2010 so far...

2010 so far has been pretty frikkin good, I have to say.

* R and I have given up all alcohol this month (well, a slight cheat being the lovely Irish Cream chocolates my grandmother sent over from Trader Joe's - at 3.5% they're still pretty pokey!).  It's definitely pretty tough on the weekends, but I feel good and my wallet feels even better.

* I've been a monster about the gym! It's been great (especially going on Friday after work when everyone else is heading to the pub).  I've made the effort to go at least 3 times a week with either a run or looooong walk on the weekend.

* I've also tried to change my eating habits slightly - well, at least not eating crap during the week, and then whatever I want on weekends.  This has been working out really good, as I've cut out all the biscuits, etc, at work, but can still enjoy a burger/shake/chips, etc, on the weekends in town.

* As of last Saturday, according to my weekly measurements/weigh-ins, I've lost 7 lbs since New Year's! My goal was to lose a stone (14 lbs) by the time we go to LA in April, but at this rate I'll completely shatter my goal (of course, this may come to a screeching halt come 1 Feb when my no-booze ban is broken).

* Speaking of LA, we've booked our flights, for April, from 6-20.  We were hooing and hahing about booking with BA for those dates, hooed and hahed too long, and the prices went up, so we went with Virgin.  Good thing, as it now seems like BA may strike over that period.

* My 365 project has been going fab, too!  Often times, I forget until about 9pm, but I've had a few moments of sheer brilliance that just would have been missed if I wasn't doing it.

* I found out we're getting our bonus from work next month! Woot woot!  Such a relief to come after Christmas, etc.  This is really the boost I need to help get my finances back in order.  I've also opened up a new bank acocunt (bye-bye Halifax), and I'm going to finally get started on a proper savings account.

* Probably the most exciting thing is that R and I have been discussing our 2-4 year plans, and we've settled on a rough course we'd like to follow.  For ages, I've felt like I've been floating along aimlessly, doing my job, but not sure what direction I wanted to go in.  I kept referring to 'when R finishes his PhD...', thinking we'd come with ideas when that happened.  But we've realised we need to starting making plans NOW for what we want to do when that happens, rather than just drifting along.  That's how we'd end up stuck in the South East of England forever, even though that's something we both DON'T want.  We have to take the initiate to move forward with what we want to do.  And more and more for me, that's been to move back to Los Angeles.  Not forever, mind you, but I really want to be close to my family for a bit, and see how that works for us.  Once we live there, we can decide whether that's the right place for us.  So at the moment, we have decided that 'when R finishes his PhD...' we're going to up sticks and move to Los Angeles.  It's the perfect break in his career to make the move, before we become bogged down with other things (!). As of now, that looks like another two years from now (plus this current semester).  So we're looking at 2012.  That works perfectly for us!  It just gives me the sense of direction and drive I've been missing, and gives me something to work towards.  All in all, I'm pretty happy :)

The first 3 weeks of 2010 have been pretty good, and I feel like I'm really on course to have a fantastic year!  How are your resolutions, goals, etc, been going?

Me, wanting to dive into the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean! how I miss you!

365 Project

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to try and learn a bit more about photography, and be better about documenting my life.  This includes taking more pictures, as well as organizing and editing the pictures I already have.  I also decided to try and do the 365 project this year, and I started on the 1st.  Take a look at my pics, I update them everyday!

Wednesday's Photo

(click to enter the set)

 

So far, I'm really enjoying it, but I think I'll definitely run into trouble thinking of ideas of pics.  But so far, so good!

to gym or not to gym

The first weekend of the new year is always full of excited anticipation and new resolve for the upcoming year.  I went out and bought some new work clothes, ran 5 miles on Sunday and vowed to get my butt in gear.  And Monday, why Monday was even better!  Off to the gym I went, and had a great workout which left me sore all week, plus a bit of hot tub action.  Tuesday, I decided I needed a day of rest, to recover from my intense workout the previous day.  Whoops.  Wednesday brought us snow, ice, doom, death, etc, which is meant to continue well into next week.  Eep!  It's not that we're covered ass deep in snow.  No.  It's that the roads melt and re-freeze, yikes!  What's a girl to do (especially if she doesn't want to break her neck???).

