January is officially over! So it’s time for a one-month check in on ALL of my resolutions 🙂

HEALTH:
Run 1000 miles- Yikes I am way behind on this! I have been super slacking on my workouts, and I only ran 20 this entire month! I will get back on track though. I’m waiting for the sun to rise sooner so that I can go in the morning, which is when I prefer to run.

Lose 10lbs (no Intel food cube treats!)- I would rate myself an A+ on the Intel food cube because I only went ONCE in the past month, for a cookie! I am very proud of myself. I have also brought a healthy lunch to work 96% of the days & have only eaten out four times the entire month, with each time being because I was with friends or Derek. I have no idea if I actually lost weight though since I didn’t weigh myself when I started & I didn’t weight myself now. I feel healthier though!

FAMILY:
Perfectly plan each detail of the Europe trip with Mom- Europe is booked! Now that the dates are nailed down, we just need to finish the in-between itinerary. I have a general outline written down, but I am waiting until mid-February to finalize it, since I can’t book the train tickets/see the train tables until then anyways.

Take a trip to the Grand Canyon to go hiking with Dad once he moves here- Well he is moving here February 22nd so then we will plan it. I figured it would be October time frame anyways.

Take a weekend trip with Cherie once she moves here- Waiting til she moves here!! 🙂

Visit Derek (with Mom) at least every two months- I’ve seen Derek a lot this month! First I went to his hockey game & then he came to Tempe to drop off his police department application. I hope this keeps up!

FRIENDS:
Reconnect with great friends— I went to dinner twice with Sarah this month, and it was lovely! I won’t be able to chaperon her field trip anymore now though due to a work commitment and she can’t come to the book club  BUT we can do lots of other things. I’m having dinner with Rachel next Saturday & then as soon as I move to the Chandler Intel building, I will start having lunches with Fish since she works at Ray & McClintock. I’ll run into Alex the next time I decide I want Chipotle since she is flat-out addicted…

Hang out with my work friends, outside of work! (Alix, Nadia, Katie B, Katie T)- I worked out with Alix once! (At the Intel gym, so technically it was still inside of work, but it was a non-work activity so it counts.) And I also had dinner with Katie & Nadia. Now I need to track down the elusive Tunsky….

Do at least six activities with MeetUp groups, to make new friends- I am attending the book club in mid-February! I haven’t found anything else yet the super interests me.

SELF-DEVELOPMENT/OTHER:
Pay off the remaining $3K on my undergrad loan- I’m waiting for my mom’s friend to tell me if I can finally pay it off or if I should keep it for longer to continue to boost my credit score higher & higher. I hope I can pay it off!!

Save a minimum of $9K for my MBA- I just put all of my savings into a Roth IRA & more into my investments, so I am on track with investing the money smartly, just now I need to come up with $9K in the remaining months. I can do it!

Take the GMAT- This won’t be until later this year, but I would like to take a practice one by the end of Q1.

Decide on my top five MBA programs- I already know my top three, but I need to continue to research them to ensure I am a good fit and also narrow down the final two.

Improve my French via LiveMocha- I did a great job signing up, but now I need to practice 

Don’t just take photos—print them & put in albums!- I did this! I redecorated my cube, updated all of my frames at home, and also put some on my fridge! I haven’t taken any more exciting pictures since then, though.

Make a long-term volunteer commitment to three organizations
• Arizona RESCUE Dog Caretaker- Done! Not only did I become a Dog Caretaker on the weekends, but starting Feb 6th, I am also a weekly Dog Walker on Wednesday afternoons!!  And I am debating become a Dog Foster Parent too hehe.
• GenUnited Literacy Counts program & Girls on the Run Team Coach- I have these two commitments on hold until I transition into my new job at work. I’m not sure how flexible my new manger will be with me taking time off of work for volunteer commitments, what my work load will be like, when my main meetings will be, etc. Once my backfill is on board & things are going smoothly though, I will go back after these. (The “Girls on the Run” director knows my situation & is going to have me come back for the fall session as a coach.)

Do a “Memory Jar” that I can look back on - Uh fail at the jar part, but since I have a blog that sort of counts, right? Since I’m keeping track of what is going on? So maybe the paper-in-the-jar won’t happen, but we’ll see. I am still undecided. WAIT. I just came up with a great idea!! Since I am turning 24 & that is my golden birthday & everyone thinks 24 is going to be a good year for me, I will do a memory jar for my 24th year of life!! From April 24th, 2013-April 24th, 2014. That’s what I’ll do! Yay I am excited now.

MONTHLY:
Month-end spends check on Mint.com to ensure I meet my loan/MBA goals- I do this like every day since I am obsessed with where my moolah is going.
Read 2 books- I read “Safe Haven” by Nicholas Sparks & “11/22/63” by Stephen King
Watch 2 movies- I watched “Sleepless in Seattle,” ” The Lucky One,” “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”, and 1-hour of “Julie & Julia” before the OnDemand had a meltdown & broke….so I get bonus points for going above & beyond!!
Try 1 new recipe- I made delicious Smokey Black Bean Stew & not-so-delicious Quinoa Parmesean Meatballs
Research 1 MBA Program- I didn’t research one in-depth 

WEEKLY:
Stretch every morning- I would say that about 60% of days, I stretch. I am proud of that though and I know that as I continue to try and remember to do it, it will soon become a habit!
Blog about my resolutions- Done, obviously.
Call one grandparent- I talked to all of my grandparents this month for about 15 minutes each. However, that means I only made calls on three weekends instead of all four, so I need to step up my game.