The Post You are Supposed to Do on Dec. 31

So 2012, yeah, it was a year. It was memorable, frustrating, wonderful, exhausting, chaotic, and so many other things. It is hard to sum up an entire year in one blog post, which totally negates one of the reasons I have this blog. This blog is supposed to serve as a catalog of my year's highlights, however, I haven't been so great at filling up this space with those everyday moments.

As my photography business grew, it kind of took over this blog and became the space I used to showcase the photos I was taking. I love sharing those photos here because I am immensely proud of my photography. Putting my photography on my blog serves as a reminder to myself and my readers that I do this, and I've even gotten kind of good at it. I need that reminder, but I've decided this is not the place for it.

The past couple of months I've slowly been building up posts on a different blog, one that is linked directly to my Amy Sayre Photography website. It makes more sense there, and it's actually easier to post photos there than here. It was such a logical move, so I've moved. You can find my new blog here. I even posted a new blog post there today just to entice you to check it out.

I am not giving up on this space though. I really still want to use this blog as a way to document my personal, not business, life. I want it to be a reminder of my day-to-day activities, how I spend time with my husband, my dog, my friends and my family, not how I spend it building my business. That will be for my other blog. If I do that, hopefully writing this year end review blog post won't be such a daunting task.

So back to 2012. How about some highlights? Yes. Let's do highlights via this very popular internet survey:

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Get married.

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

For the most part, a big fat no, I did not keep my resolutions. And yes, I always make 5 resolutions/goals with my friend Jenny.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, my friend Kristin gave birth to her daughter Autumn in March. I took photos of her in May. She is adorable.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Mike and I lost our two cats Leroy and Itchy. They were 18 and 19-years-old respectively, and we miss them every day.

5. What countries did you visit?
Panama, and I know NYC does not count as a different country, but I took a very memorable trip there in January to see my friend Sean sing at The Met.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
More free time. The fact that I'm not planning a wedding this year should help with that.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Oct. 6, 2012 - the day I got married, because, duh, I got married.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Losing 15 lbs and sticking to a diet with Mike. (He lost 40!) We did it simply by making smart choices and being committed to feeling better about ourselves and our health.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Letting the stress of planning a wedding, holding a full time job and running a part time business get the best of me and taking out my frustrations on Mike. Sorry Mike. You put up with a lot in 2012, and I promise I'll be nicer to you in 2013.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No injuries, but I suffered a couple of colds I could have done without. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A king sized memory foam mattress with wedding money. I have never slept so good.

12. Where did most of your money go?
My wedding. I hate that that is my answer.

13. What did you get really excited about?
Going on my honeymoon, and with good reason. It was awesome.

14. What song will always remind you of 2012?
Into the Mystic by Van Morrison. It was my and Mike's first dance.

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

– happier or sadder? Happier
– thinner or fatter? Thinner
– richer or poorer? Probably poorer since my wedding savings is gone. But I still have no debt, so I'm doing pretty good.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Travel, but that wasn't really possible in the year that I took off two weeks to get married and go on a honeymoon. But I still did go to NYC and Panama, so really, I should just shut up.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worry about my wedding. Everything turned out fine. All of that lost sleep was totally worthless.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
At home. Mike and I welcomed 12 of his family members into our home on the Eve of Christmas Eve, and it was a complete success. 

19. What was your favorite TV program?
Parks and Rec, with Modern Family being a close second.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
I plowed through A Visit From the Good Squad. I also loved The Poisonwood Bible, and Loving Frank had me staying up way too late to finish it. To that, I will add A Year in Provence, which made me want to live in and eat everything in France. Oh and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kailing. I read it on my honeymoon and it made me want to be Mindy's best friend.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

I know it's totally lame to admit this, but I have to say Pink Floyd. Yes, they have been around longer than I have, but I never really listened to their music until Mike and I attended "The Wall" tour at Wrigley Field this summer. Then I became obsessed.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
Um, I could probably give an answer to this if I thought about it for a while, but I don't really want to. I don't see a lot of movies and usually when I do I'm a year behind. So I'll save myself the embarrassment and not answer this question.


23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 31 and held a small gathering at my house. It also served as a psudeo housewarming party because Mike and I never had one when we moved into our house in 2011.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting a king sized bed sooner.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Layers and accessories, tall boots and scarfs. Basically, I want to wear this every day.

26. What kept you sane?
Sleep and my dog.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.

To stop waiting on perfection. I realized while wedding planning that I was having a really hard time committing to a venue because nothing seemed perfect. And then I realized I do this a lot. I stall decisions. I hold off on doing things, on calling people, on sending birthday cards, on buying a pair of shoes, on talking to Mike, on speaking my mind because the moment that presents itself isn't "perfect." I use this idea of perfection as a crutch and an excuse to say no to a lot. So I've committed to stop waiting for perfection in 2013.

So that is it. My 2012 in a nutshell. I am sure I left out or forgot some things, but in a nod to my last answer, I am going to publish this now and not wait for the perfect answers to come to me.