Goals

All posts tagged Goals

It’s been a long weird decade

Published December 31, 2019 by Malia

12/31/09. If you had asked me what my life would look like ten years in the future, I would’ve given you an answer that bears little resemblance to what actually happened.

How has it turned out? Let me see…

-I’ve lived in two different states.

-I’ve worked in two different medical labs.

-I got married.

-I discovered that I’m actually a dog person (I still like cats, but dogs are my favorite).

-I’ve discovered a genuine love of crafting.

-I’ve had two surgeries.

-I’ve had miscarriages.

-I’ve lost the best grandparents in the world.

-I’ve experienced evolution of relationships with both family and friends.

-I’ve learned to think for myself.

-I’ve learned hard truths about myself.

-I’ve been given gifts I never expected that have quite literally changed my life and given me back hope that I lost long ago.

Life has mountains and valleys. The last decade was filled with mostly valley, and as much as it hurt, as much as it tried to destroy me, I’m ending the decade able to say, “I’m still here.” I can’t say I’m ending the decade a better person, but I’m definitely ending it more self-aware and in touch with the world around me.

So, what about the next ten years? Honestly, I don’t know what life will look like a decade from now. If God gives me another ten years (which I really pray He does), I know that I don’t want to waste them. I don’t want to reach 12/31/29 and find that I’ve accomplished nothing. I do know that for the first time in my life I have a dream of something that I want to do, that’s not just a pipe dream (I know I’m being a bit vague, and I intend to flesh this out in upcoming posts). I know that I have certain talents, and I’ve got a calling on my heart to use those talents, and to give. I know what gives me joy, and what my purpose is. Now the trick is to dive in and not give into my fear of failure.

I survived the decade.

I want to thrive in the next.

New Year, Better Me

Published January 1, 2017 by Malia

The first Sunday, this past November, I received two blows of bad news before I’d headed to church that morning. I’d cried all through service.  Then my parents took me to lunch, and I continued to cry.  Somewhere in the middle of my blubbering, I choked out the words, “I have no hope left.”  

I was so scared.  The depression pit I had been fighting all year wasn’t a new abode for me.  Sure, it’d been a few years since I’d last gotten trapped there, but at least I knew I’d eventually escape.  However, the feeling that all hope, even the hope that I’d eventually feel hope again, had been used up.  Suddenly, the depression pit was a lot deeper, darker, and scarier than it’d ever been.  

As November progressed I cried, a lot.  Usually the tears were due to fear anout the future, but sometimes they were due to frustration or anger or exhaustion (or a combination of all of the above).  The days drug by, and I felt completely immobilized by my depression and anxiety.  Most days I’ve considered it a victory when I get out of bed.  

This last week, has been a bit less dark, and I’m slowly starting to feel like I might be able to pull it together.  But I’m scared.  I’m terrified that depression and hopelessness will suddenly rear up and drag me down into an even deeper and darker pit.  

So, I’ve set some goals for myself for this new year.  Goals that, I hope, will help keep me from completely disappearing into the pit.  I want to get healthy, mentally and physically for myself and for the boy.  The poor, long-suffering boy who loves me so fiercly, and has been there holding on to me through all of this.

1.  Make sure the dirty dish side of the sink is empty every night before I go to bed.

2. Up my water intake.  I really want to try the gallon of water a day challenge, but I’m not sure I’m ready, so I’m starting by just drinking more water period (fairly easy considerimg I rarely drink water).

3.  Rejoin the gym and go five days a week.

4.  Leave the tv off for the better part of the day.

5.  Practice flute, clarinet, and trombone thirty minutes a day five days a week.  Practice trumpet and piano one hour five days a week. 

6.  Write for at least an hour five days a week. 

7. Do one thing in the house that qualifies as cleaning or organizing everyday. 

8.  Limit consumption of soda/junk food/fast food.  

9.  When possible, eat one family meal a week at the dining room table with the tv off, instead of on the couch with the tv on.

