I’ve been saying it for a while now, but 2013 really has been my best year ever. So much has happened. So much has changed. I have changed. I feel like I’m a completely different person than I was one year ago. I don’t think I’d even recognize the me from two years ago. But, I’m very happy with these changes. I’m happy with who I am now. I’m happy with where I see myself going and how I see myself growing. I don’t know why everyone thinks being 20 or 21 is so fantastic. I’m coming on 28 and I’m pretty sure that ~30 is the new 20. Approaching 30 is when you really start to figure it out. Life, that is. You figure out who you really are and what you really want. You start to drop your childish inhibitions, your fears and uncertainties, because you realize that you only get to live this life once – so you’d better cut the crap and get on with it, do it your way, find the happiness you deserve. And that’s what I did this year. And that’s what I plan on continuing to do in 2014.

I’d say my year was pretty well split between work and life, I guess in a way I established that balance everyone is always talking about. So let me now reflect a bit…

Divorce. There, I said it. I got a divorce. I’m not ashamed. I don’t feel like a failure. We did what we had to do and I think we’re both in a better place now, some might disagree, but you can’t please everyone. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it hurt others. Yes, I’m sorry that there was pain involved. But, sometimes you get into relationships because they fill a need, and when you no longer have that need, it might not make sense to stay anymore. The end.

Living on my own again. I’ve lived in four places over the course of the year. We sold the house, neither of us needed it. I lived on an air mattress with a space heater. I lived in a house with a few friends and we threw epic parties. Battleshots, ’nuff said. And then I moved into my own apartment, just me and the Ging. All of this moving forced me to simplify, to get rid of all the baggage I’d been dragging around. And now once again, I’m preparing to move again, and am finding even more things that I just don’t need anymore.

I found confidence. In every way. I started speaking up at work. I started speaking in public. I taught an entire 4-hour workshop for Girl Develop It Detroit. I started sharing my opinions. I started trying to make a difference in the world. I still have a ways to go, I’m still an introvert after all, but I’ve now got a base to launch off from.

I made some of the best friends ever. Mercs-4-eva. And strengthened many existing relationships, namely with my sister, Laurie. I don’t think we’ve ever been closer, it’s pretty cool.

I started a new job and found my place in the development world. I left Quicken Loans in October and started with Articulate, an E-Learning software company. I now work remotely for them, doing frontend work. Over the course of the year, I took a deep dive into the world of Sass, modular CSS architecture, and responsive web design. As with all things in the development business, I still have a ton to learn, but I’m finally happy with what I’m doing and the technologies and areas I’m pursuing. I even received a scholarship from Github to attend OSCON in Portland, and later attended the inaugural SassConf in NYC. OH, AND my open source project, SlickQuiz for WordPress, surpassed 15,000 downloads!

I fell in love again. Truly. Deeply. His name is Nathan. It’s sappy but, all of those romance movies and love songs, they really can happen to you. To find love, you just have to be yourself and start doing the things you love. That’s where you’ll find them waiting for you.

And lastly, because this is already long enough…

I tried roughly 300 unique beers. Which is just freaking awesome.

So here’s to 2013, the best year I’ve ever had. May next year be just as amazing!

Since shooting, editing, and posting every day could get rather time consuming and interruptive – I will likely be posting a lot of my photos in sets over the weekends.

Day 1’s photo is a partial self-portrait. The focus, at least my intended focus, is on the mug and then the tattoo. The mug because I have a seriously lame head cold and have been downing tea all day. The tattoo because today is January 1, and above all, my top resolution for the year is to live.

As for the editing of the image, I went with desaturation to represent the fuzziness of a cold and the coldness of this Michigan winter day.

Surprisingly, after all that planning, I decided on it in a pretty well spur-of-the-moment move.

It was the day after Thanksgiving. I went out to Ypsilanti for a late lunch and lo and behold – I found myself eating across the street from Depot Town Tattoo, a shop that had been recommended to me by multiple people. The thought of just walking over there and getting a tattoo immediately crossed my mind, and almost just as quickly, I’d resolved to do it.

I’ve been wanting a tattoo for around 10 years now and have toyed with ideas throughout that whole time. This last year, I got serious with it though – setting up multiple pinterest boards with ideas.

So, it was decided, I was going to walk across the street after eating and get a tattoo. Step 2: decide which tattoo idea to get. Something simple, something safe, something meaningful, something relevant. Live. Decided.

I walked in, told my idea to Dawn, and within minutes we were ready to go. The tattoo was done in about 60 seconds. It felt like cat scratches. Not too bad at all. Without further ado, I present to you my first tattoo:

The first of possibly many… I am scheming my next tat(s), they could happen very soon… :P