love eVeryDaY

2010 | remembering

The first time I did this meme was in January 2008.  It was my honest desire to continue with the tradition each year, but we know that I have not been doing a very good job at keeping up with my blogging.  So here we are in 2012, and, I was cleaning out an old tote, and found the notes that I had for last year's version of the post.  Far be it from me to let that work go to waste.  So, without further delay, the 2010 edition of my annual meme.   

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Can't remember, and didn't have notes for this one.

 2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

For 2010, I have selected the word renew as my "one little word" of the year.  I think I will keep it at this level for 2011, not choosing to have additional resolutions or anything like that.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

In April, my cousin Marvin welcomed his daughter  London Kira-Rane' to the family.  And although she hadn't planned on another yet,in June,  my good friend Stephanie had a beautiful daughter, Claudia, who was named for her great grandmother.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

So blessed that I didn't lose anyone close to me this year.

5. What countries/states did you visit?

Not surprising, there wasn't any international travel, but I did make it out of the state.  A few times, actually.  Dana and I went to Williamsburg to participate in a bowling tournament. A bit later in the summer, I joined mom, Sheryl, Stephanie and Barbara for a girls' week in DuBois, PA.  Not the most exciting trip, but the area was beautiful.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

Still waiting on that vacation with D. Maybe for our fifth anniversary.  I think I could also appreciate better health.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

July 9th.  We purchased a second (new to us) car.  After sharing one vehicle since before our wedding, I was thrilled to give up the public transportation in favor of having more time.  Five hours a day commuting was beginning to get to me.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

From the work-related view, I led my testing team in delivering a major release of our delivery system. On a personal front, I advanced my photography skills a bit - a newborn photo session, a hands-on workshop, photographing models and ending up with work that I can use for portfolio building.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Simply not getting as much de-cluttering accomplished as I'd hoped.  Again, not necessarily a failure in my book, but I definitely disappointed myself by not making much progress.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not at all.  Thank goodness.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A second vehicle.  It's a Ford Edge, gently used (corporate lease).  Very comfortable, and so far, it's been very good to me.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Honestly, I can't think of anything to put in this category.  End.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Nothing jumping out at me for this either.  Thankfully.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Housing and monthly bills aside, food.  Eating out, Let's Dish, over shopping at the store.  Bowling - league fees and tournaments times two.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

. . .

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

Pretty Girl Rock, by Keri Hilson.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter.
c) richer or poorer? Richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Practicing my photography.  Reading - after the second car, and a commute that demanded more of my attention, reading fell off.  A lot.  Travelling, even if it's just day trips with D.  Spending time with our friends.

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

Watched less television.  And falling into the black hole that is the Internet.  I don't know where time goes when I start in on these two.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Relaxing with the family.  I was able to take some much needed time off.  I made cookies to distribute, but somehow it still wasn't "just like old times".  Christmas day was spent mostly with my family, dinner and gifts at Bettie's.  Sheryl, Stephanie, and her beau Henry all made it down for a few days.  Good times.  Open house.  Game day at Bettie's.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?

Not at all.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Not much changes with me and television.  I still tune in for Top Chef, RHOA and RHONJ, Say Yes to the Dress.  Pretty much the top rated reality junk food that comes on cable networks.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Honestly hate isn't on my radar.

24. What was the best book you read?

Not even sure that I was able to get through anything this year.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Ledisi's Christmas album.  The perfect mix of sultry soul and tradition for me.

26. What did you want and get?

A new car. Have I mentioned that already?

27. What did you want and not get?

A Mac or a Sony A900 camera (or upgrading into a Nikon). And this year we can add an iPad to the mix, although my iPhone is working perfectly well for me.  Also, still no children. 

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

It's quite possible that I didn't see anything that I would call a "favorite".  Maybe "For Colored Girls" by Tyler Perry.  It's a sad, sad story, but it was done incredibly well and made me understand the play/poem in a way I hadn't before.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Nothing really stand out.  A bit of shopping.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Wealth is always something that can increase satisfaction.  A home that I love (that we both love) and feel comfortable in.  A good cruise or all inclusive vacation and more time with friends.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Still keeping under the radar.  That would be super comfortable, and not wanting to stand out.

32. What kept you sane?

D. Zoning out every once in a while.  Living for vacation.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

No one.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Health care.  The war.  Political accountability and turn around.  (Not even sure what I meant by that; serves me right for not posting this sooner.)

35. Who did you miss?

Mom.  Bible study with Shawn and Candy.  Personal time with God.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I don't want to limit it to a single person, so I will just say my Panthers' family -- Dave, Craig, Chontey, Tori and Mia Minion.  They are the core of a new softball team the D began playing with this summer.  They are a group of very cool people and I shared some good times with them.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

Learning to better balance work and home.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I so cannot think of anything for this right now.

progress

Today was a bonus day off for me, and the rest of my team at work. 

I'd love to truthfully say that I finished off my to do list from Wednesday, but I didn't.  Just got a couple of things done.  Thankfully, my page protectors for my December daily journal arrived.  I watched Ali Edwards' video on using her templates, and put together 3 of my own.  I ordered photos, made a trip to the credit union, purchased two amaryllis bulbs for the holiday season and then stopped at the Dutch Country Market for smoked wings and roast beef.  I spent a few hours this evening weeding through family pictures for the year, editing them, and uploading them so that I can start working on the calendar soon.

