2015 Recap

I have been terrible about blogging for the past year. 2015 was a tumultuous year for me. It had a ton of ups and downs and life changing events.

Here is a non-extensive list of good and bad things that happened this year. I’ve omitted some bad things that I don’t want to talk about, but I caught most of the good things, I think!

 

January

-I saw Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness with Insiya.

-My arm touched Andrew’s. It was wonderful.

-I went to paint and sip for the first time.

-I had one wild, eventful evening out.

 

February

-I had 3 job interviews in one week and one of them offered me a job! But it was too far of a commute…

-Parks and Recreation ended so Mallory, Ryan and I ate waffles and watched. It was sad.

 

March

-I saw Taking Back Sunday with Tara.

-Saint Patrick’s Day was quite the event.

 

April

-I went to Bayside’s 15 year anniversary tour with Meghan!!

-I went to Boston alone.

-I went to the aquarium.

-I started dating Randy.

 

May

-I hated my job.

-I finally got to attend Tulip Fest!

-I went to the Schenectady Library book sale with Mallory and bought lots of books!

-I walked in the Freihofer walk.

 

June

-I despised my job and cried myself to sleep almost every night.

-I screwed up my voice, almost permanently. Luckily it seems to have made a full recovery.

-I went to Montreal one evening for dinner.

 

July

-I saw Motion City Soundtrack and The Spill Canvas.

-I taught high school special education for the first time. It was a huge step up from teaching in May and June but high school is HARD. 

-I watched a lot of animals and people (cat/dog/kid-sat for 14/31 days!)

 

August

-I saw Brand New play live at Ommegang Brewery!

-I visited Charleston, South Carolina.

 

September

-I started my new job in a completely different field than what I went to school for.

-I saw Bayside with my brother in Rochester and got to spend the weekend with him and his friends at school!

-I saw Breaking Benjamin with Tara!

-I saw Zac Brown Band with Kerri and Schuyler, after spending the day at the track!

 

October

-I turned 27 years old. My 10 year high school reunion is being planned. I am old.

-I moved to a new apartment by myself. I am enjoying it greatly.

-I went apple picking and to the pumpkin patch.

-I got to go through a corn maze.

-I attended Kerri and Schuyler’s wedding. I am so happy for them!

-My grandfather got diagnosed with lung cancer. Luckily it was stage one and they managed to catch it very early and remove everything.

 

November

-I went to see Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness alone! What a concert!

 

December

-Randy turned 26!

-I took a state test.

-I saw Bayside for the third time this year with Randy in NYC! We went for the day and got to see our friend Frank that moved there this year.

-Our first book club was held!

-I started getting serious about going to the gym again, and I started running!

 

 

Looking back, this year was incredibly eventful.

Here’s to 2016!

charleston

The day after the Brand New concert, I had to catch a flight to Charleston, South Carolina. When I say the day after, I mean several hours after. I got home at 1:00am, and I had to be at the airport by 5:00am. The supreme lack of sleep though was good in the long run because I finally had a much needed (and deserved) vacation. My cousin was getting married, and though I wasn’t invited to the wedding, I decided to crash the week anyway. Most of my family only went for the wedding but my parents and my aunts and uncles went a few days early so that we could take in some of the sights and do exciting things in the area. And oh, we did.

When we first got there, we went to the visitors center. They had this really cool device that let you use the map of the city to show you things that you might like to do. And it had a rolly-ball thing that was super fun to use.

I had done a lot of research ahead of time about places to go and places to eat, though we didn’t do half of the things that I had on my list. We started out strong, and did a bunch of things but as the week went on and the wedding got closer everyone got tired of doing things and we ended up staying at the hotels and swimming. But the first day, we went to this place for lunch called Virginia’s on King (because it is on King Street, and it was created by this man who had a grandmother Virginia) and we met Virginia! She told us all about her 5 w’s to live a long life (Water, Worship, Walk, Work, Wine)! And I had what might possibly be the best cup of she-crab soup I will ever have in my life. And I had a lot of this while I was in Charleston.

Then it started raining cats and dogs. So we escaped to the aquarium. And the only thing that I really wanted to do was to go the sea turtle hospital that they have where they rescue injured sea turtles and save them (obviously, I don’t know why I felt the need to explain that) and I couldn’t because it was sold out. I may have cried later. Probably unnecessarily, but still. But I did get to see a bunch of rays and sharks, and I even got to pet/touch them! I got to hold a starfish, and a sea urchin. So I might be overexaggerating.

