2009 in Review
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? Got engaged, went to a graduate school to study what I really love, moved out of my parents' house and into my own (sort of) "apartment" (glorified dorm), totaled my car, got a new car that didn't suck, had my own room at my parents' house.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I can't remember if I made any New Year's resolutions, but I probably won't make any for next year. It's too much pressure.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I think my cousin Liz gave birth last year, and other than that, everyone giving birth this year were people who I was really close to in college but not anymore.
4. Did anyone close to you die? My mother's father (my Poppa), which was not really that horrible. I mean, it's horrible to say that it wasn't that horrible, but he and my mother's mother (my Nanna) moved to Florida when I was about three and we've seen them roughly once every five years since. We didn't really know them very well (and while Poppa wasn't half bad as a person, Nanna kind of sucks), so it was a lot less painful than when we lost my father's father (Grandpa) in 2001.
5. What countries did you visit? Texas. It does, in fact, count as a different country.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? A job. No, seriously, world, would it really mess up some big plan if I were a wealthy (wo)man? Or not even wealthy, just able to pay my rent and chip away at my credit cards. Would that be so bad? Sigh.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The day (and specific circumstances surrounding) Kyle proposed. The drives to El Paso and from Massachusetts to Texas. My accident.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Straight-As my first semester of graduate school! This bodes very well.
9. What was your biggest failure? Trying to find a job. I know it's the economy that sucks, not me, and so on and so forth, but there are only so many rejections a person can take before becoming convinced that the economy isn't as much of a problem as her own personal issues. Still, it resulted in me heading for graduate school, and that's not a bad thing at all.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? The car accident left me with a seriously screwed up back. It's not something completely debilitating, but it's enough that when I get out of bed most mornings, I'm in way more pain than someone who's not even thirty yet should be when getting out of bed. I wish I had the insurance and/or sufficient funds to spend a lot of time at a chiropractor, but eh. It is what it is.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Yoda Ahsoka Skyguy Corolla, my new car. :)
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My parents' in many ways, in supporting my decision to go to graduate school, even if it meant that I'd be dirt poor for another couple of years. My future in-laws' (all three of them) for trying to make Texas feel more like home for me and trying to make life less homesick for me. And, of course, Kyle's, for more things than I can count, but most especially for being the best support system I could ever ask for.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? UNT financial aid, for determining somehow that I could magically pay $11,000 to go to graduate school and still afford to pay rent and other bills with only $23,000 for the entire year. Massachusetts unemployment, for way more reasons than I can count. My own, in a lot of ways, though I'm trying to improve.
14. Where did most of your money go? School and my car and rent, in that order. Which cracks me up because my parents complain that my unemployment insurance has run out and that they're not going to pay my bills now just because I don't have unemployment benefits anymore, and I'm like "Yeah, I was getting $150 a week, and that was not at all enough to cover much more than credit cards, gas, and groceries...it wouldn't even touch my bigger bills." Life is fun.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting engaged and wedding planning because duh. The Princess and the Frog because OMG NEW DISNEY PRINCESS MOVIE :D :D :D. My new car because unlike my old car, my new car does not suck. Building a computer with my dad and brother because I think it's going to be a great experience. Being done with that stupid group project for Advanced Technical Communication because that was torture. Flying home whenever I could and then flying back to see Kyle afterwards.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Probably "Don't Stop Believing," both the Journey version and the Glee version. I have no idea why, though.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier. More stressed, less involved in online things, further away from home, but happier.
b) thinner or fatter? About the same, actually.
c) richer or poorer? Significantly poorer. I didn't have nearly this much in debt at this time last year, but I'm on my way to having about $48,000 in debt by 2011. Hooray! -__-"
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Made money.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Ultimately, I wish I'd complained less. I think the year would've seemed a lot better than it was if I'd been more optimistic.
20. How will you be spending Christmas New Year's? I don't know the specifics, but I do know that it will involve two out of three of my very best friends (specifically, Angela and Kaylene), which means that the only way it could be more awesome would be if Kyle was here, too.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009? A little bit more with him every day, and that's not just a statement of trite sappiness.
