(no subject)
Happy New Year, everyone. This marks the 4th year of having an LJ for me, pretty cool.
Dave and I had a super nice New Years....I successfully made Paella, and it was awesome. We had some nice cheese and wine with it as well, and just had a wonderful, low-key evening together. We didn't even stay up to watch the ball drop! I also had a nice time with Sonic, counting my blessings about what a lucky horse-mom I am. :)
New Year's Day, we went out to lunch with Dan, Meggan, and Meggan's aunt, so that was nice. Great to see Meggan after the holidays, got to check out a few cute pictures of their nieces and nephew. :) Spent some more time with Sonic, and then cooked some nice soup for dinner. Another nice, quiet night with Dave, while we did a bit more planning about our upcoming move.
This morning, I went to the zoo with Dan & Meggan and got to see Butterstick playing outside! I took a few pictures, which I will post in a while if they came out. Tonight, bylinemjf and I are meeting up with Eve at Cafe Asia for happy hour...yay! I was going to go see Sonic, but it's raining out. Will probably do some studying for the BCRAN today...I need to get that done, it would be great to have the CCNP finished soon.
January
* Started seriously thinking about leaving Fannie Mae when it became obvious that I was probably never going further there, and Dave and I were *definitely* not going to go much further, should we continue to work together.
* Got sick of weird landlords and a rediculously small space and started looking for other apartments, despite being in the middle of a lease.
* Redid my resume and sent it out...
*Spent a lot of time getting Sonic settled in his first month with me
February
* Interviewed at HHS for a NOC position
* Got the job at HHS, accepted, gave notice, and left Fannie Mae, my first real job.
* Ditched my lease in Mt. Pleasant and moved to Cleveland Park.
* Rode Sonic for the first time!
March
* Erin and Sara came to visit from CT.
* Started working on teaching Sonic to steer and trot.
* Started poking around in the ITSC network, which got me noticed in the NOC
* Took and passed my first CCNP exam
* Started taking an interest in Network Security
April
* Turned 25
* Took Sonic over his very first crossrail, barely off the ground.
* Started Sonic cantering in open spaces.
* Started reading upon how to operate the Check Point GUI.
* Went with Dave to our first Washington Nationals game!
* Erin got engaged.
May
* Phil brought up promotion out of the NOC as a possiblity
* Took and passed my first Check Point security exam, and got my CCSA
* Brought Peter to his first show, at which he completely lost his mind
* Installed Linux for the first time, began using Fedora a little bit.
June
* Got promoted out of the NOC to Tier 2 engineer
* Mom came to visit DC
* Dave took me to two Yankees games, where I saw Derek hit his first grand slam, watched Wang pitch very well, and got to see Bernie have a stellar weekend.
July
* Went on my first vacation in years with Dave to the Poconos, and had an amazing time with him
* Was given my first major project as a network engineer, to upgrade and reconfigure all 300+ switches on the network. Man, I learned a lot about switching! This took up a great deal of my time.
* Saw Roger pitch in a 'Stros uniform when Houston was in town to play the Nats.
August
* Got several root canals done, was happy to get to work on my teeth finally
* Sonic cantered his first jump!
* Spent a rediculous amount of time at work, between Katrina and the switch upgrade.
* Began stressing *slightly* over the upcoming contract flip, but was confident that NGIT & SRA would win. Little did I know.
September
* Bought a new car, a 2004 Honda Civic. It was the first time I had actually bought a car.
* Went to CT to pick out bridesmaid dresses with Erin.
* Koosh, the cat that mom and I had since I was 12, passed away due to serious heart failure.
* Went with bylinemjf to see Bri Stokes Mitchell at the Kennedy Center.
* Had my first network change go sour when I took out Atlanta and was scared out of my mind.
* Despite being certain that Northrop Grumman was going to win the new HHS contract, Unisys came in and won it at the last minute. Everyone was mortified, so begins two months of stressing over "will I, or won't I?" have a job.
October
* Dave and I had our 1 year anniversary. :)
* Yankees somehow battle back and win the division(!)...and promptly lose in the ALDS.
* Began watching Penn State football with Dave, and taking an interest in football in general.
* Stressed, bit my nails, cried, felt happy, cried again, etc. over the rediculous rollercoaster of whether or not we'd be hired by Unisys.
* Began to branch out even more in cooking...wow, I learned to cook this year!
* Dave got a much-deserved promotion at work.
* My horse kicked me in the head! Accidentaly, of course. :)
* Friends started dating each other, oh my!
November
* Went home with Dave and met his family for Thanksgiving!
* Went through my first technical interviews since Phil, including one at RSA.
* Took and passed my second CCNP exam...halfway there!!!!!!
* Stressed MORE about the job, on and on and on. Finally got three offers in the same week, and went with the small company, IT Solutions, to stay at HHS.
December
* Dave and I decided to move in together, and found a lovely 2-bedroom house for rent in Arlington.
* Brought Dave home for Christmas to meet my family (well, he'd already met my Mom, but the rest of my family)
* Went to see Butterstick multiple times.
