2012 Review

Has it been an entire year since I posted about all the things I did in 2011? 

At the end of that post I wrote:

I'm not the kind of person to make resolutions or set goals for a coming year. Because I know that, merely by living my life, I'm going to experience new things and grow in ways I can't anticipate.

I know 2012 will be no different. 

And I was right.  From the jungles of Belize to the skyscrapers of New York to the historic houses in New Orleans' French Quarter, I did a lot in 2012:

• rang in the New Year in little roadside open-air village bar in Belize, where a dozen American tourists blew noisemakers with local Belizean villagers.  
• hiked through the Belizean jungle and had a picnic in a cave. 
  
• took the plunge to start planning my relocation to Chicago.  Dusted off my resume, went on the job hunt for the first time in 10 years.  Applied to a dozen positions, got three phone interviews.
• started out the year in a huge tennis slump, lost 9 of my first 10 matches.  
• read appx. 45 books, blogged about 12 of them. 
• bought my first new tennis racket in four years. Then won the Silver League twice  (once in spring, once in the fall). (Oops, I don't know why I had it in my head that I won it twice.  I only finished 1st once.  I got 2nd place in the spring, 3rd place in the summer, then I won it in the fall. Which is much better than 8th (last) place I got in the Gold.) 
• visited New York, stayed in Manhattan, saw the new World Trade Center under construction, deepened my obsession with skyscrapers.
  
• attended my first Seder, and later got my my first Hanukkah present. 
• went to my first prom (thanks to my teacher/chaperone girlfriend.)    
• took my girlfriend to Bloomington, IN. Watched Breaking Away in our room.
• attended a surprise party for my mom's 70th birthday.  Introduced my girlfriend to my large extended family. 
• visited Pittsburgh for the first time.  Met many new people in my girlfriend's family. 
• spent a weekend with family in Madison, IN.  Almost(!) beat my big brother in our annual tennis match.  I'll get him next year!    
• said goodbye to my mom's husband, who'd been a part of my family for 10 years.  
• attended a funeral and wedding in the same week.  Visited Raleigh and the research triangle.   
• got engaged!
  
• took part in Obama's re-election.
• discovered, and became obsessed with, the Game of Thrones series of books. 
• started planning a wedding.
• quintupled the most wins I'd ever had in the Gold League, finishing with my first winning record (5-2.)  Thanks to a bizarre series of upsets and coincidences, finished in first place! 
• visited Cleveland for the first time.  
• broke a string on a tennis racket for the first time ever. (This happens to other players all the time, but in six years of playing I'd never done it.)  
• visited New Orleans, got to know the French Quarter, and watched the fleur de lis drop on New Year's Eve. (Post about this coming soon.)

It felt like I was on quite a winning streak by the end of the year: I won the Silver League, got engaged, Obama won the election, and then I won the Gold League.

Would it be greedy to expect as much success in 2013?  There will certainly be a lot of scary and exciting changes, as I quit my job, move to Chicago, get married, find a new job (?), and completely upend my life.