A Look Back at 2011

I've taken this survey from Chrissy at The New Me, who took it from Kate at Effing the Ineffable. Chrissy, filling out forms is one of my favorite things to do!

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Seriously considered marriage and then got married.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't even remember what my resolutions were but I'm sure I didn't keep most of them. This year I'm not making any resolutions but hope to start living healthier...again.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Some distant family members died, all very close together and all right before my wedding.

5. What places did you visit?
I didn't visit many places this year except for the week of my wedding. I took members of our families to the dolphin watch and to Sea Turtle, Inc. It was probably the most fun I had all year!
I also drove to Florida for my amiga's wedding. It was a blast and I came home to a new dog!

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Hmmm...so many things...

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched in your memory, and why?
April 23: my birthday. We had friends and family over to celebrate our graduations, my birthday, the new kitchen counter and kitchen cabinets, John's outstanding thesis award. And John proposed at the end of the night after everyone went home.
November 26: wedding day

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finished paying off my car!

9. What was your biggest failure?
I meant to get fit before my wedding. It didn't happen.

10: Did you suffer illness or injury?
I sure did. I suffered respiratory illness like I do every year. To top it off, I had minor surgery. However minor, it was the most excruciatingly painful experience of my life and had a really long recovery period. I suffered allergic reactions to three different pain meds and couldn't really do much of anything for a long time. I ended up going back to work a few weeks before the doctor said it was okay because I ran out of sick days. Ugh. A few weeks after I could finally sit still, walk, or do anything without being in pain I got really, really sick and had to get a steroid shot right before my wedding so that I would have my voice back in time and wouldn't be dripping with mucus. The steroid shot caused me to gain almost ten pounds in a very, very short period of time!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hmmm... I don't really buy much. I guess our honeymoon vacation package, but we won't get to enjoy that until this year.

12. Who's behavior merited celebration?
John. He has really grown up a lot.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Whose doesn't?

14. Where did most of your money go?
Medical bills and the wedding.

15. What did you get really excited about?
Getting married, thinking about a different future - hopefully one far away from Nac!

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
I don't have that kind of memory.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. happier or sadder? Both.
b. thinner or fatter? Definitely fatter. I spent a few months of last year just lying around being sick. It sucked.
c. richer or poorer? Richer, in more ways than one.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercising while I had the chance! Before I knew what was coming!

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sleep

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With John, just the two of us. For once, no traveling and not being guilted into traveling when we really didn't want to. It was the only relaxing Christmas I've ever had!

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
Sure.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
John and I got really into Parks and Rec. We recently watched every single episode all over again.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate at this time last year?
No. I usually start out with a very strong dislike of people that lasts pretty much forever. That's if I'm disgusted with them to begin with. But it also takes me a long time to get to know people. I don't usually give people the benefit of the doubt right away. I'm a cynic.

24. What was the best book you read?
I read a lot this year. I really liked Ape House by Sara Gruen. It got me started back again on reading natural history texts. And made me interested in learning sign language so that one day I might be able to communicate with an ape.

25. What music did you get excited about?
Eh, I don't really get excited about music. I discovered Wax Tailor via Pandora and have found that I am a fan.

26. What did you want and get?
Hmmm...a lot!

27. What did you want and not get?
a healthy year!

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
favorite film? Eh... I don't think we saw many movies this year. The second Sherlock Holmes was pretty good, though.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 27 and got engaged.

30. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?
having a full-time job elsewhere doing something I love

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
comfort

32. What kept you sane?
plenty of sleep

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Hmm... I don't really get into celebrities these days. But John and I are both big fans of Blaine...

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I get more stirred by people pushing their own political leanings all up in my face. It turns me completely away from politics. People be crazy.

35. Whom did you miss?
I don't miss people much.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
I haven't met very new people aside from John's family. Hmmm...I enjoyed meeting John's cousin Chris. I hope they keep up. I think getting closer to Chris would be good for John.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
It's okay to be sick. I've been getting super, super sick every year since I moved to Nacogdoches. This year I finally accepted that I can't help it and it's okay to stop everything to do what I have to to get well.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
The theme for the year was Final Countdown. The Lyric: "It's the final countdown!"

less than a month!

I feel like rambling...

In less than a month I will be getting married to my best friend. It's awesome. And I'm finally, FINALLY ready to start getting fit again. I think.

The truth is my stress has been killer lately. I'm back on my medication (which has helped immensely) and can finally be productive...more than usual, anyway. I've gained thirty pounds since starting my second job. My wedding dress fits but it's snug. I haven't been eating more, but I haven't been eating well. I don't even think I consume the recommended amount of calories for someone of my stature, but still I've gained weight. My goal was to start exercising again at the beginning of September when something unexpected happened and I had to get that minor surgery. Yuck. Almost four weeks out of work and basically out of commission. I was a mess. A pathetic mess. Such a mess that I, of all people, had to ask for help. My sister had to come up and stay for a few weeks to help take care of me. And I had to ask a friend for help getting to and from a follow-up where I experienced the most excruciating pain of my life and had to be left alone in the doctor's office to sob uncontrollably and inconsolably for about 15 minutes. And I might have to undergo more surgery, depending on how my December follow-up goes. But I've been healing well for the last month and the pain is minimal. The only thing that's been stopping me from exercise is laziness. It is so hard to get up in the morning and then so hard to do anything when I finally get home from work. It's gross. I don't know why everything seems so much easier for other people.

