Out with the Old, In with the New

Hi Everybody (or the handful of you who sometimes read this thing). On this final day of the year of our Lord, 2008, I find it appropriate to recap some of my favorite moments, accomplishments, etc. of the past year. And I'll be upfront, and admit that I am stealing the format from Jules.
Accomplishments:
2008 had a quite a few adventures and accomplishments for me, some bigger than others:
-Kept my New Year's resolution to go on at least two dates per month
-Started grad school, and survived (by the skin of my teeth) a very harrowing second term there
-Voted in a Presidential Primary for the first time
-Traveled to two new states, and a foreign country (if you can consider Canada foreign)
-Seriously took up learning to play the guitar--it's kind of fizzled, but will be back
-Saw two of the "big three" (my term) Mormon historical sites, Kirtland, OH and Palmyra, NY
-Got more familiar with the many historical and geological sites near my home
-Successfully found and set up housing for my roommate and me when our old lease expired (my first time to do the groundwork)
-Made my first campaign contribution(s), and volunteered time in a presidential campaign
-Got a sweet window office, and gave it all up a few months later for a cubicle and a pay raise
-Helped to make history by voting to elect the first black president of the US
-Helped some of my family to do the same
-Began dating, fell in love with, and got engaged to my future wife (only 87 days from today), surviving a brutal summer while she was away in Russia
-Successfully met her entire family, and fit in well with them on their family vacation, and at their family Christmas
-Introduced her to my family at Thanksgiving
-Managed to lose 12+ lbs during the holiday season
-Braved driving the streets of New York City (wouldn't recommend that to anyone)
Best new book read in 2008: I'll be honest, I didn't do a whole lot of reading for leisure this year. Any that I did do was for school, and when I had free time, I certainly didn't want to read since I had to read so much for class. Currently I am reading Ender's Game, which is surprisingly interesting, but I have yet to get to a point where I don't want to put it down. Of the books I read for school, one called "Being Good" was pretty good, and I did read "Believing Christ" one day in January, and that was a good. I have plans to read more this next year.
Worst new book read in 2008: Econ text book
Best book re-read in 2008: Don't re-read books generally, but maybe I'll start
Worst book re-read in 2008: See above, but couldn't imagine that I would re-read one that I wouldn't enjoy
Best new movie seen in 2008: Dark Knight--Loved the Joker
Worst new movie seen in 2008: The new Indiana Jones movie--got it as a gift at our office Christmas party. It's a little far-fetched...even for Indiana Jones
Best decision made in 2008: To start dating Melanie
Worst decision made in 2008: To take Stats and Econ in the same semester
Best purchase made in 2008: Either Mel's engagement ring, or the tickets to the play we went to on our first date
Worst purchase made in 2008: I haven't really bought anything that I haven't used. I bought one shirt for the gym, which I returned after deciding that I didn't really need it at that point.
Best month of 2008: November--Obama won, I got engaged, and the Utes embarrassed BYU on the football field, thus giving them a perfect season and their second trip to a BCS bowl
Worst month of 2008: June--Mel left for Russia, and then my roommate Adam, my back up plan for entertainment, was sent to Tulsa for the summer on business. I was very bored.

So that sums it up, here's hoping that 2009 will be even better than 2008.