Looking backward and forward...

Looking backward... 

I started this year by moving full speed ahead on the goal I had set in late 2013, which was to find a job teaching English in Saudi Arabia. I was motivated and focused on this single goal, which I had set in order to shake up some different aspects of my life.  In late March, I traveled to Portland, Oregon for the TESOL International Conference, and while I was there I was offered a fantastic position at an elite private university in Riyadh, and I started the process to make the move, but sometime in May I made the determination that I just wasn't going to be able to get all of the pieces of the puzzle to come together. I contacted the university who had made me a job offer and asked them to postpone my acceptance of the position. They agreed. To this day, as far as I know, they are still holding the position for me, but I still can't really go. I've got too many things tying me here. In any event, although I was devastated and am still dealing with some feelings of regret for not having been able to go, I am sure that if something like this is in the cards for me in this lifetime, it will happen eventually.

In the middle of the January, my husband and I also got two fantastic roommates who ended up staying with us through the end of March. Those roommates brought a great energy to the house, and their stay was mutually beneficial because they were able to stay with us rent-free, and we got some tile work and other handy-type services done in exchange. For example, we got our upstairs bathroom retiled, and we got the kitchen backsplash tiled. Then, when a pipe froze and burst in February, we were able to get the floor in the dining room (which has since been converted into a workout space) tiled as well.  Our roommates have been gone for 8 months now, and I still really miss them - not for the tile work and whatever, but they are just really awesome people and we had a really nice rhythm going here. I would love to finish the upstairs this year and get another roommate or two.

Looking back, March and April seemed to be relatively uneventful - maybe I was busy with work?

Sometime in mid- or late-May, one of my best friends came to Virginia and spent practically the whole summer at my house with her toddler boys. I was still working May and June, but we we able to spend a lot of quality time together. I really hope they can come again next year for the summer! They stayed through the beginning of August this time.

On July 1st, I started my very first 6-week summer vacation; I spent most of it in Norfolk but I did take a weeklong vacation in Cuba followed by a weeklong road trip up and down the east coast. It was the longest vacation I had had since graduating from high school in June of 2000, and it was much-needed. It was life-changing, actually. I took the opportunity to make some major changes in my life.

Over the next three months I start eating better, exercising, sleeping more, and just taking better care of myself in general. I lost over 50 pounds by mid-October. In a blog post a few days ago, I discuss my final push for 2014, because I sort of stalled on the forward progress I had been making with my weight loss for the last couple of months.

Looking forward... 

My intention for 2015 is to live mindfully.

My main goals for 2015 are to:
1. Improve my health by losing fat, gaining muscle, improving flexibility, and increasing my overall level of physical fitness.
2. Develop as a professional by pursuing a graduate certificate and sharpening my skills in my current career. 
3. Strengthen my interpersonal relationships with my family and cherished friends.

My objectives are to:
1. Go [mostly] vegan; follow an environmentally sustainable and cruelty-free diet.
2. Design a Happiness Project and set monthly intentions; January's goal is to wake up at 5am daily and become a morning person. 
3. Practice yoga and/or meditate daily. 
4. Embrace minimalism; eliminate all physical and emotional clutter from my life.
5. Establish and maintain time management and organizational strategies in all aspects of my life.


I'm looking forward to getting a fresh start tomorrow. It has been a year that started with excitement followed by disappointment and finally personal development and growth, and I predict that things will keep moving in a positive direction as we start another trip around the sun.

Setting My 2015 Intention and Goals

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. 

Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. 

There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” 

― Henry David Thoreau

For about the last 6 months, I have been working on regaining control of my life and taking better care of myself. I have made a lot of great strides with my mental and physical health, personal relationships, and career; but of course, as 2014 comes to a close I've had a bit of downtime to reflect on my personal accomplishments, and I've been brainstorming on ways to keep the momentum going in a positive direction in 2015.

I am always so hesitant to set resolutions, though I did have some for the new year in mind, but I came across this article tonight that suggests setting goals and intentions instead, and I really like the idea. The author discusses a few reasons why people often fail at keeping their resolutions, which made a lot of sense to me.

Here is the alternative approach:

1. Set your intention.

2. Summarize your intention for the year into one word.

3. Set personal, family, financial, and career goals for the year. Make them specific, write them down, and map out some objectives to reach those goals.

