Another goal to change

I only went for one run while we were gone- I was just too busy to do more.

I about died!

Holy cow, what a difference the elevation makes. Ok, that and all the sitting I'd been doing. But still...

Next fall I wanted to run the marathon that I ran two years ago, but after that short run (1.5 miles) I don't think I'll be able to do it till we move back to the mountains. I'll have to find something more local. Hopefully it'll be a fast, flat and/or downhill like that one is.

I chopped off my hair!

So, remember that one of my goals was to donate my hair to locks of love? 

We measured it and thought it was long enough, so I made an appointment to get my hair cut.

Unfortunately, when I got there, the stylist said she'd have to cut it really short (buzz cut short) in the back in order to get the minimum length. I didn't want it buzzed in the back, but I'd already made up my mind that I was cutting my hair, so we cut it anyway.

And really, I couldn't handle the headaches and lack of a real hairstyle any longer.

Cutting off all that weight has allowed the curl in back to be way more visible. I've fought it in the past, but I've finally embraced it. I let it flip out wherever it wants now. I rather like it.

Not the best pic (taken at my parents' house), I look like I'm in pain, but I'll try to get a better one soon. My hair flips out over my ears, but again, I'm embracing it, though it's actually a little less flippy since we got back. Guess the humidity is good for something. I do like the hair cut though. I think it makes me look, dare I say, older. Not a bad thing, since I've always looked young (ok, way young) for my age.

A better expression anyway (taken at our house):

Another goal to add to my list

I've been letting my hair grow for the last couple years and it's longer than it's been in, well, I don't know how many years. In fact, I'm only an inch or so away from a 10 inch ponytail. When I have a 10 inch ponytail I'm going to chop it all off and donate it to Locks of Love.

I've thought about donating to them before, but I always get frustrated with my hair and chop it off long before I get close to the 10 inch mark. I recently realized that I'm actually pretty close now, so I'm going to stick it out and let my hair grow a bit longer.

My goal: Not give in to the frustration of having long hair that I always end up pulling back in a braid because I hate having it in my face. I will let it grow till I have my 10 inch ponytail. Then I'll get a cute short hair cut :)

100 Goals, 100 Weeks

I've been thinking more about goals lately, and the importance of writing them down. I haven't listed goals in awhile, I've just kind of had them in my head, so I decided it was time to write some goals down.

I recently saw a list titled 100 goals in 1000 days, but I like the sound of 100 weeks better.

52 weeks/year, 104 weeks/2 years, so about 23 months from start to finish

June 20, 2010 to May 19, 2012

Some of the listed goals are two or three parts of the same basic goal. I did this to document when I actually start something (sometimes that's the hardest part for me) and when I finally finish it.

Here's my goals, (mostly) in no particular order:

Physical
1. sort through boxes of papers
2. go for a walk at least 3 times a week
3. start running during the walks I take
4. increase mileage that I run
5. run the 2011 Top of Utah Marathon
6. run the Danville half marathon (November 2010)
7. run the Blue Ridge half marathon (April 2011)
8. tune up bike
9. start going on bike rides again
10. refinish cabinet for craft stuff
11. start building furniture for craft/play room
12. finish building furniture for craft/play room
13. organize and put away craft/sewing stuff and toys
14. build furniture for living room
15. finish furniture for living room
16. put away movies and 72 hour stuff
17. build furniture for library/guest room
18. finish furniture for library/guest room
20. shelve books
21. organize Mr M's workspace
22. build furniture for master bedroom
23. finish furniture for master bedroom
24. decorate master bedroom
25. build furniture for kitchen
26. finish furniture for kitchen
27. start decorating LMS' room
28. finish decorating LMS' room
29. start upholstering red chair
30. finish upholstering red chair
31. start upholstering brown chairs
32. finish upholstering brown chairs
33. start upholstering gold chair
34. finish upholstering gold chair
35. make decorations for living room
36. make 'wall of us' for hall
37. lose 20 pounds
38. lose 20 more pounds
39. lose 15 more pounds
40. sew polka dot skirt for myself
41. sew polka dot jumper for LMS
42. figure out Christmas presents for relatives
43. make Christmas presents
44. organize back porch
45. downsize fabric and craft stash
46. make or buy (if it will be cheaper) new bedding for our bed
47. get more comfortable with gluten free baking/cooking
48. have homemade gluten free snacks on hand
49. make and keep to a meal plan
50. decide on other races/events to complete

Spiritual
51. start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning
52. finish the Book of Mormon by Oct 15
53. read the scriptures every day
54. mark scripture mastery scriptures in new scriptures
55. mark other meaningful scriptures
56. have FHE every week
57. read the Ensign every month
58. read RS lessons in advance
59. read SS lessons in advance
60. start writing personal history
61. finish writing personal history
62. start writing a daily gratitude/blessing list
63. figure out a way (childcare) to go to the Temple once a month
64. look for service opportunities
65. display church artwork
66. have daily family scripture study
67. look for missionary opportunities

