2011 in Review

Compare to last year. Last year, I only noticed my blogger friend Amanda (private blog, or I'd link) doing this, but apparently it's all the rage. Who knew?? Since I know many people who aren't big fans of reading "words", I'll also intersperse some of my favorite photos from 2011 in this post.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? I feel I'm reaching for this question, but here we go. Umm... got pregnant with a boy child. Planned a semi-ridiculous in retrospect 1st birthday party. Yeah, this year is seeming pretty lame in comparison with last I guess :) Better luck next year??

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? As I said last year, I don't really make resolutions, but I do feel that I've been keeping up with respecting Annie for who she is and where she's at, which is a big accomplishment with a sometimes frustrating toddler. I definitely want to keep that up as it helps us all remain sane!

3. Did anyone close to you have a child? It's child-bearing time in my circle now, so yes. So many, in fact, that I fear I will miss them if I attempt to list them. The ones that are immediately sticking out to me are Jamie, Christie, Marianne, Maria and Kelley. I'm CERTAIN I've forgotten someone though. The number of friends who are ABOUT to have a child now numbers in the double digits as well.

This group will expand by 5 in the next year.

4. Did anyone close to you die? I wouldn't say I was CLOSE to her, but my great-aunt died a few months ago. It was very sad because she was definitely my Grandma's best friend and she is very lonely with her gone.

5. Where did you travel?  Quite a few places, as a matter of fact. Mexico in February with Nate, Molly and Mia - Annie's first (and only, so far) flight and big vacation! San Diego with Lori in March, the cabin a great many times over the summer, Arizona in September with my college ladies, and Wisconsin in October with Ben's family.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? Motivation. It was SEVERELY lacking in many areas of my life this past year and that depresses me. I hope it returns someday, in some form at least. I'm hopeful that once my children are a bit more self reliant (as in, can feed themselves and handle most bodily functions on their own) that I can return some mental energy to my professional and personal life.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory? January 31st, Annie's 1st birthday. I remember many other birthdays but those seem lame to list. Yeah - this really wasn't any sort of milestone year so no dates are sticking out. I don't even remember the date I found out I was pregnant so I guess I can't even list that either!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Gaining confidence as a mother, and letting go of any shred of guilt I felt about any of the choices I make.

9. What was your biggest failure? Failure is a strong word, and although I'd like to do better in some areas of my life, I don't feel I failed at anything.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major, just puking off and on for approximately 4 months. No big deal. Overall, I am very very thankful for my health.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Treating myself to a very luxurious spa day in Arizona was pretty amazing. I don't recall buying anything significant this year so that probably was the best. I guess I did upgrade my iPhone, which after spending a few months with a 3G (the horror!) felt pretty awesome.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?  I'm sure every year I fill this out, I'll sound like a broken record, but Ben - a million times Ben. He seriously did 99% of the household and parenting work while I was feeling crappy in the first and second trimester of pregnancy and never EVER made me feel even remotely guilty about it. He just does what needs to be done without complaint and usually goes over and above what I'd hoped. He loves Annie and I more than anything and shows it in so many ways. He's the best person I know.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Commenters on blogs and message boards. Still. Again.

14. Where did most of your money go? Mortgage, I assume. Probably food, and daycare.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? All of Annie's accomplishments - it's been a big year for her, and it was SO amazing to see her go from baby to person in a year's time!

Photo by Kate NG Sommers

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? I guess any Adele song. No one song is really sticking out at me.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder?b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? a) Happier - I feel much more at peace as a mother and person (not like I wasn't before - but I'm calmer now which to me means happier). b) Haaaaa. WAY fatter :) c) Richer I guess - thanks to Ben, all of our many funds continue to grow - until we have 2 in daycare at least ;)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Read books and spent more time outside. I felt crappy for so much of the summer that I didn't really get to enjoy it too much.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Surfing the internet mindlessly, which is related to wanting to read more books. If I'm searching for things to read on the internet, just step away. STEP AWAY.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Done!

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?  I fall more in love with Annie and Ben with each passing year, for sure. I should probably say that I fell in love with this little boy in my belly - but while I love him in the protective sense, I won't really fall in love with him or attach until he's on the outside - and if it's anything like Annie, maybe not for a bit even after that. However - it will come - this much I know for sure :)

22. What was your favorite TV program? Oh my gosh. I had two big TV loves this year - first, Friday Night Lights. I get a HUGE thrill anytime someone I know is starting it because they will get to know the joy of watching the show, and the beauty of Tim Riggins. I wish I could go back in time and watch it again for the first time, over and over again. One of the best shows I've ever seen, and the reason that I really want to enter every room and say "Hi, y'all". My other love was Make it or Break it - I laughed, I cried, I loved - and I can't wait for the new season to come out. I haven't watched live TV probably the entire year but there are about 20 shows that I have been told I "must watch" so I guess my maternity leave with little man is filled ;)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nah - I definitely get REALLY WILDLY annoyed and angry at people for very trivial reasons, but I don't actually HATE anyone (in real life at least).

24. What was the best book you read? Did I even read a whole book? I think the ONE book that's sticking out at me is Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner, which I did really love. Thanks to my boss Amy for lending it to me! I guess I should give it back now... since I read it months ago. I also re-read Outlander, which was again awesome - I'm going to try to make it through the whole series this time around... we'll see if I can do it! My new Kindle should make it a bit easier.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Against all odds, and I'm still not sure why, but I became a Current lover this year. I think it really was just the lack of commercials that did it. Now I actually recognize some songs, and find myself WANTING to listen to things like Bon Iver. What have I BECOME?!

26. What did you want and get? I wanted to get pregnant and did.

27. What did you want and not get? I want a space to regularly entertain guests, but that's never going to happen here. I do not want for much, that's for sure.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Totally out of love with movies lately. I liked Something Borrowed and Crazy Stupid Love. Saw Bridesmaids in the theater actually, and that was pretty entertaining.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I had a great many 30th birthday celebrations this year :) My birthday brunch, family birthday dinner, and then celebrated a bit on my actual birthday. Yay for being 30! I have absolutely no feelings of sadness about turning 30 whatsoever.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Again, just finding my motivation - mainly professionally and maybe having a hobby other than finding cute outfits for my child. Really though, it was a great year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? I feel I've been keeping it pretty cute despite (or maybe because of?) being pregnant - at least in the last half of the year. I've embraced leggings and boots with dresses and long sweaters (as long as they cover my butt!). I still can be found in a plain colored v neck short sleeve or long sleeve top with jeans the majority of the time I'm not pregnant though.

32. What kept you sane? Ben, my family and friends. Also, having Annie start to really show me and tell me that she loves me has been absolutely amazing.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Totally don't care about celebrities anymore. Really couldn't even begin to come up with someone for this.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? I've again remained blissfully ignorant, or at least emotionally detached, this year. I know next year will be a doozy with this though, because of the election.

35. Who did you miss? Still my friends that don't live here, and friends I've lost touch with but are too far gone and in different places in their lives to attempt to reconnect.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Again with the new blog friends - the main one this year was probably Laura - so glad she emailed me to clue me into our parallel lives, and that we made the leap from just internet buddies to real life friends. My maternity wardrobe wouldn't be the same without her ;)

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. Let go of the guilt - I had let go of much of it already in 2010, but I can truly say now that I do not feel guilty AT ALL, EVER, about any of the parenting choices I make. The choice to work, to send my child to a in-home daycare, to feed her what I do, the activities we chose to do, going away for a night or 4, etc. Not one shred, and it is so freeing.