purekatherine

The other day I got into a conversation with a friend about how frustrating it can be to try to make changes to your life. There’s all this stuff to be done and you want to do it all, so it seems totally overwhelming. What does that lead to? For me, it means sitting back and doing nothing.

So instead, I suggested something that we could do next year. We’re going to decide on 12 changes we want to make and incorporate them into our lives one by one. We’ll give each new change a month to take hold and become habit before going for the next one. That way we’ll have a drastic difference in our lives by the end of the year, but we won’t have made any dramatic changes.

Sounds kind of cool, huh?

I put the call out to twitter only a few minutes after deciding that we were going to do it, thinking that it would be really cool to have 12 people make 12 changes in the 12 months of 2012.

And then the responses came. We had 24 people interested in about an hour. In the 48 hours or so since then, we’ve grown to over 36!

This is looking like it could be something really awesome.

The conversation that Stephany and I had was about being healthier and making better food choices, but with almost 40 of us there will obviously be some varied goals. I know that Erini started a list and came up with way more than 12, while Grace doubted that she would think of 12 without seeing some other people’s lists. This is why this will make a fantastic group project!

We have just under 4 weeks until January 1. In that time, I’d love for everyone to come up with a list of at least 9 items. If we share those on blogs and through email, those who are having trouble coming up with 12 will be able to catch some inspiration and those who have more may be able to decide which ones they will have the best support on! Hopefully we’ll have a group blog to start sharing on soon, so we won’t have to rely on my shoddy ability to get email out to everyone!

I actually have the feeling that I’m going to have more than 12 things, and some of those I might decide to implement together. In that case, I might actually have 18 things on my list. Shocking and scandalous I know, but that’s the kind of thing that I mean, this is everyone’s project and we can all do it in our own way.

How about you? Want to join us? Make sure I have your email address and I’ll make sure that you’re on for future communications!

Let’s make some big changes in 2012!

If you need some inspiration, here’s my rough draft of things to change.

1. Drink more water every day.
2. Keep my place picked up every day.
3. Eat breakfast daily.
4. Bring lunch to work, cooking on the weekends.
5. Run at least once a week.
6. Wash my face every night.
7. Fold my laundry as soon as it’s done and PUT IT AWAY!
8. Blog twice a week.
9. Give or throw away a bag/box each week.
10. Read for 15 minutes each day.
11. Write a note to a friend every week.
12. File paperwork as it comes in.

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Watch the first 25 seconds or so of this video…

There’s a better quality one for the rest afterward!

If you’d like to jam out to some Violent Femmes and smile at Angela Chase’s silly dancing, continue with this!

This was my Tuesday.

It was less about the boy and more about myself though. I’m actually starting to forgive myself for some stupid things I did. I mean, if someone can’t see the hole that I’m in and that my decisions are clouded because of that, they don’t deserve to get me once the clouds clear.

That sucks for them, and for me. I mean, I’d love to be with the person who is going to help me find my way through the fog now that it’s so much thinner, but until then I’ve found out who the friends are who I want to show this unclouded me to!

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School starts today and I’m nervous. I have to add two different classes, one of which I really want, and the other I need. I’m not really prepared for the later, so let’s hope that the professor is kind!

I’m really excited about some other stuff that might be taking off soon though, I should have some more details to share about that late this week or early next week! Keep your fingers crossed for me?

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I’ve made a few changes in the last few weeks that I should have made a few months ago. Unfortunately for the biggest of those things, while it’s good that I’m doing the “right” thing now, the outcome of the mistake I made will probably not be changed by getting back on track now.

That’s not what this post is about though. This is about one of the things that WILL be changed by getting back on track now!

I’ve written before about the couch to 5K program and how I was doing with that, but then school started. With the change in schedule I let some things get away from me and school and work took over most of my running time.

There was some cardio time at the new LEED certified gym at school to watch the San Francisco Giants win the World Series, but that was really just time on the bike or the elliptical while watching the game, I did not get further with the C25K program.

The elliptical has never transferred into being able to actually run, though it did help with that little thing I posted about on Sunday. So rather than starting where I left off, I’ve decided to start over! My first run I accidentally started in the third week again, and the first minute and a half run was not so fun, though I did get through it. Once I realized my mistake I very quickly cancelled that run and went back to the first run.

