2012 Year in Review

So I found this "year in review" list on a blog called brie-fit.com, and she said she'd copied it from "Temerity Jane via Sundry".  Anyway, I thought it would be a fun way to look back on 2012.

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

I won a marathon.  Not a big one, but a win.  First overall woman.
I went to mainland China.
I successfully completed two separate 30-day Bikram yoga challenges, and did one month of frequent Bikram yoga.
I spent an entire year in a job I love and survived an acquisition and an office move.

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

I'm doing a resolutions recap.  Overall, I'm happy with how I did -- I tried to make my resolutions in order of priority, and I did the ones that were most important to me. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not really.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully.  My grandma passed away, but she had been sick for a long time and didn't know who any of us were over the last year plus, so in many ways, I'd already made peace with it. 

5. What countries did you visit?

China!  Went to Beijing, Xian, Chongqing, Yichang and Shanghai.  Thoroughly unforgettable! 

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?

A marathon PR.

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Hmm... when I won the marathon in March?

June 1 because technically I started work with my new employer after we were acquired.

I'll also remember Spring of 2012 for the day I settled my biggest case to date (but the actual date April 10, won't stick with me). 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Definitely winning a marathon. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

??  Hmm, not running the Beijing marathon after I trained for it?  That wasn't really my fault; the marathon was cancelled because the National Congress of the Communist Party of China was supposed to be meeting in Beijing that same week. 

I guess I would probably go with some work things.  I wasn't as on the ball on doing reports or reviewing records as I should have been. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing serious, thank goodness.  2012 was the year of the fall for me.  I fell a total of three times while running (which is insane, considering I'd been running for about 10 years before 2012 and I'd fallen only twice, neither time being my fault, but all 3 falls in 2012 were my fault).  I did feel like I was on track to injure my left soleus again, but I credit the yoga with healing that up.  I think I went to the doc for a cold in May, for an ear infection in July, and not much else. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Plane tickets to China! 

12. Where did most of your money go?

Debt reduction, increased savings, and the trip to China.

13. What did you get really excited about?

The trip to China, plus a trip to Mardi Gras, running Hood to Coast, my best friend and her husband visiting from Virginia. 

14. What song will always remind you of 2012?

"Call Me Maybe" -- I kept telling my husband I wanted him to choreograph a video that we could make to the song.

That song with the line "I work out" -- we hear it at boot camp all the time and hubby loves it and sings it all the time. 

And of course "Gangnam Style" -- that was huge in China while we were there and I taught my husband the dance, which he chose to do on the foot bridge to Shibaozhai Pagoda, and it was hilarious because all these people knew what he was doing and laughed and danced themselves.

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

– happier or sadder? Happier.
– thinner or fatter?  Fatter I think by about 2-4 pounds.
– richer or poorer? Richer.

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

Organizing, cleaning and purging around the house.  And cooking. 

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

Worrying about work while out of the office.  I would find myself thinking about it at yoga, or waking up in the middle of the night thinking about something I needed to do. 

18. How did you spend Christmas?

Home!  Meaning at my parents' house in Wisconsin.  Better than last year when hubby had flown back to Dallas to work on Christmas and I had a car accident alone.  As bad as Christmas 2011 sounds, it was actually pretty good, despite hubby's absence and the car accident.  But Christmas 2012 was much better.  Traditional Christmas Eve having dinner at home, then going for carols and church.  Christmas morning presents, brunch, then organizing and packing, a long 5 hour drive to Milwaukee (but this year hubby and I took turns making Christmas Day phone calls to friends and family), and then another family Christmas, complete with a visit from Santa that thrilled my nieces and nephew. 

19. What was your favorite TV program?

Dallas!  Hubby watched it back when the original was on (I wasn't allowed), and he hooked me into the new series.  The next season starts toward the end of January, so we'll be watching again. 

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

I posted two separate lists of what I read in 2012 (one for each half of the year).  I'd say my favorite was Seven Years in Tibet or Lost on Planet China. 

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

I'm not a big music person, so this is hard to answer.  For my birthday, hubby gave me tickets to the Andrea Boccelli concert, and that was by far my favorite music to experience in 2012. 

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

Les Mis, which we saw just a couple days ago.  I also really liked Anna Karenina.  I don't feel like we saw a lot of movies.  We also saw Bourne Identity in theaters, but that may have been it. 

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

I turned 37 this year, and I spent it doing nothing too special.  Got birthday love at work and on facebook, went out for tacos with hubby for dinner, then had a cupcake and opened presents at home.  I did a lot more celebrating the following weekend, when my bestie was in town and we ate out every single meal for about 5 days straight, including at some amazing restaurants, including one night at my usual birthday choice, a pizza place, with lots of friends and birthday presents.

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

Not having the Beijing marathon be cancelled out from under me five weeks before the race was supposed to happen. 

Aside from that, a new car would have made my life much more satisfying.  I feel like I had a lot of car headaches this year.  A drive belt broke, requiring I get a tow, and a headlight went out, and I scraped the bottom of my front bumper severely a few times (once trying to u-turn in a street, once pulling too far forward in a parking spot and hitting a cement stop bar).  Well, I guess the bumper scraping would have been more irritating if it had been in a new car, but having lights come on and just generally feeling like my car was getting old was not my fave part of 2012.

But in the end, I'd rather have the money in the bank and a car that runs fine 99% of the time, so I guess I made the right choice.  But a free new car would have been awesome! 

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?

More of the same.  I don't buy lots of new clothes.  I got a white layered looking top that I really like, but it's sleeveless and not work appropriate (made of cotton), so I didn't even get to wear it very often.  I wore more tighter t-shirts this year than I did in the past -- probably a side effect of yoga, standing up straighter, becoming less self-conscious in general. 

26. What kept you sane?

Yoga, my running buddies, and my sweet husband. 

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.

It's my choice how I spend every single minute.  And sometimes all the planning in the world won't matter, some things are just out of your hands (and in the hands of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China!).