They had this cool trading post but it was closed while we were there. And I wasn’t aware of it ahead of time, so that was unfortunate. Not that I would have had anything to trade, but yes.

I got to see this cute turtle, but this aquarium was much smaller than Boston’s and it didn’t have any penguins. Bummer.

I also was able to eat my first praline. Have you ever eaten pralines? They are like heaven in your mouth. You can even have them shipped from this shop to your house. I’m considering looking into it.

One day we went to see the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that was used during World War II. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. We were able to go on a self-guided tour throughout most of the ship and were even able to go down to the engine rooms, which was where my grandfather worked when he was in the Navy (though not on the Yorktown, and not during WWII). It was SO humid in Charleston and I seriously thought I was going to faint while I was on the ship. We also were able to go into a submarine and that was even worse. I can’t imagine how the people lived on these ships/submarines. They were so small. On the submarine, I even had to duck to get through all the openings to go from room to room, and I’m not even that tall! Apparently they are made much bigger and slightly roomier now but still. A moment of silence for all the men (and maybe women) that fought for our country or are fighting now.

I was able to sit in a real plane. I’m supposed to hashtag here. #F9FCougar The sign outside the plane said so. 

This was the first hotel that I stayed in. It was actually a resort, and we found it on Groupon. I’m now obsessed with Groupon. It had a beautiful pool. We also went to the beach twice, and of course I got sunburned. Of course.

We went on a ghost tour of the old jail. It made my hair stand on end because they turned the lights off in most of it, but the stories weren’t scary. I think our guide wasn’t the greatest.

I had many fancy drinks. Not too many, mind you, but enough.

 

We also went to the Charleston Museum. I think my favorite part about this museum was that I’ve been to the NYS museum tons of times but it contains mostly New York history. Which of course I learned about in school several times. But I didn’t really know much about southern history other than what I learned about in school, which was mostly about the southern economy, and the civil war and the aftermath. So it was really cool to see things about South Carolina in the museum, and there were no references to “the war of northern aggression”. This was a relief. I liked this old advertisement that was in the museum. It made me giggle.

Then I got invited to the wedding anyway =]

Though I pretend I was a #weddingcrasher.

Ommegang and Brand New

A month and a half ago I finally got to see Brand New for the second time in my life. They never play around here and it’s unfortunate because they are SO GOOD live.  And not live, but especially live. Tara and I went to Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown. I’d never been there before but it was so worth it. The brewery was closed that day so we didn’t get to go on a tour but I definitely think that it would be a really cool thing to do one day, and it’s not too far away from me. It was so hot and humid while the sun was out, I felt like I was melting. Then, the sun went down, the show went on, and it was over.  Sadness.

 

welcome back

So. It’s been awhile.

So much has happened and I don’t even know where to start.

I haven’t been focused on my 30 Before 30 at all. I don’t even want to do half of the things on my list anymore. Or I do. But I don’t want to keep track of them. I’m going to need to re-evaluate and decide exactly what I want to do for this project. Maybe I really do need 101 things. One hundred and one smaller things to do, instead of several large projects. Or something.

I just started a new, non-teaching job. It’s really boring right now. I’m sure it will be better in the upcoming months when I have more to do but for right now, I just want to leave work and go home at the end of the day. I guess that’s normal. I’m not yelling at anyone anymore, so that’s nice. I don’t think the weather is helping with my mood.

I will be moving by the end of the month to a new apartment, all by my lonesome. It’s going to be very strange after the past few months, I’m sure.

We’ll see.

planetarium

Look! I went to the aquarium right before my last list ended! Not a lot of great pictures. The museum before we went in was really cool- half of it was boring things about science that totally went over my head but the other half was all interactive exhibits that taught you things. Though I don’t remember much of it so I guess it didn’t teach me very much.

rejected ideas

While I was composing my 30 before 30 list, I had several things that I knew I wanted to do. Then I hit a brick wall and wasn’t creative enough on my own to finish. So I turned to the internet. I love the internet sometimes. I searched every version of “bucket list”, “30 before 30”, “day zero”, “101 in 1001”, “40 before 40”, “list of things to do”, etc. that I could find on at least 20 different occasions. I found a lot of typical items and then a bunch of relatively.. unique options. These were a bunch of my favorites that I seriously considered before rejecting. But I might try some of them for fun (pretend to be a runner, see if I can fit in a suitcase?) because they seem super exciting and I feel like I should try.

