A Year in Review: 2010
I know, it's almost 2 full months into 2011. But this isn't for an assignment or anything so does it really matter that it is late? Anyway, I saw a friend on Facebook make an entry like this in her Notes, but I felt that my old blog was a more appropriate place to record my most notable events and accomplishments of 2010. Maybe I will post it on Facebook eventually, but I do feel shy about posting on there sometimes. I will see how my list comes out.
So, here are my 55 things I did in 2010 (in no particular order):
1. For the first time ever, I saw more new movies than I read new books
2. Wore a corset for a whole day at the Renaissance Faire and felt like I was gonna die
3. Got contact lenses and this time, unlike in 9th grade, finally got used to wearing them!
4. Made Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the first time
5. Finally read the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (sorry it took so long, Nick!)
6. Renewed my obsession with Super Smash Bros.
7. Discovered I like an addictive iPhone/iPod game called Doodle Jump (thanks, Will)
8. Learned to like black beans
9. Spent the night at the Lizzie Borden house (google it) and survived!
10. Went to Salem for Halloween dressed as Hermione Granger, along with Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, and Severus Snape. One of the best afternoons ever!
11. Went rock scrambling for my birthday (loved it)
12. Went white-water rafting for the first time since middle school (loved it)
13. Got in touch with several old friends I hadn't spoken to in a long time
14. Finished my first fantasy oil painting
15. Had prints made of my first finished fantasy oil painting
16. Finished 8 oil paintings, the most I'd done in a year...ever, probably
17. Displayed my art for sale at the IlluXCon Showcase
18. Had business cards and a professional artist website made for myself (thanks, Mike!)
19. Rode in the tiniest plane I've ever been on, only 2 seats across
20. Went snorkeling every other day for a week (awesome week-long cruise in March)
21. Rediscovered makeup... well that kinda happened in 2009 but still, it's ongoing
22. Finally got a sense of fashion
23. I learned to do a lot better at keeping my mouth shut
24. Filled a photo album--a real, physical photo album!--with photos from 2009
25. For the first time ever, I got a computer virus
26. Had my first hangover
27. Played beer pong (beirut) for the first time
28. Dealt with a lot of disappointment
29. Began investing in the stock market in earnest (hello, Chipotle stock!)
30. Got snowed in, twice
31. Got addicted, then un-addicted, to Glee
32. Ate the most sushi I probably have ever eaten in a year
33. Didn't win NaNoWriMo for the first time since 2004
34. Had my dream come true when a Chipotle Mexican Grille opened IN MY HOMETOWN! Not just nearby enough for me to eat there, but IN MY HOMETOWN!
35. Managed to overcome several sinus infections without resorting to antibiotics, yay!
36. Improved my diet overall, I think, though it fluctuates depending on how much stressful activity is going on. I ate a lot of Chobani Greek strained yogurt
37. Completed a painting in less than 2 weeks, which is a record for me
38. Challenged myself to draw more architecture-themed drawings in my sketchbook
39. Spent another year being thankful that I finally took the plunge to get my ears pierced a few years ago
40. A year and a half after buying my BlackBerry, I still do not have my voicemail set up
41. I have learned not to procrastinate as much (it's still a problem though)
42. I am continually having to practice patience
43. Thanks to my new, much-loved hobby of cooking, I'm going to have to find some way of storing all these cooking magazines
44. This year I wore a lot of purple
45. Pretty much every day I read these humor blogs: Texts from Last Night, FML, Damn You Autocorrect, and Lamebook
46. I barely ever go to Something Awful anymore, but I still do on occasion. It would help if I could recover my forums password
47. Dreamed more this year, or more accurately, I remembered some of my night's dreams more often this year
48. Thanks to all the driving I've been doing, instead of being a daydreaming passenger, I'm finally learning my hometown and surrounding areas better
49. Spread my love of Mad Libs far and wide
50. Went to the New York Comic Con
51. Made a home-made fruitcake (from Alton Brown's recipe) for my dad as a Christmas present
52. Did a painting for a client to give as a Christmas present, which was pretty cool! First time a painting of mine was ever given as a present by someone other than myself
53. Learned more about myself and how I function
54. Watched the neighborhood kids build a 7-foot-tall snowman
55. Learned to cook about 20 new dishes (let's see if I can remember them all... lemon cream chicken, shrimp scampi, banana bourbon French toast, pork chops with pineapple salsa, mashed sweet potatoes with honey and jalepeno pepper, pork tenderloin with peppercorns, pumpkin-Nutella pie, tortellini soup, dry-brined roasted turkey, turkey gravy, sausage-apple stuffing/dressing, pureed turnips, Mrs. Gilliam's Sweet Potatoes, Braswell Burgers, Mexican chicken soup, cherry-stuffed ham with peach-cherry preserves, Alton Brown's smashed sweet potatoes with chipotle pepper, lemony new potatoes, lemon chicken [not to be confused with lemon cream chicken], baked Brie with apricot-rosemary compote)
So, here are my 55 things I did in 2010 (in no particular order):
