2019- A bulleted list

Once again, not great at posting on Facebook (so posting my statuses would be a bust), but I used that and my Google calendar to create a bulleted list of some of the things that happened this year. (Starred items were things I completed from my 101 list.)

January

• Saw a pre-release screening of “On the Basis of Sex”
• Mormons Building Bridges Retreat
• Sprained my ankle because I missed a stair. Whoops.

February

• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at the Hale
• Started facilitating at Encircle
• Got a fish pedicure

March

• North Star Conference
• Started seeing a phenomenal new therapist
• Bear Lake Writing Retreat with Leslee and Michelle

April

• Pink Concert
• Salt Lake City 10K race (the only race I did this year… not a year of running for me)
• Went to Lagoon
• First Utah Royals home game of the season
• Put in offer on house

May

• My dad gave a devotional at LDSBC and I still get people telling me to thank him for it
• My grandpa passed away
• Closed on my house (buy a house*)

June

• Pride
• Grandpa’s funeral
• Women’s World Cup (continued into July)
• Affirmation Conference
• Moved into my house after replacing the carpet and paint on the main and upper floors
• LoveLoud concert

July

• Joined several dating apps and went on way too many first dates
• Paint Nite*
• Plant Nite
• Love Letters museum
• Ax throwing

August

• Deleted the dating apps
• Cinderella at the Hale
• Saw Fighter (incredible aerial/song/dance show by the 90&9)
• Saw Hamleton at the Off Broadway Theatre
• Housewarming party
• Bear Lake family vacation
• Vancouver for my birthday with Sara (visit another country*)
• Dining in the dark restaurant* while in Vancouver (Thanks, Groupon!)

September

• Went to the Utah State Fair*
• Two year anniversary at my job
• Took watercolor class* through SLC Community Education
• Saw Fly More Than You Fall at UVU and cried a ton
• Saw the play Pilot Program at a huge private residence in Park City. Super thought-provoking.
• Mormons Building Bridges Forum

October

• Saw The Memory Palace Live show
• Almost fainted during a blood draw
•  Latter-day Faith retreat
• Got to see Kristin Chenoweth perform in person at Encircle
• Changed meds
• Presented at AUCCCD conference in San Antonio. Stuck around a few extra days to explore San Antonio

November

• Bought a weight set for my basement. (Which I now realize I shouldn’t have got. I need to sell it and start saving up for a reformer Pilates machine!)
• Created my own Netflix account and binged watched The Good Place
• Sleep consult and study (still have mild sleep apnea)

December

• Went to The Allusionist Live show
• Volunteered at the Encircle Summit by facilitating some of the youth friendship circles
• Started trying reformer Pilates (and I guess technically joined a Pilates studio*)
• Went to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert with guest performer Kelli O’Hara
• Tried acroyoga*
• New boss at work (so many changes at work during the course of the year…and, if we’re being honest, so many changes all the time since before I started working there. Haha.)

2019, by the numbers

Yet another one of these. I like them. But I wasn't as good at tracking numbers as I should've been with some things this year, so there are a lot less categories. Maybe I'll do better next year.

Traveling:
Miles driven in my car: 15734
States lived in: 1
States lived in/been in: 4
Airports been in: 3
Countries visited/lived in: 2
Round-trip plane trips: 2
Amusement parks visited: 1

Work: 

Jobs held: 1

States where I am an LCSW: 1
CEUs completed: 38
Bosses had: 2
Conferences presented at: 1

Personal:

Books read: 50
Pages read: 19,484
Places lived in: 2
Wards member of: 2
Roommates had: 0 (2 if you count my parents)
Cars driven: 4
Blogs posted: 2
Friends on Facebook: 467
Wedding receptions attended: 2
Car accidents been in: 2
Therapists had: 2

Physical:
Races run: 1

Run/walk miles logged in RunKeeper: 18.6
Difference in weight from highest to lowest: 23.8
Pilates classes taken: 8

Spiritual/church:
Callings held: 2
Temples/temple grounds visited: 3
Live sealings attended: 2

101 List:

101 list goals completed: 8

101 list goals in progress: 14

Year in Review- bulleted list

I’ve had a tradition of doing “My Year in Facebook Statuses” as a year-in-review blog post, but...I really didn’t post that many statuses this year. Facebook was more of a way for me to post pictures from the races I did and to keep up with friends’ lives. I’m not even using Facebook that often anymore the past couple of months. So I decided to just do a bulleted list of things that happened. Facebook did at least help me remember some of them, though my calendar also filled in a lot.

January

• St. George Half Marathon and long MLK weekend in St. George 
• Got LASIK 
• Started Salt Lake City Track Club Winter Series 

February

• Found a therapist in Utah to go to 
• Al Carraway gave an awesome devotional at work. My takeaway: "Hard times will always be there. But so will Christ." 
• Last race of the Salt Lake City Track Club Winter Series and I won a raffle prize ($25 gift card to Cafe Rio) 
• Went to Encircle for the first time 

March

• Weekend in St. George to visit Madi, where she introduced me to women’s professional soccer by having me watch a U.S. Women’s team game 
• Alan Menken at BYU 
• Game night at Heather’s, which helped to start a great friendship 
• My baby sister turned 20! 
• North Star Conference 
• Messiah MoTab concert 
• Did the Playworks Utah's Race to Reduce Bullying 5K with Sara 

