2013 Goals

Time for my annual goal setting! Hurrah

• Read 24 books, 6 of which are to make myself a better person
• Start a book club
• Really apply for grad school (and take classes for school in the fall)
• Go to Turkey & Greece
• Go to Portland and the Oregon Coast, take Seth to Vancouver
• Go skiing with Seth
• Make healthy activities more a way of life (hike lots! yoga! walk around! bike!)
• Get my OCN certification
• Be a better wife
• Do more crafts (to make it measurable I'll say 6)
• Read my Bible every day
• Join a small group; find and cultivate community
• Figure out how I want to make my diet healthier. I've been reading a lot about healthy eating and diets and really want to peg down what that looks like for me.

I'm still working on this some but this is what I've got for now. Do you have any goals for 2013?

2012: Reviewed

Every year I like to look back at the goals I set from last year (from this post) and review the years highlights. Best part of 2012? spending the summer with the family in Montana

Worst part? Probably getting robbed, twice. Which is why I don't have any pictures from before April... Anyway, here is the list of goals from last year and my evaluation of them.

• Read 25 books (8 of which are fiction)
• I read 45, 10 of which 17 of which were fiction but not necessarily written as personal advice, which is what I meant. 
• Work out most days a week for 1 hour each day, do yoga once a week
• Mostly accomplished. Yoga has been more consistent since being in Seattle, thanks to an abundance of Living Socials and Groupons. 
• Evaluate purchases before I make them
• Eh, not so much. Moving put a damper on this situation.
• Successfully grow an herb
• Nope. Need to work on this
• Watch less than an hour of TV a day; spend more time outside
• Definitely spent more time outside, especially over the summer in Montana and it was glorious. TV watching was probably more than an hour a day on days I watched to my obsession with How I Met Your Mother in Netflicx
• Volunteer
• Again, moving made this challenging. 
• Devote myself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
• Better than before but need to work on it
• Figure out what it means to invest in relationships
• Not measurable but I did work on this
• National Chemo Certification course
• DONE
• Apply for grad school by 2012
• Modified, I'll be taking classes that will apply to grad school this year but not officially in a program yet. 

Some of my secret goals included spending the summer in Montana with my family and moving to Seattle! Both of which I did. Hooray

Visit to Seattle back in April to interview and scope out the city

From our road trip from TX to Montana.

My niece was born and I was in Montana when it happened. So amazing.

First annual TEAS reunion trip: Sparkle Motion!

Seth's younger brother got married in August in Lubbock, TX

So fun to add another girl to the Knox clan and celebrate with the family

We moved to Seattle! Our first hike to Snow Lake.

Christmas in Montana 2012!

We got to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family,

Such a blessing

The grand adventure

Well, the cats out of the bag so I figure I'd update my blog too. We're in the process of a big move! At the end of May we'll be moving out of Texas. First we'll spend the summer at my parents' cabin, working part time and getting lots of quality family time (especially with my nephew and soon-to-be new niece/nephew), and hanging out in Glacier National Park. Then we'll be off to Seattle in August. It's my dream place to live and I just accepted a position to work at the University of Washington Medical Center in their acute leukemia unit.

The fun begins now though because our house got broken into again. The grandparents are letting us stay with them for the last month we're here so we don't have to paranoid all the time. We had a garage sale yesterday and have packed up almost the whole rest of our house today.

2012

I think I've just now had some time to realize we are in a new year. Last year I had some major changes in my life and this year may be no different. I spent some time this morning reflecting on where I'd like to be by the end of this year and here are some goals I've come up with to get me there.

o Read 25 books (8 of which are fiction)

o Work out most days a week for 1 hour each day, do yoga once a week

o Evaluate purchases before I make them

o Successfully grow an herb

o Watch less than an hour of TV a day & spend more time outside

o Volunteer

o Devote myself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

o Figure out what it means to invest in relationships

o National Chemo Certification course

o Apply for grad school by 2012

I have more, which I don't feel like sharing, but these are some of them. Also, not all of these goals are well written (they don't have a time line, or aren't specific enough). oh well. Now here's to a new year!

