I just saw a text file named "Best of 2010" in the My Documents folder in my computer. I'd completely forgotten about it -- it was something I'd written up for this blog a year ago, but never posted it. Here are the contents of that file:

Best purchase
Tweezerman tweezers
AirOptix contact lenses

Best trip
Trip home in October

Best decision
To start running

Best show
Keane at Fox Theater, Oakland

Best family time
Playing Beatles: Rock Band 

Most delicious meal outside of Malaysia
Any of the meals I had at NYC

Best lab moment
Successfully differentiating fat cells

Best gift received
Black harem pants

Best yumcha session
Papparich at Kota Damansara in October 

Best thing I learnt
Swimming freestyle

I chuckled as I read through this. Each one of these entries have a vivid memory attached to it. Oh my, how things have changed since then. One year seems to just fly by at this age that you often forget that so many things ... so much shit goes down in 365 days.

I can't even begin to list down every little highlight of 2011. 2011 was ... an amazing year. Soooo many things happened that I keep thinking half of them happened in 2010! I remember I had this great, long list of things I wanted to achieve in 2011 a year ago. Accomplishing most of them was great, but what made the year more amazing were things that I didn't plan for.

Yes, I did things I wanted to, such as:
- Passed my Qualifying Exam
- Produced data in my research project
- Ran 10.6 miles at the Big Sur Marathon, and a half marathon at the SF Nike Women's Marathon
- Picked up rock climbing
- Became physically fit and toned
- Traveled to new places
- Saw Foo Fighters and Incubus in concert 
- Started volunteering at the Raptor Center again
- Got certified as a scuba diver
- Realized my dream to see soft corals in Fiji
- Realized my dream to dive in kelp forests

Most of all, what made 2011 special for me was ... relationships. New relationships were built, and existing relationships were strengthened. I'm happy to have gotten to know more people this year. I'm elated to have gotten to know some really awesome people. I can't walk around in Meyer Hall without stopping to talk to someone. I'm talking so much and having so much fun at work now that I'm finding it extremely hard to be productive XD.

Now, it's 2012. This year, I am setting very few goals. One large, overarching goal that is extremely important ... and three smaller, accessory ones:

GOAL OF 2012: Finish, graduate and acquire a PhD in Genetics from University of California, Davis.

Accessory goals of 2012:
1. Dive more in the Americas before I leave this part of the globe for good.
2. Buy a BCD, regulator set and dive computer to complete my gear.
3. Earn/Save enough money to accomplish all this, and still have enough money to not completely forgo my other hobbies and to wrap things up at the end of the year.

*takes a deep breath* I can do this.

Happy new year, everyone.