April

• Jordan River Temple Open House with family 
• Started six week fitness challenge
• Went to a Salt Lake City Bee’s game briefly, but then it was pouring rain and we left 
• Did a race every weekend for a month--Emigration Canyon 10 Miler, Girl Scout Cookie Chaser 2K and 5K, Salt Lake City 10K, Tulip Festival 5K 
• First Utah Royals home game
• Blind date with a guy to Temple Square 
• Roommate reunion with Sara, Julie, and Aleisha 

May

• Hamilton 
• Spamilton 
• Finished the 6 week fitness challenge, down 9.4 pounds and 3.3% body fat. Though I’ve continued working out at the same place. Who would’ve thought I actually kinda like weightlifting? 
• Ogden Half Marathon. Gorgeous race, got a PR, and had fun seeing Boise Galloway friends 
• Lagoon with some Boise friends 
• Grassroots Shakespeare Festival with Sara and Garrett and Julie 

June

• Utah Pride with Madi, then the parade the next day with Madi and Jess 
• U.S. National Women’s Soccer team friendly game at Rio Tinto vs. China 
• Drop 13 Half Marathon and got another PR and all three race medals (one for finishing, one for getting a PR, and one for dropping 13 pounds while training). 
• Went to Baltimore for a work conference. I really enjoyed hanging out at the Inner Harbor each day after the conference. 
• Started house hunting 

July

• Hobbler Half with Alma. Such a hard half--so insanely hot. 
• Pentatonix concert 
• Affirmation Conference 
• Love Loud concert 

August

• Hit 100000 miles on my car. 
• Saw the play Aubrey was in (Thoroughly Modern Millie) 
• Bubble Run with Sara and Garrett and Kelly 
• My golden birthday 

September

• One year anniversary at my job 
• Did the Moonlight Half and finished my race a month for a year goal 
• Waitress 

October

• Amazing work conference in New Orleans 
• Josh Groban/Idina Menzel concert 
• Lore at BYU with Sarah 

November

• Mike and Kyley’s wedding 
• Girls weekend in Park City 

December

• Christmas MoTab concert, with special guest Kristin Chenoweth (went with Jess and Taryn) 
• The Forgotten Carols 
• Small Christmas--two siblings now married and it was the in-laws’ Christmas 
• And now it’s New Years Eve. Crazy how fast a year can go by when you’re looking back at it.

2017, by the numbers

I really like doing this year-end review by the numbers. Another year on the books. Happy New Year, everyone!

Traveling:
Miles driven in my car: 17,669
States lived in: 2
States lived in/been in (including airports): 11
States lived in/been in (not including airports): 4 
Airports been in: 12
Countries visited/lived in: 1
Round-trip plane trips: 4
Amusement parks visited: 0
Times driven to Utah and back: 6.5 
Nights away from home: 46

Work: 
Jobs held: 2

States where I am an LCSW: 2

Personal:
First dates went on: 0
Second dates went on: 0
Books read: 62 (20,583 pages, per Goodreads)
Places lived in: 3
Wards member of: 2
Roommates had: 0 (2 if you count parents, 3 if you add in one sister...)
Cars driven: 4
Blogs posted: 11
Friends on Facebook: 312
Calligraphy classes taken: 3

Physical:
Massages received: 5 

Races run: 7
Run/walk miles logged in RunKeeper: 550.1
Overall pounds lost: 9.8

Entertainment:
Restaurants visited/ordered from: 103

Times went out/ordered/got food from restaurants: 143

Movies watched: 27 

Plays/musicals attended: 4 

Spiritual/church:
Callings held: 3
Blessings (including setting aparts) received: 4
Temples/temple grounds visited: 6
Number of proxy initiatories completed: 67
Number of proxy endowments completed: 16
Number of proxy sealings completed: 0
Live sealings attended: 0

101 List:

101 list goals completed: 14
101 list goals in progress: 13

My Year in Facebook Statuses- 2017 Edition

January

• This winter needs to be over! I got stuck in snow four different times while driving home from work and almost got into two accidents. I was very fortunate to not have any damage to myself or my car and to have co-workers or random strangers come to my rescue each time. But I think I want to hibernate until all this snow is gone.
• So...I was trying to get to the Hyundai dealership to get snow tires and instead got stuck in my parking lot. Tow truck ETA is 6:30 this evening. Can any of my friends rescue me sooner?Update: landscapers got me out. The dealership didn't have any winter tires in stock. On my way to a tire store. Because I am not going back to my complex without winter tires. Thanks for all the concern! Update #2: Tim at Big O Tires on Fairview and Cole is awesome and very helpful and new winter tires are being put on now. :-) Update #3 (hopefully last one about this ever): The snow tires are handling beautifully. Though when I tried to get back into my complex again, I got stuck. It was a mess. I even saw an SUV struggling. I managed to back out and stayed away until they cleared the lot. But now it's clear, I'm home safe, and I might actually be able to make it through this winter.
• I really want to plan a small vacation to somewhere warm towards the end of this month/beginning of next month (I really need something to look forward to as we ride out these crazy storms). Nothing super long... just a couple of extra days tacked on to a weekend or something. Any suggestions or adventure buddies?
• So... I cancelled my paid memberships to dating sites a few days ago because nothing was really happening and I don't want to keep throwing away money. (And let's be honest, dating is kind of the worst.) But in the last few days, I've gotten more "flirts" and "likes" on my profiles than I did in the previous few months combined. So I think that maybe dating sites make your profile a "featured profile" temporarily when you cancel your membership so that you come back and pay again so you can see who the heck these guys are. It's a conspiracy. Thoughts?
• Am I too young to become a snowbird? Because I'm done with this winter. I just want to be warm again!
• A couple of friends were going to come up from Utah to watch Once with me this weekend, but with the weather they aren't coming anymore. :-( But...this gives you the opportunity to come watch it with me instead! I have two extra tickets for the 8pm performance on Saturday (at the Morrison Center). Each ticket is $41.22. Who's in?
• Power outage. Fun... :-(

