Sticker Charts

It's funny how small things can be big motivators. And how the things that were important as kids still have some sway as adults. Case in point - sticker charts. When I was cleaning out my house a couple weeks ago I found a pack of star stickers. Thinking that it would be silly to throw them out I put them in a drawer to find a use for them later. Fast forward to couple days ago when I was trying to think of ways to hold myself accountable for working out. Solution? Sticker chart.

I found an exercise regimen that I wanted to try - Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred - and was thinking about the best way to keep track of my progress. So naturally I drew up a chart for myself and my reward for working out will be to put a new star on each day. So far it's been really successful! I can look forward and sense how accomplished I'll feel when the whole chart is filled up with stars.

It might be silly. Ok, it is definitely silly. But it has been super effective. I'll share progress on the 30 day shred and how I think it goes. I'm just a couple days in so far so nothing really to report yet. It is a good workout though. Only about 30 minutes so it doesn't take too much out of your day but I still feel like I'm getting a good exercise session in. Plus Jillian is just funny. She's so earnest and positive about you getting into shape it's pretty cute.

Coming Home

One of the reasons I think I'm feeling a little "in between" things right now is that I recently made the decision to come home early from what should have been a year long commitment. I had received a position in AmeriCorps VISTA, a position that also happened to be in Nebraska..... I think I was really the only one who thought it wasn't going to be that bad. I kind of knew right from the beginning that it was going to be a challenge. Not the work but the whole experience. The culture and socially acceptable viewpoints were so totally foreign to me. There were a few people who I got to know and truly enjoy but on the whole the experience mostly just showed me how lucky I am to be from the PNW.

Despite the cultural difficulties and all the times I had to bite my tongue instead of saying things like, "well no, I don't actually thing all poor people are lazy" (RIGHT??) I think I could have stuck it out for the year if it was just that. But then October rolled around. Those of you who live in the Midwest, seriously, how the hell do you do it year after year? Having never experience negative temperatures, or single digit temperatures, hell I don't think it's even ever gotten down to the teens here I was wholly unprepared for the torture it is to stay inside 24 hours a day. The later part of October and all of November, December, and January were just awful. I don't think I ever truly understood the term stir crazy before. And the real kicker? March wasn't going to roll around and necessarily bring Spring. Oh no, last year they were still getting snow in April and May. MAY. I have no problems admitting that I was a wimp and couldn't handle the weather. 

Plus, everything just dies in the winter in Nebraska. Everything is this awful brown color. There are no evergreen trees and steady rain to keep the landscape looking pretty luscious. Nope. Everything just shrivels and dies. They just leave the dead corn crops from the fall rotting in the fields over the winter. It's so fucking depressing. So. I came home. And now am experiencing yet again the in betweenness of not really knowing what I'm doing just yet. 

Old Beginnings

I turned 24 a few days ago. Not really all that impressive of a number or of an age. 24 is one of those in between times in life where you have graduated college but still don't quite feel like you are an adult or know what it is you are supposed to be doing with yourself yet. So to try and remedy this feeling of numerical ennui I am going to start writing here. Writing is something that is easily given up when you are not being asked to turn in assignments or produce grants, press releases, memos, etc. It is a skill that gets easily set aside and once that is done it is increasingly difficult to pick it back up. Writing here will be a, hopefully, daily exercise in not giving things up too easily.

I have a few friends who like to make lists of goals for themselves each year around their birthdays. They call it a 24 before 25 list or 20 before 21 whatever the case may be. I've never been a big list person and my goals usually exist in a kind of vague mist like state that floats somewhere in the back of my mind. But I'm going to give it a try and to start holding myself more accountable. And so for my first post, here is my 24 goals before I turn 25 list.

1. Post on this blog at least 5 days a week.
2. Really work on developing my photography skills.
3. Expand my cooking skills. Don't just read food blogs but actually try some of the recipes.
4. Apply for graduate school....and start working on a plan for how to pay for it.....
5. Find an exercise routine that I both enjoy and am able to stick with.
6. Get my passport stamped. Or at the very least take a nice road trip somewhere.
7. Explore my city more.
8. Explore Seattle more.
9. Spend more time with family.
10. Ask for what I want. Stop being on the sidelines of relationships and events.
11. Be more deliberate with my food choices. No dieting, just being more conscious of what I'm eating.
12. Create something at least once a month. Literally anything.
13. Start saving regularly. When I find a job I'd like to start setting aside about 20% of every paycheck into a savings account.
14. Get involved in the community.
15. Garden. Get some dirt on my hands every once in awhile.
16. Make friends. Why does this seem to get harder as you get older? I've never been great at it but I'm going to give it a shot.
17. Read nonfiction more often. And along with this, stay informed on world events.
18. Less screen time. This seems kind of counterintuitive since another goal is to post here, but I'm meaning less unproductive screen time. No more Netflix binge days for me.
19. Learn a new skill. Or maybe a couple of them.
20. Go hiking. And not just once.
21. Go to see live music more often. And try to fit in some theater/ballet as income allows for it.
22. Actively support causes I believe in.
23. Have a pen pal.
24. Watch more classic movies.

And there you have it. 24 goals before I turn 25. I don't yet know what I really want to talk about in this space. So I guess I'll just have to figure it out as we go along.