Posts made in December, 2011
The Best of 2011
As 2011 is winding down; seriously, how did it get this far this quickly? When did we all step into that time machine and is there a way to slow that sucker down? Wasn’t it just January? Or at least Halloween?
I started writing this out in my typical format, but then I changed my mind. See, I have developed this weird complex where I’m worried that my writing isn’t awesomely witty or even long enough to be considered a good post, which is silly because it’s not like I’m trying to meet any requirements. A post is a post, whether it’s a long 1000 word missive or a simple picture. This isn’t a school assignment! Besides, a lot of the stuff I realized are continuances of last year and I don’t really want to rehash last year’s post. So, instead, I’m calling an audible: here’s my “Best of 2011″ in pictures.
Trip with the bf to one of my favorite places in the world: the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Ran my first 5k trail run. And felt like dying. But didn’t, so point for me!
Celebrated six wonderful years with the bf. Our relationship is officially a first grader now.
I graduated with my long-awaited MBA from St. Mary’s
Went indoor skydiving with the bf
Watched Lindsey walk the line and collect her degree from UCLA
Flew to Seattle to stand in Amalia’s wedding…and recklessly risked not fitting into my bridesmaid dress by eating a ton of delicious food. You know how I roll.
Rode the white water rapids of the South Fork of the American River and lived to blog about it
I turned 30 in August and had a tremendous time celebrating
Had lunch at Facebook HQ with a former coworker and raided their micro-kitchen for snacks for the ride home
Joined Firelady on a shift with the San Francisco Fire Department and cruised along the Embarcadero on the Fire boat
Ran my first 10k without feeling like I wanted to die!
Finally faced facts and agreed to have Schmidty, the fibroadenoma, forcefully evicted from my breast. We don’t like your kind around these parts!
Met my college roomie, Julie, in SF for a trip to Alcatraz and to catch up on her first leg of her 2 week road trip through California.
Looking back and looking forward
2011 was a bit of a refreshing year for me. This was the first full year following my dad’s passing and an introduction to life without him. This is how things will be from here on out, without the constant check ups from others or needing to give updates on how we’re grieving, but this is now our life. This is our new normal. Sometimes it feels a little weird but overall, it feels so good to finally be normal again.
We celebrated birthdays, graduations, weddings and the joy of every day life. This was definitely a good year.
Big things are going to happen in 2012. I just know it. Sure I say this every year, but do you really think (or hope) that bad things will happen? 2012 will be a year of transition and I’m kind of scared by what could possibly transpire. I’m excited but kind of uneasy because, well, I’m not really in control of the situation. It’s kind of exciting. I’ll be back to writing to finish my recap of the Schmidty saga, give you the rundown of my goals for next year and reveal my new life motto.
Yup, 2012 is already looking pretty fantastic.
Read MoreWEverb11: #7 Travel
Travel
Where did you travel this year? What was your favorite part? If you didn’t get to travel, where do you want to go next year?
When I first read this prompt, I thought I would skip it, seeing how I didn’t travel anywhere. But then I realized that I did go places. While they were modest trips, they were still trips that required packing.
First, I had an overnight trip to Monterey with the bf in January. It was his first time there and I was more than happy to show him around. The weather was absolutely beautiful, sunny and in the 60s, which made for perfect walking around and sitting outside enjoying the ocean moments. My favorite part was our trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is quite possibly one of my favorite places in this entire world. Since we went during the off-season, we were able to take our time and really explore the aquarium without dealing with the massive crowds that are typical during the warmer summer months. We got some face time with the sea otters, played “Is it dead or sleeping?” with the seahorses, touched the rays in the tide pool, and watched some penguins get it on. Very awkward for all involved.
In June, I roadtripped with my mom, older sister, nephew and aunt to Los Angeles to see my younger sister graduate from UCLA. The trip started out bumpy (I forgot the clothes we were going to wear to her graduation and didn’t realize until we had gotten to the airport to pick up the rental car. We debated heading to LA without them or going back home to pick them up. We went back home and added another hour to our trip) but it was a lot of fun. My favorite moment was hanging out with my older sister at the hotel lounge sipping on drinks and chatting like we were old girlfriends. Especially the part where we giggled at the couple we suspected to be swingers looking to pick up a partner.
