2013: Four Simple Goals

A blog I like to read called A Beautiful Mess blogged about the idea of Four Simple Goals.  Since 2013 will be nuts and the year of The Wedding, instead of writing a huge long list of things I want to accomplish I decided to keep it simple this year.  My goals are:

1.  Eat (at least) one vegetable a day.  I've been getting better about thinking about what I eat and trying to make better choices about what I eat.  I've lost a few pounds (hooray!) as a result, so something must be working.  I've been using an app where I can keep track of what I eat and what exercise I do, so it'll be easy to track this.

2.  Quit coffee.  I actually started this a few days ago, but the goal is to continue it into 2013.  I haven't had coffee since Wednesday.  So far so good!  I'm drinking black tea, which is better because it's less sugar and cream and less expensive since I can just get a tin of it instead of spending $10-15 a week on coffee.  The goal is to keep it going once work starts up again.  I'm allowing myself to cheat on weekends when there's a fun latte with crazy flavors involved (i.e., Starbucks, Gulu, Jaho)

3.  Finish my 5k goal and run the 5k outside in a race.  As I've noted, I've run several 5k's in the gym alone on a treadmill.  I'm also working on improving my time.  I'm at about 40-43 minutes right now, which is decent.  Once it's warmer and there's sunlight after work, I'm getting outside to keep it going and then I'll be signing up for a 5k in the spring or summer.  There's a breast cancer 5k I'm looking at or the Fiesta 5k in June.

4.  Finish the blue sweater and knit another fun sweater.  The blue sweater is about 60% done.  Maybe 70%.  But then all my friends made an unofficial pregnancy pact and had babies, and those babies needed hats.  So the blue sweater went into hiding in the closet.  Well now most people have had their babies, so it's time I finish it and wear it!  I also want to make another sweater for myself.  I might just do a plain thing, I'm not sure.  There are a few I'm eying and I have a ton of yarn asking to be used.


I'll keep this updated with how it's going.  I'm also still doing the 50/50 challenge, but that I'll keep separate from my goals.

It only took three years but...

A common hot pants theme every single year is me mentioning that I want to try and run a 5k.  In fact, you will notice that "running a 5k" and "getting rid of personal debt" are two of the most mentioned things on this blog.  Well, I haven't really been able to make any progress on the first of those two... until today!!

I've been really good lately about going to the YMCA to work out and have been doing a lot more running.  I noticed that I had been running too fast and losing steam and cramping up early, so I slowed down.  Still running, but not as fast running.  After all, I have small stubby legs.  This made a HUGE difference.  I was able to run comfortably for 30 minutes and get a good distance without feeling like death or legs falling off was imminent.  Today, since we had enough time and I was feeling good, I decided to go for it and try to get to 5k on the treadmill.

And 45 minutes later, I had done just that.  It felt great!  I am insanely sweaty, but it felt really good.  Now I just need to maintain that speed and have it feel good, and then try to either go longer or faster.  Then it's time to hit the open road and get used to running while actually moving and pacing myself.  This won't happen until it's warmer, though, because I am a pussy and don't like being cold.

So yeah, 3 years later... one (actually quite big) step closer to that 5k goal.

MFT Day 9: Navy blue nail polish

I promise that this won't devolve into me plugging products I like. 


Last night, after a long run, I decided that my poor sad wintery feet (read:  dry, cracked, and all around gross) needed some love.  I gave myself an impromptu pedicure while waiting for Ricky to come home from work.  I automatically went for my navy blue nail polish.  I felt better after pampering my poor feet.

For years, I've liked nail polish on my toes but tend to never put it on my hands.  I find it distracting, I often end up chipping it an hour in, and I have short stubby fingers so it never looks good.  I think if I had longer fingers and nails, I'd be more apt to give myself manicures, but alas.

I have a lot of pinks and some crazy colors, but wanted to about a year ago try out a dark color, ideally navy blue.  I went to Sephora and got a great color of navy blue.  I can't remember the name of it, but if you go... it's the shiny navy blue polish.  I may need to get more soon because a year later I've used up about half of the bottle!  There are tons of blue polishes, and they let you try everything out at Sephora (thank God because that shit is not cheap) so definitely try a few colors to see what works best for you.

