2011 in Review
1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? Got married, got a salaried job with benefits, did an internship, sucked at an internship, got an apartment that was actually mine and not mine and two roommates', cosigned on a car loan with my husband (twice!), actually came pretty decently close to succeeding at Nanowrimo (I mean. Comparatively speaking. I've never gotten past ~7k words before, so hitting 30k was pretty nice, even if I had to stop after 11 days).
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I think my only 2011 resolution was to get married, so. That happened. As for 2012, and after talking with my husband, my resolution is to eventually move towards working part-time instead of full-time and spending the freed-up time writing. I should be a better and more determined person and write despite working eight hours a day, but I find that I'm just exhausted at the end of the day, even though all I'm doing is sitting at my desk and playing with Adobe stuff or going to fancy restaurants. It might be the whole "being around people all day" thing or something else. I'm not sure. BUT it's there.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Pretty much everyone on my Facebook. Even the guys. Babies, babies everywhere.
4. Did anyone close to you die? I don't think so. Unless people are dying and nobody's telling me, which would suck.
5. What countries did you visit? Does Disney World count? I don't think it does, even though there's the World Showcase there and we kind of spent two (ridiculously hot) afternoons there (most of those afternoons consisted of us wiltingly flopping from air conditioned shop to air conditioned shop and occasionally stopping for Italian Ice).
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? A job for my husband, since even with me working, he has the whole "MUST PROVIDE" thing, plus it would be a lot of stress off our backs in a lot of ways. I'd also like a pet of my own, since Kyle has the reps and I'd love something a bit... furrier.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? You know, it's kind of funny when you get married: every other date from before that just sort of vanishes. I literally do not remember the dates of most specific and harrowing events up until May 22. I know a lot of things happened, bad and good and in between, but up until May 22, I do not remember a single one of them specifically. After that, things sort of flew along. November 11 was the day I got hired at my new job, and December 20 was the day I quit WoW for SWTOR. I am a huge geek that the latter warranted mentioning.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Is getting married an achievement? I don't know if I can call it that, but I'd like to, on some level. I finished classes for my M.A., though I haven't done the handful of extra things I need to graduate yet (namely, I haven't taken my freaking M.A. comps because the last few encounters I had at UNT left me in a state where I literally feel like panicking when I think about going back there for any reason). I did get a really good job that I mostly enjoy. And Kyle and I have managed to be on time for our bills all year, despite us being financially screwed most of the year.
9. What was your biggest failure? Probably my last semester and my internship. The last semester just... ngh. It was bad all around because my mind wasn't on school at all; it was on "oh shit, I'm going to be married soon and that means that we'll be our own family unit and AUGH." It's a shitty excuse, because plenty of people do school and married at the same time and don't fail spectacularly, but I'm not plenty of people. The internship...I'm still not sure what happened there. I think it was just my brain's way of telling me "you are in the wrong field, dummy."
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? heh. There's a fun story there. I actually had a horrible sinus infection in October, when I was getting ready to fly up to Boston and interview for an editing position there. I interviewed while stoned out of my mind on cold meds and unable to breathe. Unsurprisingly, I didn't get the job.
11. What was the best thing you bought? My new Yaris, whom I've named Ventress. She came about after my other car, the gloriously green Yoda the Toyota, was totaled one morning while I was sleeping. She is small and white and runs like a dream and turns on a dime. I love her.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My folks' for getting me through das wedding without going insane. My bffl Kat's for doing the same on a more universal scale. And, as usual, Kyle's, because he's just the awesomest husband. Y'all should be jealous.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Most of my old WoW server's. Just the sheer amount of drama there... it's kind of ridiculous. I have no idea why WoW RP ends up with more drama than other forms that I've tried, but it does, and that makes me sad. And my bridesmaids'. I hate saying that because I love those girls, but man oh man, the drama surrounding my wedding because I included my current bffl along with my best friends from college... you'd think I'd shot someone :|
14. Where did most of your money go? Rent. I love our apartment, but at $750 a month, it's not cheap.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting married (are you detecting a theme here?), SWTOR's launch, honeymooning in Disney World, Kyle telling me that I could work part time and write part time, us figuring out ways to have friends come stay with us in the next couple of months.
16. What song will always remind you of 2011? "Yoü and I" and "Edge of Glory" because 2011 was the year I fell in love with Lady Gaga (a couple years late, but hey).
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter. This time last year, I was losing weight for the wedding in most unhealthy ways (and unintentionally... I was paranoid about sharing my in-laws' kitchen). Now I have my own kitchen and eat way too much.
c) richer or poorer? For once, I can comfortably say "richer."
