2012 Reverb

 It's Reverb time again!

 

December 29 – Dream. What crazy and wild dream would you like to become a reality (or at least begin to make a reality) in 2013?

Running a marathon. I sketched out a training plan yesterday.

December 28 – Pop Culture. What was the best book you read, movie you saw, and favorite song in 2012? They don’t have to be “new” in 2012, just new to you.

It’s not the best book I’ve ever read, but Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling provided some comfort and lightness to me when I needed it. I read it twice this year.

My favorite movie this year that I saw was Lincoln. This year I also got sucked into Sherlock, Dr. Who, and Downton Abbey.

December 27 – Inspiration. What inspires you? How will you cultivate and draw on that source of inspiration for 2013?

Nature and words are sources of inspiration to me. I want to go on more hikes and trail runs next year. I’m also going to annoy people by posting quotes on my social media platforms as a way to inspire myself to live better.

December 26 - Holiday traditions.  Describe (sounds, scenes, smells, activities) the holiday traditions that comforted you this year - whether new or old.

Potato soup is becoming a holiday tradition. It’s thick and creamy, hearty and delicious and it is one of our favorites. Staying home with Tim is one of my favorite holiday traditions. We just putter around and play Scrabble and watch a movie or something on Netflix. We leave the Christmas lights on all day and read and just chill.

I also have a tradition of what I call the “Christmas marmalade.” Every year I buy a jar of marmalade at Brit’s to have on Christmas morning. Sometimes I even take it to Mom and Dad’s if that is where we are going to be on Christmas. I get some crumpets and tea and enjoy the sweet-tartness of marmalade.

December 25 – Work. Are you happy at your job currently? If you could be anywhere in your career this time next year, where would you hope to be?

I’m not happy at my job. I want to be in my same career but with a different, more supportive boss who understands the industry and understands his job better so that he can do it and let me do my job. I don't really like to focus on it too much because I'm trying to have a better attitude about it. But I know that my entire demeanor and outlook have changed since I haven't had to go to work since before Christmas. My work situation really affects my mood. I'm trying to turn that around next year.

December 24 – Gifts. What was the best gift you received this year? What was the best gift you gave (or plan to give) this year?

I think the best gift I received this year was time with my husband. And it came from my work. We got an extra day off work at the holidays. I also received tickets to go with my husband to a local theatre/ballet production of The Nutcracker. I had a gift certificate from work that I used to go to dinner the show.

I hope the best gift I gave this year was to my mother-in-law. I made her a “passport” book of all the local places that have been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and a gift certificate to one of those places. She’s always talking about something she saw on the Food Network and about wanting to go eat at Grinders because she saw it on D3. I researched the show and watched all the KC clips on YouTube and made a page for each place with a picture, address, phone number, hours, directions, a list of what Guy ate on the show with some quotes from him and a space for her to write what she ate. I hope she liked it because I put a lot of thought in it and I think it is much better than our usual present of turning in credit card rewards points to get a gift card to a national chain restaurant.

December 23 - Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

I made Christmas gifts this year. I made another superhero pillow for my brother—the Flash this year—to go with the Captain America pillow I made for him last year. I used a pillow form and plain fabric. I had to print the logo make a pattern for the lightning bolt. The angles were too hard to draw free-hand. I made my mother-in-law a book of Kansas City restaurants that have been on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives to go with a gift certificate to one of those restaurants. I did the layout in Word and printed it out. I haven’t bound it yet but I’ll just use ribbon or staples. I made friends and family cake truffles and decorated the tins for them to go in. I bought tins at a thrift store, washed them, spray painted them green, and used Elmer’s glue to attach “bling” that was leftover Liz’s bachelorette t-shirts in a snowflake pattern.

December 22 -  Explore.  Share three things you would like to EXPLORE in 2013 (passions, hobbies, places, goals, etc.).

My dad and I are planning a family trip to the Grand Canyon. I’ve always wanted to go there so that is tops on my list.