February

• First day of the season for Boise Galloway and I dropped two minutes on my magic mile time from six months ago and I kept within 5 seconds of my pace each lap. Love seeing that progress!
• I'm considering finally getting a new credit card, as I still only have the one I got when I started college 9.5 years ago. (Yikes! Feeling old.) I think I want something that will give me good travel rewards regardless of airline. (I used to be loyal to Southwest, but it isn't always the cheapest out of Boise.) I might also be open to a credit card with other good rewards or maybe cash back. Suggestions?

March

• Hit double digits for the first time ever on my run today! Being able to complete a half is within reach. :-) 
• Beware the Ides of March is right! Grateful for a speed workout that let out some of the tension and frustration after a crazy day of work... and I'm especially grateful for the warm shower and cozy pajamas after said speed workout.

April

• I realize that April Fools' Day is not the ideal day to announce this... But Karen and I just registered for the St. George Marathon this October! (This running thing has gotten a bit out of hand.) Feel free to join us in our insanity. Registration opened this morning and goes on until they hit their 7800 runner cap.
• I was looking at my carpet today and realized how dirty it is. And I just vacuumed yesterday! I guess the vacuum cleaner I took from my parents' storage unit isn't working well. (Sorry, Mom and Dad). Anybody have recommendations on a good vacuum? Or have thoughts on robot vacuums?

May

• Some days are a struggle and they become even less fun when you somehow manage to lock yourself out of your car. Oh well. Thank goodness for Hyundai Roadside Assistance? (At least this gives me an excuse to miss hill training tonight. So...Maybe it's a good thing. Haha.)
• Came home to a 24 hour notice to enter on my door so my management company can do their biannual and HVAC inspections. I apparently need to remove all items from under all my sinks (obnoxious), make sure there's access to all HVAC and water systems (fine) and make sure all smoke alarms and light fixtures are properly installed. Normally not a problem, but of course, my smoke detector started beeping and now I have to go out and buy a 9V battery tonight. (All while hoping they they remember to re-lock my door tomorrow, since they didn't one time they did a check and my roommate came home to a wide open front door.) Renting is so fun sometimes.

June

• Glacier this month! What are the are the must-dos that I need to add to my list?

July

• Loved spending the last week with both sides of my family as we celebrated my parents returning from their mission. But as great as this last week was, I'm grateful to be back in my own apartment. Being an introvert in a family of extroverts can be exhausting! Good thing I love them anyways. I mean, I am stuck with them for eternity. :-)

August

• I've been feeling for a while that a big change would be coming in my life and now I finally know what it is. It is with incredibly mixed emotions that I'm announcing that I've accepted a position as (job) at (company) and will be starting with their new semester in three weeks. Boise has truly become my home over the last five years (it's almost the longest I've lived anywhere in my life!) and I'm going to miss it, my job, my co-workers, and my friends so much. I've grown so much in so many ways over the last five years and closing this chapter of my life won't be easy, but I'm also very excited to continue to grow both personally and professionally as I move to Salt Lake and tackle this new role.
• Okay, guys. Looking at housing is overwhelming and I would love any help/suggestions. I'm looking to move to Salt Lake County. Requirements: 2 bedroom (or a really large one bedroom, as I have a lot of stuff), W/D hook-ups, covered parking, safe area. Bonus points if near TRAX or in a really good singles ward/area. I'd prefer not to spend over $900/month in rent, though I could higher. Suggestions?
• Momentous occasion today: first time anybody has thought that I was pregnant and actually asked me if I was. (For the record, I'm not. Unless there's another virgin birth going on that I'm not aware of...)
• It's my birthday today. I always feel a bit awkward letting people know that. I struggle being the center of attention or feeling like I'm forcing people to do something for me. But with all the craziness going on in my life right now, I'd love a gift from you. I'd love to hear a favorite memory of the two of us or just something you appreciate about me. If that's not your style, memes are also appreciated. Absolutely no pressure to do so. But I think this is a better way for me to celebrate a birthday than just a lot of people wishing me happy birthday because Facebook tells them they should. Regardless, thank you for being in my life. I'm so lucky to have you.

September

• Had to scrape my windshield this morning. I'm not ready for this weather!

October

• What did you guys do today? I got a bit sunburned...And ran a marathon! I still can't believe I did it. Training has been hard physically and I've really been struggling with my mental game. There were even a few times today I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. But I didn't get swept and I finished! My body isn't super happy with me right now, but I am so happy with myself. Now I know I can do anything. 
• Ok. I need to get a new personal laptop. I don't need anything fancy... just something for internet browsing and Microsoft Office. And I need to get it before NaNo because I do NOT want to do that by hand. Any suggestions?
• My GPS wasn't working this morning, but I successfully navigated where I needed to go by just using the grid system! It works! I did get slightly lost when the grid didn't entirely connect, but I figured it out and feel very accomplished.
• More fun from my previous management company: got mail from them today and I opened it, expecting it to be a check with the rest of my deposit back. I was interested to see how much money they'd give me back (didn't think it would be much, knowing them). But nope. It was someone else's statement and bill. I don't know how this company has stayed in business and actually taken over a lot of the Treasure Valley. I'm so glad to be (almost) done with them. Here's to hoping they didn't send my check (or info to steal my identity) to someone else.