2011

A look back at my goals/year:

1) Get married! - DONE. Best day of my life.
2) Refinish 5 pieces of furniture - Not done, at all. I did 1 though.
3) Get chemotherapy certified at work - DONE
4) Join the local Oncology Nursing Society chapter - DONE & I joined the national ONS
5) Give more random gifts - Sort of done, I can think of a few I gave randomly.
6) Embroider some stuff - DONE (a pillowcase & handkerchiefs for my bridesmaids)
7) Move into my first place with my husband and make it our home - DONE
8) Make some new traditions for our family and continue old ones - Sort of done
9) Travel to Cancun (helllooo honeymoon!) - DONE
10) Read 24 books (12 for fun, 12 to better myself) & write them down! (since i have a terrible memory) - 17 for fun (i.e. fiction) & 8 non-fiction = 24 total, 1/2 success. I'll count it .
11) Start saving for retirement and possibly going back to school - DONE.
12) Take more pictures - DONE?
13) Get involved in a church in TX - DONE, we're Members at Redeemer Lubbock, co-leading a gospel community & have made good friends
14) Keep my blog updated with things I'm doing- DONE

I also oriented people at work, traveled to San Antonio, Austin & Fort Worth, knitted some, did other random crafts, camped & backpacked with my husband for the first time, cooked a bunch, made some really good friends & was generally very happy with my life.

If I wasn't super lazy & on vacation, I would make you links to the blog posts related to these, but lets be honest, you've already read those (hi, Mom!).

One Step Closer

Well, you all know of my goal of being that lady that makes the delicious cinnamon rolls. Probably because I'm related to you and I told you. If I didn't, I may have written a blog post about it, but I can't find it and am too lazy. Anyways, I just wanted you to know that now I'm one step closer to really being the lady that makes cinnamon rolls.

My favorite part of cinnamon roll making: the spreading of the butter, with my hands.

random note: how cute are the embroidered day-of-the-week towels we got for our wedding?

I only got a finished picture of these on my phone, so none on the blog post today. There are still some improvements to be made, but these are definitely better than the last batch I made! Making batch 2 tomorrow :)

Happy (Belated) Birthday To Me!

Twenty-two. 22. Ventidos. Not the most exciting age no matter how you write it, but it was a good day never the less. Spent a lot of relaxing time with my family and eating Jello Box Cheesecake. Horrifyingly enough, I prefer the Jello Box variety to the real thing and it's been a tradition for awhile now.

21 was a big year - probably the biggest yet. I finished up a life affirming summer in Vancouver, celebrated 2 years with my man, had a pretty rocking Christmas/New Years and learned a lot about myself, got engaged, graduated and got my official nursing license. See, it was big.

I think 22 may be bigger. Some goals:
1) Get married (this will happen in hopefully 325 days)
2) Get a real job

As you can see I haven't really thought many things through, but that is what I'm starting with. Like usual, God will probably surprise me with some pretty crazy things anyways, so I don't want to plan too much. Anywho - cheers to a big next year!

I love the Olympics

A few tidbits about how I feel about the Olympics:

The Olympics are the one time where I choose to put on sports during the year (or every two years I guess). Maybe it's because my sports attention span is about 7.8 minutes.

The spirit is contagious. Within seconds of turning on an event I've picked a favorite (not always the Americans) and my heart is invested. I root for them with my whole being and I may even tear up when, after they win gold, they run into the crowd to hug their loved ones.

I'm constantly amazed at how the tech guys make incredibly moving montages in 5 minutes to play recapping the epic win that happened moments before.

This Olympics in in Vancouver. Since I spent 3 months there this summer I get so nostalgic when they show the cityscapes.

After watching the Olympics I have already made 4 more life goals surrounding the Olympics:
1) Attend an opening ceremony
2) Volunteer at the Olympics
3) Raise a child to be an Olympic athlete (this one is a little iffy...)
4) Participate in a sporting event on a former Olympic field (like skiing in Whistler...)

Thank You, Pioneer Woman.

