In keeping with my annual tradition (2010, 2009, 2008), I’m reflecting on everything that’s happened this year. I usually do this on Samhain Eve, but I didn’t make time for it this October, which is why you get two extra months here.

In 2011, I ramped up my DDR: I AAAed 11 more catas (compared to just 2 in 2010) and I played random endless 8s for two hours and twelve minutes straight. We watched Coupling, Psych, Bones, Death Note, and Hikaru no Go. We finished Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and started Midsomer Murders. The most interesting video games I played were Sakura Wars, Lost in Shadow, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, Bastion, and Sequence. My favorite game of 2011 was Terraria; I loved playing multiplayer with Dru and Kyeli. My favorite books of 2011 were Made to Stick, Influence, The Art of Happiness, The Art of Power, Uncertainty, Anything You Want, and Making a Change for Good. I practiced openness, compassion, and kindness.

In November 2010, we released 52 Weeks to Awesome 2.0, and we signed up for Mark Silver’s Opening the Moneyflow course.

In December 2010, we went on a big family road trip all the way to Portland and back, and we instituted our 2011 Book-Buying Ban.

In January, we celebrated our son Dru’s 13th birthday and arranged a coming-of-age ceremony for him.

In February, I taught Profitable Idealism with Johnny B. Truant. We went to Portland for Mark Silver’s Sacred Moment seminar and our two-day in-person coaching session for Opening the Moneyflow.

In March, Johnny and Rhi stayed with us for SXSW (where we went badgeless again), and we spent lots of time with the two of them, Kelly, Andy, and Susan. Also, we told the story of The Usual Error.

In April, Kyeli hurt her knee and we prepared for WCWW2.

In May, we launched the 2nd Annual World-Changing Writing Workshop (WCWW2). This was the first time we closed registration on a course because it got too full.

In June, we taught WCWW2 and went to Portland for World Domination Summit, with Kyeli in a wheelchair.

In July, we traded in our old car, Aimee, for our new car, Izzabella, and we saw Owl City in concert with Dru.

In August, we released the WCWW2 home study, and I took Pam Slim’s Power Teaching class. Also, we completed our 2011 book-buying ban a few months early, and Nathan Briggs rescued our website from hackers.

In September, Kyeli went to Los Angeles for Colleen Wainwright’s birthday party, the culmination of 50 for 50. We began our first coaching groups; a Pathfinder Apprenticeship group for me and a Writing Apprenticeship group for Kyeli. I thought a lot about who to trust, and we started checking email no more than twice a day. I created “Kyeli is…” with the help of many of Kyeli’s friends. It made her really happy. We went vegan (again). And we had a great big Annual Meeting to plan out what we wanted to accomplish in 2012. Last but not least, Kyeli’s arms stopped working.

In October, we hired our first assistant, and I created Best of Everything 5.0, 5 CDs full of my very favorite musick. Kelly and I started preparing for The Way of the Peaceful Entrepreneur.

In November, we presented How Your Blog Can Change the World at Blogworld LA, and Kyeli and Julica launched Permission to Make a Difference. Kyeli and I went on a cruise for our 6th anniversary. We saw Mayan ruins, went snorkeling in Cozumel, and I acquired an interest in stage magic and copywriting! (Also, it was very lovely and romantic.)

In December, we rearranged our house to give Kyeli a creative studio. We started our 30-day trial of going gluten-free to see if I have a gluten allergy. We celebrated Yule, and I came up with a fun quest for Kyeli and Dru to rescue their presents from danger. And Kyeli went on Memoir Madness: a mini-roadtrip to visit all the places she’s lived in Texas.

I began 2011 empowered and connected, full of hopes and dreams. In the first half of 2011, I grew, changed, deepened, worked, and those dreams started coming true. In the second half of 2011, I lost touch with those dreams. I let shiny pebbles fill up my jar, leaving no room for my Great Work. I started taking my connection for granted, and it faded. It faded so slowly that I didn’t realize what was happening until this very moment.

I end 2011 humbled, full of renewed connection to my purpose, understanding in my bones that it is my responsibility to nourish and sustain that connection.

I finally see the single best thing I can do to fulfill my dreams, to help others, and to change the world. I’ve been teaching it for years, and now I think it’s finally sunk in.

In 2012, I promise to take good care of myself: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

So, it’s that time of year again; when the internets ignite with buzz about SXSW.

