Happy August

My life has been kind of a whirl-wind lately.  I have a new address, which obviously means many, many changes in my life.  Change can be difficult and overwhelming, but I think I’m handling it all pretty well. 

But I’ve also been feeling a little bored.

As busy as I am, my summer hasn’t been as jam-packed as I would have liked.  That will all change in about 5 weeks though when I start Graduate School.  Until then, I have an entire month to fill my time.

This is my plan for August:

·         Knock out a few of my 101 goals.

·         Try out a couple new recipes.

·         Read a book.

·         Clean up my eyebrows.

·         Get my new-and-improved blog figured out.

Keep me motivated, please.  It will be a busy month.

6 more months of BLOGGING

Can you believe I’ve been blogging for 18 months???

It’s been kind of a slow 6 months.  Maybe because it was winter or maybe because I’m lazy, but I feel like I haven’t done as much as I did in my first 6 month and 1 year blog.  

Let’s look at what I’ve done.

• Went to a painting class
• Saw Stephen Colbert
• Went to a Ross King lecture
• Spent Thanksgiving with my sister  (We had Chinese.)
• Went to a couple Wizards games
• Spent a day in Florida for a wedding
• Toured the White House to see their Christmas decorations
• Hiked
• Played a season of winter volleyball
• Started my 101 in 1001 project
• Saw Susan Cain
• Went to a Blackberry Smoke Concert
• Took a blogging class
• Saw General McChrystal speak
• Hiked more
• Went skiing
• Went snowshoeing
• Climbed Mt. Washington
• Visited two new states: Vermont and New Hampshire
• Went to the Ben and Jerry’s factory
• Went to a Jodi Picoult event
• Went to a Sheryl Sandberg event
• Took (another) painting class
• Saw Sandra Day O’Connor speak
• Went to a USS Cole event
• Saw Luke Bryan in concert
• Started playing spring softball
• Started playing spring football
• Went to a movie at the DC International Film Festival
• Stopped tutoring
• Applied to grad school
• Cut off 14 inches of my hair and donated the hair to Locks of Love
• Went to a Cinco de Mayo party

I am working very hard on my 101 in 1001 project. I’m currently 10% finished, and I have 898 days left.  I feel like I’m going to get a lot done this summer - the planning has already begun.  

Overall though, I don’t feel like this list is long or robust.  This only inspires me to have a more active summer!!!  

Have you done anything fun over the last 6 months???

6 month Check-Up

TODAY marks the 6 month anniversary of my blog.  It really is an exciting time for me.  As nerdy as this is, I’ve become completely obsessed with it.  I’m not sure why either - maybe it’s a good outlet, maybe it’s a way to keep me accountable of the way I spend my time, and maybe it’s a combination of all of this.  I mean, let’s be honest, I don’t post all that often.  Regardless, I love blogging.  I love looking for new ideas, and I love when people read and respond.  Thank you, dear reader, for paying attention and for caring enough to keep reading.

The past 6 months has been quite busy.  Here is a quick recap of what I’ve been doing:

• Graduated from University of Maryland (a life goal)
• Started a job
• Visited the National Portrait Gallery
• Played on a volleyball team
• Took a painting class
• Went to NYC with the boy
• Sent the boy off to Army training
• Started going to the gym
• Joined Weight Watchers
• Went to a lecture/book signing discussing the book Monticello, Slavery, and the Hemingses
• Had dozens of dinners with friends
• Visited Monticello
• Went hiking at Great Falls Park
• Took the GRE
• Attended a lecture on George Washington and Sally Fairfax
• Went to the boy’s fancy-smancy Army ball
• Quit going to the gym
• Took a knitting class
• Began learning Farsi
• Hiking at Carterock
• Went to a wedding in St. Louis and visited my sister/nieces in mid-Missouri
• Began a kickball team
• Began a touch football team
• Participated in Dining Out for DC
• Went to a Madeleine Albright speaking/book signing engagement
• Started going to the gym again
• Attended a meditation class

Hmmm.....I guess that’s about all.  I also tutor once a week, but I’ve been doing that for a while.

But, I’m not focusing on the past.  I’d rather look towards the future.  To be honest, I have no idea what’s happening in the next 6 months.  After my football and kickball seasons are over, I’m not sure how I’ll spend my time.  When my Farsi semester concludes, I’m not sure if I’ll take more classes.  Maybe I’ll take a writing class or maybe I’ll spend more time cooking.  Is graduate school calling my name?  Who knows!!!  What I do know is that I’m not stopping.  

I’m going to keep blogging.

I’m going to keep thinking critically.

I’m going to keep exploring.

I’m going to keep learning.

I’m going to continue loving life.

