I'm compelled to blog on a fairly frequent basis and it doesn't happen for a variety of reasons. Most of them are not very good ones and involve time wasting (e.g. Facebook, playing Kingdom Rush (LOVE this game!), & almost any show that Netflix carries from TLC) but things still continue to be hectic with school, kids' activities, and finding time with friends. I started training to participate in a 5k at the end of August and, since I quickly experienced positive changes from regular activity, I've kept it up. Recently (as in this last Sunday), I joined our local LA Fitness and met with a personal trainer to discuss my health and fitness goals. I spent about half of my hour with him talking and then he took me through a workout focusing on arms and core. (Normally it would have included legs too but we both agreed it would be best not to do that since I run the 5k this Saturday.) As I write, the muscles in my arms still burn and are sore and twisting certain directions ignites my mid-section. This is not an unpleasant thing, however, and I committed to working with a trainer twice a week and am really looking forward to well and truly making this year my best to date on ALL levels.
I've been keeping up with my "Go somewhere/Do something new each month" resolution so far (July, August, and September will be updated soon) and will meet that goal for the year. I hope to kick it up a notch in the next year but I'm not sure how I'll manage that. There's a world of new out there so I'm not too concerned. Let's see if my other resolutions are being met... Let's start with the Energy category.
Boosting Energy: I'm certainly not meeting my sleeping goal, nor have I been absent from the house for 24 hours each month. (As I successfully meet some of the other goals, being away for an entire day is proving to be less important to me than when I made these goals at the end of 2011.) I've maintained meal planning and don't have problems with not repeating meals.
Boosting Spirituality: Uh, no. I haven't done with one of those things on anything resembling a regular basis. I am managing to get to and be more involved with MSUS again though so that's something.
Boosting Parenting: I haven't met these goals entirely but they weren't as full of fail as the previous category. I still have time to finish photo books so there's a chance...
Boosting Finance: This category has been a much more successful one. We paid off both the window loan and the credit card so I'm feeling very good about that. I haven't tried cash only for a month yet but I was recently encouraged by a friend that does this and am considering it for November. It just seems like such a foreign idea to actually use paper money after having a debit card for so long that it seems fiddly and irritating. We'll see I suppose.
Boosting Relationships: This has been the most productive and successful of all of the categories in my opinion and I feel like I'm ending the year with a wonderful, supportive group of friends. I need to make a better, and sustained, effort with my long distance friends and I could facilitate that in large part with regularly updating this blog so they have some idea of what I'm up to. Facebook is all well and good for little daily things, but it doesn't lend itself well to something as long as this post is becoming.
Boosting Play: Also another really successful category that I've already spent some time discussing. To my dismay, a monthly drag night has not come to fruition and I blame that on myself as I've had opportunity but was usually lax in making it happen. I have enjoyed reruns of RuPaul's Drag Race though so I haven't been in complete drag withdrawal.
So, good! That's a pretty decent update of where I'm at on my resolutions. This isn't at all what I intended to write when I sat down with the laptop but here it is in its entirety.
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
After a week of one frustrating, disgusting, or horrible thing after another, I'm having another "Everything's amazing!" kind of week and it's prompted me to actually get a blog post completed. (I started one back toward the end of March during my "spring break" week from school but it probably won't ever see publication as it's a little dated now.)
This Thursday (the 12th) I have the final session of my first class at Bethel and I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. Normally classes are only five weeks but this one ran for seven as we had a week off for spring break and one for Easter. So far I'm very pleased with the grades I've earned on my assignments and feel fairly good about my final speech at this point. My topic is Mr.Rogers and he turned out to be a lot more interesting than I'd first anticipated when I chose the topic. Since I won't be able to integrate all the information from the article into my speech, I'd like to share this link with all of here so you don't miss out on it:
15 Reasons Mr.Rogers Was the Best Neighbor Ever
Awesome. I know all of my classes won't be as enjoyable as this first one but, if the work loads are somewhat comparable, I should be able to swing it.
