Five on Friday v44

1) Happy New Year! I hope your new year’s eve was fun and safe. I spent mine with my two favorites. Chris and I went out to a fancy dinner, then we went home to our new dog, Otis. We got a couple invites to some fun festivities going on around Sacramento that we could have attended post-dinner, but we didn’t want to leave Otis by himself for too long. So after dinner, we celebrated the rest of New Year’s Eve in our apartment, on the couch, with our pajamas on and a bottle of sparkling wine while we watched the ball drop in Times Square on TV. It was the perfect end to the year: just me, my husband, and my fur baby all cozy and warm in our little home.

2) Chris and I have had Otis for over a week now, and we are loving our little guy more and more each day. I do have to say, though, that having a dog is a lot of work! We are all still working on getting into a routine. Otis was used to a certain lifestyle at his previous owner’s house, but now he has to adjust to my and Chris’ schedule/rules, like using a collar, using a leash, getting fed at 7am instead of 5am, etc. I myself am still getting used to, you know, TAKING CARE OF AN ANIMAL. Like I’ve mentioned before, Otis is my first pet ever, so I have a lot to learn, especially about what to expect with a dog. Chris and I are also learning how to take care of something together. We are taking turns walking Otis, feeding him, playing with him, grooming him, and picking up his poop. We are figuring out what’s best for him in regards to diet and discipline. We are figuring out pet insurance and which vet to take him to. We are working together to make sure this dog lives a long and healthy life. Something tells me owning a dog is going to be good practice for when we have kids someday. 😉

3) I have had this whole week off from my office job and I have been LOVING IT. I’ve had so much free time to blog, read, workout, and cross things off my to-do list. Chris has also had the week off from work so we are getting in a lot of quality time with each other, as well as quality time with Otis. This week was exactly what I needed after a busy, stressful, disappointing month.

4) I have gone to yoga every day for the past week and I am quite proud of myself for doing so. I don’t think I’ve ever exercised for seven days straight! As a result of my dedication to my practice this week, I’m feeling pretty damn good, both mentally and physically. I’ve been feeling my body get stronger and mind get calmer more and more each day. I plan to keep practicing tomorrow and Sunday to reach 9 days of yoga in a row and set a new record for myself.

5) I’m actually kind of sad that today is Friday because that means it’s the weekend, which will most likely fly by and then before I know it, I’ll have to go into my office job on Monday. I’m going to miss all this free time! My plans for the weekend to soak up these last few days of rest and relaxation with more yoga and more quality time with my boys.

How was your New Year’s Eve? What are your plans for the weekend?

Good-Bye, Two-Thousand-Fourteen

When I reflect on 2014, all I can think about is how good this year was to me. It was a year of new adventures and crossings things off my Life List. It was a year of new jobs and professional growth. It was a year of reaching milestones and growing as a person overall. Here are some of the highlights from my 2014:

In January, I ended my short-yet-miserable experience with unemployment and got a part-time job as a server at a fine-dining steakhouse. (I can’t believe I’ve been working there for almost a year!) Serving at a restaurant is by no means what I want to do for the rest of my life; this is just a job to help me pay the bills while I figure out my career path. But even though this job is not ideal, I’m still glad I have it because it’s better than having no job at all. I was super grateful when my boss hired me, and I am still grateful to this day.

In April, I got a second part-time job working at a non-profit doing mainly administrative work. I was excited about this job because not only would it be my side hustle and help me gain more monthly income, but it would be a great way for me to gain more experience in my potential career field. I was right about this job helping me gain more experience: I feel like I’ve learned A LOT since April and now have some new skills to add to my resume, which is always a plus.

In April, I ran my first 10K. I had been wanting to run a 10K for a long time, it was just a matter of making it happen. After conquering the 10K, I then had the confidence to start training for a half marathon. I decided I would sign up for one after my 29th birthday, and I did.

In May, I turned 29. Since this birthday would start the last year of my twenties, I decided to make a big deal out of this birthday and plan a whole weekend of birthday festivities. My birthday weekend ended up being a ton of fun and it got me super excited to conquer the last year of my twenties and enter my thirties!