Over the summer after eating about 17 cinnamon rolls in Vancouver I decided that I wanted to learn how to make delicious cinnamon rolls.

I started today, in lieu of watching the Superbowl.

The always-popular and super-blogger, Pioneer Woman, has launched me on this journey. I found a link on her page and promptly decided to make them. And OH BOY are they delicious!

PIcture a Day v. 3

Disclaimer: again, I missed a few days.

1.20

I love that I have tennis shoes.

1.21
I realize this is a terrible picture, but it was a stormy day in AZ and I love those

1.23
latte art. maybe one of my favorite things in the whole world.

1.24
This was the day I actually went to see The Thing.
It was closed. But we made a memory
1.25
This is my best buddy, in the process of packing her apt.
I love her!
1.27
Birthday boy with what may be the best gift bag ever.
1.29
I love making good dinners :)
1.30
S'more cupcakes.

Picture A Day: Post 2

Here comes post #2 of my New Years Goal!
I cannot lie, I have forgotten a few days. But I think it'll be okay.

1.8
At coffee with my dad, I saw this really sweet couple
Watching them definitely made me happy

1.9
Homemade buns. One of my absolute favorite things in the whole world

1.11
Drive to Tucson.
I love clouds in AZ.

1.13
This is in my room.
Orange walls, pictures of my favorite people and things, and my new question mark wall decor. What else do I need?

1.14
Cinnamon candle. 'Nuff said

1.14
My friend Dan and I had Seth chauffeur us.
Not the best picture, but the moment made me happy

1.16
How could this bed head not make you happy?

1.17
On the day of one of my best friend's weddings.
We were all watching and waiting for her to arrive

1.19
The January edition of my "post card of the month" from mom

Picture a day v.1

I made it a goal to take a picture every day this year of something that makes me happy. Here is the first edition of that:

1.1.10
my parents always make me happy.

1.2.10
of course this makes me happy

1.3.10
what's better than faith and my cute bathroom?
1.4.10
dad's homegrown oranges. nothing better

1.5.10
a little self portraiture in the backyard...
it feels whimsy to me

1.6.10
a little quite time at the biblioteca

1.7.10
I spent all day scrapbooking.
and i love paper

New Years Goals v. 2010

Woah. It's 1/1/10. Weird.

It's that time, to lay out some goals for the new year. Enjoy. And feel free to add your own:

• Take a picture every day of the year. Of something that makes me happy.
• Graduate college, pass the NCLEX
• Get a job
• Not buy anything unnecessary until May (stemmed from Urbana...more on this later)
• Get my Certificate of Faith and Health
  
• Do crunches until I get a six pack. okay, not really, just exercise regularly
• Buy a nice camera. for reals.
  

All my other goals are general: read more, celebrate life, watch classic movies, embrace relationships more fully, eat in new restaurants, travel...blah blah blah. Hopefully as I spend time preparing for my last semester of college I'll come up with some more concrete goals.

The lost art of spontaneity

A few days ago, I sent a message to 20 or so of my friends and simply asked if anyone would like to get dinner. I got only got 4 responses from people saying they were busy or had prior commitments. This really shouldn't surprise me. We live in a planned out, "know what you're doing for every minute of the next three weeks" kind of world. Don't get me wrong, this is not a blog about how angry I am at those people for having other stuff to do. In fact, I am probably worse at being spontaneous than most people. If it's not in my planner, highlighted with the appropriate color I may not be able to do it. Even if it's not written down I at least need a thought that it might happen in order to plan it into my day accordingly.

This really gets me in to trouble. I get upset with people if they bail on plans we have. Or if someone didn't have the same thought about when we would hang out I mentally freak out a little bit and have a hard time adjusting my schedule. I think this is a really bad habit I have developed. I want to be good and just dropping the not-so-important daily tasks to spend time with people I love or leaving chunks of time open in my day so I can be spontaneous.

This is going to take a lot of conscious effort on my part. In fact, I think I'll make it a New Years resolution of sorts. I'll really have to work hard at it. But if you're reading this - feel free to help me to work on it! Go ahead, call me for coffee.

home

I spent the last couple days in Seattle. Which i love.

