Happy New Year everyone!!

2011 was an interesting year for me. In many ways, it was tough because my family had to endure a lot of traumatic experiences. My mother had rotator cuff surgery, which was a very painful and long experience for her since pain meds seem to have no affect on her. My oldest sister was diagnosed with MS and began treatment, and my other sister has had memory and possibly migraine issues. My younger brother was in a pretty bad car accident. And yet in spite of these things, my family had a remarkable year. My mother decided to just go for it and published her works on Amazon Kindle and paperback, my oldest sister received a well-deserved promotion, my other sister decided to go back to school to become a teacher, and my brother graduated from college.

2011 taught me that my family is resilient. That we are able to push through the crummy parts because we have each other to lean on.

This past year was also a year when I grew a lot in my confidence, interests, and understanding of myself. In the first few months of blogging, I was just trying to figure out if I had anything to say, if it was worth hearing. I’m sure many of you can relate to me on this. Growing up without a ton of confidence, I always felt like my friends were the interesting ones and I was an audience for them. I didn’t think that I was interesting at all. 2011 allowed me to finally see myself as someone who can do something to the world. It allowed me to find my interests and explore them. It allowed me to connect with a wonderful group of people who have pushed me to see my worth. Can you ask for anything better than that?

I’m lucky that at this moment I have so many people supporting me to reach for higher goals. I have you, my family and local friends, and my professors. Sometimes it still shocks me to realize how many wonderful people believe in me, and my goal is to not let them down in 2012. In 2012 I’ll be presenting at two different academic conferences (a first for me!) in Charlotte and Boston, going to New York City to meet many of you at Full Figured Fashion Week (I’m determined to go!), conducting the most exciting research I’ve ever done before, graduating from my master’s program, and finding (hopefully) my first full-time job. It’s going to be a busy, scary, exhilarating year.

My one and only resolution for the new year is to reach for these goals and believe in my ability to do them. I have a lot of fear with so many of these things. Not having any idea where your life will be in 5+ months is scary. But I want to work through those fears, continue to build my confidence, and go for them anyway. I know I can do it.

What is something that you or your family has accomplished in the past year that makes you proud?

Any resolutions for the New Year?