2012 Resolutions

Happy New Year everybody! A new year always means a new beginning, and I feel like 2012 is going to be a great year to just do shit over.

Don't get me wrong, 2011 was bomb. I mean, I graduated from college (Magna Cum Laude, bitches) and got a full-time job in my field of study (tune in to NWCN to see other people read my handy work). Not very many people could say that.

There was other cool stuff I did this past year, but graduating and finding a job were pretty much up there. I guess going to Coachella would round out the top three. Somehow I do not see 2010 me going to Palm Springs for three days to just hang out and listen to a bunch of bands I've never heard of. Now I am hooked on music festivals.

Anywho, no new year can't start without a flaming bag of Resolutions. So without further ado, here is what I resolve to do in the coming year. Note: these are in no particular order. Plus I'm sure I forgot something.

I resolve to:

...go to Barcelona and London. Does it count as a Resolution if you know it's going to happen? Whatever, I don't care. I just wanted another excuse to say that I'm going to Barcelona and London in September. Suck on that!

...stick to my workout schedules. Since I started eating right and exercising more in September, I have never felt better. For the most part, I've really stuck to the workout schedules that I've set out for myself.

Take the Runner's World Magazine Holiday Running Streak. I was supposed to run at least a mile everyday between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Well, it's the day before New Year's and I ran at least a mile every day except for Christmas (and that's only because I felt like I had to puke). Not too shabby. Thanks to that, I can run a 5k in less than a half an hour. I don't think August 2011 Ally would have ever imagined that.

I know that there will be some days that I just won't be able to or won't feel like working out. And that's okay. But as long as I stick to most of my workouts, I'll be happy.

Now I want to do more running. More distance, more speed, and more racing. Which brings me to my next Resolutions...

...run five 5ks. I read a lot of blogs where the writers are always talking about how great road races are. Now, I want to do road races. Since I can already run 3.1 miles with no problems, I want to at least get a cool t-shirt at the end.

I'm sure this one will be easy to do since there are like, a ka-gillion 5k races in Seattle.

...run a sun-1:00 10k. This is the race that I'm starting my training for this week. I know a 10k is not a super challenging distance, but for a girl that until quite recently couldn't run 3 miles without dying, 10k seems pretty effing far.

Plus I figured that if I wanted to start training for races, I'd start out small. I'm not about to start running for a marathon right out of the gate. I'd for sure get burned out and never want to run again. I'm starting to like running (shocking, I know)...I don't want to scare it away.

...run a half marathon. I know I haven't run my 10k yet, but I'm pretty sure that after I tackle that distance, I could totally try for a half-marathon. I'm not sure what kind of time I want to beat...I just want to finish one. Now my only question is whether I can do the Seattle Rock n Roll half in June (just two months after my 10k), or wait until the other Seattle half in November (when the weather is shitty). I'm sure I'll figure it out after I do the 10k.

...clean my room every weekend. This one may be the most important. Ever since I came home, my room has been an effing sty. All my clothes are piled in my papa-son chair and my bed is rarely made (but that's mainly because the comforter is all effed up and all the fluff is at the bottom). Well, it will be like that no more.

Every weekend, I will be sure to tidy up my room so that I don't run the risk of tripping on shoes or a scarf as I get out of bed in the morning.

...connect with friends more. I am really lame at keeping in touch with people. Mainly because I'm lazy or I just forget about them. Out of sight, out of mind. Well, in 2012 I want to hang out more with friends I have in Seattle, and skype more with college friends that live elsewhere.

I'm always complaining that I never do anything. Maybe that's because I never call them to see if they want to get together. I don't want to do that anymore.

...save money better. Now that I have a real-life paying job, I somehow think that's okay to start spending more money than I need to. In 2012, I want to do a better job of budgeting my paycheck and only buy things that I really need.

This pretty much means I should finally set up direct deposit of B of A. Oops.

...eat healthier. This might seem really obvious and cliche, but it needs to be said. I've been eating pretty healthy the last part of 2011, but there definite room for improvement. Here's a more detailed list:

• more lean protein - I really don't get enough chicken, fish, yogurt and other lean protein-y things in my diet. That needs to change if I plan to start running more.
  
