December Goals

I cannot believe the year is over. It's been a year of ups and downs, starting with losing Zumi on January 5th. But since then I've finished two semesters of grad school, we've started a kitchen remodel, acquired our two wonderful puppies, Silly Billy Swift and Silly Philly Ruby (as I've taken to calling them lately), and I've found a mix of meds that works really well for my bpd. Not to mention all of the awesome trips we've taken, the fun times we've had with friends, the many times we've been able to see our families. Life is wonderful. It's hard. Really hard. But it's pretty much the best.
Anyhow. Sorry, I have been very emotional lately. It's funny, I was listening to my ipod last night while riding the light rail up to see Kurt last night. The first song that came on was sad and I found myself utterly depressed. Then a few songs later, I really upbeat song came on and I just smiled and wondered at how awesome life is. You could say I have mood swings. ;)
Anyhow, December will be a good month! I'm having a fun time making lots of Christmas gifts. My friend Sarah has instituted a weekly craft night so I've really gotten into the crafting spirit. So far I've made a wreath (ala Allison's design) and a cake platter. I'm going to make another cake platter and this decorative heart thing that I can't describe and you'll just have to wait for pics.
Okay, seriously, time for goals. I'm rambly this morning.
-Get caught up on my blog posts! I have like 4 or 5 to do! I hope to do them this weekend. I wanted to do them over Thanksgiving, but we went to Tucson and left our home computer with all the pics (took Kurt's work computer) so that idea flew out the window. I have a certain friend who's going to kill me if I never get Halloween pics up, lol.
-Edit as much of my book as I possibly can.

I think that's good for this month. There are other things I'll work on (scripture reading, healthy eating), but I'm not going to make them official goals this month.

November Goals Recap

-Get back into eating healthy again! I've been awesome about working out, but pretty lazy about my eating habits. I blame candy corn. But I had the strength to throw away the last of it this morning and I am determined! Partial fail. I was pretty good about not eating bad stuff. But I didn't eat enough of the good stuff either. :(

-Edit a good chunk of my book. I would say half, but that might be overshooting it. My ultimate goal is the have the entire first edit done by December 31st. Remember how last year I did NaNoTryMo? Well, with two books already underway, I can't start a third (even though I have a rockin' idea). But I can do NaNoEdMo! (Ed = Edit) Huzzah! Fail. :(

-Continue to work on my scripture reading. Add to this, pray kneeling on the floor, not kneeling on the bed. Fail. :(

Yeah ... this month, not so good. I'll be honest, I've been struggling with depression pretty bad the past few weeks. Not very conducive to accomplishing things. The month started out well, but degenerated over time. This month is starting the same ... I'm feeling pretty good. But I don't anticipate getting depressed because I have lots of festivities and then off to Utah for Christmas and then off to South Carolina for my school resideny. So it'll be good! Until I get back from school and then I'll probably get depressed again, lol. Oh well, such is life! It's still worth living!! :)

Random Thoughts

Grad School.
Remember how I sat on my butt (head?) for years deciding what to get my Masters in?
And then I decided and two weeks later applied to schools and a month later was accepted to two and like two point six days later accepted one of them?
Well, I'm halfway done now.
^_^

Sponge.
So, being bi polar means I'm more emotional than your average bear. The majority of the time.
And then there are days when I feel like I'm drowning in emotion.
On those days, I soak it up like a sponge, from all around me.
Yesterday, a friend told me some devastating news.
Their pain became my pain.
But it didn't stop there.
Because once I get emotional, I don't just feel one emotion.
I get bombarded by emotions.
 Intense emotions.
It culminated in me slap happy and laughing at the stupidest things today at work.
I'm pretty sure everyone there thinks I'm crazy.
(You should see the emails I send out to our team ... I definitely used the phrase "Re-commence anticipatory salivation!" in the last one. That sounds really weird out of context. Umm ... it sounded weird in context too.)

Ashamed.
I subscribe to a blog that posts cute pictures of animals multiple times a day.
I might just be 14 years old again.

Plan-less.
I have no plans for the weekend.
This is amazing!
I plan on kickboxing, cleaning, and editing/writing all weekend.
Yummy.

Christmas gift.
I've been asked what my gift from Kurt was:
a hot pink, new generation iPod Nano.
With my email engraved on back.
In case I lose it.
Because I am married to an accountant who thinks of those things.

I love Kurt.

Kurt gave me my birthday/Christmas present last night.

It arrived in the mail yesterday.

My birthday's not for another 13 days

And, well, you know when Christmas is.

Last year he did the same thing,

giving me my birthday/Christmas present

in October.

He can never wait.

He's too excited.

(Well, Kurt's version of excited.)

I think it's cute.

