Well at least in terms of writing headlines/blog titles, I'm creative. Elsewhere, the creativity is about a big fat zero. Week two went a whole lot like week one...this is a trend that must stop in week three!
Fitness/Weight Loss
Next topic. Though, I did work out at least twice and look forward to working out at least twice between now and Monday (although that would count for week three).
Organization
I spent quite a bit of time organizing my office this week. At my previous job, we had a presentation on 'customer service' and how it related to higher education. In the presentation, the presenter had mentioned that our work space should be neat, organized and presentable. I remember the room filling with laughter. I put away files, organized my bookshelf and straightened out my desk drawers. It actually looks and feels like a grown-up office - minus those big, fake flowers sitting on my desk...and the pink picture boards...and the Pi Phi/Virginia Tech memorabilia...but you get the point :)
Savings
I am so proud of myself! I was paid this week and went through and paid the necessary bills. I then took out cash (yes, Mom, cash!) and put into individual envelopes: groceries, gas, spending money.
While I didn't stay perfectly within my range, I was able to put an extra bit of money into savings. I am at 5% towards my savings goal for the year and on a (hopefully) good track!
Education
I met with the graduate admissions counselor today. The biographical portion of my application is complete. Next will be to request transcripts, recommendation letters and to complete a personal essay. While the program I want to do won't have an actual new cohort until 2012, I can apply and hopefully be accepted to the program and take classes towards my concentration. So, if all goes right, I'll be taking classes in the fall of 2011.
Reading
Fail. Big fail. I didn't finish my first book yet, so I'm officially behind. I will finish my Dexter book this weekend and start either the fourth Dexter book or another book. I am waiting on a Jen Lancaster book to arrive; I thought it would have been here by now. Grr.
Book
Fail. Epic fail. I haven't written one flippin' word on that piece. Sigh...
Alright. So, sometimes it takes a bit of time to get started. Maybe I needed to (very) slowly build momentum so that I have a rockin' week three?
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Weekly Update: Numero Uno
Well, my first week of 26-year-old-awesomeness wasn't exactly full of awesome or productivity.
While I have 10 goals, I've organized them based on themes for the purpose of my weekly updates.
Fitness/Weight Loss
I did work out twice this week - even ran 1.5 mi...at one time, woo hoo! I am almost halfway to my 5k distance! However, the scale was not my friend and it reflected a gain, not a loss. Boo.
Organization
In terms of organizing my life, I did start to organize my recipes and my office - yay! Hopefully I'll have most of my recipes organized by the end of this weekend, and I will clean out my expired coupons, cut new ones, etc. I am going to be putting together a lengthy shopping list for healthy foods for my grocery shopping trip on Monday.
Savings
I 'saved' a whole, whopping $5.10 this week bringing my total saved to $80.36. Yay? And honestly, that was only "saved" because of a program through my bank. It's cool because when I make a purchase, they automatically take the leftover-amount-to-equal-100 and deposit it into my savings account. For example, if I make a $4.50 purchase, they round the purchase to $5. They don't 'give' me the 50 cents, but they take it from my checking account and put it into my savings account. I enjoy it. On the bright side, I'm nearly 2% towards my goal. Ha. Oh well, I get paid Monday and through some savvy spending tips, I'm hoping to be 6 to 8% towards my goal by next Friday.
My savvy spending deal of the week came last night when I used three coupons for Wholly Guacamole products. Originally $3.99 and $4.99, the coupons were for $4.00 each product. I also had a coupon for a $1.00 of an air freshner that was on sale for .97 cents. Throw in a bag of tortilla chips and my whole purchase - originally nearly $18 - was purchased for $4.90. Win.
I also went to annualcreditreport.com and pulled up a credit report. Did you know you are allowed three, free credit reports per year - and I don't mean from the "free" credit report website. Annualcreditreport.com is an actually, legit website (from what I was told by a lawyer) and I pulled my report. I've had some, well, we'll just call them setbacks, over the past year - mainly due to the bright idea I had to buy a condo (not a bright idea...) and I am working to repair my credit. I did pay $7.95 to find out what my credit score is and while it's not very shiny and pretty, it's not totally atrocious. Mediocre.
Education
I printed out information for three different graduate programs: a dprof in organizational leadership, an educational doctorate (Ed.d) in administrative leadership and the requirements for an MBA. My first choice would be the dprof doctoral program; however, both the dprof and Ed.d programs may not be taking a fall co-hort. Cue MBA print outs. We'll see, we'll see...I am reliving conversations from a former grad school professor. I remember telling him MANY times that he was crazy and that I was absolutely, positively not getting another degree. I also told my husband we'd never, ever live in Michigan. Well, I am serious about another degree and we lived in Michigan for a year. Clearly I need to stop saying "100% no" to things :)
Reading
I am hoping to finish my first book of the 26 for the year this weekend. I will make a separate blog posting listing the book titles, once I finish book one :) Currently reading: Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
Book
Oh my oh my am I WAY behind in my NaNoWriMo word count. By today, the 12th day of November, I should be at 20,000 words. Shamefully, I am a measly 5,921 words. And I haven't written since Sunday. And I don't like my plot. And I don't like my characters. Sigh...
