2011 Goals in Review

Yeah, sometimes 2011 goal accomplishing felt this futile, I won't lie.

Back in January, I posted my goals for the year with a lengthy musing on goals in general. From January until May I did monthly reviews- all found under the "2011 goals" tag. Then June and July were packed with traveling and school prep and people visiting from out of town, so I didn't do the monthly reviews, although I kept up with the goals. Unfortunately, I broke my foot right around the time I started school. The crutches, naturally, killed any working out, and the school going and student teaching began to eat almost every ounce of free time I had. I was impressed with my progress from January to July, but so many things fell apart in August to December. I feel I should almost break the year into two parts- Before Broken Foot/Grad School/Student Teaching and After. Let's just say "Before" and "After" for brevity's sake, shall we? Without further ado, the review...

At one point, as evidenced by this crappy phone pic, things were going pretty well in this department.

Food and Fitness

Do at least two cardio workouts a week + three additional workouts (any type including yoga):  

Before- I was rocking this goal. I was lifting weights again, doing yoga, bicycling up to 10 miles a day as a main form of transportation, and kicking ass at C25K.   

After- Well, clearly I did a whole lot of nothing when I was on the crutches for 8 weeks between August and October. I got off the crutches October 9th, but just walking made my foot sore for a good month after that, so I officially started working out again November 9th. I made sporadic starts and stops, but was honestly terrified of hurting myself again so I shied away from working out. I've been doing much better in December, working out on average about twice a week for the month. So far the foot isn't hurting at all, and I've done spinning, yoga, and today I lifted heavy weights again with no pain. I have very high hopes for 2012 in this area.

Get down to one soda and one coffee per week or less:  

Before- I was probably averaging more like two each per week, which was still a huge positive change. After- Please. I was bored because I wasn't working out, exhausted from my new schedule, and turning to any kind of fun that could be had in the form of a beverage. Fail, miserable, miserable fail.

Give C25K another try (applies to cardio workout goal above):

See above- great Before, unable to do it even if I wanted to After and possibly not until February or March of next year.

I did more than just contribute to other people's projects, I promise.

Misc Goals and Projects

West Coast Swing lessons- aim for once a week, go at least twice a month; belly dancing lessons on Sundays:

These stopped over summer when we were doing all of our traveling (you pay for them on a monthly basis and it would have been a waste) with full intentions of picking up again once school started. Again, broken foot/crutches made this impossible, and by the time November 9th rolled around we were into holiday travel season and had planned to be out of town for 1/4 of November and half of December. 

Finish rainbow quilt, blue crocheted baby blanket, and Kate’s quilt- work on similar projects at least twice a month

I finished the blue baby blanket and Kate's quilt, but didn't touch the rainbow quilt. I also made a scarf and did some other crafting here and there, but all of that stopped once school started. It just wasn't a priority to me anymore, and I willfully stopped doing it.

Scan in journals/letters/cards; finish editing pictures & deleting unwanted pics; organizing files

I organized the journals/letters/cards in a major way. I threw away a good 75% of them when I went to Texas in April/May because many of them were just random birthday or Christmas cards with nothing more than a signature. I wanted to save and scan in cards with lengthy messages and personal notes in them, not just cute cards, you know? I did the same with letters, when I realize that many of the things I had saved were from when I was 18 years old, and the people and things that were important to me then just aren't anymore. In fact, when I cleaned out my hope chest I threw away all of my medals/trophies from high school, my scripts from One Act Play, etc. It felt good. I also threw away a lot of journals that were also more painful than anything, things I wouldn't want anyone else to read, things I barely wanted to read anymore. Again, I realized it wasn't worth the time to scan them in. I did well on scanning in the things I did care about from January-July, but I haven't touched this project since August. I kicked ass at the second part of this goal- my pictures are 80% sorted and edited (cropping, lighting, not Photoshop or anything crazy) and organized. I'm very happy with my progress on this entire goal, in both parts.

Update blog at least twice a week/creative writing once a week

Before- Yep.

After- Nope. 

Dinner theater performance at my placement high school

Career and Finances

Continue to volunteer with SSI and VE & complete Community Based Development Certificate:

Done and done! I actually finished the 4th and final class towards the certificate this semester, which meant at one point I was taking 4 classes 0_o  I'm excited to continue working with both of these organizations, I really believe in their work. Bobby and I were able to go to the fall gala for VE, and it was really moving and reminded me of why I work for free :)

Begin Teacher Certification program and internship in August:

Check! I currently have a 4.0 and things are going really well. As they should, considering how much work I've put into it.

Try to find a part time job that works around current internships:

I was offered one job at the beginning of September that I turned down- teaching English online- because while the pay was good for a part time job- $15 an hour- there was a lot of extra unpaid work. Basically, you didn't get paid unless you were teaching, so all prep work/grading/e-mails were unpaid. It worked out to less than $8 an hour, plus I would have had to get up at 5 a.m. four days a week (including Saturday) in order to do it. I then successfully applied to a local call center around the end of September. However, by that point I was knee deep into the reality of my student teaching/volunteering/full time grad school and my 50-60 hour weeks left not room for this. Bobby and I agreed that a part time job would be an unnecessary additional stress, and that I should focus on my internship. Thankfully I paid off all my debt two years ago except student loans, and those are deferred and interest free in school.

Personal Improvement

Read one book a week/52 books in a year:

Accomplished! Click the widget on my sidebar or go here to check out my books. I'm really glad I made reading a top priority this year.

