So here we are, at the end of 2011.  I cannot believe how quickly this year flew by.  Crap man.  I got married this year!  Damn.

Anyway, keeping with my somewhat yearly tradition, here’s my “Year in Review” blog post, complete with links for your own entertainment.  I’m somewhat proud of myself that I blogged at least 4 times each month this year, most months was more.  One goals I have is to blog at least once a week in 2012!  2012 is the first year that I don’t truly know what’s going to happen.  In 2010, there were tons of trips & the end of Lost and in 2011, there was the wedding.  Not to say that 2012 is going to be boring.  Other than it potentially being the last year of any of our lives, there’s also plenty to look forward to.  In May, I am graduating from the Paralegal Program at Meredith College (anyone out there want to hire me?) and I am going to Disney World with Jay’s family.  Of course, there’s always my lover San Diego Comic Con to visit in July and who knows what’s going to pop up along the way?  Bring it, 2012!

That said, let me take a trip down memory lane to recap the last year…

January – Jay & I kicked off 2011 at the grand opening of a bowling alley in Raleigh called Sparians.  We went with Clif & another friend Mike.  It was my first New Years Eve not with my family, which was strange, but I had a great time.  On New Years Day, we went to see a Carolina Hurricanes game with Jay’s sister Heather and her boyfriend, Steven.  From January 7-10, I went to Universal Orlando and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my sisters Katelyn & Christie, and Kate’s boyfriend Jeremiah #2.  It was spectacular.  I brought back the Elder wand for Jay as a gift and it inspired him to finally read the entire Harry Potter series.  Watching him fall in love with the books and come up with theories was just so freaking cool.  It made me so happy.  Speaking of reading, I Zoe and I began The Hunger Games series in January 2011.

February - I turned 27 in February.  It was a very quiet day.  Actually, most of February was quiet.  Started reading the Percy Jackson book series.  Was meh about the first one, but love every single book since then.

March – March was filled with wedding activities.  I loved March.  It began with my bridal shower on March 5, which was such a fun day.  After the shower was when I realized just how quickly everything pre-wedding was going.  The day that I thought would never come was literally sprinting towards me.  Next up, we had the 4th annual Podcast for Autism Speaks.  It was just as fun as always, even if I did end up getting sick from food poisoning and missing the last few hours.  I’ll make up for it in 2012!  (March 31-April 1.  Be there or be square!)  On March 25, we met with Ken Hild, our very spectacularly talented wedding photographer, for our engagement photos shoot.   March ended with my AWESOME SUPER FANTASTICLY AMAZING bachelorette party thrown by my wonderful sisters.  We started with Mexican food in NYC, then did some KARAOKE (WOOT WOOT) then finished the night at Stout in Herald Square.  Man, that was a super fun night.  Mad props to Gar & Pookie for the shirts they made

April – Oh, April.  How you were so good to me.  On April 1, I appeared on a very special & fun April Fool’s Day episode of Media Junkyard, portraying one Chris in Boston.  We also celebrated Jay’s birthday (he spent his actual birthday at his bachelor party, which was the same weekend as mine.)  On April 16, I experienced my very first tornado.  The tornado may have been a sign (hehe) but we still forged ahead with the wedding!  On April 29, 2011, I married my best friend. <3  All of my blog posts that are associated the wedding can be found here.  That link includes our “story,” wedding pictures, the ceremony, and other moments.  Out of everything on this entire site over the last 6 years, I am most proud of the series of posts that I did before and right after the wedding.

May – We went on our honeymoon from May 1 – May 8.  We went to Riviera Maya in Mexico.  We toured the Mayan ruin of Chitzen Itza alongside Meg Ryan & John Mellancamp and celebrated el 5 de Mayo in full on Mexican resort style.  When we returned home, I legally changed my name to Colleen Glatfelter.  On May 21, my little sister graduated from my alma mater, Marist College, almost exactly 5 years to the day as I did.  On May 23, it was the one year anniversary of the end of Lost aka the anniversary one of the most amazing nights in my life.  Jay & I finished out May by celebrating our one month marriage anniversary at our “anniversary place” (long story), The Outback.