Seriously, I've fantasized about Seattle for the last two years. I kind of expected to be disappointed after building it up in my mind so much. I was far from it. What's not to love about kayaks for rent, African Dance classes, the Space needle, community gardens, non-profit coffee shops, sun (at least while I was there) and good food? While I sat in bed Saturday night I just reflected on the day and noted how I really felt home in Seattle.

My minimal time there revealed that it is full of lovely people, breath-taking views, and exciting possibilities. I was a little, okay a lot, depressed to have to leave what I grew to love in about two days.

Going back to school for a year is going to be a little rough. I know it's where I am in life and I need to be in that part of my life, but at least I have WA to look forward to now.

2009

So, I finally thought of some new years goals. I have some serious, some not so serious. And if I write them down I'm way more likely to actually work on them. Here are a few I want to get done:

Visit at least 3 new states (Maine, New Jersey, Washington). Be a better friend. Actually knit on a regular basis (i just finished my first scarf that I started...oh, a year ago). Memorize more. Keep up my GPA. Have fun in my last "fake year" of life. Do something memorable this summer. Give good presents. Love people. See my sister. Run in a relay marathon with my family. Keep doing yoga. Read 6 "spiritual" books or self-help type books. Make a scrapbook of my old family pictures. 

Now, I realize some of these are not good goals, they're not measurable, they're not specific enough. But, I'll figure out how to do them as this year goes along. I've got some more, but don't want to put them online. 

What goals do you have?

more Arizona!

here are a few pictures I took in the Grand Canyon and Sedona. I'm embracing Arizona :)

Embracing Arizona

I recently decided that I need to embrace Arizona more. Honestly, I don't plan on living here for long so while I'm here I should probably take advantage of the things Arizona has to offer. Here are the two of my most recent Arizona

 adventures:

This past weekend Seth and I went to the Ostrich Ranch that's between Tucson and Phoenix. First, did you know that ostriches live between 50 and 75 years? Second, this place is some of the best entertainment you can get for $5. You get some feed and some nectar. You can feed the donkeys, the miniature sicillian donkeys (which i love and now want one as a pet), the ostriches (which are terribly mean so mostly you throw the food at them) and the lorikeets (which flock to you - literally, they sit on you). It's phenomenal. I laughed the whole time we were there.

And on Veterans Day I did a hike to Romero Pools! The hike itself is 5.5 miles in Catalina State Park. It's actually kinda pretty :) Getting out of the U of A area is really nice and I love spending time with people in nature. 

Anyone have any other ideas for things to do in Tucson?

just a bit nerdy...

I have a new life goal. I have to warn you, it's pretty nerdy. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it.  

I want to compete in the Annual Crossword Championships. 

This comes from my latest Netflix rental of Wordplay. It's a pretty awesome documentary about crosswords, the people that make them, the guy that edits them for the NY Times, different random people that do them (i.e. Bill Clinton & Jon Stewart) and the Annual Crossword Championship. I was inspired. 

So yeah, I already added it to my life goal list which means I should definitely start doing more crosswords than the one in the Daily Wildcat...

Wanderlust

I really like looking up places that I want to travel. It's kind of a hobby of mine. I just google the names of random places, things to do in these places, how much plane tickets are. It's really unhealthy of me actually because it makes me want to drop out of school, quit reality and spend all my money. Nevertheless, here is a list of the top 5 places I want to go:

1) Taj Mahal - it was built in the 17th century by Shah Jahan for his wife. This huge white marble structure has dazzled people for ages and I've always wanted to see it in person.

2) Seattle, Washington - this is probably the most realistic on my list. I loved Portland and people have told me Seattle is better. I figure I'll love it, especially because of its plethora of coffee shops!

3) France - Eiffel Tower, anyone? This has been a life goal of mine since I was about 7

4) Sweden - I really want to go with my mom to see where we came from. My aunt and uncle went recently and actually visited with some distant relatives and said it was really great. 

5) Barbados - this is purely for the beaches.