I may have a blue pedicure for Jess and Erin's wedding, as a secret fun way to tie in some "something blue" for both looks.

Resolutions for 2011

Okay, I've officially decided to stop declaring that each year is going to be the year of Getting Shit Done and then halfway through the year realizing that it's not. So I'm just going to declare it 2011 and officially name it in in a few months.

I do have a list of shit to get done, though. And they are:

Save More. This includes getting done debt and saving more for the future of 2011 and into the actual future.

Sew More. The sewing machine is acting a little weird, so I need to have it checked out and then I plan to sew up a storm.

Lose some weight. I'm now a Y member, which will help.

Go to a metric ton of weddings. Everyone's in love and getting hitched in 2011 it seems. Thank goodness I've spent the last few years investing in cocktail dresses.

Travel more. Ricky and I have decided to take some fun trips this year, which I'll disclose where once it's closer to the date of departure. But it should be very fun and exciting.

Get a cat. This should be happening soon. I had a dream a few months back of our cat's name, too.

Begin to put more money towards my student loans and car. This seems counter-intuitive to "save more", but that way I won't be paying interest on the loans for as long.

Not move apartments in 2011. Pleeeaaaasssseee let this happen.


Alright, bring it, 2011!

2009: The Year of Getting Shit Done

I deemed 2008 "The Year of Traveling" and "The Year of Dating Around", but I decided that this year will be the one of getting shit done. There's too much stuff on my plate or hounding me. That's not to say I won't be traveling or dating (hopefully lots and lots of both are in my future), but I really want this year to be one where at the end of it I can re-read this blog post and say "hey, you got a lot of shit done!". Here they are:

--FINALLY run my charitable 5k. This will be tough. I need to get better at running, run outside, run really far, and so forth. Learn pacing, learn patience. But I think this is the year. This will also help accomplish a few of my other things on this list.

--Pay down my credit cards. I have two, technically, though they're the same bank. But I'm really talking about the big one, since Emergency 500 CC will be easy to pay off. But my credit card still has two flights, two weddings, gas from all the driving, and I know that once that's way down, if not completely, that's one less stress in my life. And I really think this is will be possible. Just a matter of being smart. I have it hidden in my dresser, so I can't use it, and it's worked wonders so far.

--Save more. This relates to the one before it. When I'm not throwing that much money to my credit card, I can re-build my savings that were wiped out from the EBSCO State Tax Fuck Up.

--Get in shape and be at a weight I'm happy with. I'm not fat, by no means, but I want to feel like I'm healthy and not see pudge. Running and working out more should help with this.

--Knit down my stash by a lot. My room is taken over by yarn. Two tupperware things, a shopping bag, and several other bags in my closet. I did a good job at this for the craft fair, but I can work further at this. When I have no real projects going on... keep making hats and stuff for the next craft fair or for gifts, and keep knitting it down. My goal is to get rid of the shopping bag and a lot of the little bags in my closet.

--Write more letters. Emails are convenient, but real letters or postcards are so nice! Send them to more than just Erin.

--Cook more, and cook more different things. I need to expand my food horizons and get better at making more than just rice-based dishes. And to eat more fresh veggies. This will help with the getting back in shape goal.

--Knit more of my queue and read more of my queue. I am part of Goodreads and Ravelry, and my queues are insane. Instead of adding, I need to subtract by actually making or reading. No excuses.

--Visit Grammy and Grampy more.

--Less whining at or about work. Yeah, there are days when I am convinced I work with morons and that my job is going nowhere. Suck it up, or do stuff to change it. No one cares. Get it done.

--Walk at lunch when it's nice out.

--Photograph more, paint more, and make more art for my apartment. Too many ideas floating around, and too many bare walls. I have the talents and resources. Get on that shit!

--Sew! This is iffy, since I'd need to buy a sewing machine and get patterns and start a new hobby. But I've always wanted to, and I think it'd be great. Make curtains and clothes. How awesome would that be??

--Yoga? Kirsten keeps talking about it. Now might be the time to do it.