2013: The Year in Review

1. Where did you begin 2013? 

At Drew's parents' house in Edmond with great old friends

2. Did you have a New Year’s Resolution? 

Eat less, exercise more, lose weight, be healthier

3. What was your status on Valentine's Day? 

single

4. What did you do for St. Patty's Day in 2013? 

Drove up to St. Louis via Kansas City and did a pub crawl with Drew, Heather, Fagan, Eli, and Jake. Super fun time!

5. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year? 

nope

6. Do anything special on Easter?

Usual family get-together at Aunt Sheila's

7. What did you do on the 4th of July?

Worked at ZooFriends (it wasn't that busy)

8. What was your favorite summer memory of '13?

Game night on June 7 just before Drew left for Afghanistan

9. What were you for Halloween? 

Army doctor pirate wizard Mickey (Lazily threw together different pieces from the costume box)

10. What happened on Thanksgiving?

Went to Aunt Sheila's for dinner

11. What about Christmas?

Festivus at The Wedge on the 22nd, Aunt Sheila's in Moore on Christmas Eve, Grandmother's in Bartlesville on Christmas Day

12. Did you get kissed under mistletoe?

Nope

13. Best Christmas present?

"The Sand Castle" on VHS from Melissa (an old cartoon video we used to watch a lot as kids)

14. Describe your birthday.

Went to church with Dad, Grandmother, and Papa Jerry, and afterward, the three of us got lunch at McAlister's. Then I went to work at the library for my usual 1-6pm shift, during which a customer donated a bunch of VHS movies and I took a few home (woot!). Then I met Dad, Tina, Mel, and Richard at Ted's for dinner. It ended up being a pretty awesome day.

15. Best birthday present?

Season 2 of "Game of Thrones" on Blu-Ray from Dad & Visa gift card from Mom

16. What was your best month?

November - school wound down, nice fall weather, got to know Mr. Matthew Buell

Worst month?

June - Mathis Brothers ZooFriends offer, had to replace my radiator, had to replace my laptop 'cause my MacBook died :(

17. Did you know anybody who got married?

Cousin Lindsay and Jason Masterson

18. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Don't think so

19. Did anyone close to you die?

Leon Norwood (not that close but it still saddened me)

20. Where did you live?

Dad's house in Edmond, Rental duplex (with Kristine) in Edmond

21. What countries did you visit?

none

22. What was your favorite vacation? 

Going up to Minnesota in August to visit my mom and driving along the North Shore of Lake with her

23. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?

More close friends

24. What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory?

St. Patty's day pub crawl in St. Louis with old friends

25. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 

Getting into grad school

26. What was your biggest failure?

Losing a Rachel as a friend

27. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not really, no

28. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to see Neil Gaiman at a signing event in Dallas, which also came with his new book The Ocean at the End of the Lane

29. How did you earn your money? 

Edmond Library, OKC ZooFriends

30. Where did most of your money go?

Other than rent & bills, I spent A LOT on stuff for the new duplex, and I had to buy a new computer when my MacBook died

31. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Josh Groban, Neil Gaiman, Wendy Davis

32. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Boston marathon bombers

33. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Seeing Neil Gaiman at a signing event in Dallas in June

34. What song(s) will always remind you of 2013?

"Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye

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

I. happier or sadder? 

happier!

II. thinner or fatter? 

slightly thinner

III. richer or poorer? 

slightly poorer

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

play disc golf

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

worry about other's opinions of me

38. Did you fall in love in 2013? 

yes

39. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn’t dislike this time last year?

yes

40. Did you have any encounters with the police? 

I got pulled over for turning left into the right lane and received a written warning. Dumb.

41. What were your favorite TV programs?

Parks & Recreation, Homeland, Game of Thrones, Perception, Castle

42. What was the best book you read?

"Daring Greatly" by Brene Brown, "A Storm of Swords" by George R. R. Martin, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman

43. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Gotye, Dierks Bentley

44. What concerts/shows did you go to?

In February, I saw a live Fathom Events broadcast at Cinemark of Josh Groban's Lincoln Center concert promoting his new album. In June, I saw Neil Gaiman do a reading and signing in Dallas.

45. What were your favorite films of the year?

Warm Bodies, Much Ado About Nothing, The Way Way Back, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave

46. What did you want and get?

Matt Buell!

47. What's one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More free time

48. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?

I dunno, whatever

49. What kept you sane? 

Video games

50. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? 