Regular Spanish study- Rosetta Stone, books, Spanish Word of the Day- at least 3 times a week:

I should have taken this off of my list after the first two months of failure. With everything else I had going on, I just couldn't bring myself to make this a priority. I threw myself into reading and researching everything I could get my hands on about education/teaching from June until now, so any spare education time was spent on supporting my current endeavors in grad school/student teaching.

No more than one hour of internet during weekdays:

Nope. From January to August I probably averaged about two hours- for everything, from FB to blogs to news to whatever- but once I started school I would spend hours researching and looking for lesson plan ideas. I would also turn to internet for entertainment/winding down when my foot was broken. I think this needs to get better in 2012.

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Nat'l Park

Travel To-Do

Montana and Yellowstone Nat’l Park: Check. We turned this into a 12 day long, 3,000 mile road trip that included Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, and Utah. I never blogged about it, but it was amazing.

Badlands: Check

Go to at least one hot springs location: Nope.

Travel to Denver and Boulder at least twice each for events or day trips: Check. We more than accomplished this and it was nice to do some local exploring.

See a concert at Red Rocks: Nope. We had tickets to see Death Cab for Cutie, and it was two weeks after I broke my foot. It's a hike to get out there, and my foot was newly broken and sore, so Bobby went with a co-worker.

Travel to Texas at end of HP contract for an extended amount of time: Check. We also threw in the Thanksgiving trip as a bonus.

Sweet old pic of the 3 of us- I'm rocking the hell out of that side pony and yellow dress.

Family

Call all grandparents and parents at least once a month/ Send more mail (specifically to Great Granny monthly): Accomplished. We also started a tradition of sending postcards to the kids in our family/grandparents/parents from all the places we travel. It began in Peru/Ecuador, and just kept going. My cousin's son and Bobby's niece and nephews really look forward to getting mail. I'm actually about to write a postcard to my Great Granny right now.

All in all, even with the derail that was "After" I feel pretty good about this year. The only place where I really feel like I failed miserably was regarding the Spanish study. I think I should have divided my year, preemptively, into Before School Starts and After School Starts. This would have been more reasonable. As a result, that's exactly what I'm doing for 2012 goals. I have goals for January- May, that take into account that beating that is full time graduate school and student teaching. Bobby and I hung out at a coffee shop and talked about our respective goals day before yesterday. I have 3 main areas of focus, with very specific goals, to keep it simple and sweet during next semester but still get the important things done. They'll probably go up on New Year's Day.

I have to say, all the self-reflection about goal setting and accomplishing things is making me feel even worse about the fact that I have severely procrastinated on a few important things for the start of next semester. Maybe my productive procrastination, in the form of writing this insanely long post, did serve a purpose after all other than contribute to my eventual carpal tunnel syndrome? We'll see.

2011 Goals Review: April & May

Me, around age 3, trying to reach for something a bit out of my grasp. It seemed appropriate, right?

I'm consolidating April and May since it's now June 1st. Altogether both months went really well. I started off April with thinking I failed my PLACE exam, and finished it with finding out I passed with flying colors. Then end of April and the beginning of May were filled with a visit from Arielle, a road trip to Texas for a two and a half  week visit, and then returning home May 10th to unpack our new apartment. Recently we just got back from a long Memorial Day weekend camping road trip. All in all, things didn't go quite as planned, what with all the traveling and moving. How not quite as planned? Let's see how I did compared to March.
(You can find the full list of 2011 Goals HERE.)

Food and Fitness

From April 18th, when Arielle came to Colorado, until today, as I sit typing this June 1st, I did not run one.single.solitary.time. I packed my Vibrams and assured myself I'd take advantage of my 24 Hour Fitness nationwide access. I did not. I did yoga sporadically, but that was pretty much a bust, too. I've been doing yoga again since I got home from Texas, but the last week has really been my first full week of ramping back up. The running starts again on Friday! Regarding the soda/coffee goal- um, I was in vacation mode for almost 3 weeks, and then we were moving and then we were road tripping. I didn't even try to follow this, and I drank my weight in soda and frou frou flavored coffees. Now I'm back in a more normal place, and I'm not beating myself up about it.

Misc Goals and Projects

Due to all the traveling belly dancing lessons were put off again. This June is the first month since January or February that we don't have half the month's weekends planned out of town. From here on out, I think I'm just going to pay by the class, even if it's marginally more expensive. Even if I had only gone to half of the month's classes, by now I would have 10 classes under my (jangly, coin) belt. Bobby and I are researching what kinds of partner dances we want to do for June. I'm working on my photo project, and while I was in Texas I brought back a huge pile of diaries, from about 2nd grade all the way through post-Japan in Dallas. My next project, once the photos are done, will be to sort through them and scan them into digital files.

Career and Finances

Still interning with both non-profits, I finished my 3rd out of 4 classes towards my Sustainable Development Certificate, and as I said I passed the PLACE exam! I'm ramping up my job search because I hope to work part time while I student teach part time and go to grad school full time. There are a few options that I'll be working on the month of June.

Personal Improvement

Book goal is on track after slipping a bit. I caught up upon the return from Texas by reading 3 books, and I'm about to finish 2 more. I'm a bit peeved, however, because my Goodreads app is not accurately updating my books- I'm missing two books on the blog widget that are showing up on my profile on their site. I suppose I might need to go back to keeping my own list. Regarding the Spanish study- I really thought I'd jump into it once the PLACE studying was over, but a mere week and a half after the test Arielle came up and then it was a traveling whirlwind, and we're just now getting settled into our new place. 

