Final Score: To Do List

Now that I'm *cough* 31, I thought it was time to grade myself on last year's 30 Things to do in my 30th year.  Here we go...

1. Drink more tea and water, less coffee and soda. Soda has been cut out (yeah!).  Coffee habit, eh, not so much.

2. Do something active every day. I made huge strides in this. My dog loves it, too, cuz I've got her out on walks more often.  Watch a LOT less TV, and generally get a whole lotta stuff done (my garden thanks me).  Still working on it.  I want to be active every.single.day.  Period. So this goes under TBC (to be continued).

3. Learn to knit.  FAIL.  Didn't happen. I tried.

4. Bake an Apple Pie for DH.  Done. ; )

5. Go tent camping (sans tent if necessary) I don't have any desire to do this and can't remember why I ever did.  What was I thinking?  What's ironic, is we went even further from that, from out cab-over camper to a full on fifth wheel.  We're traveling in style and comfort and I like it!  So, I'll score this one a NLA (no longer applicable).

6. Have a garage sale Done! Got rid of so much stuff that was just taking up space.  My favorite was the dog house that Midnight refused to ever use. I sold it to a boy who'd recently gotten a dog, for $5.  It was 'like new' so he got a DEAL.  And I got my deck space back. 

7. Practice my Spanish Si!

8. Eat healthier Doing really well with this one.  In fact, I've lost 20 lbs over the past 3 months because of it. Woot!

9. Lose weight and then maintain a healthy weight Mkay, I wanted to lose 50 lbs, but didn't get crackin on that goal til late November, so to date, I've lost 20.  30 to go (maybe more). 

10. Go mountain biking with the hubster.  Hmmm, well we went trail riding together a few times, but not mountain biking. Hills intimidate me.  Maybe this year....

11. Stretch more FAIL.

12. Walk 10,000 steps each day Ginormous FAIL.

13. Run (ok, jog) a 5K Another FAIL.  I'm running (ok, jogging) a 3K in May though, so I'm making strides towards this.

14. Go to bed earlier, wake up earlier. I finally accepted that I have to get to bed at a decent hour in order to feel my best.  So, yes, I've been getting to bed earlier (anywhere from 9-10:30) and getting up earlier (6:15 on weekdays).

15. Try a new active hobby. Gardening (yes, it *does* count as active, just ask my hurt-so-good body today after a weekend of it!), biking, walking the dog, even went roller skating for my bday (suuuuuuper fun!). 

16. Blog more.  *cough* Uhmm... yeah.  Well, I have been blogging over at Spark People, but when I made this goal, I was talking about here, so I'm gonna have to FAIL myself on that one, too.

17. Host a BBQ or party (or both!) Done, and had fun!

18. Watch less TV Definitely done. I am finding it less and less entertaining too. I'd rather be *doing* something than passively sitting around feeling lazy.

19. Be a tourist at home. Yup yup, and I hope to continue this.  Sonoma County has SO MUCH to offer. More winery visits, restaurants, camp spots, trails, creeks to come this year!

20. Volunteer.  Ehrm.... didn't get so far with this one. I've volunteered my time with family and friends (which I think is muy imporante!), but this goal was about officially volunteering.  Like at a library, or with Big Brothers, Big Sisters.  So... FAIL.

21. Keep my car, house, yard clean and organized. YUP yup, and now I can't have it any other way. A sink with dishes in it irks me. My new bff is Bar Keepers Friend. It's cheap and easily keeps my white sink white.

22. Have a date with the hubster at least once a month. Yup, yup!

23. Embrace new friendships, nourish old ones. Yup! Doing my best anyways. I find it hard when I reach out to someone, especially an 'old' friendship, when it's not returned. But I know it's becaue 99% of the time their lives are just too busy, so I try not to take it personally.  And I keep trying.  That's what's important.  And new friendships are fun, too!

24. Listen more, interrupt less. Doing so much better, but still have a ways to go. Old dog, new tricks, and all. 

25. Forgive.  Yep. And I've also learned when you can forgive a person, but not necessarily let them back into your life because it's just too unhealthy.  That is hard, and I struggle with it, but I know what feels right and what doesn't.  I forgive because I know everyone is human though, and it's not healthy to be harboring resentment.

26. Spend money wisely; learn to be cheap and proud of it! Oh my gosh. I am a new woman! My husband has had a positive effect on me, and I spend my money much more wisely now.  Even things that use to be fun (bumming around Target for hours on end) don't thrill me much anymore.  This has been a great thing.

27. Learn to drive a stick shift once and for all.  FAIL.  And I blame my husband.  I think he's scared I'll kill his truck. Lol.

28. Stop and smell the roses.  Always!  And watch the birds, look at the stars, take a deep breath....

29. Suprise the hubster with something fun.  I dyed my hair back to blonde (he was not a fan of the brunette) without telling him, then suprised him when he got his blonde wife back. He was a happy guy.

30. Think about "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and work towards that end.  Always.
 
Alright... so 7 FAILS outta 30 goals.  That's 76% or a C+
 
Gonna do better this year.  I want a B average!  I'll be thinking about this year's goals and posting soon.

