My 2014 Goals: Simplify

Hello from an (excruciatingly chilly) Minnesota! I arrived home today to sub-zero temperatures and crazy wind chills, but honestly; I don't even care. I just spent the first five days of 2014 with my fabulous friend Kelsi and it was everything I needed and more to jump start this year.

I arrived in Los Angeles with a pretty decent idea that my word for 2014 needed to be simplify. After one too many overwhelming moments/days/weeks in November, December, and really all of 2013, I decided that in order to make it to 27 years of age, then I am going to need to learn to say no! Therefore, 2014 is all about trimming back to what really matters. Making time to focus on the things that make me the happiest and sorting through everything else that I just do because I feel like I should/already committed to.

After Kelsi and I spent a leisurely morning with coffee, breakfast and this Four-Step Life Purge Guide (an awesome, free resource!), our respective goals became pretty clear. Ignoring the obvious irony that my 2014 word is simplify and yet here I am setting a number of goals, I am psyched about the end result! As my roommate Ilse put it tonight, there are some things that will be challenging and others that will be easy to attain...overall it is a good balance moving forward.

A few things I am especially looking forward to tackling as I work towards more simplicity:

• Planing/scheduling one night of the week that is just for me.
• Being IN BED at 10 PM (This will be the most challenging goal for sure!)
• Two "No Unnecessary Spending" months (I did one in 2013 and it was awesome!) as well as donating things I already have but do not wear/use.
• Reading an actual newspaper once a week. (Preferably while sipping coffee)
• NOT working at my desk while I eat lunch at least three times a week.
• Inviting friends over for dinner once a month so I eat out less (two or fewer times per week).

Cheers to all that you want to strive for in 2014! Here is a complete list of my 2014 goals.

Hiking the Hollywood sign with Kelsi on January 4.

Other adventures included, but are in no way limited to: exploring Little Tokyo/Chinatown, DIY biking wine tour in Paso Robles, Saturday morning yoga, homemade sesame seared ahi tuna salad, reuniting with Hana in Santa Barbara, and just lots of good best friend good-for-the-soul time.

Eff Yeah 2013

In keeping with tradition, I am sitting down on December 31 to look back on 2013. (Take a look back at 2011 and 2012 if you wish) For a few months now I have been thinking I cannot wait for 2013 to be over. Lots of hard things have happened in the last few months and I have just been dying for a breath of fresh air. Here's to hoping 2014 has exactly that and much more in store! That said, there was a lot of awesome that took place in 2013 and one of my goals was to keep track of things all year long (thus making this list much easier to write!), so here it is, straight from my iPhone notes to you lovely people.

Eff Yeah 2013 
January

• Housewarming Party
• Successful no unnecessary spending month (ALL the dollars saved!!) 
• Joined a (short-lived) book club
• Passed my Praxis 3 pedagogy tests to obtain my five year Minnesota teaching license

February

• Successful no alcohol month (many dollars saved!!)
• Winter trip to Ilse's cabin in Nisswa, Minnesota
• Minnesota Restaurant Week 
• Indeed Brewery tour

March

• Summit Brewery tour on St. Patrick's Day morning
• MALLasana - giant yoga class in the rotunda at the Mall of America with Maria
• Weekend in Sheboygan with Joe and Michael for March Madness

April

• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in Denver 
• Long weekend in Denver with Aunt Susie
• Organized a 20 person summer kickball team at Lake Nokomis
• Accepted to and attended first ever Cities 97 Singles Mixer with Jess
• Got my financial life in order, acted like an adult and met with a financial planner
• Surly Brewing tour with Mom and Dad
• Twin Cities Ultimate Frisbee spring league with Ilse

May

• Needtobreathe in concert at the Orpheum Theater
• Sara Bareilles in concert at Cedar Cultural Center
• Run or Dye 5K with Liz and Joe
• Bought a new bike!! Hello Twin Cities bike trails :) 
• Learned to operate a grill without blowing anything/anyone up
• Kenny Chesney and Eric Church in concert at Miller Park with Joe, Megan and Katie

June

• Started grad school for a Masters in Education at Hamline University 
• Grand Ole Day with the family 
• Danny's high school graduation and open house
• Music in Mears Park on Thursday nights
• Minneapolis movies in the park

July

• Impromptu Fourth of July trip to Las Vegas
• John Mayer in concert (for the first time in years) with Katie and Evan at Summerfest
• Week with the family at Madden's in Brainerd, Minnesota 
• Rented a pontoon and spent the day on Gull Lake for Michael's 21st birthday
• Worked the Basilica Block Party beer tent with Mom and met Oake and Keri
• Matt Nathanson at Basilica Block Party with Mom
• River Falls Days with Tim, Jamie and Andrew
• Brett Young in concert in Santa Monica with Kelsi, Sam and Aaron
• Birthday party with friends and a princess castle in our backyard
• Second birthday party with California friends
• Two week road trip with Kelsi along West Coast - California, Oregon and Washington
• THREE new baseball stadiums visited - Los Angeles Angels, Oakland As, San Francisco Giants
• Drove through the Redwood Forest
• Hiked the Columbia River Gorge
• Dinner in the Space Needle with Papa and Paula