Travel To-Do

The Texas trip and the Memorial Day weekend trip were both awesome! Bobby planned out our big summer trip, which is a road trip from Colorado to Yellowstone Nat'l park in Montana, then Seattle to visit friends, then Canada to visit more friends, then back to Seattle, on to Portland, and then back home to Colorado with a stop in SLC on the way to visit my cousin and break the driving into two days. We're also planning a 4th of July weekend road trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I'm sure we'll be back in Denver and Boulder a few times this summer, too.

Family

Met this goal! I'm also trying to send more mail, so on our most recent trip we picked up lots of postcards to mail.


June Specific Goal- I'm working on using  my bike more for transportation. I also need to get back on the C25K running and start Spinning classes.  Riding my bike more goes right back into increasing my cardio endurance, which will help with the running and Spinning.

I have high hopes to get a lot of projects done in June and get back into a groove of a daily schedule again. I keep reminding myself that come August I'll be back to full time work and full time school, plus I'll still be volunteering with the two non-profits I work with, so I need to take full advantage of June. I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time committing to regular Spanish study, so I might need to re-work that goal. We'll see how June goes and then I'll make a decision from there. The end of June is halfway through 2011!

C25K Week 4 Wrap-Up

 I'm smiling because I didn't know that two years later I'd be dropped like a hot rock on a gym floor, resulting in a decade's worth of pain and doctor's bills.  Cheerleading, you were fun, but you were SO not worth all that.

I had good intentions of doing weekly wrap-ups but March got away from me and here we are, at the end of Week 4. I did my 3rd run of Week 4 yesterday, and it was great.

I did Week 1 twice, in order to slowly get used to running barefoot. So, my 3rd week of running I was following Week 2 parameters for C25K- run 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes. But here's where things get weird- I started toying with how long I could run, and on my first run instead of following Week 2 parameters I just decided to run the entire first 10 minutes, and then do the last 10 minutes alternating 2 minutes of running with 2 minutes of walking. So, you know, NOTHING at all like what I was supposed to be doing. And you know what? It felt fine. Still no pain, easy 5.0 pace, no worries. I probably could have run the entire 20 minutes but I held back. After that the rest of the week I followed Week 2 parameters to the T, even though after that first run it felt almost too easy.

Week 4 (this last week) I was supposed to be following Week 3 parameters. Again, I kind of played around with this and settled into running 3 minutes and walking 2, repeating that three times, and then running the last 5 minutes. This is also very different than what I was supposed to be doing, but as I mentioned at the very beginning of all this, I'm not at all starting from a "couch" level of fitness, so I'm doing C25K to slowly build tendon/muscle strength so I don't get injured. But because I'm feeling fine- better than fine, I'm feeling amazing, and I totally credit the Vibrams and correct running form as a result- I'm playing with it a bit. This last week all of my runs were at a 1.5% incline, walking at a 3.5 pace, running at a 5.5. Even upping the running by .5 more, and going from a 0% to a 1.5% incline, and running more, I still feel fine and dandy.

This is amazing. It is almost miraculous. I can run again, after over a decade of being sidelined by crippling hip pain anytime I even attempted so much as a mile or two. And it doesn't hurt, at all. I look forward to it, and enjoy it, and I like pushing myself and seeing what I can do. I can't even express how happy this makes me. On top of all of this, my hip has felt even better since starting to run. I feel like my SI joint instability is tightening up, and my alignment feels fully right for the first time since my injury. Between yoga and running barefoot I feel like I have a brand new hip and back. Yoga got me there 80%, no doubt, but that last 20% is all running. And it is glorious. I step off the treadmill and feel like I've conquered the world, even though I'm still just alternating running/walking at a fairly moderate pace and doing a fairly modest distance. The other day we were riding in the car, and I turned to Bobby and said "I really feel like 5K's are just the start- I think I could actually run further... maybe half marathons! Or... full marathons!". We'll see. For now I'm ecstatic that my body is cooperating with me, finally.

2011 Goals Review: March

Me, around age 3, trying to reach for something a bit out of my grasp. It seemed appropriate, right?

March was a great month- C25K continues to go well, and I'm loving running barefoot. My birthday and birthday celebrations were great, and I got in one last snowboarding trip of the season. And on top of all of that, Karin and Hermes came in for a few days and we had our first camping trip of the season. Of course, all of that begs the question- with so much going on, how did the goals go? Surprisingly, this was my best month yet (or maybe, not so surprisingly, since this was the first full month of implementing them). You can find the full list of 2011 Goals HERE.

Food and Fitness

Met all goals. There were a few weeks when I didn't drink any coffee or soda at all, but the weeks when I did I stuck to my one each goal. C25K is going well, and I'm doing yoga 3 times a week plus strength training 3 times a week. April is when I'm adding in Spinning classes, and I'm looking forward to it because I love Spinning. It destroys me and I love it.

Misc Goals and Projects

Met all goals here, with the exception of belly dancing lessons (you purchase them monthly and I would have missed half of them this month). Bobby and I took West Coast Swing lessons every Monday night in March, I worked on craft projects, and we purchased the last two pieces of photo organizers so that I can finish the last bit of organizing, I'm excited to have it totally done.

Career and Finances

Nothing changed here- still interning with both non-profits, taking my 3 out of 4 classes towards my Sustainable Development Certificate, and I've been studying for the entire month of March for the PLACE exam.