Running is number two. I forgot how great it is to just go outside and run. I didn’t participate in many races this year so it was kind of a shock to remember how fun they were when I did participate in them.

I think gardening might be number three. I want to make a small, raised bed garden in the back yard and fill it full of good stuff to eat.

December 21 – Quote. What is the quote that resonates most with you right now? Why?

“I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.” – Neil Gaiman

This quote resonates with me right now. I just came across it and it is my wish for myself for 2013 and for everyone else. 

December 19 - 5 Things. What are 5 things your life doesn’t need in 2013? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 5 things change your life?

1.      Time wasters. I’m deleting time wasting apps from my phone. I want to be able to focus on the people and things around me rather than ignoring them by burying myself in a time wasting app.

2.      Negativity. I want to eliminate negative self-talk. Negative self-talk helps me to procrastinate and sends me on a downward spiral. I want to stop negative self-talk in its tracks and take action instead.

3.      Gossip/snark. No more celebrity gossip/snark blogs. I want to be more enthusiastic about stuff and I think that filling my head with snark is a big impediment to enthusiasm.

4.      Mindset about time. I have this weird thing about thinking I need huge blocks of time to get anything done. I’m going to start using little blocks of time more wisely and challenging myself to see how much I can really get done in 1-15 minutes.

5.      Real Housewives of Anywhere. I’m switching my trash TV of choice to Toddlers & Tiaras. Both RH and T&T are unbelievably ridiculous. Both showcase thousand dollar dresses, spray tans, fake teeth, falls and inches of make-up. Some of the moms on T&T break my heart but most of them are just people who want to doll up their baby, spend some time with them and see their kid on stage. (Plus they remind me of people I used to work with in South Carolina.) That’s not the worst thing in the world. I can’t find anything redeeming about RH, though.

December 20 – Travel. What was the furthest you traveled this year? How far from home do you hope 2013 takes you?

The farthest I traveled this year was to Milwaukee for NCPH with Liz. Milwaukee barely squeaked out Memphis for the title.

We are planning to take a family trip—Mom, Dad, Chris, Tim and I--to the Grand Canyon this year. It has always been on my list of places to visit and on my dad’s list, too.

December 18 - Unexpected passion.  What new hobby or interest piqued your passion this year?  Or did you think about an old passion in a new way?

It is hard to say I was passionate about anything this year. I think I was most captivated by a sense of homemaker self-sufficiency this year. While I would love to move out to a farm, have a garden, raise chickens and sheep and spin wool, I took a more practical approach. I reused old jars to freeze homemade jam. I converted a dress into a skirt. I sewed patches onto my husband’s work pants. I knitted more of the never-ending Dr. Who scarf. I made bridal shower invitations and used the leftover paper to make a Christmas gift. I made Christmas cards using blank leftover stationary from our wedding invitations. I made decorated thrifted tins for homemade Christmas candy using leftover bling from bachelorette t-shirts. Every finished project gave me a little thrill and upped the ante to chase my next diy high.

December 17- Teaching Moment. Sometimes we find teachers in the most unexpected places. Who surprised you as a teacher this year, and what did you learn?

This is a really difficult one. I don’t even know if I can come up with an answer. Perhaps I wasn’t receptive to lessons this year.

There was one kid who participated in a Boys and Girls Club camp I organized for work who seemed never to be paying attention to anything. Then, during Thursday’s field trip, a local historian was showing and talking about a gun that was used in a local battle. The kid piped up with everything he learned about the gun from Monday’s activities. That was a pretty good life lesson. Never assume that someone is uninterested or not participating just because they don’t demonstrate typical “listening” cues. Everyone learns in their own way.

December 16 – Completed. Did you complete anything in 2012 that was on your life's "to do" list?

I have a list of 40 things I would like to do in 10 years. I don’t think I’ll be able to accomplish all these things but I made a little bit of progress toward some of them.

1.      Put up food from garden: I made strawberry and blueberry freezer jam this year. I didn’t grow the strawberries and blueberries myself, but it is a start.

