Hello, 2010!

Charlie spent the first morning of 2010 perfecting his balancing act. What a noggin that kid's got.

I woke up with a sore throat today and spent most of the morning avoiding contact with anyone else. I stayed in bed and edited a crap ton of photos from 2009. Once again, I was reminded of how unorganized and behind I am on everything. I now proclaim 2010 the Year of Order.

Tonight we begin our workout regimen. The body's got to be in order, too. No more fatassedness for me!

(You can read more about my goals for 2010 here.)

What'd you do for New Year's? Did you make any resolutions for 2010? Do you say "two thousand ten" or "twenty-ten"?

List of Personal Change (2010 Edition)

Lately things have been challenging. This year, November has pretty much sucker-punched me repeatedly. It's got me thinking about some changes I'd like to make in my life. There are three items on my List of Personal Change:


1) Work towards living an even greener lifestyle.

This has become hugely important to me. As members of our society seem to remain obsessed with buying new things and having so much more than they could possibly need, I am really drawn towards a simpler way of living. While I love my computers and cameras and other assorted fun things, I know that you can have too much "progress." My goal is to get back to nature and to stop depending so much on everyone else to provide me with what I need. I'd like to grow my own food, sew/mend my own clothes, get down to just having one car, and learn how to be more self-sufficient.

Becoming more healthy goes hand in hand with becoming more green, I think. From what I understand, the things that are bad for our bodies are also bad for the world at large, so I'd like to work towards breaking those really unhealthy habits I have (and there are quite a few). I'd love to stop drinking soda/caffeine entirely, for example.

I still have a lot of work to do. I'm definitely one of those people who loves to buy things I don't need. I have my fair share of unhealthy addictions. I'm going to have to learn how not to be such a consumer. That is going to be extremely hard.


2) Stop doubting myself, and start trusting my intuition.

I realized this month that had I trusted my intuition in some past situations, the outcomes of said situations would have been so much different for me. Take, for example, my birth experience. Even before being induced, I knew it was something I didn't want. I really didn't feel that it was the right thing to do, but I gave it to the fear-mongering and let it happen. The result was one of the worst experiences of my life.

My self-doubt is one of the most crippling aspects of my personality. While I will always maintain that a healthy dose of doubt is a good thing, I think mine goes beyond healthy at times. I need to learn when to say, "Hey, this isn't right. I can feel it in my gut." And in order to do that, I think I need to really recognize that ultimately I know what's right for me.

(And in regards to my birth experience, what makes some doctor think that he is the expert when it comes to my body? This angers me. I'm still working through those layers of emotions regarding that experience, and some part of me feels that I always will be.)


3) Develop more discipline.

When I was a kid, it seemed like everything came very easily for me. I got good grades, was an excellent ballet/tap dancer, and wrote these amazing stories. I did all these things (and more) with little effort. It was just easy.

These things don't come so easily for me anymore. Everything takes a lot more work than it used to. I can't write awesome stories at the drop of a hat. I had to really push myself to maintain a good grad school GPA. And while I used to be effortlessly thin, I'm really not anymore. I mean, I guess I would be considered thin, but if I want a different body than the one I currently have, I'm going to have to work for it.

I am convinced that I would be a much better writer, photographer, seamstress, etc. if I just tried harder. If I just stopped being distracted by the millions of things the world has to offer and focused on what I need to accomplish now. If I just stopped talking about it and did it. If I just got out of my own way.

I need to learn how to hold myself accountable. To focus. To be disciplined every day. So that I can get a little closer to reaching my full potential.

***

So those are my goals for 2010. A little early, I guess, but who says that I can't start working on them now? Because in all actuality, these are life goals for life changes that I will probably have to work at for the rest of my life.

What are your goals for yourself? Do you make resolutions for the new year?

***

Happy end of NaBloPoMo! Thanks for sticking with me through this clusterfuck of a month. As for me, it's break time. 30 straight days of writing about myself and my life = insanity.

This week has sucked big green ones.

TGIF, seriously.

Charlie has been under the weather for most of the week. Not even the vibrator (which has now been replaced by the vibrating component from Charlie's old swing) has kept him asleep for long at night.

And Roy and I haven't been feeling so great, either, but we're thinking it's mostly sleep deprivation making us feel like we've been run over by Mack trucks repeatedly.