I've also been slowly improving my organization and time management skills again. My house, at this moment, has been really clean for over 24 hours. We're talking that weird, echoing type of clean and it pleases me to no end. When it was just two adults living here I had no problem keeping it company ready at all times. With the advent of the children, that became more of a challenge. I'm hoping to maintain and have this be the new normal so we'll see what it's like in a week. I'm going to be doing a bit of traveling in the next two weeks so I'm sure that, while mommy is away, the other four people who live here will do their best to undo all my efforts.
"Where are you traveling?" you may ask. IOWA. That's right friends, I'm headed south to enjoy the (soon to be planted) corn fields and wide open spaces of our socially progressive neighbor. Why? Drag queens of course! (Am I ever really motivated to travel for any other reason?) This Saturday night one of my favorites from Season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race, Alexis Mateo, will be appearing at Belle's Basix in Cedar Rapids. Next Friday night, my absolute favorite from Season 4 (the current season airing Monday night's on LOGO or Tuesday morning's at the above link), Sharon Needles, will be appearing at The Garden in Des Moines. (She's originally from Newton, IA which is very close to Des Moines.) SO EXCITED. I'm doubly lucky these shows are happening where they are in Iowa as a friend (and fellow Hardee's alum) from high school lives in Cedar Rapids with her wife and is as excited for the shows as I am. So hooray for seeing old friends, hooray for travel, and hooray for drag! The only downside? I already have plans for this Sunday afternoon and I'd be cutting it really close to make it on time. I can't decide if all the rushing around will really be worth it or not. As of now, I'm leaning toward yes but we'll see how the rest of the week goes.
I'm also trying to keep working away at my goal/resolution list for this year. I've done really well with some things but haven't thought too much about others. In April, I've scheduled the first monthly get together for the year so far. Oops. Well, at least it's out there. It'll be at my house on April 28th from 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM and you're more than welcome to attend if I didn't specifically invite you on Facebook. (Text/call/email me for details if you need them.) I'll be serving lunch and talking a little bit about how I do my monthly meal planning since quite a few people have had questions about how that works. I'm already looking forward to trying to do something fun in May when it's warmer but haven't really come up with anything yet. If I can manage something every month from here on out, I'll be pretty pleased with 9/12 months.
Another interesting development has been my return to regular attendance at the local Unitarian church, MSUS. Since I'm on my own as far as taking the kids to church goes, I've been really unmotivated to try and do it on my own until they were much more independent. I have no idea why, but I suddenly decided a couple weeks ago that they had reached a certain capability and it was time. (It also helps that I've had people gently poking and prodding me to get my ass back in a pew over the past few years.) The first week back I was handed maracas to play during the first hymn and the kids acted as if they'd been there every Sunday since birth. There was also no hesitation about going up front during the children's story and not even a backward glance when I dropped them off at their Sunday school classrooms. I'm also excited to see that the promises of many other young families with children were not exaggerations. Yay! Thanks for not giving up on me all you tenacious UUs! ;)
I'm looking forward to getting things going in the garden in the coming weeks and being able to be outside for long stretches of time. In two entirely separate posts, I hope to discuss with you my recent appreciation for my children and the mourning I've been doing as I realize they seriously aren't babies anymore and that phase is done and gone for me on a permanent basis. I'm also halfway through the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and it's renewed my motivation to create more of our food from scratch and try to eat as locally and seasonally as possible. The warmer weather coming will be helpful for that but it's still going to be a challenge since prepackaged convenience foods are just so darn convenient. I'm up for the challenge though because, as you well know, there always has to be something going on for me!
This Thursday (the 12th) I have the final session of my first class at Bethel and I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. Normally classes are only five weeks but this one ran for seven as we had a week off for spring break and one for Easter. So far I'm very pleased with the grades I've earned on my assignments and feel fairly good about my final speech at this point. My topic is Mr.Rogers and he turned out to be a lot more interesting than I'd first anticipated when I chose the topic. Since I won't be able to integrate all the information from the article into my speech, I'd like to share this link with all of here so you don't miss out on it:
Awesome. I know all of my classes won't be as enjoyable as this first one but, if the work loads are somewhat comparable, I should be able to swing it.