Pace and I don’t want to bore you with it, but we do want to make it simple for those of our people who are coming to find us when we’re findable. Thusly, this post.

Here’s where we’ll be when we’ll be at scheduled events:

First and foremost for our people, there is a Connection Revolution meetup on Monday, 2-4pm, at Texenza in the base of the Frost Bank building (aka the Totoro building): 401 Congress, Austin, 78701. We’ll probably be there later than 4p, but if you want to be assured of seeing us – especially me, because I’m far less social and will be avoiding loud crowded shindigs – that’s the place to go.

We’ll also be putting in an appearance at the Men With Pens party, but I will not be there long. Pace’ll probably be there longer, but no guarantees.

Pace will likely be at the Copyblogger party on Saturday night. I may or may not, because again, I don’t do the loud-crowded-party thing well.

The Connection Revolution meetup is really the way to go if you’re wanting to, well… meet up… with us. The second best thing is to follow us on Twitter (Kyeli and Pace). We’ll be constantly posting our locations and who we’re with on Twitter, so you can tweet back and come find us.

You can also text me at 512-686-8593 if you want to connect. Be sure to identify yourself in the first message you send. Otherwise I might ignore you. Also, don’t call – I don’t answer unidentified numbers, and I’ll often be engaged in conversation and won’t answer the ring. But I will respond to a text.

We hope to meet and/or see again as many of you as possible!

In the meantime, the rest of you have a lovely week. If you get tired of the #swsx talk on Twitter, bear with us – it’s only a few days, then our streams will revert to their usual riviting states. And! We’ve got interesting, fun, and exciting stuff coming up next week!

We’ll see you on the flip side!

In keeping with my annual tradition (2009, 2008), this Samhain Eve I’m reflecting on everything that’s happened this year. Samhain is the end of the old year and the beginning of the new; a perfect time for reflection and introspection.

In 2010, I AAA’ed two more catas, and danced through a full hour of random endless 8′s. We watched Leverage and Monk, we finished watching all of Poirot and Star Trek: The Next Generation, and we started on Deep Space Nine. The only video games of note were Monster Hunter Tri and IFComp 2010. I read Linchpin, The Art of Nonconformity, Flow, Outliers, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, How To Be Rich And Happy, All Marketers Are Liars, Small Is The New Big, The Lies of Locke Lamora, and Red Seas Under Red Skies.

In November, Kyeli and I had a fairytale wedding. It was the best day of my life. Two weeks later, I had coffee with Liz, which was Not A Date™ but was accidentally datelike enough to cause lots of drama.

In December, we released 52 Weeks to Awesome and had an amazing, adventurous honeymoon in Ireland.

In January, Kyeli and I talked about polyamory a lot, and I read Linchpin, which wins my Best Book of 2010 award.

In February, we spent a lovely weekend at Jen Louden’s Virtual Retreat, and I joined the Third Tribe. Then, Kyeli’s uterus collapsed.

In March, we wrote a Very Personal Ad for a new friend, and I did some wacky and exciting 401(k) juggling. I had coffee with Stacey a couple of times. We went to SXSW (badgeless), Nathalie and Johnny stayed with us, and we made lots more awesome friends, most notably Kelly. I arranged an elaborate quest in honor of Kyeli’s 33rd birthday, and also in honor of Kyeli’s 33rd birthday, we had a $33 sale on 52 Weeks to Awesome, and we put the profits toward a future trip to Portland.

In April, we released the First Annual World-Changing Writing Workshop, and our band, Sweeter Than Lazers, released its first song, The Second Sunrise. I realized how hard it can be to maintain healthy boundaries in an awkward social situation. And we went to Dallas to spend time with my best friend Kelan, who was in town for a conference.

In May, we celebrated the 1st birthday of the Freak Revolution and worked on the WCWW a lot.

In June, we wrote our second song: Soup Lazers. Our online friend Ana moved to Austin, we made friends with Marissa, and we hung out with Tari, Kyeli’s friend from Chicago. Also, we had a professional photo shoot.

In July, the WCWW ended, Kyeli had her prolapse surgery, and we accidentally paid off our bank loan in full.

In August, I took care of Kyeli while she was recovering from her surgery. It was challenging. We released the WCWW-in-a-box, I started doing the Pace Explains series, and I went to my first Austin Linchpins meetup. In a move that would turn out to have far-reaching consequences, we asked our readers to tell us about themselves.

