New Year's Reso

Yep, it's that time of year again. I love the new year, because I feel like each January 1st is an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and try for a newer, better me. Some of these reso-s might sound trite and banal because EVERYONE seems to pick the same ones, but each one is genuinely important to me. I'm posting them here so I can remember. And I'm copying from Megan Nimer Bell and I'm going to do a monthly check-up, so there's some sort of accountability.

This is going to be a really really strange 4 months for me. Every semester since I can ever remember (including back into the single-digit ages), I've always gone full speed. I've never taken a relaxed semester. I've never, EVER had Fridays off, and I've never been less than full-time student status. Some of you may recall the particularly hellish summer where I took 7 classes in 4 months (2 independent study, 1 REALLY independent study + challenge exam, and 4 higher-level math classes) so I could graduate in August before starting law school 5 days later. That's just who I am. I don't really have the ability to slow down. So this semester, where I'm only taking (1) 3-credit class, I just don't know what to do with myself. No reason to tell myself to take lunch to school, because I'll hardly ever be there. No real need for an "early to bed, early to rise" schedule because my only obligation is 1-2:15 on MW. See? This really scares me!!

However... I do have several jobs. Like, 4. I tutor math (if anyone needs a tutor, please let me know!), I am a student representative for LexisNexis, I am a TA, and I am an RA (research assistant, not resident assistant). Hopefully these will keep me solidly busy!

Anyway. Back to the point. Here are my New Year's Resolutions, divided into 3 amazing categories:

Health:
* Train for, and run, a half-marathon. Be able to run 10 miles at a 10-minute mile by April.
* Don't eat fast food more than once a week.
* Become a morning person through an "early to bed, early to rise" schedule.
* Eat a healthy, nutritious breakfast every day.
* Start COOKING again!!! (SUPER excited for this one!)

Wealth:
* Pay tithing the Sunday following payday.
* Actively search for and pursue leads on any legal job.
* Don't overbuy food.
* Have $X in savings by December 31, 2011 (I have a specific number in mind, but that's private). Don't spend out of savings, not even once, all year.

Wisdom:
* Go to all church meetings. (I'm so bad, I don't like my ward and I don't go to RS)
* Attend the temple monthly.
* Read at least one chapter from the scriptures daily.
* Read all school assignments before class; outline regularly.

I think these are pretty doable, and that's the goal. I don't want to kill myself over these, but I do want to make myself better. Don't forget to come up with at least one (totally doable) goal for yourself!

Also up in the next year: law school graduation (!!!!!), taking - and hopefully passing - the Tennessee bar, and some other very exciting things. More on that later!

Life Begins

Finals are OVER. That's right, O-V-E-R. And I couldn't be more excited. I celebrated immediately with a grilled cheese from Burgers Supreme, and now I'm going to do all the chores that have been waiting on me for a month or so. After that, I'm showering, spending time with my sweet adorable boyfriend (who was incredibly and remarkably patient during my breakdown yesterday and resisted the urge to slap me when I deserved it and instead wrapped me in his arms and held me tight), watching a Disney movie or eight, sleeping until I don't feel like sleeping anymore, delivering our Angel Tree gifts (so excited to make a baby girl's Christmas better!), and getting ready to go HOME for the holidays!!!

Adam and I already opened presents (I wanted to enjoy them before I had to deal with finals, and I leave soon so we had to open them early) and he did so great! He got me a gorgeous skirt from DownEast (except in Black instead of silver):


An adorable apron from Flirty Aprons:




And a few DVDs and candy. His parents also got me some Christmas pajamas. It was such a great Christmas! I got a few killer deals, and was able to score a Garmin GPS unit, a set of really nice moccasins, a Dremel rotary, Season 5 of the Office, and a few other little things. We were both so excited about our gifts! We enjoyed spending a little bit of time together, and of course Adam was more excited about his Dremel than anything else. He IS a guy, after all. :)

Also fantastic news - I got a job interview!! I'm interviewing with Kaplan to be an LSAT prep teacher. I've already passed the audition (the first round of interviewing) and I'm going to do a real interview next. If I pass after that, I get trained then I get a class to teach. Woohoo! (Something to do with my time next semester when I'm only taking ONE class!)

Catch you guys on the flip side. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Hopefully soon I will get back to cooking and get some recipes posted.

Why I went Private

After I got a few spam comments, I went ahead and changed the publicity (thanks for the tips Carrie and Foutzface!) and literally, not 12 hours later, some d-bag girl I don't know (or I assume I don't know, she had a Yahoo OpenID) left me a nasty message on my 9 days/9 things to be thankful for (of all things!!!) saying that I had nothing to be proud of since Daddy paid for everything and it's easy to do school when Daddy pays for everything and I'm not ready for the real world without Daddy.

Frankly, I just don't need that kind of negativity in my life. And also, I feel like I have a LOT to be proud of - if law school were so easy, a lot more people would do it. I'm just very blessed that my parents have supported me so much. And also, I would like to point out that despite having my dad pay my tuition, I have still kept jobs all throughout undergrad AND law school, and the money I have in the bank is money I've earned myself and put into savings.

So that was the straw that broke the camel's back... and it's easier to just go private than deal with jerks.

FYI, I'm probably going to make a separate blog with all my recipe posts. I don't mind the world having access to those. :) Anyone have any name recommendations for the new blog?

And, PS... only 3 more days until I'm done with this semester. I can't WAIT.

Privatized

I'm going private. I hate to do it, but I have gotten too many weird spammy comments, and now I'm getting rude comments from people I don't know. If you want to stay in the loop, send me your email. As of Saturday at noon, this baby is private.

S