Looking back on 2011

2011 has been a year of change for me. It has been joyous at times, trying at others, sometimes fun, sometimes far from joyful.

The Winter of 2011 brought a lot of cold and snow. In January, on the 12, my brother John turned 22.

In April we had our Women's Chorus Spring concert. My brother, Daniel, turned 19 on the 6th!

In May, I took the SAT for the first time. My friend Rene was the first of the three of us (Rene, Preciosa, and I) to turn 17 on May 9th, quite a life-changing birthday! :)

June was my birthday month! I turned 17 on the 9th, and although I didn't feel much different, I can now see that, wow, 17 is quite different from 16.

An amazing opportunity was fulfilled in July. I was able to travel to Peru with my mom; we traveled with a family we had met through one of our friends. I was able to see one of the oldest cities in the world, Lima, and meet the children of the small Andean town of Huambo. My brother John moved out right before we left for Peru, so that was sad, but we are also very happy for him because he is happy.

August 3rd was my friend Maria's 19th birthday. The 24th was my Dad's birthday!

September brought several notable events. My parents and I took a short trip to Cape Cod, where we had fun walking on beaches, on trails, riding our bikes, and relaxing. My friend Preciosa turned 17 on the 22nd! Sadly, my grandmother died on the 23rd after battling several illnesses.

October was a tough month for me. It started out good, as I took the SAT for the second time and was pleased with the results. Glad that was over with for the second time, I moved on with my life. A bit later, I got the news that JW, a very special horse to me, would need to be put down because of his health and age, and his owner, and main caretaker feeling it would be cruel to put him through another winter. It was extremely hard to say goodbye to J, and I miss him very much.

On November 22nd was my mom's birthday. We also had a very nice Thanksgiving on the 24th! The Monday after Thanksgiving, our new family member, a white and black cat whom we named Oscar, came into our lives. I completed my Uconn application on the 29th. Still waiting to hear from them.

December 4th was the Women's Chorus Christmas concert. We sang a great variety of music, with one main theme: snow! On the 5th, my mom and I and a friend of ours went on retreat to the Weston Priory in Weston, Vermont. Of course, the 25th was Christmas! :)

The coming year, 2012, holds much promise. I am excited about visiting Missouri in June, to finally meet my awesome friends in person and spend time with them! I am going to be graduating this coming May. Hopefully, come next Fall, I will be starting my freshman year at Uconn.

Happy 2012, everybody! I hope all of you have a great new year.