1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Started a PhD.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I didn’t have an strong resolutions last year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Several peole I know, but no close friends.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes, my uncle.

5. What countries did you visit?

None, I think. That’s the kind of thing that could slip my mind, though.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

More contentedness in love.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

My birthday. I was alone. (And I cried).

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Completing a year of the PhD

9. What was your biggest failure?

Wasting time.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I had more “procedures” than usual this year.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Good dinners. Last year and the next few will *not* be about buying things.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

The boyfriend’s behavior.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The boyfriend’s behavior.

14. Where did most of your money go?

To food, definitely to food. Also, there was a spendy car repair and yoga trainings (but I got reimbursed for a lot of the yoga stuff).

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Yoga.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

Poker Face, Lady Gaga

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happier or sadder? same

thinner or fatter? same

richer or poorer? same

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Exercising. Making friends.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Fooling around on the internet.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With my family in Oregon. It was a good one.

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?

I grew to love the boyfriend more.

23. How many one-night stands?

None. That’s not my style.

24. What was your favorite TV program?

_It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No one comes to mind.

26. What was the best book you read?

I reread _Women as Lovers_ and that was the best, I think.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I wasn’t in to music this year, a fact that is faintly sad, just like memories of my life in SLC are faintly sad, but none of that will change for another few years.

28. What did you want and get?

A relationship.

29. What did you want and NOT get?

Somebody I *knew* I would spend the rest of my life with.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

Mostly I’m thankful for the comedies that were just okay. They helped with the whole schools thing. I didn’t watch anything besides blockbusters (like music, this is not something I’ll be able to pursue for the next few years). So, I cheated and looked them up. Here are the movies that stood out to me: Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, WALL-E, and He’s Just Not That into You.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Plans fell through, so I went to the store to make myself dinner (something to do, some way to stay busy). On my way to the store, I saw a blind man struggling at an intersection and cried for the rest of the night. The boyfriend asked me out the next day. You could say I was in a vulnerable place…

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More friends and a better relationship.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Big t-shirts. For some reason they’ve come back into my life with a vengence. It’s weird, I normally only wear fitted t-shirts, but since moving the Pullman, the big ones feel so right.

34. What kept you sane?

Nothing. I would say that my sanity has been a lot more fragile since 2009.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Probably…Brad Pitt.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Electing Barak Obama.

37. Who did you miss?

My family and friends.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Randy.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:

I might not be the marrying kind.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

“My poker face, my my my my poker face…”