Year in Review: 2011

Thanks again to Linda for reminding me to do this. Check out 2010.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Celebrated Tsunami’s first birthday with homemade treats at the dog park. Finished a metric century ride. Competed in two sprint triathlons and one olympic triathlon. Visited Kauai with Wes and dove. Went to Seattle-area in June to celebrate Brette’s bachelorette party. Started a 365 day photo project. Watched Brette & Wiley get married in an incredibly beautiful setting. Went to New York to visit my brother and his girlfriend. Celebrated our one-year anniversary with tickets to The Book of Mormon. Went to Las Vegas with a large group of ladies and had an incredibly fun time. Finally completed NaBloPoMo. Invited a friend and her dog to live with us. Started trying to have a baby.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I was pretty vague on my resolutions for this year. I like to think that I was a little more aware of my attitude and would do my best to not focus on the negative but I’m sure there were times when I failed.

Yes, I will make more for this coming year. Maybe the most is following up on what I want from 2012 and making sure that I’m where I want to be.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

One of my best friends had a baby in September. Two of Wes’ college roommates had babies.

4.  Did anyone close to you die?

A friend of ours lost her baby just before the 6-month mark.

5. What countries did you visit?

We stayed in the US for our travels this year.

6. What you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

Same as last year: a shorter commute. Oh, and to expand our family with a baby (which would mean no commute at all!).  

7. What dates in 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

New York to visit my brother because it’s really the first time that we’ve spent time without our parents in a over a decade. Also: New York. Celebrating our one year anniversary.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I wish I had more to add to this.  And part of my goal next year is to be proud of something in 2012. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

Same as last year: losing my shit. We had nearly two months of visitors December-February and by the last group I was not on my best behavior. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I didn’t. But Wes injured his hand in a bike race in March. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to Washington and New York and all the money we spent while we were there.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Tsunami, rent, our trips to Washington and New York.

13.  What did you get really excited about?

Brette & Wiley’s wedding. Our visit to New York. 

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

I think Mumford & Sons’ entire album because I listened to it constantly.  

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happpier or sadder? I think it’s hard to top last year with the move and the wedding and the puppy. But I’m definitely not sadder. We had a great year and perhaps the only that would have made it better would be knowing what the heck is going on with Wes’ project.

thinner or fatter?  Fatter, unfortunately. Why is it so hard to consistently work out?

richer or poorer?  Money-wise, we’re the same as last year. But, again, the experience side of this year was worth every penny we spent.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Spent more time outdoors hiking and camping and such. Run. Swim. Bike.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Again, getting mad over stupid things. Watching television.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

We had an early Christmas with my family in Boise (the first time in Idaho in almost two years). A small gift exchange while we were home  and dinner at Wes’ boss’ house. We drew names for both of our families this year and it was so nice not to have to stress out about spending a lot of money. 

19. What was your favorite tv program?

Community.  Bones.  NCIS.  (I’m addicted to crime dramas.)  And recently, The League. How I Met Your Mother.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

I just finished The Art of Fielding and loved it. The Omnivore’s Dilemma because it really made me think about food. V is for Vengeance because I just can’t get enough of Sue Grafton’s novels. 

21. What was your favorite music of this year?

Mumoford and Sons. Adele. Yes, I’m super boring with music. 

22.  What were your favorite films of the year?

The Muppets. And, shit, well, I can’t think of anything else. I guess I need to start writing down more things so that I can remember what I’ve done. 

23. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

We were in New York for my birthday. We started at midnight with with champagne with my brother and his girlfriend. During the day we explored New York. Finished with a Yankee game with friends and got sung to on the subway.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Same thing as last year: A shorter commute.  A full-time job that I absolutely love.  To be able to take awesome pictures on my awesome camera.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Still the same as last year: I’ll wear anything that doesn’t make me sweat as soon as I step outside.  Fashion in Hawaii has sort of gone out the window in favor of not melting when I walk outside.  So: skirts, shorts, dresses.  Lots of wearing my hair up. 

26. What kept you sane?

Running.  My puppy (unless she was making me crazy).  Wes.  Writing.  Swimming.  Cooking.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010?

One that I feel like I’ve learned often and then promptly forgot: nothing matters except what matters.  Basically: stop letting all that little stuff get to you because it doesn’t matter.  Focus on the important things because they do matter.

Happy New Year, All.

