New Year's Resolutions

I tend not to be very good at keeping up with New Year's Resolutions - maybe I pick resolutions that are too big for me to realistically keep... But I feel like 2012 has big things in store and there are some changes I'd like to make to help them along!  Nothing too big, just little tweaks to help me feel better about myself, mind, body and soul.


1. Blog/document more
Well, 2011 saw 6 posts for Make My Funk the Pea-Funk! As this is my second post, I'm already 1/3 of the way there : P I also want to keep track of all the books I read, and all the films I watch!

2. Detox January
Every January, R and I give up booze for the month. It's a nice cleanse after the festive period! This year, we've gone a step further, and we're going proper vegetarian for the month. I want to try and document some of our yummy recipes (once my camera is fixed!)

3. Start up my exercise regime again
When I started my new job in late 2010, I got the added bonus of a 2 hour commute each way.  Now I don't get home until about 7pm, so I've definitely slacked off on the exercise-front. While I get a 2 x 30 minute walks everyday, I want to try and start running again, at least twice a week - hopefully once on the weekend, and once during the week.

4. Learn new crafts
Last year, I did plenty of crochet projects, including numerous baby blankets, scarves, hats, etc. While I still have plenty of hooking to do this year, I really want to try and work on other skills. I'd like to try knitting again, get more use out of my sewing machine and finally learn how to make a quilt!

5. Finances in order
This is always an ongoing resolution, but I feel like I'm making headway on it! I've been good about my pension, been setting aside money into an ISA account and making significant payments on my credit card. This year will also be my 4th year of student loan repayments, and it feels good to know I'm almost half way done with paying them off! I would like to be debt-free (minus student loans) by December 2012, with a decent amount of dollars set aside for our potential move to the US in 2013!

6. Plan for the future
R and I first moved to Brighton more than 4 years ago when he started his PhD. A lot has changed since then, including jobs and flats, but we have known that we'd be here for at least 4-5 years.  Well, we're finally coming up to the end of our stay here.  There's no immediately plan to leave yet of course, but R's definitely gearing up to finish this bad boy, and it looks like he should be finishing up this year.  This means we can finally start looking forward, and plan the next step of our lives!  It depends on a lot of things, including where he can find work, where I can find work, etc, but it's exciting to think we might be in a new city 365 days from now : )

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!