Thank you again for reading, dear reader.  You have made the last 6 months quite enjoyable.

Feel free to leave me a comment.  I welcome comments, criticism, or compliments.  I take everything you say quite seriously.  

Are you happy???

Are you happy?  No, I mean really happy?  Do you find joy in your daily activities?  Do you smile?  Laugh?

I am proud to admit that, yes, I am happy.  I’m in a great relationship with a wonderful man.  I live in an awesome area, and my apartment is really nice.  I think that a few of my achievements are notable.  My life is pretty great.

Regardless of how great things are at this moment, I know that life if fluid.  Things change.  People evolve.  I might not always live here.  My iCal may one day be blank.  No one knows when their relationships are going to end.  There is no way to make predictions into the future.  I accept this and I am willing to ensure that, regardless of the situation, my happiness will not decrease based on situations out of my control.

I have always believed that my happiness comes first, and everything else is an asset to my life.  I still think this way.  Yes, it sounds really selfish.  That’s because it is.  Something I’ve learned in my 28 years of life is that no one can protect me as much as me.  No one has my best interests in mind but me.  Sure, people consider my wants and needs, but, in the end, I am the only one who can take a proactive stand in my own life.  If I waited around for others to make decisions on my behalf, I’d probably be uneducated and living with my mother in the Missouri.  (Oh geez!  Imagine how depressed we would all be if that were the case!)  

I’ve been blogging for almost 6 months.  In this time, dear reader, I’ve tried to let you in on the few projects I’ve been involved in.  I tried to introduce myself by letting you in to the way I spend my time: I’ve taken a few trips and attended a few lectures; the gym and my health have been documented; my goals have been shared with you.  

I just wonder if my activities have made me any happier.  Of course I haven’t shared each event with you.  (I don’t need stalkers!)  I recently attended a lecture on George Washington, and my recreational volleyball team did really bad.  (Actually, we were terrible.)  I teach English as a Second Language once a week, and I’m studying for the GRE.  

But am I any happier since November 2011 when this blog began?  I’m not sure.  I’ve decided this is a problem.  I’m busier than I’ve ever been, but my happiness-range hasn’t changed.  Isn’t that interesting!!!!

This weekend, in Charlottesville, VA, I ran across this book.

I read the (would-be) prologue and got inspired.  I need to create a happiness project for myself.  I don’t know where I’m going to start, but I am going to take careful consideration of the way I spend my time to ensure I find joy and happiness in my life.  

So, I’ll ask you again, dear reader.  Are you happy?  Is there room to find time and space in your busy schedule to insert pleasure and bliss?

If you’d like to take on this project with me, let me know.  Are there tangible goals you need to set for yourself?  I think we all have room for improvement.  I also think it takes a brave person to challenge change and are willing to accept change in your life.  

I’m ready for happiness to consume my life.  

I’m in.  Are you with me?  

A Week of Workouts

This is the week!  This is the week I get up and start using the gym I pay for.  Usually, I donate my money, not my time, to the gym, but I’m sick of it.  I’m sick of spending $30, monthly, on a gym I never use.  I could visit Panera 3 three times.  I could buy 1/12 of a new purse.  I could get 1.5 manicures.   But no.  Instead, I waste the money.  This is my daily journal of my gym experience this week.

Sunday evening

As I do my weekly laundry, ironing, and general garment organizing, I pre-plan my work-out outfits.  No, I’m not a look-cute-at-the-gym-girl.  I’m barely a look-cute-anytime-girl.  I wear old ADIDAS pants and an older t-shirt.  I find three outfits and lay them on the chest under my window.  I have to pass the said chest every time I get out of bed, which for me and my pea-sized bladder is quite often.  I set my alarm for 4:30am.  If the gym opens at 5am, that gives me two snoozes and enough time to wake up, go to the bathroom (again), get dressed and walk next door.  Yes, my gym is LITERALLY right next door.  I’m all set for a wonderful work-out week.

Monday morning, 430am.

Snooze

Monday morning, 436am.

Snooze

Monday morning, 442am.

Snooze

Monday morning, 448am.

I reset my alarm for 530am.  Screw going to the gym!!!!

Monday afternoon, 318pm.

