Goals for 2009

Spiritual:
1. Memorize the book of Ephesians - I want to work on being more consistent with my scripture memory. A friend and I are going to work on putting this book to memory.
2. Spend one day a month with the Lord - I spend time with Him everyday, but I love to get entire days with Him. Unfortunately I don't set aside a whole day very often, so this year I am making it a goal.

Exercise:
3. Train for a half marathon - goal time 1:45.
4. Strength train 3 times a week - yoga, weights, and pilates.
5. Hike the Grand Canyon - I have been wanting to do this for a long time, so this year it is going on my list.

School:
6. Publish an article - I am going to begin work on my dissertation this year and would like to publish an article of my initial research.

Pleasure:
7. Read six non-statistical books - The list of books I want to read is always growing longer.
8. Finish 3 paintings - I just got some new canvases and so I'm all ready to start painting.
9. Print, frame, and hang 5 photos

Food:
10. Eat meat at least once a week for 4 consecutive weeks - I generally don't cook meat for myself, but I know that it is beneficial to my body. I thought about making a goal about eating vegetarian but I decided that would be too easy because I tend to eat that way most of the time.
11. No microwave use for 3 months - A friend was telling me about the dangers to them, so I want to see if I can avoid using it for a time.
12. No chocolate - I woke up this morning and thought of this one. I had many stressful months this past year and ate too much chocolate during them. Time to give it up.
13. Drink Kefir everyday for 4 consecutive weeks - this will hopefully help with my stomach and intestine issues.

Random:
14. Keep email inbox to 20 - except when on vacation.
15. Blog every day for a month
16. Send a card in the mail to one person every week - who doesn't love to get fun mail?!
17. Learn to drive a manual car - A few weeks ago I went to start my roommates car and didn't know how to because it was manual. Now I know how to start the car, but I want to learn how to drive one too. It is probably a good skill to have.

Weekend Happiness

Here are a few stories from this past weekend:

I had invited my neighbor Don to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. (You may remember him from the posts here and here.) He wasn't feeling well so he declined. I told him that I would bring him over some leftovers later in the day. Yesterday as I was coming home from church he poked his head out the door and asked me to come over. He had filled the containers that I had given him with Jello. It was so sweet of him. Granted, I probably won't eat it (I told my roomies they could have it), but it was such a nice gesture. It made me happy.

This isn't really a story...but I finished one of my paintings. It made me happy to get to spend some time relaxing and painting this weekend.

I was able to run two laps around the track, indoors of course. (Note: this should be read with sarcasm.) That is less than a 1/2 mile. Sigh. When is my hip ever going to get better?! Now that would make me happy.

I got three packages of rice tortillas. This may not sound too exciting, but for someone who doesn't get to eat a lot of things like this it makes me happy. I had a yummy turkey wrap for dinner tonight. :)

Time and Snow

Wow, where has the last month gone? I can hardly believe that it is already December. It seems like November faded as quickly as the leaves. Now Fall is gone and winter has taken her place.

This past weekend we got our first major snow storm. I have a real love-hate relationship with snow. I love watching the snow fall. It is like little stars dancing all around. Beautiful. As I sit behind my window watching it snow, it is like all of the cares of the world fade away and the peace, quiet, and purity of snowflakes take there place. I love watching it snow from the comfort of my home, wrapped in a favorite blanket, wearing fuzzy slippers, and sipping on hot tea.

I don't like to have to go out in the snow. I hate driving anyway and driving in the snow is far worse. I don't really like to shovel the snow. I don't care for the sludge and ice that it leaves on the sidewalks and streets. I don't really like the fact that it will be our companion until April.

But for today, I am going to continue to enjoy the beauty.

Extra Hour

Today we got an extra hour added to our day. Having grown up in Arizona where there is no daylight savings time, I still think this is an unusual process.

I haven't quite decided whether or not I am excited about the switch. The good part is that it will be lighter out in the morning, but the bad part is that it will get darker early. I cannot decide which is better.

