Happy January 17th. What a year this has been... what? it's only the 17th you say? Well, so much has happened in the past 17 days, it could fill many months. But, I am hopeful. I am hopeful that things will turn for the better. I know they will.

Regarding my goals for 2010. I have been cooking at home fairly well and grocery shopping for food on Sundays. We had a little hiccup over the past week - our kitchen walls got cut open and the workers had to cut the electricity to the outlets in the kitchen. All of this because out plumbing had to be replaced due to leaks under our condo. Anyway, this has made cooking in the kitchen tough. However, it has made me more serious about painting. I have not painted a single wall since purchasing the condo in 2007. Embarrasing, I know.

So, now that I have walls that are partially a new shade of white and partially an older shade of white... ew. Now, the pressure is on.

I have not made my budget yet. I don't remember if I made that a goal for 2010 officially, but it is. In fact, I am putting it off as I type.

I have transported some boxes over to my dad's house for our future garage sale, so that is good.

I can't really think of anything else right now... and I am inclined to work on my budget, so I am going to cut this short and do that. Go me! :)

C

BTW - my wallet, phone and camera were stolen on New Years, so my picture posting will be scarce. But that is what it is. I am going to try to get my old camera working, so we will see.

2010 Resolutions

Well, as we move into 2010, I have high hopes for the coming year. I hope for a change in the clarity of my life. My past life seems messy, rushed, overcommited and I always seem to be forgetting something or procrastinating. I am surrounded by an abundance of physical items, unneccesary debt, unhealthy take-out or fast food, and unresolved emotional issues which most likely are fueling the fire.

My future life will be clean and organized. I will be able to plan for the future and enjoy each day without the burdon of chaos that currently exists. Better yet, I will be able to pay down my debt and save up a rainy day fund and for items that I will be looking to replace in the future, including my computer and various furniture pieces. I have a number of steps that I will follow to make sure that I succeed in my goals for 2010.

(in no particular order)

I will spend most of January 2010 sorting through my belongings and pulling items that I no longer need. This will be the first step in reducing the amount of physical clutter that exists around me. The items no longer needed will be either donated or sold, depending on the item.

Also in January, I will be creating my 2010 budget - which will be a challange but a necessary step to getting a handle on my spending.

Finally in January, I will be kicking off my cooking at home series (which will also include leftovers for lunch at work). It was recently brought to my attention that I have A LOT of cookbooks. That made me think: How often do I cook from these cookbooks?... Rarely/Never would be the answer. I do pull baking recipies from my collection of Cooks Illustrated cookbooks, but most of my meal recipies are either pulled from the internet, family recipies or product packaging. So starting in January, I will be planning meals for home cooking and cooking out of cookbooks in my collection. Cookbooks that (upon review) are not providing recipies that I can use, will be added to my garage sale/internet sales pile. :)

So those are the big goals for 2010. I am hoping that by reducing the money I spend, the take-out food that I eat, and the clutter around me, I will find peace in my life. Of course there will be additional steps, but I am writing an entry, not a book, so I needed to condense.

Alright, that is enough for now. Thanks for reading.

C

December 2009

I will start after the Las Vegas Half Marathon.

December was busy - very busy. After traveling to run in Vegas that first weekend in December, we had the second weekend free to prepare for Christmas and rest before traveling to New York City for four days during the third weekend in December. We had booked the tickets to NYC months ago and while I tried to postpone the trip (our time was just getting too cramped). As it was, we had a great trip.

A few things about our trip to NYC:

1) We were there for a 24 hour snow storm which was exciting... and we found a southern BBQ restaurant just a block from our hotel for dinner during the storm. We are so glad that it stayed open and was a fun upbeat place to go.

2) Jeremy had never been to NYC, so he had a great time seeing the sights. We even saw the Rockettes which was amazing. :)

3) We happened to walk through the Macy's at Herald Square and there was smoke in the air. It turns out that there was an escalator engine fire in the store and we got to watch the firefighters head upstairs...

Anyway, it was an exciting time... and everyone was fine. :)

A few days after returning from NYC was Christmas, which was nice. Of course. It was obviously sad and kind of lonely without my mom, but most days are... It was nice to spend the time with the family and Jeremy's family. :) One thing that I have learned in 2009 is that family and friends really are there when you need them... and they really have been. :)

I took the week after Christmas off (for the most part) and enjoyed cleaning and relaxing. I got a great visit in with some friends and started to prepare for the new year. The resolution post should follow this one... maybe in a few more days.

Last night was New Years Eve. I actually had a great feeling about NYE - and it was fun. Really fun. Then, shortly after Midnight, I had my purse stolen. Thank goodness that it was a clutch for NYE and didn't have my entire wallet in it, but I will still miss my phone and camera. Oh well, not the end of the world. I still have high hopes for 2010... and my LONG list of resolutions will follow shortly.

Happy New Years!

C