I'm looking forward to Halloween and some rest this weekend. I'm still not sure what Halloween has in store for us, as it really depends on how Charlie's feeling. I did take him out today, and he did fine, so we're thinking all will be good for tomorrow.

Since it's the end of yet another month, I thought I'd go over on how I did with October's goals. Out of the five, I accomplished three. I found a mom's group in my area (and even attended a get-together), we took Charlie to the pumpkin patch, and I did edit a ton of photos (although I still have more to do).

I was unable to finalize my annotated bibliography and thesis proposal because I have yet to hear back from my second reader on my thesis committee. I submitted my work to her back on October 6, so I'm definitely in the WTF stage - especially since I have made the attempt to follow up with her several times. I have one more chance to submit my proposal this quarter. Otherwise it'll have to be submitted next quarter, which I was hoping to avoid. Oh well. I've done what I can.

I also was unable to attend an ICAN meeting, but that's because no one from my local chapter has contacted me yet. I did, however, get invited to another nearby area's meeting, and so I may just start attending those meetings.

All in all, I'm proud of all I did accomplish in October, and so I've decided to set some more goals for November (and roll over my two from October).

1) Finalize annotated bibliography and thesis proposal.
2) Attend an ICAN meeting.
3) Do not eat any candy for the entire month. (In other words, quit eating candy cold turkey. I am so bingeing tomorrow.)
4) Get new life insurance policies for both Roy and me.
5) Blog every day.
6) Try not to get sucked into Facebook (and FarmVille) too much. (I rejoined Facebook and am completely addicted.)

So that's that. Have a happy Halloween, everyone. Stay safe.

Horn Tootage, and Things I Love This Week

I feel the need to brag.

1) I finished my coursework for my Master's degree as of yesterday. Sadly, I won't be graduating any time soon, as completing the coursework is only part of the degree requirement. However, it's a huge part.

2) I wrote an article for Serendipity Magazine and a couple of weeks ago I received my complimentary copies for being a contributor. It is definitely the nicest magazine that my work has been in. It's a bridal magazine, which is so not my thing, but it's good to try new things.

3) A photo of mine was included in the Scavenger Project's book. This is not a big deal as I was guaranteed a spot for being a paying participant. They also spelled my last name wrong. Here's the photo they picked for the book:



I don't really like that photo. At all. Now I have no idea why I even submitted it. I like some of the others a lot better, which you can see here.

4) I've been writing a lot. Both on this blog and in my process scrapbook. I told you I had a lot to say!

And now, for things I love this week:

1) Daytrotter, a site that offers tons and tons of free music downloads of emerging musical artists. Yes, free!

2) This wall of books, seen here:



3) The fact that I am now on spring break. Next quarter there will be absolutely no classes to attend, just me and my thesis proposal/thesis. I'm excited to have a break and to get some work done on this final requirement for my MA.

What do you love this week? Do you have any horn tootage of your own to share?

101 in 1001 List: A Much Delayed Update

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a year since I made my 101 in 1001 list of goals! I haven't updated in a long time. On my last update, I had 88 items to go.


Here's what I had accomplished as of last January:

48) Finish thank you notes for wedding presents.
52) Report our videographer to the BBB.
74) Break my Us Weekly addiction.
76) Shut down my Vonage account.
97) Make wedding albums as gifts for family members.
98) Close credit card accounts once paid off.
81) Give food (not money) to a homeless person.
1) Obtain a decent SLR camera and learn to use it.
47) Get rid of my bridal magazines.
53) Get Roy a new car.
72) Try some kind of food item that truly scares me.
77) Get the Twin Peaks DVD box set.
81) Give food (not money) to a homeless person.
99) Buy a shoe rack for Roy.

Here's what I've accomplished since then:



5) Work on my extremely long (work in progress) poem. This is an ongoing project that may never be finished, but yes, I've worked on it.



8) Change my name. You can read all about that here.



17) Part with the books that no longer interest me. We purged our book collection in a big way back at the beginning of the summer. As a result, I have 120+ credits on PaperBackSwap, with 100+ books left to get rid of. We've decided that we will once again be paring down our collection once we get into our new house this weekend. I'm thinking I'll be opening up a store on Amazon.