NO, I have NOT fallen off the face of the Earth...

I've just been over at Spark People losing 20 lbs!  Woot!  My goal has been 50 lbs so I'm almost half way there.  Obviously, since it's almost my birthday (next month) I won't be making the original goal to lose 50 lbs by my birthday.  But darnit if I don't make a good dent in it by then! Anyway, I've been blogging over there but obviously not here.  Sorryeeee!

Ok, now for the good stuff.

Before - November 2009



















I'm not going to say "After" since I'm not at goal... so, how about

During - February 2010

I'm just to the point now where I'm moving down a size (yipee skippy!) and people are noticing the change. 

30 lbs, here I come!

Who starts a diet 3 days before Thanksgiving?!?

Apparently, I do!

I need to get cracking on #9
of my To Do List... lose weight!

Sooooo... here goes!

Last night, I joined up on Spark People, a free online diet and fitness community.

My goal is to lose 50 lbs in the next year.

Wish me luck!

I made a LIST? Oh reeeeally...

Remember my list?  Yeah, neither did I so I figured it was time for a refresher.  Nearly six months after I first posted it, let's see how it's going...
1. Drink more tea and water, less coffee and soda.
2. Do something active every day.
3. Learn to knit
4. Bake an Apple Pie for DH.
5. Go tent camping (sans tent if necessary)
6. Have a garage sale
7. Practice my Spanish. 
8. Eat healthier
9. Lose weight and then maintain a healthy weight.  As a fellow blogger once wrote, "Le Sigh".  Enough said.
10. Go mountain biking with the hubster
11. Stretch more Ok I'll admit this one I did actually forget about.  Whoops. Good thing I'm revisiting this list.
12. Walk 10,000 steps each day.  Ummm... no. Not yet anyway. Where is that pedometer, anyway?
13. Run (ok, jog) a 5K. I ran (ok, jogged) a 3K so I'm making progress!
14. Go to bed earlier, wake up earlier I was doing really good with this for a while but have gotten off track (as is evidenced in the fact that I am blogging when I should be in bed... oops)
15. Try a new active hobby Badminton! Trail riding!
16. Blog more I'm crossing this one off but keep me honest.  I'm blogging more these days, right?  It feels like it anyway (in a good way).
17. Host a BBQ or party (or both!)
18. Watch less TV  I'm not even close to crossing this one off.  Give me time.
19. Be a tourist at home
20. Volunteer I definitely haven't forgotten about this one. There's a call for volunteers in my neighborhood to help with the Halloween parade.  There's organizations such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  There are schools that need helpers.  I've researched quite a few paths I could take but haven't followed up yet. 
21. Keep my car, house, yard clean and organized Who knew?  I have a neat freak within.  And I love it (and I don't see Eric complaining. hah).
22. Have a date with the hubster at least once a month This has been easy and fun.
23. Embrace new friendships, nourish old ones I've been focusing on being good to those people already in my life.  I don't think I've embraced new friendships enough to warrant crossing this one entirely off yet.
24. Listen more, interrupt less Easier said than done, but I've made so much progress I'm crossing this off
25. Forgive.  I've forgiven. Even more importantly, I've let go.  Some people just aren't good for you.
26. Spend money wisely; learn to be cheap and proud of it! I'm much better than I used to be, but I haven't reached the 'cheap and proud' part yet.
27. Learn to drive a stick shift once and for all. Eric keeps promising he'll teach me.  Ahem.  I'm waiting.
28. Stop and smell the roses I was out walking our dog one evening and saw some fabulous roses my neighbor's yard was boasting.  I stopped and while she was sniffing the ground searching for good doggy smells, I was inhaling the roses. 
29. Suprise the hubster with something fun
30. Think about "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and work towards that end. I've been thinking about this a lot.  Operation Beautiful.  What goes around comes around.  Being good to myself and others.  All good things.

Clearly, I've make some progress.  And clearly I have quite a ways to go until I turn 31 in March. 

To be continued...

Now, I'll leave you with a few pictures.  This is where I (like my toes?) was last weekend with my family.   Whiskeytown Lake in Redding, California. We go RV camping & boating there every summer.  Absolutely pristine waters, and since we went so late in the year this time, we virtually had the entire lake to ourselves. Awesome.

And this is our doggy, Midnight.

Happily exhausted after a day of swimming, sniffing, running, and doing all things doggy.

Daddy's Girl.

Costa Rican Goodness

I've done great with certain things on my to do list (let's keep it simple from here on out. To Do List = TDL, mkay?). So anyway, I have given up coffee. Haven't had a drop since April. :::cough:::

Ok, well thats not entirely correct.

My coworker just got back from her honeymoon in Costa Rica (awesome honeyoon locale, dont you think?) and presented me with a kick ass bag of Costa Rican goodness (aka Cafe de Costa Rica). Which automatically made my sense of smell 1000% heightened.

I sit maybe 12 feet from the coffee pot at work. The smell is incredible. (I sound like a junkie! lol!) After nearly 2 months of no coffee, no caffeinated beverages of any kind, I had about an inch of coffee in a little papercup this morning.

