Almost there!

I can't believe that there's only a few days left on #reverb10! Here are the last few prompts:

December 27 – Ordinary Joy Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year?

My most joyful ordinary moment occured during the first few cold days of winter. As I'm sure you know, we Floridians don't really experience the cold of winter until the middle of December and by the time the end of January rolls around, it has already started to warm back up. This year, on one of our first and few real cold nights, Mike and I dragged our mattress into the living room and set up camp on the floor. We snuggled up with as many pillows and blankets as we could find and Sophie, Spade, and Scout served as our little furry space heaters, as they often do this time of year. We caught up on movies and tv shows until we fell fast asleep in our perfectly warm cocoon.

December 28 – Achieve What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.

You know, it's funny, but I'm not sure what I actually want to achieve in 2011. Sure, I want to lose more weight, I want to continue doing well in school, I want to travel and experience new things, but I feel like those are all very ordinary things. So, I really don't know. How about, if I can be less anxious and stressed and more calm and flexible, then I will consider than an achievement. It will make me feel... lighter. Sometimes I feel heavy. Weighed down. Worried. I want to feel light and airy and free. Free is a good word.

5 Freeing Thoughts (because I couldn't think of 10): Don't sweat the small stuff. Just keep breathing. Enjoy yourself. Don't worry about things you can't control. Smile, even when you don't feel like it.

December 29 – Defining Moment Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.

I'd say a big defining moment for me was going back to school. I can't even explain to you how difficult they made it for me to enroll. Let's just say, I probably spent a total of 24 hours waiting in lines over the span of 7 office visits and an endless stream of paperwork. Literally, it was the most incompetent system I have ever encountered. Every time I would go to my advisor, they would tell me I didn't need any more paperwork and that I was ready to go. Then a few weeks pass and I would notice that I still can't register. So I call to see what the hold up is, and they tell me that I need more paperwork. This happened 7 times. SEVEN. Incompetence at its best. But I stuck with it. Every bullshit 3 hour line. Every snotty student employee. Every trip to bring new paperwork that I didn't even know I needed. I stuck with it, and now I'm back in school and I'm doing really, really great. It's stressful and sometimes going to class is so hard, but I'm really proud of myself for following through and getting it done.

What defined you in 2010? What do you want to achieve in 2011?