2.      Take a ride in a hot air balloon: I made a pact with my dad to take a ride with him. All of my gifts to him this year have been some cash in a balloon to sock away for a balloon ride.

3.      Re-do a room: I painted a wall in the kitchen this year.

December 15: Community.  How did you make a positive impact on your community in 2012? How are you planning to make a positive impact on your community in 2013?

I think I made a positive impact on my community through my work. We started to offer interpretive grants for our partners and I think I helped shape better grant projects. I also have helped to almost have a preservation plan in place for a local Civil War battlefield. I also put together history camps for Boys & Girls Club kids to explore local history.

I’m not sure how I plan to make a positive impact in 2013. I want to be able to write something other than work next year, but I don’t know really what I want that to be.  

December 14:  FIRST TIME.  Before moving on to 2013, what did you do for the first time in 2012 that deserves celebration?

Ouch. I can’t think of anything, really. I was pretty proud of myself when I took an old sundress and turned it into a skirt. The top of the sundress never really fit and in the half-year that it was a skirt, I probably wore it more than the five or so years I owned it as a sundress. I like that I was able to take something I owned and make it more useful. It’s partly about money and partly about a mode of consumption that makes me more comfortable. I wish I had more time and more dedication to “making things work” rather than to pass them along or throw them out and get something new. I’ve changed from someone who wants to have 12 pair of jeans to someone who wants to wear the s* out of two pair. Living more lightly on the earth nags me at the back of my brain almost every time I go to a store, get in my car, or do a load of laundry.

December 13- Strength. What are your top three strengths and how do you use them (at work, at home, at play)?

At work: I’m going to say that I am pretty good at getting people to do things my way. I’ve discovered that “what if you/we…” is a killer phrase for making people listen to/accept your ideas and sometimes even adopt them as your own. I learned this lesson early on in my adult working life. My big challenge now is that I have to keep repeating myself because my boss is thick or forgetful or something. It typically takes 3-10 repetitions of something to get through to him.

At play: I like to push myself to try new things. This is what motivated me to run a half-marathon in the first place and helped me discover how much I liked running 6-10 miles. This coming year, I want to tap back into that motivation and hit the road/trail more often.

At home: I like to plan. This can just be a waste of time if I don’t execute my plans. The one place I’ve found it to be a benefit is in the kitchen. When I plan out my menus, I use up what’s in the fridge and save money at the grocery stores because I know what I’m buying. 

December 12 - Future. In what ways did you plan for the future in 2012?

Erm. Not really at all. We struggled just to get through 2012 that future plans were difficult. Tim and I are having “budget talks” for 2013 right now.

December 11 - Laughter. What made you laugh until your stomach hurt in 2012?

My husband laughing at things is a sure way to make me laugh until my stomach hurts. He is easily amused by things on the internet. One of our favorites is Bad Lip Reading. Quotes from the political candidate BLRs have become household memes. Even Lily gets in the act. Just a few days ago she piped up with, “Ricky?”

One of the other most memorable family laugh moments was Lily’s invention of “Granny” in the car on the way home from St. Louis. Luckily, I recorded it on my iPhone to cheer me up whenever I need a good smile. She used to be very shy about Granny but now we willingly share in a good proclamation of “TERRIBLE!” That joke even made it into this year’s Christmas card to Ginger and Bill.

December 10 - Connections. Who came into your life in 2012 that you connected with? Who did you feel yourself losing or drifting away from?

I don't really know of anyone who came into my life in 2012 that I connected with. I've really enjoyed spending time with Regina and Susan as volunteers at the Rep, though. I'm glad Regina had a spot to fill and invited me to join them.

I drifted away from a co-worker who has moved to another job. I miss having her in my life on a daily basis. We still email and have lunch occasionally but everyone could always use more Ashlee in their lives.

December 9 - Family. What role has family played in your life in 2012? Was it different than past years? Do you plan for it to change in 2013?

