two thousand twelve: first quarter

I could say something awesome and cliche about time and it's passing slow and fast but let's be real, I say that enough as it is AND it's been done so. many. times. before. What I will say is something that I figure people can relate to. When I quickly look back at the last three months I feel like not much has changed or happened but that's not true at all. While I haven't been creating too many physical things (besides photographs) in the past three months I've been working and making changes in my life.

Sometimes life changes or shifts in perspective are hard to track. When you think of how fast time slipped away it's easy to think that nothing really happened. I mean, in January I was eating some meals, reading some books and working and now I'm eating some meals (at least three a day, don't start worrying about me), reading some books and working.

The difference, when I make the time to look for it, is that I'm eating meals yes, but I'm also working out... I'm reading some books but I'm no longer purchasing them, and yes I was working in the beginning of January, but now, oh goodness, now, I'm working much, much more.

Yes, the basics stay the same but the changes, small or large, matter. Something I have to keep reminding myself with that inner critic comes out to play. What a brat that girl is!

So where am I at with my goals that I made in January? Well, I'll tell you:

1. get a car

Done and done... there were some issues with this between my mother and I but I think we're finally (after 3 months?) coming to a place where things are starting to make sense. I have a car, it's a Chevy Cobalt, it was a good price and low miles, I have no complaints. Will I try in the far future to get a similar car to the one that was last totaled? Yes. But for now I am doing better than just okay in the car department.

2. get a full time job 

When I first wrote this I meant just get a job. Then I landed a job but I didn't have that many hours. Because of that I decided to change it to get another job and after I landed my second job I thought I wanted one full time job. At my movie theater job I find myself with just about full time (I consider full time 40 hours) and then I have the added couple to twelve hours at my tutoring job. So for right this very second I'm satisfied with this. Am I still checking for a possible great opportunity at a mind blowing company? Sure. Always keep an eye out for the almost unbelievable. But am I doing okay or better where I am at? Yes. Yes I am.

3. exercise 3 times a week for at LEAST 30 minutes

I didn't complete this one perfectly. One week I was sick, a couple others I was lazy. To give myself a pat on the back though, I did manage to work out at least one day a week every week except my birthday week. Most weeks I worked out at least twice and some I think I might have worked out four times. The habit is forming and that was my reasoning behind these numbers.

4. pay for someone behind me in a drive thru line 

I did this early in the game when I probably (definitely) couldn't afford to buy myself much less someone else a Starbucks coffee. I did it though and I thought for a second the girl was going to follow me or drive down the same road and I contemplated taking a side street so she couldn't see me. Is that weird or normal of me? I did something nice but didn't want the person to get a chance to acknowledge it. I think next time I'm going to put a little card with it that says that the pleasure was all mine and please pass on the favor or some other kind deed. 

5. complete 3 crafts 

one: photo an hour, two: word art, three: pattern painting

The photo an hour project was fun, fun fun! I think I will make a goal of doing one each quarter. I will make sure it's on a day off (haha, what are those?) so I can get everything. 

My word art was not what I expected or though of originally but it came out decent anyway. My lil sister B (not T) thought the pattern in the background was pretty rad so I took that and patted myself on the back for it.

The pattern painting I did was the most fun and the most rewarding. I actually really liked what I came up with after I was done which wasn't happening with the word art or the heart picture I did right before the pattern picture.

3 more crafts next quarter? I think yes!

6. go on at least 3 adventures

I wanted these to be farther away when I first planned it but considering my lack of a steady paycheck for most of January and catching up on bills February and March, I didn't get as far as I wanted to. Even though it takes 30 minutes to get to Balboa Park that wasn't my original meaning behind the "at least 30 minutes away" rule.

Turns out I'm okay with not fully listening to that rule I made myself and considering this checked off.

I went to Balboa by myself one day, I went to Palm Springs and made a pit stop on the way back to the dinosaurs off the 10, and last but not least I planned a meet up, went and took pictures!

Next quarter I'm re-doing this goal but I hope to make at least one of my adventures end up in Los Angeles. Like, I'm crossing fingers and toes.

7. shoot 3 rolls of 120 film either in the Holga or the Rollei (at least one of each)

I did this and then some. Two Holga rolls and one Rollei roll later and I'm set! I am lagging a bit on posting them though which is on my post list! Don't worry, I will share!

8. read 6 books 

Hahahahahahahahaha yeah. I figured this quarter/year I wouldn't be reading as much because I would have so much else to do. And now that I have two jobs and dance classes I'm getting closer to right, but in January and February I took care of all the lagging on reading that might happen. I think my count is somewhere around 30 at this point...

9.  pay off $3,000 on credit card

This was no where near successful. That being said, I have been making an effort lately (March) to get my money issues in order. As of April 8th I won't have charged anything on my credit card for a month, something I haven't been able to say in years. Seriously, years. So that's an accomplishment in and of itself. Also, I've managed to start hiding* money from myself so I can have stashed emergency funds as well as a savings account and money in my checking. It's a somewhat slow process but I'm being deliberate and paying more attention to where my money goes. Some day, hopefully sooner than later, I'll be able to put $1000/month toward my debt, but until then I'm creating habits that will ensure I won't get myself into this kind of money mess again. 

10,  say yes to one thing I would normally say no to

Did I do this? I'm not really sure here. I volunteered as a judge for a scholastic science competition. I'm not sure I would have done that in the past. I made my own meet up group because I couldn't find one that met my needs... that probably wouldn't have happened before. I'll count this one as good. Next quarter I'll be even more specific and know when I'm saying yes to something I would normally say no to.

11. make one vlog

Nope! Next quarter!



Later this week, maybe even tomorrow, I'll be posting my second quarter goals.

xoxo