June – June was another quiet month.  Jay & I went home for Father’s Day and visited President Theodore Roosevelt’s Long Island summer home because my dad wanted to do it for Father’s Day.  It was pretty cool.  New York passed the bill allowing gay marriage.  That pleased me.

July – In July, I was featured on a “Pop Talk and Trivia Thursday” on Ryan & Jen’s kick-ass podcast called PopSpotting.  Completely my honor.  Ryan & Jen Ozawa are class acts and fantastic podcasters.  I was not worthy, but I was thrilled.  I read the entire Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  Also in July, Jay & I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows on opening night, which was a lot of fun.  Oh YES and San Diego Comic Con 2011.  Fantastic time, as usual.  My favorite week of the entire year (2nd to my wedding/honeymoon week this year lol).  My sister’s college graduation party was held July 30 on Long Island, so I went home for that and played some beer pong with my parents, sisters & uncle (and Christie’s friends).

August – August was amazing because my parents and sisters drove down to stay with us for a few days, from August 10 – 14.  I wish they would do that more often.  Jay, Zoe, and I all had a great time with them here.  On August 22, I began classes at Meredith College and on August 23, I experienced my first earthquake.

September – September was a quiet month.  I got acclimated to becoming a student again (Mon-Wed nights, 6-9pm) and to doing lots of homework again.  On September 11, it was the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  I also began appearing on Media Junkyard as a semi-regular guest co-host.

October – On October 2, the best news ever came out:  The return of Arrested Development!!!  Sad news followed on Wednesday, October 5 when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away.  We had some cold nights in October, though those haven’t really lasted, to be honest.  We’ve barely needed to put the heat on lately; I think there’s only been one full week of actual cold, winter weather so far.  (Knock on wood.)  At the end of October, Jay & I celebrated our 6 month wedding anniversary with a trip to Charlotte, NC for our very first NFL game, the Carolina Panthers.  We had our annual pumpkin carving party (aka us, beer, Zoe, and TV haha carving a pumpkin).  On Halloween itself, I took a really difficult test and then recorded a really fun episode of Media Junkyard.

November – November was filled with homework.  Seriously.  I had end of the year projects and papers and annotated bibliographies and tests and PowerPoint projects and all that jazz.  My cousin Brian married his perfect match, Theresa, on November 19, and it was so lovely to go home to celebrate their wedding with my family.  Spent my first Thanksgiving with Jay’s family, which was really fun, even if I was writing a paper during parts of it!  On Black Friday, Jay & I spent the evening decorating the apartment for Christmas.  I absolutely love how our apartment looks during the holiday season.  I love our tree, I love our decorations, I love every single thing about it.  Nothing makes me more peaceful than sitting at the kitchen table and looking out at the tree, lights, and fireplace.

December – Classes were finished December 1 and my last assignment was due December 6.  Grades came out and I am very relieved/happy with how I did.  I spent December basically catching up.  I caught up on taking care of myself (finally, daily gym trips!), caught up on reading (oh yeah, I finished The Night Circus, Flash and Bones, and The Son of Neptune; I will have to blog about each one over the next week), and I caught up on general things that I had neglected during my crazy November (like cleaning and the remaining thank you cards!).   I also spent my first Christmas with Jay’s family in North Carolina, another really fun night.

All in all, it’s been a pretty good year.  I still have no idea what Jay & I are doing tonight and it’s 7:00pm already, but that’s okay.  Even if we end up staying home, we’ll still find a way to have fun   Thanks everyone for taking the time to stop by my blog, whether it’s every time I link to it on Twitter, every once in a while, or every week.  I really appreciate it.  Wishing everyone a safe and happy end to 2011 and a wonderful start in 2012.

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