Fall Goal Review Wrap-Up

So lately I've had a few conversations with a couple of friends about goal-setting...and while I'll totally admit that I'm probably slightly overboard with goals these days, I also readily admit that they're part of what keeps me moving forward. Goals give me something to focus on, keep me pushing myself in new ways, and have the potential to motivate me into action on the days when I'm feeling unmotivated. I also recognize that goals are constantly evolving however and so even for my seasonal goals, I'm constantly editing/adding/changing things to better meet where I am and where I want to head. Plus I'm not going to lie, listing them on the blog (especially writing down whether or not I'm working out) definitely makes me more apt to get them done.

So what's gotten done in the last few months?

1) FUN STUFF:
--Learned a bit more about football from my family & one of my students actually gave me a cheat sheet of hand signals ;) Watched the PSU Vikings with T, went to the Winterhawks game with T, a buddy/coworker, & his lady, and this last week, T, her man, & I went to the Eric Church concert.

--I've spent the last few weeks getting my knee back up to par and have kept up with mileage/work-outs. I also completed the Run Like Hell 10k and still intend to make my half-marathon goal this year. I made two trips to the beach--one long weekend to my parent's and then the overnighter with the book club gals last weekend, and I got better about seeing/calling Granny, even though half the time she was gone! While she was in the hospital though, I made sure to see her every day.

2) YARD/HOUSE
--Raked, ripped out bushes, put the raised beds to rest, and attempted to reseed the grass (again). Dealt with chickens, got rid of short-term ant infestation, and handled the rat issue fairly well.
--Realized that I can't do anything about the Asian pear/ripping out of bushes on my own, so will wait til spring to take care of those. Also can't do the cedar chips without truck assistance.
--Brother came up and we moved furniture around, he sawed boards, and hung items for me.
--House was remade into MY home: reorganized and rearranged, Tall D's stuff completely moved out of house (except his guns) and some of his stuff from garage was relocated, pictures redone, front room turned into an office, and small decor upgrades happened.
--Pinterest inspired signs are made, still just selecting what to paint on them before hanging.

3) TRANSITIONS:
--Divorce finalized, quicker than I thought I'd be ready...and faster via the courts than expected.
--Turned down full-time job option and didn't get other jobs I'd wanted. Still searching options but returning to school might be the new direction (more on this below).
--Regularly attending church and getting something out of each Sunday. Not praying every day like I should, but still turning more toward pray than during the last several years....and still trusting that God is heading me in a new direction.
--Dropped off donations at Goodwill, passed on clothes to a coworker/friend, and still have automatic deductions for the charities I contribute to. Book club discussed finding an organization to volunteer with each quarter--looking forward to this happening.
--Debt--hohum. Well, if I go back to school, then those massive student loans aren't going to get smaller, but at this point I think I'm okay with this. Divorce oriented credit card still is in existence, but once my ring sells that will be applied to a chunk of the overall bill. Still sucking up the rent payment on my own (hemming & hawing about the room rental)....and trusting that all bills will get covered. Next term more income will come in, so it's partly just making it through this one. And no-buy November has held strong thus far---no new clothes nor kitchen/home decor items, just food, some social outings, and gas for the Sorento. Continuing to attempt to be satisfied with the abundance of which I already have.
--Counseling--still loving it and by the time each session rolls around, I'm needing it too. She's great to just roll my thoughts off of and while I'd done fairly well for the last few weeks, I'd lost it for the duration of Friday evening before Saturday's session due to feeling like I hadn't been enough in my marriage. She did a great job of making me see the holes in my thinking and to realize that what wasn't "enough" was due to his issues, not mine, and that there's nothing I could have done to have made the marriage be any more or any less than what it was. She also has me using a cognitive retraining strategy for when these negative self-talk episodes come on--we'll see if it works! Additionally, it was nice to bounce ideas off of her about going back to school (since I have reservations and while my family is supportive not all of my friends have been enthused with this idea), and to hear her support of my continuing to use this next year as a period of regrowth and exploration. Additionally we also broached conversation about the reality that I've been missing having legit male friends, which was something that sort of went by the wayside due to Tall D's wishes. I've always had lots of dude friends and have enjoyed the balance they allow from my female friends, but at this age it can be difficult to initiate those friendships without potential for one to interpret the wrong intention. However, I hit up one of my lifelong old buddies about this last night, and he gave me some great suggestions to put into practice.

Two additional goals that I deleted were going shooting and a fall fishing outing, because I knew that neither was going to happen.

YEAR 30 GOALS:
--At this point, I'm not so sure that Africa will happen, although I'm not giving up hope just yet. I also didn't book the ticket to spend Christmas in Argentina, as I'm not willing to increase my credit card debt that much in order to fulfill a life goal at this point. Again, returning to Argentina WILL happen---it just might not happen this year...and that also means I'm going to have to face the holidays back home...which I'm not overly looking forward to either.
--T and I plan on another kayaking outing...if the weather cooperates. :) And I'm delaying surfing lessons until the weather cooperates--haha. (Although I did just meet a new surfer at an orientation on Friday.)
--New direction: well, ya heard it, I'm currently enrolled to take 200-level Bio & Chem in Winter term. I've enrolled in one online class w/ an inperson lab and at another campus for the other course/lab in order to (hopefully) decrease my chances of being a classmate to my own students (something else we talked about in the counseling session). FAFSA is in, tuition waiver has been processed, and instructor pre-req overrides were granted to allow my registration. I've also been exploring options of medical careers that MIGHT fit best should I actually decide to go this route (I have two years of pre-reqs to either disqualify me or talk me out of it)...and on Friday I attended an initial exploration day at the local naturopathic college. I plan on visiting Bastyr up in Seattle also (plus they have more programs of study that interest me)...and I hope to do some informational interviews with local naturopaths. I'm also looking into a visitation day to Linfield for their accelerated nursing program. Other potential areas: nutrition/dietetics, certs for moms education courses/doula/breastfeeding. We'll see how this first term goes though, if it's a total struggle, then I'll head in a new direction....unless of course, dream job falls in my lap.

Since we're just about to move from Fall into (what I think of as) Winter and since I've just about accomplished the goals that I CAN get done at this point, I'm starting to think about goals for the next several months.

A few things on my mind: obviously continuing to work-out (even if this just transitions to 60 days of Insanity inside during the rainy season) but I really need to focus on cooking/eating. Tall D was the cook in the house and I'm horrible about not recognizing I'm hungry or need to eat until way late in the game when I live by myself. Thus I need to formulate a goal to ensure I'm eating enough and that nutritionally it's good food, especially on days where I'm burning lots of calories. Obviously I need to continue exploring new direction options: informational interviews and visiting programs. I need to decide whether or not to rent the spare room out for real, even if just to pay down the credit card, and whether or not I'm going to get rid of the chickens. And I really need to focus on making sure that every.single.day I'm devoting love & attention on my biggest two furry companions (especially since their faces have been in my lap at least 4-5x since I started writing this posting). In an ideal world, I'd like to continue expanding my social network (which I'm already in the process of doing) and ensuring that I'm getting out and about each week. I need to keep going to church and it'd be a great idea to set a goal of reading some books based in my spirituality each month. I'll need to set up a routine starting in January: for school, for work, and for visiting Granny (as she'll have transitioned up here by then). And I need to just plain make it through the holidays--enjoying the moments that I can and recognizing the moments that are harder.

What are you thinking of for goals for the next few months?!