-go on a friend date with 52 different friends
-jump out of a perfectly good airplane
-make out with jeremy for 30 seconds
-learn how to spell karaoke without having to google it
-sing along perfectly to “it’s the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine)”
-hold a koala
-pretend to be a runner
-go on a James Bond Date with the Mister in a tux and me in a sexy dress with a crazy slit preferably in Monaco
-have a beer with penguins in Antarctica
-attempt to do a backflip
-see if I can fit in a suitcase
-have a cake with sparklers on top like Alice made for one of the Brady kids on the Brady Bunch
-own a months’ worth of Michigan themed clothing
-organize a flour fight
-put Vanilla Pudding in a Mayo Jar and Eat in Public

30 Before 30

This is pretty similar to the list I posted a few weeks ago, with a few changes. It began this morning at 12:00. Hopefully this time I will be able to cross every item off my list!

1. Visit 5 new states

2. See the Grand Canyon

3. Revisit New Orleans

4. Visit NYC during Christmas time

5. Visit the town where my grandmother grew up

6. Go on a spontaneous road trip

7. Throw a Harry Potter themed party

8. Learn to use a sewing machine

9. Learn how to play chess

10. Learn to use the snowblower

11. Learn to play an instrument

12. Take a dance class (i.e. ballet, ballroom, swing, etc.)

13. Knit a scarf

14. Start a tradition

15. Get a pet

16. Say “yes” to something I would not normally do

17. Complete 30 acts of kindness

18. Read my height in books

19. Watch all of the Oscar nominated films for Best Picture before the Academy Awards (during one year)

20. Watch 20 documentaries

21. Go back to school

22. Dress up for Halloween

23. Go to a midnight movie premiere

24. Stay out until the sun comes up

25. Join a bowling league

26. Celebrate 5 ridiculous holidays

27. Document 5 normal days of my life in photographs

28. Complete a thirty day challenge

29. Go rock climbing

30. Attend a professional sporting event

Movies Watched (September 2012 – June 2015)

Here is the final list of movies that I watched in their entirety throughout this project. Some of them are really embarassing.

2012
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Little Women
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
Kung Fu Panda
Candyman: The David Klein Story
Argo
One For the Money
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Sucker Punch
The Breakfast Club
Clueless
We Bought a Zoo
Bachelorette
Mansome
Happy
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Captain America
Steal a Pencil For Me
Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade
Between the Folds
Hey Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird
Under the Boardwalk
New Years Eve
Tommy Boy
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Skyfall
Life of Pi
Homeward Bound
The Descendants
Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
Casablanca
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Lincoln
Friends With Kids
The Five Year Engagement
Gosford Park
Young Adult
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2013
This is 40
The Parking Lot Movie
Dumbo
The Aristocats
The Rescuers
Frankenweenie
Alice in Wonderland
Chronicle
Anger Management
Indie Game: The Movie
Imaginary Witness
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Identity Thief
Beauty and the Beast
The Little Mermaid
The Lion King
The Jungle Book
Mulan
Peter Pan
Aladdin
Bambi
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Great Mouse Detective
The Fox and the Hound
Shakespeare High
No Impact Man
Zero Day
Cleanflix
Magic Mike
Oliver
Pitch Perfect
Wretches & Jabberers
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Dead Poet’s Society
Man on a Ledge
Aziz Ansari: Dangerously Delicious
Aziz Ansari: Intimate Moments
The Rescuers Down Under
True Grit
The Eyes of Me
The Place Beyond the Pines
Flight
Wreck It Ralph
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Big Fish
Back to Oz
For the Bible Tells Me So
National Treasure
Easy A
Les Miserables
Silver Linings Playbook
Ted
21 Jump Street
Wanderlust
Despicable Me 2
The Hunger Games
Office Space
Easy A
Night at the Museum
Tucker & Dale v. Evil
Yes Man
The Truman Show
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Keith
Superbad
Youth In Revolt
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Admission
The Emperor’s New Groove
Nerdcore Rising
American Teacher
Chemerical: Redefining Clean
Pitch Perfect
Aziz Ansari Buried Alive
Monica & David
Pink Ribbons, Inc
Space Jam
Dad’s In Heaven With Nixon
An Unreasonable Man
Busting Out
Movie 43
Couples Retreat
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Bo Burnham: What
New York I Love You
Rock of Ages
Gangster Squad

