Goal #70 - Book #1 - The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything by Melissa Kirsch

The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything by Melissa Kirsch was the book I decided to read in January as part of my 12 books in 1 year goal. It was given to me as a gift for Christmas by my friend Juli.

I enjoyed the book because it divided "life for a 20 something" into categories such as relationships, health, family, friendships, fashion, religion etc. Kirsch was funny yet informative when she wrote. I thought it was going to be mostly funny anecdotes without any actual information, but it turns out I got a lot out of the book, while also laughing.

Some of the topics particularly interesting to me were the ones regarding friendship, money, love and home.

The friend chapter talked about how to differentiate your different friends and realize that friends you were once close with, may for whatever reason, not fit into your life anymore. Admitting that people grow and mature out of their high school mind frames was also a key topic I liked. You have tiers of friends, whether consciously or subconsciously and you need to know where these people fit and tend to them accordingly so as to not drop the ball on a friendship that is very important to you.

The home chapter had tips and tricks for around the house things, such as super easy recipes and quick fixes for things in the home. It acknowledged that 20+ year olds do not have a lot of money and therefore have to be creative.

The money chapter was a big one for me because I have none and it is a constant source of stress for me. It talked about how to start an IRA, which is something I'm desperately trying to do. It also broke down in very basic steps, how to buy a house, another endeavour I would like to accomplish. It talked about budgeting which I am always working towards, yet have not mastered yet.

The love chapter was nothing new or spectacular, yet it's always refreshing to read empowering "Love isn't everything, you don't HAVE to have a boyfriend, keep your standards high" type of chapters. And that is exactly what it was. And I loved it.

Overall, it was a great book and I'm glad it was the first one I chose to read at the start of this new year. I'm already half way through my 2nd/February book and I also am loving it.

Live. Laugh. Love.

Goal #70 - Read 12 books in 1 year

Now most people would look at this goal and say big deal, 12 books in 365 days is nothing. However, for the average, busy, multi job having American, it just isn't possible. It's a shame too because I really do like to read. Before I hit high school and college, I read all the time. Then when I was forced to read books I wasn't interested in, I couldn't stand reading. Now that I am past that whole school part of my life, I am starting to remember that I once enjoyed it. Reading makes you more educated and interesting. It's also a nice break from my damn DVR.

So I decided to coincide this goal with the start of the new year. 2010 will be the year that I read 12 books. Now, I don't have to stop at 12 books if I happen to zip through them, but I wanted to keep the goal realistic for me so as to not have any avoidance issues or feelings that it was a year long homework assignment. Lucky for me that my friend Juli gave me the perfect book for Christmas to start the list off.

Book #1 - The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything by Melissa Kirsch

Once I finish the book, I will give a full book report of sorts. But I can tell you this. So far, I'm really enjoying the book because it has all sorts of information in it, most of which I've been asking myself about lately since I've hit this new "adult" phase. Things like,

How do I open a Roth IRA? or
What vitamins should I be taking to be my best? or
What's the first step in buying a house? or
How do I stop being friends with people from my past that I'm only friends with because of our past?

All very important info put forth in an entertaining fashion.

Live. Laugh. Love.

State visit progress update

Goal #60 is Visit all 50 states. I'm essentially adding onto the last post regarding this exact subject because since 10/3/09, I've been to 2 more states. Go me! One was really awesome and the other was not. I'll leave you to decide which was which. :) Wouldn't want to offend anyone from either state.

1. California - Obviously I live here
2. Oregon - most recently went for work
3. Nevada - Las Vegas
4. Texas - visiting family
5. Maryland - senior trip
6. Florida - went for work
7. Arizona - went for work
8. New Mexico - went for work
9. Georgia - went for work
10. New Jersey - went for work
11. New York - went to visit friends

As of 1/4/10

It turns out I'm a terrible blogger...

Well, my last post was in October. Honestly, not only was I busy with life, but I also didn't have anything to report as far as my goals were concerned. That does make me a bit sad, but it's the reality of life. However, with the new year upon us, I have a renewed sense of purpose and I am more than ready to continue my trek into my life goals.

