Some Goals

So a few months ago I tried starting this monthly goal chart. It had all sorts of daily, weekly, and monthly goals on it and frankly I needed a goal chart to manage my goal chart! It was too much for me and when I started seeing less and less gold stars on it I kinda just got deflated and gave up. The only things that I really stuck to and kept in my mind were the long term goals I made for the next 6 months so I'll report on those briefly and then get to my new goals for goals.

Finish reading Book of Mormon...I started reading the BofM prolly close to 2 years ago. I hate reading so for me this was a big undertaking and it didn't surprise me that it's taken me this long to get it done. I decided to mark it up with things that spoke to me or that I liked and even though it added time on to this project it made it a bit more enjoyable for someone like me who hates reading. It took me right up til the end but I finished it!

Finish up the Girl Temple cards I have printed.....this one was a big, fat failure. I need to do better in the new year.

Lose 15 pounds....This was also a big, FAT failure! Since I started going to school full time I have become THE worst stress eater in all of America! Seriously I am ridiculous! I need to do better.

Have $1200 in savings....This was as up & down sort of thing.....one month I'd do really good at saving my monies and the next I'd blow through it all. Thanks to a last minute Christmas bonus from my work I was able to meet this goal and a little more. Now to get it to stay in there!

Get into my Social Work program.....this was an odyssey! I had to jump through a lot of hoops and file a lot of petitions and sweet talk a lot of people but I AM IN!!

Have a 3.8 GPA......another odyssey! This semester was INTENSE! I've never done so much homework in my life. My life was school for the last few months, but for the very 1st time EVER I can report that I NEVER missed a single class this entire semester. The 1st time I was in college my goal was to go a certain amount of weeks before I skipped class and every semester that goal got sooner and sooner. But I powered through and attended every class like some sort of school nerd. I didn't get a 3.8......I got a 4.0!!!!!

So now that the new year is upon us I'm making some new goals for the new year...or rather for the new 6 months. I decided doing a few long term goals would be better for me instead of obsessing over the daily and weekly things I wasn't getting accomplished and feeling like a failure. I'm also going to scale some of my goals back so they're more attainable instead of some of the lofty goals I had before and then felt like a useless failure when I didn't achieve them. And I'm going to make a goal to report on them monthly on my blog and see how I'm doing. So for the next 6 months my goals will be....

Finish up my Girl Temple cards....I need to be infinitely better about my Temple attendance. I've really let it slide lately. I have 10 cards to get done and I've got souls to save!

Read the Doctrine & Covenants....with my own eyes not just listen to it. And mark things that speak to me and that I like.

Put another $1000 in savings.....I need to stop eating out so much and buying things like I've got piles of money hidden in my mattress. I need to live cheaper and spend smarter. I want to be able to work part time at some point this year while I finish up school and I'm in no shape to be able to do that in my current financial state.

Pay off any small bills/debts....I've managed to live mostly debt free in 2012 after paying off my car and credit cards. It's been heaven. So this goal will entail making sure no little bills have slipped through the cracks and that my credit is looking squeaky clean!

Have a 3.8 GPA....I'm in the final stages of my degree and if I want to go to Grad school then having a high GPA is more crucial than ever for me.

Lose 20 pounds....this would put me at my 1st ultimate goal weight with a couple pounds to spare. It puts me at needing to lose just over 3 pounds a month which is easy for me if I put my mind to it. This is going to entail me mostly sticking to better eating habits and tracking calories as I have very little time to be at the gym with my work and school schedule. I need to eat out WAY less and learn how to get my stress eating under control.

Run a 5K in under 34 minutes.....In June I ran a 5k in just over 35 minutes but I've let myself get out of running shape a bit so I need start fresh. This will also help me reach my 20 pound weight loss goal.

So I will report back on these goals in a month and see what progress I've made. Ready, Set, GO!!

Then & Now

So I took a little jaunt to Rexburg this week to get everything ready for the semester. You know ID card, books, a look around campus...like I'm some sort of Freshman! Please! My 1st stop was getting my ID card. The place was bonkers! Students everywhere, parents everywhere, and lines everywhere! I got in line for my ID card and realized I was pretty much the only person in line without a parent and then I realized that even the 1st time I went through this ordeal at this school that I was pretty much the only person in line with no parent. Where are my parents?! Oh wait I'm a grownup and I can do this by myself....again! The girl in line behind me was too freaked out to know what was going on so I had to babysit her even though she had her mom in line with her! Come on girl!

So ok the 1st time I went to this school the ID cards were done in some make shift photo studio set up in one of the ballrooms. Ghetto! This time it was all official and crap! And with WAY better technology!

Ok so what I'm about to show off I do at great risk of personal ridicule but trust me it will be hilarious!