* Celebrated Sonic and my 1-year anniversary on New Year's Eve!
Dave and I had a super nice New Years....I successfully made Paella, and it was awesome. We had some nice cheese and wine with it as well, and just had a wonderful, low-key evening together. We didn't even stay up to watch the ball drop! I also had a nice time with Sonic, counting my blessings about what a lucky horse-mom I am. :)
New Year's Day, we went out to lunch with Dan, Meggan, and Meggan's aunt, so that was nice. Great to see Meggan after the holidays, got to check out a few cute pictures of their nieces and nephew. :) Spent some more time with Sonic, and then cooked some nice soup for dinner. Another nice, quiet night with Dave, while we did a bit more planning about our upcoming move.
This morning, I went to the zoo with Dan & Meggan and got to see Butterstick playing outside! I took a few pictures, which I will post in a while if they came out. Tonight, bylinemjf and I are meeting up with Eve at Cafe Asia for happy hour...yay! I was going to go see Sonic, but it's raining out. Will probably do some studying for the BCRAN today...I need to get that done, it would be great to have the CCNP finished soon.
January
* Started seriously thinking about leaving Fannie Mae when it became obvious that I was probably never going further there, and Dave and I were *definitely* not going to go much further, should we continue to work together.
* Got sick of weird landlords and a rediculously small space and started looking for other apartments, despite being in the middle of a lease.
* Redid my resume and sent it out...
*Spent a lot of time getting Sonic settled in his first month with me
February
* Interviewed at HHS for a NOC position
* Got the job at HHS, accepted, gave notice, and left Fannie Mae, my first real job.
* Ditched my lease in Mt. Pleasant and moved to Cleveland Park.
* Rode Sonic for the first time!
March
* Erin and Sara came to visit from CT.
* Started working on teaching Sonic to steer and trot.
* Started poking around in the ITSC network, which got me noticed in the NOC
* Took and passed my first CCNP exam
* Started taking an interest in Network Security
April
* Turned 25
* Took Sonic over his very first crossrail, barely off the ground.
* Started Sonic cantering in open spaces.
* Started reading upon how to operate the Check Point GUI.
* Went with Dave to our first Washington Nationals game!
* Erin got engaged.
May
* Phil brought up promotion out of the NOC as a possiblity
* Took and passed my first Check Point security exam, and got my CCSA
* Brought Peter to his first show, at which he completely lost his mind
* Installed Linux for the first time, began using Fedora a little bit.
June
* Got promoted out of the NOC to Tier 2 engineer
* Mom came to visit DC
* Dave took me to two Yankees games, where I saw Derek hit his first grand slam, watched Wang pitch very well, and got to see Bernie have a stellar weekend.
July
* Went on my first vacation in years with Dave to the Poconos, and had an amazing time with him
* Was given my first major project as a network engineer, to upgrade and reconfigure all 300+ switches on the network. Man, I learned a lot about switching! This took up a great deal of my time.
* Saw Roger pitch in a 'Stros uniform when Houston was in town to play the Nats.
August
* Got several root canals done, was happy to get to work on my teeth finally
* Sonic cantered his first jump!
* Spent a rediculous amount of time at work, between Katrina and the switch upgrade.
* Began stressing *slightly* over the upcoming contract flip, but was confident that NGIT & SRA would win. Little did I know.
September
* Bought a new car, a 2004 Honda Civic. It was the first time I had actually bought a car.
* Went to CT to pick out bridesmaid dresses with Erin.
* Koosh, the cat that mom and I had since I was 12, passed away due to serious heart failure.
* Went with bylinemjf to see Bri Stokes Mitchell at the Kennedy Center.
* Had my first network change go sour when I took out Atlanta and was scared out of my mind.
* Despite being certain that Northrop Grumman was going to win the new HHS contract, Unisys came in and won it at the last minute. Everyone was mortified, so begins two months of stressing over "will I, or won't I?" have a job.
October
* Dave and I had our 1 year anniversary. :)
* Yankees somehow battle back and win the division(!)...and promptly lose in the ALDS.
* Began watching Penn State football with Dave, and taking an interest in football in general.
* Stressed, bit my nails, cried, felt happy, cried again, etc. over the rediculous rollercoaster of whether or not we'd be hired by Unisys.
* Began to branch out even more in cooking...wow, I learned to cook this year!
* Dave got a much-deserved promotion at work.
* My horse kicked me in the head! Accidentaly, of course. :)
* Friends started dating each other, oh my!
November
* Went home with Dave and met his family for Thanksgiving!
* Went through my first technical interviews since Phil, including one at RSA.
* Took and passed my second CCNP exam...halfway there!!!!!!
* Stressed MORE about the job, on and on and on. Finally got three offers in the same week, and went with the small company, IT Solutions, to stay at HHS.
December
* Dave and I decided to move in together, and found a lovely 2-bedroom house for rent in Arlington.
* Brought Dave home for Christmas to meet my family (well, he'd already met my Mom, but the rest of my family)
* Went to see Butterstick multiple times.
* Celebrated Sonic and my 1-year anniversary on New Year's Eve!