In September, we met Ealasaid, we gave away a bunch of copies of The Art of Nonconformity (which wins my Second Best Book of 2010 award), and Kelly and I created and released Engaging eCourses.

In October, the Freak Revolution evolved into the Connection Revolution. We made a lot of big changes, including closing the Coffee House. I went to Blogworld, spent time with old friends, and made oodles of new friends, then soon after, we road tripped to Dallas to see Chris on his Unconventional Book Tour. Last but not least, we had a Pay What You Can sale on the WCWW in honor of NaNoWrimo, and were blown away by the response.

I began 2010 an optimistic explorer, full of hope, passionately searching for her path. I end 2010 an empowered world-changer, full of connection, boldly walking along her path. Fueled by love, led by Spirit, my heart full of peace, my love alongside me, in service, in joy, in creation, in stewardship. In connection.

I opened myself to change, and Spirit flowed in like a thousand oceans.

2010 was the year that we turned the corner. 2010 was the year when our dreams stopped being just dreams and started coming true.

Your dreams will come true, too.

Open yourself.

Have patience.

Have faith.

Here’s the first episode of a new series on the Freak Revolution blog: Pace Explains.

Today, Pace explains the difference between gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, and sexuality, and what all that has to do with the whole transgender thing.

Click here if you don’t see the video. (It’s 4 and a half minutes long.)

Featuring:

• Pace
• Chuck Norris
• Angelina Jolie
• Drag queens
• Biker chicks
• Charts and graphs!

What would you like me to explain next?

Before Kyeli’s surgery, we had our first professional photo shoot with the lovely and talented Trisha Renae, who does family photography in Austin. It was a lot of fun, and I think the photos came out great! See for yourself, then scroll down to the bottom, because I have an important question for you. I’m having a lot of trouble making up my mind, and I could really use your help.

Pace

Here are three professional-looking ones of me and one of my cleavage. Don’t say I never did anything for ya. (;

P1	P2
P3
P4

Kyeli

Kyeli is so beautiful. I am totally bookmarking this post.

K1

K2

K3

K4

Pace & Kyeli

And here’s the two of us together. A mix of professional and sweet (just like us).

PK1

PK2

PK3

PK4

Pace’s icon conundrum (and how you can help)

I love our illustrated icons. Kyeli, however, wants her icon to always reflect how she actually looks in real life, so whenever her hair, piercings, or glasses change, she wants her icon to reflect that, and it’s too hard to keep updating the illustration. That’s why she changed her icon on most sites from the illustrated one to a recent photo of herself.

One of the reasons I loved our illustrated icons is because they matched. Now that they don’t match anymore, I’m considering changing my icon all over the internet.

On the one hand, I want to keep the illustrated one because it’s cool, memorable, it stands out, and people are used to it.

On the other hand, I want to have a photo of myself because I think I’m cuter in a photo than in the illustration, and also, the Freak Revolution is all about being authentic — maybe that will come through more clearly with a photo?

Pace’s illustrated icon
PH1	PH2	PH3	PH4

I’d love to hear what you think about my pros and cons, and which of those icons you like best.

Thanks so much for your help!

Kyeli and I just finished our second song! (This is our first song, in case you missed it.)

It’s called Soup Lazers, and it’s in a completely different genre from The Second Sunrise. The Second Sunrise is, what, electronica/acoustic guitar pop? Soup Lazers is straight-up techno. I don’t know what subflavor of techno it is because I’ve never been able to figure out those genre conventions. (If anyone else knows, please leave a comment.)

Listen to Soup Lazers (DDR Mix) by Sweeter Than Lazers (MP3, 1:48)

Pace: composition, arrangement
Kyeli: vocals

Software used: Renoise, Audacity, The Levelator

Lyrics:

soup
lazers
we can shoot ‘em out over the crowd

The name and the lyrics come from a very silly conversation Kyeli, Dru and I had while driving around Galveston talking about our new band.

This is the DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) mix. We’ll probably create an extended mix later, but my first priority was to make a very short and danceable mix so I could create DDR steps for it. It is ridiculously fun and fulfilling to dance a song that I wrote both the music and the arrows for.

If you have Stepmania (it’s like open-source DDR that you can play on your computer) then you can dance to Soup Lazers too!

Download the Soup Lazers StepMania file (SM) 4/6/8 singles
Download the Soup Lazers song select image
Download the Soup Lazers background image

We can shoot ‘em out over the crowd!

