Friday, December 30, 2011

Year in Review

Honestly I'm not sad to see 2011 go.  It has been quite a year, but I am ready for 2012.

Some good things:
I got hired on full time and am no longer a contractor at a job I love! I was going through old paperwork last night and it is hard to believe how far I have come since I started my career nine years ago. Less than three years ago I was laid-off from a job I was not happy at. It sucked!  I quickly found another job (that I really enjoyed) but it was at about a 30% pay cut from what I had been making. Now I have a job I honestly love at a company I love and am making almost double what I was making two years ago! I am so thankful for where I am career-wise. That lay-off ended up being one of the best things that has ever happened to me!

I quit smoking!

I took some awesome vacations- the epic Ski Trip 2011, the first crew beach trip, went white water rafting for my birthday and had three awesome girls weekends at the beach!

The bad:

Possibly the worst year ever in the love department.  I tried speed dating (3 times!) and hated it.  I made out with four guys this year and don't remember any of them because they were all on nights I had way too much to drink.  And one of them I REALLY should not have made out with.  Actually I probably shouldn't have made out with any of them.  I had no REAL "let me take you out because I really like you" dates.  No guys I was even really interested in this year.  I don't know where my freaking husband is, but if he is out there, I sure do hope we find each other soon because I am so over being single.

Last year at this time I made some goals instead of resolutions.  Three things to start doing, three things to stop, and three things to keep in my life.  Let's see how I did...


Start:

Getting to work by 9 am. - FAIL- I rarely make it to work before 9 am unless I have an early meeting that I have to be there for.  I usually get there sometime between 9-10am.  (I know, I am extremely lucky that I have flexible hours!)

If I go in to work between 8-9 am the traffic is double what it is if I go in after 9am.  But the downside is we have hired a ton more people and if you get there after 9am you have to park so freaking far away (if you can even find a spot!).  I need to get better at this though and just deal with the traffic or maybe even try going in way earlier because staying at work until 7pm (or even later) sucks.

Cooking more. - Semi-Success- I didn't make a new recipe every week but I definitely cooked more this year than I ever had before.

Wearing Make-up every day- Success- It is very rare for me to not wear any make-up whatsoever now.  I don't get crazy or anything, but makeup is now part of my daily routine.  (crazy it hadn't been before right?

Stop:

Neglecting my house- Success- I think I have the dog hair semi-under control now.  It is a lot of work, but I've developed a routine that works pretty well.

Drinking like I am in college- Semi-Success FAIL- I stopped drinking on the regular, but that made me have a very low tolerence.  So when special events would roll around I would get very drunk, very fast and ended up doing some pretty stupid things.  Now I have my 2 drink (or 4 if it is a long event) rule and so far so good...we shall see if I can keep it up.

Smoking- SUCCESS- I can't believe I was a smoker.  Even if it was just a few a day or week...I was still a smoker.  Yuck! I am sooo glad to have kicked that habit!

Keep:

Growing my faith- Success- I still go to church and b-study every week and I am head over heels in love with Jesus.  I don't want to sound like a crazy Christian, but God is the most important thing in my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My friends- Success- There was one little hiccup with my main group of friends, but I tell ya- you really know who your true friends are when they can love you and accept you after seeing you at your worst.  I do think I am going to skip the big New Year's party though because I am just so afraid that couple will be there and honestly I am terrified to face everyone else that I haven't seen in person since "the incident". (Gosh I did not even want to link to that post because I would like to erase it from my history, but any new readers might need some background on what happened.  Please don't judge me!)

I am still best friends with one of the very first friends I made back in college.  We have seen each other through a lot and to still have a close friendship where you talk almost daily with someone for almost 15 years is amazing.

I also have made a lot of new friends this year.  I have more friends at work and have some new best friends though my bible study- seriously have met some of the most awesome people in my life through that group!  And have also even developed some friendships through people I have met from blogging!

Friendship can be hard ya'll.  Especially when you get older and have more responsibilities.  You have to nuture and develop friendships all the time or you could end up losing some people who you once thought were very important to you or have no one to hang out with on a Friday night if you end up being single for an extended period of time!

This is one of the best blog posts I have ever read on developing friendship.  You should definitely go check it out!

Running- Semi-success- I ran 3 5Ks this year and started training for my 10K.  I start my half marathon training next week!  I'm going to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in March and then a half marathon in Raleigh in April.  (If everything goes according to plan!)  I got to where I could do 5 miles in under an hour (which still is kind of slow) but I haven't ran in almost 3 weeks now!  I am going for a run today but I have a feeling it is going to be tough after that long of a break!

Come back Monday to see my 2012 resolutions goals!

6 comments:

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

I'm really happy to see 2011 go too. Although professionally for me it was a good year, I wish I had more milestones personally. Hopefully something big happens in 2012!

Shoshanah said...

What's funny is that I never really wore make up, but lately I've been making a point to put in on in the morning. Nothing crazy, really just concealer & mascara, but I'm glad it something I've started to do.

Anonymous said...

I love what you say "I am so over being single." I hope you and your husband find each other soon too. You seem like such a sweet girl who deserves that happiness.

Pulling for you, girl!

Kristen Danielle said...

Congrats on quitting smoking!! What an accomplishment!

Happy New Year!

xoxo,
Kristen

The thin seeker said...

I am happy to see 2011 end too.

I hope that like you that I will be able to find a job and company that I love too. I leave 2011 with a job that I love but the company was not good nor supportive and ended up burning out.

I thought that I had found someone but he turned out to be controlling with an anger problem that lead to me almost being hit in the face. So like you I hope to find my husband.

The thin seeker said...
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