Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Hello?
Is it me you're looking for?
I'm fairly certain that nobody reads this anymore. Could be the lack of updates for years.
But, just in case I'm on anybody's radar still, I'm sort of back to blogging. In fact, I'm trying out a daily photo project that runs from July 1st, 2012 - June 30th, 2013. It's mostly pictures of my backyard and my dogs, but hey, it's something. Feel free to join me at the new blog. I'll post the previous week's photos every Sunday.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
101 Goals Revisited--How much did I accomplish?
I figure I'm good for one last post on this blog. I'm not going to lie, living my life away from the internet has done me more good than harm, so I'm going to keep things that way (excepting goodreads... I will not leave goodreads!)
Back in 2008 before I moved to Colorado, I signed up for the Mission 101 challenge. Well, the end date for the challenge was in April for this year, so I thought I'd follow up to see just how much was fully accomplished. Results are below.
Red=accomplished
Blue=partially accomplished
White=never happened
Creativity:
1. Experiment with food design and making food look pretty (and taste good too.) I took a cake decorating class in 2009.
2. Pick up some form of sewing or knitting and have one project completed. I took up knitting, crochet, and stitching and have projects finished for all three.
3. Draw and paint again .
4. Ask Jon to teach me basic photography techniques.
5. Ask Jon to teach me basic Photoshop techniques.
6. Make something with the bulk of dried lavender I accidentally bought last year. Jon made some lavender sachets, but we didn't use the entire lot I purchased.
Financial:
7. Establish a ROTH-IRA to supplement any retirement earned through an employer. We both contribute the maximum amounts possible to our retirement accounts, but I never followed up on this (nor can we afford to now).
8. Start contributing to a cause... likely something to help animals and people who help animals (Humane Society or some ASPCA.) We tithe at our church, contribute to dachshund rescue funds, as well as the endometriosis association of america annually.
9. Make an effort to tithe more.
10. Continue to pay bills in full and on time.
11. Continue to stay credit card debt free (neither Jon nor I have ever been in cc debt) and continue to only use cards for what we can afford.
12. Pay off Wonda, my car.
13. Get Jon a new car/truck, and only after my car is paid in full to avoid two car payments. We purchased a Sub@ru Outback in February and love it (although everybody and their mom drives a Sub@ru in Colorado).
14. Prioritize major purchases for the house and only purchase another major item when the item of higher priority is paid in full. I honestly don't know if we've done this, but we're not paying off anything at the moment, so I'll say we partially accomplished this.
15. Only dip into high interest savings either in a dire emergency or to use towards school. Oops. We dipped into this to supply a down payment for the car, so not exactly an emergency.
16. Continue to contribute any small amount to the high interest travel fund.
17. Stay insured for health and dental even if unemployed.
18. Do not impulse buy books because they'll likely be donated within the year anyways.
Food:
19. Bake at least one confection per week, excepting vacations. I really can't verify this, but I was able to do something most weeks.
20. Grow an herb garden. It was kind of a favor, but we expanded beyond the herb garden and have done some really fun stuff, particularly over the last couple of years.
21. Bake bread more often and learn how to hand knead.
22. Better icing technique and piping skills.
23. Attempt a fancy pastry like a napoleon or an éclair, or reattempt the French macaroon.
24. Practice new cooking recipes to become a decent cook and not focus so much on baking.
25. Get used to high altitude baking.
26. Bake a soufflé (stole this one from Amanda.)
27. Start getting milk products from a dairy delivery service instead of the grocery store. We did this until I went part time at work. It was great, but a bit more expensive.
28. Learn how to cook an authentic foreign dish. I suck at Asian food!
Fun Times:
29. Get a dog and successfully train and socialize it. We got two!
30. Get a bike and use it. I definitely need to use it more. Who knew that you could lose bike riding skills? I'm so not confident on a bike anymore.
31. Host some form of a get-together once per quarter. We were doing this, but the house is so small, so it's hard to entertain for more than two people.
32. Have board/card game nights as much as possible.
33. Watch all Doctor Who DVDs available on Netflix. Yeah, didn't happen.
34. Go see a drum corps show if they come to Denver at any point, since I haven't been to one in a while.
35. Watch one watered down horror movie with Jon... during the day time... when it's sunny.
36. Watch the original Star Wars trilogy.
37. Attend some sort of theater event. I went to see South Pacific with some friends last year.
38. Go to at least one festival (food, Renaissance, etc.) Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2008
Health/Environment:
39. Pick up an activity/hobby that requires exercise and/or being outside. Running. I hate it, but it keeps my heart rate down.
40.Walk as much as possible.
