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2012 Goals: Fitness

By on January 13, 2012

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Fitness

I’m hoping you’ll just skip on past this goal. Nothing to see here. Nope. It’s not like I totally gained back the weight I lost for my wedding.

Oh wait, yes I did. 

The truth is, since we got married, we’ve been celebrating our nuptials pretty much every day. By eating good stuff, apparently.  And drinking copious amount of red wine (it doesn’t help that Trader Joe’s just popped up in town and we just happen to love their Two Buck Chuck).

We’re still cooking healthy, delicious meals, but we’ve also been hitting up Five Guys one too many times.  So, although we’ve been eating healthy food, we’ve been eating wayyyyy too much bad food.  (Wouldn’t you know it – my husband hasn’t gained a SINGLE pound!  Funny how that works.)

This year, I want to get to a happy weight and stay there. Like forever.  Forever, forever.  Not for any event or vacation.  FOH LIFE, YA’LL.  (Well, except when I’m with child, but that’s the only exception.)  I shouldn’t be doing this yo-yo thing.  It’s not good for my body, my life, my health, or my wardrobe.

My happy weight is generally between 133-137 pounds, give or take. Right now, I’m … well, I’m above that weight.

It takes balance! Balance includes Five Guys once a month, maybe every other month.  Not every other day. We’ve been taking this balance thing way too far.

Also, not that I plan to have a child ANY time soon, but I do want to get my body healthy for when that time does come.  I repeat, we’re not planning to have a kid in 2012. :)

Oh, and that copious amounts of wine thing?  That’s gotta stop.  Drinking daily is bad, kids.  Even if it is just a glass or two of red with dinner.  Sure, Dr. Oz says it’s okay, but Dr. Oz isn’t going to come to your house and break you of your daily habit, is he?  Sorry, Cabernet Sauvignon, but you’re getting a little too clingy for my liking.

Goal: Weigh 133-137 and MAINTAIN.
Goal: Run 1 5k.
Goal: Work out (move) 5-6 days a week.
Goal: Drink no more than one drink during the week.  Try to limit drinking to one day on the weekends.

What are your fitness goals for the year?

My next and final goal: Writing & Blogging

Categories: Fitness, Goals, Health9 Comments

2012 Goals: Prayer & Marriage

By on January 10, 2012

Prayer

This is both 1) a joint goal for both my husband and me and 2) also a goal for me alone. In today’s mostly secular society, we’re already praying more than most, but it often feels like a rushed chore (like before dinner when you’re just thinking, “I really just want to eat those roasted Brussels sprouts right now…”).

I’m a new-ish Catholic (2 years this Easter!), so daily prayer is a new thing to me.  But, I have found times where it comes easiest to me:

  • when I’m running (usually the second half when I’m in the “zone”)
  • when I’m driving (why, yes, I am that person talking to themselves on the highway!)
  • when I’m not rushing or in a bad mood (my prayers when I’m in a bad mood: “whyyyyy me, God?  whyyy??”  Yeah, not so good.  :) )

Goal: Pray daily (alone and together).

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Marriage

Our marriage hardly needs improvement. :) BUT, we have a few “couple” goals for this year. They most revolve around our house (!), buying a dog, and travelling.

One of our goals (as you’ll see below), is to take more pictures. We ONLY take pictures of big events or vacations; I want to have a record and memory of the daily, simple stuff that makes us so happy! Maybe this means the blog will have more pictures, too. :)

Goal: Buy a house.
Goal: Buy (adopt) a big black dog.
Goal: Travel to …. we’re still deciding on location, but have a couple ideas in mind.
Goal: Take more/daily pictures.

Do you pray or try to pray daily?  I’d love to hear about your prayer habits. :)

Categories: Faith, Goals, Marriage10 Comments

2012 Goals: Money

By on January 9, 2012

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Money

This area doesn’t need “improvement”, per se, but there are some goals/changes I have planned for 2012.

This year, I’m appointing myself as the person in charge (of our 2-person family) of buying food and groceries. I want to get in the habit of planning ahead for our meals and looking for good deals. I figure if I know what I’m going to make days or a week in advance, I should be able to scout out better deals.

Additionally, we’re buying a house this year. I wanna go all Young House Love and make our house pretty in a budget-friendly way. And, of course, buying that house will require a bit of cash, too. ;) (Luckily, we’ve been saving for awhile now, as you know.)

Finally, I want to make $40,000 in freelance income.

That’s right.  $40K.  I’m setting an outlandish goal just to keep me setting my sights higher. This would make my dream of becoming a writer and/or staying home with our kids much more of a possibility.

As you might expect, making that kind of freelance income will require that I pick up some more regular jobs.  Look for more details in my goals post about writing/career.

In summary, here are my money goals for the year:

Goal: Save money on groceries.  Plan ahead for meals and shopping trips.
Goal: Buy a house.  Decorate it.  Don’t blow a bunch of money doing so.
Goal: Make $40,000 in freelance income.

What are your financial goals for the year?

Categories: Finances, Goals, Money10 Comments

2012 Goals

By on January 8, 2012

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I love goal-setting.  I could care less that most people fail at their New Year’s resolutions.  I’ve made lots of goals in my life – some I’ve met, some I haven’t even come close.

