A year is usually divided up into seasons, for me. Maybe that's because I'm still a student, and semesters order my life conveniently. Of course, that's about to end (for the first time in my 27 years), so maybe that will no longer apply.
In winter, I went to the Middle East for the first time, which is something I never imagined myself doing before I met ktspktsp. It was indeed a great start to the year, and I definitely intend on making that trip many, many more times in my life.
I added the dual-degree of Demography to my PhD work, and then had the most academically-demanding semester yet (spring). I worked out assiduously for the first half of the year, then became a sluggard for the last half.
During the summer, I discovered that I was more uncomfortable getting out of my car in the American urban ghetto than I was living out of a tent in a rural African village with no modern amenities. So I made myself comfortable. I got to know Philly inside and out, and spent a lot of time hanging out with immigrant store-owners in the ghetto for my RA job. I also got to spend every night with ktspktsp for two months straight,
and during that time we evolved into a state of being ready for marriage. I had a 5 week engagement (fall) and planned a damned impressive wedding day in that time, if I may say so myself. Of course, one result of all that is that I'm now about to embark on taking anti-depressants for the first time in my life, since my nerves are so frazzled that I don't really recognize myself at times.
I am hoping to begin 2007 in a more stable state of mind, which will be essential since I will be taking my comprehensive exams in January, and then we are moving to another country together. I want to be as supportive of possible of my husband who is taking this huge risk with me, and I want to do a kick-ass job on my research in the coming year.