I've also been slowly improving my organization and time management skills again. My house, at this moment, has been really clean for over 24 hours. We're talking that weird, echoing type of clean and it pleases me to no end. When it was just two adults living here I had no problem keeping it company ready at all times. With the advent of the children, that became more of a challenge. I'm hoping to maintain and have this be the new normal so we'll see what it's like in a week. I'm going to be doing a bit of traveling in the next two weeks so I'm sure that, while mommy is away, the other four people who live here will do their best to undo all my efforts.
"Where are you traveling?" you may ask. IOWA. That's right friends, I'm headed south to enjoy the (soon to be planted) corn fields and wide open spaces of our socially progressive neighbor. Why? Drag queens of course! (Am I ever really motivated to travel for any other reason?) This Saturday night one of my favorites from Season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race, Alexis Mateo, will be appearing at Belle's Basix in Cedar Rapids. Next Friday night, my absolute favorite from Season 4 (the current season airing Monday night's on LOGO or Tuesday morning's at the above link), Sharon Needles, will be appearing at The Garden in Des Moines. (She's originally from Newton, IA which is very close to Des Moines.) SO EXCITED. I'm doubly lucky these shows are happening where they are in Iowa as a friend (and fellow Hardee's alum) from high school lives in Cedar Rapids with her wife and is as excited for the shows as I am. So hooray for seeing old friends, hooray for travel, and hooray for drag! The only downside? I already have plans for this Sunday afternoon and I'd be cutting it really close to make it on time. I can't decide if all the rushing around will really be worth it or not. As of now, I'm leaning toward yes but we'll see how the rest of the week goes.
I'm also trying to keep working away at my goal/resolution list for this year. I've done really well with some things but haven't thought too much about others. In April, I've scheduled the first monthly get together for the year so far. Oops. Well, at least it's out there. It'll be at my house on April 28th from 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM and you're more than welcome to attend if I didn't specifically invite you on Facebook. (Text/call/email me for details if you need them.) I'll be serving lunch and talking a little bit about how I do my monthly meal planning since quite a few people have had questions about how that works. I'm already looking forward to trying to do something fun in May when it's warmer but haven't really come up with anything yet. If I can manage something every month from here on out, I'll be pretty pleased with 9/12 months.
Another interesting development has been my return to regular attendance at the local Unitarian church, MSUS. Since I'm on my own as far as taking the kids to church goes, I've been really unmotivated to try and do it on my own until they were much more independent. I have no idea why, but I suddenly decided a couple weeks ago that they had reached a certain capability and it was time. (It also helps that I've had people gently poking and prodding me to get my ass back in a pew over the past few years.) The first week back I was handed maracas to play during the first hymn and the kids acted as if they'd been there every Sunday since birth. There was also no hesitation about going up front during the children's story and not even a backward glance when I dropped them off at their Sunday school classrooms. I'm also excited to see that the promises of many other young families with children were not exaggerations. Yay! Thanks for not giving up on me all you tenacious UUs! ;)
I'm looking forward to getting things going in the garden in the coming weeks and being able to be outside for long stretches of time. In two entirely separate posts, I hope to discuss with you my recent appreciation for my children and the mourning I've been doing as I realize they seriously aren't babies anymore and that phase is done and gone for me on a permanent basis. I'm also halfway through the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and it's renewed my motivation to create more of our food from scratch and try to eat as locally and seasonally as possible. The warmer weather coming will be helpful for that but it's still going to be a challenge since prepackaged convenience foods are just so darn convenient. I'm up for the challenge though because, as you well know, there always has to be something going on for me!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Who's That Girl?
With everything I've been accomplishing around here, I've been feeling like THIS is what I should see in the mirror in the morning:
In a couple more months when my hair has grown out even farther and I've kept up with kick boxing, that might be the case but, so far, it's still just me. Well, to be fair, it's me plus... something. I still haven't figured out where my newly acquired super powers are originating from but I am enjoying them nonetheless. Is it better organization? A better head space from being more open & honest? More exercise? More intellectual stimulation? Some crazy amalgamation involving all of the above is my guess and I'll be doing my damnedest to keep it up because, ladies & gentlemen, I feel full of energy and just plain fierce about 90% of the time now. My mysterious gastrointestinal woes have almost completely disappeared. I'm experiencing less frustration with the kids and being a stay at home mom in general and I'm accomplishing things on par with the rate that I did when it was just me and Ada all day. Does this boggle your mind? It certainly does mine. Here's a short recap of what I've been up to this month (and it's terrible that it has almost been a month since I've finished something for posting):
*Took and passed two DANTES tests, which earned me six college credits. I have two more tests on February 9th that I need to pass and I'll be set to start the last two years of my degree on February 16th. I've been shooting for between an hour or more (preferably more) of study time each day and, based on the practice tests I have access to, the information is sticking. I'm starting to get really tense about these upcoming tests because there's even more riding on passing them than there was the first two.
