1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? Adopted a cat from a shelter, went to Scotland, got engaged, planned a wedding, successfully completed my MA, bought a puppy, attended puppy training classes, got married, went to France, rode in an ambulance, slept overnight in a chair next to a hospital bed. (Phew! Some year...)
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Never really make them. The second I make any sort of longterm goal, I immediately want to do the opposite.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes – the world was graced with the presences of Trevor Martin and Addison Gates!
4. Did anyone close to you die? First time I've ever answered yes to this question - I lost my Spike
5. What countries did you visit? In the spring I went to Scotland with my parents. And this fall Ush and I went on a mini-honeymoon in France.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? Hmm… A full-time job that I love and a monster savings for our house deposit.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 22nd April when we got engaged and 20th October – our wedding day! Also, the days in January and August, respectively, when we brought Charlie and Toby home
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Wedding planning and puppy training (Oh yeah, and maybe the MA?! Meh.)
9. What was your biggest failure? Does mistake = failure? Not necessarily. Mistakes may bring negative consequences, but there's always a positive if you've learned something from the situation... Anyway, I didn't make any mistakes because I'm perfect
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No injury. But I did get the flu and threw up for the first time in over a decade! So that wasn’t fun at all.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Greatest bargain was my wedding dress for $12.99!! Best lifelong purchase was definitely our pup, Toby
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My answers are the same this year, and for similar reasons: Ushwin – a wonderfully supportive and incredibly generous best friend and (finally!) husband My brother – I’m so proud of his growth as a man and an individual My parents – I could not have a better model of adults, parents, and a husband-wife team My friends – old and new – who let me be who I am and still love me for it
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Several outings with Resources for Autism has made my heart break over ignorant, cruel people who lack compassion and understanding.. Ohh, and that woman in A&E at the hospital who said, "Excuse me, is there a problem over here?!" Yes, you @#$ £!^*&+, my husband is in excruciating pain, do ya mind?!?!" (I can appreciate being tired and overworked, but that doesn't give you the right to be rude, hurtful, ignorant, and condescending.)
14. Where did most of your money go? Hehehe - most of our money was spent on the new flat, our pets, the wedding, and eating sushi!!!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Duh – the wedding
16. What song will always remind you of 2006? Ben Folds – “The Luckiest” – because I walked down the aisle to it! (well, the first 1:25 to be exact – thanks to Chris’s music editing skills!)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? I’m still well and happy ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner, so they tell me iii. richer or poorer? Richer – we just got married! (Though it’s not like we can use any of it right now.. it’s sitting in an ISA.)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? More time spent in the library/studying in general would probably have been helpful while working on my MA – but that doesn’t matter now, does it?!
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Less being scared of silly things
20. How will you be spending this New Year’s Eve? We were going to go to Bath for the weekend to visit Ush’s dad… but Ush's back pain hasn't subsided enough to where he'd feel comfortable making the journey. So it looks like we'll be staying home with our 3-litre bottle of Leffe!!
22. Did you fall in love in 2006? Well, I fell more in love with my husband. And I did fall in love with mon petit chien - Toby aka Tobes aka Toblerone aka Little Monster! (Ush has some more, rather crass, nicknames for him that I won't put on here )
23. How many one-night stands? None! I'm forever taken. In fact, next year I may replace this question with something else.
24. What was your favourite TV program? Grey’s Anatomy, 24, and Dr. Who Plus I'm still way into Eastenders as well as various cooking and property buying shows.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nope. I don’t hate people, I hate issues – such as greed and intolerance and selfishness.
26. What was the best book you read? The Time Traveller’s Wife, Angels & Demons, The Lovely Bones, The Kite Runner, My Sister’s Keeper,
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? No big discoveries this year that I can really recall… Stuff that I was introduced to and enjoyed includes: Panic! At The Disco, Lostprophets, Skindred, The Fray, Paolo Nutini, James Morrison...
28. What did you want and get? Engaged. And as a bonus I got married in the same year! (Never liked the idea of long engagements.) Oh, and some furry animal friends!
30. What was your favourite film of this year? Can’t remember any huge favourites.. Ricky Bobby was hilarious. So was Borat. I really like The Holiday. Those are recent ones – I can’t remember films that I saw way back in the beginning of the year.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Went for dessert at Amoré with Ush, Chris, Conal, Charlotte, Andy, Bobby, and Gemma. I turned 24 on the 24th! (Gosh that feels like ages ago.. seeing as my next bday is in less than a month!)
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Immeasurably? That’s a little extreme I think. In general, it was an excellent year. My first full year living in London and the year I got married. Really can’t complain
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? The thing about London is you can wear whatever you want, truly. It’s fantastic! It is such a richly diverse community, that whatever you wear – from designer to thrift – you’ll still fit right in!! So, I dress like myself – branching out to different styles from time to time if I feel like it.
34. What kept you sane? Ushwin, chats with my mom and dad on the phone, playing with my animals, growing friendships
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? No one really. I was a big fan of Big Brother’s Pete. I heart Jack Bauer. And McDreamy.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Intolerance of differences.
37. Who did you miss? My parents, family, and friends from back home
38. Who was the best new person you met? I’ve met some great people through IPOP and RFA
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006: Relationships (including friendships) take work, but it's more than worth it!
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I don't get many things right the first time. In fact, I am told that a lot. Now I know all the wrong turns and stumbles and falls brought me here. And where was I before the day that I first saw your lovely face? Now I see it everyday. And I know that I am, I am, I am the luckiest. – Ben Folds
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