This has been an incredible year. I was engaged and married to the love of my life in a self-uniting secular ceremony. I traveled to Europe for the first time, and left Pittsburgh and moved to a small rural town in Wyoming. I began the final steps of my PhD: I was matched to an APA-accredited predoctoral clinical internship and I submitted a full draft of my dissertation to my director. I’ve also expanded my clinical abilities and done some of the most demanding and rewarding clinical work of my career (currently, psychoanalytic psychotherapy multiple times weekly with clients diagnosed with intellectual disabilities). Here is my review of what I did this year:

January

watched Black Swan
continuing internship interviews
travel to DC, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Utah, and Wyoming
second full year of Bikram yoga practice

February

turn in rank-order list for internship programs
lecture/ discussion by Judith Halberstam at University of Pittsburgh
read A Confederacy of Dunces
watched the Super Bowl
submitted all materials for Certificate of Teaching Excellence
matched to my internship program

March

saw a presentation by Mónica Enríquez-Enríquez
attended a lecture by Larry Davidson
read Franzen’s Freedom, How to Be Alone, and The Discomfort Zone
attended Farm to Table conference and local food tasting
finished watching Futurama
take a basic car mechanics and repair workshop

April

Engaged!
finished watching Deadwood
reading Nick Hornby (Juliet, Naked)
Humanistic Psych conference in Chicago
attended a lecture by Trinh Minh-ha
attended Croquet

May

begin attending Quaker meetings
started watching the Up series
complete Psyhodynamic Psychotherapy training course
comedy show at the Improv

June

attended Pgh Psychoanalytic lecture by Salman Akhtar
saw Attack Theater’s performance of Euridice and Orpheus
attended Menstrual Cycle Research Conference
attended Matt and Claire’s and Sarah and Tim’s weddings
engagement party BBQ in Denver
punk rock karaoke at Howlers

July

terminate with all clients in sex offender treatment program
Wedding in Pittsburgh
honeymoon in Germany
started reading Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go)
travel to DC, then Denver
move to Wyoming

August

internship begins, new individual clients and process groups
Rorschach seminars
attended a rodeo
visit to Denver
attended ten-year high school reunion

September

went to demolition derby
watching Kids in the Hall
Joe goes to Pgh for work
conduct first psych eval for internship
read Nocturnes (Ishiguro)
watched Somewhere (Sofia Coppola)

October

parents visit
watching Walking Dead season 2
technology paper published in a peer-reviewed academic journal
presentation on gender and intellectual disability at Women and Disabilities Conference in DC
begin working with an outpatient child client
watched Bridesmaids
read When We Were Orphans and Remains of the Day (Isihiguro)
Halloween party at our apartment

November

Thanksgiving in CO
reading 1Q84 (Murakami)
watched The Skin I Live In
started watching third season of In Treatment

December

travel to Pittsburgh, holiday parties
watched Young Adult
Joe’s parents visit for Christmas
Submitted complete dissertation draft
watching Chappelle Show
applying for postdoctoral postions/ jobs
New Year’s Eve celebration at our place, Lebowski themed