Yesterday I was walking with a friend and she was talking about how she felt like she needed to get the most out of the extra hour. I admitted that I didn't have any problem with using it for extra sleep. That is exactly how I used 30 minutes. And then when I woke up, I still had 30 minutes before I needed to start getting ready for church. So I made some tea and crawled back into bed with my Bible.

It was a wonderful extra hour!

Summary Saturday

This post is a synopsis of this past week in POLITICS.

Every day I received mail from both campaigns telling me why I shouldn't vote for the other party. I think I know more why I shouldn't vote for the candidates than why I should.

I was only on campus 2 days, but I was probably asked 20 times if I was registered to vote here in Ames.

I received 27 emails reminding me to vote and giving me "facts" from political parties at ISU.

These didn't come this past week, but I have also received about 10 absentee ballot request forms. Nope, I'm going to be here on Tuesday...headed to the polls.

I am glad that there is such an effort to get people to vote and make well formed decisions, but I must admit that I am ready for the election to be over. I am tired of all of the negativity. I am tired of having to listen to people in my office make snide remarks about one party. I am tired of the criticism and hypocrisy...well not that this is really going to stop once the elections are over.

Anyway, find some reliable sources, make an informed decision, and VOTE.

Look at the size of this leaf!!!

I found this leaf as I was walking home today.

I'm still here...

Wow, I think this is one of the longest times I have gone without posting in awhile...sorry. These past two weeks have been CRAZY! I have had meetings, exams, projects, meetings, seminars, classes, meetings, research...

But that is all behind me now and this next week looks to be a bit slower. YEAH! I am looking forward to eating something besides toast or pasta/peas/tuna for dinner. I think that I am going to make carrot soup this weekend. Doesn't that sound yummy?!

It has gotten COLD here and I haven't seen the sun in 4 days. I don't like weeks like this, but here comes winter. :( I do love the cold because I like to make soup and tea. I also recently bought a new hat a scarf. So I am excited to get to wear them, but the cold gets old pretty fast. Although Fall has been absolutely LOVELY! It is so beautiful.

Fall

My grandma sent me an email with some pictures of Fall. I thought this one was beautiful. Maybe I'll get out to take a few of my own this weekend.

The Leash

I have decided that whoever invented the retractable dog leash was neither a runner nor a cyclist. It seems like dog owners who have these leashes like to give their dogs LOTS of leash to run on. As a runner, this scares me for two main reasons.

1. You never know if the dog is going to attack you. I never know how far I have to run around the dog to be safe. This is particularly problematic when I am running on the path at the lake because there isn't a lot of room.

2. You never know where the dog is going to go and if you will get caught in the leash. I am always afraid as I run or bike by that the dog will run across my path and I will end up falling because of the leash.

On some runs I feel like I am constantly yelling "runner" or "on your left" as I am approaching. If I ever get a dog, I don't think that I will use one of these leashes.

Note: This is not to criticize all people who have a retractable leash for their dog. There are many people who use them responsibly. To those individuals, thank you.

A love-hate relationship

I have a love-hate relationship with technology.

I love that it makes my life easier. I love that I can email, blog, and keep in touch with friends. I love that I can talk to anyone anywhere. I love that it is fast and accessible. I could not image doing statistics without the use of computer software. My life is very dependent upon technology.

BUT...

I hate it when it stops working. I hate it when it is slow. Because my life is so dependent upon it, I hate it all the more when it stops working.

This week the computers in my office have been acting up. I have been trying to finish up two school projects and work on my research. But the computers have been giving me fits. I am so thankful that we have a good IT guy!

Oscar

This is my new pet bunny. Well, actually he has just decided that he wants to live on the mat on my back porch. He is always ready to welcome me home.