Running outdoors is definitely out of the question.  Look what we're dealing with here, people:

Looks like I'm gonna have to ice skate to the gym today...

a to z

My new fave cd of the moment:


Picked it up randomly at the music shop with R in December. Me loves.

Buy it here.

2009 in review

2010's already upon us, but I wanted the chance to go over my 2009, and remember some of my fave pics during the year.

January

We spent Christmas and New Year in LA last year, which was such a treat. We had glorious weather (for the most part), and it's times like these (slush, rain, sleet, snow, ice) where I really miss those LA sunshine days. This particular day, we went on a bike ride along the beach with my stepmom H, and her boyfriend J. Look at that sky! It's January, and R's in a t-shirt. I love it!

February

Back home, and back to reality. February, we were hit with the most snow I've seen in the UK (especially living near the beach!). It was really exciting at first, and R and I went out the first night it fell to walk along the sea front. Unfortunately, the snow quickly turns to slush, then ice, but it was lovely while it lasted!

March

We didn't do much in March...we were going back to LA in April, and the weather had been miserable non-stop for about 3 months, so I was counting the days until we could leave again. But we were lucky enough to catch a showing of Waiting for Godot at the Brighton Theatre, with Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. Amazing! It was a great performance, and I'm glad I had a chance to see it.

April

My cousin had her wedding in April, and it was great to get out to LA again. This is the second day we were back, and we met Jen at the Farmer's Market/Grove for a bit of a wander. It was just so nice to relax and enjoy ourselves. It gets harder and harder to come back after days like that.

May

May brought us our one year wedding anniversary. I knew R was planning something, but I didn't know what he was up to. On Friday morning, I woke up to get ready for work, but R said, 'Nope, no need to go in'. He had called my boss and booked me the day off work! Then he picked up the rental car, and told me we were off to Looe, in Cornwall, for the weekend. So exciting! We stayed in the cutest little B&B with the most amazing view. It was absolutely heavenly, and I was spoiled to bits. I can't wait for this year, and I get to plan our weekend this time :)

June

R and I had a chance to go up to Edinburgh for Zonko's birthday. It was the first time we were both up since the wedding. It was a great mini break, and so nice to see our burger friends, whom I really miss! The day after Zonko's birthday party, a whole bunch of us went to Hailes Castle near North Berwick, and enjoyed the sunshine.

July

The marriage of the monkeys! R's brother O had his wedding in July, to the lovely M, and it was such an amazing wedding. They had it at M's folks' place, with the ceremony in a sheep hut and had teepees for the reception. Unfortunately, it rained like crazy, but it was nice and cozy inside.

August

I completed my first ever tri in August, the London Triathlon - olympic distance. I was sick a couple weeks beforehand, and had a pretty bad relapse the week after, so I definitely was not in top shape for the race, but it was such an accomplishment to finish. I also raised over £1000 for Fairbridge, which was astounding. This year, I want to train even harder and get a time I can be proud of!

September

Both R and I celebrate our birthdays in September. He's the 5th and I'm the 30th. This year, we turned 33 and 25! He had some old gorilla slippers that I got him ages ago, but they disintegrated, so I got him these tiger ones (so he could match our pet tiger, Oscar). He was super pleased with them, and they are so so comfy!

October

I love Halloween!!! We started planning our costume in September, tee hee! Obviously, we're Kermit and Miss Piggy (we had a Kermit and Miss Piggy wedding cake topper). J&K came down and we just went out in town in Brighton. So much fun, I can't wait for next year :)

November

November was another month of birthdays. We celebrated Kate's birthday in the middle of the month, which included a very large assortment of flavoured vodka shots. Oh dear. I seem to be particularly fond of the birthday cake flavour, but I think I'm alone in my taste. It didn't end up too messy for me (surprisingly) but poor R did not manage to escape unscathed. One of the very few nights where I have to look after him and not vice versa!

December

I love Christmas time, and had taken loads of photos around town of decorations, and our Christmas Party, and our tree, etc. Unfortunately, my camera was stolen in December, boo hoo. But I'll leave you with our Christmas card, which I love!

A little late, but now that I've done this, I can get focused on 2010! Happy New Year!