There are just a few more hours left of 2011! I can't believe that I started this blog a year ago with a list of goals for 2011.  I have loved participating in the blog community and I'm so thankful for each and every one of you that stop by to read what I've written; it really means so much to me! This space has been a creative outlet for me, especially since I don't always find that in my day job, and I have loved getting to know some of you through the comments that you share and by checking out your blogs too. You bring beauty and inspiration to my days and I feel very fortunate to "know" such amazing people. Thank you. I'm excited to see what's in store for everyone in 2012!

As the year is quickly drawing to a close, here's an update on my goals for 2011:

+ Go paperless and plastic-less in the kitchen. Accomplished! We haven't bought a roll of paper towels in months and our system of using flour sack towels, wash rags, and cloth napkins instead of paper products is working well. We also got rid of the majority of our plastic tupperware and Chris and I take our lunches in glass containers so I no longer worry about plastic toxins leaching into our food. We've been buying plastic ziplock bags more often to take chips and other snacks to lunch so I'd like to find a solution for that, maybe some reusable bags like these. But overall I'm really happy with the way our paperless and plastic-less kitchen is running!

+ Get outside more! And practice my rusty birding skills. Did pretty well. During the months of nice weather I went walking at the nature preserve near our house nearly once a week with our dog and I went birding with a friend once. For work I had the opportunity to see some beautiful areas of Utah and Colorado. I hope to spend even more time outdoors in the coming year and to do more hiking in the Phoenix area.

+ Save enough money to buy a (new to me) Prius. Oh dear readers, it pains me, pains me! to tell you that I have not reached this goal. I had hoped to save $10,000 by the end of 2011 and even though I was about on pace to do this in September it seems that a lot has come up since then that kept dollars from ending up in my savings account: I traveled to Washington D.C. for a wedding, my car required some costly repairs (the irony!), Chris and I went to San Diego, we bought plane tickets to go to Austin in March, and also bought Christmas presents. As of today I have $6,200 in my personal savings account, which is about what I had in September, arg! If anything did go seriously wrong with my car (and at this point I'm not willing to put much more money into it) I could buy an older, used car outright or take on a car loan to get a newer model Prius. But what I really hope to do is buy a 2008 or newer model Prius for cash; saving will definitely be a priority in 2012!

+ Write some pen and ink letters and send some snail mail love. I loved using my address stamp to send a few letters and we also sent Christmas cards for the first time. If we get our office properly set up this year I'd love to keep letter writing supplies handy so I can keep sending handwritten letters.

I'll be back tomorrow to share my 2012 goals, until then I hope you have a fun night ringing in the new year!

*photo via flikr