Friday, January 3, 2014

The Annual New Years Post

Looking back on last year's intentions, I didn't make much progress. Yikes.

2013 Recap:
Exercise more, by finding a routine I enjoy -- it was great for the first 4 months. 30 Day Bootcamp was fun, and I kind of felt myself getting stronger, even though I didn't lose weight or flab. But then it turned out that boot camp is not good for my knee, and I spent May through December on and off different physical therapy regimens (mostly because I am terrible at PT upkeep).  I was doing yoga once a week and ballet once a week as well until around July, when my knee just got too bad to really do much of anything except whine. 
Feel healthier and stronger; take care of myself -- well, I totally failed on the "actually do my PT exercises" front, and I didn't lose weight. I did get my eyes checked, though I failed to get new reading glasses (this month! I swear!). 
Eat more hearty salads -- Sure, I ate salads. But as the weather got colder, the amount of fresh, raw, hearty veggies I ate quickly diminished.  
Spend more time in the present -- I tried this on and off, and it's a constant struggle to step away from the gadgets and focus on the present. 
Get organized about our finances -- we're lucky enough to not have had to do this in 2013 because of financial struggles. But it's time to start preparing for the future, like adults. 
Make a plan for finishing areas of the house -- Hell yeah, something I've actually done! The guest room is functional, and we had a siiick veggie garden this year. 

So this year, it's more of the same. Organized into categories.

Health:
Let's see what it's like to eat less gluten.5 days a week, I am going to cut out processed grains and sugars from my diet. That means 2 days a week, I get to have cookies and bread and pasta and ice cream and beer...but only once/one meal per day. Why? Everyone's on this anti-gluten kick right now, and while I'm not much one for fad diets, and I love bread (and sugar) too much to forgo it altogether, I've heard that the benefits (dropping weight, healthier digestive system) are pretty high. You may say, "Don't worry! Once you stop eating it, eventually you stop craving it! I never even want bread anymore!"And to that I say that a life without a crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside sourdough baguette is not a life in which I am interested, sir! 
So 2 days/2 meals a week it is. Until Mardi Gras. If all goes well for the next two months, I'll pick it up for another two. And another. We'll see. 
Get the knee healthy.An unhealthy knee totally puts a damper on fun life plans, like hiking and skating and dancing and you know, going up and down stairs. There's a lot of PT work to do, and I need to do it. I need to do it. I need to do it. Dammit. 
Build more activity into my life.I want to try the Zaaz. I want to do more Kinect. I want to take walks. I want to be more active in general. I really do, despite the (laziness) evidence to the contrary.

Home:
Make Big Closet Better.The closet off our dining room is large and wonderful, and is a giant pile of mess. I want it not to be. Part of this is creating a gift wrap station, and a place for luggage/bags, and better-organized camping gear, and less messy hockey gear...much to do. 
Finish purging the guest room.It's still full of boxes, though they are more organized and tidied now. I'd like it to actually be nice-looking, and not just a pile of boxes tucked onto a bookshelf.  
Hang art.In the bedroom, more in the guest room, in the hallway. We have a lot of art that needs to be framed and hung, so why are we waiting. 
Finances.We've been discussing lately how we should start saving for a house. Or for kids. Or for travel. But after nearly two years of marriage, we still haven't sat down to talk about money. We're lucky that we haven't had to, that we've been able to live within our means pretty easily, without much thought. Trust me, I know what a blessing that is. But now that we're starting to think about The Future, we should probably get a better understanding of the various bank accounts we each have open, where our savings is, where it should be, etc. and make some actual decisions about how and where to save.

Happiness:
Make more music.Last week, my dear friend Amelia (one of my first college friends) stayed with us, and last night, we were joined for dinner by our other dear college friend Matti. We sat at the piano and messed around and it was such serious fun that I can't believe I don't do it more often. 
Will and I are both somewhat musically-inclined, and we have a piano...as Amelia said, "What an old-fashioned, wonderful way to spend an evening." It's old school entertainment, no devices needed, and it was incredibly fun. I'm going to try to improve my piano chops, get back to that ukulele I was trying to learn this summer, and just make more music. 
Leave work at 5:30pm.This means getting in earlier (oh no! Getting to work by 9:30am! The horror!), but I really want to stop leaving the office between 6:30-7pm, especially when I do get in around 9:15 or 9:30.  
Invest in our relationship by spending time alone together.We are very good at keeping busy, doing things with friends, and even maintaining our separate hobbies and interests. But over Christmas, we spent an afternoon out shopping for gifts, just the two of us, and it was so much fun to just hang out alone together...wandering around downtown Olympia, driving around town looking for gifts, stopping for a snack. Simple things. But we don't do that when we're home, really. In the interest of efficiency, we'll run errands separately. In the interest of being social, we'll fill our calendar with fun plans with friends. But we don't invest much time in just spending time alone together, and I was surprised at how surprised I was to have that moment of "oh yeah, it's fun to do stuff together, just us." That shouldn't be a surprise!


I have a seriously packed 2014 ahead of me, with a trip to New Orleans, friends visiting from abroad, a ton going on at Disqus, a side business to launch, an organization to help run, and a wedding (not mine) to plan. None of my resolutions/goals/intentions relate to any of that stuff. But it's important for me to set personal goals as well, to take care of myself and my home life as much as I take care of others and my work life (lives).

Who knows if I'll actually accomplish all I've set out to do? The important part (for me, anyway) is taking a little time to reflect and set some intentions. And now's as good a time as any to do that.

What are your goals for 2014? Did you do all you set out to do in 2013?

11 comments:

  1. Sounds like a ton packed, but YOU CAN DO IT!!! :-) Happy 2014! A new job is on my list of goals this year. :P

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  2. Love this post! And so many things to do! I want to read this again in one year and see how you go!

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  3. Thanks, Nelson! Welcome to the blog :)

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  4. Before you get crazy with the gluten thing, a long but good read: http://m.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/this-is-your-brain-on-gluten/282550/

    "When a person advocates radical change on the order of eliminating one of the three macronutrient groups from our diets, the burden of proof should be enormous."

    That said, I'm planning on attempting veganism for a week at some point...

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  5. Ooh a week of veganism!?

    I think that any diet that completely eliminates a food group is a bad one...that's why I've got the 2 cheat meals. And likely, after a few months, I'll start adding things back in more often.

    But man, I eat way too much carbs/sugar just by default. Like, it's my go-to snack, meal, comfort food, etc. I like challenging myself to come up with alternate things to eat instead of reaching for crackers or bread or cookies. But this very well could get old fast.

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  6. http://www.rostfreisteels.com/StorageTanks-1.aspx

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  7. Come on! I've been a healthy vegan for nearly three years. If done correctly, you can live an extremely balance life. Make sure I eat my power foods, a lot of fruit, beans, greens, and keep away from the carbs!

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  8. What a lovely post to start off my morning on the first day back to work. Very inspiring! Josh said he would love to work something out for a Zaaz trial. You know how we are so don't let us forget. Hectic week getting ready to head to LA for the Golden Globes gifting suite. Follow FB and Twitter for all the excitement. Also, I would add seeing the Girard-Cruickshanks to your list :-) Miss you!

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