23. How many one-night stands? Zero! It's this thing that kind of happens when you're engaged...one-night stands just don't happen anymore. Granted, I never really had any one-night stands anyway, but you know what I mean.
24. What was your favorite TV program? Part of me wants to say that it was a toss-up between Glee and Lost, but in the end, it wasn't even close. Lost is probably the best television program of all time (at least in my most humble opinion), and as awesome as Glee is, it doesn't cause my brain to liquify and dribble out of my ears, and I've kind of become attached to that feeling. I'll miss it after the series finale next year.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I try not to hate people. It's bad for the blood pressure and for mental health in general. I don't even think I dislike people whom I liked last year. Actually, no, that's not true. Some WoW people turned out to be huge douchebags, not to my complete surprise, but to the point where it caused me to leave the server and honestly not look back. And I'm very happy where I am now, so I have to thank them for letting their true colors shine.
26. What was the best book you read? Breaking Dawn LOL Hmm. Actually, even though I haven't finished it yet, it's turning out to be On Writing by Stephen King (I recommend it so highly you don't even know...it's hilarious and so brilliant). Close second is Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Vitamin String Quartet! Rock songs arranged in string quartet form! They will be featured heavily in my wedding (possible processional here).
28. What did you want and get? Engaged. And also a new computer, one that I will be building and writing a manual about. And also an awesome engagement ring. And straight-As.
29. What did you want and not get? A job (are you seeing a pattern here?).
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Hmm. Because of Charlotte La Bouff and because I am me, The Princess and the Frog. Avatar was wicked good, but the story kept getting in the way of the awesome visuals, and Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince kind of disappointed me, as far as HP adaptations go. And I can't really remember anything else that came out this year, even though I know that I went to see a lot of movies.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned in my straight-A poetry manual, then drove to Kyle's house and was treated to dinner and birthday funtimes that included some delicious alcohol (a pomegranate frozen Cosmopolitan). And the weekend continued with seeing A Christmas Carol (oh yeah, I saw that too!) and then later being treated to dinner at Outback Steakhouse by my future mother-in-law.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Money.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Once I was actually in a place where I was leaving the house (read: after I moved to Texas), it turned towards actually attempting to look decent. That lasted about two months, and then I sort of stopped caring and went back to my usual personal fashion concept of "hey, that's comfortable and doesn't smell bad, let's wear it to class."
34. What kept you sane? Kyle and (this was really bizarre) the MusicChoice Christmas music channel.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Celebrities and public figures have kind of disgusted me this year, and most of them died anyway, so...eh.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? The issue of hilarity. Watching the complainers show up on the other side of the political spectrum was honestly kind of hilarious, because the very same people who were saying that Democrats do nothing but complain and pick at insignificant faults (which is true) then turned around and did the same thing as Republicans when a Democrat was in office! And here I am, as an apolitical moderate, wondering if everyone realizes how silly they look.
37. Who did you miss? My family, mostly. Kyle and I are pretty much living together now, finally, after three years of being long distance, and that's better than I can say, but I've been far away from my family, and that's hard.
38. Who was the best new person you met? Angela R. and Prof. Peake. Angela R. is my hilariously German (yes, hilariously German) cohort in the technical communication Master's program, and we kind of lean on each other and lol through every class we have together. And she really is hilariously German. Prof. Peake was my advanced tech. comm. professor who decided I was the teacher's pet and came thisclose to inviting me to England with her over New Year's (before she realized that because I'm a student, she can't do that). That, alone, is enough to make her awesome.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: Group work sucks. When the job market is beating you, quit the game and go back to school. All the best things in life are worth working and waiting for. Money isn't everything (but it helps).
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Hmm.
I'm almost there, I'm almost there
People down here think I'm crazy, but I don't care
Tribes and tribulations have had my share
There ain't nothing gonna stop me now cause I'm almost there
- Almost There, from The Princess and the Frog, sung by Anika Noni Rose.