Year in Review 2013
My Year in Review 2013
1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?
I got married. I had a wedding and a reception attended by the people I love most. I went to Hawaii. I had my mother and my in-laws at my house for the holidays. I traveled with my husband to visit my grandfather in Wyoming. Basically, I became someone's partner and took them on as my own. It's been fabulous. And challenging. And difficult. But mostly fabulous.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make resolutions last year, but this year my resolutions are simple: figure out a worklife that doesn't involve as much desktime, publish something (and get paid for it), choreograph a solo piece and a troupe piece, figure out the baby issue (make, purchase?). Be a better friend, daughter, wife.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes. To a nearly three-month early baby. It is inspiring and heart-breaking everyday to see this family navigate this tiny person's life. It seems to still be such a focus on the day to day, and that must be such a gift, and yet agonizing as well.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. Losing Emily still feels unreal and heartbreaking and indescribable. I cannot imagine how much that pain grows exponentially worse for her family and closest friends.
I also found out that a high school friend was murdered, which is awful and distressing and I just...it feels hard to breathe when I think of her friends and family and how devastated they are.
5. What countries did you visit?
The U.S. - although I saw more of it than I expected thanks to work including Kentucky & Indiana.
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
Creative expression. Financial stability. A new career path, or a more clear vision of what I want from the next 20 years of my working life. A baby.
7. What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2/17/13 - My wedding day.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Coordinating the wedding and reception. Going to Wyoming. Keeping up with family. Finishing two essays.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not doing anything with the writing I finished. General exhausted slothfulness. Failing to make cat integration happen.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Thankfully, no!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
An ice cream maker for my husband.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I would love to say Marlowe, who remains co-dependent and adorable, but that would imply he stopped trying to eat the little cat. So I will say Brand X, who still lives in the boxspring, but is such a brave girl compared to last year, and now punches Mo in the nose, and comes and sits on laps in the living room, provided that Mo is locked up in the office.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Mo. For reasons stated above of trying to eat the other cat.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills. Eating out. Ordering in. Getting married.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Doctor Who, our wedding, new babies and writing.
16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
Weirdly, I think "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky" - both out of my normal repertoire of listening, but both were on repeat at a party we went to in July and they then popped up everywhere I went! Also, Josh Ritter's Joy to You, which is in my wheelhouse.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier, I think. The wedding is over, and our first year of marriage has been a joy. I've settled into my job, traveled, gotten to see my best beloveds (aside from half the hussies), and know how loved I am.
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter. Definitely fatter. Sigh.
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer. Or the same. I got a raise. We still seem to burn through cash.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Creative pursuits - more choreography, more writing, more editing. More time with friends. More time being a better friend.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worried/obsessed over my weight and the way I look.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Our parents came to see us - making me truly feel like an adult.
21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?
At a potluck in the valley, not drinking much, eating too much, and oogling over a bunch of children.
22. Did you fall in love in 2013?
I grew ever more in love with my husband.
23. How many one-night stands?
0.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
I don't know that I have a favorite. Still love Doctor Who for complicated reasons. Sherlock. I watched nearly all of CSI (pre-Ted Danson) because it's weird comfort viewing. We're making our way through The West Wing because M. has never seen it. We're on Season 3 of Breaking Bad. We watched and enjoyed (?) Game of Thrones. I watched and enjoyed (?) Hannibal. I don't know...I read a lot. We have a passionate love for "Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen".
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No. I don't really hate anyone. I loathe the first boss I had in Los Angeles, but even that is so far in the past I don't have much room for it anymore.
26. What was the best book you read?
Oh boy. I read some great stuff this year - Cheryl Strayed's Wild, Patti Smith's Just Kids, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl (which I loathed while recognizing how good it is at what it did). The book that gobsmacked me? Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park. It was moving, delightful, heartbreaking and I wept through so much of it.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Figuring out how to hijack my husband's Spotify so I could listen to it without ads. Maybe the Civil Wars. Maybe not. Phosphorescent?
28. What did you want and get?
All of our friends coming to Colorado! My dad behaving himself, and continuing to. My step-mother making a (hopefully) full recovery from breast cancer and a mastectomy.
29. What did you want and not get?
A baby.
30. What was your favorite film that you saw for the first time this year?
Hmmm, this is tough. We saw a LOT of movies. I deeply enjoyed Pitch Perfect (which I saw for the first time) in an embarrassing way. The Conjuring, maybe, because we don't see much horror and it was so good, and so scary. Thor 2, because, well it's THOR! About Time - it's Richard Curtis, and sentimental and schmaltzy and lovely and I just cried and cried.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 39. We had drinks at a bar, and dinner afterwards. It was lovely and I got to see some good friends.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A baby.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept?
Embarrassingly schlubby as work is a fashion waste-land and I'm too fat to feel good in anything I own. lots of jeans and t's and sweaters and longing for cool boots and booties.
34. What kept you sane?
My husband. My amazing, excellent friends. My ridiculous cats. My family. Books.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Idris Elba. Jennifer Lawrence. Nadia G. ( I don't much fancy celebs) Wendy Davis!!!!
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The Affordable Care Act. Marriage equality. Reproductive rights in Texas. The basics.
37. Who did you miss?
Emily.
My hussies.
The godchild.
My parents.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Hmmm. I think my friend Stephanie's baby girl, who looks so much like her, and has this beautiful, intense smile.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
You don't have to change everything at once. And you don't have to say everything at once, but you do have to say it.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Joy to you baby, and joy to me to." This song is not really a celebration of love, but more moving on, but it's still a perfect lyric.