But, it doesn’t matter.  The act of setting goals is exciting, motivating, and gives me hope.

This year, I’m focusing on improving 5 areas of my life that are the most important to me:

  • Prayer
  • Marriage
  • Fitness
  • Writing, Blogging, Career
  • Money

Starting tomorrow and throughout this week, I’ll be sharing my goals in detail for the year.

Here’s to an AWESOME 2012!

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2011 Goals in Review

By on December 29, 2011

This is awkward.  Yes, I’ve been absent for about a month.  My apologies.  I can’t share everything on the bloggie, but various things have either been 1) making me not want to blog or 2) taking up all my time so I can’t blog!

Either way, I’m always on Twitter or doing freelance writing.  But I don’t anticipate another long absence again any time soon (or ever).

So, 2012 is totally coming up on us!  This Sunday, in fact.  Can you believe it?

I’m very relieved 2011 is over.  Despite my getting married earlier this year, 2011 was one of my toughest, roughest years in a long time, for various reasons.  I’m VERY happy to put it behind me and start anew in the big TWENTY TWELVE!

I’ve been working on and thinking about my goals for next year and I should have those posted shortly.  For now, here are my 2011 goals in review:

(Original 2011 goals post here.)

Goal #1 – Write, Write, Write.

FAIL.  I wrote a decent amount this year, but not as much as I’d like.  How to accomplish this?  How do I get in the habit of writing something, anything on a daily basis?

Goal #2 – Find Balance.

Well, I’ve just stared at the screen, contemplating this goal for a solid minute, so I’d say this is still a WORK IN PROGRESS?  In some ways, I have found balance; in others, I’ve lost it even more.  I think it’s an ever-changing process.

Goal #3 – Find a Routine.

Sort of SUCCESS?  Adam (my husband) and I both struggle with this, but have really gotten into some good habits since we’ve gotten married.

  • Alarm Clock in the bathroom.  If you struggle with getting up (like we I do), put your alarm clock far away, maybe in another room, like the bathroom.  It’s been a huge success for us.
  • Cooking.  We have been cooking SO much at home lately!  I love it!  It’s a fun activity to do together, healthy, and saves money.  I’d still like to start planning ahead and making meal plans instead of just throwing a list together as I walk out the door for the grocery store.
  • Working out in the morning.  Having the alarm clock in the ‘ol bathroom really helps us get going in the morning.  It’s so much better to get your sweat on in the morning!

Goals #4 – Love, Love, Love.

WTF?  I don’t even know what I was thinking when I wrote this.  I must have been feeling mean that week.  I think this goal fell by the wayside pretty early on because I already love enough.  :)   SUCCESS.

Goal #5 – Get Married!

SUCCESS!  As you know, I am very happy that the wedding is over and we’re just an old married couple.  :)   I am quite sad that the honeymoon is over though.  Best 2 weeks of my life!

Goal #6 – Lose 10 Pounds.

I can’t even.  Let’s just say that I DID lose 10 pounds before the wedding … and then gained it back.  I’ve definitely gotten familiar with “happy weight”.  It’s so happy going on … not so happy when you realize what you’ve done.  (Spoiler alert: Look for a similar goal on m 2012 goal list.  How embarrassing.)

Goal #7 – Financial Goals.

  • Wedding budget – OWNED/SUCCESS.
  • Combine finances – SUCCESS.  There are pros and cons to this.  There are things I miss about having my own finances, but the pros outweigh those things by so much.  This is a way of life for us now.
  • Start house-hunting – SUCCESS?  As of today, we met our savings goals.  But you know what?  The house listings are just sad this time of the year.  Holidays and cold weather do not make people want to sell their houses.  Our lease is up on April 30th and I already talked to the ladies in the office who said we could do month-to-month as long as we needed to, but I don’t anticipate us being in our apartment past June of this year.  After the Super Bowl, we will really start to get out there and seriously hunt for our new house!
  • Make more side-income – SUCCESS!  I made a huge amount of freelance income this year.  When I started this blog almost 3 years ago, I had no intentions of making a dime!  I can’t believe the amount I’ve pulled in this year.  I am so lucky and blessed.  When things lighten up at work after the first of the year, I can put more time into this little blog/freelance work of mine.  After all, this blog does generate income, shouldn’t I treat it as a business?
  • Start a dog-fund – FAIL.  I just don’t think it’s necessary right now.  Let’s say we buy a house in May 2011.  We’ll be out of town for a friend’s wedding in June 2011 and then plan to go on a summer vacation.  I don’t want to get a dog right after we buy a house only to leave it right away to go travelling.  We’ll probably buy (adopt) our dog this summer, so we’ll have plenty of time to throw together a little savings fund for the big guy later this year (especially since we’re not going to be putting away so damn much for our down payment anymore!).

How did your goals for 2011 go?

P.S. I get my Invisalign this afternoon.  Scared!  Wish me luck on Twitter!

P.S.S. I updated my 29 before 29 goals page.  I’m all about the goals today.

Categories: Life10 Comments