Kelly's World

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.

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!

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.

continue reading…

Every year I try to write a list of 10 things I would like to achieve in the coming year. Things like dental check ups, trying to get rid of a credit card etc etc. Occasionally there would be a fun item thrown in, but usually it was pretty mundane. 2008 was not exactly a fun year for me, most of the year felt like I’d spent worrying about my health and the latest injury I’d suffered.

As a result, I’m making 2009 my “Year of Fun”.

Accordingly, my resolutions list reflects this. Every single item is fun, achievable, and will provide me with some long lasting memories. Should I complete every item, 2009 will go down as the year I had an absolute ball. So without further ado, I present Kelly’s 2009 Resolutions list:

1. Learn to Surf

Lately I’ve been watching a lot of things that show surfers. I love the beach, and really haven’t spent much time there at all in the last 10 years. Partly because Mat’s not so keen on it and partly because I’m lazy. I used to be able to surf when I was younger but only on the big mal’s, where it’s relatively easy to get up. Every year Rip Curl hosts a “Girls Go Surfing Day” where women can be taught to surf on local beaches all around Australia, and all for free. Last year my mate and I were interested, but given the state of my knee there was no chance I would be ready. Come summer 2009, and I’ll be there.

2. Run 2.4km in under 15mins

This ties in with my aim of being a police officer, as being able to run this distance is part of the entry requirements. This year I won’t be returning to netball, so jogging is going to be my “sport” of choice this year. Part of my knee rehabilitation will be jogging, so I’ll use that as an opportunity to work my way towards achieving this goal. The fun part? Running on the treadmills at the gym while checking out all the hot guys!!

3. Enter in the Sydney city to Surf

The Sydney City to Surf is an event run in Sydney (duh) every year. They start from the city, and either run/walk to Bondi Beach. I have a couple of mates that have entered into it, and they have so much fun every time. I can’t say whether I’ll be jogging or running it, but we plan on entering into the competition this year, if not only for a nice weekend away in Sydney. It’s late in the year, by which time I’ll definitely be jogging. So whether I only walk in it (which I think the distance might even drop substantially), or jog, I’ll be able to enter. Have a look at the pictures on the site, there’s a lot of crazy characters that enter on the day. Would be heaps of fun just people watching, and having a good laugh!

4. Go on a holiday (must include flights)

The vague wording on this one is a fail-safe incase something happens to prevent me from going to America with the family for Mum’s 60th birthday. And I’m pretty sure I don’t need to explain how a holiday can be fun.

5. See a live concert

Great artist + live music = loads of fun!! I’m sort of cheating on this one though, we’ve already got tickets to see P!nk perform in June. Not stopping me from going to see more bands though!!

6. Go skydiving

One of our friend’s is a pilot who flies the planes for one of the local skydiving companies on the Sunshine Coast. I’ve also got a couple of mates who have sky dived before, and have talked about just how amazing it is. So now I want to go, and I get a discount cause I’m friends with the pilot. Score!! This will definitely be a memorable experience, but will have to wait until I’m steady on my feet and could cope with a heavy landing.

7. Go on a tour

No idea what, no idea when. I just want to go on one. I blame this one on playing the Sims Vacation, and being able to go on tours. Wine tour perhaps? I’ve never actually done one of those. Bar hopping tour? Even better!

8. Photograph a sunrise/sunset

I’ve wanted to get back into photography since I really haven’t done any of it lately, and either spending a day waiting for a sunset, or getting up early for a sunrise really sounds appealing to me.

9. Have a girls cocktail night

Ok truth be told I only came up with this yesterday, and because I was having cocktails for New Years Eve. But dammit, I want a girls night with cocktails. Party on!! No way this one CAN’T be fun!

10. See a live sporting match

I just want to go see QLD Roar play, hopefully in the semis!! Go boys!!

So that’s it! That’s my plan for the year, have a helluva lot of fun! I managed to convince Mat to do a list as well, but he refuses to explain his reasons behind it. Being a male, perhaps there’s no explanation required? *grin*

Mat’s list:

1. Go to the Casino and win money in poker
2. Sell my Nissan Patrol
3. Buy a Playstation 3 and new TV
4. Spend money on the Suzuki Vitara (Kel’s note – does petrol count??)
5. Go to Fraser Island with Kel
6. Lose weight
7. Find a new career
8. Go overseas
9. Watch a professional poker event live
10. Live the year happily

I’ll keep you posted on our progress during the year. In the meantime, happy 2009 everyone and I hope you have a fantastic year.

