101 goals (part 1)

Given my current transitional stage in life, I thought the best way to introduce myself is to introduce who I want to be. Make sense?

I started the 101 goals in 1001 days project. I thought I would go through my goals one by one. I started these goals in February, although I will admit two things.
1) The hard thing about being in a transition period is that big things can change drastically. You'll notice that I had the goal to start researching buying a house. Thanks to the turn in the economy and a cheap grad school bill, we are looking to buy now. So things have changed since I wrote this.
2) I haven't really been keeping up with this, so I am hoping that reposting this will help remind and motivate me.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Health, Beauty, and Well Being

1. Reach healthy weight
   For me, this means about a 35lb weight loss. I got very close to this goal about 3 years ago, but once I graduated college, settled in to domestic bliss, and otherwise got lazy, some of the weight came back. I can do better, and I will.
   

2. Maintain aforementioned healthy weight
   I might get better with this once I am back down to the weight. Part of it means a reshaping of our meals together. Hy idea of making dinner and his aren't always the same. I am hoping to learn more about the Mediterranean Diet and how we can incorporate that into our world, since it seems that it is one of the more successful healthy eating programs.
   

3. Do cardio 3 times a week for half hour each session
   I have been terrible about this. I have my ups and downs with consistency. I need to do a much better job of sticking with it.
   

4. Go to the gym at least twice a week while school is in session
   Yea, this also fell by the wayside this semester. I fell off the wagon while recuperating from surgery in early January. I started to get back in the habit, and then got a nasty bout of the flu. I need to figure out how to make it happen around my schedule.
   

5. Weight train for 30 minutes at least twice a week while school is in session
   Also fell by the wayside. Hence the need for a goal.
   

6. Do Wii Fit every day for a month.
   I have the game, and have used it some. But I would be curious to see if it really makes a difference. At the very least, I can get in the habit of putting it on and doing the free step while I watch last night's Daily Show.
   

7. Be able to do more than 10 consecutive push ups
   Right now I think I'm at about 5 honest push ups. That just seems silly.
   

8. Grow my hair past my shoulders
   I donated to Locks of Love about 3 years ago, and have kept my hair shoulder length (or shorter) since. Since it's been a while, I thought I'd try a new look.
   

9. Get a haircut that involves making an appointment
   I can't remember the last time I did that. I tend to walk in to hair cuttery or some other $15 haircut place. Once my hair is long, I want to go somewhere that I can say "do something that will look good" and trust that it will work.
   

10. Grow my nails long enough to get a manicure
    This gal is a nail biter. Stress and boredom are my two biggest triggers, but I've never really had nice nails.
    

11. Whiten my teeth
    I doubt it will be with a fancy dentist appointment. It might be crest strips, it might be whitening toothpaste.
    

12. Research Lasik procedures
    This is one of those things I go back and forth on. I don't know enough about the procedure to make a decision, but from what I do know, I'm probably a pretty good candidate.
    

13. Know my cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure numbers off the top of my head. Get screened at least once a year.
    One of the things that spurred my weight loss 3 years ago was high cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Not dangerous, but higher than I would have liked. Given family history, I want to stay on top of those numbers.
    

14. Participate in an organized bike ride
    Something I've never done before.
    

15. Keep a food journal for an entire week (0/7)
    Domestic bliss has meant I sometimes eat things I am not thinking about eating, and I'm sure my portions have distorted.
    

16. Buy (and wear) a bikini
    The last bikini I had? Sometime in elementary school, I think. Even when I lost the weight a few years ago, I didn't really see myself as much thinner, which is also probably a reason that I gained some back.
    

17. Get a tan
    And I mean this in a safe, not cooking myself kind of way. It's really more a goal to spend more time outside in the summer, wearing sunscreen.
    

18. Buy a real pair of running shoes.
    I want to go to a running store and actually get fitted for sneakers the way I should be.
    

19. Get at least 3 massages (1/3)
    When I lived in Chicago, there was a time when I regularly visited the School of Massage and had massages twice a month. But moving and changed financial situation means it was the first luxury to go. This year, I treated myself for my birthday. It was wonderful.

Jump to part 2
Jump to part 3

Obligatory Introduction

I've debated doing this for some time. You see, since I was 17 (my junior year in high school), I've had a blog. True story. So I just hit my 8 year mark over at LJ, but I feel a bit as though I've ...outgrown it. There's a lot of emotional baggage associated with that account for me. It's locked up, access granted to a number of friends who probably no longer read it. Giving access to new folks would probably result in airing out a lot of laundry that need not be seen by people in my current life. Teen years are hard, y'all!

So, then, why now? Why start fresh with something public? Why do I think I'll update it more than I do LJ? Yea, no, the last two questions, I don't really have an answer for. But the first one, I do.

I woke up one day recently, and realized I'm an adult. Holy crap. I have an actual idea of what I am going to be doing with my life, and am making that happen. I have a fiance. We are looking to buy a house. I have a cat.

None of this happened overnight. The fastest thing that happened was getting the cat, and even that took 6 weeks of planning (side note, I'm a bit obsessive about planning). We've been looking at houses since March. Graduate school took 2 years to get the ball rolling on (doing prerequisite work not related to my undergrad degrees). The fiance thing? More than 5 years before we made it "official". So none of this happened overnight. But all at once, it clicked.

So here I am. Things clickity clacking into place for me. And I can't help but think I need a new place to do that.

I also need a new place for less heavy things. My style with my other blog was to mostly use it as a venting tool. It was very theurapeutic, but the truth is, I forget a lot of the small, happy things I encounter daily. And then I start to think I don't encounter them at all. Which is probably half true. I do need to spend more time enjoying daily things...a well made dinner (without having to do dishes), a new adventure walking to the post office-- you know the drill. Big things are falling into place for me, but they are also stressful things. And that's not so good. So a place where I can step back from bad days at school or one more project on whereever we end up living will be good.

Right?
Right.