November Goals

I'm feeling so much better this month than I was last month. Maybe it's because my fun Halloween weekend finally kicked me into high spirits. Maybe it's because my semester is done in a week (basically... I mail off my last assignment in a week, which means I'm done). Maybe it's because Harry Potter 7: Part 1 is coming out in 17, no, 16 days. Or maybe it's because my birthday is in 22 days. So many good things!
-Get back into eating healthy again! I've been awesome about working out, but pretty lazy about my eating habits. I blame candy corn. But I had the strength to throw away the last of it this morning and I am determined!
-Edit a good chunk of my book. I would say half, but that might be overshooting it. My ultimate goal is the have the entire first edit done by December 31st. Remember how last year I did NaNoTryMo? Well, with two books already underway, I can't start a third (even though I have a rockin' idea). But I can do NaNoEdMo! (Ed = Edit) Huzzah!
-Continue to work on my scripture reading. Add to this, pray kneeling on the floor, not kneeling on the bed.

Yay, new goals!

October Goals Recap

Wow, I only did two posts in October. And they were only about goals. All time low. I apologize. I actually have quite a bit to post, I'm just waiting until next week when I finish my semester. Yippee! I've got cruise pics and Halloween hubbub. Oh joy.

October Goals: The Results
-Continue to read my scriptures every day. Fail. Wasn't too good about this. Poop.
-Continue to stay on top of house work. I'd say success. I did pretty well! Well enough to count it as a success, at least. :)
-Continue to stay on top of school work. Success! Yay, I'm 2 for 3 this month!

October Goals

I'm not feeling particularly motivated right now. It's fall, which means I'm slipping slowly from hypomania to depression. A very slow slip, so I'm having mixed symptoms right now. I should probably wait to post this till a day when I'm feeling a little more upbeat, but now is as good as ever. I'm behind on a lot of things right now and I can easily get this done real quick, so it's one less thing to do. Anyhow! I really am happy. Just got back from an awesome cruise in the Caribbean. Kurt is back at home. My semester is almost done. And today is a wonderfully chilly and rainy day. I LOVE days like this. Makes me want to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot herbal tea and watch a movie. Can't do that--have to work--but I'm still going to get a cup of hot blueberry tea and I'm wearing a cuddly cardigan. Today I'm going to put out my Halloween decorations. I can't believe it's time for that already. Craziness. I'm just feeling a little tired today because I have four submissions to read for my writing groups to be done asap and three papers and major editing on my school story (I'm writing two books right now) to do by Thursday. Oh, and we have a blocked tub drain and complete strangers coming to stay with us this weekend. And I'm tired from our very long travel day home on Sunday. But never fear! I shall conquer! ANYHOW! On to my goals for the month.
-Continue to read my scriptures every day.
-Continue to stay on top of house work.
-Continue to stay on top of school work.

Man I'm creative this month.

September Goals Recap

So, I have a very valid excuse as to why I haven't posted this yet. I was on a cruise! I actually didn't leave on my cruise till the 2nd, but the two weeks before that Kurt was gone and I was focusing so hard on trying not to be lonely that lots of things slid by the wayside. Kurt and I have been separated for longer than 2 weeks, but this time was definitely the hardest. He went to Canada for a big hunt with his brother Nikkia and we weren't able to talk for the whole 2 weeks either. That was the hardest part. He was able to email me once towards the beginning of the trip, but that was it. But since the time apart was followed directly by a week of being with each other 24/7, it wasn't too bad. But more on our cruise later!
September Goals:
-Read scriptures every day, even if it's just one verse. A repeat, yes, but it's a worth repeat. I did really well on this until the cruise. Oh wait, the cruise was October. Then, huzzah, I succeeded!


-Stay on top of school work. Oh, dang, another repeat. Success!

-Keep house clean. This is harder than you think. Success! It wasn't too hard with it only being me to clean up after for half the month, but still.

-Start editing my boooook! Fail. I probably won't be able to start it till after my semester ends, on November 12th. Ah well.

Other Summer Fun

This is for my blog book. No pictures of these events. :(

Stephanie moved out to Utah and on their way out, she and my mom stopped for the night and we took them to India Oven. Yummmmmmmm.

We took a camping trip with Kurt's coworkers: Kassia and her husband Nick, and Suze and her husband Josh. Six people and eight dogs! We had such a fun time. We took our camera but the battery died right away. We were able to trust Swift off leash but not Ruby. She kept running away.