Is this the prompt that Liz uses to tell us that she's going to have a baby? Haha.

Last question first: I don't plan on any changes for 2013.

I think the biggest difference for us in terms of family dynamics is that Lily is playing a bigger role in our lives this year than in past years. We are thankful to be able to spend more time with her this year. It is a priority for us to be there to spend time with her when we have it. That has taken a little bit more planning and some "missing out on" hanging out with friends. But overall, it has been a pretty easy transition and a good one to have to make. 

December 8 - Pride. At what moment were you the most proud of yourself this year?

I was most proud when I finished the leg of the marathon relay. Finishing a long run--one you doubted you could finish--is almost magical.


December 7 - Regret.  What do you wish you would have done more of in 2012? How will you ensure you don't have the same regret for 2013?   


I kind of don't believe people when they say they don't have regrets. It's the kind of thing I would have said a few years ago. I think having regret is a part of being human and in examining them you can try to avoid past pitfalls. I certainly have regrets from 2012. My big two are not running more and not spending more good times with Tim.


In 2013, my A-plan goal is to complete a marathon my B-plan is to get/stay in 6-mile shape. I love running 6 miles which is an hour to my slow butt. It seems like the perfect distance. I'm also going to try to have more "dates" with my husband.

December 6 - Music.  Describe the music that shaped your memories from 2012.

The music that I most closely associate with 2012 is "Home" by Philip Phillips. (I had to look that up because I'm so out-of-touch.) I think of this as the USA gymnastics team theme song because NBC played it every time they aired women's gymnastics. 

Fun caught my attention on the radio with "We Are Young" and "Some Nights."

Also, listening to Fallon all the way to Memphis and back, the Avett Brothers with Liz, Jeff, Jennifer, Bill and Ginger, and Trampled by Turtles with Liz, Jennifer and Josh, and "Let's Get It Started" for Liz and Jeff's wedding.

December 5 - Body.  What about your body amazed or intrigued you this year?  


I stopped running this year. First it was cold and dark, then it was too hot, then my back hurt, excuse, excuse, excuse. I even committed to running a leg of a marathon relay in the hopes that it would spur me to start jogging again. It didn't. So you can imagine how unprepared (and daunted) I was when I realized that my leg of the relay was the longest: 6.7 miles. (It ended up being more like 6.5 according to some other fellow 4th leg runners with Garmins. Still farther than I had run in over a year.) I knew I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing and hoped beyond hope that I could finish it in under a 12 minute/mile pace. I laid out a plan to run/walk, starting off with a solid 20 minute run and alternating walk/run. I can't remember exactly the plan I was going to stick to, but it wasn't overly ambitious. Maybe run 3 minutes/walk 5? I ended up doing pretty good and running much more than I planned to. My back hurt because it was out-of-whack while I was running but I kept going. I finished much faster than I assumed I would and felt pretty good handing off to Jennifer. Endorphins, man! If you could shoot them up, we'd all be full of track marks. I rode that good-feeling high for a week. 

December 4 - Relive. If you could relive one day in 2012, without changing anything about it, which would it be and why?

I would relive the Sunday of our mini-vacation to St. Louis. We started the day packing up our hotel room and heading downtown to the Arch. Lily had never heard of the Arch, much less seen it. We parked and piled out of the car. We walked up to the Arch through trees and Tim and Lily ran off to inspect a train going through a tunnel on the banks of the Mississippi. They ran back excited to report all about it. We bought our tickets, shopped a little, and waited in line. The five of us packed into the funny little pods that take you to the top of the Arch and began the ride. At the top, we oohed and aahed and remarked how close we were to Illinois--a state Lily has never been to, as we pressed our faces to the little square windows and tried to look as far down as possible. After the ride back down and picking out souvenirs, we headed over to the City Museum. I would even relive the constant chatter of three backseat drivers as we wound our way through one-way streets, as annoying as they were. The City Museum is a dream for kids and kids-at-heart so it was right up Tim's alley. We climbed to the top of the building and then climbed some more. The entire building is covered in mazes and tunnels, through concrete trees and whales and past real aquariums and architectural salvage. We climbed until I was hangry, ate a hot dog, and climbed some more. We stopped by some of Tim's family's house and then hit the road back to Boonville. As we were almost there, Lily broke into a new character that Tim & I had never heard before. Little old complaint-ridden lady. "How's your back, granny?" "Terrible!! What about yours?" Luckily, I captured a piece of this routine on my phone's recorder.
 
