Open Road Song

Once again, I'm trying to read one book per week this year. So I don't forget anything (or have a massive post on my hands come December) I'll be keeping track here throughout the year. Follow along, or wait til the end, whichever you like!

( Books! )

Sometimes it felt like 2012 dragged on and on. Other times it felt like it was rushing past too fast to handle. But its over, and 2013 has begun, and its time for that hallowed tradition of a New Year's post.

So last year's resolutions were as follows: Lose 5 pounds per month, Find and complete DIY projects, and Put $20 of each paycheck into savings. Well. I've lost 50 pounds since January 1st, 2012, have completed another knitting project, and have been putting 5% of each paycheck into savings. Not bad! Getting back into shape was my biggest success. I still have some work to do, but I'm so so happy with my progress. (Less happy with how much money I have to spend on clothing now, but hey- I'll deal!) I didn't do as much DIY stuff as I wanted, but I'm going to blame school and work for that. :-P And I'm going to continue putting 5% of my paychecks into savings, because its working and it isn't a hardship.

So! New resolutions!

1. Run at least two 5k races, and one 10k over the next year. I'm not a huge fan of running, but it is good exercise, and the races themselves are fun. I'd like to be able to run the 2013 Turkey Chase 10k, and by continuing to run throughout the year, I'm giving myself a better chance of actually doing it.

2. Read one book a week. I've tried and failed in the past to do the 100 books challenge. But I really do miss reading, and haven't been doing as much lately. So this is an effort to change that. They don't have to be great classics or anything like that, but I do want to try and read 1 book every week for this year. I have a bunch that I own and haven't read, so I'll likely try to start with those. And then we'll see!

3. Plan a wedding without going out of my mind with stress Did I mention?



On December 21st, 5 years (and 2 days) after we'd first said "I love you" Palmer asked me to marry him. Obviously, I said yes. We've declared a two week moratorium on planning, just to give ourselves some time to enjoy being engaged. But we're thinking a fall wedding, so in the 2nd week of January, planning will begin in earnest. We want to keep it fairly small, and to be as low stress as possible, so that is my goal for this year- plan a nice event without going crazy from stress and pressure. We'll see how well we do.

Happy New Year!

So, my Christmas cards went out disgracefully late, my apologies. I had them all written out several days before Christmas, but it took me a while to get stamps. So uh, they may arrive next week. Sorry! (I did receive several suggestions that I just wait and send them out next Christmas, but that is too absurd even for me.)

Christmas and the surrounding days were quite fun. Serena and her husband Ed were in town, as was Clarissa. Serena and Ed are expecting twins, due in April (which I've not mentioned here before), and we got to see the sonogram images and make noises over her expanding midsection. Ed kept calling her Godzilla, which she took with good humor.

I got a lot of bike gear for Christmas, shirts and pants and headlights for the bike itself. Just yesterday my dad helped me install the front and rear headlights and a rearview mirror, so hopefully I won't have to twist around to look over my shoulder anymore. Also got a Redskins shirt which I'll wear to the game on Sunday, and Palmer got me some sweet noise cancelling headphones. Considering that I'm taking at least two flights this year, those will come in handy. I also bought myself a Kindle. Over the past month I've saved up both my tips and gifts from customers, and I had over $400. $210 of that went into savings, but I decided that the time had come to buy myself an e-book reader, so I did! It is, of course, taking forever to arrive, but oh well. It should be delivered early next week, and then there will be awesomeness!

This past week has been a bit rough. I opened Sunday through Thursday, and by last night was just freaking exhausted. I apparently fell asleep sitting up, which is when Palmer escorted me to bed. Today has been relaxing, and tonight we're going to our friends' new years party.

So. Goals for the coming year!

-Get in shape. Vague, I know. I have lost some weight over the past six months due to walking and biking into work 4 days a week. My goal for this year is to combine that with restarting the gym and eating more healthy, home-cooked meals. Palmer and I are looking into CSAs and there are several farmer's markets in the area, so hopefully we can also incorporate eating locally into this.
-Pay off my credit card debt. Its not a huge amount, but it is several hundred dollars that I would like to be free of. So, for the next several months I'll work towards paying it off. Once it has been paid off, I'll put that money into savings. I have about $1000 in savings now, I'd like to increase that amount.
-Be more social. I spent alot of time this year holed up in my apartment, studying or sleeping. I'd like to get out a bit more. Not at the expense of my schoolwork or my health, but make an effort to see my friends more often, and go out to concerts or movies or the like. Just be less of a shut in, basically.
-Finish my degree. If I work hard and take classes over the summer, I should be able to complete my Bachelor's by this time next year.

And that's it! Happy New Year to all!