The Bi-Monthly Update

Ha--it's probably a good thing that I have that 5x monthly blog goal! :)

Here's the number one thing: I'm tired. I don't even 100% know why I'm staying so incredibly tired, but I am. I feel like I could just stay in bed for a week most the time, and so honestly, I actually have been granting some days to just rest and relax.

I definitely recognize that I just came off of a 15 month push of both going to school full time while still basically teaching a regular load of courses. I also continued to push myself to maintain the house and push myself physically (once my health restabilized). Christmas "break" I spent running around doing a variety of things, then January was literally a stress mess of studying and some housemate stress, and February involved working extra for Tanzania, carrying an extra course beyond normal, and arranging a variety of weekends...so I get why I've been tired. But you know when you're ready to be done being tired? So here's hoping that I'll get some old energy levels back sooner rather than later.

In good news though I've had some awesome stuff come to fruition from my goal list for this year ;)

1) I mentioned the snowboarding lesson. Check.

2) I passed massage boards, got my professional insurance, did a few massages on the side, and then started looking for jobs. I will start a part-time position once a week within walking distance of my house shortly. As much as I originally wanted 2-3x a week, based on the fact that I am so tired...I actually think this will be perfect. But pass exams...check. Secondary employment....check and check.

3) I filed taxes...and thank the dear Lord, I didn't owe anything :) Between that, the extra class I'm teaching this term, and the new part-time job, I should make the goal of 75% on the credit card by mid-summer...and hopefully/potentially pay it off by end of the year (dependent on what happens with housing issues....)

4) Trip to Africa in full motion. DREAM COME TRUE. Fully paid for..and with the potential to lead me into my dream career. So.incredibly.still.in.awe.

5) Still continuing to rent rooms to others. I've REALLY been wanting to live solo lately but I'm also mindful of the fact that it's such a benefit to having others share space with me also. My long term housemate was potentially going to move out sooner rather than later...but at this stage it looks like I'll have both rooms filled until mid-May to June.....

....which is also when I have to make some housing decisions. Rent is going up and I've been feeling the pull to move to a different area of Portland, but with the dogs and the already competitive rental market in Portland, I'm thinking this is not so likely. So that means if I stay, renting both rooms is a definite must through the end of the year....

...also thus far no dog sitters and I'm not thinking I'll be able to find any. It's rare I ever find someone to even be willing to take them for a weekend...so I'm canning my other exciting idea until farther down the road. :)

Other things as of late:

--I hosted a seven hour massage workshop at my house last weekend. A handful of us were not satisfied with one of the courses we had as we really didn't learn much of anything that should have been covered, so we hired our favorite instructor to come teach us solutions to upper body muscle problems.

--My car got an overhaul including a new battery, new tires, new alignment, and a power steering flush. Here's hoping all that work gets me through the next two years with minimal other fixes.

--I've been reading this book that my new boss loaned me on feng shui. I've read several others in the past but this one is pretty entertaining...and so I've been taking notes, cleaning out lots of stuff, and incorporating things as I can into the home.

--I've been doing a Lent Challenge of some sort of physical activity every day...and it's truly been great and has kept me doing something daily even if it's just a set of push-ups. It's also another example of how the dogs and I are slowing down...as we've taken to the evening neighborhood walk, which has never been part of our schedule. It's kind of nice to end the day though with a stroll around the neighborhood. The Challenge also has been diversifying work-outs again.

And I'm sure there are several things that I am missing, but that's been life in a nutshell. Here's hoping that energy starts coming back fully! :)