That's a Wrap, 2012!

In just a few hours, those of us that live in the Central Time Zone will be ringing in 2013. No crazy parties for me this year. Just an evening movie, some Chinese food, and watching the ball drop on tv. Scandalous, I know.

It has been quite the year. Looking back, a whole lot has happened. Consider these the highlights that would be included in my holiday letter, which I did not write or send. But here's what you might have received.

• Chris got a job here in Milwaukee. (I can tell you now that it was the wish I made on a piece of confetti that dropped with the ball in Times Square last year. No lie. We'll see if my wish from this year comes true!). 
• We moved into our awesome duplex, and began to make it home.
• I wracked up a whole lotta travel miles, both for work and for fun, including stops in Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago Indianapolis, Columbus, Duluth, and rounding out the year in New England with a bonus trip to NYC. Oh, and I even crossed the border into Canada!
• A few great concerts, including my 21st and 22nd DMB shows, Florence and the Machine, Gavin DeGraw and David Grey.
• I recommitted to my dissertation and found a new advisor. And I continue to make good progress on my proposal, with plans to do my oral exams in the upcoming semester. Yeah school. 
• I saw the president. Live and in person. And it was magical.  
• I crossed a number of items off my bucket list, including #3, #7, #8, #9, #10, #12, #20,  #23, #25, and #27 (See the list on the right for details). Oh, and #1: Read 30 books for fun. You'll just have to hear about Book 30 in the new year. 
• I became a real adult and investing in our first appliances thanks to some very generous support from our parents. More on that later. 
• I saw some of my closest friends get married and have babies. Woah!
• A major hair cut, from long locks to a pixie!
• I became a runner. Although I haven't run in a few months, it's one thing I hope to pick back up in 2013. 
• Oh, and I found Grumpy Cat. Life changer.  

While I can't know for sure, I anticipate that even greater things will come from 2013. I mean, I turn 30 in just six weeks!

Happy New Year y'all. I hope that your expectations are exceeded. Go do something big in 2013!

30B430 Book 29: The Hobbit

Holy crap, I found time to read a book!

Let me start by saying that I am not a huge Lord of the Rings fan. My experience with JRR Tolkien can be summed up as: Attempted to watch the first two LOTR movies a few months ago, fell asleep during both. Did not attempt the third. I really only watched them because so many people would tell me, "What do you mean you've never watched Lord of the Rings?!" Sounded like something I was supposed to do.

With The Hobbit coming out as a movie, I decided to give the whole thing another go. I agreed to go to the movie with Chris, but only if I could read the book first. Or attempt it. I hate being that person in the movie theater asking a million questions because I don't understand what is going on. And I didn't really think keeping all of those dwarves straight was going to happen without at least reading the book.

So I did. And I didn't hate it. There was definitely an adventure to the story, and I wanted to see how it all turned out for Bilbo Baggins. The writing style wasn't exactly my favorite. But I got through it. Will I read the LOTR books now? Nope, probably not.

And now it's movie time. Hoping it is a good one. : )

This definitely wouldn't get an A for a book report. But that's my post. Only one book to go!

Dead Air.

It's time to put an end to the silence!

I'm here!

Sorry for the long absence. Between a crazy work/personal/dissertation schedule, traveling, and fighting a nasty cold for the last ten days, I haven't had much time to personally reflect, let alone throw some thoughts down for others to read.

Plus, I ran into this crazy blogging issue that other bloggers may be able to relate to. Apparently you eventually hit a limit on your free photo storage when using Blogger. And then all of a sudden, you need to decide if you are willing to commit to paying monthly for additional photo storage. Or you have to have all-text posts. Boo. Who would want that? I had to come up with a plan to work that out, and now, here I am again.

I may not have been writing, but I have been reading others blogs, and wow, they are filled with holiday cheer! Things they are baking and making, gifts they are giving, the whole shebang.

I'll be honest. I've been kind of a grinch this year. I am usually all about the Christmas season, but this year I just either haven't been home or haven't been feeling well enough to do it. I can't even fake it. Totally lackluster. I decorated the house back in November, and then have done nothing for all of December, other than watching a handful of Christmas movies. No baking. No holiday parties for this party pooper. I've kept my snot and germs home with me on the couch. My gifts are not nearly as thoughtful or well-planned as I'd like them to be. And I finished writing out my Christmas cards last night but haven't gotten them in the mail yet. Stay tuned for those after the holidays.

While I love Christmas, I am totally okay with my limited participation. The season can be so overwhelming. And I've needed to focus on getting well again, rather than feeling bad about not finishing all my grand plans. The Neti Pot is my new best friend.

Is anyone else having a "meh" holiday?