• more veggies - By "more" I mean variety. Broccoli and Brussels sprouts are all well and good, but there are so many vegetables out there and all have different nutritional benefits. They need to be in my mouth.
• more whole grains - This doesn't mean I get free-reign to eat a ton of bread, pasta and other useless carbs. I will be eating all of those things, but they have to be the right kind. Whole grains have a bunch of different health benefits, or so I've read. I need more whole grains.
  
• drink more water - Anyone who has seen me over the last few month has also seen a grungy SmartWater bottle attached to my hip (not literally but you get it). I drink a lot of water during the day -- it's my beverage of choice -- but I need to drink more. Experts say you have to drink, like, half your body weight in ounces or something like that. In 2012, I'll try to drink at least 3 SmartWater bottles worth a day.
  
• indulge in moderation - I don't want to be one of those health nuts that never have sweets or anything fatty. I love sweets and fat too much to give them up. I'll just eat them sparingly and in moderation. I can't go through life not having cheesecake.
  

...be friendlier. This is in regards to mild acquaintances or people I meet on the street. Apparently I give off a pissed off vibe when I'm around people I don't really know. Sorry about it, nothing personal. That's just how my face is.

Anywho, I will try to appear more friendly when walking by strangers.

...try not to call my mom every time I have a freak out. While I'm sure my mom loves hearing from me during the day, she's probably not awesome with being my complaints sounding board. Sorry about that. From now on I'll try to figure out problems on my own...or at the very least call someone else and bitch at them.

...blog more. I was on such a roll a few months ago. Then the full-time promotion happened and my schedule made it so blogging was low on the totem pole when I got home...under eating and laying on the couch watching taped Jeopardy! I'll get back to blogging every day, even if some of the blogs don't have pictures in them. I know that's really annoying, but it has to happen. Posting pictures on here is really tasking and bugs me.

...not die in a Mayan-predicted, fiery apocalypse. I'm not really sure how to prevent this from happening, if it is indeed destined to happen. This is just something I really don't want happening to me. F*ck you, Mayans.

That pretty much sums up my goals for 2012. They seem pretty do-able, right? Totally! Anything is do-able if you set your mind to it and all that shit.

Again, have a safe and wonderful new year! I can't wait to go to the gym tomorrow and see all the people that promised to lose weight. That place is going to be packed!

Post-Christmas Haze

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I know I certainly did.

I didn't do much blogging, mainly because I was busy spending time with my family instead of constantly being on my computer.

That... and the fact that I was with the only people that actually read my blog. Why write about my experiences when they're there experiencing them with me? That's just redundant.

Long story short about my Christmas morning: I worked from 6am to 2pm all by myself (yep...all alone) writing stories to put on our channel's ticker. It was great (and by great I mean boring) fun. Not a whole lot of news happened for the most part. The biggest thing that happened was a wind storm that picked up around noon that caused some power outages.

Then it was time to go home and join in on the Xmas festivities.

I have to say that I made out like a bandit this Christmas. I got a new pair of Lululemon running pants (for when I start my 10k training) and lots of cool Tupperware items for my packed meals I take to work. Spoiler alert: I used some of them in my lunch and dinner today.

But the present that really sent my Christmas over the top was my new iPhone 4S. Yep, you read that write. My parents got me the new iPhone, with Siri and everything.

I was planning on getting the phone myself using some gift cards and kitty-sitting money, but I was totally shocked when I opened my last present and found the Apple iPhone box. My mom was really clever and put it in a super large box, and even weighed it down with some magazines. She's so sneaky.

The presents I gave out this year were also a big hit. My parents totally love the Keurig coffeemaker I got them. In addition to that, I got them both new coffee mugs to drink their fancy coffee in. My dad got a Dr. Who-themed mug with a TARDIS that disappears when it's touched by hot water (for those who don't know, a TARDIS is a time-and-space-traveling phone booth that's bigger on the inside). For my mom, I got her a customized mug that has a picture of Lionel Messi winking on it.

I'm so effing clever.

I got my grandma some new place mats and napkins. Now she doesn't have to use paper napkins and kill a million trees when she's eating.