I've been thinking about the concept of setting intentions for a while now - maybe a couple of months. I think the one intention that I think I can apply to many aspects of my life, use as a strategy to reach my goals for the year, and easily summarize into one word is mindfulness.

Mindfulness is simply defined as present moment awareness. 

Almost every decision I make in a day could be done mindfully, and if I set my intention to do so, I can't see anything but good coming of it. To be more specific, I can make mindful decisions with things like how I eat, use my free time, interact with others, spend my money, etc., I am sure I will be able to feel more in control of my life than I do now.

Now that I have set my intention, I need to work on my goals and objectives for the year, and I will also connect mindfulness as a strategy for reaching those goals and objectives. I think it will be easy to map those out - I am thinking of devising a chart or spreadsheet. I might even bring in some strategies from the Happiness Project, which I read a few days ago. I know, this is so dorky... but I think it will work for me - and if it doesn't, I will try something else!

Tomorrow is the last day of the year - I have a lot of work to do! More to come...

I Am Not a Morning Person

I am unashamed to admit: I am not a morning person.

It can sometimes take me a good hour to get out of bed in the morning, and that is sometimes after hitting the snooze button 6 or 7 times. I know this isn't healthy, and it's all a matter of willpower - not to mention it drives my husband crazy - but this is the cold hard truth. Now, my nighttime routine is partly to blame for this, but I'll have to get to that later.

To the left is an image of my morning alarm(s), which I just captured from my phone a moment ago. None of the alarms are on right now because I am on vacation, but on a typical work day, 3-4 of these alarms will be set.

...I know. It's whatever.

I'll work backwards.


The 7:30am Alarm:
I am supposed to be at work at 8:00am, so Monday through Friday, I have a 7:30am alarm set. The meaning of this alarm is, in an ideal world, to signal the moment that I should be leaving my house to arrive at work 10 minutes early (or right on time if the traffic is backed up). What happens, in reality, is that this is the moment I realize that I *really* better start getting ready because it will take me 20-25 minutes to do so (doing the bare minimum!), and then I end up getting out the door sometime between 7:50 and 8:05. So, you guessed it; I am usually 5-20 minutes late to work depending on how badly I screwed up my morning.  Thankfully, my boss has been lenient with this, because he is often late as well, but one of my goals in the new year is to start arriving to work early either way since it truly is more professional, and I just should.

The 7:20am Alarm:
This, in my ideal world, is supposed to be the alarm that gives me a 10-minute warning for when I should be leaving the house. In reality, I have usually gotten out of bed at this point but am distractedly bumbling around the kitchen drinking coffee and/or checking my social media accounts.

The 6:20am Alarm:
This alarm is supposed to wake me up on a typical day. What happens, in reality, is that this alarm goes off and then I hit my snooze button for 32-48 minutes. Most days I am out of bed by 7, but sometimes I creep toward (and even past) the 7:20 alarm.

The 4:50am Alarm:
This is my "I think I'll get out of bed early and go for a walk and do yoga and meditate and make a nice breakfast"-alarm. In reality, I rarely get up at this time to start my day, but I am often woken up at this hour regardless because this is when my dog is ready to eat breakfast and go outside.

I mean, first of all, who needs this many alarms?! It's ridiculous! I should be able to just set and wake up to my alarm, get up, start my day, etc.

Nope! Not me! Things have to change.

Truly, I need a game plan toward becoming a morning person.

I've calculated the amount of time it would take for me to complete a full morning routine to include the following:

• feed dog, let him outside, give him his medicine
• take my medicine and drink a glass of warm lemon water
• go for a 30 minute walk or do some other kind of 30 minute workout
• do yoga for 15 minutes
• meditate for 5 minutes
• take a shower, get dressed, and put on makeup
• make breakfast and coffee
• drive to work

.... it's two and a half hours! Simple, RIGHT?! 

So, basically I need to be waking up NO LATER THAN 5:30AM if I want to do all these things. Really, I need to aim for 5:00am. ...and I really do need to be doing ALL of these things every morning. 

I need to do my workouts in the morning because there are too many outside factors in the evenings that can impact my schedule and cause me to eventually break an afternoon workout routine. Plus, I'd like to go to the yoga studio, swim, or bike in the evenings so I want to make sure I've gotten cardio and weight training done first thing in the morning. Not to mention I'd like to stay on top of making healthy meals at home, keeping the house clean, going to class, and doing fun things in the evenings. Also, I'd like to have a really sturdy evening routine and be in bed by 9:00pm most nights if I can. (#oldladystatus)

Where to go from here...?