Personal Improvement

The book goal is right on track- I read 5 books in March: PLACE Xam English 07 (3 times cover to cover actually); Born to Run; Learn to Meditate; Culture of Fear; Alice in Wonderland (re-read, the first book I read on my Kobo). The only Spanish study I've been doing is reading my "Spanish Word of the Day" e-mail every day, because I'm really focusing on the PLACE exam. It's on April 9th, and after that Spanish will take the front burner again.

Travel To-Do

Bobby and I went to Denver together once, we went to Boulder together three times, and then I took Karin and Hermes to Denver. We've already met our goal to get out into Denver and Boulder more for the year (two times each, we met it by March!), and we have lots more trips planned. The extended traveling to Texas at the end of Bobby's HP contract is all scheduled and set as well and I can't wait to see friends and family- plus there are two birthday parties and a wedding to attend, so it's perfect timing.

Family

Met this goal. I'm glad that I get to see every single person on this list soon though, instead of just talking to them on the phone :)

All in all the only areas where things have been neglected are the belly dancing lessons on Sundays, and the Spanish study. But the former just wasn't practical money wise in March with the impending absences, and I know I'd rather focus all of my studying energy on the PLACE exam without being distracted by Spanish.

I'm stoked about April because I'll be done with the PLACE exam the first week, and then my friend Arielle comes in the last week and we drive to Texas together after I show here around Denver/Boulder/where I live. Should be another great month :) I hope you all are doing well with your goals/resolutions for 2011!

C25K Day 1, Week 1: Five Finger Shoes and Chi Running

Today I start Couch-to-5K (C25K from here on out). I have high hopes for this attempt, despite my fear that posting it on my blog will jinx my hip like last time. Over the past year, through a few failed attempts, I've researched running form and techniques to avoid injury. I was a long distance runner in high school, and I had a lot of natural talent, but I was given little instruction on form other than "don't clench your fists" and "don't slouch". Some of my favorite info has come from reading about the techniques in "Born to Run" and "ChiRunning". I recently found a really great video on the concept of ChiRunning that makes a lot of sense. If you want to check it out, you can find it here on YouTube.

In the course of my research, it would have been nearly impossible for me to miss all the chatter around barefoot running. From Barefoot Ted and his blog to TED talks about the history of running barefoot to stories in the aforementioned "Born to Run" book, barefoot running is everywhere. At first, I dismissed it as a fad. But the more I read about it, and the more I watched videos of heel strikes and the clunkiness of running shoes, and the more I pondered how much time I spent barefoot as a kid, running through fields and across rocks and stickers and sticks and thorns, the more I came around to the idea. Mind you, I didn't really want to take to the pavement and pound out mile after mile totally barefoot on concrete in mid-winter in Colorado. Rather, I became interested in finding a shoe that could get me as close to barefoot as possible. After several months of research, I found myself in REI last Tuesday, with Bobby, getting an early birthday present...

I got the Vibram Bikila LS, which is specially designed for running. I have very, very narrow feet so the lacing system helps me adjust the shoe to fit my foot.

The sole of this model is a bit thicker than most Vibrams, and the molding on the bottom is also more reinforced for running.

But they are still very flexible, as you can see here. And I still feel very close to barefoot. My toes splay when I walk, and I can feel the ground underneath my feet.

Flexibility works the other way too, I can curl my toes all the way under as well. With all the yoga I do (barefoot, of course) I have a lot of flexibility and strength in my feet and toes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Vibrams feel compared to other running shoes. One word of advice that is repeated over and over again when it comes to running in Vibrams is to start of slowly. I figure this will be the perfect opportunity, since C25K definitely starts off slowly- all 3 workouts in the first week are only 20 minutes long, alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking. I plan to do a 0% incline the entire first week, and keep a moderate pace, to help my feet get used to running in these shoes. More importantly, I want to take it easy on my hip. My problem is that I'm at a decent level of cardio fitness already, and I can run a mile or so (which isn't great but it's something) but I need to force myself to go slowly to ease my body back in to running.

I'll be posting weekly wrap ups on my C25K trials and triumphs (hopefully light on the former and heavy on the latter). I'm following the original C25K running program found here so altogether this will take 9 weeks. Fingers crossed my hip cooperates, and off I go in my nerd shoes!

2011 Goals Review: February

Me, around age 3, trying to reach for something a bit out of my grasp. It seemed appropriate, right?

February 4th-16th were spent in Ecuador and Peru, but I still think I did a good job of keeping to my goals, even on vacation. Let's see how February went...

Food and Fitness

Do at least two cardio workouts a week + three additional workouts (any type including yoga): We were incredibly active every single day of our vacation, from hiking and kayaking to snorkeling and climbing mountains, so I'm giving myself full credit for those two weeks. In the last 11 days of February however, I only went to the gym 3 times, all for yoga, and no cardio. Considering just how physically active we were on vacation, I'm not sweating it.

Get down to one soda and one coffee per week or less: I had two cups of coffee and one soda from Feb 1st to Feb 16th. I had a soda and a coffee in the first few days of being home, but in the last week I've only had a sip or two of soda, and no coffee. I think I've finally gotten back to where I was before, of just not wanting it and preferring water.

Give C25K another try (applies to cardio workout goal above): I will be starting C25K this Monday, March 7th!

Misc Goals and Projects

West Coast Swing lessons- aim for once a week, go at least twice a month; belly dancing lessons on Sundays: I'm starting belly dancing lessons this Sunday, and Bobby and I are getting back into our WCS lessons this coming week.

