Looking back, 2011 has been pretty eventful. Rob and I started out the year finishing our two month hiatus. The first two weeks of January were spent in Miami Beach, Florida and the last two weeks were spent easing back into Winnipeg life.
February saw us returning to work at The FaQtory (both of us found that difficult after so enjoying our time away). Luckily I had a creative project to focus on — my friend Jeope and I had a gallery show to showcase the best of our 365 photography project. Our opening night was on February 21 and we had a wonderful, supportive crowd to fill the space. In March Jeope and I did a co-presentation at Pecha Kucha Winnipeg to share stories from our project and show. I also had work shown as part of the Winnipeg South Photo Club’s exhibit which was displayed both at Great West Life and at the Millennium Library.
I launched my website and blog on April 17 and have enjoyed having a central place to house my design portfolio and photography. I’ve also loved having a bit of a voice through my blog. Hopefully some of you folks have found me to be an interesting read. To date I’ve written 51 posts including this one and have had just over 2,200 unique visitors.
April was also the month that I started tai chi. I try to practice daily at home as well as go practice with the group once or twice a week. It has been a really good thing for me and I quite like the community that I’ve formed there. I also tried out running for a bit and managed to do the 5k physio fit run on May 7. Sadly I haven’t done much running since.
In July I had my annual long long weekend at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. It was once again filled with great music and lovely times with friends. Also did quite a bit of drumming over late summer and early fall (at my usual camping/drumming trip out at home as well as weekly jam nights in the park).
After successfully completing my 365 project in 2010, I started (and failed) at two new photo projects. The first was a 52 week portrait project which I dropped after 18 weeks. The second was my 31 day self-portrait challenge which I still have yet to finish.
I spent most of 2011 quietly searching for a new job (it was time) and am happy to say that I’ve found the perfect fit at the U of M. I only started on December 5 but so far I absolutely love it. I think I’ll be able to do good, fulfilling work there and I’m so appreciating the calm and supportive work environment. A few months before I did, Rob also found a new job! So we are both experiencing a fresh start.
I continue to struggle with an ongoing health issue that was at its worst on New Years Eve 2009. After dealing with it off and on in 2010, I finally met with a specialist earlier this year and after a couple of tests, found out that I have what I consider to be a mild form of chrohn’s. I spent two glorious months this year with absolutely no symptoms but the rest of the time it has come and gone. On a good note, I’ve had a great year and my little health issue hasn’t stopped me from enjoying it. If anything, it has forced me to be more caring towards myself. I’m definitely healthier overall and much more aware.
My family is wonderful and I’m so grateful that we are all relatively healthy and here to enjoy each other. There were a couple of accidents along the way but all is on the mend. Our sweet little dog Kato is still her happy crazy self and team “Karen & Rob” is feeling strong and connected. It’s hard to believe but next year we’ll be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary.
Next years goals include maintaining the wonderful relationships with family and friends that I’m so grateful for, getting outside as much as possible, improving my tai chi, healing (more) from a childhood trauma, getting back into running (maybe a 10k run this year?), settling in and excelling at my new job, drumming more, getting my country fix once a month, finding my way back to better health, taking silly amounts of photos, having my first solo gallery show and, AND, A N D.
Counting down and looking forward. Happy new year all… I wish you happiness, health, curiousity, growth, friendship and love.