Every year I try to make a list of things to accomplish during the year. I don’t see them as resolutions as such, but rather a “to do” list. This year, it’s fair to say that I sucked.

In August I did an update on the progress of my resolutions, and absolutely nothing has changed since then. The update was as follows:

Dentist

I haven’t done a daaaaamn thing about this one. I hate Dentists. But I’ll do it by the end of the year. Promise. I just know it’s going to cost a s’load and it’s gonna hurt. So why rush into that?

Get neck and back sorted by the Chiro

DONE. Woohoo. It’s been probably about 6 months now since I went and saw the Chiro, and I’m still having regular visits. I think this will probably continue on for a long time, mainly due to my scoliosis to ensure the muscles in my back aren’t constantly having to over compensate for a crooked spine.  It’s just been extended to 4 weeks between visits for the first time, which is huge for me. From twice a week, to 4 weeks, that’s an accomplishment. But I’ve never felt better, and I don’t suffer daily headaches. Totally worthwhile. Oh, except now I’m having problems with my shoulders, a ripple effect from my muscles compensating for my back now not having to, thus my shoulder slips out of place. Hurrah! Apparently it’s just a matter of re-training the muscles what they’re meant to do. This is the time where I should do a motivational speech, and say:

I have a dream, that one day, I will NOT be broken!

Get second Pap Smear

See the part about dentists, but apply it to gyno. Hurray for health.

Get ears checked out

So I did this, and got referred to a specialist because one test showed normal hearing and one showed a slight favouring towards the right, although the doctor was fairly sure there was nothing wrong. I never went and followed it up with the specialist, partially because I was scared of having to pay for that when I was in the middle of another health scare (hmm…which I should post about). So technically this resolution is done, they WERE checked out…. *grin*

Get back to a healthy weight

Shall we say this is in progress? Mat and I have started cooking again, and making our lunches for work every day. Without really trying I’ve lost a kilo and a half, and my friend and I have just set a challenge for ourselves. Hopefully by the end of the year I can say I’m 10kg lighter, but will keep you posted. My target weight for “healthy” is only half that (5kg) so I’m pretty sure this one should be complete by the end of the year.

Go diving with the sharks

I haven’t really done anything about this, and given it’s been winter I haven’t really felt the urge to jump into water unless it was of the shower kind. I expect I’ll do this around October/November.

Get rid of one credit card

Technically it was done, but then undone *grin* We paid off one credit card, then promptly went and bought a couch, putting more money back onto the card. But I am not letting myself get off lightly on this one, so I will say it’s incomplete at the moment. However looking at our finances overall, Mat and I have figured out we’ll be totally debt free by the end of the year (excluding car loans) so this one is on track for being complete.

Get a spray tan

This was only ever going to be done after the healthy weight one, so not complete as yet. Stay tuned.

Get at least a credit in the Queensland Criminal Code TAFE module

DONE. Throughout the term my grades ranged from Distinctions to Credits, ending with a Credit overall. So this one is definitely done, and I’m very proud of the marks I achieved, was a lot of hard work.

Write the resolutions before February

Done, and the proof is in the original blog post, so hurray!

I want to play the sympathy card, and say that shortly after this all my knee problems began which left little time for anything else, but I know that’s not true. There was definitely time I could have gotten a pap smear, or get a spray tan (although not really necessary). But I didn’t, so I failed for those tasks.

Overall, I scored 5 out of 10. Not good, given there was 365 days to complete the job, or 8,760 hours, or 525 600 minutes. That’s a lot of time!

With 2009 I’ve been thinking about my list. I’m not going to carry anything over – since I didn’t manage to accomplish it for one year (two in some cases where things had already been carried over) I don’t have faith in achieving it in the next.

I’m also going to focus on making it an enjoyable year. 2008 I didn’t see as being a great year. It was the year of the health crisis, one after another. Neck and back, breast cancer scare, knee reconstruction etc. 2009 will be the year of fun!! Stay tuned for my list of things to accomplish in 2009…it should be up in the next few days.