Assessment

Last year's post:

"I don't like New Year's. It's a lame reason for a party. Or a stupid excuse to be nostalgic and lament how everything wonderful and good is ending. Or an idealistic opportunity to pretend that everything is going to change because of a one integer increase on the calendar.

Meh. I'm not into it.

But this year, I want to set some goals-- not resolutions. I've limited myself to five big goals.

1. Travel abroad (I've never been... I don't even have a passport)
2. Meet my goal weight (112-115ish) through healthy actions
3. Start graduate school
4. Quit smoking (spend at least 9 mos of '09 smoke-free)
5. Get our debt below 10K (I wish I could say debt-free, but I promised myself reasonable goals)


Mini-steps to get there:

Get a passport
Cook dinner more frequently
Hit 10K minutes on Spark America
Look into the LSAT"

So, I met two of the five goals. Not so great, but better than meeting none of them. I did begin graduate school. I took the most challenging course I've taken in my life. I earned a B+ for my efforts. I hope to get 12 credits knocked out this year. Three each semester and six this summer.

I also pushed our debt just below 10K. Woo hoo! THAT is something I'm proud of! :-)

Goals for 2010:
1. Program myself to live healthier because I feel better that way. Another benefit? Hopefully some weight loss. I'd like to hover in the 120 range.
2. Continue attending graduate school
3. Get a passport. And take at least one trip to a place I've never been before.
4. Get debt below $4K. This is harder now that I'm in graduate school, but I think we can manage it!
5. Quit smoking. It'll kill me. Not to mention that it's ruined my singing voice. A cigarette is not a reward. I need to find other ways to 'treat' myself. Plus, cigarettes are expensive. I bet I could put an additional $500 toward debt this year if I quit smoking. By decreasing my alcohol intake, I should make progress toward healthy living AND quitting smoking.

I plan to use SP as a tool to follow my progress.