The 2011 Review

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I found this on Holly's blog, and I loved the idea of reviewing 2011  before moving on to 2012. I think it's fun to see how much things have changed over the years by doing some review like this every year. If you decide to do something like this too, let me know in the comments so I can go read yours too. :)

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?

I mean, I guess graduating from college counts! Haha. I also went to Canada on a trip with friends (first just-friends trip!) and I studied abroad in China. I also created my official Valorie Clark Photography blog (and am still accepting clients for 2012 - contact me there)! 

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

I did make resolutions, and I did keep 2/3! I think that's very impressive, for me at least. 

(Which fell apart? Project 365. :c )

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nope!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, but my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, which was very troubling to me. She's doing well, but at 86, any sickness is tough for her to beat. 

5. Did you visit anywhere exciting?

I went to Montreal in January, I studied abroad in China over the summer, and I went to Washington D.C. (and decided to move there!) in October.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

A budget! I'm so so so bad at budgeting I need to figure one out for myself. 

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Oh man, I don't know. I'm bad with dates. My boyfriend and I started dating on January 27th. We graduated from college on December 17th.

 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Graduating from college FOR SURE!

9. What was your biggest mistake?

I try not to think about it. We all make mistakes, the best way to deal with them is to learn from them then move on.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

For once, I think all I was sick with was some colds. Some bad ones, but just various colds.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Definitely my Erin Condren planner! Most organized I've ever been, for real.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My boyfriend! He has been wonderful all year, especially during all the thesis writing stress.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

No one made me depressed, though one person's made me appalled. That's the most I'll say though. 

14. Where did most of your money go in 2011?

Gas (ugh), clothes, and coffee dates.

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

So much! There was a lot to be excited about - I studied abroad, I graduated from college, I got a great internship working for a company that does work I'm passionate about - 2011 was a pretty exciting year over all. 

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Closing Time, by Semisonic. 

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

i. happier or sadder? Happier, absolutely.

ii. thinner or fatter? I think I weigh roughly the same. Maybe a few pounds lighter.

iii. richer or poorer? About the same, I think. Maybe a little richer from all the graduation presents.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

I wish I'd saved more money, I wish I'd gotten better grades in the spring, and I wish I had done more of the things I'm the most passionate about.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

I wish I'd spent less money on frivolous things, and I wish I'd sat at home less.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

The same way I always spend it. :)

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?

I sure did. :)

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Friends, as always, though I also discovered How I Met Your Mother and loved it too. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Hate is too strong. Dislike? Not really. I think it was a good year for friendships.

24. What was the best book you read?

Hmm... I read so many this year. I really loved Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (one of the writers of The Office).

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Adele. I discovered her literally on January 1st last year and spent all year in love with her voice.

26. What did you want and get?

Tough. I wanted to kick start my photography business and I think I did an okay job. You tell me.

27. What did you want and not get?

A greyhound. But that's what 2012 is for. :)

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 21 this year, and since I was in China it wasn't a big deal at all (the drinking age there is 18 whenever you can see over the counter). My parents were visiting me though, so that was nice. I had dinner with them at a nice Italian restaurant right in the heart of Shanghai, haha.

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

I don't think anything. I mean, this was a pretty good year, all in all.

30.  How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Whatever Pinterest suggested! Haha. No, uhm, fall was a lot of boots over jeans and leg warmers, with basic tops and blazers. I find myself very inspired by the Duchess of Cambridge, Reese Witherspoon, and Zooey Deschanel.

31. What kept you sane?

Lots of hugs and kisses from the boy, as well as plenty of phone dates with friends.

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

Rupert A. L. Grint and Ryan Gosling.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?

I pay attention to politics a lot, so I've kind of gotten to the point where none of it really shocks me. SOPA really irritated me though.

34. Who do you miss the most?

Hmm, I missed my friends Katie and Cyndi the most, because I hardly saw them all year. I also missed my family a lot - some I hadn't seen since 2010! But once I go to California in January, I'll have seen everyone. :)

35. Who was the best new person you met?

The boy, hands down. Technically we met in 2010, but we never held a conversation until we went to Montreal together.

