I don't know why you say goodbye...I say hello.

1/1/11
Today begins a new year, and I always tend to look back at the previous year and reminisce a bit.  We say goodbye to the old and hello to the new.

2010...
We said goodbye to special men in our lives.  Mike O and then just a couple of days ago, Jon's grandpa passed away at the age of 94.  I personally had to learn on an almost daily basis how to live without my grandma (she passed away in mid-December of 2009).
We said hello to continuing to strengthen the relationships we have while we are still on this Earth...time with friends and family marked much of this year.
We said goodbye to our friend Brad, who was planning to move his family to Colorado; we tried not to think about saying goodbye to the rest of the family (Brooke, Colton and the girls, we love you guys!!), but then we got to say hello again to all of them, when it was decided that the move wasn't working out and that they are indefinitely back in Zootown!!
I personally said goodbye to 10 pounds, and have since had to say hello to them all over again.  Not such a great hello, lemme tell ya.
I said goodbye to several Masters course classes in 2010, and will say hello to several more as I work to finish my coursework by Summer 2012.

For the coming year, I have hopes and dreams, as we all do.  Here are just a few of mine:
I hope to make an Irish dancing solo dress (or 2).  I already have a pattern and fabric, I just need to take some time to try.
I plan to continue my involvement with Scouts and the Missoula Irish Dancers, as well as volunteering at church.
I hope to continue my straight A streak for my coursework.
I'm really hoping to say goodbye once and for all to those 10 pounds!!!  (plus a few more)
I want to learn to use Photoshop Elements (since I got it for Christmas!)
Jon and I are going back to England this summer.  I hope to meet new people, have an adventure, and reconnect with people I already love.
I hope to be more neighborly and loving to those around me.
Somewhere in all this, I really, really hope to finish my book.  Yep, the same one that was supposed to get finished with NaNoWriMo two NaNos ago.

I could go on and on and on.  And while I don't really subscribe to "New Year's Resolutions," per se, I do like to take this time of year to refocus myself on what is important to me, to give myself a "fresh start."  And to take the time to be thankful to the One who makes it all possible, whose mercies are new every day.

Hello, 2011!