Update On 2010 Goals

I have made progress on two of my goals!

Here’s what I said when I first posted my goals:

Make a To-Do List every morning: I love lists.  I love to-dos (when they don’t involve studying).  I know I accomplish so much everyday, but sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I did all day.  I also feel unorganized sometimes and think this might help me prioritize my life.

Stretch Every Day: I preach the joys of lifting and running, but when it comes to stretching, that’s a big fat epic fail for me.  Which is just silly because I LOoooove stretching.  I used to be on the dance team in high school and could easily do all 3 splits (yes, there are 3).  I just always seem to forget or  just run out of time at the gym.  I don’t even need to stretch for very long – a couple minutes minimum.

I hate random lists written on scratch paper, so I wanted to get a notebook I could stash in my purse.  You know what I hate even more: when the papers and sides of the notebook get tattered and gross and wrinkled.  I found the perfect solution:

A funky green pocket notebook with a hard-outer shell and white crisp center. 😉  It’s small enough so that it won’t weigh me down so I won’t make up an excuse not to take it with me (I hate big bulky planners).

I’ve also made progress on my stretching and found the perfect time to stretch is while winding down in front of the tube at the end of the night.  Here’s proof (somewhat):

Nevermind that piece of red lint in the corner.

Yes, things are looking good for 2010.  Now only if I could find time to fit in 20-25 hours of studying each week so that I could reach my first 2010 goal.

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One Of My Miniature Dreams: A Home Gym

Have you ever wondered about that side bar towards the bottom of my page that’s titled “Home Gym”?  You know, this one:

Well, let me explain.  For me, working out is like brushing your teeth.  It’s just something I do everyday without a second thought.  If I miss a couple days of working out, I get cranky and can’t think straight.  I have an inkling that this is how I felt most of the time before I started working out daily.  But, that’s another post for another day…

My point is, though, that you wouldn’t buy a house without a sink to brush your teeth or a bathtub to take a shower in would you?  Nor would I buy a house where I could not build my very own home gym.

It must have been fate when I met a guy who was even more of a workout addict than myself!  😉  Lloyd is an inspiration and never misses a workout.  He works out 6 days a week and is an avid weight lifter.  Needless to say, he wants a home gym just as much as I do.

I know a home gym will take time to build.  It could take years even before we have it perfect (Lloyd wants to build a “locker room” in our home gym which I think is a little absurd considering there will probably be a bathroom around the corner.  Boys…).  However, it is one of my requirements that I have a few necessities before I have a kid (Momma’s gotta work off the baby weight somewhere!):

• treadmill
• spinning bike
• set of dumbbells (preferably convertible like these)

Those three things are my bottom-line, must have requirements to build the foundation of our gym.  Of course we’ll need other necessities eventually like:

• plastic floor tiles (the kind they have in gyms)
• mirrors
• TV
• stereo
• resistance bands
• barbells
• flat bench

Sometimes Lloyd and I will get to dreaming really big and claim we want these things in our gym:

• cable crossover (the big machines with the cables)
• locker room (again….not gonna happen)

I totally get that most people probably think we’re crazy for wanting to spend so much money on a home gym.   However, I often daydream about rolling out of bed in the morning and heading right down to my personal gym instead of driving half-asleep, 10 minutes across town to my public gym – and that alone makes me so happy.  An added perk is the fact that I will no longer have to work out next to “talks-too-much-guy”, “stares-too-much-guy”, “smelly-guy/girl”, or “Spandex-guy” (quite possibly the fashion faux pas of the century).

There you have it – that little sidebar is no longer a mystery.  It’s one of my miniature dreams that I can’t wait to make into a reality someday!

Now that you know about my mine – what are some smaller dreams that you want to accomplish in your life that you are saving for?

CPA: T-2.5 Days

It’s official – I take the first part of the CPA exam this Tuesday.  Eek!

You may know I rescheduled it from April 24 because I was sooo NOT ready at that point.

I feel MUCH more confident these days.

I took a practice test this morning (basically the test with questions from past years) and got an 89% – woohoo!  You need a score of 75 to pass the CPA.  This shouldn’t be confused with a score of 75% because the questions are weighted (from what I’ve read).  I read somewhere that a score of 75 pretty much equates to 60-65%.  Sounds easy, right? Wrong!  The pass rate is still 35-45%.  Yikes.

At this point, I will be happy with just a score of 75.  That means I can move on with my life and to the next test.  This would also mean I wouldn’t have to shell out another $300+ to re-apply and take the same test over again.

I’ve learned SO much about how I learn over the past 8 weeks.  I’ve been out of the study habit for 4 years and let me tell you – it is HARD to get back into!

I plan to review the things I missed on this morning’s test for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow I have to work all day, so I plan to review during lunch and all night tomorrow night.

Tuesday – the big day – I am off the entire day!  My test is at night but I do NOT want to get stressed at work that day.  I’m going to do some light studying on and off all day.  I plan to sleep in so I’ll be wide awake for the test.  I also plan to get in a good, sweaty cardio workout and go tanning to clear my mind so I’ll be fresh for the test.  Also, I’ll be partaking in lots of healthy, clean eating on Tuesday so I won’t feel fuzzy that night.

But after I walk outta that damn testing center, you better belive I’m having a drink!  Lloyd is bringing me a sixer (or a twelver, depending on how I feel) and we’ll be celebrating with some drinks on our new patio. 😀

Cardio and lifting have kept me sane and focused during these past 8 weeks! I’ve always kept a pretty consistent work out regimen, but I really started kicking my runs into high gear the past couple weeks.  It has helped immensely!

Wish me luck! I’m well on my way to actually knowing what I’m talking about on this darn blog! 😀