*I've managed to keep up with all household chores including the weekly scrubbing of tubs, toilets, kitchen sinks, and floors for almost the whole year. This is due in large part to having downloaded this printable chore list from Motivated Moms. I had a $1 off coupon for it and, let me tell you, that's the best $7 I've spent all year. Mike had been asking for me to make him a chore list and I straight up refused to do it, for various reasons, but it turns out I'm loving this. If you're looking to become better organized and use what little time you have to get the most done, GO GET IT. Seriously. (Also, for the record, I don't think having a weekly chore chart posted is helping him get any more done around the house either. Not that he isn't helpful at ALL, it's just that having this chart wasn't the miracle cure he seemed to think it would be. JUST SAYIN'.)
*One of my goals for this year is to pay off at least one of our large debts and it seems I've discovered a way to manage to pay them BOTH off in 2012 if I stick to the budget I've created. That's barring something crazy coming up that throws it all off of course. I've been paying cash for purchases too which has really made me think a little bit longer before buying. Having to trade actual cash money tends to make me a bit more stingy.
*I've been kick boxing every other day for at least 30 minutes and make an effort to find something else to do for a half hour on the days that I'm not boxing. I attempted to do some yoga with the kids and that was partially successful. They thought it was hilarious fun for about ten minutes and then decided it would be even more fun if they were to try and use me as a jungle gym while I was doing poses. I probably won't try that again. My entertainment center contains some long neglected exercise DVDs that might hold the kids interest longer. Ada is stoked for belly dancing and I'm curious about Zumba as I've heard nothing but rave reviews.
*I'm meal planning with ease (and hardly any whining!) and have been doing a lot of cooking and baking from scratch again. I don't think there's a single person in this house that isn't thrilled with that change. I plan to try out this copy cat recipe for Hardee's biscuits Saturday morning on the twins' THIRD BIRTHDAY because they do love them some fresh biscuits. Mike's birthday is the next day so he's stoked to have biscuits and gravy for himself too.
*I have managed to do a better job keeping in touch with people both in writing, over the phone, and in person. I am REALLY excited about this and want to step it up even more because, as it turns out, interacting with other people really does make me live. Don't get me wrong. There are still times where I want nothing more than to hermit the hell up in this house and sit quietly for hours on end. But, mostly, people feed me. Don't worry though. I have no intention of eating your brains! (Yet.)
I'm probably forgetting at least one or two things that I'd been planning to mention but, if that's the case, it's just fodder for another post that I'll have to be gently nagged into getting finished and posted. (Thanks Kat!)
In a couple more months when my hair has grown out even farther and I've kept up with kick boxing, that might be the case but, so far, it's still just me. Well, to be fair, it's me plus... something. I still haven't figured out where my newly acquired super powers are originating from but I am enjoying them nonetheless. Is it better organization? A better head space from being more open & honest? More exercise? More intellectual stimulation? Some crazy amalgamation involving all of the above is my guess and I'll be doing my damnedest to keep it up because, ladies & gentlemen, I feel full of energy and just plain fierce about 90% of the time now. My mysterious gastrointestinal woes have almost completely disappeared. I'm experiencing less frustration with the kids and being a stay at home mom in general and I'm accomplishing things on par with the rate that I did when it was just me and Ada all day. Does this boggle your mind? It certainly does mine. Here's a short recap of what I've been up to this month (and it's terrible that it has almost been a month since I've finished something for posting):
*Took and passed two DANTES tests, which earned me six college credits. I have two more tests on February 9th that I need to pass and I'll be set to start the last two years of my degree on February 16th. I've been shooting for between an hour or more (preferably more) of study time each day and, based on the practice tests I have access to, the information is sticking. I'm starting to get really tense about these upcoming tests because there's even more riding on passing them than there was the first two.
