December 12, 2010.  That was the last date that I posted on this blog.  I can’t help but wonder if anyone is reading this anymore? Well, since I haven’t posted, I would assume not.  There have been hits, of course, people looking up old posts.

Anyhow, if anyone is reading this, I do want to send out a ‘Happy New Year’ post that is more than a year delayed!

So much has happened this past year that it’s hard to know where to begin.   Perhaps an explanation as to why I’ve disappeared for this past year:

1. Life is just crazy busy.  Life has gone from busy to bonkers.  I was in school with projects and deadlines, I had the CRNE to study for, then the NCLEX-RN (I passed both!) and I’ve spent most days off commuting between cities (across a border), but more on this in a moment.
2. I’ve started a full time job – and was working as a casual, but full time, in the mean time.  I do nothing but sleep, take care of myself and relax between shifts.
3. I hesitate to post about anything work-related as I want to be very very careful to respect the confidentiality of my patients, and workplace. I know privacy can be a concern with the internet so I don’t want to post anything that could come back to haunt me.
4. There have been some major changes in my life, all good (that I’ll get to), but it creates a challenge in terms of content.
5. I want to blog about ‘living my life well’ but that’s a rather broad topic and I’m not sure how to pare it down into a series of posts that are relevant, interesting to my readers etc etc.  I also know that it’s partly so friends and loved ones can keep up with me, true. But, I’m still not sure what it all means: living my life intentionally, health and fitness, student-loan pay-offs etc, family and relationships etc.  See??? All rather broad.  And knowing the current direction of my life, it could mean many other things too. So, if anyone is reading this, and has comments, there’s a comment box at the bottom of this post (just click on this post so it’s on its own page. It asks for an email address, and it wont get posted or used by me, it’s just to verify you’re not a spammer).

Anyhow, since my life has gone through so many changes in 2011, perhaps a “Top Ten Highlights of 2011” is in order.

10.  I AM NO LONGER A STUDENT!!! That is definitely a highlight! I finished Nursing School, am done with pesky assignments, no more APA (unless I need to write for work, I suppose…), and no more Monday to Friday 9-5.

9.  Passing the NCLEX-RN (US) exam. It’s a tough exam, and designed very differently from the CRNE (Canadian exam).  Both exams I’m proud of passing, but the NCLEX has a lower pass rate for Canadian trained RNs and the way the exam is set up makes it seem harder (and I believe it is).  I used to have a link with the data, but if you do some searches it data from official sources can be found — I passed it several months ago and I have long-since deleted the links.

8.  I was immediately hired on where I worked as a student, as an RN.  I still work there, but only pick up shifts occasionally. So jobs, money and all that worry post-graduation was for naught.

7.  About 6 months after I finished school I was hired at my dream job — in a full time position! I love it there.

6.  Many miles of commuting across an international border between two cities. I haven’t moved, but do spend a lot of time in another city.  I cherish those miles of driving — it gives me a lot of time to think and reflect.

5.  My nursing school graduation gala dinner.  That was a delightful party with many friends and a reminder of :

Hello Nurse!

and many other moments of hilarity. There were many gorgeous nurses who are at the start of amazing careers.

4.  Memory Lane Camping trip. I had the chance to go on a camping trip throughout Oregon this past summer.  The time was spent walking down memory lane, it was a delight and eye opening.

3.  Visits to Portland meeting some special people.

2.  My birthday this year was spent in a nearby town with some very special people.  People I was just meeting, or have been getting to know this year

And… Number 1 is…

The biggest highlight of my year intertwines with all of the previous highlights, and goes back to New Years Eve 2010/2011. That weekend, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I ended up going to a dance event.  I worked up the courage to take initiative in asking people to dance — it was follow (female) heavy, and I’d been asked by several beginners.  So I decided it was time to be more assertive.

That decision to go to that dance event was one of those minor life choices that we make that seem innocuous at the time but end up being a significant turning point.  The reason for this is shortly after midnight, I asked the DJ to dance and I ended up meeting the love of my life. When people say that finding love happens when you least expect it is certainly true.  This past year I have begun a journey that I cherish with an amazing man.  We don’t live in the same city – yet, but are working on how to make that happen.

The trips to Portland are for family reasons (his) and my birthday in a nearby town was so I could meet his brother and Fiancee when they were in Portland for Christmas.  The camping trip wasn’t my memory lane, it was his — and it was a special time of learning all about his history and where he’s lived.

The question comes, will I continue posting? I hope so, I have goals and plans for 2012 that definitely fall into ‘living life well’ and if I can figure out how that  could all shape into blog posts, they will show up here. On the bright side: I’m no longer required to come up with ‘reflective journals’ for school so that makes me enjoy posting here more!

As I reflect on these highlights I smile in amazement at the bend in the road and I am excited (and nervous – but in the good, anticipatory way) about all the changes that 2012 will bring.  I hope 2012 is an amazing year full of wonder and growth and most of all, happy, for all of us.  Happy New Year.