Goodbye 32, Hello 33!

Seeing as I'm about 3 weeks into year 33, I thought I should review the goals I set out to complete for year 32. Alas, I can't say there has been much of an update since the last post. I did not go skiing (#7) - 1) I just didn't have time and 2) Winter hasn't arrived yet (yes, I know they make snow, but it doesn't look like winter anywhere else around me). But everything else seems to have been completed. I may or may not go skiing this winter... we shall see what happens!

Now onto the goals for year 33:

 1) I am going to read another 6 books. 6 is a good number - enough to encourage me to keep reading, but not too many so that I have time to read them all even when I get super busy. Thus far I have already read 1 book! It is called "Matchmaker of Kenmare" by Frank Delaney. It was quite delightful and I'm tempted to read his other books. I am starting "Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert. I got a 3rd one to read but can't remember what it is called (or who it is by). I definitely want to read "Rules of Civility" (once again no idea who wrote it) but haven't been able to find it at the bookstore. The other 2... well, I'll figure those out after I finish the next 3.

 2) Remodel Bathrooms. It was on the list for 31 and was listed as a bonus goal for 32. It is once again back on the list and it is actually going to happen this time around! The work is happening as we speak! I am very anxious to have new bathrooms as the ones I have are most certainly the original bathrooms from when my place was built in 1985! Before and after pictures to come once the work is finished.

3) Take voice lessons. Last year it was guitar lessons. Unfortunately I have been a bit too busy to practice guitar in awhile, but it is fun and I will definitely continue on with it when I have time. So this year I decided to give voice lessons a try (not because I want to be some amazing singer, but because I thought it might help with my speaking voice). Despite my infrequent practicing (don't tell my teacher! ;) ), I am having a blast with the lessons and am improving a great deal (I started the lessons in January) - I actually don't mind listening to my lesson tapes!

 4) Write a song. One day I randomly had this thought that I wanted to write a song. I have no idea why. It's not like I am some great composer, singer, poet, etc... but I thought it might be a fun challenge to see what I could come up with. Who knows, maybe I'll be the next Adele (I crack myself up!).

 5) Give a recital. I really wanted to do one yearly after my last one in Feb. 2011. I was hoping for a Fall 2011 recital, but that came and went... then I thought I'd push it to Spring 2011 but that doesn't seem likely.... so here's hoping for Fall 2012!

 6) Lose 15-25 pounds. Yes, there is a range - gives me some flexibility for a place where I'd be totally satisfied at to the ultimate dream weight. I'm happy with where I am out, but I wouldn't mind taking a few pounds off. A woman is never satisfied!

7) Go on a vacation. I haven't really had a vacation since I started the school. Yes, I've had some breaks for holidays or summer weekend trips to the Cape, but even when I have breaks at the school I am inundated with other stuff to do (like this week it's school vacation week and I've filled in the week with bathroom remodeling). Thank goodness my middle sister is getting married this June... in Jamaica! Vacation for me!!! I can't wait! I think item #6 will have to go into super sonic mode so I look great in a swimsuit! :)

So there you have it. Just 7 things on the goal list for this year. It seems to be getting less and less since I started my yearly goals, but I suppose that is the nature of the beast when you get busier and busier. I think 33 is going to be a fabulous year! It's off to a great start and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings. :)

Where did the time go?!?

WOW. Where have the last 6 months gone?!?! I have trouble keeping the days straight, so I think I'm going to stop trying to figure out where the last few months went. It was a good that I decided to check my goals for this year... somethings have been updated, while a few of the goals clearly need to be changed since they are SOOOOO not happening before the big 33. Let's see where things stand: 1. Read 6 books: As of the last post I had read 3. As of now, I have exceeded my goal! I have actually fit in quite a bit of reading considering how crazy busy I have been. I have read: "The Wedding Girl" by Madeleine Wickham (a fun girly book); "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen (great book); "Measure of the Heart" by Mary Ellen Geist (touching book about the story of how music helped a man with Alzheimer's); "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell (very interesting read on what makes people successful). I have started 2 more books (unusual for me as I usually read one at a time): "Courting Her Highness" by Jean Plaidy and "World Withouth End" by Ken Follett. 2. Visit Sarah in NC: done as of last blog entry. 3. Paint my bedroom: done as of last blog entry. 4. Take a hot yoga class: I have a feeling this isn't going to happen this year. I did go and buy the towel for my yoga mat. I think we'll turn this goal into: Go to concerts I wouldn't normally go to. This I can say I have done. I went to the Sting concert in Boston earlier this fall. It was AMAZING! I love Sting! And next week I will be going to the Tori Amos concert in Boston as well. Sounds like an interesting tour so I'm excited to see her. 5. Go to the beach this summer. It was a glorious summer! I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the Cape several times this summer. There were many fabulous beach days to be had! Take a look:

6. Visit Becky in NYC and finally meet precious little Maelee! I finally had a weekend this summer to go to NYC and see Becky and meet Maelee! It was a quick trip, but it was so much fun! A trip to the playground, wonderful food, fabulous company and lots of playtime with Maelee! I can't wait to see them all again. Here are some pictures:

Becky and Me making our classic "kissy face" pose :)

7. Go Rock Climbing. This is also not happening. I actually did go to a Rock Climbing place as I had a meeting at one. I learned more about rock climbing and that confirmed my ideas that rock climbing wasn't for me and this goal wasn't going to be met. This one will get changed to: Go skiing (although I will need to take some lessons on the bunny hill first. Last time I went skiing I thought I didn't need to take a lesson and ended up walking down a very big mountain). 8. Take a Brewery Tour. Well, I haven't actually been to a brewery yet, BUT a certain someone is becoming quite the beer afficionado so I have been learning a lot about beer and have gotten to taste the different types of beer. I'm not a big fan of beer anyway, but it has been interesting to taste different kinds and see what I consider good and bad. I'm going to say this one is done as I have been getting a solid beer education these past few months ;) 9. Take Guitar Lessons. Well, I haven't had formal guitar lessons, but I did sit in on the adult beginning guitar class we had at the school over the summer, and I have been teaching myself through some method books (of course I have had a little bit of help from a certain someone).... I'm contemplating posting a video of me playing but I haven't had a chance to practice in a few months so I'll have to practice a bit and then see if I'm brave enough to post a video of me playing very poorly on the guitar :) Stay tuned! 10. Take a Weekend Get-Away this Summer: I went to Lawrence for reunion as mentioned in previous blog. I also had many wonderful weekend getaways to the Cape this summer as noted above. I'm almost done with everything - yay! Stay tuned - Just a couple more months and I will be at the end of this year's journey! Happy Holidays! :)

First update!

I figured it was time to report on my progress for this year's goals. Here goes:

1. Read 6 Books: 3 down, 3 to go. Unfortunately, all of my reading has been for the benefit of my school (and of course me), but my 4th book is a book for fun so hopefully I'll work a few more in like that. The books I've read so far are: "How to Connect with Donors and Double the Money You Raise" by Thomas Wolf; "The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity" by Edwene Gaines; "Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements" by Phillips, Cordell, Church and Jones.

2. Visit Sarah in NC: I took a long weekend in February during February vacaiton week and went to visit Sarah who moved to Charlotte in October. We had a fabulous time together! It was so nice and warm - what a nice escape from a cold and snowy winter! Here are some pictures:

3. Paint my Bedroom: Over Christmas I bought a new bedspread - it's various shades of purple. The problem was that my bedroom walls were blue. So I decided to paint my bedroom a more neutral color to match my bedspread over April vacation. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the before, but here is a picture of the after:

10. Take a Weekend Get-Away: This wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it actually does count....I went to my 10 year reunion at Lawrence University this month. It was sooo amazing! I had such a great time! There weren't as many people from my class as I thought there would be, but I had a great time with the ones that did come and I made some new friends too. My flute professor retired this year, so we had a big celebration for her that weekend as well. I love Lawrence! Here are some pics from the weekend:

I'm pretty sure that is all I have done so far. More to come! :)

Goals for 33!

So after my successful completion of all 32 goals by my 32nd birthday last February I decided I would make a new set of goals... only this time, I would NOT do 33 for this year. :) I think 10 might be a more feasible number given how busy I am now. And since I have been so busy, it's taken me 4 months to put together the list and post it on this blog. Better late than never though, right? ;) So here is the big list for this year:

1. Read 6 Books
2. Visit Sarah in North Carolina
3. Paint my Bedroom
4. Take a Hot Yoga Class
5. Go to the Beach this Summer (more than 1 time hopefully!)
6. Visit Becky in NYC and finally meet precious little Maelee!
7. Go Rock Climbing
8. Take a Brewery Tour
9. Take Guitar Lessons
10. Take a Weekend Get-Away this Summer
11. Re-Do my Bathrooms: This is a stretch and I put this on there as a bonus goal that I'd really like to accomplish but I think the chances of it happening are very slim.