19) Take a photography class. It was actually a workshop, but it's close enough. I'd like to take some more classes and attend some more workshops if I ever graduate.



21) Go to a concert (it's been entirely too long). I'm going to call this a concert.



27) Visit my brother in Minneapolis. Yep, did that!



29) Research the job and housing markets in Oregon. It may be awhile longer before we make a big out-of-state move, but I have looked into this. I'm going to look into it more as time passes and (hopefully) the economy improves.



37) Buy an external hard drive and back up computers every week. My computer gets backed up every day. Roy doesn't really seem to care about his.



38) Get a new battery for my iPod. Even better: I got a whole new iPod. Thank you, cutest husband ever!



42) Frame the painting that's in the closet. Done!



43) Move into a house. So done, and so cool!



46) Buy a better desk. I actually didn't buy it; it came with the house.



49) Get my car detailed. I do this once in a blue moon, and I took care of this during the summer.



56) Use the FAM birth control method to its full potential. Yep, I'm pregnant! But I guess I shouldn't have referred to it as a method of birth control.



61) Become informed about the Presidential candidates.

2 Month Update: 101 in 1001

It's time for the second installment of what I've accomplished on my 101 in 1001 list!

1) Obtain a decent SLR camera and learn to use it. I received my SLR camera on Christmas Day, and while I haven't mastered it, I've learned it enough to take some really cool pictures.

47) Get rid of my bridal magazines. I was more than happy to see them go to Mandy once she got engaged on Christmas Eve.

53) Get Roy a new car. I never thought I would be crossing this one off my list so fast, but on December 15, that's exactly what I did.

72) Try some kind of food item that truly scares me. On December 26, I tried stuffed grape leaves at a Middle Eastern restaurant. That was a huge step for me, and one I won't be taking again - I seriously felt like I was going to vomit.

77) Get the Twin Peaks DVD box set. This was a Christmas gift from my mom. Very exciting!

81) Give food (not money) to a homeless person. I was finally successful with this one on December 5. I saw a homeless man on the same freeway offramp as the one before, but this time I was able to give someone less fortunate a couple of slices of pizza. This is one that I plan on repeating, by the way.

99) Buy a shoe rack for Roy. Bought on December 17 and given on Christmas Day. I really like it. It's one of those that hangs on the door. Roy doesn't have enough shoes to fill it, so I'm helping by adding some of mine. I'm such a great wife!

*****

Only 88 things to go!

1 Month Update: 101 in 1001

A month ago, I posted my list of 101 things I want to accomplish in 1001 days. During this past month, I accomplished 6 of them:

48) Finish thank you notes for wedding presents. These were finished and mailed out on November 14. A huge relief!

52) Report our videographer to the BBB. I did this on November 13 and have yet to hear anything back. I basically did this so our videographer will have a bad rating on his record. The back story to that whole issue can be found here.

74) Break my Us Weekly addiction. I threw out my renewal notice for Us Weekly on November 4. As entertaining as this magazine is, deep down I feel like it's a waste of money. Besides, I have plenty more reading material that I need to work through.

76) Shut down my Vonage account. I took care of this on November 5.
Vonage is a pretty awesome company, and I had my account with them starting in 2005. However, we always use our cell phones, so it didn't make much sense for us to continue paying for a phone line we don't use.

97) Make wedding albums as gifts for family members. These were done through My Publisher. I completed them on November 23 and received them in the mail on November 30. They look really good, but My Publisher makes my computer operate very slowly.

98) Close credit card accounts once paid off. I think I originally planned to close each credit card account as I paid it off. Instead, I decided to close down 2 accounts that had small credit lines and that we hadn't used in quite some time. I'll leave the other ones open so it won't look bad on our credit reports.

I also had a failed attempt to do one of the things on my list:

81) Give food (not money) to a homeless person. Last week I was getting off the freeway to go to work, and I saw an elderly man with a sign asking for help just off the freeway. So I went to the nearest fast food place, which was Carl's Jr, and ordered a breakfast burger combo. When I went back to the place I saw him, he wasn't there anymore. I was already late for work, so I just kept the hashbrowns for myself and gave the OJ to Myra and the breakfast burger to Beans. I'll try this again sometime soon.

As long as I keep accomplishing things on my list, I'll do a monthly update. Only 95 things to go!

