Resolving...Again!

Whew! Finally made it through the holidays!  Loved every minute with my family and friends, but with all the traveling, graduations, present buying (and second guessing) and apocalypse, its nice to move into the new year.

Which brings me to the latest topic of every conversation, resolutions.  Last years resolution was really more about stepping outside my comfort zone.  I'd always wanted to learn how to ballroom dance, but lets be honest I'm not a dancer.  Remember Elaine from Seinfeld dancing?  Yeah that's me.  Still it was something that has been in my head for years, so I decided to "suck it up" and signed up 3 months of lessons at the local Arthur Murray dance studio....You know what?  I actually liked it!  While I will never be a professional, I'm not exactly Elaine.  I still tend to lead more than I should, I'll probably never be completely relaxed, but I can dance AND carry on a conversation, so how's that for progress?

For the most part I'm very happy with my life.  Its busy at times but I think I do pretty well balancing my on-the-life with some good sit-on-my-butt time.  My closets are decluttered (2010 Resolution), my doctor is happy with my weight (I'm not) and exercise habits (2009 Resolution).

I've decided that instead of making a NEW New Years Resolution, I am going to revisit some old ones for a little....fine tuning.

Exercise - I run several times a week year round.   Running makes me happy.  It is a great way to clear my head, keeps my jean size in the single digits, and is just a great way to exercise.  The problem (if you can call it that) is all I really do is run.  I will sometimes cycle in the summertime, but I don't lift weights or go to the gym or do anything else except run.  So this year I'm going to shake things up.

I signed up my first sprint triathlon in August 2013.  Swim, Bike, Run!  They say that swimming is the best exercise you can do, its full body, great cardio, toning, and blah blah blah, but what it means to me is breaking out of my running mode.  I'm obviously going to need to not only swim, but swim for .6 miles. GULP!

Yoga, more specifically Bikram Yoga.  I first did Bikram Yoga in 2011 when I was in physical therapy for a running injury (hmmm surprise??).  The PT recommended I start doing yoga, so I found a Groupon for Bikram Yoga.  OMG! I loved it.  I felt great, my knee felt great, and I was back running after a few months....then I stopped.  So I'm going to start Bikram Yoga again.

Eat Better - I don't do TOO bad of a job of eating healthy (2009 Resolution), but I can always do better.  I'm not sure how I'm going to get over my weakness for burgers and fries and my roommate (Miss Size 6 and can eat anything) might go missing if she orders my favorite pizza this month but for the rest of January my eating goals will be:

• 1 fresh vegetable juice a day 
• Eliminate sugar, alcohol, and caffeine
• Nothing fried

Family/Friends - With my travel schedule it can be hard to make time to see family or visit extended family, especially when you sometimes have less than 36 hours a week at home.  Well last year even though I took a great vacation, I still carried over quite a few vacation hours to this year.  So this year I'm going to make a bigger effort to visit family, see friends I haven't seen in a while, host a couple of dinners for my local friends, and run more with my runner friends.

Beauty - Take my makeup off every night (2011 Resolution).  If I want to age gracefully I need to take better care of my skin.

Work - I already work too much, but I love it, so I'm not going to resolve to work less.  What I am going to resolve to do is clear out my Inbox (2011 Resolution) at the end of every week.  I'm good about responding, but when I'm bad about is filing.   So I've been spending some time creating mail folders that are actually meaningful instead of keeping thing in "Misc".  I kept my 2011 Resolution for about a week before abandoning it altogether so lets see how I do this year.

What about you? What are some of your resolutions?  

2012 Reflections

As 2012 is coming to an end a lot of us are looking back on our year and thinking about what we are going to achieve or do different in 2013.

My 2012 has been a fantastic year.  It has been full of laughter, hard work, heartbreak, and happiness.  By far it has been the most exciting travel year of my life.

• January - Listening to a lecture about the RMS Atlantic - largest civilian Maritime disaster in history (bigger than Titanic) 
• February - Seeing the amazing Sutton Foster in "Anything Goes" on Broadway in NYC
• March - Jeep riding in Sedona, AZ with great friends
• April - 2 weeks in England
• May - 3weeks (combined) Switzerland, Italy, Istanbul, Canada
• June - Work and family in Texas
• July - Making new friends and seeing old friends in California
• August - Family, Friends, BBQ, and Jetski on Lake Erie; Two weeks falling in love with the mountains (and steak) of Montana
• September - Learning there is nothing good to eat in Columbus, GA but there are some great places to run
• October - Baltimore Relay with the LM Lunch Run Crew;  Halloween at The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood
• November - Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas; Thanksgiving with fantastic friends in Chicago
• December - My brother graduating from his Masters program; A festive Christmas celebration like I've never experienced before.

More than travel and what I've seen, its what 2012 has taught me

• The value of sleeping in my own bed is better than a free week  in a 5 star luxury hotel.  Don't get me wrong I love a nicely appointed hotel room as much as the next person, but when you've been on the road for weeks at a time, being able to be home, if only for one night, can recharge you.

• Having my dog greet me at the door can bring a weary traveler to happy tears.  There is nothing that says "Welcome Home" than a happy dog, with a waggly tail to greet you at the door.

• I miss my life.  This didn't actually hit me until mid-December.  I've been working from home on internal corporate projects and it was during this time home it hit me "I don't live here anymore".  Sure I pay mortgage, have a bed, roommate, pets, etc, but I don't have a life anymore.  I realized, I missed a lot of mid-week birthday celebrations, dinners with friends, and races because 36 hours on a weekend home is enough time to catch up on laundry, buy dog/cat food, and re-pack for the next trip, but not much of anything else.

• Living out of a suitcase taught me what I REALLY need.  Living for weeks out of a suitcase makes it so made it so much easier to declutter my house.  Cleaning out closets and drawers is not the chore it used to be because I've learned what I really need and what is just taking up space.

Still, 2012 has been one of those years that I will look back on with a smile.  So many great memories have been made.  I'm not sure what 2013 will bring but I'm ready, so bring it on!!