Year in review

I think it is that time of year to do my year in review. I am still standing by the fact that if I make goals at the beginning of January I am automatically setting myself up for failure. So here we are getting ready to start February, so I think it is time to review last years goals.

Here were my 'wants':
Get off of the phones at work - switched departments. Check and check! I have to cover phones every once in a while for 'breaks' It comes down to twice a month. can I tell you that I absolutely hate it! I do not miss that job! Every time I have to go up there it is a nice gentle reminder to be grateful for what I have.

Go back to the Paiute.. yep! We did that. Paiute - 2 us - 1. We will be back with a vengeance this year. Paiute will not kick our butts!

Go back to Island park.... did that too! It was such a great time, yet a harder time leaving. I'm considering moving up there.

Do something fun and different for myself. As I stated last year, I took a cake decorating class last year. I also helped my sister photograph a wedding... quite an experience. I also took my friends family photos... Cherry hill, Moab by rzr... I am sure there are many more things to add to that list but that will make one very long post!

Get back to grocery shopping bi-weekly. I did ok on that. It made it extremely difficult not having an oven. I got a new stove the week before Christmas. it wasn't a complete fail but it wasn't a complete success.

Now on to my goals:
I want to lose 20 pounds and keep it off. What I didn't know was that about a month after that I went to the doctors for a routine check up. Sad to admit that the year prior I gained 20 pounds. Can I say emotional eating. Do we need to mention work??? Yeah - scary point in my life. It was awful! I made myself an agreement that I wanted to drop that 20 pounds before island park. I did it! It was a success. I was hoping to kick another 20 by the end of the year. I have not done that. but I have kept off the 20 that I gained...

Get back to kickboxing - not to lose weight but to enjoy myself. Check! It was the best thing I did last year. I love kick boxing and it has helped with my stress levels. There are weeks that I don't want to go, there were weeks that I didn't go... but I went on a regular basis.. enough to say that i did it!

Wear make up once a week. I tried that, I did really well at the beginning of the year - then I forgot about it and once again, that 10 minutes extra of sleep became more important.

Start 'my favorite things' post. Yep! did that too... I still have more coming, don't worry!

Buy a new pair of shoes every other month. I got through 4 out of 6. 4 great pairs of shoes... but I sucked at taking pictures.

Try a new restaurant every month. FAIL!

Goal as a couple: Dress up, get out and do something together. Last year was a tough year for us and we did not do this. Kinda sucks to look back on that goal and realize that it was probably the most important and we failed miserably.

Now for the past month I have been racking my brain of new goals that I want for the new year and only one comes to mind.

Be Happy

I spent far too much time last year stressing and worrying about the 'what ifs' and 'could bes' It effected me personally and professionally. There are things that are out of my control and at the end of the day it is up to me of what I make of it. This year I am not going to worry about the small little things. I am going to embrace life and enjoy it as it comes. Sounds pretty easy right? Well only time will tell.

Now that I have that out, here are a few things I am going to do this year:

Bi-weekly lunches with my dad
Island Park
Piaute
Cut back on hair - just cut back on days
Kickboxing
change my hair style (just the way it is colored....)
facials
Get my first hand gun (pink! nothing wrong with being powerful yet girly there)
massages
spend more time with my sisters
More niece/nephew dates (scary frankweenie was a HUGE success)
get a new car (SUV actually - already in the works. SO. FREAKIN. EXCITED!)
rzr trips
camping
backyard bbq
redo the kidney bean out front
Last but not least... love my man and spend more time with him.

Sounds like lots of fun??? Yep, this year is going to be epic.