This is my Ricks College ID card....I blame this picture on 1997 technology and me being 17 years old. I know it's ugly so you don't have to tell me!

Hideous right?! How did I walk around looking like that!?

And here I am in my 2nd debut in Rexburg 15 years later!
 

Much better!!!! And I managed to spend the whole afternoon on campus without getting kicked out!!! Watch out Rexburg.....I'm back baby-doll!!!

Changing Things Up....The Living Room...

So I've been working on changing up some of the decor` in my apartment. I've had a lot of the same stuff & same color schemes for several years & I'm over a lot of it. Slowly I've been getting stuff here & there & changing things up. I've had the same dark red & gold colors in my living room for who knows how long & I've really been wanting to brighten things up. I decided on a light blue & cherry red color scheme. Finding the blue was as easy as could be. Finding the right cherry red has proven to be QUITE a challenge. It has to be just the right red. There's quite an empty space in one spot in my living room so I decided I wanted to get a bench/trunk to put there that I could store things in & that people could sit on should we run out of seating space. And I decided I wanted it to be cherry red! Of course I couldn't just waltz up to any store & find a cherry red bench/trunk so I had to have one built. A little bit of a pricey project but I was able to have it exactly the size & look that I wanted it to be. Finding just the right color of red for it was no small task! I had the unfinished bench at my apartment for several days so I could audition my paint samples.


My 1st round of samples & swatches...none of them were the right color.

I had spent a small fortune on paint samples & hadn't found just the right red. Then one day I was blog stalking & came across a woman who had painted a set of chairs just the color red I was looking for & turns out she had used a spray paint. Who knew?!


There are 4 or 5 different colors on this blasted bench! But the cherry red spray paint was finally the one!!!

When all was said & done the spray paint, although THE perfect color red, wasn't the best thing to use on this wood. Apparently it just soaked it all up & the coverage was horrible. In the end 4 cans of primer & 5 cans of paint had to be used totaling about 15 coats before the coverage & color were just right. I'm sure some brain cells were lost on this project!!

But it turned out so great & just how I pictured it color & all!!

I'll have pics of the whole living room makeover soon!!

This Is What Rdemption Looks Like!

Ok it's truth time....this is my deepest, darkest secret that only a hand full of people know...I never graduated from Ricks College. Overall I wasn't a very good student & getting good grades was the furthest thing from my mind. I was "dismissed" from Ricks after flunking out my last semester. It's shameful, I know! And it's a secret I've kept to myself all these years! Why on earth would I bust this information out you're asking!? Well, I'll tell you...In May 2000 I received a letter telling me that I had been dismissed from Ricks College.

Last week I received this letter from ISU:

In a word......REDEMPTION!!!

As I've reflected on the huge turn around I've made in my school work I started thinking about how much has gone on in this last year & what I've accomplished. When I actually stopped to list everything out I was pretty impressed with myself. Let's review in order shall we?!

I went back to school. I swore I'd never go back to school ever again. School just wasn't my thing & honestly school has never come easily to me. I don't consider myself to be a typically smart person. I have to work hard to get good grades so most times I'm fine with a B or a C...heck even Ds get degrees! I have no idea what go into me this time around but I HAD to get As! Or I would DIE! My 1st semester back...all As! Including my math class which is no small task. My 2nd semester 3 As...including my math class which is till no small task & I even got a 100% on not 1 but 2 tests! 100%!! I did get 1 B the 2nd semester but with this teacher getting a B is like getting an A! And did I mention that I made the Dean's list!?! REDEMPTION!

12 years ago I was dismissed from Ricks College. After working my butt off at ISU for 2 semesters & after some well worded petitions in February of this year I was re-admitted. After my 2 semesters at ISU I now have everything I need to complete the degree I started at Ricks 15 years ago. In December of this year I will finally graduate from Ricks College. REDEMPTION!!!


I ran a 5K without stopping! I have done 2 previous 5K races but have always had a hard time keeping a decent pace which has caused me to lose steam early in the race & have to walk here & there. This time I was determined to run the entire thing. I finally found a good pace & managed to keep it. As I rounded the last stretch it was almost all at an incline & I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it. How crappy would that have been to have run all that way only to crap out in the last 1/2 mile?! I would have beaten myself up til the end of time!

Me before

This is me crossing the finish line after running the ENTIRE way!

 REDEMPTION!

When I was at Ricks I took Pysch 111 two different times. And both times I got the exact same grade & it wasn't good! Well what do I care I'm never going back to school again....except that I did....and of course I need to get a good grade in that blasted class. I managed to cram this semester long class into about 2 months which by itself is pretty impressive. I took the final the beginning of this week & then grew steadily more crazy as I waited ALL week for my grade to be posted. It occurred to me today that my entire school plan was hanging on the grade I got on that final. Then I started freaking out! Finally my grade got posted this afternoon. It's truth time again.....the 1st time I took Psych 111 I got a D....the 2nd time I took Psych 111 I got another D.....why I can't seem to conquer this class is beyond me....all I needed this time was a C-......I ended up with a B! REDEMPTION!!