1. For the first time ever, I saw more new movies than I read new books
2. Wore a corset for a whole day at the Renaissance Faire and felt like I was gonna die
3. Got contact lenses and this time, unlike in 9th grade, finally got used to wearing them!
4. Made Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the first time
5. Finally read the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (sorry it took so long, Nick!)
6. Renewed my obsession with Super Smash Bros.
7. Discovered I like an addictive iPhone/iPod game called Doodle Jump (thanks, Will)
8. Learned to like black beans
9. Spent the night at the Lizzie Borden house (google it) and survived!
10. Went to Salem for Halloween dressed as Hermione Granger, along with Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, and Severus Snape. One of the best afternoons ever!
11. Went rock scrambling for my birthday (loved it)
12. Went white-water rafting for the first time since middle school (loved it)
13. Got in touch with several old friends I hadn't spoken to in a long time
14. Finished my first fantasy oil painting
15. Had prints made of my first finished fantasy oil painting
16. Finished 8 oil paintings, the most I'd done in a year...ever, probably
17. Displayed my art for sale at the IlluXCon Showcase
18. Had business cards and a professional artist website made for myself (thanks, Mike!)
19. Rode in the tiniest plane I've ever been on, only 2 seats across
20. Went snorkeling every other day for a week (awesome week-long cruise in March)
21. Rediscovered makeup... well that kinda happened in 2009 but still, it's ongoing
22. Finally got a sense of fashion
23. I learned to do a lot better at keeping my mouth shut
24. Filled a photo album--a real, physical photo album!--with photos from 2009
25. For the first time ever, I got a computer virus
26. Had my first hangover
27. Played beer pong (beirut) for the first time
28. Dealt with a lot of disappointment
29. Began investing in the stock market in earnest (hello, Chipotle stock!)
30. Got snowed in, twice
31. Got addicted, then un-addicted, to Glee
32. Ate the most sushi I probably have ever eaten in a year
33. Didn't win NaNoWriMo for the first time since 2004
34. Had my dream come true when a Chipotle Mexican Grille opened IN MY HOMETOWN! Not just nearby enough for me to eat there, but IN MY HOMETOWN!
35. Managed to overcome several sinus infections without resorting to antibiotics, yay!
36. Improved my diet overall, I think, though it fluctuates depending on how much stressful activity is going on. I ate a lot of Chobani Greek strained yogurt
37. Completed a painting in less than 2 weeks, which is a record for me
38. Challenged myself to draw more architecture-themed drawings in my sketchbook
39. Spent another year being thankful that I finally took the plunge to get my ears pierced a few years ago
40. A year and a half after buying my BlackBerry, I still do not have my voicemail set up
41. I have learned not to procrastinate as much (it's still a problem though)
42. I am continually having to practice patience
43. Thanks to my new, much-loved hobby of cooking, I'm going to have to find some way of storing all these cooking magazines
44. This year I wore a lot of purple
45. Pretty much every day I read these humor blogs: Texts from Last Night, FML, Damn You Autocorrect, and Lamebook
46. I barely ever go to Something Awful anymore, but I still do on occasion. It would help if I could recover my forums password
47. Dreamed more this year, or more accurately, I remembered some of my night's dreams more often this year
48. Thanks to all the driving I've been doing, instead of being a daydreaming passenger, I'm finally learning my hometown and surrounding areas better
49. Spread my love of Mad Libs far and wide
50. Went to the New York Comic Con
51. Made a home-made fruitcake (from Alton Brown's recipe) for my dad as a Christmas present
52. Did a painting for a client to give as a Christmas present, which was pretty cool! First time a painting of mine was ever given as a present by someone other than myself
53. Learned more about myself and how I function
54. Watched the neighborhood kids build a 7-foot-tall snowman
55. Learned to cook about 20 new dishes (let's see if I can remember them all... lemon cream chicken, shrimp scampi, banana bourbon French toast, pork chops with pineapple salsa, mashed sweet potatoes with honey and jalepeno pepper, pork tenderloin with peppercorns, pumpkin-Nutella pie, tortellini soup, dry-brined roasted turkey, turkey gravy, sausage-apple stuffing/dressing, pureed turnips, Mrs. Gilliam's Sweet Potatoes, Braswell Burgers, Mexican chicken soup, cherry-stuffed ham with peach-cherry preserves, Alton Brown's smashed sweet potatoes with chipotle pepper, lemony new potatoes, lemon chicken [not to be confused with lemon cream chicken], baked Brie with apricot-rosemary compote)