2010 recap

2010 was full of firsts for me. Some that challenged me to learn and do things I had never done before; some were pleasant surprises that were smooth rides.

• Visited 'his parents' for the first time. Have had my fair share of relationships, none went till this stage though.
• Went back to visit my family for the first time since I moved to the United States. It was an exhilarating moment when we saw each other at the airport. Spent an entire month with my parents and sister. There was a lot of catching up to do and the fact that they both took the month off work helped. For the first time in my life, told my parents that I had met the love of my life; the one I planned to spend the rest of my life with. They had problems accepting a foreigner as my choice, right away. But after a lot of questioning and information extraction, they took it in the right spirit.
• Our first annual anniversary :)
• Moved to California and got my first car. [Soon came to be known as the naive girl who answered "Which car did you buy?" with a "Silver" :P ] Moving was quite easy thanks to the relocation package and the fact that I just took my clothes with me and rented a furnished apartment.
• Discovered I have pollen allergies :( Spring time is going to be rough in the desert for me!
• Lived alone for the first time. It was an interesting experience to say the least. And if I didn't miss him so much, I'd continue to live alone.
• This year was the first time we stayed apart for such extended periods of time :( It sucked in the start with my trip to India and then the move to California. But he soon moved out here in the summer, although in a different city. It only got better from there.
• Bought my first drum set and started taking drum lessons. Something that I have wanted to do since I started listening to rock music.
• We spent most of the summer and fall exploring the scenic California outdoors. I really love being close to the ocean (in spite of my hair getting frizzy!)
• Attended an American wedding for the first time [even bought a nice dress!]
• We took a vacation and went to San Diego for a week together [just like a week in Miami,FL last year]. Only the hotel was on an island with a view of the bay in front and a yacht club behind [it was just a golf course in Miami]. This was one of the highlights of the year.
• Went on my first dinner cruise :) Champagne, French food, creme bruele, dancing - the whole deal :)
• Got engaged. When he proposed by going down on both knees with a trinity diamond ring, genuine heartfelt words and a view like this, there was no reason for it to not be the perfect moment.
• This year was fantastic on the music front, I got a chance to see amazing artists like A.R.Rahman, Interpol, Roger Waters, Indian Ocean etc.
• The year ended with me trying my hands at golf for the first time. We drove down to visit his parents for Christmas. Went golfing with his enthusiast dad who taught me the basics and observed that I had a 'naturally good swing'.
• Started my first fire inside a fireplace (at his parents' place). It is much harder than it seems!
• I opened my first investment account. Financially, my goal this year was simply to pay off most of my student debt and I managed to reach the set milestones. I have been investing only in the company I work for, due to discounts and benefits. I need to learn about investment strategies.
• Professionally, this year gave me a lot of opportunities to get hands on experience with large code bases. The work environment was daunting at first with extremely brilliant people as peers. But it soon became a norm to have lunch on the same table a someone with significant contributions to the field. I got reviewed and recognized for my efforts, which was nice. I have started working on the suggested improvements already. I cannot divulge more details due to Non-disclosure Agreements but the chip I worked on will be available on the shelf sometime next year. I hope to have many more interesting things to say on this blog in a similar post next year :)
• Physically, this year was excellent due the amazing California weather and scenic outdoors. After moving out here, I disciplined myself into a regular running routine and managed to get myself out of the winter slumber in Georgia to easily running 5 miles under 45 minutes by the end of summer. Unfortunately, it has been raining a lot in the last month and I have been infrequent in my runs and thus lowered my mileage :( I decided to lose weight and lost about 12 lbs in 3 months :) That provided a much required morale boost.
• As far as friends and social circles are concerned, I finally feel like I am ready to be in this place for the next 5 years at least. So I spent some of my time socializing and making new friends who I regularly do stuff with, be it hiking, music concerts or just movies.

Overall 2010 has been an eventful year that taught me to learn and adapt. I have been heck busy all the time (which is why this post is delayed :-|) but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Over this year, I realized that I easily get bored without challenges. So for me, climbing really difficult mountains is much more exciting than sitting around or walking on a comfortable plain.

Thus 2011 will be full of many more new firsts as well. Next post about goals in 2011. Until then adios!