Finish rainbow quilt, blue crocheted baby blanket, and Kate’s quilt- work on similar projects at least twice a month: Since I finished the baby blanket and Kate's quilt, I'm now working on the rainbow quilt.

Scan in journals/letters/cards; finish editing pictures & deleting unwanted pics; organizing files: I have been organizing the pictures from our trip- we took 3,000, clearly there were a lot to cull since not all 3,000 were worth keeping- so that's been my main focus in this area. Once that's done my immediate goal is to scan in my journals.

Update blog at least twice a week/creative writing once a week: Check!

Career and Finances

Continue to volunteer with SSI and VE & complete Community Based Development Certificate: I'm still volunteering/interning with both places and I'm registered for my second to last class to get the certificate- it starts in March, and I should have the certificate completed by the end of summer.

Begin Teacher Certification program and internship in August:I just received an e-mail from the admissions director- everything is received, they're just waiting on my test results. The test is scheduled for April 9th, and I already have the study guide.

Try to find a part time job that works around current internships: Bobby and I talked about this I may need to put this on hold until I get my internship confirmation, which won't happen until May.

Personal Improvement

Read one book a week/52 books in a year-I finished one book in February- "Mockingjay" but I'm about to finish two more in the next day or so. That plus the 6 books I read in January still put me on schedule to meet this goal.

Regular Spanish study-Rosetta Stone, books, Spanish Word of the Day- at least 3 times a week
I spoke Spanish every single day while on vacation, and forced myself to practice it as much as possible even when I was insecure about it. I also studied right before I left. I only studied twice since coming home from vacation, but I checked out several books from the library last week to add to my rotation of materials.

No more than one hour of internet during weekdays-Vacation made this easy, as we were on a boat for half the time and then so busy in Peru that I only got on briefly. Since I've been home I've been doing pretty well, I'd say around and hour and a half, but I've been spending a lot of time online doing school prep, taxes, and filling out my FAFSA, and part of my internship project is to familiarize myself with WordPress to assist in our affiliates' blogging, so I don't know that I should get down about that too much.

Family

Call all grandparents and parents at least once a month/ Send more mail (specifically to Great Granny monthly)- Check! I also mailed my mom and my dad postcards from the Galapagos and Peru, mailed them both their souvenirs, and sent my Great Granny postcards as well. Feb 27th was her birthday so I called her on that day too.

________________________________________

All in all February went very well. I would have liked to have read more while on vacation, but I did listen to two audiobooks on my iPod, although I didn't finish either. Considering we were on vacation for half the month I'm really happy with how much I stuck to my goals.

2011 Goals Review: January

Me, around age 3, trying to reach for something a bit out of my grasp. It seemed appropriate, right?

I decided to do a monthly re-cap of my 2011 goals- which can be found HERE- so I can reflect on where I'm having trouble and motivate myself by reviewing my accomplishments. The month of January I started tracking on the 10th, because my friends were in the 2nd-8th and we had a great time snowboarding, being tourists, going out, and playing with horses. So for this monthly review we're working with 3 weeks. Without further ado, let's see how it all went down...

Food and Fitness

Do at least two cardio workouts a week + three additional workouts (any type including yoga): I met this goal week one and week two. The last week of January, however, was filled with endless hours of news watching due to the Egypt situation, and a sneak attack by a five days early period. I worked out once and I missed my normal 3 times a week yoga routine terribly.

Get down to one soda and one coffee per week or less: We used to *never* drink soda, and literally in the last two months Cherry Cokes are callin' my name. I did great week one, week two and three I had two sodas and two coffees each week. But the goal is to get down to, so I'm working on it.

Give C25K another try (applies to cardio workout goal above): I will be starting C25K once we got back from vacation. In the meantime I've been reading online tutorials on how to run without injury, and watching YouTube videos on proper alignment etc.

Misc Goals and Projects

West Coast Swing lessons- aim for once a week, go at least twice a month; belly dancing lessons on Sundays: I also decided not to begin belly dancing lessons until we got back from vacation- for one, they're far cheaper purchased monthly instead of individually, for two I didn't want to go to two classes, be gone for two weeks, and forget everything. WCS lessons are also purchased monthly, so Bobby and I will be going to open dances and individual lessons when we get back from vacation, and then we will be starting up lessons again on a monthly basis with our normal teacher.

Finish rainbow quilt, blue crocheted baby blanket, and Kate’s quilt- work on similar projects at least twice a month: I'm VERY proud of myself in this area. I finished the blue crocheted baby blanket, Kate's quilt was finished in time for her birthday, and I also finished a scarf that had been hanging around for the better part of the last year.

Scan in journals/letters/cards; finish editing pictures & deleting unwanted pics; organizing files: I have been going through every single picture file I have and deleting pics, getting rid of red eye in the ones I'm keeping, and organizing them better. I've also scanned in a big pile of handwritten letters into a "Cards and Letters" file. After the mammoth photo scanning project- which, by the way, ended up being over FIVE THOUSANDS PHOTOS, not the 2,000 I had originally thought- this project will be a piece of cake.

Update blog at least twice a week/creative writing once a week: I've been more than meeting this goal. I'm working on editing some of my writing I've done here and there over the past year and looking into how to submit articles.

Career and Finances

Continue to volunteer with SSI and VE & complete Community Based Development Certificate: I'm still volunteering/interning with both places and I'm registered for my second to last class to get the certificate- it starts in March, and I should have the certificate completed by the end of summer.