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Writing, being responsible, enjoying the time leading up to my wedding instead of stressing out over it.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Procrastinating, being irresponsible, working at a "grown-up job," not writing.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? We watched all six Star Wars films after opening our presents for each other, did married people things, had a dinner of cheesy chicken kiev (and chips and dip), and played SWTOR.
22. Did you fall in love in 2011? [newlywed] A little more every day. [/newlywed]
23. How many one-night stands? nope.avi
24. What was your favorite TV program? Ohgod, watching TV and me just haven't worked the past year. Maybe a tie between the ridiculous camp of True Blood and the awesomeness of Game of Thrones? ilu HBO.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I have this thing about not hating people. It's generally not worth the effort to hate someone, and is much easier to just forget about them and have them mean nothing to you. That tends to be more damaging, too. And I'm working on that with a few people.
26. What was the best book you read? Despite the flaws, I genuinely enjoyed The Hunger Games. I'm trying to think of what else I read this year, but my brain isn't working well :c
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Poets of the Fall and Nightwish. Hogod Nightwish's new album, COME SOONER.
28. What did you want and get? SWTOR. A sonic screwdriver. Lots of stuff on my registry (best being the ice cream scoop of joy). Married. A romantic night at Disney World (which I have wanted since I was, like. Eight.).
29. What did you want and not get? The time to finish my Nanowrimo. A job up north or somewhere that isn't Texas.
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Hnngh, I've seen so few movies this year. Having no money or time really messes with a person's ability to go see things. Um. We'll go with DH2.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 28 and spent the night at home. I couldn't drink that night (I forget why), so my WoW friends all got drunk for me and we spent the night running around Stormwind molesting people with gryphons. This is how geeks party, guys.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Being able to move out of Texas, I think. Either that or the money stresses resolving themselves a lot earlier. Like, a LOT earlier. I'm talking about this time last year earlier.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? "Is it clean? Does it smell? Okay, it'll do. No, I know it's wrinkled, but I have to go."
34. What kept you sane? Kyle, Kat, and Mike.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? It's been a while since I've fancied a famous person. I feel old.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? ngl, despite all the occupying and all of that, I honestly didn't get really moved by politics this year. I think it's a backlash from being married to someone whose mother is moved by everything politically-related ever. I just get scared of having opinions on things because I fear her wrath :c
37. Who did you miss? Kat and Mike. My family in Boston.
38. Who was the best new person you met? Um. I haven't really met a whole lot of people since the year began. I suppose Zach and Rhys are pretty cool guys. Everyone else I already knew.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: Mistakes and failures are just life's way of opening your eyes and working you through problems. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start moving in the direction of what you really want. Also, Star Wars is better than World of Warcraft.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
...
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out!
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off!
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I think my only 2011 resolution was to get married, so. That happened. As for 2012, and after talking with my husband, my resolution is to eventually move towards working part-time instead of full-time and spending the freed-up time writing. I should be a better and more determined person and write despite working eight hours a day, but I find that I'm just exhausted at the end of the day, even though all I'm doing is sitting at my desk and playing with Adobe stuff or going to fancy restaurants. It might be the whole "being around people all day" thing or something else. I'm not sure. BUT it's there.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Pretty much everyone on my Facebook. Even the guys. Babies, babies everywhere.
4. Did anyone close to you die? I don't think so. Unless people are dying and nobody's telling me, which would suck.
5. What countries did you visit? Does Disney World count? I don't think it does, even though there's the World Showcase there and we kind of spent two (ridiculously hot) afternoons there (most of those afternoons consisted of us wiltingly flopping from air conditioned shop to air conditioned shop and occasionally stopping for Italian Ice).
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? A job for my husband, since even with me working, he has the whole "MUST PROVIDE" thing, plus it would be a lot of stress off our backs in a lot of ways. I'd also like a pet of my own, since Kyle has the reps and I'd love something a bit... furrier.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? You know, it's kind of funny when you get married: every other date from before that just sort of vanishes. I literally do not remember the dates of most specific and harrowing events up until May 22. I know a lot of things happened, bad and good and in between, but up until May 22, I do not remember a single one of them specifically. After that, things sort of flew along. November 11 was the day I got hired at my new job, and December 20 was the day I quit WoW for SWTOR. I am a huge geek that the latter warranted mentioning.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Is getting married an achievement? I don't know if I can call it that, but I'd like to, on some level. I finished classes for my M.A., though I haven't done the handful of extra things I need to graduate yet (namely, I haven't taken my freaking M.A. comps because the last few encounters I had at UNT left me in a state where I literally feel like panicking when I think about going back there for any reason). I did get a really good job that I mostly enjoy. And Kyle and I have managed to be on time for our bills all year, despite us being financially screwed most of the year.
