Happy New Year! I wish you all the best in 2012…hope you have plans to make it the best year you’ve ever lived.

This is my eighth year doing this “year in review” survey. You can check out my responses in previous years if you’d like: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

01. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Drive my own car, go on a solo road trip.

02. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t know if I made resolutions but I probably did and probably didn’t keep them (as usual). I will absolutely make new resolutions.

03. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, Allison had Noah in September!

04. Did anyone close to you die?
One of my cousins passed away a few months ago and my mom’s cousin passed away a couple of weeks ago, in her sleep. I wasn’t close to either lady, but I last saw my mother’s cousin in 2008 when we visited Nigeria and I thought she was a really nice woman. When we returned to Nigeria in 2010 we dropped by her house but unfortunately she wasn’t at home. Both ladies died young; that’s always a sad thing.

05. What countries did you visit?
USA.

06. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A fiancé.

07. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Maybe July 30, when I bought my car, and August 4 when I picked it up at the dealership.

08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Buying a car.

09. What was your biggest failure?
Not realizing my blogging goals.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Aside from the nasty burn on my right arm from my Dad’s oven in Hammy, nope (thank God!).

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My car (goodness: we have a strong theme here!).

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My parents and my sister. They were all so supportive of me this year. Also, my sister had some pretty big milestones this year (got out of her dead-end job, got baptized, and got an iPhone) so I’m very proud of her (and yes, getting an iPhone is a milestone because it really has changed her life, just as I predicted it would!).

I also have awesome friends.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Brother #2, a colleague, and the Canadian embassy in Nigeria.

14.Where did most of your money go?
Eating out? The car? My mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Paying my dad a surprise visit in Hammy.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Someone Like You by Adele.

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

happier or sadder?
Sadder, but only because this time last year I was pretty lovestruck.

thinner or fatter?
I’m quite sure I have more fat cells if I’m not actually larger.

richer or poorer?
Poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising, cooking, learning graphic design, mastering WordPress, praying, having faith, reading (including in particular my bible).

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating sugar-laced products (same as last year).

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family. We opened our gifts after dinner (a first!) on Christmas day, I enjoyed Boxing Day shopping solo, and I slept over at my parents for most of the week after Christmas (this latter part is the same as last year).

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
Nope.

22. What was your favourite TV program?
Oprah’s Lifeclass.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nah, though there are a few people that I would like nothing more than a nodding acquaintance with.

24. What was the best book you read?
Hmm, I didn’t read many books cover-to-cover but Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk was good.

25. Who was your greatest musical discovery?
Adele.

26. What did you want and get?
A car.

27. What did you want and not get?
This fella I like to move here.

28. What was your favourite film of 2011?
Something Borrowed I think.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 32 and went for lunch and dinner with friends the night before, and dinner with my family the day of. I also decided to intentionally celebrate my birthday moving forward.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having a boyfriend who lived in the same country as me.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
“I wore clothing”.

32. What kept you sane?
My family and friends and remembering to give thanks (same as last year).

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
None. I don’t fancy celebrities or public figures.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I remain politically apathetic, just like last year (and years previous).

35. Who did you miss?
This fella who’s in Nigeria, K.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
No one comes to mind.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011
I’m still learning this but I think my dad is right when he said I have to make sure that I don’t let setbacks prevent me from continuing to pray and hope for things with all my heart. If I let something that’s important to me slip off my radar as a coping mechanism, I may discover that I’ll successfully trick myself into thinking I don’t actually want it. I do this because I want to protect myself but I need to stop trying to prevent myself from feeling all the emotions that come with wanting something badly, not believing that I can actually have it or that I deserve it, and dealing with the related setbacks that can and will occur on the path to getting my heart’s desire.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
No song lyrics really sum up this year.

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And that’s it for another year! Give this survey a try if you’ve never done it.

Filed under: Introspective by jummy