November

• It's a Sara Bareilles kind of night.
• I now have a Utah driver's license and license plates and a Salt Lake County library card. Guess there's no going back now.
• I was a NaNo rebel this year, working on several different projects instead of just one novel. But I wrote 50,000 words total, and with an hour and 15 minutes to spare... I'm counting it as a win! 

December

• Looking at getting LASIK. Have any of my Salt Lake friends had that done? I'm likely looking at going to either Hoopes Vision or LasikPlus and would love recommendations or insights.
• Running hills at 6000 feet is either going to help me get a lot stronger and faster or it's going to kill me. Let's hope it's the former instead of the latter.

St. Thomas vacation and eastern Idaho total eclipse

With my parents coming home, we were able to go on a big family vacation for the first time in over three years. It was a big deal, and so we certainly made it a big vacation. We were able to go to St. Thomas and it was so wonderful and relaxing. I didn't love the long travel time to get there, but it was so nice while we were there.

I mean... how could it not be when this was the view from the patio of our hotel suite?

And this was the view from the deck of a house that a family from the branch lives in. They used to live in Utah and went to the eye doctor's office where Aubrey works, so when they saw her at church, they were so sweet to invite us over for dinner and give us pointers about what we might like to do. They also invited us with them to go up to the top of Paradise Point on Wednesday night (when it's only $5/person instead of $21) and that was neat. It's also where I finally picked up some souvenirs.

Lots of just playing in the ocean and pool. (I got sunburned on the first day we were in the water, though. Whoops.) We ate out quite a bit, and I was able to finally go to a restaurant that starts with the letter X, so I was able to cross off "go to 26 different restaurants starting with each letter of the alphabet" from my 101 list. The deadline for my second 101 list is rapidly approaching! I also slept a lot, which was lovely. Those beds were so comfortable. And heavy curtains to totally block out any and all light is so wonderful... I sleep best in pitch blackness.

We also went to St. John one day and I got a couple National Park Passport stamps and we went snorkeling. When I think of snorkeling, I think of seeing lots of colorful fish. That wasn't quite the case there. But one of places we snorkeled, we saw literally millions and millions of tiny fish all swimming together in these schools. You'd swim right over them, but they'd all move if you got too close. It was a cool phenomenon to see. The other place we snorkeled wasn't as clear of water, but we saw a few sea turtles and stingrays. We also went to some sugar plantation ruins where we got attacked my mosquitos and bees. (That part wasn't so fun.)

One thing that wasn't super relaxing was on Thursday night, I got a job offer. I'm so glad I got that job offer at the end of the vacation and not the beginning, so it wasn't hanging over my head and keeping me from relaxing. I really didn't sleep well Thursday night. When we were in the NYC airport flying back, I called and accepted the job offer and started making my life a little crazy.

But before getting completely back to reality, I took one more vacation day and went with Karen and Stu and some of Stu's family to his grandpa's home in Pingree, Idaho. It was so nice to be away from civilization a bit and just relax some more after having made a big life decision. I enjoyed swinging in the hammock Karen and Stu brought and reading. I liked learning and playing the game Cover Your Assets and eating yummy food. On Monday, we drove up to Moore so we could be in the path of the total eclipse. That was so incredible to see. I'm so glad we were able to go.

Parents home!

The week after Glacier, my parents got back from their mission. They came home on Sunday July 2, and I took the whole week of work off to spend time with them and other family.

The last three years have kind of flown by for all of us, I think, but it was so nice to welcome them home. Aubrey, Tyler, and I made posters and there were a lot of family members that came to the airport to welcome them home. I surprised myself when I started to cry when I saw them coming down the escalators. I wasn't quite prepared for that. But lots of hugs, tears, and laughs ensued for all of us.

We then spent the first half of the week having a reunion with my mom's side of the family, and the second half with my dad's side. It was a little hard at times for me because I'm an introvert and need my alone/recharge time, and there wasn't a lot of that to go around. But it was really nice spending time with everyone and hearing stories, laughing, and catching up.

On Sunday before I drove back, I was able to hear my parents speak/report in the ward my mom grew up in. The chapel was packed with my parents' missionaries, family members, friends, and even some of my dad's former mission companions! I know there are so many stories to tell. But I really want to share some important lessons I learned from things my dad taught his missionaries that I think we can all learn from.

One thing my dad talked about was "so templo," which kind of translates to "only temple." Sometimes, it may be easy for missionaries (and us) to think about getting people to baptism and not past that, but that isn't the right focus. Our goal should be to help people make all the necessary covenants to return to live with their Heavenly Father--not just the first covenant. Our goal should be to get people (including ourselves) to the temple. He helped his missionaries to do that by having them teach a "Spirit of Elijah" lesson, where they could read Malachi 4:5-6 and then ask about close family members who have passed away. The missionaries are inviting their ancestors to join the lesson and use that Spirit of Elijah to bring the the Spirit into the lesson and increase the investigator's desire to make covenants and get to the temple to perform these ordinances for their deceased family members. Super cool.