In June, I got my wisdom teeth removed. This was something I had been meaning to get done for years but kept putting off because of 1) the cost and 2) the pain. This year, I decided I needed to suck it up both financially and physically so I could just get it done and move on with my life. It turns out the experience was not that bad at all! And the best part? IT’S OVER WITH.

In August, I visited Yosemite National Park for the first time in my life and had a real camping experience consisting of hiking, roasting marshmallows by the fire, and not showering for two days. I absolutely loved Yosemite and spent the weekend thinking, “Why did it take me 29 years to finally see this beautiful place that’s only a three hour drive away?” Chris wants us to go back to Yosemite in summer of 2015 and climb Half Dome. We’ll see about that!

In September, Chris and I went on a belated honeymoon to New York City (part 1, part 2). This was our big trip of the year and we had a blast! Chris loved visiting New York for the first time and I loved being able to go back for the second time and experience way more than I did the first time I went.

In October, I ran my first half marathon: The Nike Women’s Half Marathon in SF. This is something that had been on my Life List for a long time and I finally crossed it off this year. Completing this big goal of mine ended up being one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I am still so proud of this accomplishment.

In October, Chris and I celebrated our two-year wedding aniversary. I still can’t believe we’ve been married for TWO years now. It seems like just yesterday we were eloping at SF City Hall! Seriously, where is the time going? I feel like before we know it, we’re going to be grandparents.

I ended 2014 by getting my very first pet: a pug named Otis! Chris and I are so happy to have this little guy in our lives and that we’re now a family of three.

How was your 2014? What was the best part of your year?

And Then There Were Three

Chris and I had been wanting a dog for a while. He loves dogs and even grew up with a dog named Jack who died when Chris was 22. Almost 10 years later, Chris was getting the itch to own a dog again, specifically a pug. Shortly after we got married, he started planting the “We should get a pug” seed into my head. I was a little hesitant at the idea at first because I’ve never owned a pet in my entire life, but after a few months of Chris constantly showing me random pictures of adorable little pugs on the internet, I, too, had developed pug fever and was sold on the idea. We would get a pug, but not until we moved into a house.

We had originally planned on renting a house when our apartment lease ended a month ago, but due to financial reasons, we decided to hold off on a house until November 2015. We were both a little disappointed with this decision because it meant we would have to wait another year to get a dog. Well, after some discussion about our timeline life plans, we decided that in addition to moving into a house in November 2015, we would start trying to have a baby around that time, too, which meant we would go ahead and get a dog now so we wouldn’t have to experience too many big life changes at once.

So we started searching for a pug. The first place we looked was pug rescue websites, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find what we were looking for. We knew for sure that we wanted a purebred, male, fawn pug around 1 year old so we could name him Otis (like Milo and Otis), but most of the pugs at the pug rescues are old, mixed breeds, unhealthy, or all of the above. The other problem with some of the pug rescue sites we looked at was that they are not kept up-to-date. One day, we did actually manage to find a one-year-old, male, fawn pug, but he got adopted right away and the rescue never bothered to update their website to reflect that. We were so bummed when we found out that pug had been taken so quickly, so we decided to start working on our adoption application so we would be one step ahead next time we found a pug we wanted to adopt. It turns out the adoption application was four pages long and the adoption process as a whole would be even more tedious. At this point, Chris and I decided to look elsewhere for our pug.

Chris started checking Craigslist daily to see if anyone would be selling or even giving away the kind of pug we were looking for. There were a few times when we were very tempted to just get a pug puppy from a breeder, but having a puppy would be difficult since we both work full-time and neither of us would be home during the day to prevent the puppy from going to the bathroom all over our apartment. Even though the pug rescue idea didn’t work out, and getting a puppy was out of the question, we remained hopeful. We also promised each other that if we found the perfect pug in another city, we would make the trip to get him.

