Looking Back: Yearly Re-Cap 2010

Here we are on the last day of 2010, and I'm feeling a little down. Not sure why ... it probably has more to do with being tired than anything to do with it being the end of the year. At any rate, I found this list if questions from a friend's blog, and she found it from another blog, so I can't take any credit for the list. But answering the questions made me feel better! So here we go ...

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?

I lived in Maine! And I worked in retail. I graduated from college with my BA in Psychology. 

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't think I made any near year's resolutions, so I'm not sure if I kept them or not ... I'll have to work on that for 2011. And I think I might make some resolutions for next year. (Maybe the next post.) 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! One of my co-workers while living/working in Maine had her first baby girl! It was really exciting!!!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, but someone close to me had someone close to him die. And we all thought my grandfather was going to die. Several times. 

5. What countries did you visit?

None. That's pretty depressing to me, actually. I'm pretty sure that's going to have to be one of my New Year's resolutions for 2011 ... leave the country!!! 

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

More patience with my life. More openness to possibilities and opportunities. More flexibility (in my body and in my lifestyle).

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

May 15 - because I graduated from Warren Wilson College!

December 24 - because I moved to Massachusetts!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I'm bad at having one answer for these questions. So I won't. Graduating from college was a big achievement. Moving by myself to Maine to work on a schooner, realizing that wasn't going to work, and taking a huge leap of faith to find another place to work/live was a huge achievement. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

I don't like the idea of failure. I know it happens, but that's not something I keep on record. I prefer to learn from mistakes (that can also, sometimes, be considered as failures) and move on with my life with more wisdom. 

10. Did you suffer from illness or injury?

I got a cold this fall. And I got bug bites this summer. But that happens every year. So ... no. No illness or injury. Phew!

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My car! I suppose I didn't really buy that. But it was bought for me! Best thing I bought was my LLBean boots and I haven't even gotten them yet, but they're going to be great once I have them!

12. Where did most of your money go?

Effing rent. For a very cold room in a very cold house. And the rest went to gas and groceries. Ew. 

13. What did you get really excited about?

Living with the Scott after a year of long-distance!!!

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

Whip My Hair by Willow Smith

15. Compared with this time last year, are you:

      Happier/sadder: happier, though I'm pretty happy all the time. 

      Thinner/fatter: the same as last year ... maybe slightly thinner. That's perfect.

      Richer/poorer: Poorer in money, richer in experience. 

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Hiking, camping, adventuring with Scott. Traveling, though I did a fair bit of that ... there's always room for more. 

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Complaining and dwelling on things that don't matter that much. Feeling lonely when I needed to be okay with being alone. Alone is okay. 

18. How did you spend Christmas?

Best of both worlds: woke up with Scott and spent the day with his family AND got to fly home to see my family AND made it there despite the threats of storms canceling flights!!! AND it was my first White Christmas in MA and NC!!!

19. What was your favorite TV program?

Modern Family. 

20. What were your favorite books of this year?

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and The Hunger Games by Sharon Collins. 

21. What was your favorite music of this year?

I listened to a lot of music, but I'm really really really getting tired of the music I have. My favorite was New Orleans jazz on Pandora. I danced a lot. 

22. What were your favorite films of this year?

Shutter Island, Harry Potter 7 Part 1, and other than that I watched a lot of old favorites. 

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 22, and I went out with some friends. Nothing particularly exciting. Oh! I did take myself on a date to the Biltmore!!! It was a beautiful day and I saw baby geese!!! That was cool. 

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More travel and adventures with Scott. 

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2010?

Comfortable. I learned some new things while working in retail ... some I have adopted, some I thought were heinous. It all comes back to comfort ... every time. 

26. What kept you sane?

Scott and my mom.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

That things happen for a reason, even if that reason is not immediately apparent. So get up, brush yourself off, and keep going. Also, alone is okay. 

***

Perhaps tomorrow I will make my New Year's Resolutions post. We'll see. It all really depends on whether I choose to come up with any. 

In the mean time I'm going to go take a nap so that I can stay up until midnight tonight! Here's to bringing in the new year!

regarding Christmas travel:

I woke up in Littleton, MA on Christmas morning and had a blast spending part of the day with my boyfriend and his family! It was wonderful! Different, exciting, snowy, refreshing, and fun! And then around 3:30 we headed to the airport. I flew back to NC for a few days and am delighted to tell you that, even though it was snowing in Raleigh, we arrive ten minutes early! Right on schedule. Phew!

