Top 11 in 2011
2010 was an amazing year for me and at the time I called it “the best year of my life” and now that 2011 is ending I’d have to say it was a close contender for that best year spot!!
Like most people in the blogging world I like to do end-of-the-year recaps. Here are mine from 2008, 2009 and 2010. Recently I’ve started recapping ‘my year’ on my birthday instead so rather than do two yearly recaps  I decided to borrow this idea from Lisa. Here are my top 11 moments/experiences from 2011!
1. Completing my hot yoga challenge. In January I spent 40.5 hours doing hot yoga when I took on the 30 hot yoga classes in 30 days challenge. This was the first non-running challenge I’d done in a long time and the physical, mental and emotional affect it had on me was amazing!
2. Buying our townhouse. At the end of January 2011 we officially signed the papers to buy our first home. We spent a lot of time looking for the right place and almost a year later I couldn’t be happier with where we ended up. It’s in a great location, is not making us house poor and is the perfect size for us. I absolutely love our little home.
3. Getting engaged. This was probably my top moment in 2011. After being together for 6 years Eric asked me to marry him in March on a random Thursday night at home. I am so excited to marry my very best friend in 2012!
4. Traveling to Ottawa, Minneapolis, Victoria and Orlando. I did a lot of traveling in 2011 and it was amazing. All four of my trips this year involved a blogger meet-up (and in 3 out of 4 cases an entire weekend with blogger friends) and once again I am so thankful for the amazing friends I’ve made through this space.
5. Getting a puppy! I love Chloe so much and I’m so glad we decided to take the leap and finally get the dog we’ve wanted for years in August. She brings so much fun and joy to our every day lives and it is 110% worth the extra work and money.
6. Completing a sprint triathlon. Training for this race took up a lot of my time and I was so nervous going into it but it was an amazing and fun experience. Never has a race gone by so fast – i guess the three sports will do that for you – and I can’t wait to do more triathlons in 2012!
7. Running a sub-2 hour half-marathon. The entire weekend in Victoria with Lisa, Lauren and Leigh was amazing and a top moment for me but I’ve never felt so proud of my running performance as when I crossed that finish line in 1:58:18. That race was hard for me and I left EVERYTHING out on the course to achieve my goal but I did it and that was an amazing feeling.
8. Planning our wedding. This has been several moments over the course of the last 10 months (wow, how have we been engaged that long?) and there have been many stressful moments but also many awesome moments like finding and buying my dress, picking our first dance song and booking our honeymoon. Overall it’s been more fun than stressful and I can’t wait to see the whole day come together in just over six months!!
9. Signing up for marathon #2. I have wanted redemption after marathon #1 for quite some time now but wasn’t sure if a 2012 marathon was in the cards for me. When they revealed the new point-to-point course for the Vancouver 2012 marathon I signed up almost immediately. I start training on Tuesday with the local Running Room and I can’t wait to cross the finish line of my second marathon in May!
10. Hosting friends and family in our home. Now that we have a 3-bedroom townhouse we’ve actually been able to host our families and friends when they come to town! It’s great having the extra room. Our families visited and stayed with us 3-4 times this year and we hosted three friends for an awesome and fun long weekend in August! It’s great having the space to host people.
11. Contentment. Never have I felt more content and at peace with my life and myself as I have this past year. I’ve had many moments where I stop and think how lucky I am and how happy I am with almost every aspect of my life right now. Yes, there are hard and crappy days still – I’m only human – but for the most part life is pretty darn good! I can’t wait to see what 2012 will bring.
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Question of the day: What moments would be on your top 11 list for 2011?
You’ve had such a wonderful year Amber–so many accomplishments! I will have to think about a list of my own… Hope 2012 is another amazing year for you.
Yay, I loved reading you and Lisa’s list and remembering all these great times that you had
I feel like after college I found a lot of contentment with my life as well, just kind of enjoying life and not thinking about the next thing (graduation, the next school I would attend) etc. This year for me has been good as well, but less exciting than years past (in 2008 I got moved out with Eric and got engaged, 2009 we bought a house and 2010 we got married… it’s hard to follow all that up).
Loved reading your recap and it certainly has been a big year for you!! I’m sure 2012 will have tons of wonderful moments as well…and looking forward to reading along the way!
This is a great list! 2011 was an awesome year for you as well! You had such huge landmark events this year, like getting engaged and buying your first home! I should have added an 11th thing to my list and i would have added hosting friends/family in my home. I love hosting you, Amber, Kyria, and my parents!!
Looks like you had a great year.
My top moment would be graduating university!!
Aww what a great year and great list! I can’t wait to read about your 2012.
Congratulations on such a wonderful and memorable year! 2012 is going to be even brighter.
You had such a fantastic year! Lots of accomplishments and big things that happened.
My best moments from 2012 were probably graduating, my cruise, and getting my job. Top three moments for sure!
You have had a really full and great year! It seems like you had a lot of big ticket items on your list, like getting engaged and buying a house! Also, a triathlon! I forgot about that, even though I read all your posts about it!
I had a really good 2011. If 2012 is similar, I will be happy. I have had time to read a lot, run a lot and spend a lot of time with family, as well as meeting a lot of new (and great!) people!
What an epic year you’ve had! Lots of big moments.
You have had a great year!!! One of my top moments of 2011 was my sister’s wedding – it was a great time.
Sounds like you had a great year! And I love your living room.
What an awesome year you had!! You accomplished SO much. I love looking back over an entire year and realizing all the I’ve done, such a great feeling. I look forward to that “contentment” piece you’re talking about in #11, hopefully I can get there in 2012 : )
[...] Stephany’s blog this week and I really liked it. I also liked the top 10 list that Lisa and Amber did. Some months were busier than others, but overall, it was really great year full of amazing [...]
2011 was so awesome for you and I KNOW 2012 will be even better! Marathon and a wedding! ITs going to be awesome! We already have 4 weddings in 2012 and I am so excited!
I was totally going to steal this idea from Lisa too, lol! Great post though, it’s so nice to look back and see what amazing moments this year has held. Can’t wait to see what 2012 brings for you. I’m SO excited to hear about your wedding above everything, I think next year is going to be awesome for you too!
You have had such a memorable and wonderful year! I loved following all of these moments through your blog and twitter and then reading them again here – definitely made me smile!
For me, my top moments were quitting my job and beginning graduate school full time and beginning my career in the classroom. I didn’t have very many personal big moments in 2011, all of them were professional so I am hopeful that in 2012 I have some big moments in my personal life!
Yeah, I vote 2011 to be a pretty awesome year for you! But in 2012, you are getting married….so that is pretty stinking awesome too!
What a great list! Here’s to the fabulous year of 2012!
I can’t wait to hear about your training for your second marathon! I swore I would never do another one and my second one was slower than my first, so now I feel like I have to do another marathon to redeem myself
WOW – you have had a HUGE year – so many things to be proud of!
What a great year you’ve had! That yoga challenge sounds intense but awesome. I can’t wait to follow you through your second marathon!
Some of my top moments of 2011 were getting my contract renewed, finding out that my mother-in-law is cancer-free, and hanging out with my mom at Christmas.
You really have had an incredible year. I especially like number 11. I think that’s the most important thing of all.
Happy New Year Amber!
I love #11. I am feeling the same way about my life in 2011. I accomplished so much and for the first time I felt completely content with my life and the paths I had chosen and will chose in the future.
[...] my top 11 in 2011 post I got a lot of comments about number 11, which was the contentment I felt with my life this [...]
The new course for the BMO Vancouver Marathon is what inspired me to train for my first full! Good luck with the clinic mine starts tonight too.