2012 - Your year in review

So we're half way through December and the end of the year is fast approaching (well provided the world doesn't end before then!) What has been the highlight of your year? Did you achieve something you set out to achieve? Did something happy and unexpected happen? What are you plans going forward?

The lows for me were failing at getting a job promotion that I've been trying several times to get. I thought that I was in the best position ever for it but alas it didn't work out.

A few weeks later though, going to the Olympics and Paralympics was pretty much the high - I've lived in London for most of my life before I moved to Ireland for work so seeing the Olympics and Paralympics in my own backyard is something that's going to live with me forever. Made me so proud - this has been my cover photo on facebook for so long and it keeps bringing back "that feel." Never felt so proud!

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...36687236_o.jpg

This got me inspired to sort my life out and get in shape again. I've been going the gym daily for about 9 weeks now and have nearly dropped 2 dress sizes which would've been unthinkable to me this time last year.

So my plan going forward is to keep that up and then nail that job next time it comes up. Doing as much as I can to make that happen and not trying to dwell on set backs as much anymore.

I've had a pretty uneventful year in terms of big things happening really.

I guess this is the year I went a bit crazy, got really independent, worked really hard and got through it.

I failed to get onto my dream graduate scheme, so was really depressed about that for a while, but now I've realised that one closed door means several open doors; had I gotten onto that grad scheme, I would not be able to go traveling in Australia next year which would really smurf me over.

The most significant thing that has happened this year is probably my promotion at work, because I worked so hard and went unnoticed, was very much an underdog in the 'competition' shall we say, and blew away the managers in my trial for the position. Since then I've been told I'm the most friendly and personable member of staff on my shop floor, which is nice because I know first hand how much the staff complain about the Supervisors and Management.

I specifically make it my goal to make sure that my staff get a chance to shine, and are happy and interested in their work as sometimes retail can be super stressful, so I like to make sure that they're always enjoying it.

I've also gotten a lot more confident and loosened up a bit.

Next year, I hope is going to be an even bigger year for me. I'm graduation (hopefully with my maintained 2:1!) and then pretty soon after I'll be leaving the UK for a year abroad working in Australia. This is so exciting but terrifying, but I feel like I have to do it. I am struggling to decide what I want to pursue as a career, so hopefully when I'm away I can figure out my life a little bit, because right now it feels like a giant puzzle with pieces missing.

2012 was an ok year from me apart from the loss of my mother.

I was living in London touring the country with a band working as their tech, graphic designer and what not.
I have since finished my time with the band and moved back to my parents house to help my dad out.

2013 is hopefully going to be a good year though I hae lots of projects in line to keep me busy :D

2012 had its ups and downs for me, like every other year. Can't really pinpoint to any certain events for this year, but let's just say I've enjoyed it. :)

2012 was pretty good, I guess. I learned a lot and matured a lot. And made new friendships, and cut out unhealthy relationships.

2013 is going to be damn amazing, though.

I got my master's, went traveling, became single again after 3 years, came back to EoFF, etc. It was ok

It smurfin flew. Which I guess is a good thing? Nothing notable happened really besides taking an actual vacation in July. Oh, and I joined EoFF. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Futan

Oh, and I joined EoFF. :p

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your 2013 will draaaaaaaaaaag because of this

:3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Denmark

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Futan

Oh, and I joined EoFF. :p

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your 2013 will draaaaaaaaaaag because of this

:3

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Well 2012 since I joined sure has! :monster:

I got a job that I actually enjoy (as much as one can enjoy a job) and also have so far stuck to my New Year's Resolution from January.

Which was to make at least one new thread a day on EoFF. :smug:

2012 was a relatively troutty year that got better as it went on. Next year will be spent almost entirely in China, presuming I don't Rantz it up and get banned. ;)

.....was hoping my house would get done this year :cry: but I don't really know how to do some of the stuff and my dad has been working on his houses/apartments (working midnight shifts too) ....and my just parents split up....


Thankfully I got a raise at work though...min wage isn't really that good to work with when you have a house...

