Your sponsor sounds like a wise lady.
All I remember of my first year was meetings, meetings, meetings, and 'don't drink'.
My brain was so screwed up that was about all I was capable of doing.
I still white-knuckled a lot in between meetings that first year.
My emotions were all over the place.
I'll never forget when I celebrated my one year birthday, and my sponsor told me 'Now the REAL work begins!'
What?????
I was p*ssed off that just going to meetings and not drinking weren't enough anymore!
It took that first year to even start to clear my brain and heal my body enough that I could really start digging into the program.
I haven't regretted sticking around and being very involved in my own recovery!