New Years Resolutions

Do any of you make new years resolutions? If you do, do you ever follow through or follow up on them? This year I made ten resolutions for 2010, and I'm about halfway through them! I feel pretty good about my accomplishments so far, but I also have to be realistic about the things that I've listed that will not get completed. When I wrote my resolutions, I was still unemployed. Majority of what I wanted was to pay off bills, one was about weight loss, and others were things that I could do around my home - like make a quilt, and get into preserving and go crazy on the garden. Now that I have a full time job, its a little more difficult to get stuff done around the home. Sometimes I feel like I have no free time, because I'm so exhausted after work, I just lay around on the internet, and my weekends off are normally occupied.

So - I just wanted to re-visit my resolutions, and see how far I have actually come.

#1: Loose weight. Realistically, I was hoping to loose 20lbs over the year. So far, I have lost 10, but only since I started my job! But wow, what a difference even the 10 pounds makes! Because I don't drive, I walk to and from work almost every day, and it is literally uphill both ways! Ha ha ha!! I have to walk down into the little valley, and then back up the other side no matter if i'm walking to or from work. When I first started the trek each day, I could hardly stand by the time I got to work - but now - 4 months later - its a breeze! Hopefully I continue to loose the last 10 pounds in the next 4 months!

#2: Get my licence (learners). I have been putting this off, and putting this off, mostly because I want it to be something I do for myself, not because everyone else wants me to. Here's the thing. I have always lived in a heavily populated area and have always had access to public transit - or everything I needed was in walking distance. I always kept minimum paying jobs, because I value free time and relationships more than the money I make - So to keep up with my frugal lifestyle, I never looked at having a licence as something I needed. Also - its a lot cheaper to NOT pay for registration, insurance, and all that good stuff.

But - now seeing that I live in the middle of nowhere, and if I want to go out and visit friends or do anything out of town, we need to drive to get there.... so... I should probably get my licence. Another thing that has held me back, is my vision. I have a super old prescription, and have horrible night blindness. My eyes get very irritated when driving at night, or for long distances because I cant focus, and I haven't had my lenses updated because of low funds. Now that I have some moolah, I can get some new glasses, and finally feel more confident about driving, and being able to see properly. (I'm actually going this weekend to pick out some new glasses, and make an eye appointment, etc! woot!)

#3: Get my passport... Yet another thing that I have to get... I have the pictures and all the info filled out, it's just a matter of finding the time to go into the city, stand in line, and get the application put through. *sigh* Soon enough - another reason why being able to drive myself would be helpful.

#4: Pay off bad debt. I can confidently say that half of my starting debt from the beginning of the year is now gone! That feels almost equally good as loosing the 10lbs! I'm thinking that by this time next year, all my bad debt will be completely gone!

#5: Buy my truck off of Mikey. One year ago - almost exactly - Mikey invested in me, and bought me a small truck, I guess as an incentive to get my licence. I have been telling him for a whole year that I was going to buy the truck off of him, then it would be all mine! Well, on November 1st, that truck will officially be mine! I love that truck!

#6: Sell something for profit on Etsy. This... is one of those resolutions that I don't think are going to become a reality. Originally when I wrote this, It was mostly because I didn't have a job, and needed to fuel some sort of income. Now I fell that I can't realistically dedicate the time to an online shop, so I highly doubt that this will happen.

#7: Start a photography project. I was hoping that in my free time, I would be able to start some sort of photography project - like a picture a day kind of thing. I have a big beautiful, and expensive camera, and I was really trying to make an effort to spend more time with it. Again, work has taken the best of that time, so it hasn't happened. Although, I have been taking regular photos in the garden - but I'm not using my big camera. I'm using Mikey's old digital camera from the 80's ... well it acts like that old sometimes... LOL

#8: Finish main floor renovations. Honestly, most of the main floor reno's are done, but there are a few walls I still need to paint, like the Master bedroom, the hallway, and most of the kitchen. But other then that, the Living room, Bathroom, Guest room, One wall in the Kitchen, and the pantry are all done, and other projects like changing out light fixtures, door handles, etc etc are all done too. Another reno that HAS to be done this year is the roof. The shingles just got dropped off today actually, so I can cross that one off.

