This year...

In 2009 I chose two words that I wanted to live my year by: FUN and FREEDOM. You can read all about that in this entry from January 1, 2009. 


For my FUN, I basically wanted to get out of my cozy "I just like being at home" stage that had developed upon graduating college. All I wanted to do after a day at work was just go home, set up on the couch with my laptop and a movie or a good book, maybe have friends over, but for the most part I was getting to be quite the party pooper if it involved actually going out and doing things that didn't involve the same types of things at another friend's house. 


So with FUN, I decided I would take up any offers to go out, barring any real excuse like sickness or other plans or genuine work that needed to be done at home. The very first day Brittany made me go to Julian with her, Ryan, and Aaron for a picture trip. I'm glad I was along for the ride; we got great pictures and spent a fun day trip together. Later in February, Ryan and Chris wanted me to come along on a museum/Mt. Soledad/Point Loma picture trip, which I really didn't feel like doing that day. But I did it anyway. And of course I had FUN. I've had fun all year. And spent like no time at home. :)


My other word, FREEDOM, referred to a few different things. It mostly dealt with freedom from things that weren't good in my life, i.e., my soda addiction, sleeping in super late all the time and wasting my days, and this pesky anxiety that I've carried with me for a number of years. And while I can't honestly say I've beaten my coke addiction, my job at the school has definitely helped me reverse my sleeping in, and a number of factors this year has led me to gain a pretty good step up on my anxiety. So I'm going to call FREEDOM a success, too.


My 2009 words did me some good, so I wanted to keep the whole 'word' thing going. And again I couldn't come up with just one word to sum up what I want to concentrate on this year, so two more are in order: HEALTH and FAITH. 


For HEALTH: this includes eating better, which I've already gotten much better at over the last year, but would like to keep improving on with new cooking ideas. The cookbooks I got for Christmas will definitely help in this area. It also includes keeping fit, something I haven't been keeping tabs on in awhile. I'm at a point in life where I don't have a set thing (soccer, ultimate frisbee, etc.) to keep me exercising regularly, so Chris and I have begun working out to the P90X program, and just recently started something called Insanity as well. It's definitely been helping, and it feels good to know that I'm getting a good workout each week. 


My second word is FAITH. Not that I don't have it, but I want to make mine stronger this year. Especially as it looks like the OSF is going to be a permanent fixture in my life, I want to work on a faith that involves him. He's already suggested we start going through devotions and spiritual books together, and tonight he ordered us Donald Miller's new book, A Million Miles in a Hundred Years. I'm excited to learn and grow alongside him as we begin these books.


I also want to get back into the habit of reading my Bible daily. For years it was something I did, ingrained in me from my days in Awana and summers spent at a camp where waking up early for devos was not just suggested, but mandatory. To do this, I plan to plant a few Bibles in the places I spend the most time, so I always have the ability to do my daily reading.


I'm always excited for the newness each January brings. Last year was brilliant, and I have no doubt this year will set the bar even higher. :)


Along with my two new word-goals, it looks like I'll be starting another new project this year: getting credentialed to teach. A few of the teachers at the charter school have been encouraging me to look into the program so they can recommend me for a teaching position at our school (which I would love- our school is rad). So really long story short, I've been researching credential programs with a joint master's program (recommended to me by everyone at school since it's less classwork over all and you start at a higher pay tier faster), and I'm pretty excited about the online program National University offers. I'm stoked that you don't actually have to go to class. We went to lunch with Chris and Mel Holz today and basically grilled Holz about his experience credentialing, and it sounds pretty reasonable. I may even be able to do my "student teaching" at the charter school, which would work out so unbelievably perfectly.


It's still in talks for now, but if all looks good after I talk to a National rep later next week, it'll probably be happening. Fortunately for me, they do one-a-month classes, instead of the semester program, so you can start at any time. I think I'll be going for the single-subject math credential, although I looked at some of the previous CSET test questions tonight, and they're pretty ridiculously hard. As in, I don't think I've even studied that type of math before. I can always fall back on English for now (it looked a lot more manageable), and then study up for the math portion later on, of course. 


So many options...