I keep thinking that I should have gone to the gym.  I need a new plan; it is highly doubtful that I’ll have the willpower to wake up an hour early and go to that smelly place.  I researched the gym schedule.  (https://www.lafitness.com/pages/ClassSchedulePrintVersion.aspx?clubid=331)  Hmmm……there are lots of things to do tonight, but alas, I have plans.  Tomorrow, I meet with my tutor buddy, but I could go afterwards.  Wait, I don’t finish with him until about 8pm and my bedtime is at 830ish.  That clearly won’t work.  My 8 hours of sleep is REQUIRED to function.  I guess that means I’ll have to go in the morning.  Yeah, we’ll see how that goes.  Oh, there are a few things I could do Wednesday.  Cardio Jam sounds fun or I could meet some elderly folk during Aqua Fit.  I’ll have to think about that a little more.  I play volleyball on Thursday and we BOTH know I’m not going to the gym AND playing volleyball in the same day.  So, Friday.  Of course I don’t have plans on Friday.  The boy is away playing solider, so it’s just me.  The gym doesn’t offer classes on Friday evening, probably because most people go out and party the night away.  Not this girl!  I guess that means I’ll have to find my own willpower and go to the gym myself.  Yeah, that’s a good plan.  Wait, did I even make a plan?  Oh well, I have to go back to work and stop blogging.  Blah.

Monday evening, 912pm

Oh my.  It’s 45 minutes past my bedtime and I’m just getting home.   No worries, though….I’ll set my alarm for 430am and be at the gym when it opens.  I got this!!!

Tuesday morning, 430am

Are you kidding me?  I reset my alarm for 530am.

Wednesday morning, 7am

Well, it’s pretty dreary out today and I don’t have plans for tonight.  Tonight is the night!  I’m going to the gym.  I’m going to let the treadmill drag me for a mile.  I’m going to crunch the fat in my abdominal area, and I might watch other people do push-ups.  Oh, I’m so excited!

Wednesday afternoon, 1pm

A friend asks me to Happy Hour after work.  Yes, please!!!  

Wednesday evening, 6pm

Hmpf.  I can’t go now.  I’ve got an order of guacamole, queso, and a Corona in my belly.  Oh well.

Thursday early-afternoon, 1150am

Who cares about the gym?  I’ve got volleyball tonight! <Insert impression of me being 6 feet tall spiking the ball over the net.>

Friday evening, 625pm

I have a date with my favorite UMD sweatpants and my DVR.  I admit, I like to decrease my percentage in big chunks.  I know, it’s a bit shameful, but don’t act like you don’t it either.  Geez - stop judging me!

Maybe I’ll go to gym tomorrow.  I’ve got all day and the only thing I’ve got on my plate is a manicure and maybe a little light shopping.  

Yeah, I can hit the gym before I do my errands.  I’m not worried.  I got this.

Sunday evening, sleepy time

Oh crap.  I forgot to go to the gym.  Oh well.  There’s next week.  No fear, dear reader.  I think next week is THE week that I’m be showing my pretty face at the gym.  

  

A typical January....

It’s mid-January, dear reader.  Actually, no.  It’s ALMOST February.  I have been quite productive these past three weeks!  My lovable man-friend is going off to play Army in a few weeks, and I must remain as busy as possible.  

In the last three weeks, I have clumsily played three volleyball games, visited the National Portrait Gallery with a wonderful friend, and painted this terrible still-life.  (Please don’t mock me to my face!!)  

The boy and I toured all of NYC in a 48 hour period.  

And, I experienced my first DC restaurant week.  

But what’s next?  I’ll still tutor once a week, and volleyball isn’t over for about a month.  But, I need some new ideas to keep my life exciting as I go back to living alone.  I’ll obviously be glued to the TV watching Barack speak in, what I’m sure will be, a riveting State of the Union address to our nation.  I’m still trying to master iCloud, OS Lion, and the rest of the Apple products I’m slowly converting to.  One of my oldest friend’s is getting married, so I’ll be making a trip to the Midwest for his celebration.  Yet, this is not enough.  

I sent in my volunteer form to serve at my local soup kitchen, but alas, they have not responded.  I found (and bought) a Groupon for a knitting class, but I haven’t picked my dates to begin learning.  I just feel like there are more things that I can do at home that will greatly impact my life and those around me.  

Here are some ideas on ways to keep myself busy in the upcoming weeks:

• I want to bake more.  Momma Martha and I need to spend quality time together.  I even got this beautiful cookbook for my birthday, so I need to put it to use.

• I would like to be a little more creative: painting more or creating projects from my hands.  Of course, my knitting class will definitely help in this department. 

• My reading and writing has exponentially decreased since graduation - maybe I’ll bust out a nice poem for my next blog.  Do you have a preference: haiku, iambic pentameter, free verse?  

• I'd like to research a nice vacation spot for myself.  Maybe I'll even take the leap and go on a trip by myself - one of my life goals!  

So far, I've had an excellent January.  I love being busy and finding new, fun ways to explore my city and life after work.  I have only spent a few hours in my jam-jams watching Teen Mom; yes, it's still an embarrasing guilty pleasure.  But, I'm working on it!