happy new year!

Wow! It is not just a new year... it's the end of a DECADE! 10 years ago, I was in 8th grade, and we danced around to RAZE at our new year's party. wow!

It has been a good year though. Every year at this time I like to go sentimental and look back at how far I have come in the past 365 days!

On January 1, 2009, I was sitting on my roof in Windermere, Florida, drinking cheap champagne and watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks with my roommates. (Have I told you about how we were less than a mile behind the park and the fireworks would shake our house every night and we could watch them over the trees easily? Yeah. Be jealous.)

Since then I:
-Summoned the motivation and self-discipline necessary to apply to art schools. This was hard for me. I'm glad I did it.
-Visited New York for the first time to visit SVA.
-Only got a little bit lost on the subway the first time I went on it by myself.
-Got accepted to said art schools!
-Got scholarships to art schools that made it possible for me to attend!
-Turned 23. geez!!!
-Killed another hermit crab. Sigh... I just love them to death every time.
-Worked a 17-hour shift. It was awesome.
-Worked 24 out of 32 hours the next week. Also awesome.
-After a lot of agonizing, decided I was going to SVA!
-Worked my last day at Disney. This was very, very difficult... but-
-Bought my ticket to fly back to Florida on January 2nd!
-Packed up two years' worth of junk into a little car. Not fun.
-Decided "what the hell" and went on a date with a boy a week before I left Florida.
-Went out with said boy every night until I left.
-Parted as friends, expecting to move gradually out of each other's lives and meet a hot new art school boy as soon as I started school.
-Drove home to Missouri.
-Flew to New York!
-Moved into my lovely little box of a dorm room.
-Ended up declaring a 'seasonal relationship' with Florida boy. It's working out pretty well so far.
-Saw my first real Broadway show!
-Saw my second real Broadway show!!
-Was pretty nastily betrayed by two good friends.
-Learned a very important lesson: Always, always get it in writing, even if you think you've got it all worked out with someone you can trust.
-Went back to class for the first time since 2006, with a bunch of kids 5 years younger than me.
-Figured out I LOVE ANIMATION EVEN MORE THAN I EXPECTED
-Spent like twelve thousand hours slaving away in the animation lab and loving every minute.
-Started my SUPER AWESOME BLOG
-Pulled my first all-nighter at SVA, and the first one ever where I've had to get through a whole class instead of turning in a paper and going straight to bed. Ended up crying over a Disney documentary. Funny story, actually.
-Finished my first semester at SVA with pretty darn good grades, if I do say so myself!
-Flew home on Christmas Eve and finally got to spend it with my dear family!

I think that is a pretty good list! Even the not-so-pleasant things were very important learning experiences. I am not even being sarcastic.

What's the most important lesson YOU learned this year?!