Today, May 11th, the Freak Revolution turns 1.

One year ago, we made our big announcement: we’re dropping everything to follow our hearts.

Since that day, we’ve written 174 blog posts, created a freaky community, written a revolutionary manifesto, authored an awesome e-course, and put together a world-changing writing workshop.

How many people have we inspired to change their lives? How many people have we helped become more awesome in some way? How have we made the world a better place? That’s harder to measure, but I think we’re doing a pretty good job, and we intend to do even better in the coming year.

For our 1st birthday present from us to you, we’re having a sale on registration for the World-Changing Writing Workshop. This week only, you can get a $100 discount when you sign up.

Happy birthday!

Love,
Pace & Kyeli

a story told in Kyelitweets, photos, and a bit of narration for suspense and glue

Our story begins on the morn of Kyeli’s 33rd birthday. Pace hands Kyeli a battered manila envelope containing a sole piece of paper.

My first clue! Birthday treasure hunt!

Kyeli googles “kyeli33″, but Google fails her. She takes the hint of the stapled business card and constructs a clever URL:

Got it! http://connection-revolution.com/kyeli33/ Whee! On to the second clue!

There were two paths to solving the second clue: a nerdy path and a geeky path. The nerdy path was to look at the lengths of the letter groups. The geeky path was to View Source and examine the almost-but-not-quite-black HTML color codes of the clues. Kyeli chose the geeky path and filled in the answer: 2 2 2 2. Coffee and 2222 could mean only one thing…

Got it by cleverness! Starbucks on 2222! And we’re off! (:

At Starbucks, Kyeli was struck by pronoid fantasies. Who was out to make her happy on her birthday? It could be anyone, lurking behind any corner. It could be the barista, the customers… who knew? After scouring the rest of the coffee shop, she ventured over toward the bulletin board…

Wow, that was hard! Found the next clue on the memo board at Starbucks! WTF??!

Omigosh, I’m texting someone I don’t even know!

But what Kyeli didn’t know was that it wasn’t someone she didn’t know — it was Marissa!

Fast response! “Happy birthday, Kyeli! Your next clue is: “Nada Chicken @ A&B”! That’s a Thundercloud sub – Anderson & Burnet! Going!

…and on the bulletin board at Thundercloud Subs:

I don’t know who could have committed this misdemeanor, but it sure was a lucky coincidence that it contained the next clue for Kyeli’s quest, leading her to Conan’s Pizza…

Graffiti! Defacement of public property! Clue #5!

@martieu Hi! Have you a clue for me? (:

@martieu I found it, thank you!!

You see, @martieu had already tweeted the next clue ahead of time.

Woah, clue said: quilling croix samurai comment, led to @victoriashmoria‘s blog, clue there is: email another person I don’t know! Wow!

Kyeli googled “quilling croix samurai comment”. Click on the first link and scroll to the bottom to see the next clue.

Email sent. Now to lunch while we wait for a response! (:

But while Kyeli refreshes her email, her phone rings. It’s a mystery caller!

Clue received, mysterious call from an unknown person. “Broken Legolas, abbreviated Luke.” O_o

This was another googler.

That was a puzzler! Got it; @blondechicken’s blog, next clue with @annabarnett! Looking now!

Clue found: isbn 1932394699, within 100 meters of sushi. Huh! That’s a Ruby on Rails book… Sushi… Hmmmm…

Kyeli ponders. Where is there a bookstore near a sushi place?

Got it! Sushi at Whole Foods, and Book People is about a block from there! On to Book People!!

OH!! It’s IN the Ruby book! Wow, I nearly missed that one! It almost didn’t even occur to me! Next clue: @sarahbairstow!

Man, I hope this is at least almost as fun for you guys as it is for me! Next clue: “go to the exact spot where you and Pace got married.”

That’s a particular spot in our backyard. The intrepid adventurer returns to the place at which her quest began.

Is the suspense killing you??

Found it! More graffiti!! Hmmm…

OKC stands for OKCupid. On Kyeli’s OKCupid profile, there’s a picture of her sitting on top of a marble cow. She took a peek…

HOLY SHIT SHE HACKED MY OKCUPID ACCOUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!

…and found that some sneaky internet ninja had logged in as her and photoshopped her picture!

“The young wobbler” refers to Wobbly Thing Jr., a rolling file cabinet thingy that (as you might expect) wobbles.

