2010

I personally always enjoy reading year recaps, so I'm going to go ahead and recap the year in this blog.  A lot of these are cell phone pictures, so I apologize.


I went to four states I hadn't been to before (IL,LA,AR, and OK), bringing my state count up to 10!

In Arkansas

I saw some awesome shows! Wicked, Tegan and Sara, Miss Saigon, and Paramore

I joined the Sears family. 

I owned my first car (though it's rough trying to get rid of it!!)

                                      

My niece Dottie was born!!!!!!!

This is not the best picture of her, I just love it!

I got to watch Duggle become an adorable toddler.

I read over 20 books, which I hope to continue to do every year!

I went to the gym religiously for MOST of the year.

Don't remember why I took this...

I saw Sarah and Ryan graduate college!

I auditioned for Glee and nothing came of it, but I got a ton of votes and it was so fun!

Screenshot of my final vote count.  I felt loved!

I decided my next move would be to Glenview, Illinois.  I will be living with a family I adore (temporarily), in a place that is different from anywhere I've lived before.  I'm very excited to see what this adventure brings!!

Bean Reflection

Got to spend the holidays at home with the family, I was very lucky!

I'm an obscenely lucky human being, and I hope 2011 is half as awesome as 2010.  It wasn't a perfect year, I don't mean to imply that at all.  When I step back and look at a FEW of the highlights (this is just a small grab bag) of my year, I feel very privileged to have my life.  I don't deserve it!  I hope everybody has a great new year, and I encourage you to at least write down some highlights.  I guarantee everybody has a hand full of blessings from 2010.

I'm not huge on New Years resolutions, but I don't mind setting goals for myself.  I will read over 20 books (I'd like to be at 25) this year.  I will take some classes.  I will also see at LEAST two more states this year, but I'm aiming for 4.  I will continue to be active and not over eat.  I will have a good time and be responsible!  I will, I will, I will!

I Want to See Americaaaaa!

If you've spoken to me at all within the past week, you've probably heard about my new goal!  That is to go to all 50 states!  Most items on my life list involve travel, and I saw a few videos from people who have done this and I knew it would be worth the time and the effort.  I'm not going to try and do this all in one shot, I'd like to do it over time and not just run over the state line and run back.  There are a lot of international places I'd love to visit as well, so if I can, I'd like to complete my goal in under 10 years.  I don't exactly have an endless amount of money so there will be gaps, haha.



I made my first trip specifically to fulfill this goal yesterday.  I drove a little under 3 hours to Lake Charles, Louisiana and spent a few hours there.  For some place so close, it definitely had it's own separate identity!  It was pretty old and very Southern, I loved it.  I would've enjoyed going to New Orleans, but it was a LOT cheaper to go somewhere closer (the grand total was around $60.  Gas and a meal.) and I still liked it.  So this is my current map I'm using to keep track.  I have a long way to go! (I'm not sure whether or not to include PA and NJ, because I literally ONLY drove through there from those airports.)

I Want to Run a 5k!

Most people who've known me within the past few years, know that I was pretty heavy for a while! Over the course of about a year I gradually lost 30lbs. Thankfully, having it be gradual has made maintaining my weight a lot more natural.

I've hit a plateau and I haven't really been able to lose more, but I've been doing my best to maintain an active lifestyle and not eat too much (although the contents of my diet could use some serious work). I work with a trainer around once a week and I try to either go to the gym or take long walks 3-5 times a week. My goal has been nothing more then to firm up and to improve my overall health.

I never thought about working towards any physical goal other then maybe an amount of weight lost or just "having toned arms" (ONE DAY I will!). Then a Youtube vlogger I watch started a blog about her weight loss journey. She also lost 30 lbs recently, and she recently completed a 5k race. I never really thought about it, but a 5k is only 3.1 miles! Sadly I'm still not quite in the shape to run more then about one mile currently...but I could DEFINITELY work my way up to 3.1. I haven't really done anything slightly athletic (other then just straight working out) since I was a kid, so this would be a cool accomplishment for me! What's funny is that the DAY I had decided I wanted to do this, there were a bunch of Races for the Cure in my area. Oh well, there will be more! I hope I'll be ready for them when they come!

I'm going to really focus on spending more time on the treadmill at the gym and work on doing 4 miles straight while jogging. I honestly probably wont post a lot about my progress unless I have a major breakthrough! It will be a while...haha.

Since this is boring and mostly writing, I decided to post a sort of "before and after" type photo (although I never really took proper ones) because those are always fun!

(Click on it so you can really see...it posted so small!)