At the end of every year, before I set my goals and resolutions for the new year, I like to take some time to reflect on the year that is ending. This forces me to pause and appreciate all the blessings I have been given and what I accomplished from the hard work I put into pursuing my goals. This really motivates me for the upcoming year!

Here are some of my highlights of 2012:

Personal:

• traveled to NYC to see the Off-Off Broadway production of my play as part of the Samuel French Short Play Festival {and had an adventure narrowly escaping Hurricane Sandy!}
• attended my brother’s graduation from USC
• visited my friends Holly & Janet in Nashville
• was asked to be a bridesmaid in my cousin Amanda’s wedding {this upcoming June}
• started this blog!
• saw a bunch of terrific concerts, plays, and Broadway shows: Bob Dylan, Blind Pilot, Ringo Starr, Ingrid Michaelson, Florence + The Machine; Once, American Idiot, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Young Frankenstein; Jerry Seinfeld; The Strange Undoing of Prudenica Hart, The Understudy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and the beloved Lafayette Feast of the Hunter’s Moon festival
• went to a Purdue basketball game with my brother when he visited me at school
• learned to cook a bunch of new healthy recipes
• read 48 books {follow me on Goodreads!}

Professional:

• wrote a novel for my thesis manuscript and submitted the rough draft to my advisor
• submitted my collection of short stories to a variety of small presses and it was a Finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction
• published stories and essays in the Nashville Review, Prime Number, The Mom Egg, thickjam, Extract(s)
• my short plays were produced in Los Angeles, New York, and Santa Paula
• applied for and was accepted to teach undergraduate Business Writing at Purdue in addition to First-Year Composition; completed the required mentoring program
• taught Intro to Creative Writing during the summer
• taught a summer and winter writing camp through my organization Write On! For Literacy
• was accepted to attend the Key West Literary Seminar in January and to present an academic paper at the Louisville Conference in February; attended the AWP Conference in Chicago
• expanded my Holiday Book Drive to the Purdue community

Tomorrow I’ll post my goals for the new year! What are some of your highlights from 2012?