Since my dog wakes up at 5:00am every day anyway, I should probably just work with that and start there. It's just that when he wakes me up and I pop my eyes open, all I can seem to do is run out to the kitchen, feed him, let him out, and run back to bed. Then, I have to wake up 5 minutes later to let him back inside. Once I fall back asleep I am dead to the world until my 6:20 alarm, and then I start my daily snooze button marathon. So, I need to figure out how to get myself to STAY UP at 5 when my dog gets me up. How can I solve this? 

I also need to work on my evening routine and my insomnia, which have a significant impact on my morning issues. 

So, I'm going to be working on this.  More to come...

My Initial Thoughts on the US-Cuba Policy Shift

Like many Americans, I was overjoyed upon hearing President Obama announce his plan to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. Although there has been some question (especially from the conservative end of the American political spectrum) around the negotiation strategy used by the President to strike a deal with the Cuban government to exchange prisoners and reopen embassies, lawmakers and citizens from both sides of the aisle have expressed sentiment that this was a necessary and overdue shift in US foreign policy. That said, upon reflecting on my experiences and observations having traveled to the country twice in the last year as the wife of a Cuban citizen, my excitement was quickly overpowered by strong feelings of concern and uncertainty for my family there with regard to how this policy change could impact their lives. 

If Congress decides to lift the embargo and the US begins trading with Cuba, it seems to me that the Cuban government will need to rework some aspects of the rhetoric of the Castro regime, which has historically placed blame for much of the country's economic hardships due to lack of resources (food, materials, technology, etc.) on the U.S. embargo. I have to wonder if the Cuban government will either shift the blame and maintain the status quo, or be forced to change the system. I hope it's the latter, and that there will be an increase in economic opportunity for the citizens. My concerns arise from the fact that the Castro regime has framed this as a victory for the revolution, hailed the released prisoners as national heroes, and emphasized in recent speeches that Cuba will remain communist and that the US should respect the Cuban system.  

So, what will this mean for the average Cuban moving forward? Cuba's system has some things that work really well - education and healthcare, for instance. But, the average Cuban's day-to-day life, really, no es fácil. 

One of the biggest sources of the problems I have observed for the Cubans is the combination of low salary, the inability to find ways to [legally] increase your income, and the two-currency economic system. Salaries are extremely low (equivalent to $10-20 monthly, on average), no matter what career a person has. It is possible to start a business now (if you have the money to invest, of course), but the government takes a huge cut (i.e. taxes). Many people sell items and services on the black market to get by. On top of that, everything in stores is sold in "chavitos" (Cuban Convertible Peso, CUC), but the people get paid in Cuban pesos (this is part of the two-sided economic system they have there). So, they have to convert their paychecks to another currency (for a fee) before they can make any purchases. However, items in stores are outrageously expensive even by America standards. I should write a separate blog post on "shopping in Cuba." Then, there is the food ration card issue. I think I'll write a separate blog post on that, too. 

In any event, only people who have money are either lucky to have a job where they can get extra money from tourists or if they have relatives who send remittances from abroad. Then, there is also this constant frustration of sometimes having the money, but not being able to get the things you need (or vice versa) - if you have money and things are available to buy at the same time, it is really your lucky day. Luckily, in the big cities they usually have things, but in the smaller cities and towns, it is very common to go to the store and repeatedly hear customers ask for things and then have the store workers respond with "No hay, mi amor" ("There isn't any, my love").

I am afraid if things open up and the economy doesn't change, things will actually get worse for the Cuban people before it gets better. Just as an example: Regarding travel, if there is a sudden influx  of American tourists, and the government doesn't prepare with improvements in the food supply and other necessary goods or improve the infrastructure, it's going to be a mess. It is already to hard to find things, what will happen when more of the products get funneled to the tourist area? There won't be anything available in stores and black market prices will probably skyrocket.

Also, selfishly, I am afraid the price of tickets to fly to Cuba are going to increase dramatically as well, and it will be harder for us to get down there and see the family. 

There are soooo many things. I have been holding out on blogging about Cuba for a year now. More to come... 

