resolutions for 2013

A 30-something with some resolutions

- Mel

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OUT WITH THE OLD
My Resolutions for 2013 (in addition to my 30-day challenges)included the following:

  • Financial: Pay off my credit card debt before starting school next Fall. Pay off old school debt to get my transcripts released.
  • Education: Apply to an additional college (not one I was originally anticipating attending, but would be proud to “get in”.) Finish all application and registration requirements. GO BACK TO SCHOOL! (yay!)
  • Diet & Exercise: Make A-level travel team. Train for my relay leg in the marathon. Get stronger. Lift more. Find easy, healthy meals that I can make on my own.
  • Work: Better business tracking: time spent on projects, job app-to-hire percentage, all business expenses. Continue to look for work that is new and challenging. Pitch more.
  • Relaxation: Shut down the phone and read once per day. If I’m on my phone every day, I can have my nose in a book everyday. Even if it’s just for 20 minutes.
  • Home: Finish house projects. Complete paint remodel of the first level. Decorate my master bathroom.
  • Love: Love and support the boyfriend in all aspects of his life (including his high-stress job and travel). Stop being so bitchy and expecting to suddenly live with a mind reader (ie: tell him what’s on my mind instead of being defensive upfront). More date nights.
  • Friendships: Send one handwritten letter to a long-distance friend or family per month. Make the time to visit and reconnect with long-time friends in Ohio. Connect and hang out more with my team/league-mates.
  • Do Good: Continue to volunteer and donate time and money to my favorite charities and causes. Be emotionally available for friends and family in need.

To say I failed a whole lot is… well, a sucky thing to swallow. Good thing I’m OK with failure.

I did NOT pay off my credit card debt; in fact, my debt-income ration is WORSE. But my old school debt was paid in full ($2600!).
I did NOT go back to school (yet), but I have all my transcripts submitted and ready to register for winter!
I made the A-team for derby. I did NOT run the marathon relay. I started CrossFit, and I’m lifting! I’m getting stronger!
I probably cooked for myself three times in one year. Ugh, horrible.
I’m giving up the dream of freelancing full time . Because, well… it’s really, really hard being self-employed. It’s apparently hard being employed by someone else too, as I’ve been looking for a full-time job for nearly two years.
I read almost every day. Almost. But sometimes that’s on my phone. I made a good effort in my 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge, but reading that at that pace all the time is difficult — especially when I want to enjoy reading. For what it’s worth, I still can NOT relax.
We painted! Well, the professionals painted. And I guess I decorated my master bath (even though now we’re planning a gut remodel job). Still hate that space immensely. But yeah, there have been a LOT of house projects both completed and half-assed this year.
*sigh* Love is tough, y’all, and relationships are really difficult when one person in the relationship spent the better part of 2013 in a slight depression. Relationships are work, regardless of what any magazine will tell you; and mine is worth working on. And WORKING ON IT, is becoming fun again.
While I connected with old friends back home, I did NOT write letters. I still want to write letters! I did hang out with my teammates more, which makes me happy because they are all wonderful, fun friends — and we have a MAJOR passion in common.
I stopped volunteering this year because of personal conflicts, and I felt that I needed to make *myself* first, given my circumstances. Hoping to give my time and support to another local organization in 2014.

How did you do on your resolutions this year?

Up next: IN WITH THE NEW

Photo credit: from Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.

30-day Challenges: on hiatus, but back for the new year

- Mel

It’s not too early to think about resolutions.

Yeah, life is not full of guarantees.
Yeah, life is not full of guarantees – money-back or otherwise.

To say the last year has been difficult is an understatement. As you know, I lost my grandfather in March, was told I had skin cancer in April (subsequent surgery in May), and then my grandmother passed in July. After grieving and vacationing and catching back up on life, I feel like I’ve spent the better part of the last six months… well, not feeling “better.” On the upside, I’m starting to feel like myself again. And feeling like I can handle a few 30-day challenges in the new year that were long-forgotten in 2013.

Promises Made, Promises Broken.

I started off the year with 30 days of NO ALCOHOL – my second year meeting the challenge; third-year attempt (I made it 28 days the first year). February was a lesson in waking up early; March, well, that’s when everything started to fail with my addiction to sweets. My 30-day yoga challenge for May was not possible because of my two-week healing (and no exercise) from MOHs surgery. For what it’s worth, I did NOT spend any money in June — that month’s intended challenge. (yay?) And I accepted a workout challenge in September (to replace giving up social media because… no) to start a fundamentals CrossFit program (not exercising every DAY, mind you, but starting the program AND going to all classes at 6am). Help.

