The Year of Yes in Review: The Text

On top of Mt. Monadnock, New Hampshire

At the start of 2014, I pronounced it the Year of Yes and vowed to embrace new experiences and get out of my comfort zone. How did I do?

In the course of the year I:

• Took up power/vinyasa yoga and stuck with it
• Cut my hair very short after years of a matronly and not very flattering bob
• Lost 25 pounds
• Figured out how to be my foodie self and still keep that weight off. (Mostly. I did put on a few pounds over the holidays, but I know how to lose them again.)
• Self-published for the first time
• Took literally thousands of pictures, letting myself enjoy photography as an art form for the first time in 30 years.
• Entered a photo contest sponsored by Mass Audubon. I didn’t win or even place, but I had the guts to try, which means a lot.
• Climbed two mountains and did a lot of other hiking. (And took pictures of all of it!)
• Finally did a “duck tour” of Boston after living here for 20 years, and had other local adventures
• Visited Italy for two full weeks with the Cat-Herder and two dear friends. I immersed myself in the amazing experience, and while I was there didn’t freak out about money and didn’t work (much). And I’ve managed to only have a few credit card-related meltdowns since we got home, which is huge for me.
• With all this going on, I still finished writing four books and have another two nearly done.

After the success of the Year of Yes, I almost proclaimed 2015 the Year of Still More Yes. The Cat-Herder, however, persuaded me that as a wordsmith, I could come up with something better than that. So I am now looking forward to the Year of Bountiful Possibilities–and having decided that, bountiful possibilities are already rolling in. But more on that with my first post of the new year.

Stay tuned for the year in review in pictures!

A rare picture of both of us… I actually let someone else use my beloved camera