December 3 - 5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2012 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2012.

I want to remember every bit of this year from November 26 until the end. It has been the best part of my year, thus far, in the day-to-day, normal, everyday sense. Other highlights include Liz and Jeff's FREEZING wedding :); all the prep work for Liz's wedding: t-shirts, buttons, trying on dresses; Memphis; family trip to St. Louis; the thrift store that ended the wine walk on my birthday; marathon relay and the feeling of completion; McPike water park, take two; snuggling my little family in my bed and waking up on the very edge; and having lots of time with Lily and being able to have her and her nieces all playing here together.

December 2 - Unexpected. What amazing, shocking, or unexpected thing(s) happened in 2012 that you would never have anticipated at the end of 2011?

I don't think I expected such blessings would have come out of such bad circumstances. Here are my top 2 examples.

1. This summer, I was putting in a lot of hours at work and a lot of miles on my car. One evening, on my way home at 75 miles per hour, I lost control of my car and skidded off the road, busting an axle. It was terrifying but thankfully I didn't hit anyone else or get hurt. I borrowed my parents' car and less than a week later I backed into a pole and put a tiny dent in the fender. We fixed my car and traded it with my parents for their car. They traded it in and got a new car. I ended up with a car that gets better gas mileage, is easier for my parents to get into, is easier to change the oil, and doesn't irritate Tim's back quite as much. I owe my folks a ton for their generosity and hope to be able to pay them back one day.

2. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the one pipe that was never replaced in our house--the kitchen drain--backed up. It was a really, really tense couple of days for us because we didn't know if it would cost us hundreds or tens of thousands of dollars. It ended up being hundreds. In order for the plumber to get to the pipes, we straightened up the basement, sorted all my husband's collections and stored much of them away. It's a huge step for my husband to getting the basement in the shape he wants and visually is a lot more peaceful that before.


December 1 – One Word. What word describes the theme of your life in 2012? Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today. What would you like the word to be that captures 2013 for you? 

My one word for 2012--belying the tagline of this blog--was broken. While I know there were really, really good times this year, 2012 felt like my personal Mudville following Mighty Casey's strike-out.Finding joy was an uphill battle. I verged on tears much of the year and checked off multiple symptoms in online "Am I Depressed?" quizzes. I wore my husband's patience thin, I'm sure, and tried my own with my stubborn moodiness.

For 2013, I'm setting my intentions on better embodying love. Love--the first-fruit of the Spirit--is pretty much the opposite of everything I felt in 2012, according to 1 Corinthians 13's definition. I hope to fill myself with so much love in 2013, that I can squeeze out the impatience, unkindness, envy, boasting, pride, dishonor, self-seeding, anger, score-keeping, delighting in evil, forgetting to protect, questioning, giving up hope and just giving up. It is impossible for any of us to always live according to this definition of love, but it is a goal worth striving towards.




Whoop. I didn't get very far on my Thankful postings...
November 4: I am thankful for my friend Liz. She is fun and funny and encourages me to try things I wouldn't do on my own. She is a great person to have on your team!
November 3: I am thankful for my step-daughter's gymnastics gym. It's a nice, relaxed atmosphere. Her coaches and teammates are really great. She can have fun there without worrying too much about competition. Plus it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
November 2: I am thankful for the opportunity to work from home once a week. It is nice to save gas, work in my pajamas, and set my own schedule for the day.
November 1: As much as I love my family, today I am thankful for a long weekend by myself.