When you've been slothful, have poor eating habits, and are generally in bad health it can be frustrating starting to turn everything around at once, but if you start slowly you won't see results as quickly and will get discouraged anyway. I'd rather be discouraged now and see results sooner.
This morning started well. I went out and did my running (mostly walking with a little running intermingled) and though it wasn't great exercize right off the bat I felt good about it because I was starting to do SOMETHING. I wasn't just spending my entire morning trying to sleep while the sun shown in my eyes. I was up and doing. I began my new lifestyle.
Not only did I start working out this morning, I also ate healthy foods. I made some great choices! Here's how my menu began for the day:
Breakfast - Multigrain cheerios with skim milk and 1/2 of a banana.
Lunch - 1/2 sandwhich (whole wheat bread, refried beans, turkey, swiss cheese, and spinach) with a celery stalk, grapes, and a glass of lemon-lime flavored water. I had just a couple mini cadbury eggs left over from Easter as a "dessert".
Snack - cottage cheese and peaches
Then the munchies hit. I knew I still had some Cadbury mini eggs so I took a handful. . . and another handful. . . pretty soon I had eaten half of my Easter basket. :( Usually when the munchies hit I will pop in a stick of gum, but because I knew I had something sweet in my room I had to have it. I was trying to space out the candy as after-lunch "desserts" just a couple at a time each day until they were gone, but now they're almost gone and I won't have to worry about that anymore... but I'm still disappointed that I did eat so many today.
However, I'm still working toward my goal because I can't wait to see results! I'm also so dedicated to my long-term goal (Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland) that I will NEVER give up! I want to dominate. I will not give in!
This summer I'm setting some major goals. I guess you could say I'm overcoming some lemons that I've had in the past. I'm going to begin to turn my life around. Through the past few months I've set goals - some which I have accomplished, some which were completely overlooked. This time will be different. Since I'm not going to be taking any classes over the summer I will have no reason not to accomplish these goals. I won't have homework/studying to interfere, I won't have reason to stress over preparedness . . . I should be able to accomplish that which needs to get done.
Without further ado here are my goals:
1. Run. A simple word, but exhausting to think about. I want to start training for the "Tinkerbell Half Marathon" in Disneyland next January. This is something I've thought about doing since I left my job at Disneyland in August, but never really intended to do. Now I'm thinking more seriously. It will be a great motivation for me to start getting into shape! As soon as I get enough money I will register... then there's no turning back!
2. Go on at least 2 dates each month. That may not sound like much of a goal to you readers . . . but for me that would be amazing. That would be more dates this summer than I've been on since high school. I plan to make that one happen, even if I have to ask the guys out (which I am usually against, but I want this to happen). I want to be more social, be more proactive about flirting and letting a guy know that I am interested. I want to become more outgoing and available.
3. Build up a wardrobe. I don't have a lot of cute outfits. I typically wear the same 4 outfits to church every month, at least 2 outfits every week because they are my favorites, and I just had to throw out a couple tops and pairs of jeans because I wore them out completely. Ya, it's definitely time to get some new clothes.
4. Lose at least 25 lbs. This will go along with running, but I also want to turn my eating habits around, start working out - lifting, running, anything I can do.
5. Go to the temple at least once a week. Over the school year I've been such a slacker. I've only gone to the temple once or twice - that's not okay. I live less than a 5-minute drive from a temple and less than an hour away from 5 (maybe more) others. I want to get back into the habit. It should be habit. It should be the highlight of my week! I also want to go visit any within a drivable distance. I've only been inside 2 temples to do ordinances, but I'd love to go visit as many as I can.
6. Build up my savings account. This may seem a bit contradictory to some of my goals which require much spending, but I feel if I can budget and bargain-shop it can be very doable. I'm going to need to learn now how to find deals, where I can cut costs, and spend money where I need first and let the rest fall into place.
Those are my self-improvement goals. Those goals are there to help me better my life in aspects physical, social, and spiritual. Those are the goals that I really, truly, deeply want to make happen and become habits in my life. These following goals are additional goals that would be enjoyable, but not mandatory.
7. Go on at least one vacation. Hopefully this will be to Disneyland, but I won't be absolutely broken-hearted if it's not. Though I have been craving "Fantasmic!" and the winter fireworks show "Remember . . . Dreams Come True" and I'd like to see that before it disappears for summer. So if I do make it to Disneyland during the break it will need to be in May, and I don't really see myself being able to afford that.
8. Get a tan. Okay Charlee, this may sound like I'm copying your goal, but I really would love some color. When I got home from California in August I had such a beautiful, healthy glow. I want that back. And I've never ever had tan legs (my legs never see the sun because I'm too embarrassed to wear shorts) but I want to get a little color on them as well!