And there you have it, the first week down - 51 to go!
While I have 10 goals, I've organized them based on themes for the purpose of my weekly updates.
Fitness/Weight Loss
I did work out twice this week - even ran 1.5 mi...at one time, woo hoo! I am almost halfway to my 5k distance! However, the scale was not my friend and it reflected a gain, not a loss. Boo.
Organization
In terms of organizing my life, I did start to organize my recipes and my office - yay! Hopefully I'll have most of my recipes organized by the end of this weekend, and I will clean out my expired coupons, cut new ones, etc. I am going to be putting together a lengthy shopping list for healthy foods for my grocery shopping trip on Monday.
Savings
I 'saved' a whole, whopping $5.10 this week bringing my total saved to $80.36. Yay? And honestly, that was only "saved" because of a program through my bank. It's cool because when I make a purchase, they automatically take the leftover-amount-to-equal-100 and deposit it into my savings account. For example, if I make a $4.50 purchase, they round the purchase to $5. They don't 'give' me the 50 cents, but they take it from my checking account and put it into my savings account. I enjoy it. On the bright side, I'm nearly 2% towards my goal. Ha. Oh well, I get paid Monday and through some savvy spending tips, I'm hoping to be 6 to 8% towards my goal by next Friday.
My savvy spending deal of the week came last night when I used three coupons for Wholly Guacamole products. Originally $3.99 and $4.99, the coupons were for $4.00 each product. I also had a coupon for a $1.00 of an air freshner that was on sale for .97 cents. Throw in a bag of tortilla chips and my whole purchase - originally nearly $18 - was purchased for $4.90. Win.
I also went to annualcreditreport.com and pulled up a credit report. Did you know you are allowed three, free credit reports per year - and I don't mean from the "free" credit report website. Annualcreditreport.com is an actually, legit website (from what I was told by a lawyer) and I pulled my report. I've had some, well, we'll just call them setbacks, over the past year - mainly due to the bright idea I had to buy a condo (not a bright idea...) and I am working to repair my credit. I did pay $7.95 to find out what my credit score is and while it's not very shiny and pretty, it's not totally atrocious. Mediocre.
Education
I printed out information for three different graduate programs: a dprof in organizational leadership, an educational doctorate (Ed.d) in administrative leadership and the requirements for an MBA. My first choice would be the dprof doctoral program; however, both the dprof and Ed.d programs may not be taking a fall co-hort. Cue MBA print outs. We'll see, we'll see...I am reliving conversations from a former grad school professor. I remember telling him MANY times that he was crazy and that I was absolutely, positively not getting another degree. I also told my husband we'd never, ever live in Michigan. Well, I am serious about another degree and we lived in Michigan for a year. Clearly I need to stop saying "100% no" to things :)
Reading
I am hoping to finish my first book of the 26 for the year this weekend. I will make a separate blog posting listing the book titles, once I finish book one :) Currently reading: Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
Book
Oh my oh my am I WAY behind in my NaNoWriMo word count. By today, the 12th day of November, I should be at 20,000 words. Shamefully, I am a measly 5,921 words. And I haven't written since Sunday. And I don't like my plot. And I don't like my characters. Sigh...
And there you have it, the first week down - 51 to go!
Friday, November 5, 2010
How do you measure a year?
Twenty-six. Overweight. Broke.
Not exactly what I thought I'd have to show for the first quarter of my life, but I'm just thankful to be standing on my own two feet with the man of my dreams and an abundance of family and friends. I am happy, yet there are some very big changes I want to see happen over the course of the year. Therefore, I've decided to set a top-ten goals list for the next year.
1. Save $5,000.
Right now my savings account balances total $75.26. We want to buy a house sometime in the next five to ten years as well as think about starting a family in that same time frame (maybe). I desperately want a house but you need money to buy a house. So, my goal is to save $5000 this year. It's a huge goal, especially all of the expenses that I have, but with smart shopping and cutting out frivolous spending, it is totally doable!
2. Apply to a doctoral program.
Yikes. It's a huge commitment but one that I'm ready to explore. The university I currently work for offers a tremendous tuition credit and it would be crazy for me not to at least apply and take classes towards a doctoral program.
3. Read 26 books.
On my last birthday, I made a goal to read 25 books before 26 and I succeeded! Woo hoo! Time to start reading again for this year :)
4. Fully run a 5k.
I will train, building my endurance (and confidence) and run my 5k before age 27.