Treasure found! Here’s the box, kindly mutilated by the cats…

(I have no idea why the cats were trying to get at Kyeli’s birthday treasure.)

Pleased and satisfied with the contents of the final cache, at last, Kyeli had completed her quest. Or so she thought…

HOLY SHIT I’M NOT DONE!!!

Google leads the way…

New clue too long to fit! Check out the comment at the bottom of this post: http://kimianak.posterous.com/unphotographable

After solving the riddle and texting yet another mystery number…

Fastest response yet! “Final clue is Plato’s theory of forms”! Eeeeeee!

Hey! Hey! We read about that in “Sophie’s World”, which is currently in the glovebox in the car!

Rushing to the garage, Kyeli opens to the chapter on Plato’s theory of forms.

OMG! OMG! I got a Sock Dreams gift card…

…with a twist! Pace is taking me to Portland!!!! Ooooooh happy happy! Squee!!

Well, that’s pretty fucking epic. A trip to Portland so I can shop in my favorite store in person. I am one happy girl. <3

Soon, we will get in touch with our Portland friends so we can be sure to see them when we visit. Soon, Niq will give us the Grand Tour of Sock Dreams HQ.

There will be photos. There will be blogging.

But for now, this concludes Kyeli’s 33rd Birthday Quest. Not To Say That She’s Had 33 Birthday Quests, But More Like That It’s About A Quest In Honor Of Her 33rd Birthday.

Friday, we started an impromptu March Birthday Sale, to celebrate all the awesome birthdays in March (of which, there are many!).

Tonight, the sale is over!

So, get in while the getting is cheaper – 52 Weeks to Awesome is only $33 until midnight tonight, if you use the discount code kyelibday !

$33 because I’m 33! And a sale on awesome to celebrate all the awesome in March. Ah, it makes my little Piscean heart so happy. Also, all proceeds from the sale go toward my awesome birthday extravaganza, which I’ll post all about later this week. Til then, you have to wait in eager anticipation, as I had to wait for nearly a month!

And hey, while you wait, you can get started on awesomifying your life. More cheaply. Til midnight.

In keeping with my annual tradition, this Samhain Eve I’m reflecting on everything that’s happened this year. (I wrote this on the 31st but scheduled it to delay posting until the following Monday.)

Samhain is the end of the old year and the beginning of the new; a perfect time for reflection and introspection. This post is different from all the other posts in our blog; it’s a glimpse into the whole of our year, not just the bloggy or businessy bits. I don’t give a lot of context here, so feel free to ask if you wish.

In November, in fact through all of November, December, and January, I was vegan. We began our Communication for the Holidays telecourse, which ran all the way up to Yule. It went well! We chose the subtitle for The Usual Error: “Why We Don’t Understand Each Other and 34 Ways to Make It Better”. I dealt with my depression by making a habit of happiness. Kyeli and I celebrated our 4th anniversary of being together, Marty finished the cover art for The Usual Error, and Megan finished the design.

In December, at long last, after three years of work, we published The Usual Error. This was when we published the limited edition: the one with the orange cover. We sold all 100 of the limited edition copies within 4 days! I helped organize the Triiibes Blog Project. Kyeli’s grandfather died. I went to Dallas to be there for her during the funeral, and there was some Conservatives vs. Lesbians drama. We came home and put together a fun Yule quest for Dru, and I arranged an elaborate multi-step Yule quest for Kyeli. This is also when Dru started going to counseling.

In January, I joined the Kitchen Table, Havi stayed with us for a few days, we celebrated Dru’s 11th birthday, Dru started his first semester of co-op (school for unschoolers), and we published the unlimited edition of The Usual Error (the one with the blue cover) on Amazon. We started sharing chapters from The Usual Error on our blog, one per week. I wrote down everything I learned about self-publishing. The heartspace side of me and the headspace side of me had a beautiful conversation. Kyeli and I took Iron Pentacle class with Kira and Helix, learned and grew a lot, and shared a lot of what we learned.

In February, we tried a 30-day trial of eating only raw food. It failed spectacularly for many reasons, one of which was that our 30-day trial overlapped our move from our apartment to The Chalk. Other than Heather and Stuart’s wedding (at which we gave a blessing of communication), that pretty much consumed our February. Oi.