1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?
I got married. I had a wedding and a reception attended by the people I love most. I went to Hawaii. I had my mother and my in-laws at my house for the holidays. I traveled with my husband to visit my grandfather in Wyoming. Basically, I became someone's partner and took them on as my own. It's been fabulous. And challenging. And difficult. But mostly fabulous.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make resolutions last year, but this year my resolutions are simple: figure out a worklife that doesn't involve as much desktime, publish something (and get paid for it), choreograph a solo piece and a troupe piece, figure out the baby issue (make, purchase?). Be a better friend, daughter, wife.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes. To a nearly three-month early baby. It is inspiring and heart-breaking everyday to see this family navigate this tiny person's life. It seems to still be such a focus on the day to day, and that must be such a gift, and yet agonizing as well.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. Losing Emily still feels unreal and heartbreaking and indescribable. I cannot imagine how much that pain grows exponentially worse for her family and closest friends.
I also found out that a high school friend was murdered, which is awful and distressing and I just...it feels hard to breathe when I think of her friends and family and how devastated they are.
5. What countries did you visit?
The U.S. - although I saw more of it than I expected thanks to work including Kentucky & Indiana.
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
Creative expression. Financial stability. A new career path, or a more clear vision of what I want from the next 20 years of my working life. A baby.
7. What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2/17/13 - My wedding day.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Coordinating the wedding and reception. Going to Wyoming. Keeping up with family. Finishing two essays.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not doing anything with the writing I finished. General exhausted slothfulness. Failing to make cat integration happen.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Thankfully, no!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
An ice cream maker for my husband.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I would love to say Marlowe, who remains co-dependent and adorable, but that would imply he stopped trying to eat the little cat. So I will say Brand X, who still lives in the boxspring, but is such a brave girl compared to last year, and now punches Mo in the nose, and comes and sits on laps in the living room, provided that Mo is locked up in the office.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Mo. For reasons stated above of trying to eat the other cat.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills. Eating out. Ordering in. Getting married.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Doctor Who, our wedding, new babies and writing.
16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
Weirdly, I think "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky" - both out of my normal repertoire of listening, but both were on repeat at a party we went to in July and they then popped up everywhere I went! Also, Josh Ritter's Joy to You, which is in my wheelhouse.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier, I think. The wedding is over, and our first year of marriage has been a joy. I've settled into my job, traveled, gotten to see my best beloveds (aside from half the hussies), and know how loved I am.
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter. Definitely fatter. Sigh.
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer. Or the same. I got a raise. We still seem to burn through cash.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Creative pursuits - more choreography, more writing, more editing. More time with friends. More time being a better friend.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worried/obsessed over my weight and the way I look.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Our parents came to see us - making me truly feel like an adult.
21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?
At a potluck in the valley, not drinking much, eating too much, and oogling over a bunch of children.
22. Did you fall in love in 2013?
I grew ever more in love with my husband.
23. How many one-night stands?
0.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
I don't know that I have a favorite. Still love Doctor Who for complicated reasons. Sherlock. I watched nearly all of CSI (pre-Ted Danson) because it's weird comfort viewing. We're making our way through The West Wing because M. has never seen it. We're on Season 3 of Breaking Bad. We watched and enjoyed (?) Game of Thrones. I watched and enjoyed (?) Hannibal. I don't know...I read a lot. We have a passionate love for "Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen".
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No. I don't really hate anyone. I loathe the first boss I had in Los Angeles, but even that is so far in the past I don't have much room for it anymore.
26. What was the best book you read?
Oh boy. I read some great stuff this year - Cheryl Strayed's Wild, Patti Smith's Just Kids, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl (which I loathed while recognizing how good it is at what it did). The book that gobsmacked me? Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park. It was moving, delightful, heartbreaking and I wept through so much of it.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Figuring out how to hijack my husband's Spotify so I could listen to it without ads. Maybe the Civil Wars. Maybe not. Phosphorescent?
28. What did you want and get?
All of our friends coming to Colorado! My dad behaving himself, and continuing to. My step-mother making a (hopefully) full recovery from breast cancer and a mastectomy.
29. What did you want and not get?
A baby.
30. What was your favorite film that you saw for the first time this year?
Hmmm, this is tough. We saw a LOT of movies. I deeply enjoyed Pitch Perfect (which I saw for the first time) in an embarrassing way. The Conjuring, maybe, because we don't see much horror and it was so good, and so scary. Thor 2, because, well it's THOR! About Time - it's Richard Curtis, and sentimental and schmaltzy and lovely and I just cried and cried.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 39. We had drinks at a bar, and dinner afterwards. It was lovely and I got to see some good friends.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A baby.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept?
Embarrassingly schlubby as work is a fashion waste-land and I'm too fat to feel good in anything I own. lots of jeans and t's and sweaters and longing for cool boots and booties.
34. What kept you sane?
My husband. My amazing, excellent friends. My ridiculous cats. My family. Books.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Idris Elba. Jennifer Lawrence. Nadia G. ( I don't much fancy celebs) Wendy Davis!!!!
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The Affordable Care Act. Marriage equality. Reproductive rights in Texas. The basics.
37. Who did you miss?
Emily.
My hussies.
The godchild.
My parents.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Hmmm. I think my friend Stephanie's baby girl, who looks so much like her, and has this beautiful, intense smile.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
You don't have to change everything at once. And you don't have to say everything at once, but you do have to say it.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Joy to you baby, and joy to me to." This song is not really a celebration of love, but more moving on, but it's still a perfect lyric.