5. Get to my goal weight.
I know, I've said it before and I will keep saying it until it comes true. I will reach my goal weight, and I will reach it before I turn 27. I woke up this morning weighing 216.2 and by November 5, 2011 I will weigh 158 - which will be a total weight loss of 100 pounds when (not if) I reach my goal.
6. Make an additional $30 payment each month towards my student loans.
I have over $46,000 in student loans. It's a scary number. It sucks. But, it had to be done and I have two very beautifully-framed degrees to show for it. I know an extra $30 a month won't be much, but it's a start. Starting is the key theme of this year.
7. Make an additional $25 payment each month towards my car payment.
I am almost under $9,000 owed on my car - woo hoo! By paying an extra $25 a month, I will have lower payments in the future, and can hopefully pay my car off sooner.
8. De-clutter and organize my life at work and home.
Geez, I need more organization. I'm not totally disorganized, but I am too much clutter in my life. I will focus on various parts of my life and organize them along the way, such as: my recipe collection, coupons, the kitchen, clothing, files at work, etc.
9. Commit to working out NO LESS than twice a week.
There is no reason why I can't and shouldn't be working out AT LEAST twice a week. I should be working out more than that, and I know it. Thus, I commit to working out at least twice a week.
10. Write a book.
I've said it for so long that I wanted to write a book, I've started a handful of projects and never moved past the first couple of pages. I signed up for NaNoWriMo which is National Novel Writing Month. It is a challenge that asks you to write 50,000 words during the month of November. By starting with NaNoWriMo, I will have a book written before my next birthday. (Note: I didn't say PUBLISHED, I just said I wanted to write a book.)
To achieve my goals, stay on track - and honestly, to stay accountable - I will post a weekly blog (on Fridays) with updates.
Signed, sealed and delivered.
Not exactly what I thought I'd have to show for the first quarter of my life, but I'm just thankful to be standing on my own two feet with the man of my dreams and an abundance of family and friends. I am happy, yet there are some very big changes I want to see happen over the course of the year. Therefore, I've decided to set a top-ten goals list for the next year.
1. Save $5,000.
Right now my savings account balances total $75.26. We want to buy a house sometime in the next five to ten years as well as think about starting a family in that same time frame (maybe). I desperately want a house but you need money to buy a house. So, my goal is to save $5000 this year. It's a huge goal, especially all of the expenses that I have, but with smart shopping and cutting out frivolous spending, it is totally doable!
2. Apply to a doctoral program.
Yikes. It's a huge commitment but one that I'm ready to explore. The university I currently work for offers a tremendous tuition credit and it would be crazy for me not to at least apply and take classes towards a doctoral program.
3. Read 26 books.
On my last birthday, I made a goal to read 25 books before 26 and I succeeded! Woo hoo! Time to start reading again for this year :)
4. Fully run a 5k.
I will train, building my endurance (and confidence) and run my 5k before age 27.
5. Get to my goal weight.
I know, I've said it before and I will keep saying it until it comes true. I will reach my goal weight, and I will reach it before I turn 27. I woke up this morning weighing 216.2 and by November 5, 2011 I will weigh 158 - which will be a total weight loss of 100 pounds when (not if) I reach my goal.
6. Make an additional $30 payment each month towards my student loans.
I have over $46,000 in student loans. It's a scary number. It sucks. But, it had to be done and I have two very beautifully-framed degrees to show for it. I know an extra $30 a month won't be much, but it's a start. Starting is the key theme of this year.
7. Make an additional $25 payment each month towards my car payment.
I am almost under $9,000 owed on my car - woo hoo! By paying an extra $25 a month, I will have lower payments in the future, and can hopefully pay my car off sooner.
8. De-clutter and organize my life at work and home.
Geez, I need more organization. I'm not totally disorganized, but I am too much clutter in my life. I will focus on various parts of my life and organize them along the way, such as: my recipe collection, coupons, the kitchen, clothing, files at work, etc.
9. Commit to working out NO LESS than twice a week.
There is no reason why I can't and shouldn't be working out AT LEAST twice a week. I should be working out more than that, and I know it. Thus, I commit to working out at least twice a week.
10. Write a book.
I've said it for so long that I wanted to write a book, I've started a handful of projects and never moved past the first couple of pages. I signed up for NaNoWriMo which is National Novel Writing Month. It is a challenge that asks you to write 50,000 words during the month of November. By starting with NaNoWriMo, I will have a book written before my next birthday. (Note: I didn't say PUBLISHED, I just said I wanted to write a book.)
To achieve my goals, stay on track - and honestly, to stay accountable - I will post a weekly blog (on Fridays) with updates.
Signed, sealed and delivered.
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