August

• Baseball road trip with Joe to Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago White Sox
• Successful no coffee month (many more dollars saved!!)
• PLC Workshop with three coworkers in Lincolnshire, Illinois

September

• Year five of teaching!!! 
• Worked as a SIOP instructional coach and PLC leader at school 
• Celebrated Jenny and Justin's wedding
• Organized the first school "night out" of the year at a Twins game
• Overnight with all students and staff at Camp Courage to kick off the school year
• North Shore weekend with the family
• Purple Ride Twin Cities to raise money for pancreatic cancer research

October

• Celebrated Tim and Jamie's wedding
• Halloween weekend in Madison with all three brothers
• Started Soup Club at school

November

• Two back-to-back nights of Matt Nathanson concerts with Nicole and Mom
• Thanksgiving weekend with all the brothers in town
• Meals on Wheels with Mom and Joe
• John Mayer in concert at Target Center
• Katie and Evan come to visit for the weekend 

December

• Bachelorette party with coworkers
• Holidazzle parade with the family
• Visited Allison and Jesse in Duluth with Bridget
• Skiing with all three brothers at Welch Village
• Christmas with both extended families
• Libby comes to visit for the weekend 

2013 Goals: Reflections on No Shopping January

{At the beginning of 2013 I made monthly goals for the year. Here are my thoughts on January's goal.}

Image credit here.

The Mall of America kind of kills me with its never-ending commercialism and the fact that you I can never just go there for one thing. I mean, yes it's a lovely place to take people who have never been to Minnesota and it is a convenient one-stop-shop when you need a lot of things... like a winter wardrobe upon returning from a warm weather country for the last three years.

However, in general, I do not need a lot of things, so not going to the Mall of America and shopping there during the month of January wasn't actually that hard. (Expect when Victoria's Secret would not cut it out with the Semi-Annual Sale emails, but I digress.) ANYWAY - so No Shopping January in relation to clothes and shopping at stores at malls, not really a problem.

Then there's Target. The magical land of some things you need and everything else never knew you needed in your life but now you 100% need it because it's cute/on sale/you know someone who has it/it's been a rough week so you owe it to yourself/insert your own justification here. I think Target's entire marketing scheme is built upon getting you in the door for things you actually need (electronics, groceries, home goods, etc.) and then taunting you with all the adorable things they have. And well done, Target, well done, because it's totally working. That and the dollar section. Don't even get me started on the dollar section.

Upon moving into my friend Liz's new house at the end of December we both promptly spent at least $200 on our first roommate Target run. $200! Each! In one day! And yes, now we have cute red canisters to store flour, sugar, etc. and an adorable wine rack and shelves for the bathroom and more than one box of 16 individual Chai Latte Keurig cups (what? they were on sale!) and all right, fine, I did buy 3 boxes of Triscuits in one trip, but I mean REALLY - $200? Our combined $400 of Target stuff didn't even fill up her car. I feel like $400 of stuff should fill your car - right?

After that gem of an experience I entered No Shopping January, wherein I spent $92.29 AKA less than $100 IN AN ENTIRE MONTH at Target. Not only that, I only went to Target TWICE, once for groceries, which is why I still spent money there even during No Shopping month and once for Valentine's supplies. Essential because Valentine's are pretty AND sending Valentine's to friends is another 2013 goal, so you know, I had to do it. Plus, all my Valentine's supplies were bought in, you guessed it, the dollar section.  In addition to this, I only spent $17 at Kohls, my other form of suburban shopping kyptonite, on a Pyrex baking dish that we legitimately did need in order to cook things.

After all those observations, here are my key takeaways from No Shopping January.

1. I am not a "shopper" in general so when I do need something, I usually go to the place where I need it, get the thing and get it over with. This is good because it doesn't lead to lots of impulse Mall of America trips.
2. I am so gullible into a "good deal" it's not even funny. Buy two 24-pack rolls of toilet paper and get a $5 Target gift card? Yes please. Buy three boxes of Triscuits for $7? OF COURSE.  Some of this is good, when it comes to buying things that I would purchase regardless of the deal or not, but as with all things - only in moderation.
3. Sale? Did I hear you it's on sale? One of the hardest moments of No Shopping January was when my friend Ilse found a (cute, naturally) workout shirt on sale at Target in an equally adorable color that I also happened to love. She bought it. I wanted to run back and get one for myself. I didn't because of No Shopping January. I would like to say I didn't because I literally have a stack of workout shirts at home, but baby steps, baby steps.
4. The ability to grocery shop at Target is DANGEROUS because once I have the essential food I came for, I am promptly browsing the dollar section for nothing I need in life.
5. When you think longer about your purchases and where your money is going, you end up making more informed purchases for well-made products rather than last-minute purchases for so-so products. No brainer, right? Right.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on Sober February wherein I do not get to use the 10 wine glasses I bought in December because they were in the Target dollar section.

