Summer Manifesto

Everyone else is jumping on this bandwagon, so yesterday, I thought why not? it's the first day of summer. Ali Edwards issued a challenge on her blog awhile back. I love the one Elise put on her blog here. As you can see mine is very similar, I loved the idea of putting it on a photo that can go in my project life album. And to me the essence of summer is a bright blue sky with a few wispy clouds floating by. Summer has always been my favorite season. I love the long warm nights, being outside more, all the fresh produce, yummy fruit, barbecued ribs, cold drinks. I kind of miss the lazy days of summer since I've started working. This summer, in addition to the crazy amount of trips we have planned, I also want to slow down and enjoy the little things that make summer so wonderful! 

Thirty Before Thirty

Today, Jenn and I decided it would be fun to write thirty before thirty lists. Here goes...

1. Try paddle boarding

2. Go to Europe

3. Learn to use manual mode on my camera

4. See the Eiffel Tower

5. Have pictures taken of us

6. Make my nurse III

7. Finish reading the Bible

8. Be able to run 3 miles

9. Make cake pops

10. Get a manicure

11. Have a kid (yikes...)

12. XC Skiing 4x or more

13. Get my CCRN 

14. Make Pickles

15.Open an Etsy store

16. Go to Vermont in the fall

17. Grocery shop at a farmers market

18. Ride my bike to work

19. Read all the Tintin books

20. Read a classic novel

21. Get a set of scrubs I actually like

22. Sew something cool, maybe a quilt

23. Try a new haircut

24. Learn to play a song on the piano

25. Buy a pair of leather boots

26. Donate to a charity

27. Read a ministry book

28. Eat less processed food

29. Get another pet (open ended... could be a dog, chicken, cat...)

30. Make something with an old shutter 

Welcome 2012

Well 2012 is off to a fairly good start. For one, I got the weekend off, which is always nice. And, I got to spend it with good friends and family. This morning, Joe and I went on a coffee and crepe date, yummy! I also won our little bet today, so we're going to one of my favorite spots tomorrow.  Practiced using my camera in manual mode today too. Some random pictures from today...


And yes, that is a clear sky above!

A couple new years resolutions:
- Go cross country skiing (at least 4 more times).
- Finish the chapter a day reading schedule of the New Testament.
- Get my CCRN certification, Finally. (this has been a resolution before that didn't go very far...)
- Make some things inspired by my multitude of pins on Pinterest.
- Work on my photography "skillz"

Inspiration

My cousin Sarah came over today and she convinced me to run TWO miles with her! So I'm 7 miles down, with 23 to go. I think I've finally found something that works for me to keep me on track with exercising. Most people have somewhat normal schedules, so they just pick a time to work out each day that works for them. But when you work nights, and work 12s - you end up working most of one week and then one off, which wrecks havoc on scheduled daily activities, at least for me. So now I just run when I can and don't stress about it if I can't. And when I eventually reach 30 miles - I get to buy myself a treat :) Kinda silly but I'm still getting outside and running and its been 3 weeks!


Last night, I hung out with my family, we watched the Olympics and Rach and I did some scrapbooking. We saw two Apollo Ono's race, he was disqualified in one and the USA team took bronze in the relay. We also watched Kim Yu-Na take gold in figure-skating, and 18 points over the last world record!! It's also really neat that Jeannie Rochette took the bronze with everything she has gone through...


I'm starting to see some plants popping up outside and I'm really excited to see what they turn out to be. Jon and I planted some crocuses and daffodils last fall when we moved in but everything else has been around for awhile, mostly like from 2 owners back - I get the impression that the lady was a really intense gardener. So we have a bunch of surprise plants! Today I put up a 'hand-me-d9wn' birdfeeder from my mom. We'll see who finds it first - the birds or squirrels. No takers so far...

Running

My cousin came over and went running with me today! ...so that makes mile number 3! I'm sure I will eventually get to the point where I don't feel like I'm going to die at the end of a mile. The plan is to go again tomorrow before my afternoon "nap". Then 3 more shifts and we're off to Seattle! I can't wait, it should be a good trip!

Plans

Now that my long stretch is almost over, I've started thinking about some plans for the weekend... run my 1st mile, watch some of the X-Games, go to a thrift store and look for some potential project starters, do a little scrapbooking and hang out with friends and family.
... And put up some new pictures :)

New Years Resolutions

So I know its a little late but I think I've settled on some New Years resolutions... finally.
- Study for and take the CCRN test.
- Start running again, and more generally focus on my health.
- Try out some new recipes :)

... and around April or so learn to sleep like a normal person again!

Aspirations

Learn to make pastries... yum!
Learn how to speak Korean
Get in better shape, loose a few of those extra pounds
Pass the CCRN exam
Have morning revival more consistantly
Watch less TV

... now to find the motivating factor to keep moving forward!