Another thing that stood out to me is the importance of listening to the first prompting. My dad pointed out that spirits speak spirit to spirit, so we should be very aware of those "thoughts" we have, because they are likely promptings. As one of my uncles would tell his stake, "A thought is a prompting until proven otherwise." (Assuming it's a good thought, of course.) My dad shared some really neat experiences of following that prompting and the miracles that came from that. However, going along with that, Satan is a spirit, and he also communicates that way. So he will come after the first prompting and make us doubt it, make us think it's only our thought and that it was a silly idea. That's why it's even more important for us to hang onto (an do) the first prompting. I know it's definitely something I need to work on doing better.

I know I probably am not doing these concepts justice. I think I should just convince my dad to start a blog where he can talk about all this great stuff. (Hint, hint.) :-)

Glacier National Park and Half Marathon

Man... I'm so behind on blogging! Where has this summer gone?

I went to Glacier towards the end of June and it was absolutely amazing. I had never been, and so I used the excuse of doing a half marathon through Vacation Races to go and I convinced my friend Chelsea to join me.

We flew into Kalispell and got bumped up to a truck from the much smaller vehicle we had originally rented. I'm glad Chelsea was driving, because that thing was huge! (And she really enjoyed driving it, so win/win.) We stayed at a lovely Airbnb with a very nice couple in Columbia Falls the first couple of nights. I'm going to mix up timelines a bit because it's been a while. I know the first day, we went ziplining, which was super fun. And I think we explored some cute little shops. On Thursday, we went on a hike to Avalanche Lake and explored the park some, including going on a horseback ride. Exploring the park that way was neat, but man... that works your legs!.I got pretty sore.

Luckily, we had a day to recover from that before we had to run. On Friday, we went over to East Glacier Park Village to a motel where we got a little cabin. We were originally supposed to only stay there Saturday night after the race, because it was already booked Friday. (It was really hard to find lodging with this race going on!) Luckily, somebody cancelled and since I had let the manager know we were also interested in Friday, we got to stay there and had a much shorter drive to the bus loading for the race. We were also able to explore the park a little more, pick up our race packets, and drive the course.

The race was absolutely beautiful. So, so gorgeous. There's a pretty intense climb the first five miles, but man...awesome views. Can you believe these are pictures that I took literally in the middle of a race?

I stuck with Louise and a couple other Galloway people in addition to Chelsea for those first five miles. At that point, everyone else kind of went ahead as it started going downhill. I stuck with Mandi, a Galloway gal who has run with my group when she's there as she's coming back from an injury. It's been hard for her, as she's normally so much faster. But she was great company and super supportive. We did :20/:30 pretty much the whole race (with a few extra walk breaks and some photo stops). There was another tinier hill towards the end that didn't even register as a hill to me when we drove it, but I definitely felt it. It seemed harder than that insane first hill! We also lucked out with the weather. Gorgeous day. But a really fantastic race. And I just love the huge community feel during the race. Everyone is so awesome and supportive and us back of the packers were really just enjoying it. And there were people around us! Big change from the Tulip Festival. My mental game was definitely better. Plus, even with the walking, a bathroom break (my first every in a race...So momentous), and the photo ops...I got a PR! My Garmin clocked me at 3:34:20 and my official time on the printout was pretty close to that. 

My first vacation race was such a good experience. Now I want to do all of them. :-) 

The only downside of the vacation was I was talking to a Galloway guy who was in our same motel the afternoon of the race and I got burned. Luckily, we tracked down some aloe vera (which was hard in that tiny town) and I survived. But boo for sunburns! Oh. And I guess the other downside was that we didn't get to stay longer. It was such a gorgeous area and such a fun race! I would have loved to explore more... especially since not all of the Going to the Sun Road was open. But I had a blast, got another few stamps in my National Park Passport and more smashed pennies. Yay for awesome vacations!

Externally Motivated

I've recently realized how externally motivated I am.

I mean, I realized this about myself before. Some roommates and I had sticker charts during my last year in grad school for things we were working on. I once told my friend Meagan (who is a massage therapist) that she couldn't give me a massage that weekend if I didn't work out every day that week (and you better believe I did end up working out every day that week). I completed an Ironman in a Month challenge because if you completed it, you were entered into a drawing for prizes. But even with all these examples, I never really owned how externally motivated I am, because we should do things just because they're supposed to be done, right? Sticker charts are for children being potty-trained, not late 20-somethings who are just kind of lazy.

Enter Habitica. I had heard about this app a bit before, but finally downloaded it last Sunday. And guys, I'm in love. It's a website and app where you can "gamify" your life and get rewarded for completing habits, daily items, and to-dos. Your character gets better and stronger and earns more rewards the more you do....but if you don't do things, the character's health decreases and you can lose the progress you've made in the game. You can also join quests with your friends to hold yourself even more accountable, because if you're on a quest and miss a daily, everybody on your team takes a hit. I'm super impressed with how involved this website and app are. And they're totally free! You can subscribe for a certain amount a month for extra features, though I'm finding that the free version is meeting my needs right now. If you think you'd find this helpful, I'd encourage you to check it out. I know I've been a lot more productive this last week than I normally am and I really hope to keep that motivation going.

End of PSA.

In other news...

