2011: A Year in Review

It's New Year's Eve.

I have never been a huge fan of the holiday. It's not that I don't like it, but I don't understand the overwhelming need most people seem to have to spend the evening in the most perfect way possible. It never lives up to their expectations. I prefer a low key evening or if I'm going out, I just want to have a good time and don't feel the pressure to have so much fun that this night is distinguishable from all the rest.

I do, however, love the idea of a fresh start. I like to look back on the previous year and set goals for the year to come. Obviously, as evidenced by this blog, I love setting goals.

So, 2011. It wasn't a great year, but it wasn't a terrible one either. Here are some highlights:

1. I went to Boston/Salem for the first time.

2. We moved to Missouri.

3. I ran my first 5K!

And, there were some not so great things that happened this year. An old friend passed away entirely too young, when she and her daughter were murdered. I can't even type those words without crying. We didn't talk often since we had grown apart as we'd gotten older, but she was a large part of my youth and her loss is quite painful.

Joe's grandmother had to go into a nursing home, which was difficult for the family. But she is still with us, and we are grateful for each day we have with her.

I do have high hopes for 2012, as I suppose I do for every new year, but there are a few things in the works that will make 2012 pretty awesome.

1. I'm going to Italy!

2. I should (hopefully) earn my master's degree!

I plan to examine the list and choose a few items to really focus on accomplishing this year. There are quite a few that are easy to accomplish, I just need to remember to do them!

I'm baacccckkk!

It's been way too long since my last post. While life has been busy, I don't really have an excuse. I've done several things on my list since my last post, which include the following items:

• Run a 5k (Warrior Dash Missouri, 10-15-2011)
• Volunteer at a local non-profit (City Union Mission, Thanksgiving Day)
• Change my name on my passport
• Create a realistic budget
• Go to Chief's game
• Go to a Wizard's (Sporting KC) match
• Maintain at least a 3.75 GPA (I still have a 4.0!)

So, while I haven't been posting, I've still been working toward accomplishing all the items on my list. I did, however, remove an item from the list. I once had a strong desire to become a pescetarian. I felt it would lower my cholesterol and make me an overall healthier person. As I've done more and more research on healthy eating, I have come and believe that red meat is a part of a healthy diet. Therefore, I decided to remove the goal of eliminating read meat from the list. I am in the process of choosing a goal to fill its place. It will probably still be something health and fitness related, potentially revolving around lowering my carb intake.

But If I'm going to lower my carb intake, it won't be until tomorrow. That's because tonight, we are going to the Power and Light district for dinner with my cousin and his fiancee. We're going to the Flying Saucer, which is famous for having 225 different beers from around the world. Beers that aren't exactly low carb. :)

We also have tickets to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert tonight. This will be our third year with tickets and we always have a good time. It doesn't hurt that I can cross going to the Power and Light district off my list!

I hope to update again over the holidays, but I'm not promising anything. I do hope to get some more items crossed off the list now that I'm on winter break!

Run, Kayla, Run!

I have some good news. I have a few good items to report, actually.

First, I have finally started the C25k program! I'm in the middle of the second week of the nine week program, and can already see a small improvement. Unfortunately, I have also
been introduced to shin splints. They have limited the amount of runs I'm able to do per week, but I'm being careful not to over-do anything because I want to be able to continue the program without having to skip any weeks or anything because.....

I also signed up for my first 5k! Not just any 5k either, I registered for the Warrior Dash, which is a 5k complete with several obstacles that must be conquered along the way. There are so many emotions that run through me every time I think about this race - fear, excitement, anticipation, dread, anxiety, motivation, determination - just to name a few! The only goal I've set at this point is to finish the race, no particular time frame in mind, and then I'll start to think about time goals for future races.

If you want to learn more about the race check out www.warriordash.com.

Joe actually ran the same race here in Kansas City a few weeks ago, and the one we're registered for this time around is in St. Louis. I'll continue the C25k program and in the later weeks, as I get stronger, I hope to add some strength training as well to give my legs more power to push through a difficult obstacle or just finish the race.

In other news, we're going to be staying in Springfield for a few days next month so that Joe can help set up a new store that is being built there. I am just tagging along because I have the vacation time and like the idea of relaxing in a hotel for 3 days! In doing some research on things to do while there, I discovered that the local Y has a three-story rock wall, making it possible for me to scratch yet another item off the list! Since we have a Y membership here, I can go use the Y while I'm down there for no charge, other than the monthly membership fee was already pay. It seems like such a silly thing to be excited about, but it is one of the things I'm most looking forward to about the trip.