9. Go on a group camp trip. I haven't been on a camping trip with friends (other than YW Girls Camp) since freshman year of high school. Let's change that.
10. Learn to play the ukulele. This one has been on my mind for a few weeks. I wish I was more musically talented, and I love listening to music with the ukulele playing in the background. Hey, Soul Sister and Somewhere over the Rainbow are a couple of my favorite songs in the world.
11. Get a motorcycle endorsement on my license. I've grown up around motorcycles. My dad has co-owned/worked at Perry Brothers Honda (now Honda World) for my whole life. I've been off-roading with ATVs often and on a dirt bike once or twice. I've ridden on those little Metropolitan scooters a couple times, but I've never driven a street bike. WHY?! I really want to take a rider's course and get signed off to drive a motorcycle on the streets. I don't plan to buy a motorcycle right away, but before I renew my driver's license when I turn 21 I want to be able to add that little "M" to that piece of plastic.
12. Overall, just have FUN! I want this to be the best summer ever. I want it to be better than my last summer in Heber when we played pranks on the high school theatre and choir teachers (all in good fun, they enjoyed them, I swear). I want this to be better than any summer when I've held a Lagoon Season Pass. I want this to be better than the summer when I got to go to Disneyland everyday for free. I want this to be the summer where I make friends, where I build relationships, where I actually feel as though I've accomplished something. I want to be able to look back on this summer with no regrets.
Yes, this applies to my Lemons blog because goals are there to overcome some of life's lemons. I've been really bad about sticking to goals in the past, so that's been a lemon for me. This time I'm going to have very few distractions in the way. I'll have no reason not to accomplish these goals. It's time to start getting down to business.
Train - Hey, Soul Sister
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
My two favorite songs - such great lyrics, such great tunes, such great instruments.
I never wantted to publish a guest post on my blog, but my friend, Erin Evans, wrote this and published it on facebook. It hit me over the head. This is how I often feel! It was just too perfect for this blog for me to ignore.
Am I Even an Apple? - by Erin
I've heard it said that girls are like apples and that the ones on top hardly ever get picked even though they are some of the juiciest and most delicious apples. The boys go for the apples on the bottom that are easy to get even though they are not as good, maybe even rotten. The apples (girls) on the top of the tree are going to have to wait around for a guy brave enough to risk falling to pick them. But when that happens they will know that he is a really good guy.
I used to believe that I was one of those apples on the top of the tree, because as we all know, nothing ever happens to me. But lately I've been feeling like maybe I'm not even an apple. Maybe I'm an orange, something that the guys don't even come to the tree to pick. They just look at the orange weirdly and move on to the apple that they want. I could be anywhere on the tree, but I'm not the apple that they are looking for, I'm ignored.
Maybe someone will come up not really wanting an apple, but knowing that he's supposed to pick one. Maybe then an orange would be a welcome sight. Or gravity is just going to have to pull me off one of these days so I can fall one some guy's head and he'll decide that an orange is actually okay.
Oranges are just as good as apples.
Charity's Commentary:
Maybe there are some oranges on the apple tree. Maybe I'm one of those oranges. Guys come to the tree looking for an apple and are surprised to see an orange there. Usually they are too taken aback that they look at the orange and move on to get an apple - because that's what they came looking for; they don't think about how good the oranges are. There's the rare guy out there that is pleasantly surprised. He comes to the apple tree often, never finding his favorite apple, and is excited to find something new. Maybe the reason he hasn't found his apple is because he was really looking for an orange, but looking in the wrong place.
Being an orange on an apple tree can be frustrating, but it shouldn't be. It just means that I stand out from the crowd - not in a bad way, just in a different way. People obviously notice me. Some may think I don't belong, some appreciate me for my differences. Will a guy looking for an apple see me on this tree, in a place I technically don't belong and be frustrated with me? Will he try to ignore me? Or will he appreciate my differences?
Oranges are just as good as apples. All girls are different, and all guys look for something different. There isn't one perfect woman that every man would love to have. One girl may be perfect for one guy, but couldn't possibly make another guy perfectly happy. Just as the Lord created different fruits he created different people with different tastes.
Today I was watching an episode from the first season of my favorite television series - M*A*S*H. The episode, titled Dear Dad Again shows the main character, Hawkeye writing a letter home to his family about various happenings around the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the middle of the Korean War. In this episode we meet a character named Captain Casey. He is a new surgeon to the MASH unit who Hawkeye praises (which is rare - Hawkeye usually looks down on most other surgeons, thinking they're not up to his level). Later Captain Casey goes to see the Chaplain where he confesses that he isn't a surgeon. Captain Casey admits that he's passed himself off as a lawyer, a surgeon, a teacher, and various other professional careers. He can do it all, but he's never had the patience to go through the books.
