1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Bought a house. Second-chaired a really big Deal. Introduced myself to someone at a professional networking event.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Well, I did - I think that counts. :)
4. Did anyone close to you die? No, thankfully.
5. What places did you visit? Enid, Oklahoma; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Fort Worth, TX (and thereabouts); Holland, Michigan; New York, New York. I think that's everywhere. Turns out I didn't blog any of it... Hmmm... I gotta get better at this.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? I'm going to say more balance, and leave it there. I'm not very anonymous here, and so I can't really go there. But balance, please.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched on your memory, and why? For sure, January 28. Little Munchie joined our merry band. And June 14, the day we closed on our house. Other than that, I'm not sure. I'm pretty terrible with dates...
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
9. What was your biggest failure?
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
11. What was the best thing you bought? Easy answer = the new house. But that's kind of boring. Maybe my favorite purchase just for myself this year was a pair of clearance slacks from Gap ($20!). Not because they're particularly beautiful but because they're a size 4 and have vertical pinstripes and I look awesome in them. Plus now they're doing that thing that Gap clothes do and starting to stretch out a bit so I feel like I'm getting skinnier even though I'm not really. Haha.
12. Where did most of your money go? Our new house. And our ridiculous student loan debt. And childcare. Those three things add up to equal a VERY nice salary.
13. What did you get really excited about?
14. Whose behavior merited celebration? My husband. Dude, that guy totally rocks my socks off. This guy was 100% committed to doing the SAHD thing for both girls for a while, and he did awesome at it, even while juggling his responsibilities at Job #1. He took one for the team and had a surgical procedure to make sure we are done with surprises. He did so many projects at our house that when the appraiser was here the other day (we're refinancing - it's a long story) and asked me what we'd done with the place, I couldn't even list everything. And when he started working Job #2 this fall he kept up most of the slack at home, despite working just about as much as I did Sept-Oct-Nov. He makes it look easy and I can't understand how he does it at all, but I love him. Gold star, babe.
15. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My Mother. It still brings burning tears to my eyes to think about it.
16. What song will always remind you of 2011? Ray LaMontagne's "Let it Be Me" will forever take me to our bedroom in our now-old apartment, bouncing and singing to my little nugget while trying to get her to sleep. And Harry Belafonte's "Jump in the Line" will remind me of my sweet Eden doing this. And Andrew Peterson's "Dancing in the Minefields" will remind me of, well, dancing in the minefields with my best friend.
17. Compared to last year are you –
- Happier or Sadder? Oddly, both. I am much happier at home, but work... well, I'm not happier in all areas of my life, we'll leave it at that. See #6.
- Fatter or thinner? Thinner than I was at the end of the year by about 30 pounds, but fatter than I was at the beginning of the year by about 2 pounds.
- Richer or poorer? Poorer. A lot poorer. Double the kids plus no more stay-at-home spouse plus living in one of the most expensive cities for childcare equals pork n' beans for dinner. OK, it's not that bad, but HOLY COW kids are expensive. See also #12.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
20. How did you spend Christmas? At home. With my little family, and a bit with my "extended" family. Easy and low-key, no traveling, just how I like it.
21. What was your favorite TV program(s)? Project Runway. And then I got randomly sucked in by Project Accessory, the show created by Lifetime to fill a void - but it's like eating bread when you want steak. Not really satisfying, but it gets you by. Also my guilty pleasures: The Bachelorette (mostly because I watched it with my BFF, even after she moved to TX - we watched it over Skype) and The Good Wife (I always groan at how ridiculously stupid and unrealistic it is, but I watch it every week anyway). Oh - Oh - and Modern Family, which I only discovered when Meg sent us Season 1 on DVD. That show is awesome.
22. What were your favorite books of the year? While I was on maternity leave I read a few, including The Help, which I enjoyed very much. Once work started back, it went by the wayside along with everything else, but I did start a few parenting books...
23. What were your favorite films of the year? I actually think The Help might be the only movie I saw this year... Kind of a one-trick pony, aren't I? This is a little depressing.
24. Did you fall in love? Yes. Fell in love with Leah, fell in love every day with Eden & Bryan. Well, most days.
25. What did you do for your birthday in 2011? Um... I don't think we did anything? (Bryan's and my birthdays are two days apart). I can't remember because it was during The Deal and everything else sort of disappeared from September to November, and what didn't somehow got overshadowed in my memory...
26. Did you make new friends this year?
27. What did you want and get?
28. What did you want and not get?
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? HAHAHAHA. Trying to fit a postpartum body without spending any money. Wearing the same wardrobe I've worn to work for three and a half years and hoping nobody notices the same-ness or the ill-fittingness.
31. What kept you sane?
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
33. What political issue stirred you the most?
34. Who did you miss? This is the easy. Oh, I how miss our friends. We met them our very first night in Boston, and they are now our family. They left at the end of February. I can't even say any more than that or I might lose it. I didn't blog it because every post I wrote in my head was depressing. Maybe some other time. (But probably not).
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
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