Quick random updates

Very quick update so I can feel like I actually made a real post...

Take welding class - I have a friend who can probably teach me so hopefully I can make some time for lessons. It'll definitely be sometime this year.

Read one book/month - I've maybe missed a month, but have been trying really hard to keep motivated to read a book every month. Some of the books were short or in comic form so that's kind of cheating, but each book still requires some level of commitment so that's a big step for me. I need to get the exact titles together so I can actually post up everything I've read. :) The book I hope to start soon is "The Witches of Eastwick" - I feel a little ashamed of the fact that the recent death of the author made me consider this book. I wouldn't have given it a second glance otherwise.

Join a community band - I joined the Band of the Hills and went to my first rehearsal on January 8. I got sick that week so I had to skip the next week's practice, but I've been going consistently since and look forward to our concert in Austin and Houston. I may even stay longer than 6 months, but we'll see where things are by then.

Buy a new bed - I think I more meant to buy a new bed mattress, but this is a step in the right direction. We bought a new MALM platform bed frame from IKEA, which enabled us to get rid of the box spring. I'm so happy about that! Hopefully we can look at a new mattress later this year or early next year.

Visit 5 of USA's top 41 wonders - saw the following during our trip to NY/NJ last month: New York Skyline View, Statue of Liberty, American Museum of Natural History and Times Square at Night. That leaves one more to go! I'll admit that list is a little weird and non-conventional. The Alamo should definitely be on that list, but it's not. Oh well, I picked it so I will have to just go visit other places. :)

See a broadway musical - I just bought tickets to "Avenue Q" on April 16th! I've been trying to see that musical for a while and when I found out it's coming to Austin and tickets are only $20, I had to jump on it. The seats are horrible, but that's alright. :)

Ok, time to get back to my regularly scheduled life... stay tuned!

Where'd I go?

Yeah, I'm not really sure where I went. I was physically here, but mentally, I've been anywhere but. Anyway, I have SO many things to post about, but I'll just make a quick list of things to remind me to make longer posts later (and to make sure everyone knew I was still alive and well and at least trying to keep up)...

Movies I've seen and still need to post about:

- The Professional
- Amelie
- Fight Club

There are at least 10 movies on the DVR (I love my AT&T Uverse!) and probably 20+ in our collection that we need to start watching. We had a solid groove of watching 2-3/week a couple months ago, but who knew we'd be busy as the holidays crept closer? :)

Let's see...I also completed the following:

- Vote in the '08 election
- Participate in a 5k
- Read one book every month (x2)
- New recipe every month (x2)
- Attend a UT football game

Things I just can't seem to do on a regular basis:

- Ride bike once/month
- Yoga once/week
- Meditate once/month
- Detail CR-V interior once/month

I feel like I've failed the ones above, but I need to remind myself that I'm really bad about starting routines, but once I repeat it a few times, I'm set. I need to actually schedule it in and make no excuses. They really don't take that much time so I'll see if I can put more effort into these and at least do it for a majority of the 1001 days. :)

Things I've started, never finished and will have to restart again:

- 100-Push-up challenge
- 365 Days Photo project (will start again on Jan 1st to make it easier to track)

And finally, things that I'd like to finish (that are more than feasible) before the end of the year:

- Clear/organize garage to be able to fit one car
- Buy new washer/dryer (if Sears or Home Depot will give me a good deal on Black Friday)
- Mail a secret to PostSecret
- Clean off work desk to minimize clutter
- Visit 5 places in USA's top 41 wonders (going to NYC in a month!)
- Pay for the person behind me in a drive-through
- Finish laser hair removal treatments (I may need one more appt in '09, but we'll see)

Ok, after listing everything out like that, I don't feel so bad about the things I haven't done and have at least given myself a renewed burst of motivation to get back to it. Hopefully I can post some pictures and movie reviews soon...

(21) Perfect Start

Whew! I finally finished it! I posted about this book on my other blog a while back. If I hadn't taken time out of my schedule to just relax and read - exactly what this book promotes - I wouldn't have finished this quickly. As I read, I kept seeing more and more similarities between myself and the examples in the book. It was definitely eye opening in an almost painful way, but also in a liberating way because I knew there were other people out there that felt the same way or even more obsessed. One of the last chapters was about parenting and it really became evident that my perfectionist ways were definitely a result of how I was raised. Sure, I can almost guarantee that some of it is genetic, but with both nurture and nature taking part, I couldn't get around it.

Anyway, I definitely absorbed a lot of good advice and I'm learning to just let things go if they don't go completely my way or as I want it to be. There is more than one path to a goal. I'm a total control freak so it's tough letting go, but I'm determined to work on it, especially when we have kids. I think I'll read "1984" next so I can knock out another goal.