Make 2012 the year of YOU

Personally, I think it's great to make goals for yourself. So here are my 2012 goals. Maybe this will even be the year I try jelly... that's so a "NO" 

2012: Make it Great!
Health & Fitness

• Stick with my balanced, healthy, clean eating lifestyle. Four months down, I can obviously stick to it!
• NJ Half Marathon: May 6, 2012; Goal time: 2:00.
• Tough Mudder: NJ October 20, 2012.
• I also want to try & find other half's & events to register for! Maybe Warrior Dash...
• Take a Spinning Class.
• Handstand push-up (just because I think it would be cool bean!)
• Kickboxing.
• Run 1,000 miles.
• To lift my own body weight (I'm currently 106lbs... piece of cake).
• No longer needing a resolution pertaining to my health .

Adventures & Fun

• Visit somewhere I have never been.
• Plan a rafting trip.
• Go rock climbing.
• Take a hot air balloon ride.
• Survival weekend...
• Take a cooking class of some sort.
• Take a hike & have a picnic!
• I love doing crazy things that give me an adrenalin rush... so I'll be searching for that next rush. (Last year it was sky diving on my 25th Birthday)

Education & Training Goals
I know I can't take all of these in one year, I just need to pick at least one

• Masters Program:  I’ve been back & forth with Master of Information Systems OR Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing (It's time to finally choose!)
• Computer Software Applications Career Certificate.
• A.S. Science Mathematics - Pre-Nutrition Dietetic Option.
• A.S. Degree in Exercise Science.
• Personal Trainer Career Certificate.

Career

• Push myself professionally.
• Start networking more.
• Get more freelance work.

Home

• Continue to build my positive, healthy & happy home.

Personal

• Be true to who I am, don't let others put me back in "the box".
• Keep believing in myself & don't give up... PUSH! I've made it this far already!
• Stop Over-Analyzing & Start Living My Life! (This one has been done, but I want it here as a reminder)
• Stop being a push over & allowing others to walk all over me & abuse my kindness (this is a BIG one).
• Take time to appreciate those who support me & repay them.
• Quit mumbling when I speak.
• Start tackling my growing "to read" pile of books. I've had a bad habit of adding to it & not reading them.
• Start drawing & painting again.
• Get better with my blogging.

Do you have any goals / resolutions you would like to fulfill?

Peace out Twenty-Eleven

Well another year is closing out. I have to say I'm pretty glad, 2011 has been a roller coaster for me personally. I lost friends, but gained some new ones. I finally opened my eyes & took a look at the big picture, made a lot of life changes, I had some amazing accomplishments / adventures, I have cried,  smiled; It really has been a hell of a year.

Highlights From My Year... the good the bad the ugly...

• Turned the big TWO-FIVE. I celebrated by going Sky Diving for the first time. It was such a rush, I can't wait to go again! I also got to spend a nice relaxing day with close friends!
• I ran my first race ever! Now I'm addicted. Long Branch Half Marathon. (2:27:05.96)
• I was the maid of honor at my sister's wedding.
• Heaven gained two beautiful angels: My Uncle Benny & My Grandmother. RIP
• Saw Linkin Park in concert for the 8,000 time!! ok ok, probably 6th time.
• Finally was able to see Lady GAGA in concert!
• Had the pleasure of going to see Sir Paul McCartney perform at Yankee Stadium. That man puts on an amazing show! (I get awesome points because we share the same birthday!   )
• Went to the Subway Series game with my "Broseph" & "Sis in-law". We even made it on TV!
• Hurricane Irene basically trashed my life. I know others had it worse... I'm grateful my family & I were not harmed. I salvaged what I could out of my personal belongings. I think what hurt the most was throwing out photos & years of portfolio work.
• I moved out!
• I can finally do 25 burpees with jumping up, without collapsing (this was major for me, burpees & I have a love hate relationship.)

The biggest thing to happen to me in 2011 though was my decision to change my lifestyle. I've put so much time, energy & heart into this. I'm so proud of my progress. Seeing such a significant change in my mind & body has been so rewarding. I'm stronger, confident in myself, most importantly, I'm happy & at peace. Never in my life have I had such a positive outlook. I love waking up every morning with a smile, energy, motivation & grateful for all I have! I love the new me, I'm excited to continue on this path! This was the best way I could have ended my crazy year... 2012 bring it on!

Are you ready to tackle 2012 as well?!

Glitter Explosion!

Happy Sunday!! What's left of it anyway.

This morning I woke up bright & early to assemble the decorations on my tree; star, bows, ornaments,  tree skirt. I really just wanted a plain solid colored one, but Wally World didn’t have any, so I decided to go with the shiny one!!

There is one thing you need to know, besides my obsession with hot sauce & pumpkin I'm like a five year old when it comes to anything shiny. Give me tin foil & I can keep myself occupied for hour’s j/k... but seriously.

So I took the skirt outside on the deck to shake off the excess glitter. Let’s just say I now have a bedazzled deck; glitter is EVERYWHERE (except for my kitchen thank goodness). It has also migrated to my bedroom. I think I need to lay off the shiny for a while… we will see how long that lasts.

This is my finished tree 

I love it!!

Now I'm ending the night with this awesome tea!

First time I've had it & it’s now my new fave; it smells & tastes so wonderful. I really should have stocked up on this when I had the chance. Hopefully I can find some stray boxes tomorrow at the store.

Bring on the tree

I decided to do something that would make my weekend, decorating for Christmas. I'm pretty pumped because this is my first Christmas in my new home!

 My Grandparents had offered me their fiber optic tree that they no longer use; I jumped at the chance since it would obviously save money. Trust me I love having a real tree, but I figured this would be good for me this year. So they came over this afternoon with the tree & decorations. They also got me a little house warming gift, the Hallmark First Home 2011 ornament!

I could tell by the smiles on their faces they were overjoyed to see me happy again. They watched as I ran around all excited hang lights & garland around the spiral staircase & putting things on the tree.

Along with the decorations, my Grandma brought me some magazines. She said she read them & they have very good insight on “the thing you’re doing with the eating” haha. I think she is finally starting to realize the benefits it has for me, “Grandma it’s not a diet… my body just can’t handle processed food anymore.”   so at least she’s now starting to get it.


 What's My Tree Theme!

I had three choices; crazy color, animal print or horror movie tree... yes a horror movie tree. My sister & I had one a few years ago. Our rentals let us have our very own mini tree. We took our Mom's plastic clear icicles, dipped the bottoms in red paint, printed out some horror movie poster images, purple lights & a spider web light as the star, along with the box from Hellraiser lol. It was hilarious!

So with my sisters’ vote I went with animal print. I had to settle for Zebra ribbon because they had no leopard  

Now it’s on to making the bows & getting everything together! I will post the pictures tomorrow!