Mental
68. sell winter items on ebay in the fall
69. make daily/weekly/monthly task schedule for chores and such
70. brush up on Japanese
71. start writing Japanese/English vocab book for LMS
72. finish writing Japanese/English vocab book for LMS
73. start reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese
74. finish reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese
75. start reading and  listening to conference talks in Japanese (spring 2010)
76. finish reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (spring 2010)
77. start reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (fall 2010)
78. finish reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (fall 2010)
79. start reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (spring 2011)
80. finish reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (spring 2011)
81. start reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (fall 2011)
82. finish reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (fall 2011)
83. start reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (spring 2012)
84. finish reading and listening to conference talks in Japanese (spring 2012)
85. start reading the Harry Potter books in Japanese
86. finish at least the first Harry Potter book in Japanese
87. research homeschooling methods
88. decide on a preschool curriculum
89. decide on a kindergarten curriculum
90. print out photos
91. catch up on scrapbooks
92. keep caught up on scrapbooks
93. scan Mr M's childhood photos and papers
94. scan my childhood photos and papers
95. get better at breaking projects into smaller bits (less procrastination, working on projects in short chunks of time)
96. start writing novel
97. finish writing novel
98. figure out a workable mail/bill/paper filing system
99. schedule time each day to read to LMS
100. study and learn how to take decent photos

And a couple more that I meant to include, but ran out of space:
1. read the Friend to LMS every month
2. make a rank/award display for Mr M
3. go to Institute every week
4. figure out an emergency preparedness plan
5. purchase items necessary for emergency preparedness
6. organize emergency preparedness supplies so they're easily accessible
7. Not give in to the frustration of having long hair that I always end up pulling back in a braid because I hate having it in my face. I will let it grow till I have my 10 inch ponytail. Then I'll get a cute short hair cut :)

Why so many goals?

Not too long ago some friends commented on all my goals and projects. They were expressing amazement at how many goals and projects I have. This got me thinking: why do I have so many?

The short answer: I like to keep busy, and when I finish a goal or project I feel a sense of accomplishment.

The long answer: Mr Mellow travels a lot so I have a lot of free time on my hands. I learned years ago that having lots of free time and nothing to do is not the best thing for me emotionally or mentally. If I stay busy I don't have time to dwell on unproductive things.

A lot of the projects on my list are one-time deals: mostly furniture pieces. This is because we've never had much furniture, and we're finally in a position to (frugally) furnish our house with more than just the bare basics. Once I get the furniture finished, I anticipate having more free time for smaller projects and non-project goals.

And let's face it: who doesn't like to cross things off a to-do list?

2009 goals revisited

The other day I mentioned that I wanted to set some goals for this year, but was holding off till we got some things settled.

While that is still true, I realized I could still review my goals from the past year and see how I did.

Lifestyle goals revisited:
1. Learn to eat better and to counteract the effects of PCOS and gluten intolerance.

• I've been doing a lot of reading- books about gluten intolerance and lots of cookbooks
• new goal: make a menu for a month or more of meals (to be put into use after we move)

2. Learn to cook and bake healthy gluten free meals and snacks.

• I've done some baking and experimenting- some good results, some not so good
• see goal #1 for progress and new goal

3. Exercise regularly.

• Not so much. This happens every winter- I'm a wuss when it comes to getting outside and working out in the freezing cold. Last winter I was able to put my bike on the bike trainer, but I didn't have room for that this year.
• new goal: keep making an effort to get outside, even if it's only for a walk. Once we know where we'll be moving to and when, I'm going to find a 5K to sign up for as further motivation (by then it'll be a bit warmer, and we'll have the money for the registration fee).

4. Lose weight.

• I've plateaued at 20 pounds lost. I attribute this to lack of exercise and stress. I've noticed the scale creeping up again lately, so I really need to address the issue. When I'm stressed, I eat chocolate. Lots of it. I'm working on not stress eating, but there's only so much I can do myself. I do think that once Mr. M starts working and we get settled in a new place my stress levels will go way down. I'll have different stressors, I know, but hopefully they won't be as bad as the ones I've been dealing with.
• new goal: focus more on eating right and limiting sweets, especially chocolate (I'm not quite ready to give it up altogether, though I may need to). Combined with exercise and lower stress levels, I should start making progress again.

Current projects revisited:

1. Re-cover chair

• Finally started, hopefully it won't take too long
• new goal: finish re-covering chair as soon as possible.

2. Strip bed frame

• Need to start as soon as we have some warmer weather
• new goal: as soon as we have a nice day, get out and get started.

3. Mend/alter various clothing items

• finished these: the skirts, the re-purposed clothing items, etc
• no new goal needed

4. Make Sleeping Beauty crown

• finished in plenty of time for Halloween
• no new goal needed

5. Finish Christmas present for nieces and nephews by the end of October

• Finished them all, though I think there was a couple I had to work on in November. Either way, they all got done in time.
• no new goal needed

Some goals I can add to my list for the year, regardless of where we end up living:
Short term:

1. Send out Christmas cards (late, I know)
2. Write and send out thank you cards
3. Finish recovering the chair
4. Strip the bed frame
5. Find various records (birth, marriage, etc) and scan them in for family history source info

Long term:

1. Run at least two half marathons in 2010
2. Run a full marathon in 2010 (the same one I ran in 2008, if possible)
3. Do my continuing education courses to keep my massage certification up to date