Oh you fancy, huh?

In which I judge how I did on this year's resolutions

Relationships
1. Finish the year proud of the relationship decisions I've made.
I didn't get a girlfriend or a date or any of that, but that wasn't the goal this year. I had to sort out of a lot of other things in my life and not let other distractions get in the way of that. And I didn't, getting some confidence back and a better head on my shoulders in the process. Certainly something worth being proud of, and something to build off of for sure.

Experiences
2. Take a new pineapple picture
If you insist.

3. Attend an NHL game
All right, I know it's sort of a cop out, but I'm going to give myself half-credit on this one. No, I did not make the trek outside of Wisconsin to catch a pro hockey game in 2010, but my parents did give me tickets to the Tampa Bay Lightning-Minnesota Wild game in St. Paul for my birthday. So I at least got tickets this year, even if I won't go until April of next year. Assuming I'll get to wrap it up into an MLC trip weekend, it might be near the top of the growing list of things I'm really looking forward to next year.

4. Watch the DVD of "Hotel Rwanda" that I own
Just watched it yesterday! It's been sitting on my desk literally all year, and I always put it off assuming I'd eventually find the time. It was a good film. It was quite moving at parts, definitely pretty heavy in a lot of ways. Don Cheadle had a very impressive performance. Also, it's probably like the first time I've ever watched a movie alone.

5. Drive in a state that I haven't driven in before.
I actually bagged two new states this year, running my total up to seven. I drove in Iowa for the first time, from Des Moines to Davenport during my summer road trip, and I drove in Colorado on the drive home as we picked up Evan from New Mexico at the end of summer. Colorado especially was kind of interesting, getting to drive in a mountainous region, and also navigating our big conversion van through Denver. I really liked this resolution, since it forced me to bat around ideas of road trips, so I may very well make it a part of 2011's.

6. Celebrate Stabby the Green Pepper Day
It's second nature now.

Personal Improvement/Achievement
7. Get a legitimate summer internship with a legitimate company.
No dice. I didn't put in nearly the effort to get an internship this year as I had the year before, but it's a different story when you have the safety net of a job. I worked full time all summer at Target and that worked out just fine, as I got good hours (8-4:30 all week) and flexibility on my days off, something that clearly came in handy for watching world cup games and other social events.

8. Play soccer competitively
Not surprisingly, this never went down, as I was just too busy for it. I got to play a few pickup games while the weather was still warm, so hopefully I'll be able to keep that up.

9. Do something creative on a large(r than usual) scale
I didn't really get a chance to do this in 2010. Well, my friends and I continued our series of nonsense Saw parodies that started in like...2004, and "Saw IV - Rise of the Vice-BROsident" most assuredly has potential, but it was more screwing around than something on a larger than usual scale. I just don't have the motivation or time to devote to it that I used to, and I'm not the type whose creativity simply bursts at the seams if I don't have an outlet. Maybe I just used it all up on Loaded Questions answers.

10. Serve the Chapel in a capacity that I have not yet served
Yep, I've been a housefellow for a few months now, which has led to all sorts of service capacities. It's been a good experience thus far.

11. Go Running
...Not enough to be able to count it as a successful resolution. If I would just run to class, but that presents its own problems.

12. Swear less
I would say so. Darn straight. (See??)

13. Pay off my sophomore year student loans
I was unable to do so. I came awfully close, and a few decisions like going on a summer road trip probably made the difference, but that's all right. I'm barely in debt, especially when compared to most college students, and it's better to make memories like that while I still can.

14. Accomplish at least half of my New Year's Resolutions (8.5 out of 14)
Yeah! And this year I didn't even need to use the loophole of the last resolution to do so!