A Year of Promises – 2013
January: 30 days of no alcohol.
February: 30 days of WAKING UP BEFORE 8am.
March: 30 days of no sweets
April: 30 days of “something new”
May: 30 days of yoga
June: 30 days spending freeze
July: 30 days of NO PANTS (dresses and skirts only; save for working out)
August: 30 days of volunteering
September: 30 days without social media
October: 30 days of dates!
November: 30 days of blog posts
December: 30 days of relaxing

Once you get off the ride, it’s hard to get back on.

Anyways, my 30-day challenges took a back seat to life, and I’m ready to go again January 1 with my annual no-alcohol challenge. But I’m also considering coordinating with a total Paleo month as well (I mean, since there’s no alcohol allowed anyway). But oh, THE CHEESE. I don’t know if I’ll keep the same list, but I’ll spend the next month figuring out how to plan the next year.

December, relaxing? Pssh.

What 30-day challenge ideas do you have — or do you complete — as part of your New Year’s goals or resolutions?

Image credit: from Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.

May & June 30 Challenge: Promises Made, Promises Broken

- Mel

Because of my surgery and mandatory activity break last month, I couldn’t complete my 30 days of yoga challenge for May. I will likely revisit this later in the calendar (perhaps at the end of my derby season). The 30-day promise for 2013 moves on, as I am currently on a spending freeze for June.

I’m glad that I noticed it was June before I did any shopping therapy this weekend. Because… ALL OF THE THINGS ON SALE.

frozen credit card

This is a big month for my budget… and by “big” I mean this month will be HARD to budget. I’m still paying off doctor bills (estimate there’s another $300 left to pay; all these bills keep coming from various billing offices. ANNOYING.) It’s my last month of car payments (woohoo!)… but my car’s 95,000 mile maintenance is scheduled for the weekend. Also, new tires and front brakes are in the works (we have a $2,000 cap for car work before we just push that towards a down payment on a newer model. I’d like to have no car payments for a year, but that might be lofty plans.) Passport renewal cost me $200 because of expedited fees. Paying off an old debt to a former college so I can obtain my transcripts for Fall registration (what a mess) is over $1,000 (baby steps).

This kind of challenge is difficult for summer. But it’s all June, with none of the frivolous spending around here. I’m talking freezing the monies on: shorts, shoes, happy hours, all the little house things that I do not need right this minute, nail polish and snack box subscriptions, nip toys for the cats, trinkets from the gift shop at work, amazon books (*gulp*)… derby schwag (eeek). No charges on my credit cards. FROZEN. I need to dip into savings and joint account to even make this month work financially — and our joint account is already taking a beating from home repairs, renovations, decorating and an upcoming (kinda unplanned) vacation. Picking up a new freelance client was definitely a highlight (and much needed) this month.

And if I *do* find myself with a shopping itch, I have a $60 Target gift card from my birthday with which to scratch it. 😉

Read more about my year-long 30-day challenges.
Jan: no alcohol
Feb: wake up early
March: no sweets
April: something new (post coming!)

January Success: 30 days of no alcohol for this 30-something!

- Mel

I cannot wait to kick back and drink a beer with my teammates after practice Thursday — my 30 days without alcohol challenge is complete (yes, that 31st day is a “freebie”). And I earned it!

On tap since 12/28/12: still haven’t been able to drink it.

This month has been nothing short of stressful: tryouts for derby and adjusting to subsequent practice schedule, medical issues and weird doctor appointments, planning and executing a friend’s bridal shower… I can’t tell you how many times I wanted a drink. And, considering that we never drank our bottle of champagne on New Year’s Eve (we didn’t drink at ALL, so technically speaking, I’ve already accomplished 30 days off the sauce), I’ve had to look at that tasty bottle of Rose for THIRTY DAYS. Down the hatch for brunch on Sunday.

The challenge was to get my head in the right place for the beginning of my season. I also need to find alternative ways to deal with my stress. If I had drowned my feelings in vodka then I likely would have been hungover or generally feeling pretty crappy and unmotivated to do HALF of these things. But I’ve had a clear mind and my body feels pretty good. It wasn’t life changing, but it was definitely a test.

More about my 30-days-for-2013 resolutions challenge.
Up next: waking up before 8 am every day in February. Yeah, it’s not 30 days, but we do what we can with the short month (I’m drawing in the 31st from January to make it at least 29)! This is going to be harder than not drinking.