Things I accomplished in 2010 Some are small feats, while others are great.

• graduating college
• finding a full-time job in my field of study
• finding and renting my first apartment
• decorating that apartment
• finding joy in running (even if it is still painful and I can’t muster the courage to train for a race)
• traveled to new cities to visit old friends
• discovered savory dishes at fantastic restaurants
• created my own savory meals
• learned to live with out [paid] TV
• blogged on a regular basis (almost daily!) with direction

Sadly, I did not finish my 30 Day Challenge due to a cold and not traveling with a lap top. In all honesty, my Christmas present to myself was to use a computer as little as possible, as a detox from work. I’m happy to say I logged onto a computer twice. Once to load books onto my new Nook and another to pay bills. There was also The Crud which knocked me down before leaving to visit family. I’ve always found it quite difficult to write when your head is clouded with cough medicine.

I do, however, plan to finish the challenge.

twenty-two

A picture of something you wish you were better at.

Yoga. I go through phases where I attend two or three classes a week and then stop for months on end. I wish I could afford to do it consistently so that I could constantly improve.

If you’re a fellow WordPress-er I’m sure you received an end-of-year report from WordPress. I’d like to share a few of my stats that I found most interesting.

• A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. My blog was viewed about 2,300 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s!
• My busiest day of the year was December 1st with 83 views. The most popular post that day was eight.
• My most popular pages were: eight, About, professional intern? no, thanks., Perspectives, and Passion

Here’s to 2011!

I wish I was better at arts-and-crafts. I love when my friends get craft books and make gifts. I often hang onto those longer than anything they’ve purchased. I’m not great at executing such projects. I can usually emulate someone’s project but I never like it as much because the original always looks best. I have had my moments where I get struck with an idea and it flows easily. Those moments are few and far between.

Below is a picture of one of my ceramic pieces I made this year. It took me hours. Several days I left the art studio stressed, pissed and utterly perplexed as why I decided to take this class a second time. Fortunately, I was also in photography and got to photograph the piece when it was bone dry (before being fired) which is when I think pieces can look their best.

I find this assignment a bit odd considering I only take pictures of things I want to remember forever. If it’s a terrible memory, chances are you didn’t whip out your iPhone and say, “Hold that pose! I want to take a picture of this to remind me of how much I’ll want to forget this later.”

Also, I find that anything someone might consider sharing would either be a universal truth–such as pictures of The World Trade Centers falling– or something so private that people would not want to share it in the public space.

Which begs the questions, why is it on the list?

Now I’m two posts behind?

This weekend was a blur. Between finding Graham’s Christmas present (an Ikea wet bar) and trying to assembling it, welcoming Baby James, the newest member of Graham’s clan, getting a gigantic TV into the apartment (Graham’s gift to himself), and watching snow fall in Georgia there wasn’t much time to write.

So here we go. . .

18. A picture of your biggest insecurity.

I’m not going to provide a picture; it’s bad enough I’m broadcasting it to the public. I’m insecure about my hands. My nails mostly. I’ve bitten them since I was a kid and nothing seems to break the habit. Tabasco sauce. No bite nail polish. Acrylic nails. Nothing works. It’s mostly correlated to stress. Recently, I discovered keeping them painted helps because I can’t stand the chipping but it’s very hard to keep them painted myself and I don’t want to spend the money every week for a manicure

19. A picture of you when you were little

Sadly, I was born in the eighties. Before the Internet, or digital pictures. It was amazing if a family owned a camcorder. My parents have several photos of me, but I don’t know if any of them have made it to the digital realm.

Edit 12/14

My mom sent me this picture this morning. It happens to be my favorite picture of myself as a kid. I loved that rocking chair.

20. A  picture of somewhere you’d love to travel.

Australia. I’d settle for seeing Sydney alone, but I’d prefer to see the whole place. I had the pleasure of seeing Graham off to his trip down under this summer… while I stayed here. In the states. No where near the southern hemisphere.

Sydney Opera House

I’d wanted to take a picture of my desk, but forgot while I was at work. Having this job as impacted my day-to-day lifestyle and how I plan my life. I no longer stress about paying off my student loans. I work seven to eight hours a day, more if I’m traveling. I’ve learned more about protective packaging and food packaging in eight weeks than you’d think humanly possible. I’ve also learned that being an adult isn’t as glamorous as you believe it is when you are a kid. I also get to book trips to Philly to visit friends, and be financially independent. It’s been a great experience and I’m curious to see what 2011 will bring.

Image courtesy of Google Images

A picture of someone who inspires you.

This one was a difficult one for me. I had to really think about it because I haven’t always had a mentor or role model in the traditional sense because I’ve done things that family traditionally hasn’t. After some thought, however, I  settled on Mahatma Gandhi. I do not admire him for his vow of celibacy or his other religious practices.

I am inspired most by his commitment to peace or as he referred to it, satyagraha. In my Philosophy of Violence vs. Non-violence I learned that peace is not a period of time when our countries are not at war, but a lifestyle and an all-encompassing way of thought and an active state. Gandhi not only wanted human beings to have mutual respect for one another’s life by refraining from murderous acts but to also respect one another’s quality of life. I think sometimes we forget that there is a difference. It is his commitment to active peace that I admire the most and try to incorporate into my everyday life.

Image courtesy of Google Image search

Race a super car. I’ve always been fascinated by F1 racing and elegant sports cars such as Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini,  Audi, Mercedes… you get my drift. I think it would be fantastic to sit in the driver’s seat and gun it around a track a few times and pretend I’m a certified race car driver.

Audi R8 cockpit. Image courtesy of Google Images

Easy. Obvious. Does it need an explanation?

Graham

Michael Buble. I had the pleasure of seeing him in concert in Pensacola fall 2008 .If you haven’t heard him sing, listen to him on Pandora now. I particularly enjoyed the concert because of his sense of humor. He’s not a performer who gets up and does his numbers and leaves. He was an all around great entertainer with a wonderful sense of humor.

There are so many things in this world I love, but the greatest is my hometown and its charm. The epitome of an Atlantan is a hard-core Braves fan. I grew up doing the tomahawk chop. I went to Fulton stadium and remember Turner field being built. Hell, I remember when Ted sold the team and we all thought he was crazy. I cried at Bobby’s last game.

The greatest feeling, though, is standing with your fellow Braves doing the tomahawk chop during a nail biting game. It’s almost as if your chanting and arm waving will help the team score the winning run. This picture is from game three of the ALDS Championship against the Giants. The game opened with every fan standing with a foam tomahawk screaming in favor of our boys. What an electric feeling!

Go Braves!