Caroline and I just drove cross country! I flew out to SC on Thursday and hung out with my fam. Then we woke up early on Friday and drove to St. Louis, where we stopped for the night at Ryan and Mandi's. We saw the boys (Chris and Max!) and got delicious Ted Drewe's frozen custard. Soooo good. The next morning we went to to IHOP (we were all craving it) then Caroline and I drove to Denver and ate at Jerusalem with Kurt. Then the next morning we got up and drove to Utah. Yesterday Caroline went to Idaho and Steph and I shopped with my grandma Hatch and aunt Jodie and favorite cousin Jackie Smackie. I think Kurt's going to stop letting me visit my family in Utah because I always go shopping when I'm with them, lol! I wish we lived closer to them. It would be so nice to be with my sisters.
And now I'm caught up! Yay!

Field Family Reunion

I've become quite uncreative with my blog post titles lately. Well guess what... GET OVER IT! Just kidding, I know you don't care. You probably don't even look at the title of my posts anymore. I know I don't. So in August we drove (that's right, drove) up to Washington state for the Field family reunion. That's Kurt's mom's side of the fam. We had a blast! Kurt's family is really fun and we always enjoy our time with them. Not to mention the fact that Chewelah is so beautiful! Kurt and I are from awesome places! :D

First thing we did when we got to Spokane (well second thing; first was saw Kurt's gma) was go to Spokane Falls park (or something like that). It was a hot day and we were tired from our all-nighter drive, so we got some shave ice. Tiger's Blood flavor. With cream. Delish.

Yes, that is Kurt wearing crocs and socks. He's styling.

Then we went to lunch with his cousins, aunts, and mom for his cousin Christine's birthday. Then we went and got Kurt's first of five huckleberry milkshakes. Hey, had to take advantage of the availability!

Look at that ice cream. Soooo good.

The Milk Bottle! It was the best of all our samples. I'm craving it now ... mmm ...

The next day we went and saw Kurt's friend's parents for a bit before the reunion. On the way back to the reunion, we saw a classic car show and decided to stop in and see what was up.

Just one of the many awesome cars. Kurt was in heaven.

This is the car I chose to be mine. Hah! I wish. Love that color!

Then we had the reunion, which was super fun. I ate way too much, no duh there. The next day we swung by and saw Kurt's gma's again and aunt and uncle and cousin. Then we stopped for the night in Missoula, I believe. The day we swung by Sugar City to see my family, the Parkinson's. Then we did a short jaunt in Jackson Hole. Then we drove home!

Showers of Babies!

That sounds gruesome. Anyhow, I threw my good friend, Camille, a baby shower in July and I just had to show off my mad baby shower throwing skillz.

Very cute, if I say so myself. :)

Camille and Jen. One is still preggers (Jen), the other is not (Camille). That's right, my three closest friends in Denver were all pregnant at the same time! I'm officially the last one. I'm such a slacker.

The only chica I know in this pic is Marianne, on the left. She is awesome!

Jen, Patsy, and someone else I don't know. There were like 20 girls there!

Patsy and Sheilla checking out my puppies in the back yard!

Officially the coolest present of the day: a sock monkey! Guess who it's from? ;)

Beaver Creek

All summer my boss ran a sales campaign where the winners got to stay at a five star hotel in the mountains for two nights. Well, since I ran the entire campaign by myself, he paid for me and Kurt to go too! We had an AWESOME time. Mountain biking, sleeping, hiking, eating, soaking in the hot tub, swimming in the pool. The hotel was super nice and the mountains were gorgeous! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I work for an awesome boss!

We started things off right with a trip to Smash Burger. Kurt looks like an evil man with a penchant for root beer floats in this pic.

The next morning we hopped onto the chair lift with our bikes for some mountain biking!

Err, this pic is out of order. Getting ready for mountain biking.

We've been biking for about 30 minutes and I've already crashed twice! By the end of the day, I crashed three times and got a mild concussion. But no, it does not deter me from biking in the future. I love it too much!

The next day we went for a hike through the mountains. It was so green and beautiful!

There's a waterfall back there.

We hiked to a pretty lake. I look absolutely terrible in this pic.

Kurt ate his lunch while wading in the water. But that wasn't enough for him...

and he had to go for a dip!

September Goals

Mamma mia, September already. It reminds me of this corny country song my cousin was obsessed with when we were kids that went, "Time marches ooooon." It was very country and very corny. But, really, the two are synonymous.
-Read scriptures every day, even if it's just one verse. A repeat, yes, but it's a worth repeat.
-Stay on top of school work. Oh, dang, another repeat.
-Keep house clean. This is harder than you think.
-Start editing my boooook!

That's enough for now. I just flew to South Carolina, drove from there to Utah, and flew back to Denver. Five straight days of traveling. I'm tired and sick too. Poo. And it's weird, because I have two fewer books to read this semester but I'm busier. Explain that to me. Anyhow! Yay September!