Fall Classes have begun, and this term my class is off to a great start. The topic of the course is leadership, and we are reading The Leadership Challenge, which is something I've read before and really enjoyed. Part of the course will include an assessment of our own leadership abilities and designing a plan to improve them, and since I tend to really like self-improvement type stuff, this is going to be a great class for me!

Up next - I think I'll talk about the 3 documentaries I watched to complete that item on the list and what I thought of them/what I learned.

$$$$$

Money. There's never enough, right?

I'll admit that we have not been very focused on saving money or paying down our debts. In fact, we really haven't been paying much attention to money at all. So, to achieve some of the items on my list, our attitude toward money has to change. I need to be more mindful of where our money is being spent.

To get started, I've been pouring over our bank statements. Let me tell you, it is not a fun task for a few reasons. One reason is that such a task is just plain boring. The other reason is that it is quite an eye-opening exercise, and its not fun to look at evidence suggesting you're irresponsible with your money and spend entirely too much money eating out. Of course, I already knew we spent too much money on eating out and other frivolous items, but only in an abstract sort of way. To actually look at the numbers is another experience entirely, and not one that I'm finding enjoyable.

It is, however, the reality check that we need to give us the motivation required to be truly mindful of our pennies. I'm using the information contained in our old bank statements to make a realistic budget. Having a strict budget is of no use if it is too unrealistic to maintain.

A big reason we should start becoming more mindful of our money over the next few months is our upcoming trips. Our joint vacation to Orlando is in December and I'll be spending a 12 days in Italy with my classmates in March. Obviously, those trips costs money and we'll want to have some spending money as well! That is a large motivator to become more disciplined, along with our desire to get more debts paid off.

I'm not sure if I want to share our budget on the blog, but I'll definitely talk about the process of creating the budget and some of the ideas we come up with to help us to stick to it.

Now I suppose it's back to pouring over those bank statements! I hope that before the weekend is out, I'll have achieved my goal of creating a realistic budget.

A Weekend of Firsts

Last weekend was very productive in terms of crossing items of the list! It wasn't actually productive, in that I didn't get any work or homework done whatsoever, but I did have a lot of fun. It was a three day weekend, and Joe was off too, which is a rarity.

First - Oklahoma Joe's. It's a true Kansas City legend, and I'd never eaten there despite living less than 5 miles from the place for most of my life. So, we ate lunch there on Friday. It was the best barbecue I've ever eaten, hands down. It's hard to imagine that a restaurant located in a gas station could be so amazing, but the line snaking out of the door was my first indication that we were in for some great food.

I ordered the Z-man, which was a brisket sandwich with melted provolone cheese, two onion rings, and sauce. I chose baked beans for the side. Joe ordered fries as his side, so we were able to try both the beans and fries. Of course, it wouldn't have been complete with a Boulevard. YUM! I can't believe I waited this long to eat this delicious barbecue, not only because of its fame, but because it was simply delicious! I even found it to be photograph worthy.

Later that afternoon, I attempted to accomplish my goal of riding in a hot air balloon. The Great Midwest Balloon Fest was held over the weekend, and we decided to check it out! There was a lot of music, food, drinks, and hot air balloon and kite related stuff. Sadly, the weather decided I shouldn't get to ride in a balloon. The wind gusts were too strong, deeming the balloons unsafe to operate. We still had a great time at the Great Midwest Balloon Fest. Several pilots, despite their inability to fly, inflated their balloons to demonstrate the balloon glow we'd all been hoping to witness. It was a great time watching them all inflate and glow the balloons, but it was disappointing not to fly in one! Here's a great photo of the balloon glow at the end of the night.

Saturday morning, we headed out to City Market. I know its hard to believe, but I'd never been to City Market, or any other farmer's market for that matter. It was fantastic! There were so many vendors with fresh, organic produce. It was packed full of people making their purchases. If I could change one thing about our morning, it would have been the hot weather. But there's not much you can do about Kansas City summers.

I was very excited about several of our finds at the market. The bubble tea shop was a welcome distraction to to extreme heat. I love iced bubble tea, but have had a hard time finding anything expect frozen bubble tea here in Kansas City. I was able to order an iced mango bubble tea. It was great, and it almost made me feel as if I were back in Boston walking around Quincy Market. In additional to our great produce, we found some great homemade french bread and apple butter. So our pup didn't feel left out, we also bought him some doggie treats, which he inhaled as soon as we let him.

