Farewell 2011, Welcome to the Party 2012!

Another year gone and what is hopefully going to be an epic year for C Payne, 2012 has arrived.  This past year was overall a pretty darn good year unlike the roller coaster ride of 2010.  I just briefly read over my blogs from the year and I am overwhelmed with how much I accomplished in 2011 and it just excites me even more for 2012.

I saw a lot of family, friends, went to a couple of weddings, ran a bunch of races, went on a lot of new adventures, made new friends, life changing decisions, and of course met one person in particular that has completely changed my life.  Let's take a look at the ups/downs (if any) of 2011.

Running:
- Coyote Hills, Steep Ravine, Bay Breeze, Big Sur Marathon, Sierra Azul, Tough Mudder, Big Sur Half Marathon

All great races; most were difficult courses, others were not.  I broke my 1/2 PR 2x, ran the most scenic marathon on the planet, killed some hills, got beat up by other hills, and made some new friends.

New Places Discovered:
- Pebble Beach, Point Lobos, Sequoia Nat'l Park, Chinatown, Alcatraz, Hearst Castle, Santa Cruz, Hawaii!!

I finally got out of Monterey and started exploring the areas surrounding it.  I also got up to the city a buttload of times and saw a lot of new sites.

Friendly Visits:
- Kristen, Jim and Trish came in February; Steve and Theresa in May; Mizzoni Family Adventure in June, Betz and Kortnie in December

It was great to get to catch up and share this great new life with some of my closest friends that I know from all walks of life!

Ballparks:
- Oakland Colliseum, Angels Stadium, PetCo Park

Got to see a couple of A's games, Angels games, and Padres games; 3 of those 6 games were Sox games!

I Do:
- Mikey Linna married Sara Goblinger and Alicia Hazard married Luial Gilbert!!!

Both July weddings allowing me to get a 10 day vacation back East.  Both weddings were incredible, a bit out of control as expected, but a blast and great time catching up with family and friends.  Congrats to all!

Life Changes:
- Big 3-0!  Spent down in Anaheim and San Diego with Mike and Sara, an absolutely perfect baseball celebration!
- May 1st (Big Sur Int'l Marathon) I met Megan and we've been together ever since and are now living together in Seaside; she's a brave soul!
- October 3rd: 1st day sober, 90 days yesterday.

Extras:
- Learned how to Stand-Up Paddleboard (even purchased one!)
- Experienced first Tsunami scare (thanks for the 4am text Wendy/4:30am call Mom)
- Relay for Life; Event and then Summit
- Seinfeld
- First Christmas spent away from home

Sports:
- Boston Bruins are the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions!!!
- Red Sox are the biggest choke artists since the Yanks in 2004
- NFL Lockout
- NBA Lockout

I hope everyone enjoyed 2011 as much as I did and if not please do not go into 2012 with a pessimistic attitude because this year WILL be better, new adventures WILL happen, new friendships WILL be made, one Boston sports team WILL win a championship!  I'm sorry if I missed anyone/anything, it wasn't intentional and I'll probably have to make some additions...anyway welcome 2012, I cannot wait to see what you have in store for me...and if those Mayans are right then I'm gonna make this one HECK of a year!