July brought me back to the Pacific Northwest. My first trip to Seattle was a whirlwind filled with food, delicious food. This one was for a wedding, and while I had a fantastic time celebrating with the couple and being included with the family (seeing how I’ve known them since Junior High, that should be a given by now) my favorite moment came the Sunday morning following the wedding. I woke up early and decided to head out to Pike’s Market on my own to get my hands on a piroshky from Piroshky Piroshky. After munching on my potato and cheese piroshky, I settled down on a bench at the middle of a hill overlooking the market and water. It was a quiet morning and after spending my entire weekend surrounded by people, it was a joy having a moment to myself. I took my time enjoying my breakfast dessert (a cinnamon cardamon braid – yum!) and simply relished the moment.
My last trip of the year saw me flying back to Michigan to spend time with the bf. Trips to visit him are always special since they don’t happen nearly as often as we’d like. We didn’t do anything special, this time opting to hang out around town and took a side trip to Ann Arbor, but my favorite moment actually spawned from a sad one. We were discussing my job search and my subsequent frustration with it, and the questioning turned tense and I broke from the pressure I had been feeling but never spoke up until that moment. And as I cried and hiccuped my way through rambling claims of being a failure at life and how I’m not even marriage material (yeah, it was a rough moment), he held me and let me cry, listening to everything I was saying and reassuring me that I wasn’t a failure and that it would all work out. This is why I love him.
I have a list of places I want to go and hope I can cross at some of them of them off the list next year, but if I can cross off only one of them, then I hope it’s Jamaica. It’s where we plan on honeymooning.
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Read More#1 One Word
Choose one word.
Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why. Imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?
My one word would be: Celebration.
Sometimes it’s a little hard to think about celebrating after experiencing a major loss, as I did the year before with my dad, but as they say, there is life after death. This year was spent doing just that: living and celebrating that life. Here’s what I celebrated this year:
Possibilities. 2010 sucked, obviously, but 2011 was new and filled with so much potential. I had survived 2010 and really, it could only get better.
Love. In March, I marked my 6th dating anniversary with my bf. I still can’t believe we’ve been together this long, let alone long distance the entire time. It’s been hard and easy all at once. I’m eagerly looking forward to our future but am enjoying every second of our present. In July, I stood in a friend’s wedding and celebrated with her, her new husband and their families in a rocking party.
Achievement. In May, I walked across my final commencement line and received my MBA after 2 years of hard work and pretending to have done the reading (what? That is hard work!). Looking out into the crowd to see my family and a few members from my church made me smile even harder. I was so glad to be able to share this moment with them. A few days later my older sister graduated with her AA and in June, we drove down to Los Angeles to watch my younger sister walk across the line to receive her Bachelor’s from UCLA. We really like education in this family.
Strength. In July, I joined a few friends from church and we went white water rafting down the South Fork of the American River. It was definitely a memorable event and posed a bit of a challenge paddling against the current at times. My arms are aching at the memory. In August, I ran a 10k. Up until race day, my longest distance I ran was only 5 1/2 miles and that was almost 2 months before the run. But I ended up running the entire 6.2 mile course and I could feel the excitement flowing through my body during that last mile. I couldn’t believe that I managed to run that far and running brought me closer to my dad, who used to be an avid runner himself thanks to his years in the Army.
Myself. Finally, I celebrated myself. I vowed to take care of myself and have fun. What better way to celebrate than to live right? I turned 30 in August surrounded by family and friends, I worked hard to increase my running mileage (and then I failed), I went white water rafting, ran a few races, graduated from grad school, traveled to Monterey and Seattle, started playing badminton again, and hung out with friends. I celebrated myself simply by living.
For next year, my word will be <strong>renewal</STRONG>. Next year I’m looking for a renewal in my career, my life and relationships, everything. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in 2012.
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