2014
A Walk to Remember
Miss Representation
And Your Name is Jonah
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
The Elephant in the Living Room
65_RedRoses
Lilo and Stitch
Little Manhattan
The Cider House Rules
Shelter Me
Bronies
Stuck in Love
Rent
We’re The Millers
Despicable Me
Rid of Me
21 and Older
The Babysitters Club
The Cheetah Girls
America the Beautiful
Frozen
Up!
Wall-E
500 Days of Summer
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton
500 Days of Summer
Mystery of Easter Island
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
The Holiday
Whip It
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Our Idiot Brother
Transformers
Premium Rush
The Family
Blackfish
Maleficent
Brave Miss World
Horrible Bosses
Easy A
Don Jon
Magic Camp
Mortified Nation
Beyond the Myth
It’s a Girl
Can’t Hardly Wait
The Apartment
Riding In Cars With Boys
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Tiger Eyes
St. Elmo’s Fire
Bad Words
Divergent
Veronica Mars
Slightly Single in LA
Pumpkin
Electoral Dysfunction
Meet the Robinsons
The Sweetest Thing
Duck Soup
The Rebound
Stuck
Girl Most Likely
Sidewalls
The Paper Chase
Pint Sized Preachers
The Eleanor Roosevelt Story
That Awkward Moment
Anchorman
It’s a Disaster
This is Where I Leave You
The Cabin in the Woods
The Graduate
Question One
Gone Girl
Easy A
Uptown Girls
Chelsea Peretti: One of the Greats
Donald Glover: Weirdo
Dear. Mr. Watterson
Elf
Pitch Perfect
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Mockingjay
Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb
Whip It
Scrooged
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Into The Woods

2015
The Odd Couple
I Know That Voice
Best Man Down
Crossroads
Finding Nemo
Liberal Arts
Xingu
Nick Offerman: American Ham
Hercules
Pitch Perfect
Sweet Home Alabama
Pitch Perfect 2
Anchorman 2
Inside Out
Jurassic World

I haven’t watched a lot of movies in 2015, it seems. I’ve been rewatching almost all of my favorite tv shows though.

hair

Got my hair cut short right after my friend’s wedding.

Tried to curl my hair using a headband while I was sleeping. It did curl, but it was really frizzy.

I used sea salt spray on my hair when it was wet in the morning. It was still a little damp here, so it looked great. After it fully dried, it poofed out like crazy and I had to put it up.

This was actually just after I woke up from sleeping on wet hair. I’m not sure what’s going on in the past few years, but my hair is all of a sudden really curly (but always really frizzy) and I don’t know how I feel about it.

I also had bangs for awhile but never got a good picture of it. Five?

Books I Read (October 2012 – June 2015)

