Housekeeping 2.0

This blog has been quite neglected - I guess life just simply got in the way, but I will update based on the previous post, which talked about goals for 2009. It has been a crazy two years since moving up to the somewhat-great white north, and some things have definitely been accomplished since then!

Personal Well Being

1. Mental health and well-being - I have dedicated much more time to myself in the last two years, and have cut down on overtime at work substantially. Though periodically I have been close to burn-out from work, I have been better about getting to a happy medium.
2. Fitness - I am at a healthy weight following 40lbs of university weight gain after 3 long years of trial and error. Now I am able to work out 3x a week at the gym or play sports, with a focus on strength training, whereas before my schedule would not allow for it. Though my weight is still settling in to where it will be eventually, I am in general, quite happy regardless of how much it moves on the scale, keeping in mind it is only one of many indicators of good health.
3. My relationship with food - I no longer keep a food diary or count my calories since re-learning how to eat and enjoy my food, and it's nice to be able to eat without focusing so much on what it is, rather on how tasty and delicious it is! My focus is now on whole, natural foods, while indulging in the good stuff in moderation.
4. Volunteering - I was involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters for 2009-2010, something that was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, my Little moved away recently, but I still consider myself lucky to have had the time with her and to explore being a mentor. Haven't decided whether I will match up again, as I don't know if I will be moving within a year, however, I am still volunteering with the organization when I can.
5. Relationship - Getting married next year, which will be an adventure in itself! Still working away at making it better and better, as there is no room for resting! We still enjoy each others company, and the time that we have apart from each other.

Personal Goals

1. Design - play, enjoy and think about it on a daily basis, whether I create it or not! Photographs, digital media, blogs! Also, think more seriously about how this will apply for future schooling when I get to it.
2. Music - play more, start to compose again
3. Personal wardrobe - slowly but surely start to refit it with classic and trendy pieces. Since becoming fitter, my wardrobe of what I can wear has shrunk substantially (and donations to the Salvation Army have increased!). I will be in Hong Kong in the next month, so perhaps that's when I can start to think about what to buy! I think I am more settled in my size, which will give me more freedom in what I can buy and wear.
4. Food - make and enjoy! I have been lazy... perhaps it's time to take more pictures of what I eat! Time to try out some new recipes!
5. Wedding - plan a small, budget friendly wedding. Hopefully this will be relatively stress-free and I will enjoy the process!

Wishlist Update

Seems that I have obtained three of the five from 2009, all except for the tablet and the DSLR, which I am okay with. With the upcoming wedding, I am happy to leave those aside until I have the income and the time to play with those types of things. In the meantime, the music and the art will still keep going in the household! Now that I have a new digital camera (Panasonic LX5), I am steadily taking pictures again, documenting things as I go along.

Housekeeping

It is a new year, and for once, I am actually going to set some personal goals for myself. I'm going to consider it a lifestyle change, write it down and look at how I'm doing each month. Here will be my goals for well being, general everday stuff, and also a wishlist of things that I want that relate to these goals.

Personal Well Being

1. Work on balance and taking care of myself and my life. This past year has been hectic with work consuming a lot of my time. This year, I hope to cut back on work to focus on myself and my interests.

2. Be more involved in the community - it's a planner's duty!

3. Work on my relationship. Make time for him, enjoy his company, and communicate more. It has been 5 years, but still there is always something to work on and more things to discover!

Goals for 2009

1. To create a healthier lifestyle:

• I'm going to eat right - starting with a food log to see how I eat, and then moving on from there. The aim is to start planning my daily meals after I evaluate my eating habits
  
• Exercise regularly - Not really a new thing for most people, but I have lagged since winter started. As a start, I have signed up for 2 fitness classes a week. I also bought a wiifit - however, I am not going to use this as my main source of physical activity - it will more supplement and provide for tracking and some fun things to do on snowy cold days
• The end goal is to reach 20% body fat by June. This will have me approximately losing about 20lbs - the remainder of the 40 lbs I gained during my university years.
• Take care of my skin - I'm starting to invest in better quality products
  

2. Focus more on design

• I see and feel it everywhere I look - and I can't ignore it! I'm going to look to creating new art pieces more regularly. I might integrate it with the blog, and begin daily sketches

3. Learn 1 song a week on the guitar and start playing regularly with other people. Performing more at Open Mic nights is a part of this. I would like to start composing again this year.

4. Actively write / blog (starting with here)

5. Take one photograph daily - again, likely to integrate with this blog

6. Write my year in review of Fort McMurray.

7. Wardrobe overhaul - I've been feeling rather blah about my fashion, and want to start picking up the pieces of clothing and jewelery that are unique and local if possible. This is going to align a bit with my health goals as well, as I will need to eventually start to buy new clothing that fits.

8. Experiment in the kitchen - look to try one new recipe a week

9. Organize all my personal data - first step, buy a large external hard drive...

10. Finish making home - since we've moved into our condo, we still have to finish paint touch ups, quarter rounds for the baseboards and putting up wall paintings. There are also a few things that I would like to buy to start organizing our space more in the way that I would like. I would also like to complete our kitchen collection of little things that I would like in the kitchen. This involves me saving some money to do some of these things first. A budget for saving is in the works!

2009 Wishlist

These are the things that would come secondary after everything else. Wants, not needs. I am going to look to budgeting these things out, and eventually get to buying them. Priority does need to go towards my day to day living, the mortgage and the like. I also know this means I may sacrifice some of my own desires for fashion and the like... it is balance of desires!

1. Electric Piano - currently I'm looking at a Yamaha Arius - I miss playing piano!

2. 9x12 Wacom Intuos3 (Graphics Tablet) - This has been on my wishlist for 6 years! I think eventually I should just cave and buy it. I want to take this tool and really start to hone my design skills, however, I always think I'm broke and will never afford it... (says me who has a mortgage to deal with)

3. Nikon D90 - I lust after this... however, I think I do have to improve my photography skills first

4. Panasonic LX3 - This one isn't set in stone, but I would like to have a more compact camera to toss in my purse for everyday use. My S3 IS, though very good, is just a tad big for that kind of use.

5. New laptop / pc - my desktop is 6 years old, my laptop is 4 years old. I may reserve this one for when I think about going back to school in the future. At the moment, my partner is looking at building a new desktop (shared for us), so one of these may occur sooner than I thought. The new macbooks, however, are very tempting! This would be a part of my design as well as musical endeavours