Final Goals Update

As the year comes to an end, I am at the final days to progress through my goals. Obviously I cannot write how many I completed because I still have 8 days left to work like a mad woman.

Although, it is apparent that there are some goals I just cannot finish. There is no way that I can ride 491 miles in the next 8 days, so unfortunately my bicycle goal will not be met. But this is exactly why I made goals rather than resolutions. A resolution leads to regret and resent towards yourself if you do not do it whereas goals only leave room for progress and pride in the things you did achieve.

It is looking like I will be able to reach just over half of my goals. Although not ideal (finishing all of them....like that will ever happen), I am nonetheless proud of myself. It has been a tough year with many trips to the emergency room, doctor's appointments and just an overall feeling of being sick. In addition to that I finally reached my wits end at the bakery and had to quit for my own sanity. So even with these changes in my life I tried to remain focused on my goals.

I am proud of myself right now and I will be proud of myself everyday regardless of how many goals I complete. In the end I know I am a good person and nothing can change that.

Here's to hoping that the next 8 days keep me busy with my goals list, and come January 1st I will be able to start all over with a new goal sheet. How wonderful it is to have a focus throughout the year. :-)

Fall Semester is Over :-(

This semester of school has officially been the most enjoyable. I have never been so sad when school ended ever.

Let's recap the past few months:
August 30 I headed to West Valley College for my first day of classes in court reporting. I was quite nervous since I did not know if I would enjoy it or not. I was concerned that I would hate it and then have no idea what I would do with my life.

Class started at 11am and there were about 30 of us sitting in a room not really sure about what was going to happen. Our teacher explained to us how a steno keyboard is laid out and then we went into the computer lab to start doing the theory lessons. I could not have imagined how much I was going to enjoy it. I ended up working on lessons and drills for about 3 hours. I was just having so much fun.

The semester continued on and by the middle of October I had finished almost all of the 40 lessons for the theory class. I began testing ahead because the pace of the class was just too slow. I ended up completed all of the tests for Theory I and Theory II on the last day of classes.

In addition, towards the end of the quarter I began sitting in on the first speed building class which is 80 wpm. To my surprise I actually passed two of the three tests for the class (Literary and Q & A). Once I pass the jury charge test I will be moving onto 100 wpm. Although it all seems a little scary, I look forward to improving and learning much more as I continue through the court reporting program.

So now that my first semester of court reporting is over I am quite sad. I enjoyed my days sitting in a room practicing on my steno machine for hours. Thankfully I return to school on January 4th.

Here's to hoping that I continue to love court reporting and that we all continue to find our passion in life :-)

Thanksgiving

Well I am a little behind on posting....but better late than never.

So, as I wrote before, Kevin and I celebrated our thanksgiving together the Saturday before because we were not going to be together on thanksgiving. It was an eventful meal for us. It was an adjustment learning to work in a new kitchen and use a gas oven and stove, but in the end we did have a delicious thanksgiving meal.

Kevin and I with our awesome meal; Saturday before thanksgiving :-)

On Thanksgiving day while Kevin's family drove up to northern California I was on a plane headed to southern California. I landed around 11am and was able to enjoy thanksgiving with my family and family friends for the first time in 6 years. It was great seeing everybody. Promptly after our early dinner Adrienne and I headed up to Port Hueneme to go to Rendezvous. We helped out with setup on Thursday night and settled in to get some rest before an eventful weekend. I was head judge of knots for competition on Saturday and Sunday. Overall it was wonderful to be able to go to Rendezvous, but it was also strange to see how much has changed in the 7 years since I competed. There were far less competitors and the field events were empty for hours. I guess the economy has impacted everything including scouting.

I was clearly excited to be done with judging :-)

In the end it was great to be able to see everyone that I hadn't seen in years and it was fun to reminisce about my years in scouting, but I forgot how tiring sea scout competitions could be. I was dead tired by Sunday morning and with a late flight on Sunday, needless to say it was quite difficult to go to the school the next day.

Although a non-traditional way to spend thanksgiving, it was nice to change up the routine Kevin and I had had for the past few years.

Here's to hoping that next thanksgiving is just as fun :-)