Goal review

Since last year I couldn't remember last year all of the goals I made (ok only 1 of all of them I did remember), I thought I would do a quarterly update on my goals. There is alot that I want to blog about so I need to get to it. So lets get to it....
Goal #1: Weight watchers and 20 pounds lost. So far it is just a thought, but it will happen
Goal #2: Kick boxing. Haven't started yet but it is in the works of what days I am going to go and which location suites me best. I have to get through my cake class before I can commit to another class.
Goal #3: Wear make up once a week. This is one that I have already put into action and fulfilled it to the day. Yay for me!!!
Goal #4: Start 'my favorite' blog post. I havent started this yet... I tried but my phone lost all the information and I haven't had time to retype it all (dumb blogger didn't save it!) I have a list of things i wanna blog about that are my current favorite. so stay tuned!
Goal #5: Buy a new pair of shoes bi-monthly. Check and check. Jan and Feb are these little beauties.

 

 Goal #6: Try a new restaurant every month. Fail! I forgot about this one. For the month of Feb, Bryce and I went on our date night to the cracker barrel. It was a first for me and it was really good. So maybe not so much of a fail. This brings me to my last goal, our couples goal.

Couples goal: Go on a date night once a month. As I said above, we did it last month!

Stay tunes for my favorites post!

Goals

My month is coming to an end and I still have no idea what my goals are going to be. Most of the things I would say would be half-effort. Really they would. I am trying hard to figure out what my yearly goals would be but most of them dont just involve me and I cant make commitments for other, I can only make them for myself (i.e. change positions at work - I am SICK of the phones!). So I sit and ponder. What do I want for the year of 2012? Here is what I want...
I wanna go back down to the Paiute. That is already in the works
I wanna go to Island park. I have been talking about this for 2 years. This is already in the works. I have spent the majority of my day today and countless hours on Friday looking for an awesome cabin that we would call home for a few days.
I wanna do something different, fun and for myself. That is already ongoing (my cake decorating class)
I wanna get back to grocery shopping bi-weekly and doing night dinners... my week off accomplished that one.
As I said, half hearted? yes.. I think so. It is kind of the easy way out since I have put all of those to action. So again, I asked again what I would like to accomplish this year...??? and again I am BLANK!
So here is what I THINK I want to do. It may change in the next week but we will try:
I want to get back on weight watchers and lose 20 pounds. So pathetic but yes, 20 pounds. and I wanna keep it off.
With that one said I am going to do my not-so-remembered goal from last year of getting back to kick boxing. Not to lose weight but because it is something I truly enjoy and it gives me a sense of empowerment.
Again, another not-so-remembered goal from last year, wearing makeup at least once a week. I have some awesome makeup but I don't care to put it on for work. I rather get that extra 10 minutes of sleep. Now I am using a product called 'la lash' that gives me incredible eyelashes so I want to flaunt them!
one more goal for biogsphere. I want to start doing 'my favorite things' post. I don't want to put a restriction on how often because I never know when I am going to start this but just like Wednesday wonders, I wanna put out there things that are currently my favorites must haves or new tries.
The next two goals are purely selfish! the first one. Buy a cute pair of shoes (and take a picture) every other month. Yes that is 6 new pairs of shoes. No I am not telling Bryce :)
The second one, Try a new restaurant every month. Lately, I have tried some new amazing places that I would never think to try and I love them! I want to share them with everyone. This will be a little bit harder since Bryce is so sensitive we are apprehensive to go to new places but I am sure I can find someone to go with me. (Takers??? anyone???)

Now for our goal as a couple:
We are trying to go out on a 'date' once a month. Dress up, look nice and spend the entire night out together with no one else. We go out, but on a whim or we do a grab and go because we are both so busy. We spend alot of time with each other but it is doing other things. We put half effort and go to applebees or villiage inn. This will be a nicer place like the outback or cheesecake factory.

I think that should cover my goals for the next year. It looks like i have alot to accomplish, for now I will take it one at a time. Here is to 2012!!!

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end...

