Normal operating temperature is only about 1/3 up the dial in the dash, not halfway up. Normal operation should involve turning on the car, having it heat up to between 1/3 and 1/2 of the temperature gauge as you initially drive, and having the tstat then open up to cool the engine back down to normal.

I would second the possibility that your bleed valve on the t-stat (the little raindrop metal thing) is installed in the wrong position. You should pull the houjsing and make sure the hole/bleeder is located at exactly 12 o'clock. Note that the t-stat and housing are below the auxiliary coolant tank, so you should you take it off you will get coolant rushing out. You might want to just drain and refill the coolant while you are checking/pulling the t-stat.

As for teh t-stat being shot... that's unlikely after just a year unless you have some other funky coolant problems breaking it.

-Rick