Time for a (long) review
Movies
2013 - A disappointing year for new movies, I only watched 59. Ugh! I couldn't squeeze one more? Lame.
2014 - I made it to 65! Whoo! A nice round-er number. I had the added benefit of watching all the Oscar nominated movies across 2 weekends. Also, I don't leave the house except to go to the movies so not having a life helps. ;-)
(I track my movies with a very short review on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/coolaunterin/ )
Books
2013 - My goal was 20 in 2013 which I barely made. I'm a slow reader and there were some big books on the list that year.
2014 - My goal for 2014 was 25, which I blew by. To be fair, they were mostly young adult books, but I did find myself reading a lot more. Good for me!
(I track my books on goodreads.com. My username is coolaunterin.)
Work
2013 - Big year of starting a new job in a new city. I moved to San Antonio to begin work at St. Mary's University as a Visiting Assistant Professor.
2014 - There is really nothing new to report (which is actually a good thing). I was able to prep several new classes these past 2 semesters. Over the summer, I worked with an undergrad student on a research project.
Travel
2013 - I went to Scotland for a talk at the now defunct (*sobs wildly*) Scottish Ruby Conference. I went to Albuquerque with my friend Cristina for the Balloon Fiesta. I also managed to drive a 10ft. moving truck, towing my Corolla, 1300 miles from Dayton to San Antonio. While it was technically traveling, it wasn't nearly as fun. Ok, it was a fun as flying through Newark or JFK on a heavy travel day when you lose your luggage and miss your connection internationally.
2014 - This has been a disappointingly light travel year. Mom came to visit me in October. We went to Lubbock to visit the Buddy Holly Museum. It was a quick trip given the 6 hour drive one-way, but it was a ton of fun.
Family
2013 - Saying good-bye to the girls before leaving for San Antonio was the hardest thing I've ever done.
2014 - When I was back over the summer, I was able to spend a lot of time with the girls. I went on all day dates with each of them and I tried to spend as much time as I could with them. When I'm not in Ohio, we keep in constant contact. Thanks to their awesome parents I get full access to them.
School
2013 - Getting a teaching job sans degree was pretty impressive. Not finishing my degree that year was a little less so.
2014 - I spent most of the summer working on a dissertation that I successfully defended on Aug. 28th (or was it the 29th?). Go me! Meh.
Personal
2013 - I live in an amazing house. I will always love everything about this house. Well, almost everything. I encountered my first (and gods willing only) black widow spider. Orkin now gets $80 every 2 months.
2014 - I still love my house, but the critters are getting to be too much. A wolf spider the size of my hand, 2 scorpions (one outside and one INSIDE MY M-F*&^%$# HOUSE), and 2 snakes. It's getting old. My friend Cait and I had a Fitbit challenge which I have been failing miserably at.
So what's next?
I don't like making resolutions, so I'll consider some goals for 2015.
Movies - I'm thinking striving for more movies in a year might be a stretch and it might also make me uber pathetic. As of right now I plan to watch the Oscar nominated movies, which always boosts my numbers. The nominations aren't out yet and I like to wait to see the list before making my decision.
Books - My goal for 2015 will be lower than this year, but I have some books that I want to read that will take me a long time, like A Dance with Dragons, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, etc. Those will take me awhile to get through and I don't want to get stuck reading Dr. Seuss to play catch up to an unattainable goal. So, I'll set my goal to 20? 21?
Travel - I'm contemplating a trip to Scotland next year, it's been sooooo long, but money has been pretty restrictive recently. I'll see what I can do. I want to make it to Philly for SIOP this year, but again, funds are always lacking.
Personal - My spring schedule at school is a little more streamlined so going for more walks seems doable. I finally got rid of my shitty Tuesday schedule which is a blessing. Now I just need to find a big stick to keep all the creatures away from me.
