2011 in Review and a New Start

Honestly, I have no clue where the year went. It has been a total blur. Looking back, here are the highlights:

* Stitching finishes - 1 - Happy Haunting in January
* States visited for fun - 12 - Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Florida...and of course, Illinois
* States visited for work - 2 - North Dakota and Indiana
* Countries visited - 2 - Jamaica and Cayman Islands
* Nights camping in the camper - 19 - all of them very close to home
* Nights camping in a tent - 4 - all in Washington
* Concerts attended - 12 (although 6 of them were related to one event and three for another) More details here.
* Major accomplishment - HUGE project at work

Sounds like a whole lotta fun with not much else, doesn't it? The truth is that work was exceptionally demanding this year, and I am wiped out by the end of the day and wanting to *totally* escape on the weekends and days off.

I did make a new start yesterday for the new year. I have been wanting the Shepherd's Bush America kit for some time. I haven't been able to justify buying it with so much else waiting in the wings. I found a great deal on it in the past couple of weeks, and it arrived in time to make a start on New Year's Day! Here's where I am at right now...

Yep. Two days...lots of green. But this is the most labor intensive part of this piece, so it really doesn't look that bad overall. My goal is to have it done by the end of the year. Keep me honest with this...peer pressure works!