Monday, July 29, 2013

the year of 31 in review

1. hike mt. fuji-i knocked this off my list pretty quickly.  hiking mt. fuji was rough but i learned that i have some serious endurance, even if i wanted to die most of the hike.
2. live to be 32-success!
3. make 5 new friends-success!  it's a constant effort here because people are always coming and going.
4. avoid great white shark breeding grounds (contributed by my bro, Josh)-success!
5. visit at least 3 new countries-this past year i made it to thailand, taiwan, hong kong, and macau.  i also went to mainland several times, which if you have ever been to okinawa you know that mainland is essentially a different country.
6. get SCUBA certified-sad face.  i was all scheduled to go and then i got sent on a last minute, extended business trip to mainland.  mostly it's my own fault because i waited until the very last minute to work on this goal.  i'm still going to get SCUBA certified so all is not lost.  
7. grow my hair out-success!  it's past shoulder length.  i'm getting really tempted to chop it again...
8. get a will-as morbid and depressing as it was, i created a simple will and living will for myself.  turns out i'm worth way more dead than alive.  creepy.
9. get a japanese massage-i got a massage in tokyo right after hiking mt. fuji.  really, really not relaxing but mostly that was because my calves were in knots.
10. go to tokyo disneyland-this was my reward for hiking mt. fuji.  the japanese love disney.  like a lot.  
11. go to the states at least once-i made it twice.  both times, i was at a course for work and then got to jet over to utah to visit family and friends.
12. get master in addiction counseling certification-success!  i was so nervous about this one because my employment was contingent on me passing the test.  thankfully, i aced it and am officially a MAC.
13. read more than i watch tv-i did really well with this until i got apple tv.  apple tv makes it way too easy to lay on the couch and watch hours of tv because it's all at my fingertips.  being in a hotel with stupid military tv has helped me cut way back on my tv time again.
14. save my cost of living money every month-i did well on this 90% of the time.  i have to admit, i sometimes used it to travel instead but i have definitely increased my savings account quite a bit.
15. learn basics of japanese-50% success.  i can say the necessary things like thank you, please, yes, no, i'm sorry, excuse me, good, i don't understand, 1-10, water, tea, good morning, good day, good evening, and that's probably it.  i have gotten fluent in pointing, motioning, etc. if that counts for anything.
16. walk the seawall by my house every night-fail.  i did walk the seawall a quarter of the time.  i'm always glad when i do because being that close to the ocean is cathartic.
17. use my vitamix everyday-success!  in fact, i miss my vitamix when i'm traveling or on a business trip.  it's changed my eating life.
18. use less store bought items, make more things myself-success!  i also switched over to all natural products.  i'm still in the process of getting rid of some non-natural products but i'm almost 100% all natural!
19. blog once a week-epic fail.  for some reason, blogging seems so hard and tedious to me.  maybe it's because i don't know how to really make the blog pretty or user friendly.   i'm going to shoot for a more reasonable goal this year.  
20. email a friend/family member once a week-sucess!  i actually didn't email that often but i did write a lot of letters and cards which i think counts.
21. actually do the things i pin on pinterest-success!  i use the recipes i find on pinterest all of the time.  i am not as good about doing some of the crafts because i'm limited to what i can get here and i don't have a good space to do bigger diy things like re-do furniture.  
22. get five stars on just dance-success!  just dance is my favorite thing.  it's the only thing i use my xbox for.  well, that and the michael jackson experience.
23. read 5 classics-success!  man, i waited until the very last minute with this.  i was feverishly reading every waking moment until 2 days before my birthday trying to finish the last book.  i read The Count of Monte Cristo, which is a 1000+ pages.  I really liked The Count of Monte Cristo but i ran out of time so i chose shorter books for the other four:  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Alice in Wonderland, and The Great Gatsby.
24. be active in my ward-success!
25. get laser hair removal-success!  i am in the process of getting my underarms and legs done.  i'm probably half way done.  it's going to magical when i'm done.  magical.
26. sew one thing-fail.  i also left this until the last minute and then couldn't do it because of my business trip.  i am going to make some couch pillows, eventually.
27. keep a daily gratitude journal-50% success.  i did really well for a while and then kind of sucked at it.  i do notice a different when i make an effort to notice things that i am grateful for.
28. use my craft supplies-50% success.  i did use some of my craft supplies.  i also gave a bunch away.
29. decorate for every holiday-i decorated the crap out of my house.   i also did festive activities such as decorating gingerbread houses, making and decorating sugar cookies, dying easter eggs, etc.  holidays are more fun when i make more of an effort to celebrate them.
30. only buy things i really love-95% success.  i would be able to do better in the states but sometimes i have to buy something here i don't totally love but need.
31. cut back on dairy intake-80% success.  when i cook at home i don't use any dairy and i try to steer clear of it but it's hard when i go to someone else's house or out to eat.  i do feel tons better when i don't have it at all.

see a future post for my list of 32 things in the year of 32.

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