New Years Eve

Since I’m one of probably 5 people (of 1,100) in the office today and I found this little survey on another blog and decided to copy it and kill some time at work… thanks Amy! Also, let me apologize in advance if 90% of these answers have something to do with our wedding… it was clearly the biggest event of the year for us! J

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before? Got married!

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions (probably so I have nothing to break) but this year we do have several “goals” we would like to accomplish; 1) Join a church 2) Travel as often as possible 3) Explore adding on to our house 4) Sod the front yard (fun, right?)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? HA! If this isn’t a loaded question or what… This was certainly a big year for babies with our group of friends so we found ourselves frequenting the labor and delivery floor at the hospital a good bit. It has been so much fun watching so many of our friends become parents and we love all the babies around!

4. Did anyone close to you die? Close to me, no. But Brett did have several family members pass away this year.

5. What traveling did you do? This year we actually did less traveling than we typically do in a year but we did have a pretty big trip to Hawaii for our honeymoon so we have zero complaints. We also went out to Denver to visit my brother, I went to Mexico for a bachelorette party and we had several trips to the beach.  

View from our window on our honeymoon.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? More time at home. 2012 was a busy, busy year for us and it really flew by! I think we are both ready to have some time at home on the weekends, get more projects done around the house and just enjoy our hometown together more.

7. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory and why? Duh, February 18^th – our wedding day! It was the most amazing day of my life and cannot even tell you how crazy it is that we are about to celebrate our 1-year anniversary!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting a new job. When I moved to Columbia when we got married and left my old job behind I thought the job search would be a simple process and would take no more than a month or two (max). I was pretty wrong and the job search turned out to be a really hard and stressful time but in the end I am so happy with the company and job I have landed and glad I took my time to find the right fit!

9. What was your biggest failure? I really can’t recall any huge failures I’ve had this year. Sure, there are plenty of times I’ve let people down or done things I wish I hadn’t but I would consider that a part of life and not failures.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nope, besides the common colds and stomach bugs we all suffer with It’s been a pretty healthy year! (knock on wood)

11. What was the best thing you bought? A new car! After driving the same car since high school it was definitely time to move on to something new. Once I got my new job and was settled, we started looking around and ended up with a new Explorer. We are very happy with the purchase and while it was sad to see the old Civic go after 12 years, I think it was time for it to find a new home.

Out with the old, in with the new!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My husband’s… he has survived almost a year of living with me!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Can’t say any.

14. Where did most of your money go? New car, honeymoon, bills

15. What did you really, really, really get excited about? Can I say wedding again??

16. What song will always remind you of 2012? Warm Love by Van Morrison

17. Compared to this time last year are you:

·         Happier? Yes! Not that this time last year was bad or hard but I was coming to the end of a job I loved, moving away from my family and friends and trying to wrap up the last details of our wedding which all amount to a lot of stress!

·         Thinner? Ummmm that is a big, fat (punned intended) NO! This time last year I was the smallest I will ever be but I think I’ve finally accepted the fact that 99.9% of women are the smallest they will ever be at their wedding so I’ve got nothing to worry about.

·         Richer? Yes, we’ve officially hit “DINK” status (Duel Income No Kids).

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Worked out! Need to get on that at some point.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stressed/worried about the little things in life.

20. How did you spend Christmas? With my family in Greenville

Our precious pup ready for Christmas!

21. How will you be spending New Year’s? We are driving up to Charlotte tonight to spend it with some of our best friends Lauren and Aaron. We are dressing up, having cocktails and appetizers then have a late dinner reservation at Emeril Lagassi’s restaurant “E2”. So excited to ring in the new year with this couple!

The Owens and The Barbers before either of us were married!

22. Did you fall in love in 2012? I definitely fell in love before 2012 but I can say now that after almost a year of marriage it is true what people say and you do fall more and more in love with somebody the more time you spend with them.

23. How many one-night stands? Ummm I’m married and this is an awkward thing to ask… next question please!

24. What was your favorite TV program? Oh man, how can I even begin to choose!! How about I just say my favorite new show of 2012 which was SMASH. For the wannabe Broadway star I am, this show was right up my alley!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?  Definitely not.

26. What was the best book you read? Man, I read a lot so that is a hard questions! But I think I’m going to go with the Hunger Games Trilogy.

27. What was your biggest musical discovery? Don’t have an answer for this one. I just listen to the radio.

28. What did you want and you got? A new car

29. What did you want and not get? To win the powerball lottery! I really thought I had it this year.

30. What was your film of this year? Can I say 2? Good! 1) The Descendents – this was filmed at the resort in Hawaii we went to for our honeymoon so we saw it right before we left so it got us so excited!! 2) Argo – we just recently saw this in the theatre and it was a standout of the year for sure. It was the only time I can recall leaving a theatre and calling people after to tell them to go see it.

31. What did you do on your birthday? Well, my birthday was actually on Saturday! It was my idea of a perfect day… stayed in my PJs until about 2:00, went and saw Les Mis (SO good!), then went to Za’s for dinner with friends (Brett only goes there with me when it’s my birthday or he is in a really, really good mood).

Birthday cake at Za's

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not a single thing. This has really been one of the best years of my life. I’ve been challenged in so many ways with moving to a new city and starting a new job but it is definitely one I will always remember.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? I am no fashionista and actually don’t like shopping that much unless I have to so I’m going to skip on over this one.

34. What kept you sane? A big glass of red wine at the end of the day!

35. Which celebrity did you fancy the most? Taylor Swift… I’m totally fascinated by her and not embarrassed by that either!

36. What political issue stirred you the most? UGH, I am not a fan of politics at all! I’m just glad the presidential election is over for another few years.

37. Who did you miss? Everyone in Greenville! It has been a really hard adjustment moving away from my home town and I miss everyone so much. However, it just makes the visits back that much better!!

The beautiful falls in downtown Greenville.

38. Who was the best new person you met? Can’t really say one particular person and while I’ve known them all for years it was just so wonderful to move to a new city and be welcomed by such a wonderful group of friends!

My lovely friends in Columbia!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012. Patience really is a virtue… you have to wait for the best things in life.

40. Quote or Song Lyric that sums up your year: “The best is yet to come.”

I feel so blessed by everything in my life in 2012. I can only imagine what 2013 will bring!