*I've managed to keep up with all household chores including the weekly scrubbing of tubs, toilets, kitchen sinks, and floors for almost the whole year. This is due in large part to having downloaded this printable chore list from Motivated Moms. I had a $1 off coupon for it and, let me tell you, that's the best $7 I've spent all year. Mike had been asking for me to make him a chore list and I straight up refused to do it, for various reasons, but it turns out I'm loving this. If you're looking to become better organized and use what little time you have to get the most done, GO GET IT. Seriously. (Also, for the record, I don't think having a weekly chore chart posted is helping him get any more done around the house either. Not that he isn't helpful at ALL, it's just that having this chart wasn't the miracle cure he seemed to think it would be. JUST SAYIN'.)
*One of my goals for this year is to pay off at least one of our large debts and it seems I've discovered a way to manage to pay them BOTH off in 2012 if I stick to the budget I've created. That's barring something crazy coming up that throws it all off of course. I've been paying cash for purchases too which has really made me think a little bit longer before buying. Having to trade actual cash money tends to make me a bit more stingy.
*I've been kick boxing every other day for at least 30 minutes and make an effort to find something else to do for a half hour on the days that I'm not boxing. I attempted to do some yoga with the kids and that was partially successful. They thought it was hilarious fun for about ten minutes and then decided it would be even more fun if they were to try and use me as a jungle gym while I was doing poses. I probably won't try that again. My entertainment center contains some long neglected exercise DVDs that might hold the kids interest longer. Ada is stoked for belly dancing and I'm curious about Zumba as I've heard nothing but rave reviews.
*I'm meal planning with ease (and hardly any whining!) and have been doing a lot of cooking and baking from scratch again. I don't think there's a single person in this house that isn't thrilled with that change. I plan to try out this copy cat recipe for Hardee's biscuits Saturday morning on the twins' THIRD BIRTHDAY because they do love them some fresh biscuits. Mike's birthday is the next day so he's stoked to have biscuits and gravy for himself too.
*I have managed to do a better job keeping in touch with people both in writing, over the phone, and in person. I am REALLY excited about this and want to step it up even more because, as it turns out, interacting with other people really does make me live. Don't get me wrong. There are still times where I want nothing more than to hermit the hell up in this house and sit quietly for hours on end. But, mostly, people feed me. Don't worry though. I have no intention of eating your brains! (Yet.)
I'm probably forgetting at least one or two things that I'd been planning to mention but, if that's the case, it's just fodder for another post that I'll have to be gently nagged into getting finished and posted. (Thanks Kat!)
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Go somewhere/do something new each month:
January:
Brazilian wax
February:
Ghost hunting in Anoka
Eyelash extensions (Link will probably only send you to the info page on these during February)
Keratin Complex application
March:
Dance 101 (Adult Dance Class)
April
Alexis Mateo @ Basix, Cedar Rapids, IA
Sharon Needles @ The Garden, Des Moines, IA
May
Family vacation to Omaha, NE & Henry Doorly Zoo
June
Aerosmith concert @ Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
July
Zero Gravity Trampoline Park
August
September
October
Family vacation to The House on the Rock, Spring Green, WI)
Joined LA Fitness & committed to training twice a week w/personal trainer
Run a 5k (Monster Dash)
November
December
Boudoir photo shoot @ Pixie's Photography
February:
March:
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
2012 Goals & Resolutions
- Get a minimum of 8 1/2 hours of sleep per night
- Be absent from the house for a minimum of 24 hours at least once a month
Plan meals monthly and do not repeat a dish more than twiceCreate a master chore checklist
- Meditate at least once a week for a minimum of 30 minutes
- Journal (pen & paper) at least once a week
- Plan one fun/educational outing per month (Aim to have it be previously unknown)
- Complete annual photo books for each child
Re-evaluate 2012 budget so one of the outstanding debts is paid off (credit card/windows)Try one month cash only
- Plan monthly meet ups (families & kids/adults only)
Practice honest & direct communicationDon't settle- Keep in touch with long distance friends (with the internet, there is NO excuse)
Go somewhere/Do something new at least once a monthBegin Jobs People Have- Monthly drag night
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