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Turn, turn, turn

Posted: 6 days ago by Justin | Comment [1]

Ahh, February. With a simple turn of the caledar page, New Years resolutions are all but forgotten. So let’s check in on mine.

Eat better
1 month and the only HFCS I’ve had is half a graham cracker. This has cut way down on my soda intake (I used to be a 1 soda at lunch kind of guy). I’ve also improved my overall eating by cutting down on the crazy chemicals – I’ve decided you can’t totally cut them out, they’re in everything. Overall, this is going well, not great, but well.

Eat out less
I haven’t done the math, but we’re probably averaging eating out once a week, which is a drastic cut. Doing pretty good here.

Be less fat
Still fat. Still lazy. Still have multiple chins.

Become dinner party people
We haven’t technically had a dinner party at our place, but we’ve had social events (either out or at other people’s houses or lunches). Without fulfilling this one to the letter, I’m doing a great job of fulfilling the intent.

Become handy
Not much has broken at the house so far this year (hurray). But we do have some plans in the near future and for a large amount of them, I’m planning on doing the work.

Pay off my car loan
This one is going gang busters. That’s right, gang busters. It’s my blog, I’ll use 1920s slang if I want to. I sold a Ryden print and put all the earnings toward the loan (I also bought another Ryden, but that’s a story for another blog). I’m about 40% of the way towards the amount of extra cash I needed to pay this off by year’s end, but I’ve also used up all of the ideas that I had for getting extra money. Now it’s time to get creative.

Be good
I may soon decrypt this encrypted resolution.

[GRADING SYSTEM EXPLAINED]

Life [, ]

New Year, new goals

Posted: 34 days ago by Justin | Comment

This post was also written last year, so the tense/timing may be wrong.

I don’t do resolutions per say, and I’m already trying/doing most of these, but this is how I’m going to try and be less of a jerk next year.

Eat better
The classic. But I’ve got a bit of a twist on it, rules. 1) No high fructose corn syrup 2) Only eat ingredients that I know (no crazy chemicals) 3) Eat local and organic when it makes sense 4) Eat more of the things that I know are good for me 5) Eat less of the things that I know are bad for me

Eat out less
Rach and I haven’t eaten out since we got back from our honeymoon – well, we did tonight but it was a conscious decision because she wanted Italian, not because we didn’t make time to cook. It’s probably the longest we’ve gone (2 weeks) since we’ve been together. We’re trying to eat in more as part of a solid budget and so we can control what we eat.

Be less fat
Get back to a weight where I don’t look puffy in photos.

Become dinner party people
This goes against every single one of my introvert inclinations. And I’m (currently) a terrible host. But I love the idea of a dinner party – food, dress, conversation. It all seems like a wonderful way to keep up with friends and make new connections. I’m hoping to invite neighbors, ex-coworkers and old friends over for wonderful evenings that go late into the night.

Become handy
I want to be able to do more around the house. And I think with the right tools I’ll be able to. I have a lot of plans for things next year and a lot of them revolve around wood – new planters, a new gate and a few other things. I used to be really handy with wood (back in high school) so I think with the right saw/drill/nail gun I can be again. This goal mainly revolves around me not wanting to have to call a contractor every time we want something done/improved.

Pay off my car loan
This would be a big deal. I’m not sure how I’ll do it or where I’ll find the money because I’m unwilling to lessen my savings/retirement/etc to do this. Still, it’s my main money goal for the coming year.

Be good
Simple directions from a smart extraterrestrial. This will be my cryptic resolution for the year.