Happy New Year!

If you somehow didn't gather from my unfortunate drop-off in posting frequency, 2011 was a tad busy. Gina and I got married in November and that was obviously the highlight of the year. Due to all the time and planning that required I flew far less than in years past.

It would be dishonest of me to not also mention the simple fact that I seem to have gotten caught up in what seems to be a somewhat common situation for a relatively new pilot - quite simply, it's kind of hard to justify it at times. Yes, I will always love aviation and yes, nothing beats a Piper Cub with the door open... but there's no way around the fact that it's an expensive hobby. Couple that with the current uncertainty in the job market and I'm just not sure how much flying I will be doing this year.

All that said, I have no intention of giving it up. I would still like to learn some new stuff, too. So read along as I recap last year, just as I did in my first posts of 2010 and 2011.

Total Hours: 28.6 | Solo: 2.8 | XC: 12.8 | Dual: 4.3 | Landings: 57

Aircraft Flown: C150, C172, Cub

New Airports: I69, FKL, BFD, B16, SDC, 38D, OSU

New States: Pennsylvania, New York

First Flights: 5 (Aaron, Toni, and Russ, Jon, and Jake)

People Flown: 12 (above, plus my friends Rob, Mike and Sarah, Ted and Donna, fellow blogger TJ, and Gina)

$100 Burgers: 6 (Sporty's and the Sky Galley in April, two in June on our way to and from Syracuse, Urbana in August, and Marty's BBQ in October)

Pilots N Paws Flights: 4 (February, May, June, and October)

Stearman Takeoffs & Landings: 1 each (that was fun)

What I'll Remember: Our amazing wedding and honeymoon, showing friends the sheer fun of cutting toilet paper streamers in the Cub, our trip to NY that tested my personal limits and gave me some very valuable experience with weather, seeing the final Space Shuttle launch in person, and my first trip to Oshkosh.

2011 Goals: Fly the Stearman, log stick time in a glider, take some couples that we are good friends with on $100 burger runs in the 172, go on a yet-to-be-determined flying adventure with my groomsmen before the wedding, fly at least one Pilots N Paws rescue, continue expanding the variety of content on the blog, make sure Gina doesn't run away from the altar in November.

^ Yikes, didn't do nearly as good crossing things off last year as I have done in the past!

2012 Goals: Log time in the Stearman - Gina gave me a $500 certificate as a wedding gift, log stick time in a glider, take some of our friends flying, keep the blog more active than I have over the past six months.