41. Join a club of some sort in Fort Collins to meet new people.
42. Make an effort to get out more.
43. Do not commute to any job more than 30 minutes, unless our financial independence relies on it. School would be an exception.
44. Continue using reusable bags at grocery stores.
45. Eliminate coffee to very special occasions and drink only tea for caffeine needs.
46. Drink only one soda per week.
47. Replace all lamp bulbs with energy efficient ones.
48. Get a physical once every 3 years.
49. Go to the dermatologist every other year.
50. Wear sunscreen when exposed to the sun for long periods of time.
51. Learn to ski (I've never tried.) I went cross-country skiing last year. It was okay, but I'm way too uncoordinated to ski.
52. Eat red meat at the most twice per week, preferably less.
53. Eat at least 3 servings of fruit/vegetables per day.
54. Start stretching and become limber again.
55. Learn how to shoot a gun.
Home/Organizing:
56. Never leave dishes unwashed.
57. Plant flowers and bushes around the house and maintain them to become a better gardener. We've discovered a love for gardening, and may have gone a bit overboard on this.
58. Decorate tastefully for Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.
59. Do not decorate for Christmas before the day after Thanksgiving (yeah, I might fail at this one.)
60. Devise a storage system for kitchen items. Jon built basement storage. It works great.
61. Dog-proof the house.
62. Put up dry wall in the garage and devise an organized system for Jon's stuff. It's organized, but we didn't put up dry wall.
63. At least make plans to have the basement refinished so Jon can have his office/man cave.
64. Get a bedroom set. We didn't buy a bedroom set, but we did purchase a nice dresser and bedside tables.
65. Establish the guest room. It's still combined with Jon's office, but the basement renovation isn't happening, so it will have to do.
66. Make a set and realistic house cleaning schedule and stick to it.
Learning/Career:
67. Consider schooling for possible new paths and try to avoid student loans to finance education.
68. Pick up French and Italian again, or learn Spanish, as it is more practical.
69. Read at least 3 history texts, mainly in European history (one on England, one on France, and one on Eastern Europe.) I read 3 texts, but they all focused on England.
70. Take a business or entrepreneur course if switching careers.
71. Re-read The Elements of Style by Strunk and White since I'm awful at grammar and writing, as well as other grammar books.
72. Have at least a part time job by October, whether it be as a librarian or something else.
73. Vote in 2008 election.
Personal:
74. Get married and change my last name.
75. Make an effort to start my marriage off on the right foot by establishing alone time, us time, and keeping communication open.
76. Establish a living will.
77. Consider pregnancy or adoption by the age of 29 (having a child by 30.) I'm glad I said "consider" and added in the adoption piece on this one.
78. Be less private about my relationship with God, but do not overstep boundaries and do not rub religion in people's faces.
79. Attend church more often.
80. Get to know the in-laws better, as well as my own family.
81. Learn how to drive a stick shift.
82. Have my hair cut at least 5 inches sometime after the wedding.
83. Make an effort to be more social and pursue quality friendships. Making friends is a lot more difficult when you're older. There are so many possible alienating factors, that it just isn't easy to establish something new. I've found that my closest acquaintances are at work.
Reading:
84. Read 100 classic novels that I have not previously read.
85. Read one book outside of my comfort zone. We started a readers' advisory book club at work so I've been reading a lot of genres that I wouldn't normally read (western, romance, inspirational)
86. Read and complete a Tolstoy novel (Anna Karenina was a failure for me.)
87. Read all current and past Printz, Newbery, and Caldecott Medal Winners.
88. Attempt the Lord of the Rings trilogy again.
Travel:
89. Visit at least 10 national parks that neither Jon nor I have previously visited. Close, but no cigar.
90. See New Zealand.
91. Visit at least 2 of the 4 states I have left to see in the U.S. (Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, Idaho.) I only made it to Idaho.
92. Get back to Europe, preferably England again, but I wouldn't complain if I visited Prague, Greece, or Italy either.
93. Camp at least once per year.
94. Go to Dinosaur monument.
95. Take the Colorado Train
96. Drive through Independence Pass. Uggh, I JUST did this, but it was after the deadline.
97. Take Jon to Devil's Tower and Little Bighorn.
98. Renew passport (can't travel internationally without it!)
99. Find a good and safe place to board the dog(s) when traveling.
100. Go home at least once a year.
101. Visit the Northeast again during summer. We went, but during springtime, which was just as lovely.
1. Experiment with food design and making food look pretty (and taste good too.) I took a cake decorating class in 2009.
2. Pick up some form of sewing or knitting and have one project completed. I took up knitting, crochet, and stitching and have projects finished for all three.