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.

37. What are your new years resolutions for 2012?

I'm not quite sure yet. But my word for 2012 is Explore. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Have a wonderful 2012 everyone, and I hope you enjoyed 2011. :)

 

the one with the 18 thank yous.

I graduated from college about two weeks ago.

It went by fast, that whole part of my life. I spent 17 years in school, 18 if you consider that pre-pre-K thing my mom sent me to.

In that time, I realized that life is made up of four distinct groups of people: Your heroes, your teachers, your peers, and your students. Your heroes are people you may never meet, but who affect your life through their lives. Your teachers are people you know, who guide you on your path and help you to find yourself. Your peers are those people on the same path as you, or similar ones at the same time. And your students are those that you pass your knowledge on to, that you become a teacher for.

We are all all of these roles. We are each someone’s hero, someone’s teacher, someone’s peer, and someone’s student, even if we don’t know it. Through those roles, we pour into one another, giving a little bit of ourselves and taking a little bit of everyone else in order to become who we all are. And in recognition of those roles and the beautiful life inherent within them, here are 18 thank yous to my heroes, my teachers, my peers, and my students, many of which are quite frankly beyond overdue.

My mom, for the way she dances when she’s excited, for teaching me that the American dream is still available to those who work for it, and for starting my love affair with travel and being anywhere but here. My dad, for showing me that the strongest person in the room isn’t always the loudest, for always being supportive of my goals, and for reminding me that to achieve them, I am going to have to work for them. My grandma, for giving me the best advice in the sweetest of fashions, for teaching me how to cook, and for instilling in me the belief that good Southern proper manners are still fashionable.  My cousin Jackie, for helping me learn to follow my instincts and to be who I am, regardless of what society dictates for me.

Sydney, for showing me that true friendship spans all times and all places, and that you don’t have to see each other every day or even every year to be incredibly close. Cyndi, for agreeing that the two of us could say anything we ever needed to the other, no holds barred. Katie, for showing me that sisters aren’t always biological, and Katie’s family for adopting me in as their fourth child and being almost as involved in my life as my biological family is. Mike, who for the past year has shown me what real love looks like, has been an unending source of support and hugs, and has often believed in me more than I believed in myself. 

Mrs. Pearson, who in 7^th grade English class showed me that writing was the thing I was really passionate about, and Dr. Greenwald, who just a year ago sat me down to tell me to stop being afraid of my own talent, and to chase after my dreams, because no one was going to. J.K. Rowling, who created a world I was utterly enthralled by, and gave me something to hold in my hands and say, “this, this is what I want to do.” Jared Tseng, who sat down with me and taught me how to become a professional photographer, how to follow my art, and is still one of the wedding photographers I’m the most inspired by.

Dr. Smith, for exceeding my expectations of how much therapy can help and for giving me the tools to take care of myself, to save myself, and to love myself. Every man I ever dated, the douches and the nice guys, who let me fall in love with them, let me fall out of love with them, and helped me figure out not only what I want, but what I deserve in the man I’ll someday marry. The little kids I taught to swim, because they showed me that compassion, patience, and a little silliness can sometimes be more important than outright hard work. All you blog readers, for showing me that community is not limited by geography and that unwavering support can come from people whose faces you’ve never seen. Finally, all the bloggers who have confronted their quarter-life crises, and through those confrontations have shown me that there is a way to become the best version of yourself and it’s not always the way society says it should be done.

So thank you guys. Thank you for helping me on the path to the Grown Ass Woman I’ve (almost) become, and thank you for doing it in your own beautiful ways that reflect the heroes, the teachers, the peers, and the students that have poured into you and made you all into the fantastic beings you’ve become and will continue to evolve into.

All of the hugs and all of the love,

Valorie

The Rupert A. L. Grint Update

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I’m sure you guys saw this post, in which I basically just talked about how awesome Rupert A.L. Grint is and used his name a whole lot. This post was written not just because I really like Rupert A.L. Grint, or just because “Hug Rupert A.L. Grint” is on my Life List, but also because using a celebrity’s name eleventy billion times in a post has a funny effect.

