What is in a year?

Good morning, and happy Friday, folks!  Something about this time of year makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Sure, it could just be the soft, cozy socks I wear so the floors in our house don’t freeze my feet, but we will never know.

As of yesterday, I didn’t know what I was going to write about in this week’s blog post.  I searched for inspiration for several days, to no avail. Writer’s block. Drew a blank. Call it what you want, but I had nothing. Nada. Zilch. You get the idea.

Last night, it came to me. An idea. Funny how what you desire happens right when you need it, huh?  I logged into a writer’s community website that I am a part of, to listen to this week’s teaching. The speaker asked everyone to pull a coin out of their bag, look at the year, and think about what happened that year.  Voila, what a wonderful idea to blog about.

I pulled out a rather rusty old penny, but not so worn that you could not see what was inscribed on it.  The year was 2011. What a year for me that was. That year, I learned that I would be a mother for the first time, and I celebrated one year of marriage.  Those were definitely the most memorable moments of the year for me, but there were some other special memories made as well. We took a babymoon to the Bahamas, where I had never been.  The beaches were amazing. I swam with a dolphin named, Andy, who kissed me on the cheek. Looking back on the photos from that trip last night brought back vivid memories of a not so far past.

What else happened in 2011 you ask?

Interesting events that took place in 2011:

• The Royal Wedding between Kate Middleton and Prince William took place in the United Kingdom. (ummm…so wish I could have been there!)
• Apple releases the iPhone 4S on October 14th, only nine days after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.
• An underwater earthquake with a 9.0 magnitude hit off the coast of Japan, causing a tsunami with waves over 130 feet high. Damage from the tsunami and earthquake triggered a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
• Osama bin Laden is killed by US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan
• Adele’s album, 21, topped the charts in more than 30 countries and became the world’s best selling album for 2011 (gosh, I love her)

As we approach the end of the year, and we look forward to spending holidays with family and friends, because they matter most – what memories would you like to make? What memories have you already made this year?  What were you up to in 2011? Pull a coin out of your bag or wallet and tell me what happened to you that year. I would love to know.