Pink's Not My Favorite Color: So long 2011, Welcome 2012!

First post of 2012 - yay!

Sorry it's already 2 weeks in. I've been meaning to write, but then I get distracted or occupied with something else.

To say I'm glad 2011 is over is an understatement. It was a hellish year. There were a few good things (Tiny's wedding and getting to see old college friends), but overall, I'm happy to put 2011 behind me and look to 2012 for bigger and better things. :)

I spent New Year's Eve at home with the family playing Monopoly. It was the first time my brother's girlfriend played, not only with us, but ever, so she got to see what a big fat cheater he is and sore loser.

On New Year's Day, I went with Uni & Ro to Universal Studios for the day. I'd never been and with the purchase of one days admission, I got an annual pass so I can go back anytime I want (some blackout dates). Thanks Uni & Ro! They already had annual passes and they generously bought mine even though I told them it wasn't necessary. We had a good time. We didn't hit every ride; just took our time moving through the park, talking and eating. We have a whole year to go back and see everything.

Last year we went to Disneyland on New Year's Day, so we think it would be fun to hit different amusement parks every New Year's Day. You know, start a little tradition. :) I'm hoping we can also hit Sea World in SD. I've never been either, so that would be cool.

The new year has brought a new niece. This time from one of my male cousins. Actually, it's the first male cousin to have kids. :) Say hello to Summer Rylie! (Yup, that's how they spelled her middle name.)

On Christmas Day, my cousin (finally!) proposed to his girlfriend. (They're celebrating their 7th anniversary this weekend.) Unfortunately, no wedding this year. She wants plenty of time to plan. They've set the date for next August. I really tried to get her to get married on my birthday since it's on a Saturday next year and that way, I don't have to worry about my birthday. I think that's why my 30th was so great, because my friend got married that day and took focus off my big 30th. ;)

To my great dismay, I realized that I only read 2 books last year. ack! And I only read double that in 2010. Bad faded_girl, bad! So while I'm not big on making New Year's Resolutions, I did resolve to read more this year. I'm happy to report that I've already read four books; three of them in this week alone. My boss gave me an Amazon gift card for Christmas, so I bought a bunch of dvd's I wanted that were on sale and then I went and bought a bunch of books too, even though I already have a crapload of books I still haven't read. I figured an infusion of new chick lit books would help me get back into the swing of things and then I could start in on the books I already have.

A great motivator is also my co-worker. Last year was the second year, I think, that he read a total of 50 books during the year and he made it a goal to do that again this year. I still say his goal should be 52, one a week, but he ignores me. The first week of January, he was gloating that he had already finished his first book of the new year, so I hauled ass to finish "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies."

I say "hauled ass" because I wasn't very into the book. I love "Pride and Prejudice," everyone knows that, and I figured there would be some changes to some parts with the insertion of the zombies. What I didn't expect was for the author to take certain liberties that I didn't agree with, specifically dealing with Elizabeth and Charlotte. I was grateful that he didn't change the last couple of chapters too much, the story stayed intact and the zombies were only a side note.

After that I read three of my chick lit books easily while my co-worker read his second book. He makes fun of me for my chick lit books and tells me I'm allowed to gloat when I read a "real" book. When I finished my third book he said it wasn't a competition because we're not reading the same books, so we agreed to read "Lady Chatterley's Lover" together. He's finished his second book and I finished my fourth book, so we're starting our "real" book this weekend. I have to get started tomorrow. Like I said, our back and forth teasing and egging each other on is a great motivator. ;)

I leave you now with some photos from the last three months of 2011.

Tiny's Bachelorette Dinner with the Carleton girls.