2009 - In Review

I did this meme last year. Here we go again!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?

I went to Washington, D.C.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes, I read 52 books. I'm only a teensy bit embarrassed to admit that was my only goal.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes. I got three nephews this year. If 2007 was the Year of the Niece, 2009 was definitely the Year of the Nephew.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, a friend from New Zealand passed away recently.

5. What countries did you visit?
Just America this year. Boo.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
An apartment furnished with things that I own.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 7. It was the day I started my job and the day one of my nephews was born. Sorry, but I don't remember the other nephews.

8. What was your biggest personal achievement of the year?
Reading 52 books and submitting my paper to the family history writing contest.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Never finishing the Couch to 5k program.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Two ovarian cyst ruptures this year. One bout with a diabetes drug that made me want to die and also did not work. I'm very done with those things.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new coat. Thank you, Old Navy sale.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Eric's. He is the best husband ever.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I find it difficult to find somebody who appalled me and depressed me.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Just Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) happier
b) same
c) richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Hiking and camping.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Commuting.

20. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Yes, with This American Life.

21. What was your favorite TV program?
I discovered 30 Rock and Arrested Development this year.

22. What was the best book you read?
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I really don't listen to music much. Like at all. It's all about NPR for me.

24. What did you want and get?
A new job.

25. What did you want and not get?
To go meet my cousin in Sacramento. Maybe in 2010.

26. What was your favorite film of this year?
Up!

27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I did not drive in the car all day. I turned 25.

28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If it had been an even year and there would have been Olympics. I cannot tell you how much I love the Olympics.

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Flip flops. Funky socks. Earrings. Occasionally nice clothes.

30. What kept you sane?
The Internet.

Once in a lifetime. I hope.

I live in Provo, which is located in Utah Valley. I work in Salt Lake City, which is located in Salt Lake Valley. These valleys are separated by mountains. Well, ish. It's not like I have to traverse a 13,000 foot mountain to get to work every day. But I do have to go over what is called the Point of the Mountain. I've included an image from GoogleMaps of the Point of the Mountain. As you can see, there is a mountain there on the right, and it comes to a point. Even at the point where the mountain "ends" the altitude is still fairly high. This means it is very windy at the Point of the Mountain. You can often see hang gliders doing their hang gliding things on the south side of the Point of the Mountain.

The wind causes wrecks. If the weather is bad in either valley, it is almost guaranteed to be worse at the Point of the Mountain.Today my car spun out of control at the Point of the Mountain. I was in the left lane closest to the HOV lane when I hit a patch of ice and spun out. I ended in the far right lane facing the opposite direction of traffic. Miraculously, I did not hit anybody or anything, despite there being numerous cars all around me. It was something I definitely only need to experience once. And now I will drive more slowly over Point of the Mountain. (For the record, I was not going very fast. I was on par with the cars around me.)

Secret Santas

Here's a great story about giving during Christmas. Enjoy!

Blogging Again

Done and done.

A paper that was originally 10,536 words with 211 footnotes consisting of 4,972 words is now a paper of 5,371 words with 196 footnotes consisting of 4,493 words. Now I just need to print it and mail it. Extra special thanks to RA for giving my paper a solid edit, helping me pare it down, fix some wacky footnotes, and correct some major numbering issues.

My book count is up to 51, and my carpool buddy and I will finish Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire before Christmas Eve, which means I'll meet my goal of 52. (Is it a total cop-out that four of the books in my five-most-recent books list are from the Little House series? Hmm... I don't particularly care.)

All the family that is coming into town is now in town. Let the festivities begin.

Blogging Break

Fact: I am entering a genealogy writing contest.
Fact: The paper is due 31 December 2009.
Fact: The paper is mostly done because I used my paper from my capstone class at BYU.
Fact: The organization hosting the contest includes footnotes in the word count.
Fact: The text of my paper is 5,695 words.
Fact: There are 216 footnotes.
Fact: There are 4,846 words in the footnotes.

Total word count: 10,541.

And this is after significant paring. And there is no introduction and only a small conclusion. Plus there is formatting and citation checking to do. I have got to buckle down and get this baby done.

Plus, I really want to finish reading 52 books this year, and right now I have only 49.

Plus, family members are arriving this week from out of town, and I really want to hang out with them and not spend all my time in the next few weeks with my face plastered to a computer or my nose buried in a book.

It is 13 December. You can see my dilemma. I don't have enough time. I will be taking a blogging hiatus, or at least a blogging slow-down while I try to accomplish everything I want to accomplish this year.

I will tell you, though, that Eric and I went to a car auction yesterday. We bought a car. It was kind of reckless, and now we both have buyer's remorse. It was a very cheap car, and we mostly just need it for Eric to get around the town. We've named it Dudley because we have great concerns that he will, in fact, be a dud.

If you miss me while I am gone, you can go read some of these posts:
A Mini-Rant
Guess Who's Home!
Here's to You, Library Girl
Childhood Misunderstandings
Thoughts Preoccupied with High School and Frozen Chicken
An Expletive by Any Other Name
The Quiz Doesn't Lie

New Indian Restaurant

Last night Eric and I went out for Indian food. We love Indian food. Not as much as we love Thai food, but, oh, we love Indian food. In the past when we have wanted Indian food, we headed straight for the Bombay House located on University Avenue. In fact, when Eric's parents took us out to celebrate Eric's completion of his master's degree, we chose the Bombay House. But recently, a new Indian restaurant has opened up, only a few blocks from Bombay House. It's called the India Palace, and it was great. I would say that it is comparable to Bombay House in price, menu selection and quality of food. But it far surpassed Bombay House in quality of customer service. Far, far, far. I've often felt like the servers at Bombay House were a bit rude, but at India Palace, they were super friendly. They even brought us a free appetizer because the wait for our meals was going to be a little longer than usual. In actuality, the wait was no worse than I would have expected for the amount of customers in the restaurant.

I know this only matters to those of you who live in the Provo area, but I wanted to fill you in on the fact that I approve and endorse the India Palace. Go try it some time.