2011 in Review

2011 in Review

Found on my friend Leah's blog, I thought this would be a good way to wrap up our 2011 activities.


1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?

Looked at houses, bought a house, painted multiple rooms in a day, commuted farther then 3 miles at a time, seeded a lawn, ran to our basement when a severe storm came rolling in, joined Pintrest.

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

I'm not a huge resolution person, so No.. but I am going to set small goals for myself.

3. How will/did you spend New Year's Eve?


From 2010 into 2011 I was home by myself while my husband worked.. I don't even think I made it until midnight.

From 2011 into 2012 It was our last day in MN, and with a fun filled day with my nieces, a water heater that went out and needed to be replaced, it snowing heavily that night, and being exhausted we stayed in. We stayed awake until 11pm and saw the ball drop on the east coast and then went to bed.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

I lost a grandma in March from heart complications from Pneumonia. Although we weren't "close" we know she is in a better place now.

5. What countries did you visit? What vacations did you take?

  We made 2 trips home to MN. After purchasing the house we didn't really need to travel this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

A baby, organization, more crafty inspiration.

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I have 3..
April 22nd- Closing Day We got keys, bought major appliances, taped for painting, and ate our first meal (Arby's) in the house without electricity while standing at the kitchen island.

May 1st- Moving Day Our appliances beat us to the house and friends helped us move in the morning, and we were up late putting everything away..so good to finally be home!

December 18th-Full of surprises
 
8. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?
Becoming a homeowner!

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not really a failure but a disappointment..finding out that our house was a short sale, and patiently waiting for the deal to go through.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope (knock on wood)

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Our house and a king size bed!

12. Where did most of your money go?

Our house! It was quite the shock getting that cashiers check cut for such a large sum of money.  And furnishing the inside hasn't come cheap either... after purchasing a washer, dryer, fridge, king bed set and sectional we have just about maxed out on our NFM store card! Thank goodness for 18 month intrest free financing!

13. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Anything by LMFAO. They dominated the music scene in 2011
Also "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" A little inside joke :)

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

Exercise and finishing projects I start

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

Being lazy. Not exercising

16. What was your favorite TV program?

I have too many to count. I am a sucker for just about anything on Bravo though!

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Unfortunetly yes.  A lack of maturity, and childish crap force me to be careful around these people and distance myself so I am not involved.

18. What was the best book you read?

I'm embarassed to say..I didn't read in 2011. I wish I did, but I just dont.  I love my magazines though!

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?

No one in particular, but I find that when i'm listening to Pandora at work I find myself really liking some people that I have never heard of, or i'm like "oh that's who sings that"

20. What was your favorite film of this year?

This is a tough one. I don't know! For the first time in a long time we really didn't see a lot of movies in the theatre.  We rent a fair amount from Netflix but nothing really jumps out at me as being my favorite.

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

I turned 28! My birthday was on a Saturday and I had to work.  I got my usual big birthday cupcake for dessert, but we just had a low key evening at home.

22. What kept you sane?

Pat and my Mom!  Without these two, I wouldn't be the person I am today. My husband is my rock, who as of lately has really stepped up and shown me how great of a person he is.

23. Who did you miss?
Family and friends.  We make these quick trips up to MN for a few days every 6 months or so..and while it is good for the soul, it is never long enough.  I always leave with my heart so full, from seeing great people who get me, laughing, and catching up on life.  I miss them!

24. Who was the best new person you met?

Our neighbors! We are extremely fortunate that we have great neighbors.  They may be a little older then us, with kids ages anywhere from 4-9 but they really like us. (and we like them)  They have been so helpful letting us know the ins and outs of the neighborhood, inviting us over for gatherings and taking us in under there wing when we have homeowner questions.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

As good as our apartment was to us, nothing feels as good as going home every night to a place that is your own.

Project 365

January 4th:

The Itinerary that I have been drooling over, of my parents 14 day Southern Caribbean Cruise

January 5th:

64 degrees in January!! (The record high for today is 68!)

Project 365

Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way

Why do it?

Taking a photo a day is a big undertaking with big payoffs. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider doing it:

• Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)
  
• Your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.
  
• Taking a photo a day will make you a better photographer. Using your camera every day will help you learn its limits. You will get better at composing your shots, you’ll start to care about lighting, and you’ll become more creative with your photography when you’re forced to come up with something new every single day.