Begin Teacher Certification program and internship in August: I also spent a lot of time the last two weeks applying to grad school, applying to the teaching program, getting fingerprinted, requesting transcripts, and getting money orders and mail together to send it all off. I've also been in contact with the internship director and the graduate program admissions director. Absolutely everything is done on my end, now I just have to wait to see what they say, and schedule my endorsement area test.

Try to find a part time job that works around current internships: This is clearly a work in progress and I will begin looking again as soon as we return from vacation.

Personal Improvement

Read one book a week/52 books in a year- I'm also very proud of myself in this area. In the last 3 weeks of February I read 6 books: Catching Fire, The Amber Spyglass, The End of Overeating, Food Matters, 3 Cups of Tea, and Nat'l Geographic Traveler: Egypt. I'm also almost done with The Culture of Fear, I hope to finish it before we leave.

Regular Spanish study-Rosetta Stone, books, Spanish Word of the Day- at least 3 times a week The first week I did great on this goal- studying Spanish for a little over 3 hours total plus reading the Spanish word of the day every day via e-mail. The last two weeks however were a total bust. I consciously chose to supplant the Spanish study with the DVD lecture series on Egypt. As I've mentioned before, we were working through a 48 lecture series, 30 min a lecture. It's just a prof at a lectern, so it was like taking a college class on Egypt, and I didn't feel guilty choosing to temporarily substitute those lectures for the Spanish study.

No more than one hour of internet during weekdays- Well, I'm sure you all know I failed there, since I've talked about being obsessively glued to the news for the last week. Prior to the unrest in Egypt however I was doing very well with this goal.

Family

Call all grandparents and parents at least once a month/ Send more mail (specifically to Great Granny monthly)- Met this goal. I feel like I should clarify that I do talk to all of these people at least once a month anyway- they're my family!- but I wanted to make sure it wasn't feast or famine. A lot of the time I'll call a few times in one week, and then not call for two weeks, etc. I'm hoping to be more regular with phone calls. My mom and dad are both on FB- which I love- so that helps with keeping in contact. I tried to call my Great Granny twice but she didn't answer, so I'm hoping to catch her before we leave on our trip.

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All together I'm pretty pleased with the way this month worked out, considering how crazy the last week has been and how I've had to put some things on pause until we return home from vacation. I'm excited to see how February goes!

Muppet Tentacle Scarf

I'm loving these Egypt DVD's because they let me get so much done with crafting while still being able to absorb all the info. This is yet another project that I started and abandoned, which is now finally finished. I posted pics on FB and one of my friends said the fringe looked like tentacles. Combined with the crazy colors now I think of it as my Muppet tentacle scarf.

Alternatively, I think it looks like lots of yummy flavors of sherbet.

Aforementioned tentacles.

This picture gives a better idea of the true color of the contrasting yarn- it's a beautiful plummy purple that I adore with the softer palette of the main yarn colors because it picks up the subtle darker flecks in them.

Here's a picture showing the length- this wrapped twice around my neck (I like really long scarves). The sherbet/Muppet colored yarn is my favorite- Lion Brand- and the contrasting plummy purple is some random yarn I bought years and years ago. I need to do a post soon about how organizing my crafting supplies in a more open and accessible manner is 75% of the reason why I am crafting like this again. Of course organizing it like that in the first place was motivated by the addition of crafting to my 2011 goals list. For the last few years I've made scarves for at least one person for Christmas, and I think that will be my gift this year to the people who have not yet received one. Underlying all of this crocheting and quilting and crafting (oh my!) is a desire to work through my piles of yarn and material over the next year and a half so that it will all be used up by the time we leave Colorado. I already have a few ideas for quilts and aprons in the works that I'm excited to try out. I made up my own pattern for this scarf and the blue blanket I made, but if you want a great online source for free crocheting/knitting patters you should definitely check out Ravelry's website.

Kate's Birthday Quilt

Kate and I in 2004

Kate is another very close friend of mine I've known since college. I met her my sophomore year (2002-03) and she was a freshman in college the next year while I was a junior. Her real name is Katie, but I've always called her Kate, or, more frequently, we both call each other bunny- yet another nickname/term of endearment to add to the never ending list our group employs. She works at a nursery and is master certified in horticulture, putting in sometimes 80 hour weeks doing back breaking work. She has a thick Texas accent, and she drinks her coffee out of a Mason jar, ya'll. She is most frequently found in plaid, and in fact, last year for her birthday her party was themed "Dress Like Kate", and we filled a house with tens of friends wearing plaid and sporting old cowboy hats, decked out in accessories like rainbow suspenders and boots. Katie also has a deep and abiding love for her native state. Please see this picture for evidence:
That's right, when she came to visit me, we went camping and she actually had a Texas doormat on hand. Just, you know, hanging out in her truck (which also happens to have a bumper sticker that says "Don't Mess with Texas...Women" on it) in case she happened to need it.

Katie and I briefly dated a million years ago, aka 2004 (which seriously feels like it was a million years ago) but most of us in the group have dated one another at one time or another, and like everyone else we remained good friends after and she is still, to this day, one of my best friends in this world. She is loyal and protective and absolutely hilarious. There are running jokes about how terrible she is at telling stories, but she is also a fabulous dancer and we are often found improving some kind of partner dance to a variety of Michael Jackson songs at get togethers. Or, if we're at a bar, we will inevitably two-step- she leads, naturally. Katie shares my affinity for simple and frugal living, and we both have a deep and abiding love for to do lists. Regarding to-do lists, Katie introduced me to the term rat killin' as a euphemism for running errands. This is one of many reasons I think she's adorable.

