dianaschnuth

Last year, I thought I’d join the infographics revolution and show my Year In Review in all graphs and numbers and stats. As it turns out, that doesn’t even work for me very well — it’s difficult for me to really pin down what happened and when, with everything aggregated to such a degree.

This year, I’ll be mixing text and graphics to spice things up. Hopefully it’s a little more engaging than either alone.

It’s also going to be a bit lengthy. You have been warned…

Getting Out Of Town

Our previous years’ vacations were to Japan, Hawaii, and Japan. Our 2010 vacation followed a bit of a pattern and took us to another tropical paradise: Mexico.

It was our first foray into all-inclusive resorting, and we loved it. Highlights of our trip included snorkeling, rappelling, and sitting on the beach surfing the internet and drinking cold adult beverages.

A few months later, in July, we headed out to New York City to attend The Next HOPE. Of course, we arrived a couple of days before the conference, to have some time to explore the city. While there, we met up with Erin and Noah (a.k.a. the Ninja Consultants), who showed us a good time and a good view.

Dining Out

Since we can’t always trek out to foreign countries, relatively distant cities, or even Ann Arbor, Aaron and I tend to mix things up by dining out on the weekends.

Obviously, we continued our tradition of Sunday dim sum at New Empire; however, we also found ourselves at Wei Wei fairly often, since they included pho on the menu. As far as I know, this is the only place in Toledo to get real pho (as opposed to its Thai cousin, guay tiew, which is also quite delicious but not quite the same).

New-to-us Toledo restaurants we tried this year included Jasmine (formerly En Japanese Steakhouse), Gloria’s Tamales, and Balance Pan-Asian Grille. I also hit up Darla’s Thai Pan with Sheryl, and Aaron and I gladly welcomed Tomukun to Ann Arbor.

Since Aaron and I work opposite schedules, I only dine with him on the weekends. I also eat lunch with my department (DW Team, above) once a week. Apart from those main social dining companions, I enjoyed the company of my mother during her June visit; family (mainly at holidays); the entire Information Services department at my work for a few going-away and celebratory lunches; and a few friends, both local and just passing through (who may or may not want to be Googleable).

(Edit: these graphs don’t include meals taken in Mexico or NYC.)

Shedding Pounds and Getting Fit

From eating to losing weight; nice segue.

I’m currently at my all-time lowest adult weight (not counting those few extra pounds from New Year’s). One year ago this week, I’d regained half of what I’d lost on Weight Watchers so far, and weighed in at 200 pounds again — something I swore I’d never do. During the course of 2010, I lost all of that regained weight plus some, and I started running.

I flirted with the Couch-to-5K program during the spring and summer, but languished without a goal. So, I signed up for my first 5K at the beginning of November. The race was December 4, and I had a great time, and set a 5K PR (personal record) of 36 minutes and 13 seconds.

I ran a total of 79 miles in 2010, and I’m planning to run over five times that distance in 2011. I also intend to run at least four 5K races, and will train for each race to beat my time from the last.

Photography

For the past two years, I’ve posted a photo to my blog every Thursday; some months, that’s all the action my blog sees, outside of my Twitter posts. The original intention was to spend Thursdays photographing something in my home: my cat, myself, a still life. Over time, it became an outlet for iPhone photos taken during the week, or test photos from my collection of film cameras.

This year, the plan is to post one photo from each of my cameras, preferably a different camera every week.

Photo Entries in 2010, by Camera:

Music

Number of concerts attended in 2010: ZERO. That’s because none of the artists I give a damn about are touring anymore (or in some cases, even together anymore).

This list is filled mostly with musical artists I discovered in high school and college, with the exceptions of Air (which I discovered circa 2005), Firefox AK (discovered through the now-defunct indie music podcast 75 Minutes), and Daft Punk (whose score for Tron: Legacy is phenomenal).

Notable Happenings

I almost feel like I’m giving these topics short shrift by only mentioning them in passing, but in many cases, I’ve already written a lengthy blog entry about them.

In April, Aaron and I vacationed in Mexico.
At the end of April, my long-time supervisor left the company.
In May, my bestest friend Amy came to visit.
In June, my Mom came to visit. We took a roadtrip to my hometown of Medina.
In July, Aaron and I went to New York City.
In August, Aaron’s grandfather died at the age of 91.
Later in August, I purchased a new computer.
In October, I got two wisdom teeth extracted.
In December, I ran my first 5K.

This is where I should write some sort of reflective wrap-up of the year 2010, right? Or make an overdone Arthur C. Clarke reference?

How about I just wish everyone a Happy New Year, and leave it at that?