So maybe I'm not as lost & aimless as I sometimes think I am!!

So my dear Matty has decided to desert us for a job in Utah. For the record I do not like it, but it will be a great opportunity for him. So in honor of his upcoming departure we had a little farewell BBQ for him & I whipped up this little gem for everyone's viewing pleasure. It was tender!

What's The Haps?

Unfortunately I have no pictures to go with this post but I did promise to be better about updating my blog so here I am. WHat's been going on you ask? oh you know this & that & only a TON of stuff! Well it feels like a ton of stuff to me. I am only 2 weeks away from the end of the semester and I can't believe that I have survived...well check with me in 2 weeks after finals are over & we'll see if I survived! The next 2 or 3 weeks are going to be straight up crazy! Not only do I have the end of the semester & finals on my plate but the day after I take my last final I am departing for the Happiest place on earth for a little vacation! yes my beloved Disneyland!! Oh and my beloved Sprinkles Cupcakes! Don't worry there will be plenty of pictures after that! As if that's not enough I am also moving to a new place 5 days after I get back. It's maddness at my apartment right now as I'm trying to get everythign packed up & cleaned & organized for my move...along with finishing school, studying for finals, keeping up on my gym time, and going on my trip...I must be crazy!! Oh and speaking of my gym time....I have really kicked my running into high gear. When I last posted I wsa only up to a 2 mile stretch before needing to walk for a minute or 2...well one day I jsut kept running and running and running and before I knew it i had run an entire 5K without stopping and without ever even slowing down! How did that happen?! That 10K goal is looking more & more do-able!

There should be lots of pics of all the upcoming events soon!

Since My Last Post

So it's been FOREVER since I posted anything on my blog. Seriously forever! And SO much has happened since my last post. So let's review a little bit.

Since my last post....I started school. I started at ISU in August and it has been crazy. For the Fall semester I only took 2 classes while still working full time at my office. The 1st couple of weeks were super crazy as I was adjusting to a new schedule and trying to figure everything out and how to fit everything in. After that it really leveled out and I did amazingly well. I managed to get As in both of my classes which I am supremely proud of as I didn't too so well the 1st time I went to college. I am definitely redeeming myself.

Me on my very 1st day of school in 11 years!!!



Since my last post....I loved and lost this boy....






He was the nicest boy I ever met and he thought he had won some prize by getting to go out with me. It was a new and sometimes strange feeling. He made me feel like I was the greatest thing God ever made and was the 1st boy to ever tell me I was pretty or worthwhile in any way. I felt like all the wrongs of my life had finally been set right. I don't think I've ever been happier in all my life. I thought that he was the one. I was planning my life around him being the one. Then one day he didn't like me anymore and didn't think I was so great. Then he was gone. And all those things he had set right in my life seemed to shatter. And I miss him. That's all I'm going to say about it.

"But you're changing everything....you're changing everything in me. And now, now that you're near there's nothing more without. Without you here...."

Without You Here-Goo Goo Dolls

Since my last post....I started my 2nd semester of school. This Winter semester got a lot crazier as I'm now taking 4 classes and a lab and still working full time and still trying to fit everything in. I am more than 1/2 way through the semester and not only do I have As in all my classes more importantly I've only had two major breakdowns where I sat in my car crying and asking myself "what were you thinking?" I'd say that's quite a victory. Also I got a 100% on my last math test and if you know me at all you know I hate math and it's my worst subject. 100%!!! I decided to transfer back up to Rexburg in the Fall and can't believe life has taken me back to Ricks College. Yes I know it's BYU-I now but it will always be Ricks College to me. I have 2 more years of school til I graduate and it can't come fast enough.

Since my last post......I am, once again, heavily involved in my ever going weight loss project. I am making real progress though! I've joined a workout group at the gym and we work out with our Trainer Mike twice a week. The girls in my group are super fun so it's actually enjoyable to work out. I've discovered I have a love of boxing. I love punching stuff. It's prolly cuz I have a lot of rage!! Right now I'm trying to get ready to (hopefully) run a 10K race in June. Even though I have gotten out of endurance running shape I'm actually making fast progress re-building it and I'm already up to running 2 mile without stopping. I'll be ready for this 10K in no time!!

So that's it in a nutshell...Life since my last post. It doesn't sound like a whole lot but trust me it is! My days basically consist of going to work, going to school, going to the gym, doing homework, going to sleep & waking up to do it all over again!!

Hopefully I will be better at blogging now that I've gotten a little bit caught up...but don't hold your breath!