2012

Happy 2013! It's a new year and therefore, I'm completing this year-end survey again. This time though, I completed it with Andi and added some of his answers for a fun twist. (Here's 2009, 2010 and 2011):

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before?


Weaned my child from nursing. Made my own baby food. Drove an ATV. Celebrated my first Mother's Day. Cut cable. Andi held his first bike race.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?


My 2012 resolution: host a dinner for friends once a month in an effort to stay better connected with people we love. Unfortunately, this goal of mine didn't last long. It proved to be very challenging to get other people to commit to a day on the calendar to get together. However, Andi and I did meet up with a few couple friends throughout the year for dinners out and those nights were always a highlight for me. Together, Andi and I also went on several date night dinners, just the two of us, which I loved every minute.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! My good friend Melissa had a baby girl, Vivian, in May. My sister had her baby girl, Neeley, in August and my best friend Ashley gave birth to a baby boy, Easton, in November. Several of Andi's friends also had babies this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, unfortunately. Andi's grandma passed away in December. My dad's aunt also passed away.

5. What countries did you visit?


I didn't travel out of the country in 2012 (sad!), but I visited these new cities in the United States: Austin, TX, New Orleans and Vail, Colorado. Andi traveled to Canada a few times for work and once for a fishing mancation with his friend, Charlie.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you didn't have in 2012?

A child who sleeps through the night. A tailgate party with my favorite dips and chips, of course. Andi hopes for more weekends at the cabin.

7. What dates from 2012 will be etched upon your memory, and why?
August 30 - Tory's first birthday
November 21 - first day as a stay-at-home-mom

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

Andi and I both agree - being a parent is our biggest accomplishment. We're raising a smart, witty, strong-minded little girl and it's amazing watching her become her own person based on the skills I'm teaching her.

9. What's your biggest failure?
Saying things on my blog and Twitter to get them off my chest, when they likely hurt other people's feelings. I did this to Andi a few times because I was caught up in emotion and I felt terribly about it afterward.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No, thankfully. Just a few colds and bouts of flu.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
We rented our cabin for an entire year, and that's worth noting. Biggest purchase - our pontoon boat.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My husband's - he worked so hard in 2012 to build a successful company. It's pretty remarkable all he's accomplished this year. We also celebrated lots of Tory's firsts - sitting up solo, crawling and walking.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I was fairly annoyed by all the political talk on social media around the election. I'm all for voicing your opinion by voting at the polls, but does everyone really to see your opinion splashed all over the Internet a gazillion times? I think not.

14. Where did most of your money go?
I don't know, I'd have to ask my husband - ha! Okay really, our mortgages, the cabin, cars, trips to Nebraska, child care, diapers, diapers, diapers ... 

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My family's visit to Minnesota in late August. My parents usually visit once a year, and never before have my sister, brother, aunt, uncle and cousins all visited at the same time. 

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2012?
Pontoon by Little Big Town

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

a) happier or sadder? I'm pretty damn happy.

b) thinner or fatter? Thinner. Definitely had some baby weight to lose last year at this time.

c) richer or poorer?
 Richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Gone to the lake cabin more often. Working those stupid Gopher football games this fall really cramped our cabin style toward the end of the season.

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


I wish I would have done less worrying about the breastfeeding thing. In the end, formula wasn't the devil and I don't know why I beat myself up so hard about having a low milk supply. Everything worked out in the end.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Andi, Tory and I hosted Andi's parents and sister at our house for Christmas. We opened presents, ate great food and enjoyed each other's company before Andi, unfortunately, had to leave town for an event in the California desert. 

21. Did you fall in love with 2012?
I fell in love with coffee in a major way. Like, I need it every single day.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Sadly, I watched far less TV in 2012 than I would have liked. Darn parenting really gets in the way of things. I guess I'd say How I Met Your Mother - my tried and true favorite. Or Friday Night Lights. We definitely wasted many, many hours of our lives watching that show on Netflix.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
What a dumb question. I don't hate anyone.

24. What was the best book you read?

Hunger Games - I loved those books.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The harmonica? I don't know. I'm the worst at music. I mostly listen to talk radio.

26. What did you want and get?
Andi wanted all the latest and greatest Apple products and got them the second they were released. I wanted an iPhone, too, and finally got one. 

27. What did you want and not get?

Andi said he wanted this can cooker. Ha. I wish I would have had more sleep.

28. What was your favorite film of 2012?
Hunger Games. I think that might have been the one and only movie we saw at the theatre the entire year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 31 this year and celebrated at home with dinner and drinks in downtown Minneapolis. 

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

I wish I would had taken a big vacation. Andi would have liked Tory to sleep through the night.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2012?
Casual and comfortable.

32. What kept you sane?
The cabin. 
And earplugs, Andi said.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
I wasn't stirred by any political issue.

34. Who did you miss?

I missed my Nebraska family and friends.

35. Who was the best new person you met?
I met so many great friends in 2012 - many online blogger turned real-life friends and some mom friends met through Tory's activities.


36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
Tomorrow's always a new day as a parent. I reminded myself of this every single day in 2012. Eventually Tory will sleep through the night. Eventually, eventually, eventually ... at the beginning of 2013, we're almost there, I think.

37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore.
We always find things we've never seen before.
That's why every day we're back for more
with your friends, the Backyardigans.

Andi and I listened to The Backyardigans theme song on repeat waaay too many times on the drive to and from the cabin this year. Our Tory Bean is hypnotized by that show. I'll never forget the theme song as long as I live.