2008: Year in Review

Since I started this blog at the end of 2008, I thought a review of the entire year would be appropriate, now that its the beginning of a new year. Thanks to Mugs for letting me steal this off of her page :-).

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Take an amazing cross country road trip, stopping in 14 states along the way. (12 if you don't count the Florida, where we started, and Washington, where we ended.)

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't even remember what my New Year's resolutions were last year. Obviously, they weren't important enough to me, so I'm going to have to say that no, I didn't keep them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope - but there will be some new babies this year!

4. Did anyone close to you die? no but the greatest pet I ever had died at the end of 2007, the sadness and shock unfortunately carried over into 2008

5. What countries did you visit? Canada! I saw an old college friend in the National Tour of Hairspray. Although, I guess Canada isn't that exciting considering the fact that I saw the play in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is closer to me than Seattle is.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? sunlight! Although, that was only lacking at the end of the year, since I was fortunate enough to spend the first half of my year in Florida.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 14th - My Wedding! :-)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? moving across the country to Washington, a state that I would have never chosen to live in on my own, and dealing with it better than I anticipated I would

9. What was your biggest failure? When I first found out that we were moving to Washington, I burst into tears. I was so upset even though I knew this move could happen. I consider that a failure because I married a guy in the Navy, so I know that moves will happen, and I need to learn how to deal with change better.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing new, but in November I found out that I would be needing a 3rd surgery on my sinuses (which will be happening this month - January 2009).

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our first house!!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Honestly? I think my own. I was upset about moving here, but I did manage to adapt to life in Washington with less tears than life in Texas. I think I'm on the road to dealing with change better, I'm just not completely there yet.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The majority of people in this country, but that's another vent for another day.

14. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My cross country road trip (note: I did NOT say I was excited about my move to Washington. I was, however, very excited about the trip we took on the way to Washington.) I also flew to Hawaii to meet Mr. V there when his Navy job required him to go there for a week, which was incredibly exciting!

15. Where did most of your money go? Our new house

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts; it was my wedding song :-)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder?b) thinner or fatter?c) richer or poorer? Happier because I married the man I love and because we have finally settled in a place we will live in for more than a year. Sadder because that place is Washington which I'm not very thrilled about. I'm not thinner or fatter. I've managed to stay at the exact same weight for years and years. Poorer because we bought a house and paid off a lot of our debt, leaving us without a lot left over. Richer because we have less debt to worry about.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reading and relaxing. My life has been non-stop busy for too long and I miss just curling up on the couch with a good book.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? procrastinating

20. How did you spend Christmas? In New Orleans with Mr. V's family. My mom and my step-dad also came out to spend the day with us.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? no, but I did get married, which was a result of falling in love :-)

22. What was your favorite TV program? American Idol - I admit it, I am completely addicted to the show and revolve my life around it when its on.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I hate the same people now that I hated at this time last year. Amazing how that feeling doesn't go away easily.

24. What was the best book you read? I started reading the Twilight books at the end of the year. I just finished reading them a few days ago but since I started them in 2008, I'll call them my favorite books of the year :-).

25. What was your greatest discovery? I love quilting! I started taking a quilting class when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join her. I never in my life thought I'd enjoy quilting. In fact, I never gave it a thought. Now I'm completely addicted.

26. What did you want and get? I wanted my very own house, that I owned. No more apartments and renting for me. I now live in a tiny little home, that's all mine (and Mr. V's) and I LOVE it!

27. What did you want and not get? I wanted to stay in Jacksonville for Mr. V's sea tour. The Navy had other ideas.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Its not really a film, but the final production of RENT was filmed on Broadway and then played in select movie theaters around the country. I'm a huge Rent fan so it was really exciting to see the final production while I was in Washington and not New York.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 27 and went to Georgia to see my mom, my aunt and my cousins. She bought me a Carvel ice cream cake (a birthday tradition) and we toured the Coke museum in Atlanta. Not super exciting, but it was fun.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Jeans and t-shirts. I'm clearly not a fashion diva.

32. What kept you sane? Cold Stone Creamery (at least for the first half of the year when it was right down the road), my cats (yes, I know I'm an old cat lady), Mr. V (when he wasn't driving me crazy)

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Daniel Radcliffe; I met him at the end of 2008 and I'm still incredibly star struck about that :-).

34. What political issue stirred you the most? illegal immigration, after living in Corpus Christi, don't even get me started on that issue

35. Who did you miss? I missed my family in New Jersey and my friends in North Carolina. I was able to see them more often when I still lived in Jacksonville, but after the move to Washington, I became completely secluded from them :-(.

36. Who was the best new person you met? I'm going to say Mugs, and I'm leaving her answer to this because my answer is the same. [her answer: Brooklet, a new friend in Washington, who's equally tepid about the Navy life and Pacific northwest.] I'm also thankful for meeting Allison. She became my first friend here in Oak Harbor, and rescued me when I was stuck in a hotel, by myself with all of my cats, while Mr. V played in Hawaii for a week.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. I learned that I grew up in a bubble. There are only 500,000 people living in the state of Wyoming, which is less than the number of people living in the county I grew up in in NJ. I never saw the western part of this country and I was and still am stunned by the fact that I thought I was a cultured person. Apparently, I wasn't.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. " I set out on a narrow way, many years ago, hoping I would find true love along the broken road. But I got lost a time or 2, wiped my brow and kept pushing through. I couldn't see how everyign pointed straight to you. Every long lost dream led me to where you are. Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars, pointing me on my way into your loving arms. This much I know is true, that God blessed the broken road, that led me straight to you." Rascal Flatts - Bless the Broken Road (and that's a little more than just a lyric, but it was my wedding song and somewhat sums up my whole year)