The most exciting find at the market was my most favorite chocolate, milka. It was introduced to me by a student, Patrizia. She is from Austria, and in Boston, she was so excited to find the sweet treat from home at the store next to our hostel. She purchased several different kinds, and I was hooked! Naturally, I was beyond excited to find it right here in Kansas City. The most interesting of all is that we found it in a store that sold middle eastern goods like homemade hummus and pita bread, spices, and things like that. For some reason, they also sell German chocolate. While its an odd place to find it, I'm certainly not complaining. The entire bar was gone the next afternoon.

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo, but we also unleashed our inner geeks and purchased a Harry Potter lego set. Our mini version of the Hogwarts Express is pretty fantastic, and surprisingly not too difficult to put together. Tonight, we will see the last of the films. It's hard to imagine the books and movies that I've followed for the last 12 years of my life is actually wrapping up. Not to worry, we have our trip to the Wizarding World in December!

So, that was my weekend of accomplishment. There are several things on my list that I've been able to complete. I've been focusing on the fun stuff for quite some time, so I should probably switch my focus to some of the more serious (financial, etc.) goals for a while.

Health and (lack of) Fitness

Health and Fitness. Ugh.

This is not an easy subject for me because for most of my life, it wasn't an issue. In high school, I was pretty hot stuff. Not to be conceited, but I think I was an attractive person. I was also very active and really tried to look my best every day.

Now, I'm no where close to having hottie status. I don't think I'm attractive looking at all. I've gained a considerable amount of weight over the last couple of years and I'm very depressed about the way I look and feel. Yet so far, I've been all talk and no action when it comes to fixing that problem.

I need to take charge of my own health and do something to lose this weight. For that reason, so many of my 101 goals are fitness related.To get started, I've recently started Weight Watchers. I've also got a temporary membership to the local YMCA to try out some of the fitness classes and kick it up a notch in terms of exercise.

Let's just say that I've got a really long way to go, and most of my fitness goals (marathon, what?!?) are not very realistic.

On the other hand, it doesn't mean the goals aren't attainable, and this list isn't about making goals you already know you can accomplish. It's about reaching farther than you thought possible, so it's time to really tackle the most frightening set of goals on this list!

I am activating my YMCA membership over the weekend so I'll let you know how it goes!

Globe Trotter (ish)

As promised, I want to talk a little bit about my (somewhat) upcoming trip to Italy. The trip isn't until March, so its not as upcoming and I would like, but I'm still very excited. It will be the first time I've really traveled outside the country, with the exception of our honeymoon in Mexico. Unfortunately, Joe will not be joining me on this trip as it is a study abroad course with a few of my graduate school classmates. The details are still a little fuzzy but the current plan is a 12-day trip featuring Rome, Florence, and Tuscany. Words cannot describe the level of excitement and anticipation I have about traveling to Europe. I just wish March wasn't so far off!

In other travel news, we've got one very important item in progress. We've booked a trip to Florida in December to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Yes, we're huge nerds, and are beyond excited. December seems so far away, but I'm sure the time will fly by. Plus, that gives us so time to plan some fun things in addition to WWoHP, and save up money for all the nerdy merchandise we'll surely want to purchase.

I'd really like to throw in a small roadtrip or weekend trip this summer as well, but the pocketbook is getting tighter and tighter and I just don't see it happening! One can certainly dream about it, though.

Next Up: Health and Fitness Goals (and all the excuses none of them have been completed) !

Less Clutter = Less Stress

The big move begins on Thursday! Our big task this weekend, then, was to begin the cleaning and packing process. This has given us an excellent opportunity to sort through all our possessions and do away with much of our clutter. We have several trash bags filled with clothes, purses, and other things we just don't use or wear anymore. These things will all be donated, and we hope that someone can find a good use for them. It is a good feeling to be rid of those excess things that are just taking up space and making our home more crowded than necessary. Plus, it results in less items to pack up and unpack, making our move a little easier! It will be nice to move into our new place knowing we've downsized quite a bit. I recently read an article that said the amount of clutter in one's life can increase their stress level, so perhaps I'm doing my mental health a huge favor. The process, while tedious, will be worth the end result. I'll post photos of the new place once we're all settled.

I'm currently on a homework hiatus, as the summer term doesn't begin until June 7th. I've completed the first year of graduate school! So far, my goal of maintaining a 3.75 for the duration of my program is intact. In fact, I'm currently sporting a 4.0! It's been a very busy year, and I'm loving the weeks off before the summer term begins.