3. Draw and paint again .
4. Ask Jon to teach me basic photography techniques.
5. Ask Jon to teach me basic Photoshop techniques.
6. Make something with the bulk of dried lavender I accidentally bought last year. Jon made some lavender sachets, but we didn't use the entire lot I purchased.
Financial:
7. Establish a ROTH-IRA to supplement any retirement earned through an employer. We both contribute the maximum amounts possible to our retirement accounts, but I never followed up on this (nor can we afford to now).
8. Start contributing to a cause... likely something to help animals and people who help animals (Humane Society or some ASPCA.) We tithe at our church, contribute to dachshund rescue funds, as well as the endometriosis association of america annually.
9. Make an effort to tithe more.
10. Continue to pay bills in full and on time.
11. Continue to stay credit card debt free (neither Jon nor I have ever been in cc debt) and continue to only use cards for what we can afford.
12. Pay off Wonda, my car.
13. Get Jon a new car/truck, and only after my car is paid in full to avoid two car payments. We purchased a Sub@ru Outback in February and love it (although everybody and their mom drives a Sub@ru in Colorado).
14. Prioritize major purchases for the house and only purchase another major item when the item of higher priority is paid in full. I honestly don't know if we've done this, but we're not paying off anything at the moment, so I'll say we partially accomplished this.
15. Only dip into high interest savings either in a dire emergency or to use towards school. Oops. We dipped into this to supply a down payment for the car, so not exactly an emergency.
16. Continue to contribute any small amount to the high interest travel fund.
17. Stay insured for health and dental even if unemployed.
18. Do not impulse buy books because they'll likely be donated within the year anyways.
Food:
19. Bake at least one confection per week, excepting vacations. I really can't verify this, but I was able to do something most weeks.
20. Grow an herb garden. It was kind of a favor, but we expanded beyond the herb garden and have done some really fun stuff, particularly over the last couple of years.
21. Bake bread more often and learn how to hand knead.
22. Better icing technique and piping skills.
23. Attempt a fancy pastry like a napoleon or an éclair, or reattempt the French macaroon.
24. Practice new cooking recipes to become a decent cook and not focus so much on baking.
25. Get used to high altitude baking.
26. Bake a soufflé (stole this one from Amanda.)
27. Start getting milk products from a dairy delivery service instead of the grocery store. We did this until I went part time at work. It was great, but a bit more expensive.
28. Learn how to cook an authentic foreign dish. I suck at Asian food!
Fun Times:
29. Get a dog and successfully train and socialize it. We got two!
30. Get a bike and use it. I definitely need to use it more. Who knew that you could lose bike riding skills? I'm so not confident on a bike anymore.
31. Host some form of a get-together once per quarter. We were doing this, but the house is so small, so it's hard to entertain for more than two people.
32. Have board/card game nights as much as possible.
33. Watch all Doctor Who DVDs available on Netflix. Yeah, didn't happen.
34. Go see a drum corps show if they come to Denver at any point, since I haven't been to one in a while.
35. Watch one watered down horror movie with Jon... during the day time... when it's sunny.
36. Watch the original Star Wars trilogy.
37. Attend some sort of theater event. I went to see South Pacific with some friends last year.
38. Go to at least one festival (food, Renaissance, etc.) Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2008
Health/Environment:
39. Pick up an activity/hobby that requires exercise and/or being outside. Running. I hate it, but it keeps my heart rate down.
40.Walk as much as possible.
41. Join a club of some sort in Fort Collins to meet new people.
42. Make an effort to get out more.
43. Do not commute to any job more than 30 minutes, unless our financial independence relies on it. School would be an exception.
44. Continue using reusable bags at grocery stores.
45. Eliminate coffee to very special occasions and drink only tea for caffeine needs.
46. Drink only one soda per week.
47. Replace all lamp bulbs with energy efficient ones.
48. Get a physical once every 3 years.
49. Go to the dermatologist every other year.
50. Wear sunscreen when exposed to the sun for long periods of time.
51. Learn to ski (I've never tried.) I went cross-country skiing last year. It was okay, but I'm way too uncoordinated to ski.
52. Eat red meat at the most twice per week, preferably less.
53. Eat at least 3 servings of fruit/vegetables per day.
54. Start stretching and become limber again.
55. Learn how to shoot a gun.
Home/Organizing:
56. Never leave dishes unwashed.
57. Plant flowers and bushes around the house and maintain them to become a better gardener. We've discovered a love for gardening, and may have gone a bit overboard on this.
