New Year’s Eve is upon us in a short 53 hours! As I mentioned in my last post, I absolutely love this time of year. It holds so much promise and optimism for me.

I want to take this post to briefly review and reflect upon 2010. It’s been a pretty tumultuous year for me to say the least. It’s seen a lot of ups and downs and a whole lot of change, but I’m only going to share the highlights. If you want to know more, feel free to ask in comments!

My first full year married. Greg and I celebrated our year anniversary this November! We got to celebrate our second Thanksgiving, Christmas, and (soon) New Years as a married couple. This year has been full of a lot not just for me, but for both of us as a married couple, and it’s been a wonderful ride.

A new boss at Hall. I knew for nearly all of 2010 that I was planning on starting a private practice. I wasn’t 100% sure of when, but when a new Activities Director was brought in to William S. Hall, I was able to (after seeing her in action) breathe a sigh of relief at the idea of not leaving the children I care so much for in incompetent hands. I don’t maintain too much contact with Hall at this point, but it was a great weight off of my conscience.

Social Media. I really got into social media this year! I constantly update my twitter, I maintain this website and blog, and I feel more connected to my colleagues than I ever did before. It’s been a large help in keeping me from feeling bogged down and cut off. I’ve spent a lot of time this year talking to and sharing ideas with other music therapists all over the country!

Stuff Happens. This year came with a lot of hardship as well. Starting my business didn’t go exactly as planned (does it ever?) and for a while there, I wasn’t sure if we could financially manage it. Thankfully, things did and are continuing to work out and grow and change and I realize with every passing day how many people support me and what I am trying to accomplish.

Music Therapy Association of South Carolina. I’ve been a member of this organization since I interned at Palmetto Health Baptist, but this year I joined our task force for state recognition of Music Therapy. I also had the honor of becoming the President Elect for the Association. I decided this year to stop sitting on the sidelines and I’m quite pleased with where I have gotten since making that decision!

Starting Key Changes. The big one. I quit my job and started a business. It has been rewarding, stressful, enlightening, gut wrenching, terrifying, amazing, fun, and hard. I absolutely love parts of it, but then other parts of starting this business makes me hope I never have to do it again. It has tested a lot of different areas of my life–my skills, my relationships, my resourcefulness– but I couldn’t be happier that I did it.

I’m excited to see what this next year brings. 2010 wasn’t an easy year, but it was a rewarding one. What are some of your highlights and hopes?