Go search “Rupert A.L. Grint” in Google. Really, go for it. I’ll wait.

Are you back?

Did you notice who was the seventh ranked hit for “Rupert A.L. Grint” (besides YT videos)? Was that maybe moi?

Hell yes it was. And hell yes I just spoke French. Because I’m awesome.

I didn’t hit number 3 or 1, like my inspirations did using Kanye O. West and John C. Mayer. I can’t decide if it’s because Rupert A.L. Grint is just that much more awesome than them and so I had more searches to compete with (it is), or because I didn’t use his name enough, OR because Rupert A. L. Grint has two middle names and people are easily confused by that.

Anyway, this is all to say that I hope that when Rupert A. L. Grint chooses to google search his name (what, you don’t do that?), he finds my link and clicks on it, sees that “Hug Rupert A.L. Grint” is on my Life List (number 35, just sayin'), and then chooses to fulfill this lifelong dream of mine.

I imagine that it’ll be this big deal meeting – Blogger Meets Rupert A. L. Grint in Lifelong Dream Come True Story! Of course, I’ll be so embarrassed/excited that all I’ll be able to do is stammer and blush. Actually, scratch that. I WILL BE AWESOME. I will be totally witty and hilarious, which will lead to me being wildly famous as I gain recognition for making the whole cast of Harry Potter laugh. I’ll write a book about meeting Rupert A. L. Grint, and how that one blog post I wrote in December of 2011 changed my life. It’ll be awesome.

Want to get in on this? I know you do. Who doesn’t want to get famous through name dropping, drawing people to their blog, and meeting their favorite famous people?

Here’s how it works: Pick someone kind of famous, someone that people would search for on Google. Try not to pick someone too famous, like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, or JK Rowling. Back on your blog, use this person’s full name, middle initial and all, and repeat it as many times as you can. Go ahead, be obnoxious with it. If possible, link to things within your blog. Link back to this blog to show where you got your inspiration. Google SEO settings like it when you link to other things.

After all that, come back and leave your link here. Leave a comment here. I’ll go back to your blog and leave a comment too. We will win all the analytics and get all the rankings and all the fame!

And if that fails, we’ll at least laugh about it. 

Can't wait to see who you guys pick and what you guys come up with! 

the one about christmas

My Christmas was very low-key. We drove to my grandma's house, where she cooked a huge meal (I tried to help) and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins joined us. We have such a big family we have to eat at three tables to accommodate everyone!

We did presents, my cousins loved the ones I gave them (made my heart warm!) and then we played the most vicious and intense game of monopoly maybe ever. 

It was a great day. :) 

Hope you guys all had a wonderful Christmas. And to my non-Christmas-celebrating friends, I hope you had a wonderful NBA season opening day.

Fill in the Blank Christmas!

  Link up with Lauren at the Little Things We Do to fill in your blanks!

 

1.   The best way to spread Christmas cheer is   to sing Christmas music loudly and obnoxiously while passing out delicious holiday treats, like candy cane bark which is the best thing ever, by the way .

2.   The thing I love most about Christmas is  spending time with my family. Getting ready for the holidays can be stressful, but the time together is so worth it  .

3.  The holiday season is a time for  reflection and goal setting. It's a time for thinking about what you got out of this year and what you want out of next year .

4. My favorite thing to eat at the holidays is   peppermint anything, except peppermints. I straight up hate peppermints. But anything flavored with peppermints is the best.

5.  I will be spending Christmas   with all my family on my dad's side. We all go to Grandma's house and hang out for a few days.

6.  Tis better to (give or receive?)  give! I mean, everyone loves to receive, obviously. But giving is better, more heartwarming.

7.  I'm dreaming of a   cold    Christmas.  It would be nice to have a white Christmas, but I don't think I've ever had a white Christmas ever. It would be nice though. 

What are you guys doing for the holidays? Do you travel to see family, or stay home? Share your plans. :)