I didn't take any photos today.  Hopefully tomorrow.

right now

Today I was fortunate (given the rainy weather) to have a day off.  I was determined to rock through my list.  Clearly my desire to get things done, far outweighs how quickly I am able to work through them.  I do commend me (myself?) for getting up and out of the house early (thanks to a well-planned appointment for lab work).  Then it was off to get my brows done -- the downfall there was that I went to the shop in the mall, and then spent 3-hours there.  I was able to get some Christmas list planning done, I have a few things to read reviews for, and picked up a gift for someone.  I guess all-in-all, I did well.

Right now:

1. I am trying to keep up with my December Daily journal.  I am a few days behind, but I am still in the running.  I really want to finish it this year; or at least get through Christmas.  As I was gathering supplies to keep handy for this, I realized I have tried this in various forms (I think one year it was Shimelle's e-class), at least 3 times before.  Sadly, I have yet to have something to look at, hold, go back to from any of those attempts.  I am determined to do better.
2. I am deciding between a table top tree and a regular full-sized tree.  I have also considered a tree that I can plant afterward.  I probably should pull out the lights before I make a final decision.
3. I am starting a home-based sales business.  And I am scared that I have bitten off more than I can chew on this one. 
4. I am looking forward to seeing "A Christmas Celebration" on Saturday afternoon.  I really wish I could have convinced D to go with me.
5. I am extremely glad to have clean sheets tonight.  Changing the linens was one of the things I was able to scratch off today's list.
6. I am dreading tomorrow morning.  Rain with a threat of snow will not mean good things for the commute in.
7. I should be logging off of this computer and heading to bed.

daily december: december third

Friday was a regular work day, and I didn't get much done in the way of Christmas preparation.  But, it was an absolutely normal day for me.  Work from home, run out for breakfast (which was the only meal I had until 6:30 or so that evening), meetings, planning, turn off the computer at 5:30 and dash out for some me time.

After returning home (with several packages in tow), I pulled together the layout above.  Mostly it talks about how D and I are in different places when it comes to the holidays -- he is less inclined to be excited about the coming days than I.  Sometimes it's hard for me.  I am still a kid at heart when it comes to Christmas and he just isn't.

december second

I'd first heard about Operation Christmas Child about 15 years ago.  Maybe it was my love of Christmas, or maybe it was my penchant for picking up little items all of the time, but it sounded like something I wanted to do.  Something that I should do.  And I thought that I would.

But between working as many hours as I could and finishing up my last classes in my program, I wasn't able to get the box pulled together. 

The cycle of hearing about it and missing the deadline was one that would repeat itself a few times until, eventually, the project fell off my radar entirely. So, when coworkers returned from lunch one day in late October with red and green shoe boxes it seemed divinely designed.

"Hey, where did you get that?"

"They were giving them out at Chick-fil-a."

"Hmm, I just might stop by after work to get one."

"Really I just took one because they were handing them out. If you bring them back, the restaurant will give you a free sandwich. I don't think I'm going to do it, though.  Spending $20 to get a free sandwich. Not worth it to me.  You can have mine."

And so it began.

The box lived on the dining room table for a month. I had some things around the house to put in, but I wanted to add a little more.  Time was ticking away.  

It was the last collection day.  I hadn't picked up the last few items I wanted for the box and the very convenient restaurant near the office was not listed as an official collection site.  Yikes!

But I was determined to finish this time. In a last minute push, I decided to leave the office early, run to the store for the last few things and drop it off near home.  Even in the end, the hurdles did not fall away -- rain combined with rush hour traffic meant all of the 'extra' time was spent sitting in traffic, and I dashed through the store just 45 minutes before the site was scheduled to close. 

I pulled up at home about 20 minutes before closing to quickly arrange everything so it would fit, fired off a few shots, and dashed back out. By now, arriving before 8 was futile, but I was hopeful that someone would be at the site a little late.

And there was someone there.

Finally, success in completing this project.  And know what, I am looking forward to doing this many more years to come.

Happy December!

december first

 

So, I decided to try Ali Edwards' December Daily again this year.  I am hoping to keep up a little better than last year.  I still have the pieces, but very, very few stories and I never got around to putting it together.

This year I resisted the kit.  As much as I wanted it, I thought it would be better to use up some of my stash.  I'm trying to keep it simple and still trying to figure out how to handle the photos.  I don't want to derail myself by having tons of photos on my dSLR to print, so I may rely more on my iPhone.  And, since we recently scored a wireless printer, I may try to print a few here at home (but more than likely, I will have them printed elsewhere).

The journaling is the "why" for creating a journal this year.  Because as a kid, I would celebrate Christmas in September.  Because I am finally learning to love the spirit of giving over that of receiving.  Because I want my husband to see what I see.  Because I want my memories to last.  Because the third time is the charm.  Because this forces me to slow down.  Because I want to stretch my wings.  Because I still believe.

Until next time.

hi there

I'm pretty certain that no one is checking this blog anymore.  I barely look myself.  I mean, goodness, it's been an entire year (almost) since I last posted.  There's some good and some bad in that.  The bad is that my writing has simply dried up, and my presence here neglected for many, many months.  There were several posts that I blogged in my head, but none of them made it here.  On the other hand, I've lived a very busy and full year in 2011.  I've been involved in a huge project at work and it, sadly soaks up lots of time -- nevermind the long commute.  I've celebrated three years of marriage.  I enjoyed a quick vacation in PA with the women in the family.  I learned to Zentangle.  I witnessed a close friend marry the love of her life. 

Now it's December, my absolute favorite time of the year.  I am still like a kid -- eager about everything that the month will bring.  That said, there's no better time, than now for me to try breathing new life into this blog.

I'm back.

At least for a while.

xo.leahNicole