In March, we shifted the focus of our business (which was, at the time, PaceAndKyeli.com) from communication coaching to alternative relationship coaching. Not long thereafter, we had our first paid relationship coaching call! We first heard about the tapestry thing, the you-never-make-a-mistake thing, and I took a couple of slices out of my stress pie. We went to SXSW, saw a Jonathan Coulton concert, and hung out with Naomi and oodles upon oodles of other lovely and amazing people. We went to Sea World where Dru fell in love with the orcas and decided he wanted to be an orca trainer, we went to Houston to see Kyeli’s grandmother’s house before they tore it down, and there was a fist-sized hailstorm that totalled our car. (Kyeli stopped me from rushing outside to bring the car into the garage. Thanks, hon, I could have been brained!) And we celebrated Kyeli’s birthday! Yay! I got her a very slow shoe.

In April, we started posting Freaky Thursday and Revolutionary Tuesday video entries on the blog, as lead-up to a big announcement. This and the preparation for the big thing took up most of our time.

In May, Kyeli and I celebrated Beltane by playing Chuzzle on the moon! We were afraid our website had been hacked into sending spam, but it turned out to be just SMTP header spoofing. We had lunch with my friend Nick right before he moved to Portland (like everyone else we know). On May 11th, we dropped everything to follow our hearts. We completely redesigned our business and our website so we could lead the Freak Revolution. In less earth-shattering news, I got to Inbox Zero for the first time in 14 years. Oh, and we went to A-kon!

In June, we launched the Freak Revolution Coffee House (our forum), we were mentioned on ishmael.org, we switched to a cash-based system for managing our personal finances, and there was the big hullaballoo about politics.

In July, I finished the Heart of Money course. Since then, our financial situation has been about eighty billion times less stressful for me, and that’s not even mentioning the life-changing spiritual epiphany. Other than that, our life consisted mainly of working like crazy behind the scenes on the Freak Revolution Manifesto. This was also the month that Kyeli got overwhelmed and had a retreat, I got overwhelmed and had an emergency retreat, and Dru quit Aikido.

In August, we continued to work like crazy behind the scenes on the Freak Revolution Manifesto. My team at my day job came in first at the scavenger hunt, a long-term loan was finally repaid in full, and Kyeli and I had the “Pace, don’t smush yourself” conversation. I wrote a guest post for Copyblogger, defended closed-mindedness, and Kyeli broke her foot.

In September, we finally finished posting all 34 chapters of The Usual Error and released the entire e-book for free. I finally passed Paranoia Survivor, a very fast DDR song that I’ve been trying to pass for what, 4 years now? I ranted about how one person could have saved $450,000 from scammers, and hurt a good friend’s feelings. I finally got my updated passport that actually says I’m female, we went to the hot air balloon festival in Dallas, and our pseudo-nephew Eli was born. We saw Wicked, and pronounced it The Official Musical of the Freak Revolution! We started getting excited leading up to the manifesto release, and the Freak Revolution Manifesto launched on September 28th! Amanda won the Change the World in One Minute contest.

In October, we celebrated the ongoing success of the Freak Revolution Manifesto! We asked for feedback about the contest, and responded to it. Kyeli’s foot got better, her cousin Nicole died, we met Destry, I had a great 30-second birthday, and our good friends Bre and Amit got married, at which Kyeli gave a speech comprised of 80% Beatles lyrics. Kyeli and I spent a superb weekend with our dear friend Lynnivere in the boonies of East Texas, and we released the Usual Error audiobook.

In 2009 we enjoyed Full Moon, Star Trek: The Next Generation (seasons 1-3), and Poirot. We played Aquaria, Dokapon Kingdom, Persona 4, Trilby, Tales of Symphonia, Machinarium, and we were judges for IFComp 2009. I re-read all the Miles Vorkosigan books. We played a full year of our Mage game, Kyeli and I roleplayed two Risus murder mystery mini-campaigns with each other, and we played our first family Risus game, the Catoblepas campaign. (That was Dru’s first time participating in a roleplaying game.)

2009 was a year of growth. Growth in our business (which went through quite a few twists and turns, learning at each step), growth in our relationship (continuing to heal from our codependent past to create a more and more healthy interdependent future), and growth in spirituality (I began to practice Remembrance, and learned the value of humility and service).

As the old year closes and the new year opens, I open myself to the growth the new year has to offer.

I open myself to change.

I open myself to new challenges.

I open myself to joy.

I open myself to peace.

I open myself to comfort.

I open myself to love.

I open myself.