Happy New Year!

8. Read 50 books (25/50) - in progress

I read "Julie and Julia" before Christmas, which I had bought for my mom for her birthday in October. She claimed it was whiny and she really didn't like it. I read it to prove her wrong, but as it turns out, she was kind of whiny in the book. I guess I didn't realize it during the movie because her story was interspersed with Julia Child's much more. Then I read "The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes" and "Secrets She Left Behind," both by Diane Chamberlin. A blurb on the front of SSLB claimed her to be the Jodi Picoult of the South, and I think that's a pretty accurate description. They were both fast, fun reads that kept me turning pages.

13. Complete a soundtrack to '09, '10, and '11 (1/3) - in progress

So I may end up adding a song at the end because I don't feel like I have a good one to sum up December or the year as a whole, but I'm going to count '09 as completed.

1. Falling By The Wayside xx People In Planes
2. Grace Is Gone xx Dave Matthews Band
3. U And Ur Hand 4eva xx Pink v. The Veronicas
4. Missy Higgins xx Where I Stood
5. Watching Airplanes xx Gary Allen
6. Let Her Cry xx Hootie & The Blowfish
7. Addiction xx Kanye West
8. School Night xx Ani DiFranco
9. Bedroom Talk xx The Starting Line
10. Absolutely Nothing xx Lily Allen
11. In Another Life xx The Veronicas
12. The More I Seek You xx Kari Jobe
13. Second Place Victory xx This Day And Age
14. Cupid Shuffle xx Cupid
15. I Can't Stay Away xx The Veronicas
16. Pretty Pathetic xx Smoking Popes
17. Maybe xx Ingrid Michaelson
18. Gravity xx Sara Bareilles
19. If It Kills Me xx Jason Mraz
20. Chainsaw xx Daniel Merriweather
21. Being Drunk's A Lot Like Loving You xx Kenny Chesney

25. Learn to cook 52 new recipes and organize them in one place (14/52) - in progress

I made Puppy Chow on New Year's Eve because I was craving something chocolate. I had it a lot when I was younger -- it's just Chex covered in melted peanut butter & chocolate and dusted in powdered sugar. It was much sweeter than I remember it being, but it definitely hit the spot.

27. Follow Virginia Tech and Steelers teams for a full football season - in progress

Steelers played last Sunday, which was a really fun game because I was in Pittsburgh with my aunts and uncles and cousins. It stinks sometimes watching games at school without any fellow fans. There were a lot of penalties against the Ravens and I think that helped us out with the win, but barring a handful of minor miracles I don't think we'll make the playoffs. We'll see. Then on New Year's Eve, Tech had its bowl game against Tennessee, which was fun to watch because Tech hasn't played since before Thanksgiving.

42. Try 15 new restaurants (15/15) - accomplished

We ate at Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh when we were home over break, and it was fun because my parents kept talking about how it used to be a dive joint that only served sandwiches and it was only open after 10 p.m. so all the drunk kids would come in and hang out there. And then my uncle chimed in and was talking about how you could never tell them your order was incorrectly made because they'd take it back and you'd never see it again... It just seemed like it carried a lot of history for them, which was cool. Although, the place is entirely different now. But still.

44. Bookmark heyitsfree.net and check it regularly - accomplished

So I ended up subscribing to the newsletter, which means I get it every day. So I will count this as accomplished. Other than the two magazine issues I got last spring, I've gotten a free box of Honey Nut Cheerios, a handful of free songs on Amazon.com, and a few coupon books. I feel like I could make better use out of the site if I had a printer for coupons, but I unhooked mine a while back because I print everything at the office.

56. Exercise 2-3 times a week (20/143) - in progress

Yeah. Not doing so hot here. I need to find a way to consistently motivate myself to exercise on a daily basis, and I'm having trouble just sucking it up and doing it. I used to get really into UREC classes last year, so I might try that again.

89. Camp outside in the backyard with Adam - accomplished

So we technically didn't camp outside, but Adam and I did pitch the tent in the room over our garage on New Year's Eve and "camp out" overnight. If I get the opportunity to really camp outside next summer, I will, but I am comfortable with this counting. My intention was to spend some time with Adam while I'm home, so that was still accomplished.

--Till next time.