#9: Make a throw, blanket, or quilt. Originally I was thinking about crocheting a throw for the living room, but then I changed my mind, and thought about making a rag quilt. It didn't end up very nice at all... I'de still like to make something, even if it ends up as a gift for someone, I'm thinking this will become a fall project that I can do while it's slow at work.

#10: Find 5 ways to save money at home. Well... Ive been doing some canning and preserving this year. I've been growing some vegetables, and we've been eating from the garden... small things like that. They've added up, and honestly havent made that huge of a differnce. There are other things that we have done to save money as well, Mikey car pools to work, we dont go grocery shopping unless we have to, I cancelled my cell phone in January, and now I just use the home phone and internet to get in touch with people. Working also helps with the money situation... LOL.

So, those are my updated new years resolutions. I'll revisit them at the end of the year, and see where I stand then!

I have to say it was a good day.

Yesterday I bought myself a new (to me) typewriter! It's a Smith-Corona Coronet Super 12! My particular model is from the early 70's, and is in great condition. The guy I bought it from said that his parents bought it for him when he was young so he could type out his school papers. He said that he was sad to see it go, but I can assure him it's in good hands! It needs to be oiled, and then I'll take it for a short story spin. Here is a picture of my newly aquired typewriter, and You Tube video of a similar one in action!

Yesterday was also fun because Mikey and I went to a Ukrainian/Vietnamese wedding! It was very cool, and a lot of heartfelt words were shared - I teared up a few times. I think my favorite part of the night was getting photos taken in a photo booth that they rented! I will eventually scan all the pics, but that wont happen until I find the power cord for my scanner. (I still haven't unpacked anything in the basement...) Instead, I took some photos of the photos just so you can see how awesome they are!

House Warming Success!!

WOW, I haven't written in a whole week! I guess I was so busy with the transition to full time hours at work, getting prepared for my BC guests to arrive, and getting everything together for the house warming that I didn't even think to write a blog!! But, all of that hard work really paid off, everything went to plan, and everyone had a lot of fun!

On Thursday June 3rd, we picked up my best friend Lindsay (we've known each other since high school) and her boyfriend Brydon at the airport! They flew out all the way from Vancouver just to see us and hang out for the housewarming! How nice! Then, we took them out for dinner to Jungle Jim's at West Edmonton Mall, and gave them a quick tour of the mall, and some of its attractions.

Mikey and I waiting for Lindsay and Brydon at the airport.

Brydon and Lindsay drinking Hurricanes at Jungle Jim's.

The Pirate Ship in WEM.

After the mall, we headed back to the airport to pick up Lindsay's sister Teri who also flew out from Vancouver to spend the weekend with us. When we got home, I introduced them to the Raving Rabbids game on the Wii, and we had a lot of fun just hanging out and reminiscing!

Teri and I hugging at the airport.

On Friday the 4th, we took everyone out to the farm to do some off road go-karting! We bought these go-karts last year, and they are so much fun! They can really go if you want them to! Our guests enjoyed spending time on the farm, getting lots of fresh air, and going for a nice country drive. Then we went to Drayton Valley afterwards for dinner, and last minute grocery shopping before the party Saturday.

Lindsay and Teri go karting, and the dog Colt.

Saturday the 5th was our housewarming! Here are some pics:

The spread! Lindsay, Teri and myself worked hard and made lots of food!

Sprucing the place up with some worm balloons!

Teri, Kerri, Keith and Dan hanging out in the front yard with the dog.

Mikey and Dan soaking up the sun while it lasted!

Lots of people showed up and stayed all night.

We ended up having a fire out back later on, and lots of our guests stayed late, and even stayed over for the night. We had a lot of fun, and were very thankful for everyone driving all the way out to visit. The food, weather, and company were all fantastic! So thanks all to came out to help us warm our house!

It's that time of year again!

Babies, babies, everywhere! Yesterday I did a maternity photo shoot with Ashley and her daughter Ella! The weather wasn't extremely nice, so we made the best of it, wearing warm woolly clothing outside, and tresspassing in my neighbors field. Then experimenting with my fun coloured walls and different outfits inside! I'm pretty impressed with how things turned out, despite our limitations! All the photos are up here, but these are some teasers: (click for full view)