Tag: Goals

august blog

Sorry I went awol for the summer. I’ll do a catch-up post this week. A lot happened, but in a way not a lot happened either. August means school is starting and back to work! I had been attempting to bullet journal in a dotted Moleskine, and while I do like the dotted layout (makes graphing and writing in straight lines both easy without the clutter of actual lines), with school starting, I really needed something more structured. With a 60% off coupon in hand plus my 15% teacher discount, I made my way to Michaels and picked up the Happy Planner! So far I really love it. This is the third week I’ve been dieting and tracking on My Fitness Pal. It’s going pretty well, but I attribute a lot of this initial loss to water weight, bloating, and sleeping a lot. That’s not to say I hope the next few weeks continue in this vein!

I had a workshop for school last week and start professional development this week for my school. I am teaching a new class this year and get a new classroom (and new bell schedule, new administrators, new coworkers, and so on)…so I’m a little anxious. I’ve decided to theme my classroom Finding Dory/Oceans, so expect to see some pictures when I’m done! I saw a lot of cute crafty things to do with supplies from The Dollar Tree (and also got a ton of Finding Dory stuff from the dollar bin area of Target!).

Aside from school starting, I only have a few things going on in August. I have a brunch to go to, tiki tubing, and going to my parents/hometown to visit with a friend who is moving soon. Anyway, what do I want to specifically accomplish this month?

August Goals: 

  • Complete the 30 Day Challenge (squats/planks/crunches/pushups)
  • Record all meals in My Fitness Pal (friend me if you want!)
  • Downsize book collection and paperwork to prepare for move
  • Hit 10,000 steps at least 4 times each week
  • Finish reading Name of the Wind
  • Pay back parents completely
  • Lose weight

What do you plan to accomplish this August? 

April Showers…

So 50% of my goals accomplished…not that great.

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I accomplished 50% of my goals for April! Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children ended up being a lot better than I thought it would be – it was strangely written, but I couldn’t put it down. I’m about a third of the way through the second in the series, The Hollow City. I’ve also been really good about logging my meals on My Fitness Pal. The way it syncs up to the Jawbone really helps me stay on track. Plus I like to see how I sleep and how many steps I take. There are trends that are starting to emerge (for instance, I need to sleep more). I’ve lost about 3 pounds since using it (two cheat weekends didn’t help with that).

What didn’t I get done? I didn’t do any Couch-to-10k. I could sit here and type about a thousand excuses as to why I didn’t (tornado warnings, exhaustion, burnout, etc.), but really I forgot and also didn’t feel like it when I remembered. Horrible, right? I also need to get around to making a budget…which I’m actually working on right now.

Stay tuned to see what May has in store 😛

 

41191ed1ad2d87ebc32d872f520c2ca8I know it’s halfway through April, but I can still make goals! It’s nearly time for me to give finals and bid my seniors good-bye. The weather is doing this strange things – it’s cold and muggy and then hot by the afternoon. I wish it would stop raining so I can run or walk around without getting soaked.

I got a fitness tracker from Groupon a few days ago called the Jawbone UP24. So far I’m really enjoying it, and it’s been a big motivator for improving my fitness. It connects to My Fitness Pal and ranks my meals based on their healthiness to give me an overall picture of how I’m eating. It also tracks how well I sleep and how many steps I take and helps me set goals and analyze trends. Honestly so far I love it! It’s discontinued, so I hope it doesn’t get damaged or need support (although the app is definitely still supported).

I had weighed myself (even though I had wanted to set a goal to not do that) when I got back from South Carolina on April 9th. Yikes. Two 12 hour drives and four days of eating out later I was four pounds heavier. In the last two days I’ve lost 2 lbs of that through eating better and walking more, so yay! Hopefully I can keep this up! It helps that the Jawbone vibrates if I sit still for too long. And it’s somewhat exciting to log everything and see what progress I’ve made.

So what would I like to accomplish before May Day?

cf2524d6e87f23ee42029812c2afee89Yay! It’s almost spring! Which means it’s nearly mom’s birthday. We’ve already started the month off with ACT testing for my students, and we’ll end the month with a week off for Spring Break. I really could use that week. I can’t believe the semester is progressing so quickly. Most of my students have either been accepted or are in the process of being accepted into their university or work program of choice, which is really exciting. I feel like a proud mom.

There are a lot of things (parties) going on this month, but I’m not sure how many of them I will actually be able to make because I am still borrowing a vehicle. I don’t feel comfortable driving the two hours home…a lot can happen in 140 miles. March 1st made six months that Z and I have been dating…it’s not any more meaningful than any other date, but it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. So far it’s just been smiles and surprises from both sides that I hope will continue. I’ve also finally updated what I want to accomplish in 2016. But what about just March?

March Goals: 

  • Complete weeks 2-5 of Couch-to-10k
  • Record all meals in My Fitness Pal (friend me if you want!)
  • Read Bossypants and I am Malala
  • Practice the yoga routine posted by my local yoga studio for its March Madness at least 20x and attend one professional class
  • Purchase a “new” vehicle
  • Apply to three jobs (part-time or summer)
  • Enroll in classes at community college

What do you plan to accomplish this March? 