9. What was your biggest failure? Probably my last semester and my internship. The last semester just... ngh. It was bad all around because my mind wasn't on school at all; it was on "oh shit, I'm going to be married soon and that means that we'll be our own family unit and AUGH." It's a shitty excuse, because plenty of people do school and married at the same time and don't fail spectacularly, but I'm not plenty of people. The internship...I'm still not sure what happened there. I think it was just my brain's way of telling me "you are in the wrong field, dummy."
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? heh. There's a fun story there. I actually had a horrible sinus infection in October, when I was getting ready to fly up to Boston and interview for an editing position there. I interviewed while stoned out of my mind on cold meds and unable to breathe. Unsurprisingly, I didn't get the job.
11. What was the best thing you bought? My new Yaris, whom I've named Ventress. She came about after my other car, the gloriously green Yoda the Toyota, was totaled one morning while I was sleeping. She is small and white and runs like a dream and turns on a dime. I love her.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My folks' for getting me through das wedding without going insane. My bffl Kat's for doing the same on a more universal scale. And, as usual, Kyle's, because he's just the awesomest husband. Y'all should be jealous.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Most of my old WoW server's. Just the sheer amount of drama there... it's kind of ridiculous. I have no idea why WoW RP ends up with more drama than other forms that I've tried, but it does, and that makes me sad. And my bridesmaids'. I hate saying that because I love those girls, but man oh man, the drama surrounding my wedding because I included my current bffl along with my best friends from college... you'd think I'd shot someone :|
14. Where did most of your money go? Rent. I love our apartment, but at $750 a month, it's not cheap.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting married (are you detecting a theme here?), SWTOR's launch, honeymooning in Disney World, Kyle telling me that I could work part time and write part time, us figuring out ways to have friends come stay with us in the next couple of months.
16. What song will always remind you of 2011? "Yoü and I" and "Edge of Glory" because 2011 was the year I fell in love with Lady Gaga (a couple years late, but hey).
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter. This time last year, I was losing weight for the wedding in most unhealthy ways (and unintentionally... I was paranoid about sharing my in-laws' kitchen). Now I have my own kitchen and eat way too much.
c) richer or poorer? For once, I can comfortably say "richer."
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Writing, being responsible, enjoying the time leading up to my wedding instead of stressing out over it.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Procrastinating, being irresponsible, working at a "grown-up job," not writing.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? We watched all six Star Wars films after opening our presents for each other, did married people things, had a dinner of cheesy chicken kiev (and chips and dip), and played SWTOR.
22. Did you fall in love in 2011? [newlywed] A little more every day. [/newlywed]
23. How many one-night stands? nope.avi
24. What was your favorite TV program? Ohgod, watching TV and me just haven't worked the past year. Maybe a tie between the ridiculous camp of True Blood and the awesomeness of Game of Thrones? ilu HBO.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I have this thing about not hating people. It's generally not worth the effort to hate someone, and is much easier to just forget about them and have them mean nothing to you. That tends to be more damaging, too. And I'm working on that with a few people.
26. What was the best book you read? Despite the flaws, I genuinely enjoyed The Hunger Games. I'm trying to think of what else I read this year, but my brain isn't working well :c
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Poets of the Fall and Nightwish. Hogod Nightwish's new album, COME SOONER.
28. What did you want and get? SWTOR. A sonic screwdriver. Lots of stuff on my registry (best being the ice cream scoop of joy). Married. A romantic night at Disney World (which I have wanted since I was, like. Eight.).
29. What did you want and not get? The time to finish my Nanowrimo. A job up north or somewhere that isn't Texas.
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Hnngh, I've seen so few movies this year. Having no money or time really messes with a person's ability to go see things. Um. We'll go with DH2.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 28 and spent the night at home. I couldn't drink that night (I forget why), so my WoW friends all got drunk for me and we spent the night running around Stormwind molesting people with gryphons. This is how geeks party, guys.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Being able to move out of Texas, I think. Either that or the money stresses resolving themselves a lot earlier. Like, a LOT earlier. I'm talking about this time last year earlier.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? "Is it clean? Does it smell? Okay, it'll do. No, I know it's wrinkled, but I have to go."
34. What kept you sane? Kyle, Kat, and Mike.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? It's been a while since I've fancied a famous person. I feel old.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? ngl, despite all the occupying and all of that, I honestly didn't get really moved by politics this year. I think it's a backlash from being married to someone whose mother is moved by everything politically-related ever. I just get scared of having opinions on things because I fear her wrath :c
37. Who did you miss? Kat and Mike. My family in Boston.
38. Who was the best new person you met? Um. I haven't really met a whole lot of people since the year began. I suppose Zach and Rhys are pretty cool guys. Everyone else I already knew.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: Mistakes and failures are just life's way of opening your eyes and working you through problems. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start moving in the direction of what you really want. Also, Star Wars is better than World of Warcraft.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
...
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out!
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off!