DUH. God wouldn’t let the world end because I haven’t tried foie gras or gotten to spin around in one of those judges chairs from The Voice.

Posts have suffered these past few weeks readers, and I apologize. I have been busy at home in California for the holidays, as well as working at an amazing conference I had the privilege to be a part of for my job called Urbana. 16,000 people came to engage with missions to change the world, and experience God in St. Louis together. Check out some of me and my team’s videos here!

Michelle and I finally got to spend time to together when I was home (betches reunited!). As we were stuffing our faces with amazing Korean fried chicken, she paused for a moment, looked me straight in the eyes, smiled, and said, “This is going to be the year for you.”

THE year? There’s only two possibilities here of what she’s talking about: I’m going to finally meet Celine Dion or my significant other.

The girl is an INFJ and has quite the intuition, so I’m gonna TAKE IT. Celine is too busy anyway, and since one of my New Year’s resolutions is to actually try but not depend on getting me a man, it’s gotta be time to stop idolizing Daniel Craig as a 25-soon-to-be-26-old-single-woman.

As much as I enjoy my independence, I think I’m ready to share my crossword puzzles, intentionally cook for two, and compromise choices for a movie night (no promises though).

I had some time to reflect on 2012 today, and it’s really been one hell of a year. Fantastic, even. Here are five highlights:

1. I moved from Los Angeles, CA to Madison, WI to begin an amazing job as a full-time video production associate with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA.

The obvious is that there has been a ton of transition, but it’s been quite an awesome adventure with weather, culture, and lifestyle changes. I absolutely love my job, and feel blessed to continue my work with IVCF in this way. Here in the Midwest, cross-cultural encounters have taught me just how much of a Californian Asian I am. I realized this when I wanted to ask “Hey dude, where can find some hella good boba?” Outed myself too quickly it seems.

2. I traveled to two continents (London, Europe and Swaziland, Africa) and parts of the US that I had never been to before.
I love traveling and experiencing new places. But I very much dislike airplanes as you all know by now. I have at least almost perfected my system for airplane travel, seen some cool airports, and am now a master of how to pack. And furthermore, I’ve learned that a person just can never know what surprises will come about during air travel. Just a few days ago coming back from California for the holidays, a kid puked in the seat directly behind me. It stunk so bad that I wanted to ask the stewardess to turn the kid into a mixed drink by pouring whatever liquids were leftover in her cart. Whether it’s a man with too much cologne and electronic devices, a woman with a deathly combination of halitosis and extraordinary speaking ability, or the cutest Russian grad student that made you confess to your confidants you might have made out with him if he initiated, you just never know who will sit right next to you!

3. My mom retired this year, which means my life as the daughter of a restaurant owner is finally over.
Retired Dad is awesome. Retired Mom? She needs some work. I experienced a week of her and the woman just doesn’t know what to do with herself. She mentioned taking a Zumba class at the gym her and my dad are now members of. I am still processing the thought of that. She claims to have won dancing awards in her youth, and I extremely look forward to reigniting this old passion of hers. Maybe I’ll start a spin-off of Lifetime’s “Dance Moms” called “Dancing Moms,” where retired immigrant women of all cultures take a Zumba class together with a psycho instructor. Every reality show needs a crazy person.

4. I finished AFI’s Top 100 Movies (Updated List).
I have loved movies since I was kid. And as a huge enthusiast of film, I decided to put this on my list because it was such a fantastic experience. I felt the fullness of just how wonderful movies are, in all genres, and how powerfully it can impact a person. This project has further affirmed my love for telling story through film, where it allows people to enter into worlds and ideas that they never would have imagined themselves. Movies can even illustrate the exact thoughts you have, and move you in ways other things just can’t. I sometimes sit for days and even weeks on a moment or an idea I saw. That’s the beauty of such a medium, where I can be just a distant observer or be completely sucked into the full emotions of the story. My current count is about 1,360 movies I’ve seen in my entire being, which I think might be on the more obsessive side. I did the math, and if I started watching movies at the age of 4, that means a movie every 6 days. Not as much as I thought. This can be explained by the fact that most of my life was spent watching television programming. Maybe I’ll just be buried in a couch when I die.

5. I finally live an apartment where I have my own room.
This sounds silly for someone my age, but it’s true. Since moving away from home at 18 for college, I have always shared a bedroom with at least one or two people. And when I actually counted how many different roommates I’ve had (not counting apartment mates) in the past seven years, the number was fourteen. Fourteen different women with different living habits, values, and lifestyles. Some were quieter in their sleep than others, and some were louder when awake than others. Even though it has taught me a lot, I am so damn grateful for my living situation now. Laura is seriously the best person to live with, and we have a wonderful thing going here in our two bedroom apartment for two people. I think I’m just relieved by the simple fact that I can come back to my room and fart at my own leisure.

So that was 2012, and now it’s 2013. So everyone, we gotta make the most of our lives and right now would be a good time to start. No use in putzin’ around. And if you find it hard to leave the recliner, at least put on a good movie or read something enlightening.

Resolutions for the year are being finalized.

This is Amy Hu signing off for January 14th, 2013.