Martin Freeman, Josh Groban, Neil Gaiman

51. Who did you miss most? 

Mom

52. What's one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2013?

Travel more than a couple hundred miles for a concert (Josh Groban)

53. What's something you learned about yourself?

I still hate being in school.

54. Was it a good year? 

yes

55. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013:

You've got to be comfortable with yourself before you can be comfortable around others.

If I Could Choose the Oscars... 2013

Blue: My Pick, Red: The Academy's Pick, Purple: It's a match!

Best Picture

Amour (Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, & Michael Katz)
Argo (Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, & George Clooney)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, & Michael Gottwald)
Django Unchained (Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, & Pilar Savone)
Les Miserables (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, & Cameron Mackintosh)
Life of Pi (Gil Netter, Ang Lee, & David Womack)
Lincoln (Steven Spielberg & Kathleen Kennedy)
Silver Linings Playbook (Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, & Jonathan Gordon)
Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, & Megan Ellison)

Actress

Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts for The Impossible

Actor

Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master
Denzel Washington for Flight

Supporting Actress

Amy Adams for The Master
Sally Field for Lincoln
Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
Helen Hunt for The Sessions
Jackie Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook

Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin for Argo
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook
Phillip Seymour Hoffman for The Master
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Animated Feature Film

Brave (Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman)
Frankenweenie (Tim Burton)
ParaNorman (Sam Fell & Chris Butler)
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Peter Lord)
Wreck-It-Wralph (Rich Moore)

Cinematography

Anna Karenina (Seamus McGarvey)
Django Unchained (Robert Richardson)
Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)
Lincoln (Janusz Kaminski)
Skyfall (Roger Deakins)

Costume Design

Anna Karenina (Jacqueline Durran)
Les Miserables (Paco Delgado)
Lincoln (Joanna Johnston)
Mirror Mirror (Eiko Ishioka)
Snow White and the Huntsman (Colleen Atwood)

Directing

Michael Haneke for Amour
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Ang Lee for Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

Documentary Feature

5 Broken Cameras (Emad Bernat & Guy Davidi)
The Gatekeepers (Dror Moreh, Phillippa Kowarsky, & Estelle Fialon)
How to Survive a Plague (David France & Howard Gertler)
The Invisible War (Kirby Dick & Amy Ziering)
Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul & Simon Chinn)

Documentary Short

Inocente (Sean Fine & Andrea Nix Fine)
Kings Point (Sari Gilman & Jedd Wider)
Mondays at Racine (Cynthia Wade & Robin Honan)
Open Heart (Kief Davidson & Cori Shepherd Stern)
Redemption (Jon Alpert & Matthew O'Neill)

Film Editing

Argo (William Goldenberg)
Life of Pi (Tim Squyers)
Lincoln (Michael Kahn)
Silver Linings Playbook (Jay Cassidy & Crispin Struthers)
Zero Dark Thirty (Dylan Tichenor & William Goldenberg)

Foreign Language Film

Amour (Austria)
Kon-Tiki (Norway)
No (Chile)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
War Witch (Canada)

Makeup & Hairstyling

Hitchock (Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, & Martin Samuel)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, & Tami Lane)
Les Miserables (Lisa Westcott & Julie Dartnell)

Original Score

Dario Marianelli for Anna Karenina
Alexandre Desplat for Argo
Mychael Danna for Life of Pi
John Williams for Lincoln
Thomas Newman for Skyfall

Original Song

"Before My Time" from Chasing Ice, by J. Ralph
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted, music by Walter Murphy/lyric by Seth MacFarlane
"Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna/lyric by Bombay Jayashri
"Skyfall" from Skyfall, by Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth
"Suddenly" from Les Miserables, music by Claude-Michel Schonberg/lyric by Herbert Kretzmer & Alain Boubil

Production Design (Production Design: PD/Set Decoration: SD)

Anna Karenina (Sarah Greenwood - PD/Katie Spencer - SD)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Dan Hennah - PD/Ra Vincent & Simon Bright - SD)
Les Miserables (Eve Stewart - PD/Anna Lynch-Robinson - SD)
Life of Pi (David Gropman - PD/Anna Pinnock - SD)
Lincoln (Rick Carter - PD/Jim Erickson - SD)

Animated Short Film

Adam and Dog by Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole by PES
Head over Heels by Timothy Reckart & Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" by David Silverman
Paperman by John Kahrs

Live Action Short Film

Asad by Bryan Buckley & Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys by Sam French & Ariel Nasr
Curfew by Shawn Christensen
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) by Tom Van Avermaet & Ellen De Waele
Henry by Yan England