Last Tuesday while I was at work, Chris texted me and told me to be home by 5:30pm because he was taking me somewhere as a surprise. I immediately assumed he was taking me on some kind of date night, so I made sure to get home in time like he told me to. Once we got in my car, he said we needed to get gas and then stop at an ATM because the place we were going only takes cash. I was immediately confused. I still had a quarter tank of gas left, so how far were we going? And what kind of place only takes cash these days? I decided not to think too much about it and let myself be surprised, and surprised I was: we ended up driving for an hour and ended up in a residential neighborhood in Manteca! At this point, my assumption about date night had been tossed out the window; the only other reason I could think of as to why Chris had taken me all the way out to Manteca was because we were getting a pug puppy. As it turns out, I was only half right:

“Do you know why we’re here?” Chris asked me as I parked in front of the house and turned off the car.

“We’re getting a pug puppy!” I replied enthusiastically.

“Close. We’re getting a male, fawn pug! He’s one year old, and his name is already Otis!”

*Cue all the feelings of excitement and tears of happiness*

Chris went on to tell me that he had found a Craigslist ad for the dog over the weekend. He immediately called the owner to find out if the dog was still available and why on earth he would be selling it. Apparently, the owner is an old guy who said he just didn’t have the energy to give the dog the time and attention he needs, so he thought it would be best to find the dog a loving home, particularly with a younger owner. As soon as the owner told Chris that the dog’s name is Otis, Chris asked, “HOW SOON CAN I COME PICK HIM UP?”

We have had Otis for almost a week now, and we are just over-the-moon in love with this little guy. He is so friendly, energetic, loveable, and basically the cutest thing ever! We do have some work to do with Otis, though. His previous owner never kept a collar on Otis and never took him out on a leash, so right now, we’re trying to get Otis used to both those things. Otis also needs to work on learning commands (he only knows “sit” and “no”), so we plan to take him to obedience classes at our local Petco. Luckily, he is mostly potty trained so the hard work is pretty much done!

I still can’t believe we finally got our Otis. We’ve been talking about and looking for this exact dog for so long, and now we finally have him. I’ve been calling him our little Christmas miracle since we found him a couple days before Christmas. Now that Christmas is over, I’m looking forward to starting the new year with Otis. I’m excited to to spoil him and watch him grow. I’m excited to become “parents” with Chris. I’m excited for life as a family of three.

{Currently} December

Loving how our Christmas cards turned out. I decided to use Minted this year and I’m so glad I did because their gold foil stamp cards are gorgeous. Plus, the turnaround time from when I ordered the cards to when I received them was pretty fast, AND they sent me extra envelopes and return address labels. I’m officially a fan of Minted and will use them for my Christmas cards always and forever.

Loathing the fact that my laptop is having issues. According to my husband, the Windows installation got corrupted somehow. He’s still working on fixing it, so I’m using my iPad to type up this post, which is kind of tedious. I love my iPad and all, but it’s way easier to blog from an actual laptop or desktop.

Watching Christmas movies whenever I have some free time. I tried watching Elf on Tuesday night, but fell asleep as soon as the movie started. (Exhausted much?) I’ll have to give that one another go this weekend.

Feeling stressed, but what else is new? I just have a lot going on right now with working a lot and trying to survive the holidays. There’s also a lot of unknown in my life right now, and I hate that feeling of not knowing what’s going on and not being able to plan my life.

Planning a weekend getaway with Chris in January. Too bad that weekend getaway isn’t happening this weekend. I could use it!

Working on getting some last minute Christmas stuff done. I got our cards sent out, now I need to buy 2-3 more gifts and then I’ll be ready. Also, Chris and I decided to host a last minute Holiday party this weekend, so I’ll be prepping for that all day Saturday.

Wishing I knew the status of a job I recently interviewed for. I’ve been playing phone tag with the hiring manager for a week now, so I still don’t know if I got the job or not. I just want to knooooow.

Looking forward to hosting a holiday shindig at our apartment on Saturday night, having a week and a half off from my office job starting Wednesday, and celebrating Christmas next week!

What are you currently up to?

My Christmas Wishlist

I think one of the reasons why I love Christmas so much is because not only do I love giving gifts, I love to receive them, too! In fact, receiving gifts is my primary love language. So naturally, I’ve come up with my very own Christmas wishlist– some things that I would love to find under my Christmas tree in 9 days. If not, I just might have to buy them for myself…

1) Cutout Handle Clutch – I recently realized that I don’t own a black clutch, which kinda makes me feel like less of woman. A black clutch should be a staple in any purse collection, yet I don’t own one! I really love this one from The Limited because it’s a good size and even has a little handle in case I get tired of carrying it under my arm.