101 in 1001

I got this idea from the wonderful Jessica Claire blog. This is a list of 101 things I'd like to accomplish in the next 1001 days. I have made a ton of lists in my life, but never one like this. I think it's a pretty good list, and I have until roughly the end of September 2010 to complete it.

1) Obtain a decent SLR camera and learn to use it.
2) Learn Photoshop.
3) Write my thesis.
4) Go to Europe.
5) Work on my extremely long (work in progress) poem.
6) Attempt a vegetarian lifestyle.
7) Get and stay in shape.
8) Change my name.
9) Type up all the poems that I have marked in different poetry collections.
10) Buy a scanner.
11) Scan in all my old photos.
12) Type up all my journals.
13) Make an emergency kit in case of earthquakes, etc.
14) Begin submitting my poetry for publication again.
15) Learn the Tarot.
16) Read my unread books.
17) Part with the books that no longer interest me.
18) Take a painting class.
19) Take a photography class.
20) Go to NYC.
21) Go to a concert (it's been entirely too long).
22) Visit my friend Laci, who I haven't seen in about 10 years.
23) Learn Latin.
24) Listen to every single song on my iPod without skipping any.
25) Pay off current amount of credit card debt.
26) Move away from Southern California.
27) Visit my brother in Minneapolis.
28) Go to the San Diego Zoo.
29) Research the job and housing markets in Oregon.
30) Use the current amount of Post-its I have collected.
31) Sell my leftover wedding stuff.
32) Fill up all the blank journals I have.
33) Get Roy to learn woodworking.
34) Get a job in the publishing field.
35) Work on organizing photos into albums.
36) Buy a fireproof safe and put all important items in it.
37) Buy an external hard drive and back up computers every week.
38) Get a new battery for my iPod.
39) Read something incredibly difficult for fun.
40) Learn to meditate.
41) Write poems for all the ideas I have written down.
42) Frame the painting that's in the closet.
43) Move into a house.
44) Get a dog.
45) Figure out our decorating style.
46) Buy a better desk.
47) Get rid of my bridal magazines.
48) Finish thank you notes for wedding presents.
49) Get my car detailed.
50) Put together a professional looking wardrobe.
51) Write a short story.
52) Report our videographer to the BBB.
53) Get Roy a new car.
54) Use our voucher to take a dance class.
55) Take a parenting class.
56) Use the FAM birth control method to its full potential.
57) Take a cooking class.
58) Go to 5 museums I haven't been to before.
59) Give a monetary donation to a charity that I support.
60) Volunteer.
61) Become informed about the Presidential candidates.
62) Write a blog post about my experiences with and beliefs about religion.
63) Graduate with my MA.
64) Diagram an extremely long sentence.
65) Use all my decorative cutout pictures to make something amazing.
66) Fill in my new address book.
67) Learn to be a better listener.
68) Get Roy to learn first aid and CPR.
69) Celebrate my 30th birthday with gusto.
70) Learn how to put air in my tires.
71) Go on a road trip.
72) Try some kind of food item that truly scares me.
73) Read all my unread magazines.
74) Break my Us Weekly addiction.
75) Read Nietzsche.
76) Shut down my Vonage account.
77) Get the Twin Peaks DVD box set.
78) Work on my guilt complex.
79) Finish my Daily Tao meditations book.
80) Organize my bookmarked favorites on my computer.
81) Give food (not money) to a homeless person.
82) Buy a laptop.
83) Put aside money that we don't touch.
84) Work on writing down my memories.
85) Drink more water consistently.
86) Go to Yosemite.
87) Go to San Francisco.
88) Go to the Grand Canyon.
89) Finish off our wedding registries.
90) Reread the Little House books.
91) Buy an entertainment center.
92) Learn how to play chess really well.
93) Organize nonfiction books by subject matter.
94) Make a master list of all special days, including others' birthdays.
95) Get in the habit of sending cards or making phone calls for special days.
96) Get my mom connected to the Internet.
97) Make wedding albums as gifts for family members.
98) Close credit card accounts once paid off.
99) Buy a shoe rack for Roy.
100) Get a facial.
101) Always make my marriage my top priority.

So there it is, my list of goals. I'm going to try to post updates about this list every so often.

Anyone else want to join in on the list-making, goal-oriented action? You know you want to!