Resetting My Life: The Final 2014 Push

This photo was taken in late January, 2014. 

The beginning of this year was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I had decided toward the end of 2013 that I needed a major change in my life, so from January to early April, I had blinders on, working toward a specific goal, involving a pretty major career move to an amazing position I secured abroad. Unfortunately, in early summer, it became clear to me that I wouldn't be able to get the pieces to fall together, and I was forced to put all plans on hold until further notice.  In short, I was devastated. Even now, months later, I am still feeling the regret of not being able to follow through on that plan at this time in my life.

Once my plans fell through, I became motivated in a different way. I thought to myself that I could still do some things to change my life and get out of my rut, so I started moving in another direction. I threw all my energy into a new goal:  getting myself healthy.

On July 1, 2014, my first ever 6-week [paid] summer vacation began. Before it started, I had decided that I wanted to use that time to essentially reset everything in my life. I had been catching up on medical visits during the first half of the year, and I came to the realization through those appointments that I wasn't getting any younger - I know, how cliche. My health was really starting to suffer due to obesity, untreated hypothyroidism,  sleep deprivation, and a generally unhealthy lifestyle.

Over the first couple of months, I started the process by making better dietary choices. I started by visiting the nutritionist at my university who suggested using the USDA's "MyPlate" for portion control and macro balance, which I did for about two months. I eventually saw another nutritionist who calculated my macronutrient requirements, and that helped even more.

Then, in September, I began exercising almost daily at the ODU gym doing cardio and weight training and even set up a home gym. I also started to take up swimming 2-3 times per week.

I even took up yoga! 

By mid-October I had lost over 50 pounds. 

Around that time, though, I'm not sure what happened.  Slowly, but surely, I started to fall of the wagon; I guess I got busier with work, and I had some things going on in my personal life that were distracting me from my goals. 

In short, I didn't make any real progress for the month of November.

Thanksgiving Day, 2014.

Now it's mid-December, and honestly, I'm at a complete stand-still. Let me be honest: I haven't been to the gym in probably a month now, and I've gone back to some of my poor eating and sleeping habits again. Thankfully, I don't think I've gained too much of the weight back in the last couple of months or so, but I do feel that I've gained a bit, and I've definitely lost some of the strength and, more importantly, the discipline I had developed when I was really serious about the diet and exercise regime I had established for myself.

So, it's time to get serious again.

First, I would like to adopt a vegan diet.  

There are a number of different reasons why people choose to follow a vegan diet, but the main reasons I would like to do this are 1)  to force myself to restrict my food options to primarily whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and 2) to make more ethically and environmentally conscious dietary choices.  There are obvious health benefits to a vegan diet, but in thinking about all of the reasons why I really should make the personal choice to be vegan or at least vegetarian, I'm still experiencing inner turmoil with regard to how I can make this a sustainable lifestyle choice for me.

My current thought process:

1) I am an animal lover.  I abhor animal cruelty of any kind. If I eat meat or poultry (or even eggs or dairy products) that I know come from cruel farming practices, that makes me a hypocrite, right? Not to mention factory farms have a major negative impact on the environment - how can I call myself an environmentalist and support these practices by consuming products coming from this type of industry? Being a meat eater is inherently unethical and environmentally unsound. So, it's a simple choice right? 

2) But, what if I just eat meat etc. from small, local, sustainable farms? That is environmentally sustainable, and the animals are (typically) treated better. But what about the natural resource requirements (water, energy, space) required to raise livestock?  A plant-based diet is so much better for the environment even in this regard.  It just makes sense to be vegan/vegetarian.

3) But what about wild harvested meat? And fishing? It would be really hard for me to give up fishing. Also, I think hunting is a really important life skill, and I love game meat (read: venison, rabbit). Could I consume these things sparingly maybe? I'm really really torn on this point.

4) I've always wanted to raise chickens for eggs. Also, I could use the manure for fertilizer. I'm torn on this too.  

5) What about when I travel or am in the company of my international friends? I feel like I may find myself in social situations where I will need or want to make a lot of exceptions either for social or cultural reasons. Also, perhaps sometimes out of necessity.

