As you may well know, 2011 was complete shit for us over here at Chez Wilt. But it’s almost over, thank God, and we’ve chosen to be positive about things. So here is what went right during the past 12 months.

• I chopped off all my scraggily long hair and started to feel a little more like myself. 
• My college roommates came up for a visit and we more than made up for lost time. There were confessions, cocktails, five star burgers, dancing, creepy basement bars, a sleep over, and the worst hang over of my life. So completely worth it. 
  
  
  
  
• In their honor, I finally got our first floor half bathroom painted.
  
  
  
  
• In the aftermath of what was a terrible 4 am sewer water in our basement wake up call, we got a new furnace and hot water tank. Positive people, we’re being positive. 
• My favorite brother-in-law got married!
• Gavitron Turned 1!
  
  
  
  
• We did some serious yard work out front.  
  
  
• We brought home Isabelle, who despite chewing everything, (seriously: EVERYTHING) has been some much needed new life for our little family. 
  
  
  
  
• Momma Hatmaker got real brave and finally opened the gift shop she’s been wanting her entire life. She’s had an amazing first six months or so and I am so damn proud. Frankly, I want a bumpersticker.
  
  
• We went to the zoo! Let’s be honest, I’m a simple girl.
  
  
• I went to New Jersey. On a plane. To see the besite. Seriously, this was most definitely one of the top 3 things about 2011. That trip was perfect!
  
  
  
  
• I turned the big 2-5! We took time off work to celebrate in our fabulous little city.
  
  
• I worked up the nerve to quit the WORST job I’ve ever had.
  
  
• I read, a lot!
  
  
• We celebrated our first wedding anniversary!
• Grayson was born to some of the most amazing parents a baby could ask for. And on New Year’s day we are finally gonna get our buts over to meet him.
  
  
• My alma mater blew up YouTube with the coolest thing you’ve ever seen a marching band do.
• We put up a gate so that the little girls can have free reign of the backyard.
• BEST turned one. We celebrated with post #100.
• I baked, a lot.
• I got to spend 24 hours in the happiest place on earth with two of my very best friends.
  
  
  
  
• Our girl got married! And it was wonderful.
  
  
  
  
• We had days that looked like this:
  
  
  
  
• And just a couple that looked like this:
  
  
• I found an amazing community of friends in the Nosy Bitches.
  
  
• We hosted family on Christmas for the very first time. And I didn’t take a single photo.
  
  
• Dorothy came into our life with sweet little promises for a delicious 2012.
  
  

So there you have it, 2011 as we choose to remember it. To be honest, this list is a lot longer than I expected. And I suppose that’s a good thing. Because as much as we’d all like for 2012 to feel instantly different, better, it probably won’t. I have faith in my plans and resolutions, but change on that scale is never instantaneous. It will take time and there will be set backs. And on those horrible days, I will look back on this list and remind myself that in retrospect 2011 was better than it ever seemed to be in the present. So 2012 will most likely be the same.

We are happy to report, that 2011 is most definitely closing on an upswing. There are so many good things to come and I will be back next week to tell you all about them. Until then, enjoy the last moments of this year and know that you will be better for everything you’ve been through.

Be safe this weekend and welcome 2012 with open arms. Possibility is a powerful thing.

Love and gratitude,

Sarah, Bill, Rory, & Isabelle