Alrighty, it’s time to think on the past year! The year was action-packed, as per usual, but here are a few things accomplished from my post last year and a few new musings:
- Rocked out my grad classes (1 semester left) and finished 1/2 of the internship (600 hours). I made a lot of great friends through the internship, and it’s been a rewarding, albeit stressful, experience. Pushing our limits is how we grow, though.
- Traveled to San Diego with Ryan and had a blast! FNCE 2011 was inspiring, and I hope to keep going. FNCE 2012 will be in Philly, and the 2013 one will be in Houston.
Plus it was fun to walk around with Ryan and have a ton of food vendors practically throw samples at you! Here, take a handful of protein bars, fiber bars, yogurt cups, dried fruit, energy chews, cereal, t-shirts, calendars, pens, and measuring spoons until it was an extra ~30 lbs of swag stuffed into our luggage. - Blueberry bushes flourished. The hydroponics garden flourished initially but then flopped from the heat and became root bound in the bucket system. And we discovered that mockingbirds WILL eat your tomatoes when it’s extremely hot outside.
- Lifted weights, ran, Zumba’d, and spun! I didn’t get to do as much of this as I wanted toward the end of the Fall semester, but this is now remedied.
- Welcomed the Achee’s precious Baby Owen. That kid’s drool and smiles are adorable! And Caden is our little buddy and a good, big brother. We rather enjoy being Aunt Bo/Neeter and Uncle Ryan.
- A simple smile works wonders. Sometimes when I was walking through the hospital on very little sleep and a lot of stress, a smile from a stranger or an intern pal made the difference. A smile usually comes easily to my face, but it was hard sometimes toward the semester’s end. So I remind myself to keep smiling, because it’s contagious. If that sounds simple, it’s because it is.
- Watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Saenger was fantastic! I’d never been and was delighted at all the hardcore fans around me hollering out the lines and snapping their gloves.
- I will not be making a mincemeat pie again, because it was the weirdest concoction ever. It smelled wonderful. It tasted, however, like a spicy apple butter pie with fruit bits and a distinctly savory flavor (the minimal beef ingredient), and that kept confusing my taste buds. It wants to taste good, it really does, but the flavors are just too incompatible.
- Humming and softly singing Christmas music while shopping for groceries makes people smile. I was determined to be in a cheery mood, and I had 2 or 3 people stop me and say stuff like, “Spread that cheer, sweetie!” Haters go on and hate on cheesy Christmas music, but it’s catchy and you know it! As cheesy as it may sound, it made me so happy to make strangers smile and hopefully spread a little cheer.
- HBO’s Game of Thrones did not disappoint us book fans! I’m looking forward to seeing how The Hobbit turns out. I somehow missed seeing the last Harry Potter, but I think I had my book in a nose….my nose in a book!
- I love, love being back in my cozy home with my babycakes and our ani-mals. Miss Kitty is purring beside me in agreement as I type this.
The 2012 goals will follow soon …