2) Fluidline Eye Pencil – In my opinion, a good eyeliner pencil is hard to find. Every time I buy one from the cheap make-up section at Target, I end up hating it and throwing it away. So I’ve decided that next time I invest in some eyeliner, I’m going to MAC where they carry good quality make-up.

3) Rose Gold Pave Spear Earrings – Stella & Dot is hands down my favorite jewelry line because their jewelry is classy, elegant, and most importantly, good quality. I love these rose gold, dangly earrings. I can see myself wearing them during a fancy night out!

4) Active Half-Zip Pullover – I refuse to spend a lot of money on clothes I’m just going to sweat in, so when it comes to workout clothes, Old Navy is my one-stop shop. I go there for running shorts, tank tops, sports bras, you name it. I love their pullovers for when I want to go for a run during these cold winter months.

5) Yes Please by Amy Poehler – I’ve heard nothing but good things about Amy Poehler’s new book and I’m dying to read it. I would also love Lena Dunham’s new book, Not That Kind of Girl. I’m all about reading books written by smart, funny, empowered women.

6) Sebec Black Pumps – My current pair of basic, black pumps are falling apart, so I think it’s about time for an upgrade. Aldo is my favorite shoe store, so I was stoked to see they have these basic black pumps on sale for only $30!

What’s on your Christmas wishlist?

*THIS POST DOES NOT CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS.

Five on Friday v43

1) These last couple weeks have been beyond stressful for me and I may or may not have had an emotional breakdown last night as a result. I’ve been working a ton between both my jobs while anxiously awaiting to hear if I got that full-time job I recently interviewed for. I’m volunteering to bake cookies for my work’s bake sale and helping out in the local running community. I’m trying to get my Christmas shopping done and sending birthday cards/presents in the mail. I’m making plans to spend quality time with friends and family. And I’m dealing with a personal health issue that is driving me crazy. Essentially, December is kicking my ass. Now that I’ve cried out my stress, I’m hoping that I can get through today’s 10-hour work day without wanting to pull my hair out.

2) On Sunday, I volunteered at the California International Marathon here in Sacramento as an aid station volunteer. I had never volunteered at a run before, not even a 5K, so being a runner myself, I thought it would be nice to support some of the runners in my own community. Plus, anyone who is running a marathon is going to need a lot of cheers to keep them going. Volunteering at the race ended up being a really cool experience because I got to witness so many runners accomplish their goal: run 26.2 miles! The experience was also exhausting because I had to wake up at 5:30am, help set up the aid station, cheer for the runners, hand out water/food, and help clean up/break down the aid station. Needless to say, I now have a new appreciation for race volunteers!

3) I can’t believe there are only two weeks left until Christmas. I feel like this time last year, I had my Christmas cards sent and my shopping done. This year? I’m still waiting for my Christmas cards to get here and my shopping is halfway done. Funny how much less time I have now that I work two jobs vs. when I was unemployed! I’m hoping to get my shopping and cards done this weekend, while also partaking in some fun Christmas traditions, like watching Christmas movies and baking sugar cookies. This time of the year may be stressful, but I’m still determined to enjoy it.

4) I’m about two-thirds done with Operation Blog Makeover. I got headshots taken for my blog and social media sites. I invested in a digital SLR camera so I can take nicer photos to post here. Now I just need to move my blog over to WordPress.org. I decided I’m going to hire someone to help me with this after Christmas. (I’d do it myself, but I want to keep and move my current domain and that can be kind of tricky based on my research.) Once I do that, I can change up the layout of my blog. I’m really looking forward to taking this next step in my blogging life!

5) My weekend officially starts tomorrow and I can’t wait. I have both Saturday and Sunday off from both jobs, and all I have planned are fun things: attending my college friend’s dance show at our alma mater, a quintuple brunch date, and a family get-together at my mother-in-law’s house.