This is where I find myself lately. I'm not so vain as to think I can do it all, but I would like to do it all. I can't settle on one major to study - I just don't have the patience to go through the books. Today I found myself contemplating what I want to do with my life. Do I want to continue in my current major of Family Life studies, or do I want to pursue a different field? There are some classes that have taught me so much that I'd enjoy majoring in their departments, but for some reason or another I'm not taking the effort to switch directions.
I'm also losing patience in the work field. I don't like my job, but I don't have the patience to create a new resume and get back in the job search. I really don't like being tied down to one job for very long, and I've been working at Jamba Juice for about 9 months consecutively... that's probably the longest I've stayed at one job in my entire life.
I want to see it all, do it all. I don't like to be tied down - I don't think I want to be in any one particular major at all. I think I'd much rather take entry-level classes from all majors. I like learning at the level, but as soon as I find myself digging deeper into any subject, I'm scared that I'll get trapped and won't be able to get back out and learn other new things.
I'm Captain Casey. I'd like to know it all, do it all, never have to settle into one career. I'd like to try my hand at being a doctor, a lawyer, and a teacher. Why isn't there an option like that? Why isn't there a career in testing careers?
My heart is full of sorrow when I look back on this past General Conference and realize how much I need to step up. I love General Conference. I love the opportunity to hear from our great Church leaders and to receive the messages they share. I love that the Church leaders are so on key and answer questions I have personally. I didn't expect such direct answers to my direct questions this time around ... but there they were, plain as print.
First, I must express my sorrow for not paying attention as well as I should. General Conference is a time when my family gets together to listen to the Prophet. Our intentions of being together are pure, but being around my brother, sisters, theirs spouses, and especially their children, I get a little distracted... quite often. I probably only listened to less than a quarter of the Sunday afternoon session. Fortunately, one talk I did manage to listen to was Elder Scott's. I hope to find that same love for a man someday as he had for his sweet wife, Jeanene.
Then I look back on other messages from Conference. It's pretty apparent that we, as young adults, need to step up and really start paying more attention to assessing our priorities. Elder Oaks hit hard. What are my desires? My number one has always been marriage... but what kind of priority do I give it, really? I often complain about not getting dates, about how guys don't notice me. Whose fault is that? My own. Though Elder Oaks may have been addressing the single men more directly, I felt that it was important for me to hear as well. I've been the proponent of girls not asking guys out, that it's the guy's responsibility, but I notice that I haven't been doing my best to encourage guys to ask me on dates. I haven't been putting myself out there in the dating pool. I've been staying at home, watching movies while others are going out to game nights or finding other opportunities to spend time in group activities.
I need to make that effort. I need to get involved. I need to put myself out there - take my friend's advice and just "amp up the flirting". There are some guys in my life I'd like to get to know better, but I'm not doing anything about it. That's about to change.
My question for General Conference this year, though I did not write it out, has been something on my mind a lot lately. Should I stay in Utah and finish school, or should I move to California, give up school, and just begin my career? These talks about marriage are what gave me my answer.
I was talking to my roommate, Arielle, about giving up on school and moving to California to pursue a career at Disneyland. (Very ambitious, right?) Her response had nothing to do with school. It had nothing to do with future work possibilities. Though that was specifically what I asked, she gave me answers in a very different way, which at the time I had brushed away. Given these Conference addresses, I look back and see that she gave me the answer I had been looking for. "I know you're having trouble dating here, and I know that's one reason why you want to give up and leave. Moving to California isn't going to solve anything. I know there are good, faithful LDS guys out there, but there are so many more here. If you go out to California, you'll be giving up the opportunity to be in this dating pool - like the biggest dating pool for Mormons our age. Working at Disneyland will make you happy, but it won't give you joy."
I didn't ask her about marriage. That wasn't really the source of my question to her, and it wasn't even something I had thought about ... but she was right. I realize that no matter how much I love Disneyland, no matter how much I want to move out there, I need to stay here in Utah. I've lately (even before talking to her) been feeling a strong pull to stay in Utah, but I've been trying to ignore it. I felt like going out there I could do so much good. I could spread the Gospel with the people I work with. In reality I'd be giving up so much more than I'd gain.
Utah is the place I need to be. It's not just about marriage, but marriage has always been what I've thought of as my number one priority. I've been pushing it aside for too long - without realizing it. I thought that it was what I had been striving for. I thought that it had been on my mind almost too much. I realize that Disneyland is truly what has been on my mind too much. I've been putting work ahead of family - something I never thought I would do (particularly not before I'm even dating anyone).
These answers come so unexpectedly, in ways I don't even imagine. Life is amazing, and the Gospel is so true! When I pray, my prayers are answered. My questions are answered in ways I never imagine. I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know it is true, and I know that when I have questions, God will answer them.
