My YouTube Channel, Kate's Book Club has reached 1,000 Subscribers!

I'm thrilled!

So I'm hosting a Giveaway!

Three Winners will get their pick of one of these books!

And One Grand Prize Winner will get their choice of three!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I've never been too great at keeping to goals.

So maybe this year, if I call them ambitions, I'll do better.

Maybe.

I have a few manageable  goals  ambitions for the year.

- Make my apartment into a home. -

- Finish an entire rewrite of my novel. -

- Try to be all around more healthy. -

- Read 75 books. Yes. 75. I managed 50 last year. I'm going to do even better this year! -

- Post a new video to Kate's Book Club every week. (With four freebies.) -

- Post a blog post every week. (With four freebies.) -

- Try not to let the little things bother me. -

Those sound like some good ambitions, right?

I think so.

Happy New Year, everyone!

In hindsight - 2011.

Well, in that case. In hindsight I probably shouldn't have started posting on my blog again right before Christmas when I was busy having holiday merriment thrust upon me. Oh well.

Without further ado, the recap of twenty-eleven.

Highlights:

- I kissed my wonderful boyfriend for the first time. -

- I moved out to state. Utah to Las Vegas! An awesome, scary, wonderful choice! -

- I went to Louisiana with my sister and some friends! It was amazing! Now I can say I've been to 33 states!  -

- I kissed my incredible boyfriend some more. -

- I got a job as a preschool teacher. -

- I visited California to see my boyfriend. We went to the beach. My first time since I was 14. -

- I saw Sugarland, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, The Cataracts and B.O.B. in concert. -

I tried beignets, adobo and sushi for the first time. I liked the first two a lot! -

- I met my boyfriend's family. -

- I introduced my boyfriend to my family. -

- I got the keys to my very own apartment. -

- I was kissed under the mistletoe. -

- I read 51 books! - 

- I made adult decisions and it's actually working. It's terrifying, but I'm still going strong.-

This entire year has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. I made a giant leap and moved to Vegas. I've moved out of my parent's house twice before and failed both time. When things got hard, I'd just give up.

Things have been much harder this time. I'm six hours further than I was the other times. I had a much harder time finding a job. And even when I did, I was miserable going to work a good chunk of the time. But something was different. Even though things were awful, I still got up and did what I needed to do.

I've been here longer than I made it both those other times combined. And I just got the key to my own place. It's a tiny little apartment, but it's exactly what I need right now. It's a scary (terrifying) new adventure, but I'm feeling more capable than I ever have in my life. I can do this.

I've learned a lot about the world and about myself this year. These experiences, good and bad, have helped me grow so much as a person.

I'm excited for the new year, but I'm sad to see 2011 go. It was an absolutely incredible year.

I'm going to very honest.

I fail at blogging.

Way to go, Kate. Start a full time job and just drop off the face of the blog-o-sphere.

But I'm going to be honest about one more thing.

I've missed this so much.

Today I realized that this is Simply Kate's 2nd birthday!

I was so excited.

Until I realized that I haven't posted in nearly two and a half months.

Shame on me.

So let's count this as an early resolution. Simply Kate is BACK!

It's been a nice break, but it's even nicer to be posting again!

Happy second birthday, Simply Kate!

Here's to another wonderful year!

Remember when I posted this photo?

We had a great turn out for my giveaway of the My Memories Suite software.

And we have a winner!

Congratulations to Emma!

I've sent you an email telling you that you've won!

And for all of you who didn't win, you can still use the Simply Kate promo code and get $10 OFF this awesome software!

Plus, it is good for $10 OFF anything in the My Memories Store!

So awesome, right?

Everyone's a winner!

Thanks so much for entering my giveaway everyone!