Quarterly Review

Hello again my dear readers. I know I didn't mention that I was going to do this, in fact I just decided a few weeks ago that I should do this - but I am conducting my own personal Quarterly Review on my Word of the Year progress.

I hope you've noticed the ever present reminder of my word of the year to the right -----> I have programed that nifty little button to take you to any post that I have labeled as one where I am flourishing. I just took some time earlier this month to go through and see what I have done and remind myself of my goals.

I already know that there are changes to my goals. I didn't make it to Disneyland for my birthday - and I know I WANT to go, I'm just not sure when yet. Also, I'm thinking I won't be attending the Dance Teacher's Summit. I really want to, but with my sister getting married in June and all the time I'm taking off then, I'm not sure I'll want to take that much time off this summer. We'll see. I'm still keeping it as a possibility. for sure. :o)

I had the wonderful experience of attending the temple for the first time and doing my own temple work. I wrote about what I felt like I could share here.

In other news - I have found SO MUCH HAPPINESS within myself. I feel as if my heart has healed. I've been dating like crazy and taking risks right and left. I feel more whole than I have in a long time and for this I am so grateful.

Honest to goodness, life is GOOD right now. While there are certainly things that I wish I had in my life - I know that I am where I am supposed to be, doing what I am doing RIGHT NOW. This is THE BEST feeling a girl can have, in my opinion anyways.

New Beginnings

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I hope you had an enjoyable evening with lots of friends, fun and whatever else makes you happy.

I have been looking forward to the new year for several weeks now. Approximately a month ago I had several "ah-hah!" type moments and I knew there were things that I wanted to change in my life for the year 2011. I have already begun working on several personal matters and I am excited about the difference they have made in my life.

I have several plans for the year 2011. Each of these plans revolve on my living up to my Word of the Year that I have picked for 2011. My word for 2011? Flourish. Merriam-Webster defines flourish as several things but the on I am going with is the second one: to achieve success.

So how am I going to flourish? Let me show you a little peek at my plan for flourishing in 2011.

FIRST:

I will continue to work on my Day Zero goals. I have kept these in the back of my head, but I am going to make a dent in them this year. It is going to rock.

SECOND:

I am taking my personal finances in hand - some of my Day Zero goals address this but I have sat down with my budgeter (mint.com) and I have a plan! By the end of 2011 I will have 2 payments left on my car and one year left on my student loan.  I will also have a solid amount of savings in my bank account.  

THIRD:

I have lots of FUN things I want to do in 2011, but these are not FOR SURE things. These are things that I am going to save up for and if nothing bad happens and the timing works right I will do these things. These things are: go to L.A. and Disneyland (hopefully for my 25th birthday!) and go to the Dance Teacher's Summit in July.  Like I said, there are other variables for these things to happen, but they are definitely in my radar.

So there you go! I plan on Flourishing this year. I can already tell that it is going to be a great year and I am very excited to track my progress and keep you, my lovely internet friends, posted on said progress. Do YOU have a word of the year? New Years Resolutions? Please share!

catch me if you can

editor's note: i started this yesterday and meant to post it. and then...life happened and I didn't. i'm sorry. So...pretend this posted yesterday. Although, I know I'm not going to be able to post again today. SO! a real weekend update probably won't be here until tomorrow. but at least it will be here!!

While my weekend was mostly relaxing, I really wasn't "around." I did check my reader a couple times over the weekend, but still ended up with a bazillion unread posts. I think I'm okay with that . Mostly. Gives me something to look at when I need a break at work - especially since I'm on a Facebook fast this week as part of my Day Zero goals. whew. Today was HARD, but I think it will only get easier. At least, it better....

So, I should really do a weekend recap, and I will I promise! However, I have pictures! (GASP! I know! real life pictures!) And they are so much fun and I want to share them with you oh so much, but right now I'm lazy and I don't want to get off my butt and go and get my camera. So...since it's Tuesday I'll leave you with a little Ten on Tuesday meme and then promise to post about all the fun that was had tomorrow. Okay? okay. loves.


1. If given the opportunity, would you choose a mediocre job that paid well or your dream job that paid poorly?
dream job. hands down. I actually do have my dream job - just another job to go with it too. My dream job definitely pays poorly. c'est la vie

2. What is your favorite thing about the 4th of July? (For the foreigners: What is your impression of the 4th of July?)
hmmm. I love how summery it is! It's everything that is summer personified into one big day. Most of all, I love the fireworks.

3. What’s the most random fact you know about American history?
um...I really can't think of a random fact right now. I'm not a huge history nut. at all.

4. What is the best fireworks display you’ve ever seen?
Well. I don't tend to remember the firework shows from years past. Except last year's awful one in cougartown. ugh. This year, I went to PG with SwingKid and his family (more deets laters!) and watched an AMAZING show. minus the part when the fireworks attacked the audience. but that's another story

5. Who taught you how to put on makeup?
my mom sort of did, and then i learned more when i was taughter by my ballet director and then my current roommate AF taught me even MORE. Now I'm pretty much awesome at my makeup. maybe.

6. Have you ever gone through a financial planning process? Tell us about it.
sort of. I currently use Mint to budget my finances. My parents were pretty diligent to teach me good budgeting skills as a kid too.

7. What was your favorite outfit as a kid? Bonus points for pictures.
hmmm. I can't think of my FAVORITE outfit. I don't remember clothes as a child. ha. I do remember wearing very 80s style outfits for a long time in the early 90s. I was awesome as a kid.

8. Do you prefer a beach, lake, swimming pool, or no water?
I've only been to the beach once. I think I would like it more if I could spend more time there. Otherwise, I love the swimming pool. Lakes seems way to icky for me. Unless it's some beautiful spring lake or something. maybe. nah, i still like pools better.

9. Do you recycle? If not, why?
at work we recycle paper and cans. i participate in this recycling.

10. What are your thoughts and feelings about the Twilight Saga?
well. i love the fluff of the books. the third book is definitely my favorite, and from what i hear it's the best movie as well. I hated the second movie and disliked the book. The ending is lame and cheap in the 4th book and if i was one of the movie directors i would rewrite the ending. especially since they've taken such liberties with the first two movies. sigh. i'm in love with MUCH better books these days.