I feel that these are all things I can actually stick to, and hopefully with this plan of action 2017 will be amazing!

Whosday

Published January 1, 2013 by Malia

Alrighty, it’s 2013.  Today is the first day of the rest of the year, or something like that…  So, before I get to my Doctor Who weekly obsession (who are we kidding, it’s more like a daily obsession), it’s time to get the list of goals for the new year listed.

Malia’s 2013 Goals

1.  Lose weight.  (This is kind of a no brainer, and I’m sure I’m not alone in having this at the very top of my list.)

2.  Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes 3 days a week.

3.  Write a blog entry once a day.

4.  Write non-blog related things.

5.  Finish the blanket I promised mom I’d make her 3 years ago.

6.  Read through the Bible in a year.

7.  Take at least 1 photograph everyday.

8.  Watch all the Doctor Who episodes, starting with the first ones from back in 1963.

Okay, so this leads into my weekly (at minimum) discussion of all things Who.  It occurred to me two days ago that I can’t really call myself a true Whovian unless I go all the way back to the beginning.  There are a couple hundred episodes and more than a few Doctors for me to catch up on.  I actually started this monumental task on the 30th, but I figured it was better to start early than not at all.  So far I’ve made it through the first three sets of episodes from season 1 (1963).  Here’s my initial conclusions…

-The stories are really good.  Even though there’s so much I dislike about these early episodes, I really like the plots, so it makes it worth it.

-So far, the companion Ian, does almost everything.  The Doctor is pretty much this old guy-that I spend most of the episodes wondering if he’s a dementia patient-that does nothing but be a jerk and cause more problems than actually do any good.  Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter, is incredibly annoying.  The first episode, Ian and Barabara (her teachers, who end up becoming the first human companions to the Doctor) both spend quite awhile discussing how smart Susan is.  I’m not necessarily doubting her intelligence, but I’d like to be given some evidence of it.

-Speaking of the women, man have times changed since 1963.  Basically, the sole role of the women thus far has been to scream at everything and do absolutely nothing to help themselves.  Seriously.  There’s one part where Susan gets tapped on the shoulder when she thinks she’s alone, and instead of investigating (like one of the modern female companions) she screams and basically has a meltdown.  There’s a lot of screaming done by these two women.  Also, it really bugs me that there’s this general attitude that if the young handsome men don’t do something, it can’t be trusted to be done right.

Also, I spent New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day getting mom and dad caught up on season 6 & 7 of the current Doctor.  I’ve now seen the ending of The Angels Take Manhattan about 4 times, and I still bawl like a baby.  I’m super excited to see the Christmas episode and the rest of season 7.

In closing, here’s today’s photos (remember, taking at least one photo every day):

So, I got this bee in my bonnet to try making these brownies I saw on Pinterest.  I started with a box of brownie mix and several packages of peanut butter cups:

009

I then made the batter:

019

I then poured part of the batter into the bottom of the pan:

020

I then laid out the peanut butter cups:

021

Then I covered that with the remainder of the brownie batter and popped them in the oven.  Then out came this:

022

Mom cut them:

043

And I ate one:

045The brownies needed to have cooked longer.  Honestly, thought they were done, but I basically ended up with brownie batter goo in the middle (the top and sides were mostly completely cooked).  However, if you’re going to end up with brownie batter goo, it’s best to have Reese’s right in the middle of it.  Peanut butter cups make any baking “disaster” much better.

Now, here’s some pictures of my cats.  Howard wasn’t thrilled I was taking pictures:

028

 

 

Best picture I’ve ever gotten of Gracie (She always moves before the picture finishes taking, no matter how fast I’ve got the speed set):

032

Gracie also has a thing about boxes (mostly, she likes to eat them):

042

 

Then, there was sunset and dusk:

044

 

And now, it’s bedtime for Bonzo.