It was divine. It was a perfect amount. So maybe I'll ammend my goal and just lessen the caffeine in my diet. I was up to 2 cups a day, which for me was way too much.

In other news, I talked my gym into lowering my outrageous monthly fee to a reasonable amount, so I'm headed back tonight. I am so so so tempted to start tanning again there, too. It made me feel so good physically, and mentally. But I'm defintely wary of the whole you-could-get-skin-cancer-dummy risks involved too. Oh yeah, there's that.

And as I promised more pictures, I'll leave ya'll with a pic of me and the BFF a girl could ever have. That's Val on the left, and yours truly on the right being the nerds we are.

I've got another one!

Another "to do" to add to my list...

Remember to freaking blog once in a while! Sheesh.

I vow to blog once a week. At least. And to add more pictures. No pictures=boring blog.

Hold me to it!

There outta be a word!

I'm just geeky enough to be amused by this website.

I looked up my word, trafficky, to no avail. Ok, how about trafficy? Nope. I should email them, dontcha think?

Trafficky - ie "Let's take the back roads, it's too trafficky right now on 101." Get it? You know you love it.


In other news...

I'm working on my 30/30 list. Haven't had any caffeine (#1) since Thursday. Woot!

Working on #12 "Walk 10,000 steps everyday" one. Got my trusty pedometer. Been wearing it all morning and *gasp* I've walked a total of 158 steps! That's it?!?

Better wear my running shoes tomorrow.

My big @ss to do list!

Thirty things to accomplish in my 30th year, in no particular order:
(a work in progress)
1. Drink more tea and water, less coffee and soda.
2. Do something active every day.
3. Learn to knit
4. Bake an Apple Pie for DH.
5. Go tent camping (sans tent if necessary)
6. Have a garage sale
7. Practice my Spanish
8. Eat healthier
9. Lose weight and then maintain a healthy weight
10. Go mountain biking with the hubster
11. Stretch more
12. Walk 10,000 steps each day
13. Run (ok, jog) a 5K
14. Go to bed earlier, wake up earlier
15. Try a new active hobby
16. Blog more
17. Host a BBQ or party (or both!)
18. Watch less TV
19. Be a tourist at home
20. Volunteer
21. Keep my car, house, yard clean and organized
22. Have a date with the hubster at least once a month
23. Embrace new friendships, nourish old ones
24. Listen more, interrupt less
25. Forgive
26. Spend money wisely; learn to be cheap and proud of it!
27. Learn to drive a stick shift once and for all
28. Stop and smell the roses
29. Suprise the hubster with something fun
30. Think about "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and work towards that end.

And then she was thirty...

Today is my 30th birthday! Woot! I'm blessed to have made it this far in life, relatively unscathed and healthy.

I'm thinking of 30 Things to do in my 30th year. What do you think? I'll post back with the list soon. :)

December post

Hi!!!

Whew! Where has the time gone? I'm really going to try and post more often. Not because I think people are actually following this, (it'd be nice!) but because it's super cathartic and helps me organize my thoughts.

I'm really looking forward to 2009. Fresh start and all that. As with most people, my goals (I refuse to say 'resolutions') for the year are basic: Get healthy, increase savings, organize & declutter our home.

Get healthy... lose weight! I'm tall, so I can 'hide' quite a lot of weight. To look at me, you'd think 20 lbs or so would do it. But ne-heh-oooo sir ree... we're looking at 50, maybe 60 lbs there partner. I'm purposefully not going to weigh myself for a few months. I swear, I think sometimes I sabatoge myself when I see the numbers go down. So this time, I'll wait to weigh in. Or at least that's the plan!

My current goal is a doable 10 pounds by St. Patrick's Day (my bday). I'm much more concerned with my measurements than my weight though. January 1st I'll take all my baseline readings and report back. I want to feel good in my clothes. Still with me? Good. Moving on...

Get healthy... I also want to take better care of myself. This can mean meditation, less TV time, getting a massage, etc. Do some psycho-analyzing (this blog will help that) of why I do the things I do. *Disclaimer: I have a BA in Psychology, so this blog may turn a little indepth more often than not. I'll try to keep that to a bearable minimum though.

Get healthy... Wannabe runner a lert! I want to run a 1/2 marathon. Being overweight, I shouldn't run right now. But once that weight is off my joints, I want to get to that goal. I've walked a 1/2 before and it was awesome.

Increase savings... pretty self explanatory. I've done really well the past few years and no longer spend beyond my means. Now, I'd like to see my savings account at least in the 4 digit zone. We're currently saving for a coach. After that, I think we'll get some new furniture and a snazzy new TV. I also need to set up a retirement account. Not to mention, once we start making beautiful babies, we'll need to think savings for them, too.

Organize/Declutter our Home... we live in an average size suburban home, but it is not organized well at all. My husband is no help in this arena, so it's up to me to devise a working system for everything. This is a huge challenge, but I have a feeling I will feel a lot of pride with every new system set in place.

That's all for now. I hope 2008 was a great year, and here's to a wonderful 2009!