I was feeling a bit beat up after couple cycles of running, so I decided to skip one, I mean, it’s good that I’m doing it at all right? Well, I actually ended up rethinking it and after the eighth run I went back and did one more round to truly have 8 under my belt for the first day.

I’m glad I did.

An option I’m considering for my off days is taking the jump into the weight room at the gym and figuring out how to use some of the machines that totally intimidate me. Just one more thing that I should have started before!

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But I am extremely closed-minded and stubborn.

I’m of course only referring to the first part of that as being a surprise. If you don’t know that I’m stubborn, you simply don’t know me very well. For a girl who proudly and openly supports gay marriage and wishes she could help anyone who wants it though, closed-minded might not be the first thing that comes to mind.

It’s true though. I have examples!

I always thought that I didn’t like Snickers.

I’m not a big fan of caramel, which is why I often stay away from Twix and Milky Way as well. The times that I do have a Snickers or a Milky Way would be when they are in the mini form and frozen at my grandparents’ cabin each summer, though I will always go for a 3 Musketeers first if it is within grasp.

I recently gave a friend a mug filled with Snickers bars as a kind of apology for something stupid I’ve done and in the process of preparing this gift I bought one more bar than I needed. I don’t remember what it was that drove me to open that last bar and eat it myself, but whoa.

The chocolate was amazing before I got to anything else. The chew of the nougat was perfect, especially when contrasted with the crunch of the peanuts. I didn’t even notice the caramel except as a being a good texture to compliment the peanuts that it surrounds. My favorite part was definitely the chocolate. I know that I’ve got two X chromosomes, which means that I’m supposed to have a weak spot for chocolate, but most days I could really take it or leave it. This chocolate though was superb.

The whole experience was pretty eye-opening, obviously. I ended up buying two more about a week and a half later with the intent of giving one to the same friend. I talked myself out of that and ended up eating them both! Who would have thought that buying an extra Snickers bar that was intended for a friend would have led to a whole new perspective on the way I travel through this world?

What I mean by that is that once I realized how silly it was to have previously basically cut all possibility of snickers out of my diet because I thought that I didn’t like them. Why hadn’t I just tried them again some time? Perhaps my tastes had changed!

This all has me now wondering about other things that I was previously so against.

Camping for instance. While I may not be a fan of getting too dirty without knowing that there’s a shower waiting for me, or possibly dealing with bears, but the whole hanging out with friends part and being surrounded by pretty things that were not made by man does sound appealing.

Also baseball! While I still don’t entirely understand following professional sports teams, I have found myself recently caring how the San Francisco Giants are doing. I will say that I like having something that easily connects me to strangers who are wearing Giants gear in public, I still don’t get the overly crazed fans.

I am looking forward to learning more and being able to talk about the whole game a bit more next season though!

And of course, what is baseball without beer?

I’m still not so into beer, and I don’t see that changing any time soon, but I am now in a place that I can tolerate a glass or bottle when it’s offered and I don’t have another drink.

I’d like to find one that I actually like, I guess I’ll have to be up for trying things!

Good thing I tried that Snickers bar!

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I’m sure you’ve gotten sick of me talking about how much I hate my not Barnes & Noble job. I’ve gotten sick of talking about it, to be honest.

That’s why I did something about it yesterday.

I feel kind of bad about the way that I did it, but I need to be looking out for myself first. I was scheduled to work yesterday morning at 9:30, and after seeing the paycheck that I got overnight through direct deposit, I decided that it was simply not worth the constant guilt and frustration. So I started calling every 5 minutes at 9:15 in hopes of getting someone who had gone in early.

At 9:25 the store manager answered and I told her that I was very sorry for not giving notice, but I couldn’t work there anymore.

The final straw was my birthday (now only 8 days away). I forgot to ask for it off, which I was bummed about when I got the schedule and saw that I was scheduled for 2:30-6:30 with an extension to 7:30. I asked the girl who was scheduled to open that day if she would switch with me so I could have more of the day free (I mean, mids kind of ruin the whole day, you know?) and she agreed.

The manager wasn’t in that day to get it approved, so I went in the next day (Wednesday) to have her sign off on it. Explaining the issue of my birthday, I let her know the situation. She agreed, but also gave me some huge attitude and said, “You know we’re not really doing switches anymore.”

