Hillside Manor 2011

Drove up to Hillside Manor sometime after 2am
And talked a little while about the year
I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower
Makes you talk a little lower
About the things you could not show her
- Counting Crows


 New Year's Eve is nearly upon us, and I decided to share a little tradition of mine with you all.  As I hinted at above, I'm going to play myself a little Counting Crows, and talk a little while about the year.  There have been a lot of changes for me and my crazy, confused heart.  Grab a seat, and I'll start with the big stuff...

One of the biggest changes for me in the past year is moving into the bachelor pad.  Slowly moving into the realm of adulthood has been a somewhat strange experience, but it's been interesting.  I have now grown used to the domestic chores of laundry and grocery shopping.  I have enjoyed the freedoms that come with having my own place, but there is also the loneliness that comes with it as well, which I am still trying to cope with, but more on that later.
I also joined the ranks of 20sb this year.  I have met some amazing bloggers there, a number of which I now consider friends.  I hope to continue meeting new and awesome people there.
I participated in NaNoWriMo this year.  It strained my creativity and time, and I hated my story by the end, but it made me a better writer, and I think I just might do it again next year.
I also discovered how much I love girl groups.  I hope this music trend continues, and I can find even more of them to listen to in the new year.

Now, to the main part of this:  my romantic history.  It's been a serious roller coaster of a year for me, and I'm surprised I've come out of all this in one piece.
First, there was Alex, that wonderful, sweet young lady whose face I still can't quite seem to forget.  I'm not sure what else I can say about her that I haven't said before.  If you don't know the story, click the link and find out.
After that, there was my ill-fated reunion with Number Three.  It was a very difficult experience, but I think I learned a great deal from it.  After some thought about the situation, I decided I prefer to think of Number Three as a girl who once gave me her jacket when I was shivering.
Most recently, there was Little Red.  She was barely a footnote in the grand scheme of things, but it was my first real date in quite some time, and I learned from that.  What happened after that really was not my fault, and I'm slowly realizing that this has been the case with many other similar cases in my life.
In spite of these misfortunes and setbacks there have been a few small, transient moments this year that have boosted my confidence in wonderful ways.  An incident with a couple of girls looking for directions showed me that I can, in fact talk to women, and receiving kisses from a stranger helped me to get over my rough breakup with Number Three.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it's been something of a wild year for me, and I've learned some hard lessons, but I think I'm better for it.  I've learned from my mistakes (even if it's slowly), and hopefully next year I'll find what I've been looking for.