Saturday, January 10, 2015

Kicking off the new year pt.1

I'm kicking off the new year by updating my 23 by 24 goals. If this is your first time here, my 23by24 are simply goals I want to accomplish by my next birthday - very similar to setting New Year's resolutions. I haven't done such a great job keeping everything updated here partly because I got busy with school again and partly because my craftiness became a lot of Christmas presents that I didn't want to reveal. Since New Years just happened marking the new calendar year and the half way point to my birthday, I thought it was the perfect time to bring you some updates so here goes part one (goals 1-11):

1. Unplug & turn off for 24 hours each month:
     July - What better way to unplug than go camping!
     August - Spent a friday evening playing board games then drove out to spend saturday at the beach (making this the 3rd year - an official tradition; ending the summer by watching the sunset)
Aren't they the cutest! - September's unplugged
     September - Again, going camping makes unplugging super easy and relaxing!

     October - First month of school made this month a fail. Oops!

Out and about in Portland - November's unplugged
     November - I was sick over Thanksgiving break so I spent almost all of Friday in bed. Not the relaxing unplugging I was hoping for but it works. We also went out that Saturday and spent half the day in Portland checking out the Christmas bazaar, grabbed some brunch, and stopped by our favorite comic book store. The remainder of the evening was spent curled up with our new graphic novels (Deadpool for J and Walking Dead for me).
     December - This may be cheating but since it took 3 days to drive out to my parents' house in Arkansas, we were somewhat forced to be unplugged (with the exception of our gps). It was a fantastic trip (more on that in Tuesday's travel post)
     January - It hasn't happened yet but the plan has been set to unplug next weekend. After my Saturday post goes up I will be unplugging and enjoying some quiet time with J and my little four legged family.

2. Pick my own berries and make them into jam: I had hoped to do this during the fall but obviously that didn't happen so its on the list for the spring/ summer berries.

3. Go camping 5 times: 2 down! For my birthday we went camping at Fort Stevens near Astoria and in September we tried out a new spot along the beach. Cape Lookout became an instant favorite and we will definitely be camping there again as soon as the weather warms up a bit.
My parent's gave me this awesome tent for my birthday. There's plenty of room so get comfy, and a screened in area for cooking at night.
4. Make a new friend: I am blown away by the number of acquaintances I've made. Starting at a new university, I thought I would meet a bunch of people but the atmosphere is very different from George Fox. At Fox a big class meant 30-40 people but my average class size is in the 70s, which overwhelms me so much I tend to sit in the front and focus intently on the lecture, then book it home. That said, I've found so many wonderful, crafty people on instagram that I am getting to know better as time goes by. I've also become a part of a small group of girls that, though we were friends before, have become much closer by meeting every other week to check in with one another. Though its only for a few hours, it is so life giving and heart warming to meet with these sweet ladies.

Walking on a rainy day & trying out my new glasses
5. Lose (at least) 50lbs: Now this goal was written with the main goal truly being to have a healthier lifestyle. Admittedly I've only lost 10lbs over the last 5 months but I have made some positive, healthy changes. We found ourselves a PCP (Primary Care Physician) that has me on a few supplements that I was missing, severely impacting my sleeping. Plus, I had been having headaches almost daily, so we are currently working on fixing that as well. Now 3 months in, I'm sleeping better and my headaches are down to a few times a week. This improvement has allowed me to have more energy to actually workout and get outside with the pup. Just the other day I worked out for an hour and it felt so wonderful! I've also tried to up my water intake - I've averaged 100oz of water everyday for the last week! Another thing adding to my level of energy. Going to school in Portland requires that I ride the max and add in extra walking to my life. I probably walk at least a mile just going to and from class everyday, in addition to hiking up several flights of stairs (instead of taking the elevator). Oh yeah, and to cut down on headaches my doc suggested an eye check. Apparently my left eye is more than droopy - got some low prescription reading glasses. Finally, we found a dentist that is so wonderful which has helped in motivated me take better care of my terrible teeth. Overall, I'd say that this goal is going fabulously!