Favorite sites

Here are some of my favorite websites that I frequent:

Recipes:
http://www.csaceliacs.org/recipes.php
http://www.celiac.com/categories/Gluten%252dFree-Recipes
http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php
http://allrecipes.com/Default.aspx

Photo blogs:
http://www.melissajill.net/
http://kabloomstudios.blogspot.com/
http://2eyes2seeu.blogspot.com/

This is a great site that allows me to always have the Bible at my fingertips and lets me search the Bible online.
http://www.biblegateway.com/

Plan my next run:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/

Other blogs:
http://girltalk.blogs.com/

Catch up on the news:
http://www.nytimes.com/

Information:
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

2 + 2 = 4

My brother sent me this cartoon. It made me smile.

Fall

Fall is here! I love the sound of the leaves crunching beneath my feet as I walk. I love working with the windows open to the crisp air while wearing a comfy sweatshirt and drinking hot tea. I love the sight of pumpkins resting on front porches. I love getting to pull out my scarves and hats. I love Fall.

Baking

I love to bake. In fact, I just pulled banana bars out of the oven. My only problem is that I don't really have anyone to bake for.

My roommate works for Campus Crusade and has three Bible studies every week. She doesn't really care to bake. So we made a deal that we both think is great. I get to bake her treats every week. This is a win-win situation for us both; I get to bake and have people who will eat them!

Running Thoughts

As I run through the dew
I think of all I have to do
Because I have a lot due.

Yes, this is how I amused myself this morning while I was running. Happy Wednesday! :)

I have a date...

...with my 84 year old neighbor. Over the past year, Don and I have become pretty good friends. He is an elderly man who lives alone next door and although he is older than my own grandparents, he has become my surrogate grandfather here. I take him over baked goods a couple of times a month and when I make a big pot of soup (which is frequent) I'll take him some.

Any way, back to my 'date.' Don has this really sweet old convertible car. I'm not much into cars so I actually cannot tell you the make or model or anything, although Don has told me ALL about it. He has it in storage over the winter and only drives it on sunny days. Well a few weeks ago I told him that he needed to take me for a ride in it someday.

So today as I was coming back from my run he was outside working on his lawn, something that he always seems to be doing. He asked me if I would like to go for a drive with him on Thursday afternoon and have an early dinner. Luckily I have a little break on Thursday afternoon between classes and an evening meeting, so it will work perfect.

Hopefully there will be some pictures to post of his car on Thursday because it is really cool. I just wish he were 55-60 years younger... :)

Pearls

Pearls: the only precious stone made by pain, suffering, and - finally - death.

Artsy

I am finding that as I spend more and more time within my discipline (that is, statistics), I find myself drawn to the arts. I love photography, music, painting, theatre, etc.

Right now I am just itching to take artsy photographs. I have found this photoblog site that I enjoy looking at and getting ideas. While I am no expert photographer, I enjoy spending the time doing it.

I am really excited for this weekend. I borrowed a nice camera from school and am going to spend some time taking pictures. I couldn't resist the urge to take a few pictures, this one here is one that I took. Perhaps later this weekend there will be some more photos to view...

To do list

Last night I spent over an hour talking with my brother. He really does bring out the silly, crazy, funny side of me. We have so much fun together even when we are many miles apart. While we talked about all kinds of stuff, we spent quite awhile discussing some of the (crazy?) things that we want to accomplish in life. The list below contains some of the things we talked about and I added a few more too.

Hike the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim: Well Christian has actually already accomplished this one, but I want to do it to.
Ultramarathon: Some running distance longer than a marathon typically 50 or 100 km.
Hike Mt. Kilimanjaro
RAGBRAI: A bike ride across Iowa.

My additions, but I am sure I can talk Christian into them:
Spend a week with a kayak, backpack, and tent along a river or the ocean.
Run a marathon in under 4 hours: This one should be pretty reasonable.
Summit Mt. Humphrey's: We made it to the saddle point this summer, but not to the top.
Learn to snowshoe
Take a ballroom dance class
Spend a day looking through the lens of my camera: That is, seeing the world through pictures.

As you can see, all of our adventures are mostly outdoor activities. I think that this describes us pretty well. I am sure that as we accomplish things on the list we will think of new things to take their place. I am so looking forward to the adventures that await. :)

(Christian, let me know if I need to add anything else to the list.)