january 2012 one little word blog hop

she kept her eye on the prize

Having one little word to focus on throughout the year has become vital in many ways to me.
Having Ali E's class to be prompted by has been inspiring.
One of the best decisions I made in 2011 was to take the OLW class.
It's on my thankful list.
It involved me in my word on an artistic level.
It involved me in my word by prompting action.
It involved me in my word by encouraging me to think and journal on it.
It involved me every month, and into that month as well.

december2011

December's prompt to journal about the fact of my word, and the feelings of my word, was in it's own way an activity in saying good bye to my word.
But also firmly knowing that my word from 2011 will always be with me in a now powerful way.
For this I am so very thankful.

My word for 2012 is gifts.
I needed a word to keep me focused on the joy of life.
On the gratitudes found in life.
On the beauty of life.
But I knew I needed to be gentle on myself.
A word like joy would have been too unattainable for me.
I can be so hard on myself.
I can expect too much from myself
I would have failed under that word.

But I know I can be open to gifts.
I can be open to watching for the gifts in my life.
I can be open to receiving gifts from others, in my life.
I can be open to giving gifts to those I am in relationship to, as well.
And you know I do not mean physical gifts.
But rather the non-tangibles.
So, gifts, it is.

Today I leave you with a year in review...
A look at 2011's album pages::

cover page

january

february & march

april

may

june

july

august

september

october

november & december

If you started here on today's hop, Margie is at the top.
The next stop is Karen at  http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/

If you want to continue from this spot, here is the list of participants for this month's hop.
Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com
Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Veronica www.veronicanorris.typepad.com
Kara http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com/
Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Sharyn http://www.LaVieEnChic.com
Jill http://jillconyers.com
Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Monica http://scrapinspired.com/
Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog
Cynthia H http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com
Lee http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife/
Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Monica B www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au
Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/
Melissa S http://blog.mshanhun.com
Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com
Stephanie http://www.scrapworthylives.com/
Jenn L www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com  you are here!
Karen http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you in the New Year.