August Goals Recap

A few days late. Tee hee.
-Don't look at, edit, read, etc., my book at all this month. I need a break. I'll probably still do research, but the actual book I can't touch. It's actually relieving. Success! I like saying this more than check.
-Stay on top of school work. Success! 
-Finish organizing the office. Success!
-Read scriptures every day, even if it's only one verse. Almost success! Definitely an improvement, though!
-Get caught up on my posts. I'm behind by like 3 or 4. Whoopsie. Fail! Yay!

I Got A Piano!

And I'm so stinkin' thrilled about it!

I decided last week that I was finally going to do it.

On Saturday went to a few stores to look at used pianos.

Then decided to see what was on Craigslist on Sunday.

Found one that sounded great.

Called on it.

Saw it an hour later.

Called her another hour later and told her I'd buy it (for $100 less than her asking price, no less).

And Monday found movers who picked it up and dropped it off that afternoon!

I've been playing it nonstop.

It's a lovely Baldwin with a nice, bright sound and pretty nice key action.

I'm in love.

July Fourth Celebrations, Part Two

After the boys got back at 11:45 on the Third, we headed up to Y Mount to hike in the hot, hot heat.

So very, very hot. Even the dogs were dying. Coco, a black little furball, ran from shadow to shadow. It was pretty cute.

Here Alex is, walking a bush. He looks so happy.

Halfway up, where you turn into the canyon, is this lovely huge rock with lots of shade. In the shadow, it was downright cool, with a nice breeze coming out of the canyon. Here is Allison looking all cute and stuff.

Silly, and slightly scary, boys.

Cute puppies!

Mint chocolate chip hiking buddies!

Then we got to the campsite and set up our tents and fire and all that. Normally, we hike to the top in time to watch the fireworks at Stadium of Fire, but Kurt and Alex were so tired from their all-nighter that we just hung out in the meadow for the night. It was still really fun!

The next morning we woke up, hung out by the fire and headed home. Kinda unceremonious, but nice and relaxing.

Good morning!

I look a) nervous b) like I have a double chin and c) really really unpretty.

On the road again.

After that, we went up to my Grandma Hatch's for a family party. The next day we broke the bank shopping at Ikea then headed home with our bounty in a moving truck. It was such a fun trip. Thanks everyone for the fun!

July Fourth Celebrations, Part One

Finally getting caught up on my posts! I haven't been this behind in years. I've just been so busy with finishing my book and school and what not. Seriously haven't been this busy in a long time. But it's been a good busy!
So, for 4th of July weekend, we decided to go up to Utah to hit up Ikea for some kitchen reno supplies. We also decided to do our now traditional Y hike with our besties, the Wilcox's! We arrived at their house on the 2nd and had some fun for a bit. Allison and I laid out while Kurt went to lunch with some other friends and Alex worked. Then, for dinner, we all went to Art City Trolley in Springville.

Then we went to Provo Freedom Festival where:

Kurt got a 5 minute back massage

I got a delicious chocolate covered frozen banana

We ran into Bee Money, the local Provo rapper

We wore silly sunglasses

Kurt and Alex played foosball

We played musical chairs

I battled Allison in paper rock scissors

And took silly pictures.

The boys didn't want to go but we all ended up having a really awesome time!

Then that night, the night before the hike, the boys decided to do an all-night hike up King's Peak, the tallest mountain Utah.

So hopeful.

So crazy.

Next up: the hike!

August Goals

Figured I'd go ahead and do my August goals post now. I've been obsessed with my book, but now the first draft is done and a few people are reading it. Speaking of, final stats of draft one: 57k words, 93 single-spaced pages. I have a lot more filling in to do, so the next draft will actually be bigger, not smaller. Then from there I'll probably start paring things down. My work is only half done. It's going to be a long road. Which segways nicely into my first goal:
-Don't look at, edit, read, etc., my book at all this month. I need a break. I'll probably still do research, but the actual book I can't touch. It's actually relieving.
-Stay on top of school work.
-Finish organizing the office.
-Read scriptures every day, even if it's only one verse.
-Get caught up on my posts. I'm behind by like 3 or 4. Whoopsie.

July Goals Recap

-Read at least two, hopefully three, books for school (and write papers for them). Not check. I was slightly obsessed with finishing my book. But I'm okay.

-Finish my book (this is the month!). Check! Huzzah!

-Organize the office (includes building our new bookshelves and finding a place for the old ones). Kurt and I got started on that last night and I'm glad he's helping me because it's a BIG job!

-Ride my bike to work on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. This month I will conquer! There turned out to be NO days I could ride my bike, for one reason or another. I did go on bike rides after work. But that might be on hold, depending on what I find out at the doctor tomorrow. More info on that to come ...
 
I technically only accomplished one of my goals this (last actually) month but I don't care because it was a BIG goal. So I feel good!