Layout:
Home > Heading Out Soon - Looking at 2013 Ahead to 14

Heading Out Soon - Looking at 2013 Ahead to 14

December 21st, 2013 at 05:01 pm

First semester is over. Yay! We barely managed to get the first issue of the school newspaper out yesterday.

Had two nice surprises yesterday - the mission gave all of us $50 Walmart gift cards! This is the first bonus I've received since I started working here - I had just figured they didn't do bonuses. The second nice surprise was that my assistant gave me a gift - totally wasn't expecting one. She gave me a beautiful necklace with a tiny turtle charm, a cross necklace/earring set (which I can't wear because my ears aren't pierces, but I can give it to my mom), and a bunch of Hershey's miniatures. I rarely ever wear jewelry - mainly because I forget I have any ... Smile so it's amusing whenever someone gives me a piece. (Amusing in the way of wondering if they'd noticed I 99.99% of the time don't wear any.)

My junior year of college I had a glamor shot photo done. NE saw it years ago when we first met, and the image stuck with him I guess. (probably because I look so different from normal everyday in it ... i.e. I was wearing a lot of makeup and my hair was gussied up.) This last summer we were talking about a lot of different things, and the picture / makeup thing came up. He told me that he'd really like to see me in makeup once in awhile.

So ... last night when I was at Walmart I decided to use some of the giftcard bonus to buy foundation, eye shadow and an eye liner. I already had lipstick and mascara. I was also thinking about buying blush, but just couldn't figure out a good color. Figuring out the color for the foundation was difficult enough - I ended up buying one of the more expensive brands that had one of those testing sheets that you put your hand under to see skin tone. I really don't remember the last time I bought foundation. I plan on putting it on before leaving to NE on Christmas Day - hopefully most of it will still be on by the time I get there. Big Grin A small Christmas gift to NE. Smile (I really probably need to go to somewhere like Macy's and get my colors figured out again - when I was in high-school a friend of mine who was really good with makeup helped me figure out colors - hence brownish eyeshadow/liner - but skin tone can change as you get older.)

I don't mind wearing makeup, especially on special occasions. I just don't usually think about it or want to take the time to do it. If I remember to put on lipstick and mascara that's a major miracle most of the time... Smile

--
I bought some semi-healthy snack type foods at Walmart that I can take with me for my trip. NE and I have different eating schedules - I can't go more than 4 or 5 awake hours without something, whereas he can go much longer. So, it'll make life much easier to just have some foods I can snack on until he's ready to actually eat a meal.

(Dietbet) I have two pounds to lose by January 5. I was really hoping to be at Round 2 goal weight *before* leaving on my trip so all I'd have to do was maintain. I've decided to not stress out about it and focus on maintaining. I still can meet Round 3's goal (8% total of starting weight - which would be about 5 lbs from where I am right now) by February 5. I'm not going to go overboard on eating, but I'm also not going to obsess (too much) about calories, etc. I will however try to get in as much activity as possible. Big Grin If I lose, great. If I maintain, fine. If I gain a little ... well, that's life. Smile

I am looking into gyms in NEs town - especially hoping to find some kind of trial membership pass or something. Too bad there aren't any Planet Fitness in NE - then I could just pay $10 and use it while I was there and cancel.

--
I've made a total of 14 soaps now (2 with the messed up bug oil drops.) I bought some more soap cases at Walmart last night, but forgot to get the washcloths or ribbon! Doh! When I get to ABQ this afternoon, I'll get those things to add. I'll take pictures of everything and will eventually do them in a blog post here. Smile Just not sure when. I'm going to give one of the soap/soap case to my co-worker who is looking in on Kari for me while I'm gone. I may also send one to my mom (along with the earrings) and maybe give one to my IT friend/coworker (she's having lung cancer surgery on Tuesday - please keep her in your prayers. Frown )

--------
Looking at 2013:

Financially speaking, this was not a banner year. I spent a lot of money and saved very little. I did not meet any of my financial goals - though I came close on two of them.

1. Pay off car loan - Nope. Have roughly $1000 left.
2. $5k in EF - Not even close. I didn't really even add anything to my EF this year. I have money in savings, but I haven't earmarked it for anything specific yet because I just don't know how much all my traveling and eventual move is going to cost. So, in effect, the money that might have gone to the EF is in my liquid savings.

I'm not really sure how much I added to that this year, because it keeps getting spent. Right now I have approximately $3k in liquid savings.

3. $3k to ROTH - I put $2400 in this year. When I do my taxes I'll see if squeezing another $600 will make that much of a difference in taxes or not. If not, then I'm not going to worry about it.

4. $1k to FIRE fund - Nope. Zilch.

Even though I didn't meet my financial goals, my networth did increase substantially. It actually broke the 6 figure mark.

Personally:
2013 was a banner year for me. I managed to get the courage/gumption/nerve whathaveyou up to jump in and see if a real relationship was possible with NE. It was. Big Grin

This year I have also managed to actually stop my soda habit. Other than a few sips of NEs soda, I haven't had any since mid-September. Stopping my soda habit has been a yearly goal for a long time, but other than a few times, I've never managed to stick with it very long.

Also, in October a switch seemed to go off that has finally made it possible for me to lose weight. I still have slip-ups (like .. my birthday and yesterday with the Hershey's miniatures ...)but more often than not, I'm doing pretty well.

Health (other than weight):
This has not been a good health year for me at all. I really suspect that I had mono starting sometime in late February/early March and have pretty much been recovering since then. I am however starting to have more good energy level/ feeling level days than low energy/yuck feeling days, so hopefully I'm getting close to the end of it.

----
2014 - Looking ahead

Financial:

Goals for first six-seven months - will have to re-access after moving at end of May.

1. Pay off car loan (by March)
2. Increase monthly ROTH contribution to $300 starting in April
3. In April and May - $200 to Moving Fund, as well as any tax return money
4. Move to NE at the end of May Smile
5. Find a new job in NE (preferably one with benefits and better pay)
6. Find an inexpensive and relatively safe place to live in NE.

Personal:
1. Continue healthier lifestyle
2. Continue to grow in relationship with NE
3. After moving to NE, find a church family that fits me and get active in it

4 Responses to “Heading Out Soon - Looking at 2013 Ahead to 14”

  1. SicilyYoder Says:
    1387658461

    Congrats on your budding relationship. I, too, have very few pieces of jewelry and seldom wear make-up. The ladies at the Clinique counter will coordinate colors for you, and it is free. I like Clinique because it is hypoallergenic. I am planning on getting my colors done in the spring for my book tours.

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    1387660784

    Knowing that you have spent money to travel and visit NE, I think it makes sense that you haven't increased your savings or paid of the car. That is what happened when my husband was on the east coast for 9 months. It just always made sense to have time with him and spend money on an airline ticket, then worry about the money.

    Have a super time with your travels and visits!

  3. mamasita Says:
    1387677905

    Sounds like your health is starting to increase for 2014, hopefully whatever it was that you had is leaving.

    Enjoy your time with NE. Good relationships are worth their weight in gold!

  4. Looking Forward Says:
    1387782005

    Enjoy your trip!
    You can have your *whole* face "made-up" at most make-up counters in Macys for free (of course they *want* you to buy some of the stuff they used to make you beautiful).

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]