And this is the end

2011 was quite the year.

From January to April I was in Victoria. I had some interesting classes, I grew some amazing friendships, and I prepared myself for going back to high school.

In April I got my first taste of teaching. English 8 and Social Studies 11 at Clarence Fulton Secondary in Vernon. I moved in with my Auntie Sandi and Uncle David and they were unbelievably welcoming. I was there for Mother's Day and for the first time in five years I got a reminder of what it is like. That is something I will always be thankful for. Practicum was hard. It was great, but it was really, really tough. My classes were great, but teaching on a Copernican system was exhausting. Trying to prep three lessons a day, every day, for five weeks tired me out. I was doing 16 hour days every single day, but I made it through.

May brought the end of practicum and I packed my bags and headed back to Hope. I took a few weeks of work at the Museum to build my funds and then on June 1 I moved back to Victoria for summer school. For a month Lauren and I shared a bachelor suite which worked surprisingly well! I did the Indigenous Studies Institute and that was the highlight of my Education degree. The learning environment was amazing. We had four inspiring teachers, an great class composition, and we got to have so many meaningful experiences.

The end of June brought a break from school, but not from UVic. Lauren went to Europe with her family and I got to live by my lonesome for the first time. I worked at UVic as a Research Assistant and I genuinely came to love my job. Yes, it was a tad lonely being almost the only person in the MacLaurin building, but the work was interesting. And I got to schedule myself. That was a huge benefit.

By the time August rolled around, I felt like a break. So I took one. Whitney and I planned a grand adventure and we set off for a two week tour of BC and Alberta. We camped, went to hot springs, did some walks, camped some more, hung out in the rain, ate perogies for breakfast, and bought a LOT of goat soap. The trip was beautiful and although it wasn't always easy it was definitely worth it!

September brought a return to school - but only for a month. This was the "end" of Cohort One as we knew it. We were being set loose on the real world. In October I moved back to Hope and prepared for my final practicum back in my old high school. I taught English 12, Socials 11, AVID 9, and Leadership 9-12 with the most amazing mentor teachers, students, and school environment I could have imagined. Some of my classes were challenging, but I made it through the tough days and by the end I was genuinely sad to leave. So sad I may have cried. But in my own defense, it was entirely my mentor teacher's fault.

At the start of December I returned to work at the Museum. It is hard to believe I have been there for 8 years. It is such a big part of my life and in some ways it feels like such a homecoming to be back there. I love working with Inge (even though we are basically the Odd Couple) and the research I am doing is fascinating.

And now here we are, December 31, 2011. 10:40 PM as I write this. The new year is coming and I am left reflecting on the one that has just passed. It has had incredibly happy moments, incredibly sad moments, moments I wanted to punch someone in the face, and moments where I was completely at peace with my life.

Throughout the year there have been books. So many books. Books for school, course readings from textbooks and articles and websites. But mostly there have been novels, read for pleasure. 50 of them, in fact. My resolution came about by tagging on to another person's resolution, someone who was piggybacking on the resolution of someone else. Nat mentioned the idea of reading 50 books to Inge, Inge mentioned it to me. And being me, I can never resist a challenge.

So this year I read 50 books for pleasure. Or mostly pleasure. Some of them I adored, some were awful. Really, really awful (read: Memoir from Antproof Case). But all of them were good in the sense that I read them, I learned from them, and I really firmly believe that all knowledge is good knowledge.

I finished my challenge with 1 hour and 40 minutes to go in 2011. Plenty of time to spare. My family entirely doubted that I would be able to finish in time, but I knew that I would get it done. So, now that I have successfully completed my first-ever New Year's Resolution, what are my goals for 2012?

1) Run at least one race every month in 2012
2) Complete 30,000 push ups (yes, I realize this is insane, but this is the next Nat-Challenge and after my lovely brother said "you can't possibly do that" I was left with no choice but to accept)

Those are my two main ones. I also want to travel, run a half marathon, read the complete works of Shakespeare, get a job, and just generally be happy and healthy. A lot has happened in 2011 and I know for certain that 2012 will be full of its very own types of adventure. And maybe I will even read another 50 books.