two relatives in November: My husband's uncle died suddenly on the 8th, and 2 days before Thanksgiving we lost my father-in-law (brother of said uncle) to colon cancer. My father passed away 4 years ago in November as well, so needless to say it's not our favorite month. Fortunately, everyone else in the family seems to be doing well health-wise.

Hopefully 2012 will be filled with many more ups than downs!

[AlphaFrog]

This summer is when I received my scholarship for the New York Film Academy and my family and I made the decision to move to NYC next Fall. So, I'm definitely hoping and praying that 2012 is our year!

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by carnation

We got 2 new grandsons and had some good times but we also had some bad things happen right out of the blue. Oh please, 2012, be tons better than 2011!

Yes, 2012, please be better!

Both my husband and I lost our jobs. That cast rather a pall over everything.

On the plus side - everyone I love is healthy. That's huge.

[33girl]

Better than 2010.

[DubaiSis]

We've had a rough year. My husband lost his job 3 months ago from a COMPLETELY douchy company who won't pay to send us or our stuff to the US and in fact made us repay the rent we hadn't yet used since rent here is paid for a year upfront.

I had some big issues with what seemed to be every one of my friends moving away (either back to the UK or US, or onward to places like Peru), and power struggles that I don't need to bore you with. We didn't get to travel the way we'd hoped (fear of losing job followed by actual loss of job kind of puts a damper on vacation planning) and that's a bummer. I lost my Grandmother and I'm about to lose a longtime friend to breast cancer but can't be there with her now (frankly, I don't know if that's good or bad). We moved to a great apartment in the spring and we've been really happy here, but they've just started building a new apartment building RIGHT outside our beautiful big floor to ceiling wall to wall glass windows, and we can look forward to 1-3 years of excruciating noise if we stay here. And all of this stress has not been kind to our waistlines, so we can look forward to TRYING to start a diet and exercise regime we can stick to and make work.

The good news is we love Dubai and we're still here. Mr. DubaiSis has some good leads that could keep us here, send us to Qatar or England, and we're hopeful for positive change within the next couple months. His MS is in remission and he hasn't had an exacerbation for more than a year (knock wood), and my travel agency business is doing great. November was my biggest month yet!

For 2012, I hope to get a couple group travel outings off the ground (buzz me if you'd like to hear about a yoga trip to the Himalayas in March!), fill my Norwegian Fjords cruise group next summer, and actually go a few places just for fun. For him, I'm hoping he gets a job that is less personally stressful and more fulfilling both monetarily and psychologically. His 80's punk band is set to perform next fall in Orange County so I'm hopeful that will come off as planned. And as always, I hope to discover my waistline in there somewhere. In lieu of that, I hope the Mayans are right! But let's not give up just yet...

[aephi alum]

We got a kitten. We never thought we'd be able to have a cat because of DH's allergies, but a cousin of his, who is a vet, suggested a Siberian cat and told us about the breeder from whom she'd adopted her Siberian. We now have ten pounds of fluffy id.

We left the synagogue where we've been members for ten years. DH served as a board member for eight of those years, and I was the only webmaster they've ever had who actually has a clue. This was for political reasons - I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say the synagogue is hemorrhaging families. BUT, we think we've found a new synagogue to join.

Our job situation is the same, and that's a good thing in and of itself, in this economy.

DH's great-uncle passed away early this year. DH's grandmother has been in and out of the hospital and we think she is not long for this world.

Best of all, MY IN-LAWS MOVED TO FLORIDA!!!!! THEY ARE NOW 1300 MILES AWAY INSTEAD OF 25 MILES AWAY!!!!!

[cheerfulgreek]

So far, 2011 has been the best year of my life. I seriously mean that, too.

eta: but I'm not looking forward to 2012, though, because we're all supposed to be dead on December 21st of that year.

[JDCookMS]

2011 has definitely brought a lot of changes... I moved cities/schools, changed degrees and joined a fraternity (which I NEVER thought would happen... and much to the dismay of my family and a lot of friends), I was elected to a board of director position for a non-profit group....and am currently jobless with $30.41 left in my back account, so I'm glad it's the winter break so I can go home and hopefully get some money from the parents.

[Cen1aur 1963]

I really can't complain. I was out of a job for a minute, and was finally able to get a really nice job in my field, so 2011 hasn't been all bad for me.

[Tulip86]

Graduated college, halfway done with my Grad school thesis, still very happy in all other areas.

[ThetaPrincess24]

It was a rough start for me, but once July got here, things just got better.

I'm excited about some changes coming this next year so I'm looking forward to 2012.

[AGDee]

I feel like 2011 was a roller coaster of good and bad. I enjoyed some time off from school while I studied for the CISSP exam. I left my old job (difficult) and got a new one that is more security specific (good). I had to put Samantha, the most amazing Alaskan Malamute down (extremely difficult) the day after I found out I had passed the CISSP exam (extremely good). I got to travel a lot for my new job, which I loved There are other challenges with the new job that make me think it is not the job that I'll retire from (rough).

My brother told me I'm going to be an aunt again (great!) but the baby is due the weekend that hypoallergenic is graduating so they won't be able to come for her graduation or party (sad).

My new job has us a little more stable financially (great!) but my ex is still unemployed (difficult). He did get a temporary job for these last few weeks of December and said that they may have an opportunity for him there (great!).

We've had lots of sad news about people in our immediate social circle being gravely ill or passing away so that has been challenging. We've seen our immediate community pull together and do some really heartwarming things and that has been great. There is something comforting about knowing that if something horrific happened to you, people would be there for you, even people you don't know.

Hypoallergenic's college search has been exciting. Her brother has lost around 60 pounds since June and is looking great and I'm sure is MUCH healthier. They are both doing great in school. Hypoallergenic and I are both going through some "growing pains", which I think needs to happen so she can leave the nest. There is tension between us and we are bickering more. I have seen many friends go through the same thing and I tell myself it is just a phase, we are still very close, but she has to grow up and leave and I have to let her. In the mean time, we are butting heads more often.

I was actually with The Talker for the first 8 months of the year. Kind of shocking to me. That's the longest relationship I've been in since my divorce. It ended badly. It should have been handled differently.

I have a lot of hope for 2012. My baby girl will turn 18, graduate and go away to college. My son will get his driver's license and (hopefully) a job. Life is going to change drastically when my girly goes away and it will be tough for me. I am talking to a couple new people who could make life a little more interesting. I am taking a full load of grad classes in January though. I'm not sure there will be time for a life! I am going on a cruise with hypoallergenic and some of her friends and their moms for Spring Break.. can't wait! It is a convention year and I am going and I know some really wonderful things are going to happen there. 2012 will be a year that I will never forget no matter what.