Third full year in Prague coming up already? How on earth did that happen? This year I have what I think are quite attainable and realistic goals. They are...
- continue to mail actual birthday cards. Start mailing them before recipients actual birthday.
- be a more organized blogger - no more sporadic postings or months of silence.
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- Donut and I will do our best to do dinner out once a week. This will not include pub food at Padrinos or Potrefina Husa, and so can just be in addition.
- Have more adventures! Travel more, try new things, go more places, all that good stuff.
- Do more. Get moving more, cross more things off my to-do lists, cook more, bake more, live more.
This will be the last year of my twenties (which means we should be in for a nice little panic session sometime around mid-October when I realize I'll be thirty and won't have accomplished x, y and z yet), and I'm going to make sure that I do it justice.
What are your plans for this year?
2013:
I was right, this jet lag is killing me. After a brief nap, I'm now wide awake at 3am. Rats.
So then, lets get to it. Here are my grand plans for 2013.
- mail actual birthday cards. Mapping out calendar reminders tomorrow. Ability of recipients to understand said birthday cards highly questionable. Ability of myself to even recognize that said cards are in fact meant for birthdays also dubious.
- put that sewing machine to good use. One new craft a month, documented.
- learn some more basic Czech. Be able to have a conversation with Donut's parents.
- find a new job. Stop being lazy and get on it. Preferably one with things like benefits and a salary that puts me above the poverty line.
- expand circle if friends here. Our group has shrunk considerably in the last six months, and it can be quite lonely with the Jersey three holding things down. Reminds me, must email dinner party group and tell them will host. Now, what typical American food can I make without a grill?
- be a better blogger. This is mainly an outlet for me to fill in family and friends about what's going on, but I enjoy it a lot and want to push myself to be more diligent about keeping up with it. So hold me accountable.
- be happy and healthy and blah blah blah.
Also, quick little recipe care of Donut's dad for fast and easy hot wine (let's face it, after Christmas it's the only thing winter is good for): pour yourself a mug of your favorite red (a nice Pinot noir, a scrumptious cab Sauv), add about one inch of cinnamon stick, two or three cloves, and two teaspoons of sugar. Zap it in the microwave for two minutes, slurp away, refill with more wine when needed. Each spice mix is good for at least two glasses, so glug away as you count down the days until spring.
2012:
I just finished reading The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin. Rubin methodically plots out her plans to be happy with the care and precision of a thoracic surgeon. I am not nearly as organized, nor do I have any gold start stickers lying around or the first idea about where to buy some, so instead, I'm putting them here. So all of you can help keep me accountable. Rubin does point out that there is a big difference between resolutions and goals - resolutions need to be something you are continually working at, such as staying healthy, while a goal is a solitary event, like run a 5K. So my resolutions list is really a mix of both. Here goes...
Feed the Body:
- Master the art of Czech "kitchen". Armed with my copy of The Best Czech Recipes, I'll be turning out Moravian Sparrow and Stuffed Kohlrabi in no time. As soon as I find out what a kohlrabi is. (Update: German turnip)
- Stop just randomly pinning every nom-worthy thing that I see and actually make something. Two new recipes a month (though given how my shopping trips have been going, this is likely to be much higher simply due to the creativity needed when you can't find what you're looking for).
- Eat like an adult. It is no longer acceptable to eat Ramen for 5 days straight... for breakfast. It's time to get reacquainted with vegetables other than mushrooms and potatoes (usually in fry or pancake form), or eat 17 cookies in one sitting (unless it's Christmas. Then all bets are off.). Am I swearing off grilled cheese and chips forever? No. (In fact, think I may go make a grilled cheese sandwich right now.) But it's definitely time to step up the game and hit a little closer to that food pyramid.
- Put those running shoes to use for something other than trotting over to the pizza place. Stick 'em on, lace 'em up, and get over to Stromovka for some
less polluted than city centerfresh air. - Get more sleep. Teaching means you have a whacky schedule. There are days when I start at 7am, and days when I won't start until 3pm. Usually, this means that on the days when I have a 7am class, I am a zombie and dead on my feet for the rest of the (lonnnnnng, lonnnnnnnnnnng) day. We all know I am not a morning person; I will never be a shining ray of sunshine at that ungodly hour. But I do need to start turning out the lights earlier rather than staying up til the weeeeeee hours of the morning reading A Place of Yes.
Feed the Mind:
- Put that Rosetta Stone to good use. Brush up on my French & Spanish, and start learning German (and some important Czech. Pivo is not cutting it anymore.). Get a language buddy (bonus points if it happens to be a tall, hot German). Take a class through school. Use it. Be global and fabulous.
- Go somewhere new and cultural each month. Easy enough in a city like Prague, smack dab in the middle of Europe. (Must try to save harder so can actually leave the city!) And remember my camera, so you can actually see what I'm talking about.
- Put those charcoals and paints to good use and get creative. This is a beautiful city. My photography does not do it justice, but maybe I can make something that does. (Please note that hours after reading this, I did something cultural [yay, knocking that resolution outta the park] and of course, forgot my camera)
- Read the classics - Pride & Prejudice. Emma. Sense & Sensibility. Jane Eyre. Anything else people recommend. AKA, all the books that are on my Kindle because I got to download them for free, but have been put on the backburner so that I could read things like Spying in High Heels (excellent, by the way). Also, watch the classics. Casablanca. Breakfast at Tiffany's. The Godfather movies. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Really, any movie where people look at me and go "Whaaaaaat? What's wrong with you? How have you not seen that movie?!?! It's, like, the greatest movie of all time." (Except for Sci-Fi. This is supposed to be enjoyable. I suffered through Avatar, and that was enough.)
The Social Network:
- Put myself out there. Get into one new social situation a month. Find out where the non-trolls are hiding. Report back to other Prague girls.
- Join a club - drawing, books, volunteer stuff, whatever. But do something that is interesting.
- Write more letters. Who doesn't love mail? I love mail. I can't seem to get mail, but it would be lovely if my mailman actually read the addresses on envelopes and I got some. So will write them instead. (Also, this gives me a perfectly valid excuse to go buy nice monogrammed stationary, which you all know I love.)
- Keep a journal. I try to be fairly open on here, but let's be honest. There are just some things that I don't want to share with all of you. But this is going to be a fantastic year, and I really want an honest collection of all the craziness that's about to ensue, for my eyes only.
This is a good start. Should keep me fairly busy. And because just listing them is not enough, I will probably spend the rest of the afternoon mapping out SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound - anyone who's ever had to do performance reviews is probably totally sick of hearing this, but I knew it'd come in handy sooner or later!) and channeling some inner OCDness. What about your resolutions?
Found this online. Please note this is not mine, though very close.
Must point out that if actually did kiss Ryan Gosling, all other resolutions would be null & void because I would have died.
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