How was your week? What are your plans for the weekend?

My Favorite Holiday Traditions

It’s that time again: CHRISTMAS TIME. Also known as, my favorite time. I think one of the reasons I love this time of year is because of all the traditions that come with it. Traditions that remind me of being a kid. Traditions I made with my family growing up and make me happy to relive. It’s also a time to make new traditions with my husband and even more when we have a little family of our own. Here are some of my favorite holiday traditions, old and new:

1) Put up my Christmas decorations on Black Friday – I’m not one of those people who will put up her tree and decorations before Thanksgiving; I like to give Thanksgiving its time to shine. But as soon as Thanksgiving is over? You can bet I’m hanging my stocking while listening to Christmas music!

2) Order and send Christmas cards – You probably know by now that I love photos and sending cards in the mail, so sending out Christmas cards is definitely a favorite tradition of mine. I like to get this done early since I order custom-made holiday cards online (vs. buying a pack from Target) to allow time for shipping, exchanging the cards if for some reason I don’t like them, and addressing them. I ordered my cards over the weekend and I can’t wait to share here how they turned out.

3) Drink hot chocolate while watching Christmas movies – Home Alone. Elf. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. These are all awesome movies that are perfect to watch this time of year. The only thing that could make these movies even better is watching them while drinking some good ol’ fashioned hot coco.

4) Donate a toy gift to a child in need – During this time of constant shopping and Christmas wish lists, it’s important to remember those who may not have much this holiday season. Every year, I like to pick a name off of a Giving Tree at the mall or donate a toy to a local children’s shelter. It makes me happy knowing I can brighten a needy child’s Christmas with a gift they’ll love and appreciate, no matter what it is. If you live in Sacramento, a good shelter to donate toy gifts to would be The Sacramento Children’s Home or The Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento.

5) Bake sugar cookies – In my opinion, sugar cookies are the best kind of Christmas cookie because you can cut them into all kinds of Christmas shapes and decorate them with red or green frosting. When I was a kid, my aunt used to bake sugar cookies, package them up, and give them to me and my siblings during our family Christmas get-togethers. I loved those cookies so much when I was younger, I decided to learn how to bake them from scratch a couple years ago and now bake them every holiday season. I’ve also added these double chocolate peppermint cookies as part of my holiday baking tradition.

6) Listen to Christmas music while wrapping gifts – I love Christmas time so much, I even love wrapping gifts. And nothing gets me into the holiday spirit more than listening to Christmas music while doing some kind of Christmas-related activity. I’ve been loving the Pandora Christmas station lately in case you’re in need of some good holiday tunes.

7) See The Nutcracker Ballet – Seeing this ballet never fails to get me all nostalgic for my childhood because I was in The Nutcracker Ballet three times when I was a kid. Chris and I actually went and saw the ballet over the weekend in downtown Sacramento (picture above), and even though the ballet is literally the same every year down to the story, music, and costumes, I still love the magic of seeing such a famous Christmas story come to life on stage.

8) Drive around and look at Christmas lights – Christmas isn’t Christmas without a bunch of pretty light displays to look at. Chris and I live in an apartment complex, so there aren’t a ton of big displays to awe over here, but luckily, there are a lot of great neighborhood displays to look at in Sacramento. This one is my favorite.

9) Exchange Christmas tree ornaments with Chris – Every year since our first Christmas together, I’ve bought Chris a Christmas ornament to put in his stocking. I like to choose ornaments for him based on his interests. For example, he loved the cartoon Thundercats when he was a kid, so one year, I bought him a Lion-O ornament. Another year, I bought him a Star Wars ornament. He bought me an ornament last year, so this has officially become a tradition of ours. I can’t wait to see our Christmas tree 10 years from now and see all the ornaments we’ve collected between the two of us!