Kate and I at my going away to Colorado party

This last Sunday was her 25th birthday, and I made her a quilt- all hand stitched!- that I designed. It is meant to be a bit folksy, but if you knew Kate you would say to yourself "that is Kate in quilt form". Here are some pictures of the project, which also happens to be another goal on my 2011 goals list. Shamefully, I purchased these materials to make this quilt for Katie's 24th birthday, but never got around to it between wrapping up grad school and starting my new job. But now it's done, and there is photographic proof.

I found bandannas in Kate's signature colors/style to use for the quilt top. The design was pretty simple, but I'm still pretty proud of it because while I have quilted before, I have never made a quilt- other quilted pieces became pillows. This is the quilt top in its first step.

I started kind of making up the design as I went, and decided there had to be a Texas in there somewhere. Bobby donated some old work pants to the cause, and I knew Kate would love that detail. Bobby found a template online for me that was the perfect size. Here it is, waiting to be embroidered onto the quilt.

As I had never made a quilt I decided to go the easy way and tie it. But I wanted it to be cute, so I got beige and orange buttons to decorate where I tied it together.

More button detailing...

Close up of the center...

Size comparison (before ironing, don't judge me too harshly!)

And the back, also before ironing. I totally took the lazy way out and purchased a fleece blanket for the back piece. But, while it was lazy, it was smart in two ways. One, I didn't have to piece together two lengths and then sew it to the top- and saving sewing is always good when you're doing it by hand! And two, this fleece blanket was about half the price of buying fleece by the yard. Frugality for the win.

The most important thing is that Kate *loved* it. And I'm so glad she did!

A Blue Weekend

This weekend was one of those weekends where I simultaneously got a ton of things done but also had a lot of downtime to just curl up with a book next to Bobby on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary- in fact, we skipped our planned West Coast Swing dance lessons in favor of staying in on Friday and Saturday night. A few things that stood out on the good weekend list:

I made a hodge podge breakfast smoothie on Saturday morning out of random things in the fridge that needed to be used up- 1/4 a cup of pureed pumpkin, about the same amount of blueberries- plus an overripe banana, a tbsp each of ground flax seeds and chia seeds, a splash of almond milk, and what I *thought* were frozen peaches from our CSA...

See the little orange guys hanging out at the bottom? I just found out (as I was typing this) that they were not, in fact, peaches. They were little chunks of butternut squash. I found this out when Bobby (who is, as I type, making a peach/strawberry/rhubarb crumble) asked "is this...cantaloupe? what is this?" and I told him they were peaches. Then he says "no, THESE are peaches" holding up another container. Moral of the story? Chunks of frozen butternut squash taste damned good in a smoothie with unlikely counterparts such as pumpkin and blueberries. Lesson learned!

So, this is a bittersweet moment from the weekend. My beloved green, eco-friendly, all natural rubber yoga mat bit the dust after a little over two years of use (I'd say about 3 times a week for an hour of power/vinyasa flow, so it did admirably). I wanted to replace it with the exact same brand and type, and this was the only mat we could find in town that met the requirements.

Why, hello there.

It's been unfurled in the study room for over a day now, because as you can imagine it smells strongly of what it's made out of- pure rubber. I can't wait to use it tomorrow morning.

And last but not least, I finished a project on my 2011 Goals List. This is the blue baby blanket that I started... wait for it...THREE YEARS AGO. I know, it's awful! But look, just by putting it on a goals list, it's magically done a mere two weeks later. Originally a few people around me were pregnant and its home was kind of up in the air, and now I need to find a place to send it to.

This is triple stitch crocheting, for those of you out there who are familiar with such terms. I finished the last 5 rows- including cutting every.single.piece.of.yarn. for tassle- and the tassle on both ends in about 3 hours while Bobby and I watched another DVD of Egypt lectures (his parents sent us 7 DVD's of a professor lecturing on Egypt in preparation for our trip and they are fascinating). It was nice to kill two birds with one stone, and since it's literally just a lecture on DVD I didn't miss out on anything by having to glance down at my hands periodically.

I learned to crochet when I was 5 or 6, and a part of me is still in awe that by twisting yarn in a certain way around a little metal hook this is what's created.

Of course, as I realized here, it's just as nice for an adult to curl up in as well. So I suppose that broadens the field of who might be receiving this little guy. I'm just glad I finally finished it! I also finished Kate's birthday quilt (also on the goals list), so I'll post those pictures later. In other good news not proven by photographic evidence- I met my Spanish study goals for the week. I sat down at the kitchen table and studied for two and a half hours this weekend, which not only got me off to a good start but helped me flesh out a study schedule that I think will be effective. I'll go into more detail on the goals progress in monthly reviews though, so for now I think I'm going to get ready for bed so I can curl up with a book and some of that peach/strawberry/rhubarb crumble that I'm starting to smell from the kitchen :)

2011 Goals, or, This Post May Come Back to Shame Me in 2012

postcard I purchased in the subway my first week in Japan

I know most people did this post around January 3rd, but the first week of January I was busy enjoying J-Ben and P!'s visit, and then recapping it. So, let's just forgive my tardiness and get on with it :)