Leap a Little

So today is February 29th…which we really only get to say once every four years, because today is a leap year!!! b9881074c5b557de87a0390e3242b91d

So for February, I wanted to:

  • Lose 5 lbs
  • Read I Am Malala
  • Make at least one bear for the Mother Bear project
  • Complete 3 weeks of Couch-to-10k
  • Create a new working budget with changed roommate situation
  • Write Colt a letter at bootcamp

And did I do any of them? Well, I wrote Colt two long letters at boot camp, I completed 1.5 weeks of Couch-to-10k, and I’ve evaluated my finances a bit. The week before last, I had about the worst week since 2016 began. I had to borrow my friend’s jeep (thankful for her), I got cursed out a few times at school, I had tons of meetings (resulting in my days lasting for over 12 hours), and I kept having to meet Colt’s dad at random places to do a meet-ups to get Colt’s letters for me since he forgot my address. I keep getting a bad case of the FOMO’s and get pretty regularly disobeyed and disrespected at school.

I was starting to feel really terribly about my life in general, and just all teary all the time and stuff, but then bf surprised me with a really pretty container for the tea he gave me for Valentine’s Day (all cream with gold and silver flecks) and Thin Mints (cookies!!!). We watched a movie and ate dinner and dessert and slept in Sunday and then spent the afternoon wandering around World Market and eating Backyard Burger.

I’m super stressed out, but it’ll be okay. I guess March is actually for the beginning of 2016. January and February were practice months 😉

No FOMO

FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, is exactly what it sounds like. The fear of regret…of making the wrong choices or not obtaining the same levels of psychological satisfaction that your peer group (or whoever you define as “everyone”).

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So what leads me to my own FOMO?

I collect postcards. Part of my collection can be seen in the header above, some are posted in my bedroom, and some are still stored. Part of my Valentine’s Day gift was a postcard from Z from South Africa (inscribed he had flown all the way to SA and back just to get me that card for V-Day – hehehe). This means that the only two continents I am missing are Antarctica and Australia, so I made an all-call post on fb to the people I know who regularly go to Antarctica for work and hopefully someone who knew someone else in Australia. I then got the following comment:

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Now I don’t know whether this was meant in an ugly way, but it sort of jabbed me in a
sore spot, right in the FOMO. I love going to new mapplaces and on adventures, but I haven’t been able to make a big trip in the last few years because of monetary reasons. This isn’t meant to imply I’ve never done anything ever – I’ve been to Canada and several states…but aside from local travel (to Natchitoches, New Orleans, and last summer, Texas), I have a music festival in Florida in May and a wedding to attend in Colorado in June to look forward to. I really would like to travel to another continent and be the one choosing my own postcards and racking up stamps in my passport. I guess the implication of the comment (what I felt) was “Travel and get your own damn postcards you inauthentic butthole!” I am fairly certain that isn’t what she meant, but it still made me feel sad.

When I look around my living room, I have three world maps, a United States map, a wooden sign that says “Choose your Own Adventure” and a wooden sign with a space shuttle painted on that says “Adventure Awaits!” It’s very clear that I’ve been infected by the travel bug.

To be honest, I have two fears. There’s the fear of missing out and the fear of instability. I’m in no way financially stable right now, so who would I be to dedicate that kind of money to travel…but at what point does waiting become more harmful than helpful? I’m not sure how to reconcile these feelings and fears. I also want to pursue a Master’s degree, so that’s money right there…plus my consumer debt and the student debt that already exists. I know my adventure awaits…I just have to figure out how to fund it and how much I’m willing to spend for experience…and how much it would cost me if I didn’t gain these memories at all…

February Updates

No witty quips to start this with! Oops. I’ve been doing well with keeping up with my notebook. I didn’t stick to WW this past weekend, but last week I did really well and this week is off to a good start. I honestly thought it might be a waste of $20, but it really is a lot easier to keep track of than calories.

I also completed week one of Couch to 10K last week for a total of 4.5 miles! I got faster on the last run/walk. I do not regret paying for the “Pro” version because it links online and tracks distance and lets you play music while you’re in the middle of a session. They’re only 30 minutes long (so far). I’ve been running in the morning, which, although it’s a pain to wake up early, has been much better than trying to do it at night. The chart below shows my weight and the days I ran. You can see pretty clearly that, although I haven’t lost anything yet, you can see from my higher weights on there’s been a decrease. I know exercise doesn’t burn a ton of calories, but it can help raise my metabolism and I hope to be able to participate in a 5K on March 19 at the Louisiana School for the Deaf. I’m really enjoying it 🙂

Below is a graphical representation of my weight progress for February. As you can see, there’s not too much of an actual difference. My highest weight was on February 10 (201.4) and my lowest weight was on February 21 (195.4). I started at 199.2 and ended at 201.2, which isn’t a statistically significant difference. I’ll do better next month!