I have actually already done some of the things on my list and will enlighten you on those accomplishments in another blog post. :)

The End of the Challenge!

It's now February 14 - 14 days past the deadline for the end of the 32 by 32 challenge. But I had to wait to do this final update until the last item was complete, which it now is!

It's been a great year. It was a lot of fun doing this challenge - I highly recommend it to all of you out there. It forces you to do things you always say you will do but never get around to doing, or to do things that are outside your comfort zone, or that are totally not you, or to do things that you would otherwise never make time for. So go for it! Make a list - and then make a blog so you are held accountable to other people to complete the list :)

So I guess we'll start with the items that I had left to complete from the last blog.

2) Read all the books by the Bronte sisters - which got updated to read 4 others books since I gave up on the Bronte sister books. I read 3 of the 4 books and have started the 4th book. I finished "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, "The Prince" by Machiavelli, and "Utopia" by Thomas More. I am about a quarter of the way through Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady"... I just couldn't finish it in time. Almost...

12) Randomly tell people I care about them - Finished doing this.

26) Take Ella ice skating. Unfortunately, time just wasn't in my favor on this one, so I changed it to "Go to a Celtics game" since it is something I've never done before and I did this in December for my sister Erin's 30th birthday. Here is a picture from the game (Celtics won by the way):



5) Give a recital - DONE! Yay! Recital took place February 12 at First Unitarian Church in Worcester. I was very pleased with how it went. I didn't get many pictures, but here is one of my woodwind quintet:



And here is a video from the recital. This is the first movement of the Sonata op. 77 for flute and piano by Joseph Jongen. If you'd like to hear more of the recital, you can visit my YouTube channel - my channel is sarahkflute.



32) Lose 32 pounds: Total weight loss was 43 pounds. Yay! Here are some before and after pics for you (pics are in reverse order for some reason - current pics at top, last 2 are from last Feb):







And last but not least, here are some pics from my 32nd birthday to finish off the year. I made myself a yummy dinner for myself..cheese stuffed chicken with a baked potato sprinkled with a little cheese (totally no no foods for me, but it was my birthday!), and a very yummy french vanilla cake that I made for myself. Then my sisters got me a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake for when we celebrated the following weekend - yummy!






So there you have it! The 32 by 32 challenge is now complete! Thanks for following along on this journey! I think I'll make more lists for myself each year - although maybe not 33 for next year... 10 might be more realistic giving how busy I am now.

Thanks again and I hope you've enjoyed this journey too!

Down to the finish line!

It's been a few months since the last post and now 2010 is almost over, which means soon I will be 32... Feb. 1 is almost here! So it's time to see what I've managed to accomplish since the last post and how much I still have left to do in roughly a month. Here goes!