Sound Editing

Argo (Erik Aadahl & Ethan Van der Ryn)
Django Unchained (Wylie Stateman)
Life of Pi (Eugene Gearty & Philip Stockton)
Skyfall (Per Hallberg & Karen Baker Landers)
Zero Dark Thirty (Paul N. J. Ottosson)

Sound Mixing

Argo (John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, & Jose Antonio Garcia)
Les Miserables (Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, & Simon Hayes)
Life of Pi (Ron Bartlett, D. M. Hemphill, & Drew Kunin)
Lincoln (Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, & Ronald Judkins)
Skyfall (Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, & Stuart Wilson)

Visual Effects

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, & R. Christopher White)
Life of Pi (Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocherson, Erik-Jan De Boer, & Donald R. Elliott)
The Avengers (Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, & Dan Sudick)
Prometheus (Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, & Martin Hill)
Snow White and the Huntsman (Cedric Nicholas-Troyan, Phillip Brennan, Neil Corbould, & Michael Dawson)

Adapted Screenplay

Argo by Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi by David Magee
Lincoln by Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook by David O. Russell

Original Screenplay

Amour by Michael Haneke
Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino
Flight by John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty by Mark Boal


Matches: 12 out of 24

2012: The Year in Review

1. Where did you begin 2012? 

At Colin's parents' house in Lake Forest with Colin, Chris, Rosmer, Graham, and Mike

2. Did you have a New Year’s Resolution? 

figure out if I want to go to grad school/figure what I want to be when I grow up

(I decided the answer was yes/I want to be a librarian)

3. What was your status on Valentine's Day? 

in a relationshiop with Colin Logan

4. What did you do for St. Patty's Day in 2012? 

I worked at ZooFriends, and then Juliet came over to my house. We got a pizza from Marco's and watched an Irish film called "Intermission" and a couple episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

5. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year? 

nope

6. Do anything special on Easter?

Colin and I met my Dad, Grandmother, Papa Jerry, and the Sheppard clan at church, and then we went to my aunt Sheila's house for lunch and fam time. We also went with aunts and cousins to Grandma Pat's house to see if we wanted to keep any of her old things.

7. What did you do on the 4th of July?

I went up to Tulsa for the day and spent time with the Baluhs. Agatha and Graham were in town, so I met them at TU and we chatted a bit by the pool. Then the three of us and Claude went to eat at Old School Bagel and then shopped around at Gardner's Used Books.

8. What was your favorite summer memory of '12?

When Colin came to visit in June, we had a cookout at my dad's house. Kristine and Maesynne came, and Chris Smith brought a group of Tulsa people with him, including Rosmer, Ryan, and a couple others.

9. What were you for Halloween? 

Amelia Earhart

10. What happened on Thanksgiving?

Went to Aunt Sheila's in Moore on Thanksgiving day; went to Aunt Nancy's in Tulsa that Saturday

11. What about Christmas?

At Aunt Sheila's on Christmas Eve, Mom Skyped in through Melissa's computer. We carried her around so she could talk to everyone, and she even participated in dirty Santa! It was awesome. Mel, Richard, and I were going to drive up to Grandmother's in Bartlesville on Christmas Eve, but the weather was bad and the roads got icey, so we decided not to chance the drive. We both participated in dirty Santa there over the phone, though! It was a very technological Christmas.

12. Did you get kissed under mistletoe?

no

13. Best Christmas present?

Dia de los Muertos coasters and wine glasses, from Tina

14. Describe your birthday.

I went down to Dallas for the weekend, and my mom and I saw 5 films at the Dallas International Film Festival. My favorite was documentary called "Brooklyn Castle" about a chess team at a Brooklyn middle school.

15. Best birthday present?

 "Game of Thrones" Season 1 on Blu-Ray, from Colin

16. What was your best month?

April - great weather, fun birthday, OKC Arts Festival

Worst month?

August - studied for and took the GRE, breakup with Colin

17. Did you know anybody who got married?

Meg Hemric & Andrew Fagan

18. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Sarah Bowler

19. Did anyone close to you die?

Grandma Pat, John Baluh

20. Where did you live?

Edmond, OK

21. What countries did you visit?

none

22. What was your favorite vacation? 

I never really had a true vacation, but I enjoyed driving up to Rochester, MN with Mom to help her look for apartments, and I loved having 3 days off in a row from work for Christmastime.

23. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?

inner peace

24. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory?

September 9th, when Colin and I talked about our breakup for 2 hours on the steps of McFarlin Library

25. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 

recovering from a bad breakup

26. What was your biggest failure?

I completely neglected my physical health this year.

