NYR: Blogging 4 times a month

One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2010 was to ensure that I blog at least 4 times a month. When I made that resolution, I hadn’t yet decided I was going to do the Project 365 task as well. I think it might be a bit of a cop out to use the photos as blog posts, so I’ve tried to make sure I update the blog with proper verbal content as much as possible. Except for February (which as per the rhyme it “spoils the fun”) I’ve blogged four times. It appears it slipped my mind during February, as I only blogged three times apart from my photos.

If my photos didn’t include all the text and stories below them, I would have ruled them out. However, given there’s that additional content there I’ve decided it’s fine to include them in my overall monthly post count. So right now, I’m not only meeting my resolution of blogging 4 times a month, I’m smashing it!

Guess I’d better make sure I keep up with Project 365 though so I always have a backup plan!

2010 New Years Resolutions

It’s that time again…to write my list of 10 things to achieve during the year. So, here goes.

  1. Apply for the Queensland Police Service
  2. Move into my own place
  3. Learn to surf (rolled over from the 2009 list I didn’t complete)
  4. Reach at least a level B in the Beep Test (rolled over from 2009 list, slightly modified from the 2.4km run in order to fit the requirements for applying for the Queensland Police Service)
  5. Go skydiving (rolled over from the 2009 list I didn’t complete)
  6. Get my senior first aid certificate
  7. Go kayaking
  8. Learn to play one song on my guitar
  9. Blog at least 4 times a month over the course of the entire year
  10. Lost a further 10% of my body weight, and keep it off.

50% of those are goals that are designed to enhance my future. Getting my senior first aid certificate, losing weight, and reaching at least a B level in the beep test will permit me to achieve the first goal – applying for the QLD police service. Moving into our own place is extremely important, I’m ready to get out of our current living situation. It’s time for Mat and I to really move on with the rest of our lives, and by him proposing to me at the end of last year really proved that he’s ready too. I would expect we’ll be renting; if I get accepted into the police service it will require 6 – 7 months in Brisbane, followed by a relocation anywhere around the state depending on where I am stationed. There’s no way that we will be anywhere for long enough to really think about buying anywhere, not to mention our financial situation would prevent it anyway. We’ve got a wedding to save for now!

Of course, the year can’t ALL be serious, so I had to throw in the kayaking and guitar ones. The skydiving and learning to surf goals are rolled over from last year, and will remain on the list until I achieve it. I refuse to give up.

2010 is the start of a new decade, and a new beginning for me. This year I will change from a floating, uncommitted, dependant child, into a driven and ambitious woman. 2010 will be my year. Time to get cracking.

2009 New Years Resolutions – a summary

As is now tradition, every year I write a list of things to accomplish during the year. 2009 was no exception. Below is a list of each of my resolutions, along with notes as to whether I had achieved it or not. Sadly, I can say that I didn’t complete all of them, but I still had a pretty good year. I’ve also decided that from this point forward, anything I don’t complete during the year will be rolled over into the next year as an additional task, so it’s not so like I can write it, then just forget about it.

Learn to Surf

While I didn’t learn to surf during the year, I *did* get a surfboard as an anniversary gift from Mat. Plans are underway to learn during 2010, and I have two friends who would like to join me. I expect to tick this one off in my 2010 resolutions during January.

Run 2.4km in under 15mins

The reason this was originally added to my list was it was an entry requirement to join the police service. In a testement to my amazing procrastination abilities, I have still not yet applied, and I have no idea if I would be able to achieve this task. I certainly haven’t timed myself, so it’s definitely an incomplete item. It will be rolled into 2010, but modified slightly as the application requirements for the police service have now changed. Instead of a 2.4km run, a beep test is now conducted, thus for 2010 it will be my aim to reach at least a B level on the beep test.

Enter the City 2 Surf

Done. In August, I travelled to Sydney with Mat and a friend, Julie. While Mat went to the casino for a day (and thankfully didn’t lose much), Julie and I joined some other friends and participated in the City 2 Surf, therefore completing the resolution.

Go on a holiday, including flights.

Done. In May Mat, I flew to the US and joined my family (already over there for some weeks) on a holiday of the west coast for a couple of weeks. It was my first time overseas, and was absolutely fantastic.

See a concert

Done. This year I saw P!nk, Green Day, and countless of other artists at various music festivals I attended.

Go skydiving

I had full intentions of doing this throughout the year, but due to budget constraints decided I would forego it. Perhaps I will request it for a birthday present next year, or something along those lines. It will be rolled into 2010, and I can’t wait to do it!

Go on a tour

Done during day 4 of our USA holiday. We went on a Segway tour of Sausolito; you can view the video here. It was great fun!

Photograph a sunrise/sunset

Done, although I left it until the last day of the year. I guess that’s quite memorable…not often that you see the last sunrise of the year, let alone the decade. It was quite beautiful as well, even if it did mean I had to get out of bed at 4am.

Have a girls cocktail night

Done. Jo and I combined a socceroos match with a cocktail night, to get slightly tipsy.

See a live sporting match

Done repeatedly. I saw the QLD Roar women take out the W-League grand final for 2008/2009 season, then numerous Brisbane Roar A-League matches. I even went to an NRL game in Brisbane with a mate (I much prefer the A-League crowd…rugby fans just seem so bogan’ish).

So that’s it! 7/10 is a decent success rate, and an improvement on the 50% achievement level of 2008. I’ll try and better that again with 2010, and aim for at least 90% (though 100% would be brilliant).

Happy new years everyone, and here’s to a prosperous 2010!

My weekend in Sydney (Kings Cross & City2Surf)

Every year my friend Jo participates in the Sydney City 2 Surf, a 14km run/walk (depending on preference) that starts in the middle of Sydney city and heads out to Bondi beach. And every year for the past few years at 7.30am I receive a text message telling me that she’s there. A few hours later I receive one to let me know she’s finished. Apparently that was all the inspiration I needed to decide to do the City 2 surf this year, so I added it to my list of things to complete for 2009.

One day sitting at work I found myself staring at the computer monitor. On the screen was the registration form for the race. I had no idea how I was going to get down there, where I was going to stay or who (if anyone) was coming to Sydney with me. But before I changed my mind I registered. It appeared I was going to Sydney in August!

A few weeks later while out one night on the town (vodka in hand) I proposed to my friend Julie that she join me in my quest. She readily accepted, although the following morning I realised her level of excitement was only matched by the level of beer in her belly. I gave it a few days, then checked again to see if she was serious. To my surprise, she came through and said she was keen. That was that! I convinced Mat to join us for the weekend (there was no way he would be joining us in the race, he thought we were nuts) but he could spend the time at the casino before meeting up with us later. Over the next few months I made travel arrangements until it was all set. Julie and I were doing the 2009 Sydney City 2 Surf.

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Update on my 2009 New Years Resolutions

Every year I make a list of things to accomplish during the year. It’s not resolutions as such, like the usual “eat healthy, lose weight, get a new job” blah blah. It’s a list of things that I’m going to challenge myself to try, to make sure that each year I feel like I’ve actually achieved something. Given that we’re now almost at the end of the 7th month of the year I’m well overdue in an update to my 2009 resolutions.

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