1) Open the doors to my music school. DONE :)
2) Read all the books by the Bronte sisters. This very well might not happen. I read the 2 best books and have diligently made my way to book #4 of 7. I'll try my best on this one. UPDATE: I gave up on this. I just couldn't read the rest of the books. There is obviously a reason why the other Bronte sister books are not as famous as Wurthering Heights and Jane Eyre. So instead I replaced the unread books with other books I wanted to read. I re-read Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat Pray Love", I read Machiavelli's "The Prince". I am currently reading Thomas More's "Utopia" and then I will finish up with Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady". Hopefully this will get finished in time.
3) See the Boston Ballet (or a ballet in any city). DONE
4) Go to a concert at Tanglewood this summer. DONE
5) Give a recital. Recital date set for Feb. 12! Couldn't get it scheduled before my bday because I have too many people involved in my recital and it got complicated, but it's ok if this is a few days after the fact - it's still happening!
6) Learn to make 1 new vegetarian recipe ever month. Well, we're going to say this one is done as I can no longer cook new meals as a result of my new food allergies. We'll just take the "once a month" part out. Up until the food allergies came along I was doing well with this one. So...DONE
7) Do a full on spring cleaning - this time make sure things actually make it to goodwill! DONE (items still not to Goodwill, but are going soon)
8) Take advantage of Boston Restaurant Week. DONE
9) Be bold and ask someone out on a date. DONE
10) Explore a new town/city. DONE.
11) Learn a new fact every day. DONE. The site I was going to for new facts stopped updating their facts, but in running your own business you learn TONS of new things every single day, therefore I consider this one done as I have and will continue to learn new things every single day!
12) Randomly tell/show people that I care about them. In process. ALMOST DONE
13) Go on a mini-vacation (ie. visit Mieke in London, Steph in SF, or go someplace I've never been - like Montreal). DONE. No real vacation happening, but did go to NY several times, and went to Maine for a day, and also went home to MN several times.
14) Learn a piece of music I don't like and see if I still don't like it after learning it (I stole this from Becky's 30 by 30 list). DONE. I was going to play this on my recital (Jolivet Chant de linos), but I think I'll pick another piece I don't like since I don't think I have the time to practice this piece enough to perform it on a recital (nor do I like it still! haha)
15) Get together with my sisters once a month. DONE and still doing
16) Go on a nature walk. DONE
17) Spend a day at the beach this summer. DONE
18) Host a dinner party or a holiday dinner. DONE
19) Get new plants for my home and see if I can make them live this time! DONE (and so far still alive)
20) Enroll in an adult-ed class (I stole this one from Elizabeth's 32 by 32 list). DONE
21) Return to my natural hair color (this is contingent on my stylist letting me do this!). DONE
22) Learn a new hobby - I've chosen guitar. sooooo not happening. However, I have decided to change this from learn guitar to.... decorating on a budget (or doing anything on a budget for that matter) :) DONE
23) Go to Worcester Restaurant Week. DONE
24) Go to a jazz club. DONE
25) Go to a non-classical concert. DONE
26) Take Ella ice skating. Not yet...hopefully will happen. If not, then will try to replace it with something a little more accomplishable.
27) Put my car back in its original condition. DONE
28) Go see a comedian. DONE. I actually did go see a comedy troupe called Irish Comedy Tour after my birthday (a really bad date, but the comedians were awesome)... I was going to try and see another comedian but seeing as I have no money and no time, I think I'll count this for #28. Highly recommend this group - hilarious, but only if you're not easily offended. :)
29) Go on a picnic. DONE
30) Go to a sporting event (this is so not me, so I'll need friends to help me make this one fun!) :) DONE
31) Watch all 8 seasons of 24 - this one is for Kayla. DONE (except season 8 which I will watch when it comes out on DVD)
32) Lose 32 pounds - seems like a good # to end the challenge on. DONE. So far I've lost 39 pounds so I've exceeded this goal and still losing weight. Woohoo!

So I guess I've pretty much finished my list of 32 things to do before I turn 32!! Just a couple things left to accomplish - hopefully I can get these taken care of in the next month! No pictures to post this time around... perhaps I'll post a few for the last blog to wrap up this journey.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and has a very Happy New Year!

End of the Summer

Labor Day usually signals the end of the summer, so while I sit here waiting for a headache to subside so I can continue in my enjoyment of this occasion, I will update my list!

I've crossed a few things off my list and/or made some changes to my list (and crossed those things off the list).

10) Learn to say "please" "thank you" and "I love you" in 20 different languages. -- In a previous post I mentioned that I wasn't going to do this because I was too lazy. So I changed this one to: Explore a new town/city in MA. I went to Lowell with my friend Kari this Labor Day weekend and we went to the American Textile Museum which was very interesting - I had never done anything like that before. We then went to the Western Avenue Art Studios which were also very neat. I don't think I'd hang out in Lowell again as the city does have a bad rap and probably for very good reason. But I can say I've been there and don't need to go back again :)

16) Go rollerblading on the Charles River. -- I really wanted to do this, but unfortunately it just didn't happpen. So this got changed to: Go on a nature walk. So I went to the Habitat in Belmont today (Labor Day). Here are some pictures from my nature walk:






17) Spend a day at the beach this summer. This I did! I went to Crane Beach in Ipswich with my friend Sarah. It was the most perfect day for the beach. In the 70s and no humidity - awesome! And this beach was absolutely gorgeous! Here are some pictures from our beach day:









32) Lose 32 pounds - seems like a good # to end the challenge on. Still doing. So far I'm at 29lbs - just 3 more to go to meet this challenge, but I'm sure there will be many more pounds lost.

Ok, I think that's it. I've pretty much accomplished everything on the list - a few more yet to go, some are on-going challenges that I'm still doing. There may be some I might conceded defeat on (reading the Bronte sister books - so I may need to change that one too)... but I'll keep updating as I go.

Happy Labor Day and Happy End of Summer! :)