I for one will be glad to see the back end of 2007

[Motorboat Cruiser]

2007 has had its ups and downs for us.

- This is the first year that I ever achieved one of my New Year's resolutions, which was to support myself primarily through writing and playing music.

- This was the year that I finally started learning who I am, and learning to trust who I am, creatively.

- This was the year of many car repairs, as well as medical and dental bills.

- This was the year that Matthew and I both lost jobs that we adored.

- This was the year that we learned that we can bounce back from negatives such as those listed above and still be happy.

- This was the year that I wrote more than all the previous years combined.

- This was the year that we were too busy and/or broke to socialize as much as we would have liked.

- This was the year that I broke a personal record for number of gigs played. 113 of them, according to my calender. I also had the opportunity to play with a collection of new and wonderful musicians who each inspired me to play better than I thought I could.

So, looking back, I can't complain much. We are still poorer than we would prefer, we still plenty of issues to deal with - but - we also grew quite a bit, individually and as a couple. We learned that we are capable of much more than we thought possible. I see it as a stepping stone towards a much better year ahead.