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

Debt Repayment Update: November

I didn’t do a debt repayment update for October because I didn’t make any progress that month worth mentioning. However, I made some good progress in November, and I have big financial plans for December, so I think I’m ready to start doing these updates again. Here’s how I did on my financial goals for October/November:

• Create a new savings account specifically for vacations or fun stuff: This was probably the easiest of the three goals I set for myself, yet it didn’t get done. Even though I think it’ll be good for me to have a second savings designated specifically for vacations/fun stuff, I guess I’m just not looking forward to feeling obligated to put EVEN MORE money into savings every month. I already put 10% of every paycheck into my emergency fund, and at least $400 toward debt repayment every month, so another financial obligation doesn’t sound very appealing.
• Focus on paying down my Mastercard: I actually made good progress on this. By the end of October, my MC balance got up to $1,300. I have since put almost $400 toward that card, bringing it down to $916.24. My goal for December is to get this damn card paid off once and for all, and keep it that way!
• Start job-searching again: Again, I made some progress. I applied for three jobs in the months of October and November, and had one phone interview.

And now for my current debt total as of December 1st. I put $743 toward my debt in November, bringing me down to…

• Credit Cards: $5,266.10
• Student Loans: $10,045.09 (Starting Balance: $13,750) *I can’t wait to get this balance under $10,000 soon!
• Auto Loan: $9,824.72 (Starting Balance: $13,780) *I’m excited to see this balance under $10,000!

Debt Total: $25,135.91

Ugh, I know. It’s gone up a lot since August. But the good news is it’s the holidays, which means business is picking up at my restaurant job, which means I’m going to make more money to put toward my debt in December. My main goal for December is to pay off the $900 balance on my Master Card in addition to making the minimum payments for my other debts. My secondary goal for this month is to get that second savings account opened and throw some money in there to get it started.

I’ve got high hopes for getting back on track with my debt repayment in December. I’ve been waiting for this month for a long time because of the extra income. I just hope I don’t get too carried away with buying Christmas gifts for myself others. The holidays are an expensive time, and while I’ve already made a small budget for Christmas spending, the hard part will be sticking to it and not getting sucked into the wrath that is holiday consumerism.

How’s your debt repayment going? What are your financial goals for December?

Check out my past debt repayment updates: January / February / March / April / May / June / July / August (Part 1) / August (Part 2) / September

Thanksgiving Weekend 2014

I had such a lovely Thanksgiving weekend! I feel like I was in such a good, happy mood at work today just because I felt so rested and relaxed from the past few days. Here’s a little recap:

Thursday/Thanksgiving

I started Thanksgiving Day out by running in the Run to Feed the Hungry race held in East Sacramento. This was my third year participating in the race with my little sisters, so you could say it’s become a Thanksgiving tradition of ours. This year, we all decided to do the 10K instead of the 5K which turned out to be a good choice because the 10K was WAY less crowded than the 5K. There are about 20,000 participants in this race every year and most of them walk the 5K, so participating in the 10K gave us the opportunity to avoid the crowds and have more space to actually run. I ended up PR-ing and finishing the race in 01:01:23; I finished my first 10K in an hour and 7 minutes, so I was pretty satisfied with my time!

After the race, I went home, showered, and prepared an appetizer to take to my in-laws’ Thanksgiving get-together. I made this Apple, Brie, and Honey Bruchetta appetizer and it turned out great! I thought it would be a great appetizer to share because the ingredients are seasonal and it’s not a heavy appetizer that will fill you up before dinner.

I only got to hang out at my in-laws’ for a couple hours before I had to go work at my restaurant job. Yes, that’s right, I had to work on Thanksgiving! It was OK, though, because I got to make good money while spending time with my work family. After a busy and tiring 8-hour-shift, Chris and I headed to Best Buy to take advantage of their Black Friday sales. I had been wanting a digital SLR camera for a while (to use for my blog, when we travel, and have kids), and Best Buy was offering an awesome sale on Canon Rebels, sooooo I decided to finally buy one. I got the camera, an extra lens, a memory card, and a camera bag all for $450; my original budget was $500 for the camera alone, so I’d say I got myself a steal. Merry Christmas to me!

Friday

Thanksgiving was actually quite hectic for me with the race, seeing family, and working an 8-hour shift, so Friday was all about relaxing for me. I slept in, walked to the mall with Chris to check out more Black Friday sales (didn’t end up buying anything), cleaned our apartment, shopped online for Christmas cards, and put up our Christmas decorations.

