Linda | 
12 31st, 2009| 
In comparison to 2008, 2009 was awful! The one thing I can think of that 2009 had over 2008 was that I read more than double the books I read in 2008. I’m anticipating the fresh feel of a new year that is 2010. In the meantime, here’s a review of how my year has gone with heavier emphasis on my blessings verses my misfortunes.
Note: All links open in a new window.
January 2009
- Celebrated New Years with Alan and his friends.
- I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.
- Saw one of my favorite movies of the year, Slumdog Millionaire.
- Kim sent me Tiff’s Treats at work to cheer me up about something.
Celebrating New Year’s with the boyfriend
February 2009
- Alan took me to my third Killer’s concert as a Christmas gift.
- Tried out Joe Dimaggio’s for the first of three times this year. Went as a Valentine’s date with Alan.
- Got flowers from Alan at work.
- Alan, his roommate, and I all played Bingo for the first time.
- I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.
Alan and I at the Killer’s Concert
March 2009
- I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.
- Went to my first rodeo with some work friends and Brandi.
- Ate at Mighty Fine for the first time, now my favorite burger joint of the year.
- Celebrated Brandi’s birthday at Pete’s Dueling Pianos.
Rodeo, Austin, TX
April 2009
- Went to Houston for my daddy’s birthday.
- I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.
- Was supposed to be Jamie’s date for a wedding. We got lost in West Austin and ended up exploring Salado, Texas instead.
- Celebrated Selina’s birthday at her house on same day Jamie and I almost went to that wedding.
Selina’s Birthday
May
- Worked a lot; logged a lot of hours.
- Visited San Francisco for the first time and went with Alan. It was our first vacation together and we ate very very well.
- Put in notice at my Clincial Research Job and thus ending that career path (for now at least?)
- I finished out May working at that job and I stopped logging too many hours.
- Celebrated Sae’s graduation from Law School.
- Kim visited from Houston for Memorial Day Weekend.
- Katambra introduced me to a snowcone stand that I frequented often in the summer.
- Saw Star Trek in IMAX, was surprised to love it.
Celebrating Sae’s law school graduation
June 2009
- Ate at a lot of happy hours with old coworkers, with Alan, Sae, and his girlfriend with new free time.
- I took a certification class to become a teacher
- I went to Houston for Father’s Day
- Kim and I tried out Feast, voted best new restaurant in Houston by a handful of magazines.
- I saw Thomas in Houston and we ate at Fufu’s.
- Went on a lot of double dates with Sae and Young. (Here’s our first time at North)
Cindy and me at Grand Lux Cafe in Houston
July
- Celebrated Fourth of July with Brandi and her boyfriend at Zilker Park..
- Went on a lot of double dates with Sae and Young.
- Went to Houston for my mom’s birthday.
- Saw Cindy in Houston and we ate at Classic Kitchen.
- Kim and I discovered Hugo’s, hands down my favorite restaurant in 2009.
- Moved in with my current roommate, and long time friend, Brandi.
- Celebrated my birthday with tons of great people at Trailer Park Eatery.
- At one point, had 4 bouquets of flowers delivered at our apartment and they were all to me from different people. Felt very loved.
- I took and passed my state certification test to become a middle school teacher for science.
Brandi and me on Fourth of July
August
- The first two weeks of August, I tried to squeeze in as much time as I can with Alan because he was about to leave for Korea for up to 4.5 months.
- Starting, August 16, I started counting days Alan was gone.
- Kim came to visit the weekend of the 22nd and we saw Wicked.
- I saw 500 Days of Summer three times this month, in theatre, of course. This is the first movie I’ve done that.
- Jon visited from NYC.
- I got a part-time, part-time (yes you read that right) job, thanks to Brittany dropping a good word for me.
Alan’s last night out with friends before going to Korea.
September
- Hosted the first Alphabet pot luck. We started with the letter P.
- Wrote a blog entry about my journals, surprisingly my favorite blog entry of the year.
- Friends and I got dressed up for Deesh’s brother’s wedding reception.
- Visited Mary Ellen for a long weekend in Boston. First time I’ve gone to see her since 2005. Had best breakfast ever at Mike and Patty’s and most interesting hot pot.
- Alan surprised me by coming home from Korea early.
- Went out for Selina’s Bachelorette Party.
October
- Celebrated Alan’s birthday at Joe Dimaggio’s. Was very happy to have him back in Texas and to be able to celebrate his birthday with him and take him as a date to weddings. He had good timing :)
- Stood in Selina & Ryan’s Wedding and witnessed strong love.
- Realised I don’t really want to be a teacher.
- Threw 2nd Alphabet Potluck.
- Dressed up as a cow girl for Halloween.
November
- Went to Wurst Fest with friends.
- Went to Cathedral of Junk for the first time with Brandi.