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
The Pigman – Paul Zindel
Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling
Front of the Class: How Tourette’s Syndrome Made Me The Teacher I Never Had – Brad Cohen
Threats: A Novel – Amelia Gray
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
The Witches – Roald Dahl
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Roald Dahl
The Twits – Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl
Boy – Tales of Childhood – Roald Dahl
Matilda – Roald Dahl
Danny, The Champion of the World – Roald Dahl
The BFG – Roald Dahl
Mercy – Jodi Picoult
Sing Me Home – Jodi Picoult
March – Geraldine Brooks
George’s Marvelous Medicine – Roald Dahl
The Magic Finger – Roald Dahl
The Enormous Crocodile – Roald Dahl
The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly
Esio Trot – Roald Dahl
Looking for Alaska – John Green
Kiss Kiss – Roald Dahl
Look Again – Lisa Scottoline
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life – Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes – Roald Dahl
The Happiness Project – Gretchen Rubin
Going Solo – Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories – Roald Dahl
Teacher Man – Frank McCourt
My Year – Roald Dahl
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – Roald Dahl
Death and the Penguin – Andrey Kurkov
Switch Bitch – Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
Wonder – RJ Palacio
Mockingbird – Kathryn Erskine
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint Exupery
The Short Stories – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Fates Will Find Their Way – Hannah Pittard
Skin – Roald Dahl
The Minpins – Roald Dahl
The Book of Hard Things – Sue Halpern
Name All The Animals – Alison Smith
The One and Only Ivan – KA Applegate
The Playdate – Louise Millar
The Umbrella Man – Roald Dahl
Sweet Valley Confidential: 10 Years – Francine Pascal
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
This Is Where I Leave You – Jonathan Tropper
Dirty Beasts – Roald Dahl
The Vicar of Nibbleswick – Roald Dahl
Revolting Rhymes – Roald Dahl
I Love Everybody (And Other Atrocious Lies) – Laurie Notaro
Red: The Next Generation – Amy Goldwasser
The Gum Thief – Douglas Coupland
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much – Allison Hoover Bartlett
The Giraffe, The Pelly, And Me – Roald Dahl
Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult
The Friday Night Knitting Club – Kate Jacobs
The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart
Who Could That Be At This Hour – Lemony Snicket
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
The Nanny Diaries – Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin
The Summer Kitchen – Lisa Wingate
Night Road – Kristin Hannah
Invisible Monsters – Chuck Palahniuk
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer
Everything Changes – Jonathan Tropper
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan
The New York Regional Momon Singles Halloween Dance – Elna Baker
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour – Morgan Matson
Timequake – Kurt Vonnegut
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Biography – Lemony Snicket
Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List – Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Me Before You: A Novel – JoJo Moyes
The Wednesday Sisters -Meg Waite Clayton
Anne of Green Gables – L. M. Montgomer
The Miseducation of Cameron Post – Emily M. Danforth
This Is How It Happened – Jo Barrett
The Irresistable Blueberry Bakeshop – Mary Simses
This Is Between Us – Kevin Sampsell
The Lover’s Dictionary – David Levithan
Five Things I Can’t Live Without – Holly Shumas
Best Friends Forever – Jennifer Weiner
The True Story of a Part Time Indian – Sherman Alexie
Bossypants – Tina Fey
The Interestings – Meg Wolitzer
Eleanor and Park – Rainbow Rowell
Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell
Rhyme Stew – Roald Dahl
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs
The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster
Cuckoo’s Calling – Robert Galbraith
Matched – Ally Condie
Th1rteen R3asons Why – Jay Asher
Good Kings, Bad Kings: A Novel – Susan Nussbaum
Two Fables – Roald Dahl
My Uncle Oswald – Roald Dahl
Office Girl – Joe Meno
A Summer Affair – Elin Hilderbrand
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – JK Rowling
How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened – Jenny Lawson
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – JK Rowling
The City of Ember – Jeanne DuPrau
Reconstructing Amelia – Kimberly McCreight
The Best of Roald Dahl – Roald Dahl
Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng
Even More Revolting Recipes – Roald Dahl
Big Little Lies – Liane Moriarty
A Little Princess – Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Vacationers – Emma Straub
The Girl You Left Behind – JoJo Moyes
Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen
Yes Please – Amy Poehler
If I Stay – Gayle Forman
All The Bright Places – Jennifer Niven
The Prophet of Yonwood – Jeanne DuPrau
The Diamond of Darkhold – Jeanne DuPrau
Let’s Get Lost – Adi Alsaid
A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
The Maze Runner – James Dashner
The Beginning of Everything – Robyn Schneider
Bright Young Things – Scarlett Thomas
100 Sideways Miles – Andrew Smith
Flipped – Wendelin Van Draanen
The Girls From Corona Del Mar – Rufi Thorpe
Girl Online – Zoe Sugg
It Had To Be You – Sarah Webb
Cutting Teeth – Julia Fierro
This Is What Happy Looks Like – Jennifer E. Smith
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling
Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless – Liz Czukas
If Jack’s In Love – Stephen Wetta
Ella Minnow Pea – Mark Dunn
Something Borrowed – Emily Giffin
Life’s Golden Ticket: An Inspirational Novel – Brandon Burchard
Something Blue – Emily Giffin

All in all, I only read 152 books. It felt like a lot more. I’m actually surprised that it was less than 200, but I guess considering I was super busy with work for some of the time, it makes sense. I was always the type of person that had to finish a book even if it wasn’t very good, but I started to get over that because it really isn’t worth my time. I probably gave up on 20ish books before I got too far into them. All of the bolded books are ones that I very much enjoyed.