This winter was rough. (Hence not much blogging.) We set all sorts of records for snow. I had to get snow tires. (Which I got off yesterday! Hooray!) It was hard constantly seeing snow on the ground all the time, constantly having to watch for ice, and never feeling warm enough when I was outside. I even ran away for a long weekend to North Carolina to see some friends because it was warmer there. (It ended up not being super warm a couple of the days, but there wasn't snow on the ground, so that was a win.) And, of course, it being dark on the way to and from work is never fun. Now that the weather is getting better (and Daylight Savings Time is here!), I feel my mood rapidly improving overall, so that's happy. I don't think I realized how much the weather was impacting me mentally and emotionally.

Life is settling down as it doesn't feel as in flux as it has been. I didn't get a job in Utah that I applied for, which really helped me to throw myself more into really making here home, including spending more time with friends and activities and not just staying home doing nothing. I'm still in my current apartment...partly because there really aren't too many cheaper options for similar apartments and partly (mainly) because moving is a pain. I really like my apartment, just not the management. However, they haven't caused any issues lately, so I can't complain.  I am now month-to-month, so I can leave if I decide to. I'm trying to move forward in various goals. A friend tutored me a bit on my sewing machine. I'm doing some mending, but then hope to maybe start working on some of my 101 list sewing goals. I'm taking another calligraphy class (this time, it's copperplate, and it's been a lot harder for me than the other scripts, but it's really pretty). Galloway has started up again and I'm a pace group leader this season. I'm training for my first half marathon at the end of April and then doing another a half marathon outside of Glacier National Park in June. Got a PR on a 10K yesterday. Lots of good things happening. Both I and my Habitica character are progressing. :-)

2016, by the numbers

I really like doing this year-end review by the numbers. Another year on the books. If you have ideas of other things I should track for this next year, let me know. Happy New Year, everyone!

Traveling:
Miles driven in my car: 19253
States lived in: 1
States lived in/been in: 5 (6 if you count the layover in New York on the way back from Brazil)
Countries visited/lived in: 2.
Round-trip plane trips: 3.5
Amusement parks visited: 1
Times driven to Utah and back: 7.5

Work: 
Jobs held: 1
States where I am an LCSW: 2
CEUs completed: 52

Personal:
First dates went on: 10
Second dates went on: 0
Books read: 71 (24,537 pages, according to Goodreads)
Places lived in: 1
Wards member of: 1
Roommates had: 1
Cars driven: 4
Blogs posted: 13
Friends on Facebook: 293
Calligraphy classes taken: 2

Physical:
Massages received: 6

Races run: 3
Run/walk miles logged in RunKeeper: 87.61 (wish I had started logging all my runs sooner... I didn't start logging them in there until my first race!)
Pounds lost since 6/20/16: 17.6

Entertainment:
Restaurants visited/ordered from: 89
Times went out/ordered/got food from restaurants: 142

Movies watched: 32
Plays/musicals attended: 1

Spiritual/church:
Callings held: 3
Blessings (including setting aparts) received: 4
Temples/temple grounds visited: 6
Number of proxy initiatories completed: 99
Number of proxy endowments completed: 24
Number of proxy sealings completed: 7
Live sealings attended: 1

101 List:
101 list goals completed: 17
Novels written: 1

My Year in Facebook Statuses- 2016 Edition

January

• New Year's Eve is kind of weird when you can't watch the ball drop in Times Square because it hasn't happened yet. (I'm living in the future!) In other news, Brazilians are serious about their fireworks! Don't think I'll be getting too much sleep tonight. Happy New Year!
• Oh, Brazil. I already miss you... pretending it was summer, spending time with family, sleeping, reading, and eating lots of yummy food. It was good times. Not looking forward to being back in the real world and winter. But I'm not going to miss how your streets made me feel like I was riding a broken wooden roller coaster. That wasn't good times.
• Hypothetically, if I had been awake for 35 hours (due to traveling or something) and then slept for 14 hours straight, would I be caught up on sleep? You know, hypothetically. :-)

 February

• I need to pick a short quote for a project in my uncial calligraphy class. Any suggestions? Bonus points if the quote really goes well with the uncial style.
• Here's a sentence I never thought I'd say: I joined a guild! I'm officially one of the newest members of Idaho Inkspots. :-)
• Happy half-birthday to me!
• Thoughts about upstairs neighbors playing mariachi music at 11:25 on a work night? For the record, I'm not a fan.

 March

• First car ride with the sun roof open for the year. Love this weather!
• Just did a class at Cutting Edge Pilates. Using the proformer machine was awesome, but my muscles have never shaken that much during a workout before! (Hopefully I'll be able to walk tomorrow.) Awesome workout! I highly recommend it.

 April

 May

• I may have taken a while to join the Y, and I still have to convince myself to go more often than I'd like (let's been honest, I'd rather be reading). But I'm so glad I joined. Everyone is so friendly, it supports great things in the community, and they have fantastic equipment, facilities and classes. I tried the Pound Fit class tonight and loved it. Because if you're going to do bodyweight exercises, you might as well pretend you're a rockstar drummer while doing it, right? :-)
•  A lot of times, I feel like I'm hitting my head against a wall at work. Trying to help people change their lives isn't easy. But then there are some days that make it all worth it. Where some change happens, big or small, and you're able to see that you were able to help make a difference. When you just happened to be at the right place at the right time to listen to and validate someone's story. That's why I do what I do. And that's why I'm grateful for days like today.
• Boise friends... I have a dress that I love that's been sitting in my closet for several months. I haven't worn yet because the sleeves and part of the back are unlined. Any recommendations of who I could take it to and get in lined so I can wear it and look gorgeous? (If it matters, I don't even have matching fabric, so people that are good at finding matching fabric and then altering it perfectly would be great.)

