2013 is mostly behind us now. Looking back over the year, a
lot has happened...
One evening in January I came home from work to find the
front door open and our apartment ransacked. Ray was out of town for work, so I
had to keep it together for a while on my own. To say that affected me would be
an understatement. The reason we live in the house we do is because it has an
alarm. I'm pretty sure that will be a requirement going forward.
In February we spent time in Helen, Georgia with family
celebrating a birthday. It was a fabulous time and I hope that we're all able
to get together again. It's so rare that a group of family members get along so
well.
On March 22nd, Ray, the kitties and I arrived in
Delaware to report to our new positions, for me a promotion and for Ray a
return to Walmart. I told you guys he'd be back. He really does bleed
blue.
We've traveled to Philly, Baltimore and D.C. on numerous
occasions; the majority of them involving either the Astros or Braves. We
actually spent a few days in D.C. to celebrate Ray's 43rd birthday. It was a
fun trip.
Claudia came to visit for a week. We made our way to the
beach, where the air temperature was in the 90's and the water temperature felt
like -2! We went to the batting cages, bowling, watched some movies, ate ice
cream and hopped over to D.C., where I lost the keys to the car and we had to
wait for someone to help us. Good grief.
While there were a lot of good things that happened in 2013,
I don’t feel that it was a purposeful year. I think we floated through the year
without any real goals for ourselves. Yeah, we spent time working out shooting
for healthier versions of ourselves, but that’s about it. I am typically a very
organized person. When things are not in their place, when I’m at the store
without a list, when I don’t have a plan, anxiety takes over and I become
inefficient, ineffective and grumpy.
So, Ray and I decided to make a plan for the year. We have a
plan for our finances. We know what we want to save for and how much we want to
have saved by the end of the year and we have a plan to get there. We’re
working on a plan for our time off this year. We have Claudia’s graduation (Oh
my goodness!) to attend, we have a trip to Arizona that is in the works and
we’re still working out how to get back to the Atlanta area for a visit. These
are just a few of the big items we’re planning out.
I have 22 books on my To Read list. I read 17 in 2013 and am
currently reading 2. We’ll see if I finish those before the new year begins. J There are movies I
want to watch and TV shows I want to see. There are restaurants I want us to
eat at and places I want us to be tourists in this year.
I have weight to be lost. I lost 13 lbs in 2011, 32 in 2012
and 25 in 2013. That’s 60 lbs! It’s a LOT slower than I had planned, but it’s
staying off, so I’m happy with the results. This year I’m looking to lose 30
more pounds. This will mean more regular visits to the gym, a few less splurges
and I know I need a goal to push me and keep me accountable. That goal is to run
a 5k in late March/early April. I don’t know if Ray is running with me or not.
Maybe if we can find a 5k that takes place during the week…
I haven’t decided on a race yet and it’ll depend on my
marathon running co-worker’s schedule. He’s running a half and full marathon
with his wife this year. I think they’re crazy, but I love listening to him
tell me about their training. I also enjoy writing disparaging things on his
RunKeeper updates on Facebook! Mmm, cookies! J
Speaking of cookies, I have recipes
everywhere. They’re printed out, in books, stuffed in drawers, saved to my
tablet, phone and laptop and online in MULTIPLE places! I want, no, I NEED
these organized! I just haven’t figured out how I want to do that just yet. Do
I want them on cards? Do I want them in the cloud? How about Pinterest? And
what about format? Should they all be the same or does it matter? Oh, and
nutritional information must be included!
Are you getting a better picture of how
my head works? Scary, isn’t it?
I have pictures that haven’t been hung
on the walls yet. Ray’s man cave needs to be finished. My bedframe needs to be
repaired from the move. We want to spruce up the car: paint and detail it. Oh,
it’s about time to start planning the container garden again!
Is anyone else feeling like a nap?
Zzzzz…
I write all of these things because
they are on my mind. We’ve spent hours talking about them together and I’ve
spent even more hours thinking on them myself. I want 2014 to be a little less
chaotic, to be a bit more structured, for us to be more prepared, so that we’re
able to have more fun and less stress in our lives.
So with all of that said, here’s to the
new year that is upon us. May we live each day purposefully.
For
sanity’s sake Ray, pick your comic books up off the floor! No, they don’t
belong on top of the box, put them back inside the box. No, not like that, they
are in alphabetical order. What do you mean “they were”?!?