It was an experience flying on Christmas. As I went through security and was pulling my boots back on and hurriedly shoving my things back into my bags I heard the TSA guy singing, "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" I laughed to myself and whistled as I wandered off to find my departure gate. It's interesting to me how much it didn't feel like Christmas to me as soon as I got the airport. It just felt like any old day. But there weren't nearly as many people and the lines weren't as long, and the people were really in a great mood all things considered! We arrived on time to Philly, and since I wasn't changing planes for RDU, I just meandered a bit around the airport. There was a cheerful woman driving one of the shuttles wearing a felt hat with elf ears attached. There were people hurrying to their connecting flight wearing what looked like new Christmas presents. And I was surprised by how many things were open! I talked with my mom, who was eagerly awaiting my arrival, and she said it hadn't quite started snowing yet ... but by the time the captain of the aircraft announced our initial decent into RDU it had started snowing and he told us that we were going to have a White Christmas! And we taxied to the gate ten minutes before our predicted arrival time!!! What a great Christmas!!!

And it's only just begun. We're having a family dinner tonight to celebrate Boxing Day!!! And we got together for pie last night after my flight got in! Perfect.

regarding winter and work-outs:

I've just found another reason why I love New England. I am going to be so in shape by the end of this winter with all this snow!!! That shit is heavy. And shoveling it is grunt work! Phew! What a great work-out. I'll just keep shoveling and hiking and doing yoga and I'll never need another gym! This is great.

(I've decided that this is the best possible way to look at having to shovel that much snow.)

new found respect

I've been learning some new things these last few days (keeping in mind that I'm from NC living in ME):

1. In Maine things don't close because it's snowing.
2. In Maine people drive anyway even if it's snowing.
3. In Maine people go out late at night even if there is snow all over the roads.
4. In Maine there are plow/salt/sand trucks out when it is snowing doing their job to make the roads a little bit safer.
5. In Maine people may still go out and buy all of the milk and bread in the grocery store when it snows (just like they do in North Carolina).
6. If you live in Maine (or anywhere where it snows) you should have snow tires, winter windshield wipers, and an ice scraper with a snow brush on it (as well as a blanket in the back of your car, some water, and a granola bar or two ... just in case) because life goes on, even in the snow!
7. I need winter windshield wipers and an ice scraper with a snow brush on it.

Due to these new things I've been learning, I have a new-found respect for New Englanders and anyone who lives in a place where it snows. It's not easy to get it in your freezing cold car and drive home in the snow when the road is covered completely!!! This is something that takes all of your attention, and your muscles may be tense while you're focusing so hard! I realize that I am relatively new to this whole driving-in-snow thing, but I appreciate how level-headed most people up here are about doing this whole winter thing. And I respect it.

More on this whole winter thing later.

a photo for today:

It's snowing again!!! It was all mush yesterday ... but it's a winter wonderland once again!

regarding cowlicks:

Cowlick: pronounced [kou-lik] - noun. A tuft of hair that grows in a direction different from that part of the rest of the hair. (Dictionary.com)

The term originates from the bovines' habit of licking its young, which results in a swirling pattern of the hair on a calf. (Wikipedia.com)

I have at least three cowlicks. At least one at the back of my head, and at least two in the front above my forehead. When I was little this caused my bangs to part off to one side. (As seen in the photo below.) When I got older I grew out my bangs and parted my hair instead. That seemed to take care of some of the hair-sticking-up-at-odd-angles. Mostly I just worked with it. Now it results in epic bed head. And I mean epic. I didn't know my hair could stand up quite that straight. More pictures soon ...

dreaming of warmth

This looks very warm. It might be warm very close to that fire. But I have news for you, it's cold everywhere else. And it takes a looooong time for everywhere else to heat up. In my dream house, if there is a wood stove, there will also be a supplement source of heat for keeping the house warm. I will be moving soon to a warm house. In the mean time I'll huddle by my space heater and dream of warmth. 

back in maine

I'm back in Maine for the home stretch! I have six more days of work, one day of packing and laundry, and a two-hour drive to Massachusetts!!! Then I get to fly to NC on Christmas Day in the evening, spend a few days there, and then more officially be moved in in MA! This is a very exciting week!

Things I will miss: friends that I've already made here.
Things I will not miss: a cold house, shampoo and lotion that are the wrong consistency, frozen fingers.

regarding chocolate stout:

Harpoon makes a Chocolate Stout, so we thought we'd try it. Turns out it's pretty good. You can definitely taste some bitterness from dark chocolate. It's a lighter stout than I'm used to, but the chocolate makes it feel a bit darker. Overall, it's okay. Not sure I'll jump up and buy it again though. 

a photo for yesterday:

In Boston watching the skaters on Frog Pond. 

new blog

Finally I have created a blog where I can just post anything. So that's what I plan to do: just post anything and everything. Pictures, songs, videos, random rants and such. Nonesuch and sense, as much as possible.

Huzzah!

*heart sparkles*