Happy Holidays

Wes took today off and instead of relaxing at home we decided, rather stupidly, to get some last Christmast shopping done. Honolulu traffic is, let’s call it bad at the best of times; two days before Christmas and it’s just unbearable. We spent nearly two hours in the car for maybe 30 minutes of shopping. Then, because we were already out and had already braved the crowds we decided to get some last minute grocery shopping in because if two days before Christmas was unbearable, we didn’t want to find out what Christmas Eve would be like.

But now we are home. All of our presents are wrapped and our stockings mostly stuffed. The tree lights are brightening up our living room and I’m enjoying a glass of Pendleton (thank you Ewa Pantry) for stocking such a delicious treat. Wes is starting the dough for Christmas morning cinnamon rolls, recipe courtesy of his mom and even though it’s still hovering around 80 degrees outside, it feels like Christmas.

We contemplated getting a real tree this year and finally bit the bullet – cost be damned! – and it’s made all the difference. Our home feels like the holidays and that makes me feel less like a grouch. We won’t have any family here to celebrate, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be surrounded with people we love like family.

Week 18: 365 Day Photo Project

I used to sell Ice Cream Potatoes at the fair in the summer. I can’t believe how many times Wes has been to Boise and I’ve not taken him to get one.

I’m not sure how this works but when I took this picture the propeller blades were visible but when I was just looking out the window they were a blur.

Efes finds the coolest places in the apartment so he’s taken to sleeping on the stairs. Something about the cool places he finds, though, is just sad. They’re out of the way and I picture him telling his other dog friends, “These people I’m staying with are just awful. They make me sleep on the stairs and in corners while their dog gets her pick of three beds!” (Yes, she has her choice of three beds: one upstairs in our bedroom, her bed in the living room and Efes’ bed, which is entirely too warm for him to even care about.)

Week 16 & 17: 365 Day Photo Project

Both Wes’ dad and his uncle have been diagnosed with prostate cancer so this year Wes decided to get his job site involved in Movember. They raised $1,660, including $180 from the winner who generously put all his winnings back in. I’m incredibly proud of my husband for spearheading this and am looking forward to seeing how it evolves through the years. I’m not terribly sad to see the ‘stache gone, though.

Usually when I come home Tsunami is at the backdoor waiting for me to let her in. This time I had the back door shut before she realized that I was home. I’m not sure what was on the other side of that fence but she was certainly interested in it.

We have a friend staying with us and this is her dog, Efes. He is one big ball of fur. He’s so well-behaved, which Tsunami is doing her damnedest to fix by teaching him how to dig. But before you start to feel too bad for his owner let me tell you that he’s trying to convince Tsunami that it’s okay to wrestle on our bed when it’s totally not okay.

We were really excited about cold weather.

The Sunday before we left we all drove out to the middle of nowhere to shoot some guns (we were in Boise, after all). After our wedding last summer Wes sent his gun home with my dad. We brought the gun out but my dad forgot the magazine so we had to load it one bullet at a time. Wes had been putting the bullets in his jacket pocket to reload easier. When we got the airport on Tuesday morning TSA pulled him aside to search his bag. “Do you hunt?” they asked him. When he said no they cut straight to the chase: “Is there any reason you would have a bullet in your bag?” One little bullet had gotten lost in his jacket pocket. They took the bullet and his information and then let him go. He’s convince the mustache helped him out.

Am I caught up yet? Ugh, no. But close.

It’s Not a Race

I’ve been feeling a little down lately and it’s entirely my doing. Instead of keeping secret the fact that we’re now in the family planning stage I spilled the beans to everyone (I’m horrible at keeping secretes). I’m not even sure why I did this. Perhaps I figured the more people who knew the easier it would be? Or that I wouldn’t have to field the question “When is your turn for kids?” with all of our friends and family. Instead of making it easier, though, it’s made it harder. Now that everyone knows we’re trying we instead hear, “Are you pregnant yet?” and having to answer “No” each time is just as awful as it sounds.

I did know that there was a chance that it would take more than one magical night to get pregnant, but I hoped that we’d be lucky like so many of our friends have been in the past. That our first month trying would end nine months later with a happy and healthy baby. So each month that goes by I feel like more of a failure, which is silly. Pregnancy isn’t a contest. Just because someone gets their first doesn’t mean that we won’t get there eventually and it certainly won’t take away from our excitement when it does happen.

Weeks 14 & 15: 365 Day Photo Project

I am so far behind in these photos so I’m going to break them up into two weeks at a time.