A little too ironic, I really do think.

Welcoming 2013 with JOY!

"Less fear, more love."

My yoga teacher finished class last night with this simple sentence followed by the traditional "Namaste". I walked out of class repeating it to myself in my head thinking about all the crazy things we do out of fear - fear of the unknown, fear of judgment (even from ourselves), fear of failing, fear of disappointing people, fear of not being good enough... I also thought about all the things we do out of love and all the crazy, amazing, cool places love can lead us.

My word for 2013 is joy. I want a life filled with more laughter, more smiles, more kind hellos, more goose-bump-inducing moments of pure happiness - more joy. In 2012 my word was presence  and I focused on slowing down and enjoying moments as they happened. I still need to work on that to make it part of my daily life, but in addition to that, in 2013 I want to see all the beautiful joy in my daily life.

Just like my 2012 goals, I decided on eight themes and then created three goals within each theme.  I love goal setting because the idea of small goals along the way to my bigger life dreams is a great way to keep myself on track. And yes, I do have a Type A personality, thankyouverymuch.

This year's themes are:

• Personal
• Family
• Friends
• Finances
• Professional
• Travel
• Health
• Community

Some of my favorite mini-goals within these themes are:

• Planning & hosting a "Friendsgiving" party in Minnesota next Thanksgiving
• Attend a math conference - NCTM (in Denver!) in April here I come!
• Master handstand to chaturanga in yoga without feeling like I am crashing back down to earth at rapid fire speed
• Go one month without coffee & one month without alcohol (obviously not the same month because HELLO - the goal of goals is to make them challenging yet attainable)

As I started to finish my goals, I realized there was more I wanted to do and more I could do to put myself on track for more joy and less fear, so I decided on having monthly goals as well. These are things I have long wanted to do/try but haven't made into goals due to the fear (told you, it's always there) of not being able to do them for an entire year. So in 2013 - I am starting with just 30 days. Or 28 days days as is the case with February, and you bet I thought about that when I picked it to be no alcohol month.  My months will look like this:

• January – No new clothes/shoes/accesories 
• February – No alcohol
• March – Vegetarian 
• April – No restaurant food 
• May – Farmers market 1x/week
• June – walk/run 2x/week 
• July – Volunteer 1x/week
• August – No coffee
• September – Yoga everyday
• October – Read everyday
• November – No bar food
• December - Random Acts of Kindness

I also have a complete list of my 2013 goals to hang in places like my bedroom, closet door, etc. However, in the recent weeks this discussion of goal-setting has sparked long, intense, crazy-soul-fulfilling conversations with friends and I don't think I will have any problems with accountability this year! In fact, several friends share some of my same goals and/or have goals of their own that I will be checking in with as well. I love it when like-minded people get together and kick things into action.

So with that, here's to making 2013 a year of JOY-filled moments.

Eff Yeah 2012

2012 ended up being a year of massive changes in my life and when I sat down to reflect upon it, I realized I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out. Before looking ahead to some 2013 goal planning, I copied what I did last year, and wrote down all the awesome stuff that happened this year. Without further introduction, here is a list of some of my favorite 2012 memories/accomplishments... 

2012 Eff Yeah List

• Traveled to Argentina 
• Finally got my "Imagine" tattoo
• Surprised my friend Kelsi on her 30th birthday in San Diego
• Spent one last weekend in Bogota with my closest Colombia friends before leaving
• Bogota Beer Company brewery tour
• Valentine's Day dinner at Platillos Voladores with Kelsi
• Blogged for Proexport Colombia
• Moved home to the United States in five suitcases 
• Moved in with my two best childhood friends
• Bought my first car - 2012 Honda Civic
•  Applied & networked like crazy to land a teaching job in St. Paul, Minnesota working with international students
• Owned my food choices (AKA stopped caring if other people think its weird to pack your lunches, make overnight oats, and put spinach in smoothies)
• Attended the first ever concert at Target Field
• Organized & rocked a Pedal Pub for my 25th birthday
• Was a bridesmaid in Anna & Andy's wedding
• Attended & made it to the end of the going away party in Colombia
• Teacher of the Year at 8th Grade graduation at my previous school
• Attended Carnaval de Barranquilla
• Visited friends Alex & Lindsey in Laguna Beach
• Surprised my friend Liz with the return of our mutual friend Ilse from the Peace Corps in Uganda
• Mastered the solo date
• Skied at Lutsen for the first time in years
• Mountain biked in Colorado
• Water skied in northern Minnesota for the first time in years
• Bought a Canon Rebel to start getting serious with photography
• Attended yoga classes 3-4 times per week back in Minnesota
• Joined a book club