After opening the presents, we sat around waiting for our ham to cook and watching Sunday Night Football. Good times.

There was one down-note about my Christmas. After almost 30 days of running everyday, I just could not run on Sunday. I don't know why, but my stomach felt like crap. So much so, that I couldn't even bare the thought of getting on the treadmill for a mile.

I felt kind of bummed that I broke my streak, but I just wasn't feeling well. But at least it made my run on the 26th that much better.

I didn't have to work the day after Christmas, so I had a pretty lazy day. I didn't get to the gym until almost one, but I ran a good two miles with no side aches.

I had to get an Apple Care warranty for my new phone, which meant that I had to go to the Apple store at Bellevue Square to buy it. Oh. Em. Gee. That place was a fricking mad house. Thank Tim Tebow I made a reservation, otherwise I would have been there a long time.

I also got a snazzy new cover to go with my phone. I'd show you a picture, but I'm afraid to peel it off my phone.

After the Apple Store madness, we went to Nordstrom's to see what kind of after-Christmas deals they had going on. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but I ended up getting two shirts and a sweater, all of which I purchased with Christmas and kitty-sitting money.

I then wanted to stop buy a specialty running shop to see what they had in the way of watches and water receptacles for longer runs.

I wanted to get a watch that kept track of how far I was running and how fast I was running. Since I'm starting my 10k training next week, I wanted something that told me my per-mile pace, since I have to stick to the paces the training program assigned me.

The store clerk helped me find a watch that did all those things. Well, it didn't take a lot of searching since it was the last watch they had in the store since all the other ones were bought for Christmas. Duh.

The down-side was that the watch cost $200. That seems a little steep to me, but I also remembered that I didn't have to buy a $200 iPhone in addition to the watch. So I considered myself still in the black.

I also got a belt that holds two little water bottles and has a place to put my phone and keys. Now I won't have to hold on to a water bottle when I got out for my 13 miles runs. That would have been lame. Merry Christmas to me!

After boosting the Boxing Day economy, we went back to the house to eat more Cougar Gold cheese and crackers and watch Monday Night Football. Hot damn that cheese is good. I hate Wazzu, but they really do make the best cheese.

We did some more lounging around and eating -- you know, things everyone does on the holidays. We got to see Drew Brees set the new single-season passing yards record, which was cool. I like Drew Brees. He's a classy guy. But I'm sure it keeps him up at night that he doesn't have a Rose Bowl win thanks to Marcus Tuiasosopo and the UW Huskies.

Yeah...I'm sure he doesn't care that much.

Fast forward to today, when I have to go back to my normal work schedule. Boo.

I got up early enough to see my grandma before my mom took her to the airport. Then I made my lunch and dinner for today, followed by some gym time.

I wasn't planning on running three miles, but I did, because I felt that awesome. And the best part was I didn't have any side aches at all! Win! That makes me even more excited to start my training next week.

After the gym I went back home to find my dad watching some English Premier League -- Swansea vs. QPR. I said he must have been really desperate to watch soccer since I was watching perhaps the two worst teams in the EPL. I think he misses Barcelona games more than I do.

I got to work and it was all pretty ho-hum. A lot of people still aren't in thanks to the holiday. I'm not sure if I like a quiet newsroom. It kind of freaks me out.

For lunch I did have turkey and hummus on a slice of high-fiber bread along with some mango, blueberries and raspberries.

More writing, writing, and writing. I'm kind of looking forward to the return of 15-45s, since it will give me more to do during the work day.

While I was writing for the 6pm show, I had some apple slices with peanut butter. Look at the cool container it's in. It has a place for dips! Yep...I got that for Christmas.

After being totally bored the first two hours of work, the next six seem to fly by. Probably because I had a lot of stories to write.

After the 6pm show aired and I wrote a few stories for the overnight, I had some way left over Trader Joe's cheese ravioli. Still delicious. But I was totally hungry immediately following.

Now it's time to head home. But first I have to stop by the store and buy some essentials for the two-day detox I'm starting tomorrow. I definitely need it after all the holiday goodies I've eaten over the last week.