More specifically, I'm loving the ability to read books for fun during this time. I've started reading the Outlander series, which is great. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a time traveling romance that takes place in the 1700's, but it came highly recommended, so I wanted to give it a shot. I'm only halfway into the second book, but so far I'm enjoying them quite a bit.

I'm already almost halfway to my goal is reading 75 books in one year. It is more impressive than it sounds, because while I designed this list in November, I didn't actually begin making an honest effort until just a few months ago. Now that I've got a Kindle (getting an e-reader was another item on my list- yay for crossing things off!), I can read books a little more quickly, so that is huge help toward meeting this goal. Each Outlander book is 650-700 pages, however, so it will take some time to finish the series! If only I didn't have to work, I'd have them done in no time. :)

Well, I guess that's it for now. Next post will be devoted to my upcoming trip to Italy next year!

Cheers to Boston!

I was blessed enough to be able to chaperone a service trip for ten undergraduate students last month. We spent five days in Boston serving the homeless and taking in the sights and sounds of my (now) favorite city.

Kari (the other chaperone) and I were broken up into two groups, each having five students that we would be responsible for getting back and forth between service sites. While we didn't have to travel everywhere with them during their free time, we needed to know where they were heading and when they planned on returning to the hostel. Our policy was that as college students, as long as they traveled in groups, we didn't need to hold their hands every step of the way.

Day 1 -

We spent most of this day traveling. We left Kansas City at 11:30am, and had a lay-over for about an hour in Milwaukee. Then we went were on our way to Boston! We landed, navigated the public transit system to our hostel, and got settled. I had never stayed at a hostel before - it was quite interesting. I felt very glad to be staying with people that I knew already because I couldn't have imagined rooming with complete strangers. This was the situation for most people staying at the hostel and I just wouldn't have felt comfortable with something like that.

We spent the evening finding a great pizza joint and walking aimlessly around the area near our hostel just to check everything out. If you're ever in Boston, check out Little Steve's pizza on Boylston Street - it's great!

Day 2 -

We navigated the subway system once again to find our way to Pine Street Inn, an emergency overnight shelter that also serves lunch and dinner. Pine Street Inn has two separate facilities, one for women and one for men. Our task was to assist with food preparation in the large kitchen that adjoined the two sides of the shelter. Kara (one of the students) and I were assigned to making/wrapping sandwiches while the rest of our group carved turkey to be used for the evening meal. After we were done, the shelter staff fed us lunch and gave us a tour of the women's side of the shelter. It was amazing to see the services provided by Pine Street Inn, these people work so hard to give these individuals a sense of normalcy. We learned quickly that the homeless that visit the shelter are referred to as guests. It is a term of respect, and also an indication of their temporary status at Pine Street. The intent, they explained, is not to provide long term housing at their shelters but to give them a place to get in from the elements. Pine Street Inn does provide transitional housing for people that are receiving some sort of income. They are required to at least a small amount in rent, but it provides more stable lodging until they are able to find and afford a place on their own.

We had to leave Pine Street Inn and immediately head to our next service site, the Boston Rescue Mission. The Boston Rescue Mission is the oldest running soup kitchen in the United States! Here, we were able to get some interaction with guests since we served both their 3:00pm and 4:30pm meals. Serving the guests was the most eye opening experience. Many of the guests were surprisingly well-dressed, well-groomed, and well-spoken. If you passed these people walking down the street, it would never occur to you that they might be homeless. Each person was also extremely appreciative, and many made it a point to thank us for serving them that day.

After leaving Boston Rescue Mission, we were exhausted, but not exhausted enough not to explore more of the city. Several students headed to visit the Fine Art Museum, while myself and a few others ate at the scene of one of America's most popular sitcoms, Cheers. It was located in the beautiful neighborhood of Beacon Hill. After eating and a visit to the gift shop, we headed back to the hostel to just hang out and relax before the next day of service.

Day 3 -

We headed to our next place of service, St. Francis House. At this point, we were really getting the hang of the subway system! We exit the subway system to find ourselves right in front of Boston Common, but we can't explore because we've got work to do! We walk down just one block to St. Francis House and meet the volunteer coordinator, Kate. Our main task this afternoon is to serve the guests their lunch meal. St. Francis House is a day shelter, so guests do not stay there overnight, but they can spend time there during the day before moving on to an emergency shelter like Pine Street for the evening. Again, the guests were well dressed and many had cellular phones, and were friendly and appreciative for the meal.