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2015 is nearly over with! I’m attempting a thirteen month year by starting my goal preparation for 2016 a little early. The premise is that instead of weeding out unreasonable goals and establishing habits in January, start a month early so you have 12 months of productivity instead of 11. When I first read about this, it seemed so obvious that I felt silly for not thinking of it before then. From trying to be more mindful, I already have a few things I’d like to accomplish in 2016. It’s exciting to start planning for a fresh start. I know any day can be a new beginning, but there’s something nice about it starting on 1/1. But here’s the progress on finishing out 2015!

Goals: 

  • Budget/Debt Repayment Plan
  • Purchase/Finish Christmas Gifts & Dad’s birthday gift
  • Go to Natchitoches Festival of Lights
  • Finish one bear for the Mother Bear Project
  • Work out 8 times at the gym
  • Read Half of a Yellow Sun

My parents’ gifts came in the mail! I got my mom a beautiful necklace of a figure holding her three children and a stool with a bag of gardening tools that snaps under it so that she can do work without having to be on her knees (the cartilage is worn pretty much completely away). My dad wanted cologne so he got Gucci – Made to Measure. For his birthday I got him a leatherbound collection of the Game of Thrones books. I was able to use an $8 gift card I got for doing a survey for Cox and a $10 gift card I got using My Coke Rewards. I finished Z’s Christmas gift (a 7 foot long double-sided scarf of the constant tau in green and cream (the colors I had used for his hat)). You can see him wearing it in the photos below! We went to the Natchitoches Christmas Festival this past weekend.

Many things went wrong for that trip (very late start due to a wreck backing up traffic), then a blowout, then wrong orders, and a lot of delays that meant we were on the road for about 8 hours instead of 3 to return home. But…despite some of the things that went wrong, so many things went right. We got to go see all these antiques and try different samples in the kitchen store. I was also able to show him where I went to boarding school and the library I had worked at. We ate at one of my favorite places from when I was a teenager, and he finally got to eat his Reuben (versus the night before, when they’d gotten his order wrong). Silly as this sounds, it was also really nice to see how we reacted to things going wrong. He was kind and positive the whole time. It made what could have been a bad situation so much easier 🙂 When we were sitting next to the river, a little bug fell on him (see below). We named him Henry! And then promptly released him into the “wild.”

The last thing that happened was he gave me my Christmas. After I got home (and he was at his own home learning topology), I opened it. And it was the Thug Kitchen Cookbook! I had never heard of it before, but I absolutely love to cook and bake, and it is very funny to read and the recipes are different than what it would occur to me to search on something like Pinterest. They’re healthy and vegetarian, and use ingredients I’m not as familiar with (e.g. lentils, quinoa, chick peas), so I’m very excited to try some of these! I have a cabbage and black eyed pea recipe picked out for New Year’s already!

So far, December has been a good month. I am finished with work, no one failed my classes, I’ve gotten to visit my family and spend time with Z and talk with other friends. Later this month I get to visit the WWII Museum in NOLA and have s’mores made in a fireplace! I hope everyone else’s December has been wonderful as well!

December

How did it get so late so soon? – Dr. Seuss

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It’s exactly like that. How is 2015 over with so quickly? Well, here we are, three days into December. So how did November end up?

Goals: 

  • Read Ender’s Shadow & Shadow of the Hegemon
  • Finish one bear for the Mother Bear Project
  • Budget attack & debt repayment plan
  • CLEAN AND UNPACK MY ENTIRE ROOM

75% is much higher than previous months! I’ve passively thought about debt repayment and have been aimlessly making payments (e.g. $600 toward my student loans), but I really need to buckle down. I’ve thought about contacting a financial adviser for help…but I really just need to buckle down. I’ve made a passive budget, but haven’t really stuck to it. I need to take control of this part of my life.

November

So December will hopefully continue this upward trend. So what would I like to accomplish?

Goals: 

  • Budget/Debt Repayment Plan
  • Purchase/Finish Christmas Gifts & Dad’s birthday gift
  • Go to Natchitoches Festival of Lights
  • Finish one bear for the Mother Bear Project
  • Work out 8 times at the gym
  • Read Half of a Yellow Sun

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. ― Hamilton Mabie

 

NovemberNovember. Month Eleven. 2015 has almost come to a close. I’ve felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants for the entire year…so far. Maybe November/December will settle down (even though I’m writing a goal post on the 6th…but that’s neither here nor there 😛 ). I’m doing the keto diet from this point on through the end of November. Will break it for Thanksgiving because reasons, but that’s the only allowed exception. #crying

Hopefully this month will be wonderful and full of deliciousness. I mean, it is full of a week-long vacation (really 9 days vs. 7). It’ll be time to relax, time to hang out with people I care about, and also potentially get my wisdom teeth out. I’ve got some big expenses potentially coming up (e.g. wisdom teeth, “new” car, catching up on debts, new phone,…) But here are some more things I’d like to do!

  • Read Ender’s Shadow & Shadow of the Hegemon
  • Finish one bear for the Mother Bear Project
  • Stick to a keto diet (excluding Thanksgiving Day)
  • Budget attack & debt repayment plan
  • CLEAN AND UNPACK MY ENTIRE ROOM

Not too unreasonable right? But then again it never is.