Can I tell you I hate new year resolutions. You make them, within in 3 weeks, or if you are good 4 weeks, you break them. I try to myself to not make them. Instead I make January 'goals'. Maybe it is a mind set that if I make them at the beginning of the year I can break them as fast as I make them and fall in that category along with the other billion Americans. So at the end of every January I make goals. Since I need to start thinking of new goals (as I eat this yummy piece of chocolate cake) I remind myself that I need to see how I did on last years goals. So here we go....
1. Wear some form of make up at least once a week to work. Preferably eye shadow. Since my alarm goes off at 5:30 I would rather sleep that extra 10 minutes than put on makeup. I guess I pass it off well :) but I really need to try harder to put effort into myself. Consider that a dud! I don't even think I got a week into that one without breaking it. oops... I am NOT off to a good start.
2. 2. No texting while driving. I know I did this last year but I really need to buckle down on it 100%. For those who are keeping track - I made this one the year before too. I remember saying that I did great until the end so I completed this 85%. Well this year I did a few time (GUILTY!!!!) but now that I have this new smart phone, it does everything for me when I tell it to... no longer a problem. I say I completed this 99%. I know it isn't 100 but 99 is pretty dang good!
3. I want to start back up kick boxing. You always here 'I wanna lose weight' that is not the case here. I felt like I could concur anything when I went to kick boxing. I felt like I could take on the world. It is not a matter of losing weight, it is a matter of feeling better about myself. Simple enough, right? uhhhhhh was I on some sort of drug when I wrote these???? Because I do not remember writing number one or three... oops! Maybe I should have a 6 month evaluations on these. FAIL!
4. no soda. period. I have taken to soda more than water in the month of December and I am done. I don't need it. I wrote this post on January 26th 2010. I am proud to say that as of January 17, 2010 I have not had soda!!! (Thank you Wendy's for having fresh lemonade. You are my hero!!!!). well I lied again. About a month ago we went to go get something to eat after a long exhausting day and no dinner. it was 11 at night. I got my food with of course a fresh lemonade (Do you now know who the screw up was???) I took a swig with instant burning.... How someone got root beer from lemonade is beyond my knowledge. I was pissed... one swallow ruined it all, or did it? I dumped the rest down the drain. I am still mad.
5. I have several bank accounts and one in particular is not suppose to be touched. I even have it at a different credit union for the purpose of not going there and not using it. I have failed miserably so as of Feb 1st there will be NO TOUCHING it at all. That is suppose to be my new car fund for when my car hits the crapper (which I hope isn't for at least another 5 years , at least!)
5 is a good round number... Can we skip this one too????

Last but not least... our couple's goal. I had this written down on one of my post but I think I deleted it. It was to get our food storage going... How did we do on this??? By the skin of our nose we have it ordered and on its way. We tried really hard to get a few things her and a few things there but things always get in the way. Luckily we got a killer deal right before Christmas (yes I am such a smart shopper) and it is ordered and on its way. I am very excited! As my SIL says - 'you know you are an adult when you get excited about food storage!'

Stay tuned for this years goals!

A new beginning *Post note

I cannot believe it is time to review how I did last year and set new goals for the year. I have mentioned before that I hate setting goals for 'new year's' so I use January as a month of reflecting on how I would like to better myself. So I guess it is time to write it all down but first lets review how I did last year. My first goal was to finish school: Check! I not only finished school but I made it legal by taking all of the state test for it. That was my second goal. 2 for 2! My 3rd goal was to not text while driving. I did awesome in the beginning. towards the end of the year I made more slip ups then I should have but I tried to resist. I could work harder to make that a no tolerance rule. As a couple we decided that we would not work on the house during the summer. I think we did pretty good at this. We did take time to finish the deck but we did not spend our whole summer doing that. I would say we made this a 85% complete. Overall not a bad year.
I have put alot of thought into what I would like to make as this year goals. I want something realistic and that is hard for me because I get all excited and when I don't do it I get really bummed and just quit all together. So here are some goals that I think are realistic:
1. Wear some form of make up at least once a week to work. Preferably eye shadow. Since my alarm goes off at 5:30 I would rather sleep that extra 10 minutes than put on makeup. I guess I pass it off well :) but I really need to try harder to put effort into myself.
2. No texting while driving. I know I did this last year but I really need to buckle down on it 100%.
3. I want to start back up kick boxing. You always here 'I wanna lose weight' that is not the case here. I felt like I could concur anything when I went to kick boxing. I felt like I could take on the world. It is not a matter of losing weight, it is a matter of feeling better about myself. Simple enough, right?
I may add more to the list but for right now I think those 3 are achievable but we cant stop there, we need to have a goal as a couple!
Our goal as a couple is this: We want all of our emergency supply by the end of the year, preferably by August. Each month we have a 'quota' of what we need to buy to make this goal. We have signed up for mailers so we know what is on sale and when to buy it. January went off well. We had made that goal by the 7th! WOO HOO!!!

