One year ago...

So, I've been thinking a lot recently.  I'm very sure that when I eventually die, "thinking myself to death" might be the reason that's on the certificate.  This normally happens to me though when I've done something that makes me reconsider what I'm doing with my life or what I've done with my life. Meeting someone that I'm in awe of and being quite happy with everything going on in my life right now has turned me into reminiscing on the past year of my life. I'd love to be able to tell you that this is going to be some eloquent post, written with actual sentences and paragraphs, but it won't be. I think in bullet points, so that's what you get.

Last year at this time, I was:

• walking around aimlessly.  Without purpose, without direction, and without an actual goal in sight.  The "light at the end of the tunnel" was more likely the train and not the end of the tunnel.
• a new home owner.  After luckily falling into a good housing opportunity, and having a great friend help me out completely.
• rearranging my life, and dealing with living by myself for the first time ever.
• dreading waking up each morning, and going to a job that I wasn't appreciated at.  While also preparing to be without a job.  Knowing that February would be the end of a 12 year career at the same company.  My first job out of college.
• quite unhappy with life and also quite alone.  I do thank the people that I talked to a lot last year, but no matter what was actually said to me, it was really just going in one ear and out the other.
• very stressed out about what I was going to do.

365 days can be a lifetime though.  I was told, by a smart person, that she's found "the worst year you've encountered is normally followed up by the best year you've encountered".  I feel like 2012 was good to me.  The best year?  I think I could've done more to try to end the world.  Certainly a better year and my life has turned around.  So, in the last year, I:

• received a book called "What Color is Your Parachute?", that got my head around finding a new job and creating a new career.
• got a new job, that I'm currently very happy with, and that I'm appreciated at.
• decided to upgrade my closet with many new Express fitted dress shirts.
• refereed my first ACC soccer game.
• witnessed my cousin get married.
• got to go to an Orioles playoff game.
• traveled to Australia, for a great friend's wedding, and hung out with one of the most amazing girls I could possibly have in my life.

I don't tell you this to make me seem like I'm great, and everything wasn't perfect throughout the whole year, but if you know me at all then you know what a shit word "perfect" is anyway. Like I said above, all in all it was a good year. It was probably the exact year that I needed to feel like myself again. I needed to be appreciated. I needed to accomplish some long time goals. I needed to believe in myself. I would've liked to have met someone to date too, but I'll have to leave something to do for this year.