Goals For 2008

Well my last post was a summary of the goals I set for 2007. Now that the New Year is here it is time to set new goals. I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. That has never worked for me. Goals are much better. It gives me something to focus on yet I don't have to freak out if I don't meet them. So here we go...

1. Adopt a baby!
2. Attend church at least twice a month.
3. Grow a vegetable garden.
4. Get a better balance between work and personal life. No more than 50 hours a week at the office or on the cell phone after hours!
5. Get my A1C level (diabetes level) to 7.5. It's currently 10.3 which is really really bad. 6.0 would be perfect non diabetes. 6.5 is what the doc recommends for diabetics.
6. Go to Chicago!
7. Have a garage sale.
8. Work out at least 3 times a week.
9. Visit my Dad and Cricket at their house in South Carolina.
10. Start my final practicum for grad school.
11. Only eat out one time per week.
12. Go to a ballet.
13. Go to Exploration Place in Wichita.

So that's my list of things I wanna do this year. Some are tough but some are fun. Good balance! That's actually my biggest goal. More balance in my life. Balance between work and school and my health and personal life. That would be a very big accomplishment.

Here's to a great New Year!!!!

Jessie

Year in Review

Last year I made a list of 13 things that I wanted to get accomplished in 2007. I thought it would be fun to review them and see how I did.

1. Go to Greece! Due to the passport fiasco I did not get to go to Greece. Heather and Kelci went to Greece. After Darby and I finally got our passports the two of us went to Mexico. It was wonderful!!!
2. Take piano lessons I went to one piano lesson and haven't been back since. I just don't have time right now. Hopefully someday I'll be able to do this.
3. Keep my diabetes in check Wow this one so did not happen. In fact my diabetes is worse now than it has ever been. But I'm doing injections now and starting to feel better. I think this is just going to have to be a life long goal!
4. Pay off the last of my credit card debt I DID THIS!!!! It feels wonderful!
5. Complete my first practicum for grad school I DID THIS TOO!!!! I hated every minute of it but it's finally over. I only have three classes and one practicum left to be finished!
6. Spoil my niece Mattie like crazy. I think that this is going very well. I love that little girl more everyday. And now that she lives close by it makes it easier to do!
7. Get my homestudy done so I can move forward with the Ethiopian adoption process. Wow the adoption journey has really taken up most of my year. My homestudy is done, I'm approved through immigration, I'm also approved to adopt domestically. I've had a failed adoption after the birth of a wonderful little boy and now I'm just waiting!
8. Work out consistently. Ugh if I had done this maybe I'd be in better shape with my diabetes. This didn't happen. I don't know why I don't force myself to make time for working out but I'm very bad about it.
9. Raise $1000 for the Relay for Life. I didn't raise $1000 but I did raise a little over $800 which makes me very happy!
10. Organize my shop building. Heather and I got the shop building organized but it's now unorganized again. It's ridiculous. That building is one huge mess!
11. Go see the chalk pyramids. I haven't done this. I still really want to go. Maybe some day soon.
12. Meet all my work objectives. I did this and then some. I took a promotion and I'm now a supervisor. I've never worked so hard in my life. It's crazy. I don't know what I was thinking!
13. Get my yard fenced. The yard is now fenced. Lena and I are both loving it!!!

So that's the review. In the next couple of days I'll post a list of some things I'd like to do in 2008. I have a feeling it's going to be a great year.

Jessie

Sunday Prep

With this new position at work I've realized that I have zero free time during the week. In fact just getting normal things like meal preparations and house cleaning done are next to impossible. So since I'm sick of feeling so out of control I decided to try something new this week. I'm calling it Sunday prep.

What I did was go through my planner for the week and figure out what I have coming up at work. I also checked the 7 day forecast and then arranged outfits for me to wear for the next week. Since I do all my laundry on Saturday this was pretty easy. I just put everything I would need for each day on one hanger, sat the shoes below it and even included jewlery and hair items. That should save some time.

Then I decided to tackle the food problem. When I'm rushed I tend to eat junk. Which means I'm probably going to gain this week instead of lose in the blogging biggest loser competition. It also means that my blood sugar isn't good and I feel like crap! So I did my weekly meal plan went shopping and then premade as much as I could today.

I have tuna salad and chicken salad made for lunch. I even diced up my veggies and shreeded the lettuce so I just have to throw it together. I bagged up my grapes in individual serving bags, as well as some pickles, raisins, and nuts. I have my fruit in individual bags for smoothies in the morning so no need to measure just add them to my choclate soy milk and blend. Then for dinners I have the meat in individual bags that I will just have to remeber to dethaw and I have my veggies already bagged up so I just have to warm them. Hopefully this will help. I even have a bag ready to take to work for this week of healthy snacks.

So we will see what next week brings. I hope it will help keep me on track and reduce some of my stress! Let's cross our fingers....

Jessie

Side Effects

My doctor started me on a new med last Friday and I think that is part of why I was feeling so weird the other day. I started getting sick Saturday and I'm just now started to feel a little better. Still not great but more human. Along with the side effects from the meds I also have to limit my soda intake. Only one Diet Dr. Pepper a day. And one means a 12 oz can not one 32oz drink from Sonic. So the searing pain through my head may have something to do with caffeine withdrawels. If I ever get off of this soda I'm never drinking it again! Quiting soda is worse than giving up smokie treats. Not fun my friends, not fun!

Jessie

Resilient

The dictionary defines resilient in the following way. a : capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture b : tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

I love that definition. It describes my sister Heather and I well. We tend to be people that recover from misfortune well and we do tend to withstand shock with no major ruptures. That's just us. And as much as I wish difficult things would stop happening to us I'm thrilled that we are resilient people.

My aunt Adair called me this morning and asked how I was. I said good and she said how can you be good. I reminded her that there are lots of reasons for me to be good. Here are just a few.

1. I have really awesome cute hair! Heather and I stopped at my cousins shop on the way home yesterday to get our hair done. I love it! She did an awesome job and she didn't even yank my eyebrows out like last time. Our motto is "just because you feel like crap doesn't mean you have to look like crap." Big thanks to Sara for helping us look good and feel good!

2. I was able to go grocery shopping today! This is a huge deal. In the last 30 days I've spent 24 of them on the road eating crap. To go to the store and buy healthy food is a blessing!

3. My zinnias are blooming. This made my day. I planted them forever ago and they had gotten very tall but hadn't bloomed yet. When we pulled in the drive yesterday they were blooming.

4. I could feel my mom today. I walked out in the back yard to check the pool today and add chemicals and there was a random sunflower blooming in the backyard. I didn't plant it but it just showed up. Sunflowers are her favorite flower. I just felt like she was saying hi.

5. The farmer's market is tomorrow and I'm going with my wonderful Goddaughter Isabel. Fresh veggies and Isabel always make me happy.

6. Heather isn't able to rent a car because she isn't old enough so she had to take my car and I got the rental that Heather is paying for. I'm driving a red Mazda 3 that is sexy, speedy, and super fun. That has to make a girl happy!

7. My neighbor kids made me an awesome card. It says, "Jessie you are the best neighbor and you will be a bester mom. We missed you and love you and we are praying you find a baby." So I will be a bester mom and they love me. That makes me feel good!

8. God let me wake up this morning!

So I guess what I'm saying is there is always something to be happy about. Being resilient is an awesome thing!!!

Jessie