Tips on How to Do It

Here are six tips on how to create your own Project 365:

1. Bring Your Camera Everywhere
   Yes, everywhere. Get in the habit. Grocery stores, restaurants, parties, work, and school. Going to a movie theatre? Snap a pic of the flick with your phone–there are photo-ops everywhere. If you have one of those tiny tiny cameras, you have no excuse not to have it in your pocket all the time. And if you don’t? Camera phones are a great substitute.
   
2. Make Posting Easy
   You can install blog software like Movable Type or WordPress on your own site and create an entry for each photo, but for true ease of use, try a photo sharing site. Flickr will let you post a week’s worth of photos in 2 minutes flat, and fotolog and Photoblog.com are geared toward a photo-a-day workflow. Making it fast and easy means you’re much more likely to do it.
   
3. Vary Your Themes
   Try to capture the day’s events in a single photo. Perform photographic experiments. Take a photo of someone new you meet, something you ate for the first time, or something you just learned how to do. Take a photo of something that made you smile. And don’t forget to take a photo of yourself at least once a month so you can remember how you’ve changed, too.
   
4. Tell a Story
   Use your blog entry, or your photo description, to explain what’s going on in each day’s photograph. How good did that dinner taste? What made you want to take a photo of that stranger? It’ll help you remember down the road, and it gives friends following along a better appreciation of why you took the photo you did. You don’t need to write a lot, just enough to add some color.
   
5. Don’t Stop, No Matter What
   This is perhaps the most important tip of all. You will get tired of taking a photo every single day. Some days, you will consider giving up. Don’t. The end result is worth the effort. Remind yourself why you wanted to do it in first place.
   There will be times you’ll think there’s nothing interesting left to take a photo of, and times you’ll think you didn’t do anything exciting enough to take a photo of. There’s always a great photo to be made.
   Get out of the house and take a walk. Or stay inside and look around. Take a photo of something important to you. Take a photo of the inside of your house so you can see how your taste has changed over the years. Take a photo of anything, just don’t stop.
   N.b. It helps if you’ve told your friends about the project and asked them to follow along. Their encouragement will keep you going!
   
6. Post early, post often
   Plan on going through and posting your photos at least once a week so you don’t get backlogged and feel overwhelmed. Ideally, post every day or two. Again, spend the time up front to make sure it’s quick and easy to post. It’ll make all the difference.

So with that being said..I'm going to participate in this challenge.  I probably won't be posting everyday..but I will be taking a photo a day and then uploading here to my blog when I see it fit weather a couple times a week, or just once a week all 7 photos at once.

January 1st, 2012 :

A VERY salty car.  9 days in MN and glad to be back home.

January 2nd:

10 days worth of laundry after being gone on vacation

January 3rd:

A 3 gallon size Ziplock bag full of pop tops from my mother in law over the last 3 years. (and 1 years worth added in by us!) I just wish I was patient enough to count them all.

Currently...

Currently...

Loving.... My 12 day vacation from work, My 9 day trip to MN, Seeing family and friends over the holidays, special gifts given and received at the holidays, meeting my niece Riley for the first time, seeing Mahoney's I haven't seen in almost a year, meeting new babies and seeing ones I have only met once, Big, fluffy snowflakes that fell in MN on the last night of our vacation, mild weather (60 in January!!) Lack of snow.

Excited for...  a wonderful 2012 which is off to a good start already, January 10th,

Worried... No worries...just curious.

Creating.... Really getting an urge to scrapbook. (which always seems to happen this time of year when I start my mandatory OT..boo!)

Hating... Hating the fact that my family is leaving tomorrow for 14 days in the Caribbean :(

Wondering... How long the nice weather will last? Could we really make it all winter with very little snow? What the next month will bring as far as mandatory OT?   

Craving... Pasta...and healthy food! (yogurt, cottage cheese, fruit...after all of the crap we ate over the holidays)

Hoping... Everything continues to move along just wonderfully.

Watching.... From Netflix in the past month: Our Idiot Brother, 30 minutes or Less, Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Change Up,

DVR:  Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Real Housewives of Atlanta (and Beverly Hills)

Listening... The wash machine running like crazy..being gone for 9 days creates a lot of laundry.

Looking forward to... Upcoming events in 2012, appointments in the near future, late summer