The fact that I was willing to work on my birthday, I just needed a different shift seemed relatively generous to me. I now will have lots of time to work on the C25K and getting the basement cleaned out of things that I don’t need.

While I will totally admit that this wasn’t the smartest decision financially, I think that it was the best decision for me over all, and I look forward to making more like this from now on!

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Tonight, I was feeling magic in the air. There were thunderstorms in the forecast and everything smelled amazing. So much so that I actually wandered outside to just be for a little while. I wanted to walk around Old Sac and just take everything in during that awesome pre-storm energy, but night had already fallen and I didn’t want to go alone. Nor did I want to take away a lead from Sweet n’ Hot by grabbing one of the guys upstairs. So out front I sat for a little while.

When I got home, I couldn’t ignore the magic outside my window, but I had no one to take a walk with me, and it was almost midnight, so I just had to settle for an open window and blinds.

As I sat down to read more of Wicked (oddly enough the scene describing the tornado) the lightning really got under way. As I was putting down my book and thinking Screw it! I’m going out to get me some of this magic! my phone rang, my darling brother who had just turned me down for a walk in the pre-storm magic was being called outside as well.

As soon as we were outside, the sky just seemed to open up and pour on us. I couldn’t have asked for much better. Only one thing that I can think of right now would have topped it, but playing in the rain with my brother while my soul was reenergized by nature is a damn close second!

Sadly, I got no good pictures of the actual lightning, but my friend Davis got the one above!

Jeff and I got some other awesome pictures. There are a select few here, and more on Facebook. I’m pretty sure that 97% of the people who read this will be able to find them on Facebook. If you can’t see them because I don’t know you and you would like to, let me know!

My hair is totally going to be tangled and smelling of rain tomorrow. I can’t wait for the reminder of the magic!

I definitely felt like I was back in Iowa for a little bit, for all of the reasons that I loved it there. (I didn’t completely hate it!) Specifically, I’m recalling a trip Mallory and I took to Maid-Rite, during which we got caught in what seemed to be a 15-second downpour the moment we got out of the car and ran inside. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t even raining when we left her house, just a couple miles away.

Now back to Wicked! You don’t really think I could sleep after such fuel for the soul, do you?

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I’m pretty sure the turn around time isn’t that fast, but I did donate blood today!

It was my second time doing so. My first time it was really fast, like 4:30 to fill the bag. This time I’m pretty sure that the blood pressure arm band was on too tight because it took almost 11 minutes! The needle also burned a little, which I was warned about by a co-worker 2 months ago when i donated, and since I thought it would only be few minutes, I didn’t worry about it too much. I was very glad to have it out of my arm though.

I also signed up and swabbed my cheeks to get on the marrow donation registry. They really need minorities, and males tend to be better matches, but you never really know, right?

These two simple things are just the beginning of my new goal.

I’ve decided that I’m going to change the world.

I found Ben Jelen again the other day, and well, he’s cute so I follow what he says. Not really. But his lyrics and the video for Pulse definitely make me want to get off of my ass. (I would have posted Pulse here, but it’s got some things like starving children in it. I encourage you to watch it though, it should be one of the first suggested after Wreckage is done playing.)

I realize for now that getting off my ass is going to consist of some very small things, but it’s more important that one does what they can than uproot their lives for something, right? So when I get the chance I’m going to do things like donate blood. (Apparently if I do so in the actual clinic my O- can be used for babies and more specialized things than it can be when donated through a blood drive location.) I think I might try to pick up trash a little when I’m out walking. I’m not sure what else, but I’ll definitely have my eyes open for opportunity, and I will always love suggestions.

Maybe after I graduate I’ll look into the Peace Corps!

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dinosaurs
Originally uploaded by purekatherine

Alright, it’s official. If you haven’t been to my Etsy store yet this year, you will be very surprised the next time you do.

I’ve gotten one sale from the new look, and I hope that will start jumping up higher soon.

I’m hoping to get 3 listing changed every day, as well as at least 2 new listings up every day. I just got up a brand new plastic bubble gum pair of earrings, but now that I think about it, I only have so many aunts, so i guess my shop will just have to stay full and pretty and full of my original photos for a while.

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