So, here is what I am thinking:  follow the vegan diet MOST of the time, unless I am 1) traveling or in a "cultural" situation requiring me to eat non-vegan food, or 2) catching/hunting or raising the animals and animal products I will be consuming myself. So, I'm not really sure what to call this, but it's the best I can do for now. Maybe this can be like step 1 to veganism?

Second, I need to kick start my exercise routine. I've already started this process  by setting up a standing desk at work. I'd also like to re-start my daily walks. I also need to be weight training again - I'd like to do 4 times per week. I also want to do 4 days per week of cardio. Also, I really want to give jogging another try; I may need to start with walking, though, as my knees became a concern back in October.

Third, I want to focus on yoga and meditation practice. Yoga three times per week. Minimum.  Meditation daily.

Fourth, I will fully embrace minimalism and establish strong routines at home. I will continue Project: De-clutter until I no longer am in possession of unnecessary things in my home. I will also establish some really awesome schedules and systems for myself so I can stay on top of things at home - this has been hard for me in the past because of my work-life imbalances.

So, here's where I stand. For the last two weeks of this year, I'm going to make a final push. I'll work on forming these new habits and routines now so that I can ease right in to the new year.

I learned a lot about myself in 2014, and I'm really excited to see what 2015 brings!

2014 Midterm Election Guide for Hampton Roads

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4^TH IS ELECTION DAY.

CANDIDATES/ISSUES

• Check the list of candidates here
• http://elections.virginia.gov/index.php/casting-a-ballot/candidate-list/
• *Residents of all cities - Be sure to check the 2014 Official Candidates for the US Senate and House 
• *Residents of Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach – Be sure to check the 2014 Official Candidates for Local Offices

SENATE

• Ed Gillespie
• Education - http://edforsenate.com/eg2/education-reform/
• All issues - http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Ed_Gillespie.htm
• Robert Sarvis
• Education – not specified on his website that I could find                http://www.robertsarvis.com/issues)
• from OnTheIssues.org … http://www.ontheissues.org/Governor/Robert_Sarvis_Education.htm
• Mark Warner
• Education - http://markwarnerva.com/issue/education/
• All issues - http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Mark_Warner.htm

                For a non-partisan comparison of candidates from www.campuselect.org, click here.

HOUSE

• 1^st District (Newport News)
• Norm Mosher
• Glenda Gail Parker
• Rob Whittman
• 2^nd District (Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach)
• Suzanne Patrick
• Scott Rigell
• 3^rd District (Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth)
• Bobby Scott
• 4^th District (Chesapeake, Suffolk)
• Bo C. Brown
• Elliott G. Fauszs
• J. Randy Forbes

REFERENDA

• Virginia Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Armed Forces Amendment

       

FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE HERE:

• http://www.rockthevote.com/get-informed/elections/find-your-polling-place/
• You will also be able to view a ballot summary to include candidates and referenda on this page.

Don’t forget to get out and vote!
Please spread the word!

I Still Make Mix CDs - 1st Edition

I am stuck in the 90s.

I don't currently own the new-fangled technological hardware required to play music directly from my iPhone into my car speakers, so I still make mix CDs to play in my car from time to time.  Don't judge. And, hey, at least a have a 6-CD changer!

In any event, since recently discovering that Soundcloud is a virtual treasure trove of music new and old - not to mention free downloads offered for a fair amount of that music - I have been making mix CDs.  Although I'm sure that there is a fantastic selection of music in all genres, but I have found the vast quantity of electronic music posted on Soundcloud to be particularly awesome. Sure, there's a lot of junk on there, but I do run across and enjoy a lot of what I find.

So, here's my first edition of what I'm going to call I Still Make Mix CDs.  These are basically the top 5 tracks I seem to keep wanting to listen to for the past week or so (in no particular order). I've included the Soundcloud hastag for each track so that if you hear something you like, you can search for similar tunes.

Here were go... you'll notice I'm a bit into chill trap right now.

1. Seven Lions - Don't Leave Ft. Ellie Goulding (Slander Heaven Trap Edit)  [#HEAVEN TRAP]



2. IIRIS - Tigerhead (EBY Remix) [#Chill]


3. #dmsn - New Mecca [#Chill Trap]


4. Identical by $aturn [#Chill Trap]
(Note: $aturn is 15 years old... 15!!]


5. Ghost by Halsey (Daktyl Remix) [#Chill Trap]


If there is a track I should be adding to a future mix CD, please let me know in a comment below!