Saturday

I started Saturday out with a yoga workout because I knew I’d be eating a lot later in the day at my dad’s. We planned a belated Thanksgiving dinner for Saturday since I, and some other family members, had to work on Thanksgiving. It ended up being a huge success! There were about 30 people who showed up, and we spent the evening eating, socializing, and playing drinking games. It was a blast, and the perfect way to end the holiday weekend.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you do any Black Friday shopping or Christmas decorating over the weekend?

Six More Months ’till 30

Today marks exactly six months until I turn the big 3-0.

Surprisingly, I’m not TOO freaked out about the notion of only having six months left of my twenties. My husband and most of my friends are already in their thirties, so to be honest, I kind of feel left out!

Another reason why I’m not too sad about leaving my twenties is because I feel like I’ve accomplished the majority of things I wanted to do during this time: I graduated from college, I lived in another country for a year, I traveled a lot (both locally and internationally), I got married, and I even ran a half marathon. My twenties weren’t perfect; there were some low points in there and some things I would change. But for the most part, I’m happy with how I spent the majority of my twenties and everything I accomplished in this time.

My twenties aren’t over yet, though. I have six more months to accomplish a few more big goals of mine. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably already have a good idea of what these goals are, buuuuut let’s recap anyway:

Get a Big Kid Job

I’ve been looking for a Big Kid Job (full-time, salaried job with benefits) since I moved home from South Korea in March of 2012, but it’s been a lot harder than one would think. Not only is the job market extremely competitive right now thanks to the economy, but I changed my career path from teaching to non-profit work, so I had to start over from scratch when it came to gaining relevent work experience. Thanks to all the volunteer, intern, and temp work I’ve been doing for the last 2 1/2 years, I have a lot more non-profit experience now, but I have yet to find a Big Kid Job in the non-profit sector. I just had a phone interview for a non-profit BKJ yesterday, so hopefully I get an in-person interview, and then the job itself. It would be amazing to go from working two part-time jobs to one full-time job and FINALLY start my career.

Improve My Finances

At the beginning of 2014, I was unemployed with over $27,000 in debt and no money in my savings. I’m happy to say that, a year later, my financial situation is in better shape, but it’s still a work in progress: I still have debt to payoff and more money to save. I’d like to have all of my credit cards paid off and $3,000 in my savings account by the time I turn 30, which may or may not be doable depending on how disciplined I am with my spending in the next 6 months. (My spending habit is also a work in progress.)

Get In Shape

I’m about 20 pounds overweight, and I have been for the last 2-3 years. I have STRUGGLED to get back down to my normal, healthy weight on and off again since I gained the weight in the first place, but no matter how much I exercise and how much weight I lose, I always gain it back thanks to my less-than-stellar eating habits. However, I’ve recently gained new motivation for getting in shape: Chris and I decided we are going to “start trying” this time next year. You know, GET PREGNANT. While I’m excited about the idea of me getting pregnant and us starting a family, I’m also terrified of how my body will change during this process A.K.A all the weight I will gain! I can’t imagine already being 20 pounds overweight now, and then gaining another 20-40 pounds from growing a baby in my stomach. I don’t want to imagine it, and I most certainly don’t want this image to become a reality; therefore, I need to start getting serious about losing weight this next year. I know it might sound silly trying to lose weight before getting pregnant, but I don’t care. I need to start this process now before it gets even harder to lose weight post-labor. So bring on the yoga, running, and healthy eating because I have 20 pounds to lose, and I’d like to lose it by the time I turn 30.

I think I may have my work cut out for me. Three big life goals to achieve in 6 months! It won’t be the end of the world if I don’t accomplish these things by then, but it would make entering my thirties exponentially better if I do. I think the fact that Chris and I want to start trying in a year will really help me focus on these goals. We’ve always known we want to start a family someday, but now that we have a specific time frame in mind, I’m realizing I need to kick my ass into gear when it comes to starting my career, improving my finances, and getting healthy. My future depends on it!

What are some goals you want to accomplish before you turn 30? What was one of the biggest accomplishments of your twenties?