2011 Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Erm...visited Brian Turner's restaurant and Peppa Pig World (the latter with my nephew & niece)

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any formal resolutions for 2011 but I did make a list of things I would try to do/be better at. This is an ongoing project and I’m adding several others to it as I go along. The main one at the moment is capitalize more on the opportunities that come my way to help someone.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
There seem to be babies everywhere at the moment, but none of my family or close friends gave birth this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully no

5. What countries did you visit?
Latvia

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Clarity.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
No specific dates that will remain etched upon my memory this year but lots of happy memories of wonderful times spent with friends and family (Butlins week, Russell Howard night and visiting a dear friend in London for the weekend to name but a few).

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
2011 was a year for supporting other people. Big things were happening to the people around me this year, and it was my job to help them through it as much as I could. I like to think I did alright.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not fighting hard enough to pursue what I want/ lacking confidence to prove my capabilities.

10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
I was pretty healthy this year.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Train tickets/petrol money to visit friends

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
A good friend of mine is dealing with some incredibly difficult things with remarkable grace and maturity and I'm so proud of her.

13. Whose behaviour made you depressed?
I was disappointed by those who celebrated in the deaths of Osama Bin Laden and Kim Jong-Il.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, food, shiny treats

15. What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
Visiting K/M’s birthday weekend, Surprising my mum with a trip to see Top Hat, camping with dear, dear friends

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO I couldn’t escape it in the latter part of the year thanks to one of the youth groups I work with … “Everyday I’m shuffling”

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder? In general probably about the same
ii.thinner or fatter? Fatter but only a little bit
iii.richer or poorer? Poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I’d spent more time on creative endeavours.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastina… eh, I’ll finish this answer later.


20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I had a wonderful Christmas day spent with family and a hilarious boxing day spent with dear friends. I am so privileged and blessed in the people I know

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Tan

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
no

23. How many one-night stands?
none

24. What was your favourite TV programme?
New in 2011 favourites included The Hour, Silk, Twenty-Twelve


25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No

26. What was the best book you read?
There are two books that win that accolade for me this year- Summer Moonshine by PG Wodehouse and Agatha Christies ‘Star Over Bethlehem’

27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
Caro Emerald

28. What did you want and get?
My answer is the same as last year- opportunities to spend time with the people (family and friends) I love most in the world

29. What did you want and not get?
A diagnosis for my poor mum

30. What were your favourite films of this year?
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II

31. What did you do on your birthday?
The day itself was a quiet one but a couple of days before it I went to see John Barrowman with some friends and the weekend after some other wonderful friends took me out for a meal and cocktails.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
I wouldn't!

34. What kept you sane?
My nearest and dearest. They know who they are, and I’d have been lost without them this year!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least in 2011?
The usual suspects, can’t think of any 2011 specific crushes off the top of my head

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The cuts. The riots.

37. Whom did you miss?
My grandparents and the beautiful people I’m lucky enough to call friends
but who live far away.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
RC, I met her in late 2010 but got to know her this year and I’m really glad I did

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Our paths aren’t necessarily direct from point A to point B. Sometimes it appears we are drifting or rambling and that’s okay as long as it’s not all the time. Rest when you need it. Taking a morning/afternoon off on occasion is not a bad thing.

40. Sum up the year in a song lyric/quote
I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. -Agatha Christie