- Texas Renaissance with Jessica and Brandi
- Had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Houston where I reunited with people I don’t normally see! (Willis, Thomas, Kim, Shane, Kelvin, Chris, Aishah, Kym, Hillary, Alex)
- Had my second progressive meal this year.
Having hot chocolate at Ren Fest.
December
- I started my new full time job and kept my part time night job.
- I struggled with what it means to be someone’s family.
- I struggled with what it means to be someone’s friend.
- I made truffles for the first time!
- Saw Avatar in IMAX opening night. Awesome.
- Attended and witnessed proudly, Bing graduate from college
- Attended annual Christmas Party for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America with my little and her family.
- Jennifer from Philly is in town and I introduced her to Teucsher.
- I went home to Houston for Christmas break and was able to see Mary Ellen, Aishah, Pinky, Cindy, and Kim of course my lovely family.
- Had hot pot on Christmas day twice. Lunch with Mary Ellen and her mom and dinner with my own family. Hot potted out! (Blog entry to come.)
- Released balloons 4 days early as part of a New Year’s Tradition with Kim. (Blog entry to come.)
- Tonight, most likely will be going downtown for New Year’s and spending it with Alan.
After party in the car.
I’m a blessed girl. Instinctively, I’d tell you my 2009 was pretty awful but when I write it all out like this and focused on the good rather than the bad, I can see now I’m still quite lucky. Farewell, 2009.
Texas native. Living and working in Austin, TX. Twenty something. In hot pursuit of good food, adventure, and laughter. Dreams of owning her own place with a big giant library.
December 31st, 2009 at 10:17 am
Love it!
December 31st, 2009 at 11:30 am
I’m jealous of all the delicous-sounding food you had this year hah
And I like shooting sometimes. I’m terrified of shotguns. I’m a decent shot.. not wonderful, but I’ll hit the target a few times hah
December 31st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Thinh, I enjoyed your list. it was nice to witness kind of first hand how you grew this year. keep inspiring!
December 31st, 2009 at 12:27 pm
whitney, that’s great/scary/impressive that you hit the target! i make it to the target maybe 50 percent of the time. that’s kinda scary too i guess.
December 31st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Wow you had a lot going on this year. Love that you went to San Francisco, I wanna go!
Lol about the teacher bit – I’m a teacher and some days I feel like I don’t want to be. Some days it’s worth it tho. Good luck to you in 2010!
December 31st, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I went through 2.5 years of college to become a teacher when I realized I didn’t want to be one, nor should I be one. Also, a blessing in disguise happened when I failed my final internship which would give me my teaching credentials. I’m now on the path I was meant to be on, and a whole lot wiser!
I loved your list! It’s amazing how much happens in a year!
December 31st, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Ari,
thanks for the comment. i commend teachers! it takes a special breed of people to do it and it’s an important job. if i had a hat, i’d tip it to you.
Stephany,
thanks for the comment! yeah, it’s good to see the money and time i spent and you especially the time and money to realise what we DON”T want as bygones and important steps, no matter the cost.
i’m heading off to read yours!
December 31st, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Sounds like a pretty good year—hope 2010 is even better!
December 31st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Same to you, Amy! Happy new year to you and Brian
December 31st, 2009 at 9:55 pm
First of all, the first picture of you and Alan is so adorable. A lot of love is evident in that photograph :)
I really enjoyed reading this, especially because I started reading your blog in September, and as I got to September 2009 in your list, I realized that I had experienced all these events with you through your writing and pictures. So thanks for inviting me (and all of us) into your life, for giving me something to look forward to reading everyday, and for your honesty. I wish you lived in New York – I would have loved to have a friend like you.
Happy new year Linda! Here’s to a great 2010 for everyone.
January 1st, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Sounds like 2009 was a great year for you! I hope 2010 is great too! :)
January 1st, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Jessilyn,
I’m not joking about having at least two very very close friends in NYC that I should eventually visit again when my wallet permits :) we should eat something together or drink something together! Happy new year and I’m glad to kinda meet you this year.
Emily,
likewise! Happy new year :)
January 1st, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Hey Linda, I know I already told you on 20SB, but I love the way you put together your list. Definitely going to try to keep better track of events on a monthly basis in 2010.
January 1st, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Hi Martin! thanks for coming by and leaving a comment. Good luck keeping record of your year! It’s good to look back and reflect and a year’s end seems like the perfect time to do that.
January 3rd, 2010 at 5:29 pm
You had quite a year! Travel, career change, big milestones in the lives of loved ones. I love how you kept such great track of everything. I need to start doing that!
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:46 pm
thanks for the visit and comment, Elizabeth :)
January 7th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
I still haven’t done mine! And now you and I are blogging for today. I guess I should set a deadline for this weekend huh? Ugh. I’d love to write down what happened this year. It was a big year for all that it sucked!