I embarked on the journey of a lifetime. It was riddled with obstacles and challenges not of my own creation which only served to dampen the overall experience. I returned "home" to a completely different world than I had left, and have been struggling to cope with the changes ever since. The constant depression has removed any sense of joy or passion I would have normally felt from important events like graduating university or exiting my teenage years. I have become utterly disillusioned with life in general and am now locked in an endless debate over what there is to do next and whether or not it is of any point or purpose. 2012 would be the best year of my life if the world ended and that's not even a smurfing joke.

2012 was a busy year...

Graduated and got that degree.
Got a new job few months after graduating and the pay, work and hours are pretty good.
Finally got my dream office for editing, web design, and such. Freelance stuff I do on the side.
Got diagnosed with something so that's not good.
Learning new things on the job and outside pushing myself to learn new things by myself or with tutorials.

I hope for 2013 that I will be in good health for next year and continue to learn. I also hope that I will still have a good job as I need to pay off loans and be more independent.

House burned down. Lived in a motel for three weeks. Went to two anime conventions. Lived in a small house with six people, two dogs, and a cat for five months. Graduated. Went to DC to bore Proto, Baloki, and Jiro. Moved back in. Moved in my dorm.

An interesting year, to be honest. xD

Well. My 2012 was okay. For me, at least.

Finally found a stable group of friends from my university (in my last semester, no less), who were also coworkers. Then drama happened, so the group kept getting smaller and more... uneasy. -___- ... Trying to stay neutral...

Fell for someone. We hung out and drunkenly smurfed. Not much happened. Was disappointed for a few weeks, but meh. Everyone else thought I was totally in love with him, though. >.>

Graduated with my Master's.

Fell for a guy in the summer, who I thought was honest and sweet and stuff, but nope, he smurfed up. That ended badly, and even up to now, I'm not talking to him.

Got diagnosed with something, as well, but on my skin. Not too bad, I guess, but I do need prescription ointments for it.

Uh... came back to EoFF. Met all sorts of people. :P


After all that happened this year, I think that I just need to be alone for a while so I can become stable in many aspects of my life. XD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jiro

I embarked on the journey of a lifetime. It was riddled with obstacles and challenges not of my own creation which only served to dampen the overall experience. I returned "home" to a completely different world than I had left, and have been struggling to cope with the changes ever since. The constant depression has removed any sense of joy or passion I would have normally felt from important events like graduating university or exiting my teenage years. I have become utterly disillusioned with life in general and am now locked in an endless debate over what there is to do next and whether or not it is of any point or purpose. 2012 would be the best year of my life if the world ended and that's not even a smurfing joke.

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Oh Jiro :(

I know those feels about not knowing about your purposes and what there is to do. My younger sister has more of a track on her life right now and I just still don't even know what I'll do when I graduate for a career. This time 7 months ago I had my heart set on teaching English, but those dreams kind of fell through a bit, so now I feel like it just was never meant to be, I know I could get into teaching if I tried. But after the setback I just feel so awful about it.

I kinda went off a bit there, sorry. I hope 2013 is better for you though Jiro.

And anyway, we're going to start our Journalist Business remember!

:moose:

I hope for both your sakes you find your Muse. I'm 26 and still don't really know what I want too, or can do! This is going off on a bit of a tangent though... perhaps a new EoFF Career Advice thread is needed.

This year was... eyeopening for me, in the best way possible.

In the first half of the year I started soulsearching and studying things I do to help improve myself and remove mindsets and habits that make me unhappy. I visited NC and saw a lot of old friends, and I definitely matured a bit.

In the 2nd half of the year I made the big changes. I've began studies of autism and Kung Fu, both of which started about 5-6 months ago. Being autistic myself these two activities have completely altered the way I view myself and the world around me for the better, and I've begun to learn empathy and discipline. I've been single for 2 years, but this no longer bothers me as this half of the year has been largely dedicated to improving myself.

I got accepted into the University of Colorado: Colorado Springs just days ago. I intend to major is psychology for my bachelors and get my masters in Counseling Psychology so I can get into family/relationship counseling. I've taken some classes on finances and I intend to live a modest life with as little debt as possible. I'm not the kind of guy who likes a lot of stuff anyways.
My priorities have started to straighten out, and will continue to straighten out once I start focusing on what little baggage I have left.