This time, we were done with our service earlier in the day. We headed to a local coffee shop overlooking Boston Common to rest for a little while before heading out for a day of sightseeing. We walked all over Boston Common, looked at the residential area of Beacon Hill, and then just started walking. We explored Chinatown and parts of the freedom trail including the Old South Meeting House, the meeting place for the organizers of the Boston tea party!! We eventually got tired of exploring and found a T-station to get back to the hostel. The other group came back soon after we arrived and we each went our separate ways for dinner, which for me, was at the Hard Rock Cafe. The highlight of the dinner was sharing the place with a group of people in town for a video game convention at the start of their Pokemon themed bar crawl. Several were dressed as Pokemon characters it was quite interesting.

Day 4 -

This way our last day of service, and the both groups were finally together at St. Francis House. We were first split up into two groups: clothing and kitchen. I was in the group that sorted clothing, because St. Francis House also gives clothing to their guests. The guests come pick up their clothing in a room that actually looks like a retail store, called "Fresh Threads", with a counter of volunteers going to the back and retrieving items the guests request. It was very interesting to watch as the guests arrived at the counter, asked for an item, and the volunteer headed to the back to try and find it in the correct size. Soon it was lunch, and we all lined up to serve the guests. Some of us were out in the dining room cleaning tables, as well. There were so many of us, it was difficult for everyone to have a task, but we all had a good time.

After our service, several of us headed over the Harvard Square to see the beautiful campus. We stood in Harvard Yard, looked that statue of John Harvard (and took a photo of us pretending we were about to be hazed, ala the Social Network), visited the bookstore, and picked up some Harvard gear and the Harvard Shoppe. It was raining and we didn't get to see as much as we might have liked, but the campus was gorgeous and we all felt a little smarter in the presence of all that knowledge!

Day 5-

Since everyone was done with their service, the day was entirely ours. We chose to spend it as an entire group walking along the Freedom Trail. We actually started the Freedom Trail at the end, and working our way backward since the beginning was near our hostel and began at Boston Common, which we had already visited a few days before. So we started at the Bunker Hill/Breeds Hill Monument. Several people climbed the 294 stairs to the very top! After leaving Breeds Hill, we headed to the U.S.S. Constitution, where we had a formal tour and were able to climb three decks down into the ship. We also saw the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church, and ate lunch at the famous Quincy Market. It happened to be Snake Saturday, so the area was filled with people celebrating. At the end of the Freedom Trail, we were all exhausted and ready to relax for the evening. We were leaving the next afternoon, so many people needed to pack and prepare for the flight home.

Day 6 -

Our last day in Boston was probably my very favorite. Several people took the train ride to Salem and spent our day exploring the city famous for the witch trials in the 1600s. We were disappointed to find that many of the museums were closed for the season, but there was still plenty to see, including a bookstore that had books literally stacked from floor to ceiling. We also saw the House of Seven Gables, the setting of Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous novel, and his house as well.

All in all, it was a great trip. I loved Boston. The weather could have been a little better, but the person were friendly, and I really liked that it was a walking city. Kansas City is not a walking city by any means, and it was great to just take the subway and talk a few blocks to your destination. I can't wait to visit Boston again.

MAJOR FAIL

So, it's been months and months since my first attempt that starting this blog thing. I'm just not very good at this, but I want to be, so I'll give it yet another shot. Quite a bit has happened in the past 5 months - and a few things have been crossed off the my monster list!

The first big change - I got a new job! I was working as a graduate assistant with a two-year contract, and it is my original goal to get a new job towards the end of that contract. The university had other plans, however, and gave me a full time position in mid-December. This has been great is so many ways, but mostly because having a full-time salary instead of a stipend has eased many financial burdens we were facing at that time. I still get the benefit of tuition remission and getting to work with the students I've come to know and love!

Another big item completed on the list is our upcoming move. We have decided to move into a new apartment that is much closer to the university and will hopefully be closer to Joe's new job as well. He is applying for a promotion that would enable him to transfer stores. This new store just happens to be less than a mile from our new place, so that would work out wonderfully. The apartment is also bigger than our current place, with an extra bedroom and bathroom that we didn't have before. The apartment is on the first floor, which is awesome, and the patio overlooks a small pond with ducks swimming around and a nature trail right across the way. We also purchased new living room furniture for the place - yet another item crossed off the list!

Graduate school is going very well, I have a 4.0 so far. We'll see how long that lasts, but I am keeping my goal is having a 3.75 or above. I'm about halfway done with my actual courses, and then I'll start my thesis hours next spring if everything goes according to my plan.

Now that the weather has warmed up, I plan on tackling some of the local tourist items on the list.

Next update: my service trip to Boston! It deserves its very own blog post.