2011 in Review



1. What did you do in 2011 that you hadn’t done before?
    Road Trip with my two sisters to SoCal… just the three of us, a very unforgettable trip.
2. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes quite a few people including myself for the 2nd time as well as friends and family.
3. Did anyone close to you die?
Not anyone I was close to.
4. Did you travel? Where did you go? 
 Had our first trip to Maui with Seth and a couple we are very close to. 
5. Best thing you bought?
double stroller ;)  the baby jogger city select. providing me with the ability to get out of the house with my two little boys. 


6. Where did most of your money go?
 mortgage
7. What do you wish you had done more of?
 exercise 
8. What do you wish you had done less of?
 work outside of the home
9. What kept you sane?
 my friends and family but especially hanging out with Chris and Seth.
10. What drove you mad?
 the last few months of my pregnancy with Luke. oh my goodness those were some rough days, weeks and months. also when I struggle with the same issue over and over again… not learning from previous mistakes. 
11. What made you celebrate?
 giving birth to Luke, one of the best days in my life, meeting him and getting to know him and seeing how different things are the 2nd time around.
12. What made you sad?
 having to sell my very first stroller which my parents bought for us when we were preggers with Seth. It was my ideal stroller but because the double stroller we needed was absolutely necessary we had to sell the other one. :(

13. How was your birthday this year?
My brother threw me a surprise birthday get together (and I was very surprised) it was fun until at the end my bro and I got into a huge argument which made the nigh end on a bad note. I am not huge on surprises at least not where parties are concerned. 
14. What political issue stirred you the most this year?
I don't know if this counts but i got so upset with the fact that our property taxes went up this year where as our property value either remained the same or depreciated.


15. Were you in love in 2011?
yes and besides my husband my heart grew to know what it is like to love more than one child. i had wondered if it was possible to love your 2nd child as you do your 1st and i found the answer to that is yes.


16. What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn’t have this year?
 more sleep ;) 
17. What date from 2011 will be etched in your memory and why?
 11.28.11 the birth of my second son Luke Mason


18. What song will remind you of 2011? 
   Bruno Mars: It will Rain
19. Compared to this time last year, are you happier?
I can say that I am very happy and very grateful for being so blessed by the Lord every day. So grateful for my husband and two little boys who are the dearest people in my world. 
20. Biggest achievement this year?
 becoming a mother of two little boys. also career wise getting set with a 2 days a week job in two offices where I really enjoy going to work and feel appreciated and respected.
21. Biggest disappointment this year?
the amount of weight I gained in my pregnancy with Luke. But I've already lost more than half of it and I am working hard to lose it all by summer time.
Seth and mommy  3 days prior to baby  Luke's arrival

also my lack of blogging from April to August and more than blogging the slack in photography due to pregnancy induce nausea.


22. What is the one thing that would have made you more satisfied?
 sometimes I think that not having to go back to work at all but other times I feel that working a couple of days a week are a blessing in disguise giving me a break from mommy duties 24/7… :)
23. Best new person you met this year?
I'm can't think of someone that I just met this year but there is a person I've become closer with in this year than before and that is Anka, who moved here a couple of years ago when she married a friend of ours Utu. We have been involved in the same small group and I've quickly come to absolutely love this girl. She is very creative and resourceful as well as beautiful and strong and very determined. i admire her greatly and enjoy the time we get to spend together in our little group meetings.
24. A valuable life lesson you learned this year?
 cherish the ones you love, no one promises you tomorrow with them. try to always release anger don't keep in inside talk/communicate with the ones that you have an issue with. learn from my past mistakes and stop repeating them.
25. How was your health in 2011?
very good 
26. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes I did… I resolved to get pregnant in 2011 and I sure did in fact I got pregnant and had a baby this year. 
27. What countries did you visit?
We stayed in the US this year our trip to Maui was the only place we went to. 
28. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
 more of my hubbies time and attention
29. Did you suffer hardship in 2011?
not true hardships… some difficult times but we have been so blessed that it feels wrong to answer yes in any way to this question. thank you Lord for providing for all of our needs.
30. Whose behavior merited celebration?
my husband has a very wonderful character in that even when we are fighting he does nice things for me. for example he worked on a walk in closet for me all through his vacation time even though at the time we were not really communicating as I was upset with him for something he had done. i think that might be his way of apologizing as he is not too good at using his words. :)
31. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
i've got a horrible habit of holding grudges and not letting go of my anger. it takes me forever to talk through disappointments with the person I'm disappointed in. I wish I handled conflict better. I seem to stick to my pattern no matter how much I want to avoid it. maybe I can do better next year.


32. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
my closest friend announcing that she was pregnant with her first child only a month after I found out i was pregnant with our seccond. i think I was more excited for her then for myself.
33. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? i can't remember the exact circumstances so undecided about this answer but I hope happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter i just had a baby 4 weeks ago
iii. richer or poorer? Def Richer in every way.
34. How did you spend the New Year’s?
with my husband's family very low key enjoying good food and good company
35. How many one-night stands?
ZERO 
 
36. What was your favorite TV program?
The Mentalist 
 
37. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
no hate here don't want any of that in my heart
 
38. What was the best book you read?
such a  great book I should read this every year.

39. What was your greatest musical (re)discovery?
 not sure I wish I was more knowledgeable of music, I love it but I never remember names
40. What did you want and get?
 My Nikon D90. traded in my first SLR camera and lens kit and got a different camera with 2 specific lenses that I wanted. Also saved up my own allowance and got myself and MacBook pro… wohoo!!!
41. What did you want and not get?
A new lens for my camera, but that's ok there's always 2012


42. What was your favorite film that you watched this year?
Breaking Dawn episode 1. i went with my siblings and i had contractions throughout the 3 hour movie. it was very memorable
43. What one experience do you never want to repeat from this year?
getting pregnant… eek! I feel bad saying that because if it happens I will totally be happy but I think I'm totally done having kids.
44. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? 
for the most part of the year I was in pregnancy clothes and then I really loved the fact that skinny jeans and or leggings with long tops and boots were in fashion because I lived in that style
 
45. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most 
Male: my faves are George Clooney and Bruno Mars and Michael Buble, I know very huge age range between them but that's what it is…
women: I love the actress/comedian Whitney Cummings from the show Whitney.  Christina Applegate from "up all night" I love women who are funny and can laugh at them selves and are very confident because those are areas I struggle with.


46. Who did you miss?
 my cousins in Austria, I miss them dearly especially since for the last few years we've been visiting a lot more regularly

me and  two of my cousins who live in Vienna Austria

47. Quote that sums up your year:
Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.  ~Pearl S. Buck
48. Was 2011 a good year for you?
 It was an amazing year full of joy some pain but mostly joy.
49. What was your favorite moment of the year?
I had too many to really pick just one, but Seth walking in Maui… actually every moment in Maui was a moment I will always cherrish. I had one of my most favorite vacations on this trip. 




50. What was your least favorite moment of the year?
     when I was giving birth to Luke and 10 extra health care professionals rushed into our room. we were informed that baby Luke's heart beat was not detectable on the monitor. I don't remember ever being as scared or praying as hard as I did that moment. Baby Luke was born healthy and with a good set of lungs on him. i thank God for his hand of protection over my little baby boy. That scary moment brought on the most amazing bond I could have ever imagined with my 2nd boy.


51. Where were you when 2011 began?
 I don't remember but probably at my parents house. Ringing the new year with my family. 
52. Who were you with?
 family
53. Do you have a new year’s resolution for 2012?
In 2012 I plan on loosing the extra 30 pounds I'm carrying from this pregnancy by summer time. it's a bit ambitious but I've done it before and I'm hoping I will do it again.
I wanna be at least where I was here: not perfect but satisfactory :)

Chris and I in Paris (we had just found out we were pregnant with Seth)

 54. What was your favorite month of 2011?
December, Chris has been home almost the whole month and having this time with family has been so amazing. But I also loved March and July 


55. What were your favorite songs in 2011?
Bruno Mars (everything by him really) I love his style of music and his voice is just so amazing.

56. What was your favorite record from 2011? 
ugh… I never buy a whole CD anymore so I don't have a pick
57. How many concerts did you see in 2011?
zero
58. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2011?
 no. I was pregnant 10 months of this past year. hehe 
59. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2011?
 none
60. How many people did you sleep with in 2010?
  my man my one and only!
61. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
Yes…. at a Christmas party we all took 5-10$ gifts (white elephant party) and when I picked mine and opened it (it was the movie Fireproof) i made the comment "oohh… my favorite movie" in a very sarcastic tone. I immediately realized i had spoken my exact thoughts and felt ashamed as apparently someone thought that movie was a great gift and brought it. I felt bad.
62. What was the worst lie someone told you in 2011?
yeah I don't know I guess nothing too big
63. Did you treat somebody badly in 2011?
 I am sure my hubby got some attitude from me
64. Did somebody treat you badly in 2011?
 yeah at times… I won't name names though
65. What was your most embarrassing moment of 2011?
I think same answer from 61 I can't think of another at the moment.
66. If you could go back in time to any moment of 2011 and change something, what would it be?
 enjoying my pregnancy more, I was dreading having two babies there for a while, more scared of the unknown really and I should have focused on the positives more then the negative thoughts. 
67. What are you most looking forward to in 2012?
Summer time with my 3 guys.