Last of 2010 goals

Okay okay...I didn't do as well as I should have this month BUT that's what new years are for, right? New beginnings.  See below for the tally of my December goals.


~Home
*Decorate for the holidays (DONE! It was fun to decorate our first home together-see pictures for details!)

(This is part of our display-our little candles and snow globe, sitting snow man, and poinsettia)

(My little village! This is Der's favorite part-he got me the big tree last year to complete it! It's so sweet)

(This is the tree after it was decorated)

(Our stockings! The Snowman is Der, the Santa is mine, and the pup is [naturally] Tucker's. They were all stuffed to the brim this year! See this blog for details)

(Our tree with all of the gifts [and this is only 1 side of it]! We were fortunate enough to have almost everyone's stuff done by the season this year! Our budget was still small but time escaped me before I could get: Shelley, Andrew, Dylan, and finish Tressa's SO they will be getting theirs after the New Year.)

(Our tree Christmas evening after all [but my in-laws] gifts had been dispersed & opened.)

(A surprise to say the least! I got this amazing ornament from my awesome Aunt Susan-it says "The Raleys" and "Our First Christmas" on it with 2 little snowmen-1 being Der and 1 being me.  She even added a little pup with the name Tucker on it for us! My eyes swelled with tears when we got this in the mail-it was so sweet, unexpected, and personal. Thank you Aunt Susan!)

*Put up laundry when it's done (I hate putting up laundry) (FAIL-I've got a basket from 2 weeks ago still sitting in the hall with clean clothes....oops, lol!)
*Sand and prime table in bedroom (FAIL-I honestly just didn't feel like it any this week [I've been off] BUT in my defense I've been sick with sinus and cold crap for over a week so that's contributed...maybe on Sunday?)

~Health
*Clock at least 8 consecutive miles on the elliptical or treadmill (FAIL-I hardly went to the gym at all this month! And I feel like crap (both physically and due to guilt) BUT when I did go I was doing well on the treadmill with my new knee wrap! YAY!)
*Drink more water (Meh-I'll count this as a FAIL because I've been drinking more tea than water)
*Get knee brace and wear it when running (this should help me increase my endurance on the treadmill/concrete vs using the elliptical) (DONE! Yahoo!)
*Even during the break from work (and due to Christmas) work out in SOME way at least 3 days a week (this will be a tough one!) (FAIL-see health #1 for details. I was doing fine with the first few weeks of December actually-when I didn't go to the gym I did a workout video from home but then...I slacked and then got sick so no gym for me.)
*Walk Tucker every Sunday unless it's raining all day....(Okay: I was doing so good with this except this past Sunday because I forgot it was Sunday! Once I remembered it was like 10 at night so I did walk him first thing Monday morning...so I'm counting this still as a DONE.)
*Drink less coffee-less meaning no more than 4 times per week (this is less considering I drink it almost every day!) (DONE! I've felt better but it's been hard since it was so cold this month.  I substituted hot tea, water, and every once in a while hot cocoa and it worked fine! I may pull this one to January just because I can!)

~Fun
*Go Christmas shopping with Mom and Jen (Yeeee!! This has become a tradition and it's SO much fun!) (DONE! We always have such a great time! They come up here early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, we go to the mall, shop, then go to Steak N' Shake for lunch/early dinner, shop some more, then they head back home-a tradition I l.o.v.e. and want to continue! Here's a pic of me and my sister at Steak N' Shake):

*Finish shopping and wrap presents (well duh!) (DONE! It was a ton of fun this year!)
*Mail out holiday cards by December 17th (DONE! I hope some of you who read this received yours! See this blog if you didn't get to see it or didn't receive one)
*Celebrate early Christmas with Kelly, Wes, Tonya, and the boys (DONE! So much fun-I got 2 adorable headbands and some earrings from Kelly & Wes,and Tonya got me some comfy Christmas socks and an Elvis jukebox Salt and pepper shaker set! I collect salt and pepper shakers so it was very nice and so sweet to get these-now adding to my collection! We all had a nice time hanging out and just relaxing-something we all seemed to have needed)
*Buy a New Years dress (hopefully in a smaller size!) (FAIL-I honestly kind of forgot but after reading The Glamourist blog about them I wish I remembered sooner! Booooo...maybe next year? Or maybe in a few weeks I'll go get a new dress and Der can take me on a lovely date so I can wear it...yes-sounds good!)
*Celebrate Christmas with family (DONE! I'm waiting on my sister to upload the pictures so I can share.)
*Celebrate the New Year with friends (DONE! We're celebrating tonight and after this blog I need to get to cleaning!)
*Celebrate Elisa's Bday (DONE! It was fun and laid back-just like Elisa!)
*Celebrate Mom's Bday (DONE sorta...Mom was in Chatt when her birthday rolled around but when we came in for Christmas we gave her her gift (blueberry coffee) and hung out with her as late celebration + we both called her on her actual day to sing and tell her we love her)

~Books
*Finish "Picture of Dorian Gray" (DONE! Outside of a few monotonous chapters, it was a good book and I'm glad I read it.)
***POTENTIALLY start some reading on Graduate school books IF I get in...*** (This is neither a FAIL or DONE because: 1) I did get accepted into Graduate School for an MA in Sociology 2) I was accepted into the GA program [SUPER EXCITING NEWS]!! 3)I have yet to buy the books needed for my 2 classes (very expensive) but I plan on getting them once the semester starts and pouring over them my first weekend off from class.)
*Start "Hitchhikers Guide" Series (DONE! I am on Chapter 9 of "Hitchhikers" and am liking it thus far.)



And the tally is:               DONE=   14           FAIL=      6                 NEITHER=1


Wow! I thought I did much worse! But to be fair: the things I did fail are pretty important (health wise) so I need to step up my game on them come 2011. Yahoo-great job ME for December!


I'll have a few new things to add once 2011 rolls around-check back tomorrow to see!


Kisses.