This may seem weird, but within the last few weeks, I've felt a change come over me. I know that sounds all existential and such, but I really have. Sometimes I forget that I am an adult and still think of myself as a teenager, even though I have more "adult" responsibilities than most of my friends and people my age. That being said, I've recently noticed that I have been considering myself an adult almost 100% of the time.

As I went back and read that last paragraph, I realized how dumb is sounded, but it must stay because I write exactly the way I think and that's what I think of myself. Go me.

In my new "adult" mind frame, I've been thinking more about my goals and what I want to do with my life. Perhaps that has to do more with the fact that I just recently celebrated my 24th birthday and will soon officially be out of my early 20's. And on top of that, calling myself a recent grad is definitely a no no from now on.

I want everything on my list and tons more, so I just need to go for it. I'm not getting any younger! If I've learned anything in the last 24 years, it's that if you want something, go after it. No one's going to hand it to you.Who's with me???

Live. Laugh. Love.

State visit progress thus far

Goal #60 is Visit all 50 states. I think it's only fitting that I list what states I've already been to and why. When I was younger, my parents and I took tons of road trips, so I've actually been to A LOT more states than I will list below. However, I decided to not include the states that I do not really remember. I've decided to only count states within the last few years that I can remember going to as an adult.

1. California - Obviously I live here
2. Oregon - most recently went for work
3. Nevada - Las Vegas
4. Texas - visiting family
5. Maryland - senior trip
6. Florida - went for work
7. Arizona - went for work
8. New Mexico - went for work
9. Georgia - went for work

As of 10/3/09

Geez, my list is twice as long if I include all my childhood trips, but I really can't because I don't really remember anything about the other states.

Goal #52 Complete!!!

I have completed another goal! I baked a cake from scratch! Previously I attempted to bake a Tyler Florence Chocolate cake, and I failed miserably. You can reference previous posts to look at the failure. The thing is, I used the same recipe to see if I could do it correctly. I did everything EXACTLY the same and look at what happened...

Geez!!!!! The cake broke apart! Both layers! I have NO idea why. And then it hit me. The reason I don't bake is because not only do you have the ingedients and mixing to worry about, but with baking, you also have to take into account the weather and conditions in your kitchen. Whether it is cold, hot or humid can greatly affect the outcome of your product. Damn!!! I almost gave up again and then decided to get through it.

All in all, the cake's appearance looks 100% better than the first try. However, once we ate it, it seemed a little more dry than the first one. I'm telling you, it's the weather. But I did accomplish my goal and I know that I can now take any cake recipe and make it if I want to. Mixes are a thing of the past. Unless of course, I have no time, which is the story of my life. Go me!!!

Goal #43, on it's way, with headaches in tow

I previously mentioned that I had decided on Quicken software to help me create my money management system. I went to Office Max and bought the software. $60 bucks later, I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm terrible with numbers and the last time I took a math class was junior year of highschool.

I thought I would be able to upload my checking and savings accounts, sync it with the program so it knows what transactions and deposits I make and then it was going to tell me what to do to make it better. It turns out that Quicken is not so user friendly. There was no manual because all the help features are built in. I work much better with manuals because it's all laid out for you but with help features where you type in the question, I never know what question to ask because I don't know what I'm doing in the first place.

I've managed to upload my accounts, but other than that, I have no idea what to do. I can't figure out where it's getting it's numbers from and why it keeps counting my monthly bills as misc. expenditures. Another problem I am encountering is the fact that it lets you put in your paychecks so you can see how much money you expect to come in that month. The problem is, I do not get paid salary at any of my jobs, so my income changes paycheck to paycheck. Especially with my recent reduction in hours, I have no idea what my next paycheck will look like. Even writing about it is stressing me out.

But I've enlisted the help of my coworker who happens to be really good with numbers. So hopefully I can have this figured out by the end of the month and I will be well on my way to saving more than I'm spending.