I think 2010 went great so lets hope to an even better 2011!!!!!!

*Post note: I have 2 more that I forgot to add. They are small but I still want to do it.
4. no soda. period. I have taken to soda more than water in the month of December and I am done. I don't need it.
5. I have several bank accounts and one in particular is not suppose to be touched. I even have it at a different credit union for the purpose of not going there and not using it. I have failed miserably so as of Feb 1st there will be NO TOUCHING it at all. That is suppose to be my new car fund for when my car hits the crapper (which I hope isn't for at least another 5 years , at least!)
5 is a good round number...

Its official!

Hi Samantha,

I got this, this morning!

Hi Samantha,

Thank you for submitting an application for graduation, upon reviewing the evaluation of your audit you have been cleared for graduation for May, 2010 upon completion of your schedule & hours. Your diploma will be mailed 6-8 weeks after the semester ends.


Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information or questions.



Tyler Severson
Graduation Technician

This just made my day, since I am opting to not 'walk' my official date is April 30th... WOOO HOOO

The dark and dirty side **post note

I am really trying to be more on top of things this semester, with that I guess it is due time for my goals for this year. My first goal is to finish school. Every semester something has come up or gotten in the way of me finishing school. This semester is no different. I have one really messed up teacher who thinks it is ok to not answer emails or call you back. It has left me frustrated, not registered for a class and Hating myself for emailing her boss about it :( oh well right?? I gotta get this done. My next goal is to take my state boards for my license! I am terrified! I know with lots of hard work from Myself, Bryce and my friends I will be able to do so. This is the year that I would like to get my life completely back on track. I have been working 5 1/2 long hard years and it is time to be complete the path so I can enjoy life a little bit more with Bryce. He is working very hard to finish our house and even made a deal with me to not let him work on it during the summer when we should be out camping, hiking and BBQ with family and friends. He is now working eagerly hard while I am in school to finish the utility room and food storage (almost done!!!), basement living room, garage and deck (those are almost done too!) and the upstairs bathroom (blah). Wish us luck.. some days we will need it. Our bedroom is almost complete. I ran out of money (stupid tuition... stupid books...) I promise promise promise to get that completed as soon as I have some free money (anyone need haircuts to support the 'Sam is broke for the moment fund'????????) ok now I am rambling...
Bryce has for the first time every decided to not wash his face. Kind of a shock to those who see him often. The time has come for him to finally clean his face! I like his facial hair but I like his baby face. Take a look....

I also decided to throw a bit of a curve ball out there... presenting...

ok that is all you get for now. In case you cant tell (because my hair is still wet from the shower) I went dark... as dark as they come. Welcome to the dark and dirty side.

** Post note. I have one more goal! One more that I think we can all commit to and succeed. I have been trying very hard to NOT do this since the end of October but I have slipped up so now that I have it out in the open means I CANT do it anymore. Texting while driving. I am a severe offender of this but I have tried really hard not to since I was shown a video of what can happen when you text while drive. It was Disturbing but I made myself finish it and it brings back memories of that video every time I open my phone and I am driving. So if you don't hear back from me when you text me I am most likely driving... or I am ignoring you.