 June

• So grateful for getting what I need, even (especially?) when I didn't realize it was what I needed. Like running into a co-worker at the temple and proceeding to go out for ice cream together after and ending up talking for three and a half hours. My soul needed that. Now let's hope my body doesn't regret the lack of sleep tomorrow. J

 July

• Anybody have a pressure washer I can borrow? If I don't clean my parking spot myself by Monday, my property management company will charge me $35. I tried to contest it, but they say they're going to charge me, because according to them, it was my car that caused the mess.

 August

• Note to self: before you leave to head back home after a weekend away, make sure you double check that you have your wallet. The dreaded five and a half hour drive is even worse when it become a seven hour and fifteen minute drive. But thanks to Julie for meeting me part way so it didn't become closer to nine hours.
• Just ran 6.5 miles with my running group, thus proving to myself that I will not die during my 10K next month. Hooray!

 September

 October

• Guys! Once (the musical) is coming to Boise on January 20-21. Presale tickets are available now, starting at $37.50. Who wants to go with me?
• Debating how crazy I want to make my November. NaNoWriMo again (even though I have no ideas for a plot)? Triathlon in a month challenge at the Y? Or just teaching re-watching all the episodes of Gilmore Girls so I'm ready for November 25? Decisions, decisions...

 November

• Already behind on NaNoWriMo due to my calligraphy class cutting in to what would normally be my prime writing time. I'll have to write double tomorrow. And I'm getting up early to go to my first ever cycling class so I can start hacking away at the 112 miles biking required for the Ironman in a month challenge. What have I gotten myself into? Wish me luck!
• Alright... names of decent property management companies in the Boise/Meridian area. Go!
• To all my running friends: I've been considering buying a GPS watch for a while, but all the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals are making think it's finally time to bite the bullet and get one. I want something that will do adjustable intervals (not just :30/:30s), has good accuracy and display, will sync with a tracker app (I currently use Runkeeper, but I'm open to changing apps), and has a good battery life. Bonus if it has coaching for running form and can also work for swimming. Any suggestions are appreciated.
• November... You've been fun, but also made me a bit crazy. I guess completing both NaNoWriMo and Ironman in a Month will do that to you. Especially if that's in addition to normal (and not-so-normal) stuff at work, spending quite a bit of time with family and friends, and just dealing with life stuff. December, please slow down a bit so I can feel sane entering into 2017. Thank you.  :-)

 December

• Can we talk for a minute about how I supposedly live in the "banana belt," but it's 13 degrees outside and I was legitimately a bit scared for my life driving into work yesterday with the snow dumping down and cars swerving all over the place? This is going to be a long winter...
• My Skype account has been hacked. I apologize for any messages you got from me. Please ignore/delete them.
• Got on a paddleboard for the first time ever today, and immediately started trying yoga. (The YMCA has the coolest classes.) I wasn't able to do a ton, but I didn't fall in the pool, so I consider that a success. Another first for the day... getting my car stuck in snow. Not fun. Luckily, my friend was able to get me out without too much trouble on her part (and with minimal tears on my part). But if I don't visit any of you that live away from main streets until spring because Boise doesn't believe in clearing roads that aren't main thoroughfares... just know that it's nothing personal.  :-)

Getaway to Stanley

I've been feeling pretty burnt out lately and needed a vacation. The problem is, I don't really have any friends that have the same time or financial ability as I do. But I so desperately needed a getaway that I wasn't going to let nobody being available stop me. So I decided to take a little solo vacation and cross some things off my 101 list by going to Stanley.

My main focus for the trip was going to Redfish Lake, which I've heard is absolutely beautiful. By deciding to go so late (like... 5 or 6 days before I was going to leave), there weren't a lot of lodging options left, especially as I don't have camping gear to just set up camp wherever (I don't think I'd enjoy camping by myself, anyways). I guess Stanley is a popular getaway. Luckily, I was able to find a cabin available at Redwood Cabins in Lower Stanley. It wasn't anything fancy, but it's right on the Salmon River, which was perfect for me. The first thing I did when I got there was got on a provided chair on the back lawn right behind my cabin and just sat out and read and listened to the river rushing, the wind rustling, and the cows mooing. It was also so nice to have my window open each night and just hear the river going past. Water is so calming to me.

Seriously...this was my view from right behind my cabin. :-)

I got there Wednesday early evening, and after reading for a bit, I ventured in to town to find somewhere to eat. But one thing I realized is that there isn't a ton of parking and I didn't really want to deal with a bunch of people and I wasn't sure what I felt like eating, anyways. So I just ended up going back to the cabin, and walking to the really close restaurant (Bridge Street Grill) that's also right on the river. I requested a table on the deck so I could enjoy the view as I ate my steak. It was lovely.

Thursday, I got up and went to Stanley Baking Company for breakfast, as it had fantastic reviews on Yelp. I was planning on getting the pancakes, but I ended up trying a dish called Migas, along with a hot chocolate and a pastry called a "Mo' Better" that I think was a cream filled bun with chocolate on top. So good!

After breakfast, the main event was to go to Redfish. It truly was beautiful, and I know my pictures don't do it justice.


