Blog Two Year Anniversary

This month officially marks year #2 of me having a blog. To commemorate this momentous occasion, i would like to take a quick comparison of where i was then to where i was now, and to do so, i'll answer these questions:

1. Career Plans
Dec 2003: I was gearing up to take the GRE's for grad school application the following year, still hoping to become an English Professor
Dec 2005: I am working on my Kripalu Center application this weekend to become a yoga teacher. I'm much more dedicated and driven for this one. It makes me happy and healthy :)

2. Current job:
Dec 2003: I had been at Global Protection for all of 2 and a half months, and still wasn't even on Customer Account management, inventory management, or product development yet. I was still doing the books, making $12/hr... half benefits, 5 vacation days a year, still no health insurance yet, nor dental, so i didn't know i had 15 cavities growing in my mouth. The job sucked the life out of me.
Dec 2005: Working for FMC, a leading "solutions provider" for lenders in the student loan market. Job title: Administrative Assistant doing things like reporting, liaison for the department to the rest of the company, and oddly enough, product development again. Salaried at $38K with FULL benefits and 15 vacation days a year, as well as a boss who is going to let me take the time off for yoga training. Great health insurance, including amazing chiropractic coverage. And i've got most of my cavities taken care of. Do i like the job? Not particularly. But the people are good people, and i have energy to pursue important things in my life when i get home from work.

3. Living situation
Dec 2003: The "student ghetto" in Allston, MA between Boston College and Boston University -- dirty, loud, and out of the way -- four people in a three bedroom apartment that was falling apart, but it was still lovely and a great starting point.
Dec 2005: About a mile east of Davis Square in a great neighborhood with families who have dogs and grandparents and babies in the first floor of a Victorian house. There are two of us now in a 1 bedroom, and it's tons of space -- sunny, hard to heat, but altogether wonderful.

4. Plans for New Year's
Dec 2003: went down to Florida to visit a college friend who also bought me a ticket to see the Phish New Year's show in Miami if i bought my plane ticket. Woo!
Dec 2005: Finally getting to enjoy a quiet New Year in Maine again. I'm so looking forward to looking at the snow across the trees and fields, the quiet sluggishness of the cold ocean, and the northern light filtering in from the side of the sky, coating the world in subtleness.

5. Ability to do Christmas presents
Dec 2003: i got people small presents and some knitting IOU requests
Dec 2005: haven't started actually shopping yet, but for the first time since i started paying rent, i actually have money saved up for it.

6. Car situation
Dec 2003: 1992 Subaru legacy that hadn't hit the point where it was about to fall apart yet. The parking situation in Allston was terrible, so i didn't drive it much, but i had one, and it was useful for getting out.
Dec 2005: 2005 Scion XB -- brand new -- running terrifically, impossibly large. The parking situation is excellent. It's still street parking, but due to the fact that it's not a congested living area, we almost always get to park directly in front of our house and have a shorter walk from car-to-door than our landlords who park in the driveway do.

7. Relationship status:
Dec 2003: Happy and in love with daN
Dec 2005: Happier and even more in love with daN

8. Hair
Dec 2003: My hair was still mostly curly, and slightly below shoulder length. I had been getting the occasional gray hair, but it always fell out immediately.
Dec 2005: My hair is pretty much straight, and pretty much shoulder length after having had a few chin-length haircuts. Am i growing it out or getting it cut again? Getting gray hairs that stay there...

9. Diet
Dec 2003: In addition to being vegetarian, i ate mostly beans and rice, some salad, still ate a decent amount of bagels and pasta and a lot of chocolate and desserts
Dec 2005: i have full embraced being a hippy health nut. I still eat a lot of beans and rice, but i'm getting more into goat cheezes than ever. I also don't eat wheat and sugar if i can avoid them, and if it's a must, i do halvesies on the sugar combined with honey. I also buy organic evaporated cane juice instead of normal processed sugar. Buckwheat noodles and rice make up most of my carb intake. I make my own wheat-free sugar-free granlola, and I'm really on the look-out for wheat-free bagels...

10. Shoes
Dec 2003: had too many shoes, and most of them came from Payless and weren't comfortble and were falling apart. Sneakers: a pair of well-worn gray camouflage Sauconies
Dec 2005: OK, so i still have too many shoes, but they're not falling apart anymore, and i have stuck to a "if it's not comfy, don't buy it" policy... and because of that i have two pairs of shoes that cost more than $100 each. They're so worth and i wear them every day. Sneakers: A pair of forest green Sauconies with a magenta stripe -- after having had a pair of well-worn blue with pink stripe Sauconies in the middle. I like Sauconies.

11. Exercise
Dec 2003: I still tried to run sometimes despite my knees, but i had a mile walk to and from South Station to Global Protection every day along the Big Dig.
Dec 2005: I gave up on trying to run. I still have a mile walk every day, but this time it's between my house and Davis Square, and it's a much nicer walk. I also do yoga for an average of an hour every day.

12: Dog ownership
Dec 2003: Didn't have one, but was hoping to someday.
Dec 2005: I still don't have one, and i'm still hoping to someday. At least i get to play with Q's dog now, though.

Where were you two years ago and where are you now? Here's the list i used, but feel free to modify it.
1. Career Plans
2. Current job
3. Living situation
4. Plans for New Year's
5. Ability to do Christmas presents
6. Car situation
7. Relationship status
8. Hair
9. Diet
10. Shoes
11. Exercise
12: Dog ownership