2012 was a busy year. It feels nice to welcome a new year with 2013, although today is the last day of my vacation and I’m kind of dreading going back to work after so many nice, lazy, and relaxing days. Anyone have any ideas for what I could do for a living that doesn’t involve working, but still earns a good salary and benefits? Ha! Anyway, here are some highlights from 2012:

1) I got through my first year on a new job! And… Kirk and I celebrated the fact that we’ve now lived in Tucson for a year 🙂 The desert is a suprisingly beautiful and incredibly diverse environment. I love living here – this photo was taken on a recent hike in Sabino Canyon, slightly northeast of the city –

2) I read what felt like a gazillion books and discovered a new love of pulp mysteries and speculative fiction.

3) Kirk and I bought a house – a 1951 adobe brick ranch house to be precise, with a mature tangerine and pomegranate tree 🙂 We don’t yet have a good photo from the front, but here are some others:

4) We’re partially tearing apart the new house to complete some flooring renovations before we move in… maple floors, here we come!

5) Several good friends and Kirk’s family came to visit us 🙂

6) My parents moved here!

7) We closed out the year with our first ever hot air balloon ride over the Sonoran Desert!

8) Mid-way through 2012 I decided I need to live a healthier lifestyle, and as a result I lost about 25 lbs by eating healthier. Oddly enough, I still feel like I look basically the same, albeit less puffy 🙂

9) After a great deal of thought over the previous year, I have finally resolved in 2013 to give up eating red meat and pork (for a variety of reasons). Poultry and fish are still on the menu, for now…

10) I successfully completed a fiction writing course as part of the Writer’s Studio in Tucson this past fall.

In addition to giving up red meat and pork, I have also resolved to spend more time this year doing things just for me – on my list of possibilities: learning the art of urban beekeeping, writing more often (is there yet a year when this hasn’t been on my list of resolutions?), taking up yoga or some other type of meditative exercise, and focusing on gardening in our new house. I have ideas for a completely edible landscape. My western garden book will be hugely helpful.

Happy 2013!