So yes, this year has been quite good for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jiro

I embarked on the journey of a lifetime. It was riddled with obstacles and challenges not of my own creation which only served to dampen the overall experience. I returned "home" to a completely different world than I had left, and have been struggling to cope with the changes ever since. The constant depression has removed any sense of joy or passion I would have normally felt from important events like graduating university or exiting my teenage years. I have become utterly disillusioned with life in general and am now locked in an endless debate over what there is to do next and whether or not it is of any point or purpose. 2012 would be the best year of my life if the world ended and that's not even a smurfing joke.

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I... I have no words for this. I hope things look up for you sooner rather than later. I, and many others, are here for you if you need to talk or vent. Someone who has brought so much joy to these forums should never have to suffer without joy of his own.

Highs:
Went to Paris
Got Married
Went to Italy

Lows:
Business was way down this year
My dog was attacked and ended up hurt and traumatized
Crazy wedding related stress drove me bonkers

Accomplishments
Read about 30 books or so
Ran 5 miles without stopping for the first time
Got featured on a national blog
Made some new friends this year.

2012 was a strange year since so much felt like it was in limbo. Everything prior to 2012 felt like so-and-so many days until the wedding. A constant clock ticking down to this one major event, and all other things got put on the backburner.

I'm excited for 2013. I'm so happy to be married and in a really good place as far as my business, and I'm just starting to build some cool new relationships with people I've recently befriended. I also feel like I'm developing a better sense of exactly what I want my life to look like and how to go about achieving that. So 2012 was a transitional year and hopefully 2013 is the year of fruition!

Woke up, still drunk.
Went to wedding in Central America, woke up the next morning still drunk.
Couldn't find the car I wanted within states, ordered it, got drunk.
Bought wife 4'th new car in as many years, got drunk before getting home.
Went on vacation, drunk before the plane landed.
Started another bathroom remodel, got drunk, didn't finish. Still haven't finished.
Went camping, got drunk and sick.
Work, drinking, energy drinks, mix, recycle, repeat, still sick.
Day before trip, Dr. says it's pneumonia. Shots, IV antiB's, pills, yay.
Next morning (6am), on plane to Germany to pick up the car I ordered. Got drunk.
Dropped of car, train to Paris, got drunk, a couple fu's to "Parisians" on train.
Got drunk, got sick of Paris, got back on train to Germany, got drunk, and a "f all of you and have a nice day" (more Parisians).
Germany rocks, got drunk, watched Germany botch their shot at the Euro cup.
Got home, got car, got wreckless, got wheel spin.
Took kid camping with his best friend. Got chased out of campsite by broken Coleman lantern.
Got f'd in a huge business deal (while away in Eur, 25% of my average annual income), got engaged, got plane tickets for fam, got on plane to Maui.
Got drunk, got pissed, got "gone", got reported as missing person, slept in the rental car, went to one of my reserved rooms (I booked several rooms for fam), got interrogated by Maui police, got drunk.
Got lucky.
Got married.
Got buzzed.
Got home.
Got on plane to FL. Got drunk, tanner, f'd, tanner, f'd again, drunker, good.
Back home, got drunk.
Kids projects.
Crazy busy...
Got buzzed, rambled about '12 on eoff. Realized I may have a drinking problem.
Getting ready for half of Central America to come stay with us for Xmas/New Years while working on getting drunk.

...El Fin

I feel like the odd one out here for not doing anything interesting at all this last year.

And also for the fact that I turn 29 in three days but am living in my dad's basement whilst working overnights at a big box store and I don't give a trout. I'm happier, right now, than I have ever been. I don't want anything else out of life except for having Huxley be actually in the same country as I am :p

This year has been filled with ups and downs, but I think for the first time in a while I've been generally happy for the most of it. The only thing that could have been better this year is my employment situation - over the past few months it has been the cause of a lot of the lower moments.

But. My relationship is still going strong, I made possibly the best friend I've ever had, I graduated which was amazing... Reconnecting with a bunch of you guys, and making some new friends, after coming back to EoFF has also been pretty good. :p

I am hoping that 2013 will lead to me having some sort of job. Everything else is awesome.

Moved to Boston. Got my green card. Moved to South Carolina.