I am not a fan of New Year's Resolutions, for a few reasons I'll speak to in generalities. For one, I'm a goal setting, list making, project tackling kind of person. I tend to make frequent goals- on the order of monthly, or weekly, or, when I was in school, semester-ly (that's a word, right?). Plus, New Year's Resolutions seem to often be the only goal setting some people make, ever. As a result, they usually make ambiguous, fuzzy around the edges goals that are hard to quantify and make it nigh unto impossible to assess progress. Or, they make grand sweeping goals that are kind of impossible to achieve. Also, because this is the only time of the year that they might make goals, they are not used to working towards them and making a plan to achieve them. Because of these two problems, New Year's Resolutions have (rightly so) acquired the stereotype of being unachievable, hazy feel good-y type wishes that are uttered into the drunken atmosphere of a New Year's party at 2 a.m., or written haphazardly on a scrap of napkin at a diner where one is eating off the New Year's hangover. Ok, that's a little much, but I got carried away with the imagery...my point is, I think New Year's Resolutions are the surest way to jinx oneself into not accomplishing said resolutions, simply by cursing them with the name "resolutions". So, my two step solution (I'm no expert, just a girl with a free blogger account) is to a) make goals consistently throughout the year and b) make yearly goals that are quantifiable and measurable. For example, one of my 2011 goals is to read 52 books. That can work out to 1 book a week, or it can work out to book heavy months and book lean months. As long as I have 52 titles by the end of the year, I'm golden. Although, I honestly hope I'm not reading the final 38 books between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Here are my 2011 goals, categorized in ways that made sense to me. I've left out some of the specifics of implementation so that this already rambly and navel gazing post doesn't become 1,435 pages long, but you'll get the general idea.

Food and Fitness

Do at least two cardio workouts a week + three additional workouts (any type including yoga)

Get down to one soda and one coffee per week or less

Give C25K another try (applies to cardio workout goal above)

Misc Goals and Projects

West Coast Swing lessons- aim for once a week, go at least twice a month; belly dancing lessons on Sundays

Finish rainbow quilt, blue crocheted baby blanket, and Kate’s quilt- work on similar projects at least twice a month

Scan in journals/letters/cards; finish editing pictures & deleting unwanted pics; organizing files

Update blog at least twice a week/creative writing once a week

Career and Finances

Continue to volunteer with SSI and VE & complete Community Based Development Certificate

Begin Teacher Certification program and internship in August

Try to find a part time job that works around current internships

Personal Improvement

Read one book a week/52 books in a year

Regular Spanish study- Rosetta Stone, books, Spanish Word of the Day- at least 3 times a week

No more than one hour of internet during weekdays

Travel To-Do

Montana and Yellowstone Nat’l Park

Badlands

Go to at least one hot springs location

Travel to Denver and Boulder at least twice each for events or day trips

See a concert at Red Rocks

Travel to Texas at end of HP contract for an extended amount of time

Family

Call all grandparents and parents at least once a month/ Send more mail (specifically to Great Granny monthly)

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A few notes: The one hour of internet daily ties into the read more books thing. I found that I have become a newshound. I can easily spend two hours a day reading BBC and NPR. While I don't want to be any less informed, I don't appreciate that way that my reading of books has been edged out a bit by my reading of news. The West Coast Swing lessons are something Bobby and I started back in Dallas- he invited to them for one of our first dates- and we both love them. Since we kind of need each other to accomplish that goal, it's on both of our lists. Speaking of Bobby, we actually sat down together and I typed up both of our lists, since a few things depended on one another- especially our travel goals. We want to make sure we fully explore this part of the world while we're living here, hence the travel to-do list. We also served as good sounding boards for one another, asking probing questions about goal ideas, getting honest feedback about realistic expectations, etc. Lastly, in regards to the food and fitness area. I am a fit person, but my cardio health is sorely lacking and as a former long distance runner this is annoying to me and I want to fix it. I tried to start C25K back in

September, but then I jinxed my hip. So here's hoping I'll be able to actually do it this time. If not, I'm giving myself a guilt free pass if I don't accomplish that goal. Biology and bones are tricky things to persuade, regardless of how much one might want to.

In addition to my goal list, I have one more thing. A theme for 2011, if you will. An overarching philosophy that I will seek to apply to my daily doings. It is two part and they go hand in hand:
1) Master my fear, or at least not let it control me (please see my

fear of flying and my fear of being eaten by bears)

2) Make decisions with confidence (please see my trepidation and back pedaling when it comes to making decisions here).

The second is born of the problem of the first. I'm afraid of making the wrong decision, so then I don't make any decision, and then I'm frustrated for not making a decision, and all that comes from my fear. This is cheesy, but yes, "master my fear" is totally a quote stolen from "The Golden Compass". And, while we're at it, here's a good quote about making decisions:

"Will considered what to do. When you choose one way out of many, all the ways you don't take are snuffed out like candles, as if they'd never existed. At the moment all Will's choices existed at once. But to keep them all in existence meant doing nothing. He had to choose, after all". - The Amber Spyglass

Too often, I operate under the false assumption that by putting off decisions I am somehow gaining by not making a wrong decision. I mean, I have so many options, but once I choose, I only have the option I chose. But, um, that's kind of the point. I'm not gaining anything by not choosing, because I'm not doing anything.

So, there you have it. I think I'll be writing a monthly post checking in with my 2011 goals, just to see how I'm doing and to be accountable.

Here's to 2011 my friends. It will be as good as we choose to make it.