So, uh, yeah.... six months? Oops. And here it is at the end of January, and I'm just now getting ready to do my 2012 recap. So let's talk about the year the world was supposed to end.
I made a list of what all I felt I had accomplished and done this year, so I'll write about that and then I'll go back through and do a 2012 Resolution recap. Saddle up, folks, this is going to be a long one.
-I quit drinking for 2 months. Most people who know me, know this isn't that big of a deal. I didn't even start drinking until last year, and giving it up wasn't very hard. I gave it up for lent, so it wasn't exactly two months. I thought it was better than my regular lent go to of eating no meat, although, I feel like I ate more meat this year than I usually do, maybe I should go for the double whammy this coming lenten season.
-I jumped out of a flying airplane. I know I've already made a post about this, and it was one of my resolutions, but seriously. It was amazing. It deserves at least three mentions.
-I lost someone who was very important in my life and very very dear to me. Gail Schutz, one of the greatest people I've ever known, died on February 29th last year. I woke up to a phone call on March 1st in Carbondale, on the first of a three step trip to South Carolina for spring break. When I heard the news it didn't really sink in at first. Then by my second and third phone call of people telling me, it really hit me. I've been lucky in my life not to have many people I care about die, but it's hard to focus on that when one of them does. I was going to write a whole blog post back in March talking about how wonderful Gail was and how much she'll be missed, but I decided not to, because anyone who had ever even said hi to her on the street knows that. She was great at everything she did because she did it with love. Girl Scout Leader, Mother, Grandmother, Babysitter, Farm Wife, Church Leader, Life Coach, Keeper of All Knowledge, among many many other things.
-I dropped out of school. Anyone who knows me, knows this wasn't a first, but I certainly hope it was the last. I struggled for several months with it and wanted to keep going, but I just wasn't staying motivated and I decided it would be best for me to stop wasting my money. So I took the steps necessary to drop out of school. When I did it, I had no real plan of going back. I kept it in the back of my head and any time I was asked about it I told the inquisitor I was just "taking a semester off", but in reality I thought I was lying to them and I wasn't sure if I would ever go back to school again.
-I applied to and got accepted to my sixth college. In November I finally got my spark of interest back, and started thinking about schools again. I looked at several online, all in different cities and different states. I weighed the pros and cons, I compared tuitions to how high they ranked on random surveys I found. I finally settled on McKendree University, but not for any of the reasons I had looked in to. They have an accelerated program through Scott Air Force Base, that I think I can actually get through without losing interest. I will start attending soon. Fingers crossed.
-I let the insurance on my car expire and quit driving for 5 months, making bicycle my primary mode of transportation. This was probably one of the best things I did for myself. At the time I lived three blocks from work and still drove every day. I loved riding my bike instead and I knew the only way I would do it would be if I couldn't drive. Once I got my car back, I still rode my bike some, but not enough, but the weather also started getting colder.
-I ended a bad thing... twice (oops). I'm not going to go into further details, because I don't really want to delve that far into my personal life for the entire world to see, but I do feel like it was a big accomplishment kicking this one.
-I went on three first dates. I think the most first dates I've ever been on in a year had previously been one, so I tripled my numbers, whoo?
-I kissed a stranger.. And then freaked out about having kissed a stranger. Up until this point every guy I had kissed and/or gone on a date with (with the exception of one blind double date) I had known for awhile before anything had happened. So, that was weird.
-I moved out of my mom's house for, possibly, the last time. I'm not going to make that definitive, because sometimes life happens, but this is the first time I moved out without any plan of moving back in. I moved in with my dear sweet cousin Katherine, and it has been great. I've lived here about 9 months now and I plan on staying here as long as I'm in White Hall.
-This was the year I started LOVING to dance. I've always liked it, and frequently have one woman dance productions while I shower/get ready to go some place. But I've never really liked dancing in public. I've always done it when presented with the opportunity, but I always a little awkward. I don't know what happened, maybe it was the increase in frequency of dance opportunities, but for some reason this year things just clicked and I embraced my awkwardness and learned to love it.
-For the first time ever, I made a hotel reservation by myself and checked in by myself. I think this means I'm a grown up now. Right? Right?
-I bought an Armani dress. That's right everyone, I'm super fancy. I have designer clothes (besides the indie designers from ModCloth). This is the most expensive item of clothing I've ever bought, including prom and homecoming dresses. I regret nothing.
-I went to New York City with dear sweet friend Miss Kelsey Greaves and her lovely grandfather. This was a very big deal to me. For as long as I can remember I've wanted to visit that city, and honestly, I've always seen myself living there some day. I got to see so many cool things and do such neat stuff. I saw Phantom of the Opera (the longest running Broadway show) ON BROADWAY, a week before it closed. I saw where John Lennon was shot and the memorial. I saw the Big Blue Whale at the American Museum of Natural History. We went to the Met, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and so much more. It was the trip of a lifetime, and I really hope I get to visit again.
-For years now, I've wanted to attend a convention, and I've made several hypothetical trip plans to go to San Diego Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, C2E2, and so many more, yet I never went. Part of it was I almost always picked one that was far off and the other part was it's been difficult to talk people into going with me. FINALLY, I got to go to a convention. It wasn't San Diego, or ECCC, or even C2E2, but it was a con. One in my own back yard, even (not literally, it was in Collinsville). I attended Archon, dressed as the blue ranger (wore a blue ranger t-shirt), bought a bunch of comics, found a group power rangers who just happened to be missing a blue ranger, and did some recording with the guys for our podcast. Overall, a happy experience. In the near future there should be more cons, St. Louis Comic Con in March, and possibly Gen Con in August.
I think I'll do the Resolution Recap in another post, then expect a third post with this year's resolutions.
Have a good night*! (*insert morning, afternoon, or day as you see fit)
No comments:
Post a Comment