I'm committing to myself in print right here and right now that I am going to get up early tomorrow morning and do something. Even if it's just stretching. I'm going to eat breakfast before I leave for work. I'm going to make sure John has lunch to take to work. That's what's going to happen.

I got new glasses today. They are pretty bitchin'. It's so weird being able to see so clearly...

Transfers

I will be transferring some posts from an old blog to this one in the next few weeks, so there will be a couple of posts showing up on your feeds that you may have seen before...

I've also deleted my life lists posts. (Pics of animals) I'm trying to think of a different way to do that.

Tour Eiffel

In the summer of 2009, Chris Woodall and I headed to Europe to spend some time in Paris and in Berlin. You can read more about those travels here.

Of course, one of big tourist-y things we just had to do was do the Eiffel Tower.

The elevators don't take you all the way to the top. I'm glad. They were awfully cramped and I suspect the amount of passengers on board regularly exceeds the recommended weight limit.

We got plenty of pictures of Paris from the top but my favorite pictures are of the tower from the ground below.

The Eiffel Tower is named for its designer, Gustave Eiffel.

Original hydraulic pump for the lifts -

During our trip, Chris and I perfected the art of arriving at the larger attractions just before sunset so that we could get day shots, sunset shots, and night shots. We are so awesome!

The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.

The entire structure weighs approximately 10,000 tonnes.

About 50 - 60 tonnes of paint are applied to the tower every year to protect it from rust.

The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.

Millennium Lights - Something tourists just seem to pee their pants about.

The Millennium Lights were installed for the Millennium Celebration on New Year's Eve in 1999. They were such a hit that they became a nightly event. They flash for ten minutes every hour.

Views of France from the tip top to be posted in the future...

Pedernales Falls, Blanco County, Texas

In April 2008 I explored some of the Texas Hill Country with a group of geology students during my undergraduate studies. The trip was fast and rugged so I only brought my dinky point-and-shoot. Here's some of what I experienced of Pedernales Falls State Park.
Swimming is no longer permitted in this area of the park because flash floods can occur with no warning. These photos are taken during extremely low flow. Imagine this entire area with all of those tiny little people completely flooded with rapid-moving currents from the Pedernales River down that long slope...

Edwards Plateau terrain. Check out that long slope -

I can't believe I have a picture of these pants before they had a bunch of holes in them! Notice the sand I'm sitting in. This is part of the river's sediment load that got trapped in the hole as water flowed over the area. The quartzose and feldspathic sands come from Precambrian gneiss and granite upstream.

Crinoid (sea lily) stem fossils (Click to enlarge) -

The park lies on the Llano Uplift which is composed mostly of Precambrian granite. (Think Enchanted Rock.) The formations you see in these pictures, however, are limestone.

I wanted so badly to sneak in there!

That's what I wanna know!!

A beautiful place to sit out and take in the sun -

Artesian Spring

Like I said, the trip was fast and rugged. I didn't get to see much else in the park but I plan to go back some day and get some photos with a real camera...

Powerscourt Gardens - Wicklow, Ireland

During Spring Break of 2009, my friend Tiffany and I decided to take a trip to either San Franciso or Ireland. Ireland was cheaper. On our trip, Tiffany had the idea to visit Powerscourt Gardens. I had never heard of it, but agreed to go. I'm glad because it's a pretty awesome place!

My favorite thing to do was walk through rock-walled paths and look at the mosses and ferns growing on the rock surfaces.

I wish this was my secret garden!

I love seeing buildings peak out above plant growth.

Some ivy and such growing on the building walls -

Art. Do you recognize it? It's a copy of the Laocoon Group. The original is housed at the Vatican and was unearthed in Rome in 1506. The original dates back to the time of Christ.
Apparently, Michelangelo was a huge fan.

Fountain...

Fern...

Flowers...

Wicklow Mountains...
Another view...

Les Catacombes, Paris

I've been reading Jeff Lindsay's Dexter books the last few weeks so Les Catacombes seemed like an appropriate place to post.

You have been warned!

There is still time to hit the back button. We're heading to a very dark place.

At the end of the Eighteenth Century, quarry tunnels beneath Paris were used to finally dispose of bodies exhumed from Paris cemeteries. The city had decided to quit burying the dead within city limits due to mass overcrowding of cemeteries and the terrible state of sanitation in the city.

The official name for the catacombs is l'Ossuaire Municipal.

These bones were transferred to these quarry tunnels between 1786 and 1789.
The catacombs contain the remains of about six million Parisians.

Wall of the Crypt of the Sepulchral Lamp -

The length of the walking tour is about 2 kilometers.

It takes about 45 minutes to get through the tunnels.

The bones are very neatly stacked/organized in some places -

The well at the end of the tunnel.

Back when the city was overcrowding with dead bodies covered with lime in mass graves, its primary source of water was from nearby wells. Eeew.