Emily's Year in Review - 2008 Edition

So, here's the recap of my 2008. I think it will be pretty boring; such is my life. Plus, you guys pretty much know everything already. Anyhoo, here I go...

I welcomed in 2008 at Laura and Michael's apartment with Liz (and L and M...Liz and I didn't crash their apt while they were off somewhere else). We played Guitar Hero and SingStar. I can trace back my current OCD obsession with Guitar Hero and SingStar to them.

At this point, I was still subbing in Madison. I think substitute teaching is the worst possible job for me. Seriously. 1) I'm too friggin' nice and naively believe that children will give you respect if you respect them. Instead, I get treated like shit and get trod all over. And then I become really bitter and start hating kids. 2) I have serious anxiety issues. Which have drastically improved as I've gotten older, but come back a thousand-fold when it comes to subbing. I mean, you get called the morning of and have to rush in to some random school you've probably never been to and teach a bunch of kids you've never met a subject you know nothing about with lesson plans which may or may not be present. Hell. Hellhellhellhellhell. Never again.

So, upon deciding that I really didn't want to teach, I had to seriously consider what to do with my life. Joleen (who at this point was already in Australia) brought Libraries/Archives to my attention. I was intrigued. Books? Yay! Old stuff? Yay! Organization? Yay! Plus, it seemed like my eduation degree could actually be benefical in this line of work. So I hastily threw together an application for SLIS grad school here at the UW, and was accepted! Hallelujah!

I think that happened in February. Nothing else happened in February. Liz had Sarah had birthdays. The groundhog didn't see his shadow (or maybe he did...I don't recall).

I must have continued subbing until June, but I don't remember. I think I'm blocking it from my memory. Oh yeah--I got a job at Sylvan at the end of February. That was fine, but not a lot of hours.

Another Easter came and went, in which I got an Easter basket from the Easter Bunny and got to see the nieces.

I did various things with Sarah throughout the Spring/Summer months, including kayaking and Concert on the Squares. The rest of the time I sat in my apt doing God-knows-what. Probably really important things that I just don't remember.

My mom visited a few times and brought with her a package Joleen sent from Oz full of lollies. And Tim Tams. I had my first Tim Tam Slam. I blame Joleen for my addiction.

I guilted Sarah into going to Rhythm and Booms with me, during which we were pelted with firework debris.

Sarah and I visited Liz and went to Laura's Wedding Shower where I had my first mani and pedi. Sarah used my camera to take pictures of people's feet, but not much else.

Then all the roomies (sans Candy :( ) got together for Laura and Michael's wedding! Man, two old roomies are married. And I'm still in school. The wedding was beautiful, and I had a GREAT time. So did Sarah (hehe).

Me, Liz, Sarah, and Brighton then drove to my cabin for a week. Which, of course, I loved.

The Beijing Olympics happened at some point around this time. I watched them. Two of my cousins gave birth...Becky to a boy (Braden), and Katie to a girl (Ava).

I was visted by my parents and brother (Brian), as Brian volunteered at the Iron Man in Madison. I started grad school, and got a part time job at the Wisconsin Historical Society. I didn't mind any of my classes, and I really enjoy my job at the WHS.

I got to see Candy when we went to Lelani's Baby Shower. Lots of babies this year...

My parents left for 6 weeks to visit Joleen and Sunny in Australia/New Zealand. During this time, I babysat Wicket. I had to keep her secret since I'm not allowed to have pets in my apartment. Which meant I had to put her in her kennel, sneak her to my car (parked in the underground garage), and drive a block away everytime I gave her a walk. A hassle, but if I didn't give her a walk she'd bark and act all pissy. I miss having a dog around to wag her tail when I get home. :( I went to my first corn maze with Sarah. That was fun, although the kids who entered at the same time as us annoyed me.

My parents returned home, bearing gifts. I got a real authentic pair of jandals! Woo-hoo!

The candidate I voted for in the Presidential election FINALLY won! I was going to be really bummed if I ended up 0-3 in Presidental votes. Yay for our first black President! Yay for a Democratic win!

Then it was Thanksgiving. We ate food. We cut down a real Christmas tree for the first time since I can remember. It smelled good.

My semester came to a close. It was very successful. I got an A in all 4 of my classes. Yay! Next semester is looking to be even busier, so I'm a bit worried about how I'll do. I'm sure everything will be fine.

Liz, Candy and Jake came to Madison just before Christmas. We (and Sarah) met up and had brunch. It was fun. Then it was Christmas. See previous post for Christmas details.


To bring everything full circle, I celebrated New Year's at Laura and Michael's again (with Liz!). We didn't play Guitar Hero, though. We played Scattergories and some Scene It! music quiz game. It was fun. I think I'll try to come up with a few resolutions for 2009 at some point. I resolve to come up with some resolutions! We'll see if anything ever comes of them.

That's it! Boring, eh? Did I forget anything? If I didn't have a photo of it, it's very possible I did!