6. Create something once a week: Its been 26 weeks since my birthday and there was only one week that I didn't work on anything. Some weeks I made progress on several different projects without completing anything and other weeks I started and finished an entire project.
 week 1 - Patriotic doggie bowtie
week 2 - wine cork cork board
week 4 - finally hemmed all the curtains
week 6 - Kimono style summer cardigan (I am super proud of this one)
week 7 - all new recipes
week 8 - Crochet infinity scarf (Simply double crocheted in rounds)
week 10 - Altoid tin first aide kits (bandaids, pain meds, emergency hair tie, cotton swabs, and makeup remover pads - only the essentials)
week 11 - reorganized the guest room/ office/ sewing room (pic is of my desk/ sewing area)
week 12 - hung my US map surrounded by postcards from all over
week 13 - Lego creation (Sauron's tower - Tower of Orthanc)
week 14 - A&P drawing assignment (I spent all day on it so it counts!)
week 15 - Finally finished my QR home network cross stitch
week 16 - tried out 5 new recipes including making my own noodles
week 17 - Crocheted Amigurumi Link (Such a great pattern!)
week 18 - Crocheted R2D2 cup cozy
week 19 - FAIL!
week 20 - 1/2 finished on my xmas quilt
week 21 - Sister's Christmas present (pictured - duvet cover)
week 22 - A little bit of everything (pictured - Batman quilting "nanananan")
week 23 - Bionic bag (for myself)
week 24 - Littlest brother's (okay, he's a freshman in HS) Christmas present (Batman quilt; first ever fully completed quilt!)
week 25 - Other brother's (senior in HS) Christmas present (yes, finished after Christmas; flannel shirts)
This week (26) - super simple infinity scarf with fabric from Arizona

7. Get on Deans list every quarter: One quarter down and, I think, 2 more to go. I got all A's last term but since one was an A- (ugh) it set my GPA at 3.91. I feel super awesome about that and am hoping to get a solid 4.0 this term. So far (first week just finished) so good!

8. Get into grad school or get a job utilizing my degrees: Well, this is the official announcement that I will not be going to grad school next year. J and I talked a lot about it and we decided it would be best to take a year off (for a number of reasons). So, we're saving the little money we have by not applying to schools and, instead, I will be applying for jobs (starting yesterday). Best case scenerio is I get a job in either a school or hospital working close enough to an SLP (Speech Language Pathologist) to observe. If you are reading this and know of anyone, please please please let me know!

9. Go on a long walk with Worf once a week: Though I have tried to get out a least once a week, I don't feel I can truly say I've been successful with this every week. Visiting my family and seeing Word finally make friends with their dog Linc, however, brought me so much joy I am motivated to get out and play!
Who can resist this cute face?
Cider and parade


10. Start a new holiday tradition and cook a full meal: Oh yeah, this one is complete! Since I was sick, J did have to help but we cooked our Thanksgiving meal together. The new tradition for Thanksgiving being sipping hot apple cider and watching the Macy's day parade together. We were so successful on this goal, in fact we started a second tradition: Cutting down our own Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music as we decorate. We sort of did some advent related activities throughout the month but that wasn't as successful (goal for next year?). Since our family is still fairly new (living together and just recently engaged), there is so much we can still do and look forward to all the fun traditions we can have together.
Happy family decorating our first Christmas tree



 11. Finish reading through the entire bible: Its certainly a work in progress. I read quite a bit during the summer but once school started, I got a bit behind. Once I get acclimated to being back at school this term, I will pick it up again. This one is definitely destined to success by July!










Thanks for joining me. Stop on over next Saturday to read part two of how I'm doing on my goals (its already written up so I promise it will be here). Or, if you're just super eager to keep up on my life, I'm going to once more try my best to update more regularly. To help in this process, I have a long list of crafty things to do, I signed up for my first IG swap (#NerdsCraftItBetter), and I think I've finally got into a regular workout plan. So, until next time (whenever that may be): Live long and prosper!
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