58. Decorate tastefully for Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.
59. Do not decorate for Christmas before the day after Thanksgiving (yeah, I might fail at this one.)
60. Devise a storage system for kitchen items. Jon built basement storage. It works great.
61. Dog-proof the house.
62. Put up dry wall in the garage and devise an organized system for Jon's stuff. It's organized, but we didn't put up dry wall.
63. At least make plans to have the basement refinished so Jon can have his office/man cave.
64. Get a bedroom set. We didn't buy a bedroom set, but we did purchase a nice dresser and bedside tables.
65. Establish the guest room. It's still combined with Jon's office, but the basement renovation isn't happening, so it will have to do.
66. Make a set and realistic house cleaning schedule and stick to it.
Learning/Career:
67. Consider schooling for possible new paths and try to avoid student loans to finance education.
68. Pick up French and Italian again, or learn Spanish, as it is more practical.
69. Read at least 3 history texts, mainly in European history (one on England, one on France, and one on Eastern Europe.) I read 3 texts, but they all focused on England.
70. Take a business or entrepreneur course if switching careers.
71. Re-read The Elements of Style by Strunk and White since I'm awful at grammar and writing, as well as other grammar books.
72. Have at least a part time job by October, whether it be as a librarian or something else.
73. Vote in 2008 election.
Personal:
74. Get married and change my last name.
75. Make an effort to start my marriage off on the right foot by establishing alone time, us time, and keeping communication open.
76. Establish a living will.
77. Consider pregnancy or adoption by the age of 29 (having a child by 30.) I'm glad I said "consider" and added in the adoption piece on this one.
78. Be less private about my relationship with God, but do not overstep boundaries and do not rub religion in people's faces.
79. Attend church more often.
80. Get to know the in-laws better, as well as my own family.
81. Learn how to drive a stick shift.
82. Have my hair cut at least 5 inches sometime after the wedding.
83. Make an effort to be more social and pursue quality friendships. Making friends is a lot more difficult when you're older. There are so many possible alienating factors, that it just isn't easy to establish something new. I've found that my closest acquaintances are at work.
Reading:
84. Read 100 classic novels that I have not previously read.
85. Read one book outside of my comfort zone. We started a readers' advisory book club at work so I've been reading a lot of genres that I wouldn't normally read (western, romance, inspirational)
86. Read and complete a Tolstoy novel (Anna Karenina was a failure for me.)
87. Read all current and past Printz, Newbery, and Caldecott Medal Winners.
88. Attempt the Lord of the Rings trilogy again.
Travel:
89. Visit at least 10 national parks that neither Jon nor I have previously visited. Close, but no cigar.
90. See New Zealand.
91. Visit at least 2 of the 4 states I have left to see in the U.S. (Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, Idaho.) I only made it to Idaho.
92. Get back to Europe, preferably England again, but I wouldn't complain if I visited Prague, Greece, or Italy either.
93. Camp at least once per year.
94. Go to Dinosaur monument.
95. Take the Colorado Train
96. Drive through Independence Pass. Uggh, I JUST did this, but it was after the deadline.
97. Take Jon to Devil's Tower and Little Bighorn.
98. Renew passport (can't travel internationally without it!)
99. Find a good and safe place to board the dog(s) when traveling.
100. Go home at least once a year.
101. Visit the Northeast again during summer. We went, but during springtime, which was just as lovely.
Overall, I think I did pretty well. I'm interested to see what the next three years holds.
Bye for now. It's been fun blogging. When/if I get the new blog running, I'll be sure to post the link here.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Offline
Some people have been asking me why I'm not writing blogs at the moment. Okay, my mom and my best friend have asked me, but to be fair, they make up the majority of my readership.
2010 has been rough. Not rough as in "the world is coming to an end and I'm having real problems" but more rough as in my physical and emotional health have been all over the place. I'm not very happy right now and my busy schedule doesn't help. The internet only makes things worse, particularly a lot of social networking, so if I'm not updating my status everyday or responding to messages, you might know why (but then, you'd have to read the blog to know this) because it sucks to enter those sites.
I may be back, and I may not. I have 5 years of great memories on this blog and I'm not really willing to erase those. But for now, I need to focus on what is positive in my day-to-day life (husband, family, etc.) and work on coming to terms with possibilities that I didn't think would ever occur in my life.
So farewell for now! I hope to be back as soon as possible.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Day 23: A Picture that Describes Your Life
photo credit: Futurama
I started to write a pretty serious and spiteful post about stress and all the emotional and physical pain it has caused me, particularly over the last year and a half. I think I'll refrain though because I have no clue who even reads this blog, and honestly, it's not worth airing my grievances in a public forum, although I think I'm doing it anyways in a more vague manner. I shall return shortly with my normal light-hearted blog entries.
Monday, October 11, 2010
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