My bloggy friend Ashley posted this kind of review challenge, inviting others to link up:
I thought it would be fun to take a look back over the year on the blog, using a quick and simple formula to do so:
1. Find the first post published each month.
2. Share the title and first sentence from the post.

That sounded like fun to me. I had no idea what I had posted at the beginning of January. And so, prodded by both curiosity and a challenge, I rummaged in the archives and came up with these nuggets:

January 1: Now Therefore Be It RESOLVED . . . (In which I commit to posting at least once a week.)
“My three weakest areas are structure, structure and… um… structure.”

February 3: Out of the Cold
“Okay, I guess we gloated about our mild winter weather once too often.”

March 15: Truest Life (I had taken a couple of weeks off while my sister was in hospice care. This was what I posted the day she died.)
“For Martha… Just last week, a lost crayon might have caused you untold consternation.”

April 4: Why I am Such a Slow Writer
“I try not to envy people who can write quickly, creative juices flowing as they spend hours ‘in the zone.'”

May 5: Cinco de Mayo Pasta
“Hola! Happy Cinco de Mayo to everyone.”

June 2: Anticipation
“Next weekend I will be flying to Colorado Springs for the 2011 Christian Writers’ Workshop.”

July 6: Gone in a Flash (One of my faves. If you’re gonna get older, you might as well have fun with it.)
“What determines the end of youth?”

August 6: “You Can’t Tame the Goat”
“It was too hot to be outside at all, let alone pedaling a bike up hills and over little backroads that meandered past dairies and other aromatic sites.”

September3: Hotter’n Hell: Camelbak and AirEvac in Wichita Falls, Texas
“I felt like an idiot cruising around before dawn in sunglasses.”

October 5: “Frazz” Comics (Book Review)
“If you know me, you know I love to laugh.”

November 1: “Diesel-Pickup Guy”
“This time, I was better prepared.”

December 6: Writers and the Soul of a Painter
“A few months ago I enjoyed a most unusual interview: I got to spend an hour with Tina Bohlman, a well-respected landscape artist in Waxahachie.”

Well, I’ve enjoyed this little stroll through the past year, and I hope you have too. As to my resolution to publish a post at least once each week, I should note that I very nearly made it. Aside from the one purposeful leave of absence, there were only a few times when I would let nine or ten days slip by between posts.

This seems like a good time to thank everyone who has subscribed to this blog, or who looks me up and checks for new posts, or who has run across me unintentionally while searching for something else. I appreciate every visit and every comment. I really want to bless you with some fun, a little insight or a sense of hope every time you come here.

Happy New Year!
Thanks for reading,
Jan