27. Did you suffer illness or injury?

does a broken heart count? :P

28. What was the best thing you bought?

The Harry Potter Wizard's Collection

29. How did you earn your money? 

OKC ZooFriends, Edmond Public Library

30. Where did most of your money go?

gas, Halloween

31. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Ashton Eaton

32. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Todd Akin

33. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Dallas International Film Festival, Colin coming to visit in June

34. What song(s) will always remind you of 2012?

"Gangnam Style" by PSY, "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson, "Someone Like You" by Adele, "The Heart of Life" by John Mayer

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

I. happier or sadder? 

It's been quite a roller coaster ride, but I feel like I've come back to about the same happiness level I was at last year.

II. thinner or fatter? 

fatter

III. richer or poorer? 

maybe *slightly* richer

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

exercise

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

stress out about work

38. Did you fall in love in 2012? 

no

39. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn’t dislike this time last year?

I wouldn't say that I've started disliking anyone, but there are a few people that I like *less* than I did last year.

40. Did you have any encounters with the police? 

I got pulled over for speeding on I-35 (on my way to Dallas), but got away with a warning

41. What were your favorite TV programs?

Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Castle, House, Once Upon a Time, Perception, Parks and Recreation, The Walking Dead

42. What was the best book you read?

"This is Not the Story You Think it Is... : A Season of Unlikely Happiness" by Laura Munson

43. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Florence + The Machine, The Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men

44. What concerts/shows did you go to?

Souled Out at the UCO Jazz Lab, Huey Lewis & the News at the Zoo Amphitheater, "War Horse" at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas

45. What were your favorite films of the year?

Brooklyn Castle, Silver Linings Playbook, Prometheus, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Looper, Chronicle, ParaNorman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Avengers, Zero Dark Thirty

46. What did you want and get?

The Harry Potter Wizard's Collection

47. What's one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

having a more regular and predictable work schedule

48. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?

I wore leggings with skirts pretty regularly, and I decided to cut my hair the shortest it's ever been, as a pixie cut.

49. What kept you sane? 

Mom, Kristine, Juliet, Krystal

50. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? 

Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy

51. Who did you miss most? 

Colin

52. What's one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2012?

take the GRE

53. What's something you learned about yourself?

I've been relying too much on other people for my personal happiness. I need to work on finding peace from within.

54. Was it a good year? 

No, but I learned a hell of a lot.

55. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012:

You can never be completely in control of your life. Surprises will happen, and you can't blame yourself for not predicting them. You can't change how other people behave, but you can change how you choose to respond.

Number of movies watched on video/Netflix: 40

Number of movies seen at the theater: 45

Number of television seasons completed: 22

Number of books read: 19

God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him...

I had lunch at McAlister's today and had a sort of epiphany. I noticed a girl across the room at a table by herself (like I was, but with a laptop instead of a book) who, after she received her food from the waiter, closed her eyes and bowed her head in prayer with her hands together, touching her forehead. I watched as she sat there in silence for about 30 seconds, and I realized something about praying over food that I never have before: it primarily serves as a reminder to be thankful.

I admit that I've always thought praying before eating was a little silly. I didn't see the point. It didn't make sense to thank someone who wasn't there. I've never really been a big fan of prayer in general, because I never felt like it held any direct effect. That's not to say that I don't appreciate people telling me they'll pray for me when I'm having a hard time. In doing so, they are basically telling me they care, that they will be thinking of me, and that gives me comfort. Praying over food, however, doesn't have the same connotation. It's very much in the moment and directed at inanimate objects.

The problem with my old view is that the nature of prayer really has nothing to do with direct effect, or any effect, for that matter. It's all about intention. What I realized today is that it's not about the subject of the prayer. It's about having a sense of gratefulness. It's about reminding yourself to appreciate what you have. It's an opportunity for brief meditation on contentment. Prayer is introspective.

Seeing that girl pray in silence at the restaurant for no one but herself helped me realize that it really is about inner reflection and peacefulness. Especially if one lives a very busy life and has difficulty finding time to relax, taking 30 seconds before each meal to ruminate on gratitude can work wonders for overall contentment. I am definitely guilty of taking the little things for granted and forgetting that I have A LOT to be thankful for. Especially since I'm going through a rough time right now, it is sometimes hard to concentrate on what is good in my life; I sometimes forget to appreciate all that I have. I am going to start practicing everyday gratitude by taking a moment before each meal to briefly remind myself that my food is a gift, and in that moment of thanks, I will recognize other parts of my life that deserve appreciation.