It was definitely crowded. I spent most of my time reading by the lodge. I also got on a scenic boat tour of the lake, which was nice. I even got a picture between "Heaven's Gate." (The one picture of myself the whole trip.) I couldn't seem to convince myself to get in the lake, though.


After Redfish, I came back to the cabin and rested for a while, before finally convincing myself to take a shower and go to dinner. I went to The Redd Restaurant, and got an amazing walnut pesto risotto with scallops and tomatoes. And then a chocolate mousse thing for dessert. So delicious! Apparently, they're a kind of farm to table operation and their menu changes during the season. But I LOVED what I got and totally would go back. And then more reading outside after dinner, until a guy came out and started smoking. Blah. So I went inside to continue my reading and eventually fell asleep super late because I just couldn't seem to wind down.

Today, I got breakfast at Stanley Baking Company again, this time getting their oatcake pancakes, orange juice, and a cinnamon roll. Delicious. Then I went back to Redfish, figuring that I needed to get in the water to feel like I can truly cross Redfish off my 101 list. I set up camp on the crowded beach and ventured in. It was rather cold, and the bay area was shallow, so I didn't completely submerge myself (it's always easier to just dive in instead of walking in). But I did get in the water at least a bit, so I'm counting it.

(You can see how shallow it is so far out, by seeing the different blues.)

And then, on the way out of town, I got a four-handed/tandem massage. I don't know how I heard of that type of massage originally, but it sounded so cool... having two therapists work on you at once. It really was relaxing. It probably wasn't the best idea that I then immediately drove back to Boise and promptly tensing up my back again. Oh well. Oh. And I did take a slight detour to check out Stanley Lake. Maybe I'll have to go back sometime and actually get on.

I hope to go back to Stanley someday with some friends. I feel like I would enjoy it more being with another person or a small group of people. It really was nice (and kind of liberating) to spend some time alone initially, but I don't think I'm cut out for long solo vacations. (And this vacation was only two nights! Not long by any means.) I need someone else to help make decisions when I don't feel like it. Or drag me along on some adventure when I'm tempted to just stay and read the whole time. (Of course, reading is good. But if I'm spending money on a vacation, I should probably experience some of the area.) And it's always nice to have a friend when you're at a restaurant so you can try more than one entree! Ultimately... I think I just need good company on vacations to talk to me and make me laugh and have fun with as we make memories together. And besides, trying to put sunscreen on your own back is not super effective. At least I didn't get sunburned!

More 101 List Things (AKA: I really should update my blog more often)

Besides my traditional year-in-review posts, the last time I posted something on my blog was back in September...and that was reviewing the whole summer, because the time I posted before that was in April. Whoops.

So, at least this means I have a list of things I've accomplished on my 101 list since then. I promise I am doing things with my life, guys. In no particular order, I...:

• went on the Thunder Mountain Railroad. (That was back in September. It was a fun experience. Yummy food and beautiful scenery.)
• did glass blowing at Idaho Art Glass. (I made a vase that is now sitting on my kitchen table. I think I now want to make paper flowers to fill it with.)
• voted in person. (in the November elections)
• read Daughters of My Kingdom.
• participated in sealing by proxy. (I was able to do this in Brazil with my parents when we were visiting them, which was really neat. Even though the ordinances were in Portuguese and I didn't know exactly what was being said. Maybe I need to do it in English sometime. Haha.)
• visited Brazil! (Got to go with my siblings for Christmas. It was lovely. Minus the lots of flying to get there and back.)
• went to a NaNo write in. (I went to a write-in and the Bishop's House in Boise, and it was really beautiful. They were setting it up for Christmas and I just hid myself away in a room where Santa would be, and got to write in the glow of the Christmas lights. I didn't sit in Santa's chair, though. That would have been disrespectful. Haha.)
• did a session in a temple that I haven't before. (Went to the Jordan River temple and did a session the last day it was open before it closed for extensive renovations.)
• went to a temple open house. (Went to the Provo City Center Open House. SOOO beautiful! I definitely want to go back and do a session once it's dedicated.)
• followed a meal plan for a week. (Did it, but now I'm bad about continuing to do that.)
• drank a gallon of water a day for two weeks. (Same as the meal plan. Bad at continuing to follow-through.)
• bought a pair of boots. (Granted, they were from DI. But I bought them and I wear them. I am debating buying a new pair, though, which I think is what I meant when I made this goal. But it's hard to find boots I'd actually wear!)

In other news, I'm staying really busy with work and things. I have something going on pretty much every night after work. (Monday is home evening, Tuesday is temple night, Wednesday is institute, Thursday is calligraphy class, and Friday has generally become girls night.) I'm trying to be social. I started online dating, but that's really not going anywhere (which I'm ok with for now). I really started online dating to try to get used to talking to normal guys again (because I feel like I lost that skill since leaving BYU). But all of this is keeping me busy and rather tired. I know I need to get into more of a regular exercise routine again, but it is hard for me when I'm so busy after work, and it's hard enough getting myself out of bed for work... I don't know if I can get up even earlier to work out. I do need to figure it out. 

But life is pretty good. I'm trying to refocus and re-calibrate, especially after a breakthrough I had earlier this week in therapy. (And seriously guys, maybe you won't take this advice seriously since I'm a therapist myself and you think that I have to say this...but therapy is awesome and everybody should do it.) Still trying to figure out exactly how to follow-through though. But it'll happen. Slowly, but surely, I'm making it happen.