Feb 1

Hard to believe it's already February! The month of LOVE, right? I think LOVE might be the focus and theme of some of my goals this month.

As a reminder, here are the big goals:

Financial: Buy a house someday. Save money for retirement. Save two months salary in our savings account for emergency use. Stick to a reasonable budget.

Spiritual: Live in and for each moment. Appreciate. Breathe. Let go of the negative and embrace the positive in each aspect of life. Embrace patience. Love yourself.

Career: Become a professor at a university. Stay on top of experiments and what they mean. Step outside the box more, and embrace change and technology. Remember that science is fun.

Health: Eat well, mostly plants. Drink water. Take my vitamins. Minimize the consumption of processed and fast foods. Take care of my body. Think about the food I put in it before I eat. Appreciate.

Physical: Wake up at 6am. Be strong in my body by regularly exercising 30 minutes each day. Focus on getting my hands better, meaning rest them at intervals, and give them a break when needed. Focus on releasing the muscles in my neck and shoulders. Learn self work. Ice and heat hands daily.

Organizational: Keep lists of everything, including the small and inane and the big and far-fetched.


Relationships: Focus on the people in my life and enjoy them. Make it a priority to talk on the phone more often.

New Things: Try something new every week.

Here's how I did on my goals for January:

Financial

• I will begin contributions to my new Stanford 401K. CHECK!
• I will continue contributions to my Roth IRA. CHECK!
• I will put $100 into savings. CHECK!
• I will bring my lunch to work every day. CHECK!

Spiritual

• Keep a gratitude journal. I did not achieve 100% with this one. I think it will be a continued goal of mine!

Career

• Start a "To do list" for work - include long term experiments, short term goals, and everything in between Did not do this. I actually completely ignored the "To Do" list this month and I'm not too sure why.
• Blog twice this month about science: interesting topics I've been thinking about are about microwaves, mammalian reproduction and "blink" or autoimmune disease. Time got away from me (ha, see previous goal!) and I didn't get a chance to really dig into this. I am hoping to do this in Feb.
• Attend one seminar on any topic you like CHECK!

Health

• Purchase a book on trigger points, and find those that pertain to me CHECK!
• Ice and heat hands daily, while watching TV or when winding down for the day. I didn't do this, actually, because I found it to be quite uncomfortable.

Physical

• Come up with a simple, at home, routine of stretching and strength exercises. Oh, man. I had SUCH good intentions for this! But alas, I did not accomplish it!
• Perform this routine every day this month, preferably in the morning Nope, didn't do it. However, I did exercise more this month than I did last month.
• Put an emphasis on walking, biking or running daily. I did pretty good with this one!
• Check out an aerobics class on campus. Didn't do this.

Organizational

• Clean out new furniture CHECK!
• Make a donation to Goodwill CHECK!
• Organize second bedroom CHECK!

Relationships

• Call Mom and Dad twice a week CHECK!
• Call In laws once a week I didn't do this!
• Call a friend once a week I didn't do this!

New Things

• Went for a couple runs around campus
  
• Went for a hike with my lab
• Went to a party with Alex and his lab-mates
• Went to San Francisco with some friends
  

I actually feel pretty good about the goals I met last month. I feel like I am also getting better at writing goals, really defining what I want and how I want to get where I want to be. This month, I am choosing to focus on me - all about me, who I am, who I want to be, and all that jazz (as if it's ever about anyone other than me on my blog, right?). I am taking a hint from the month of February and making it all about love, too. Let's see how I do!

Financial 
We've been slowly clawing our way out of debt for the last couple of month and I think we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! This is pretty exciting, and means we only have a month or two left of paying off the credit card and we are DEBT FREE! And trust me, we will STAY that way!

• I will finish our taxes, both for last year and the estimated for this year. I will ensure all the paperwork is in order, and I will make sure we have enough money to pay what we owe. I may wait until next month to file, especially if it turns out we owe.
• I will pay off two credit cards this month (can I get a WAHOO??!?!?!)
• I will not charge anything to any credit card this month. I will only pay cash for everything.
• Bring my lunch to work every day.

Spiritual
I am usually hesitant to try to keep the same goal two months in a row. If I don't meet a goal, that means something is wrong with the goal or how I am trying to achieve it. However, I believe that I genuinely FORGOT to try keeping a gratitude journal, which is somewhat problematic. I am willing to give it another try. Also this month, I am going to try something a little bit different. I've lost quite a few friends and family members over the years and sometimes it's hard to remember what people were like, or how much of an influence they had on you. So, each month, I am going to try little "remembrances". Each of the people I knew had some lovely characteristic that made them stand out. Each month, I will pick a different person and try to emulate their wonderful characteristics. I think this will not only keep this person in the forefront of my mind, but also might help me work on areas of my personality that are lacking.

• Keep a gratitude journal.
• Emulate my Grandpa. He just passed away in September 2012. He had two wonderful characteristics: He never complained and he loved every moment of his life. I am going to work on getting more enjoyment out of life, and not complaining (this might be really hard, folks, but we shall see!).

Career
I feel so incredibly lucky to be at Stanford. This school is amazing and everyone is so wonderfully supportive and incredibly talented. I couldn't be happier where I am. This month, I really need to buckle down and get some data that I can use for a grant submission. So most of my career goals will be focused on my NRSA application.

• Attend NRSA training and get the application started
• Ask my rec senders for recs
• Get Illustrator and Photoshop working on my computer
• Collect data and arrange into figures when possible
• Outline grant proposal and catch up on background reading
• Submit pilot Seq and Spec?
• Get all other documents in order or started (facilities, animal protocols, etc)
• Look into other potential forms of funding
• Check into SDB meetings and funding situations

Health
I feel really lucky that my recent bout with carpal tunnel seems to have abated. However, I have to say I am quite worried about pushing my hands too much or doing too much too fast. So, for now, my goals will be a little bit smaller, but no less significant. 

• Eat regular meals on weekends (meaning, breakfast, lunch and dinner, no skipping meals, or having junk for a meal)
• Continue trigger point work, and see if I can get a therapy prescription from my doctor
• Find a dentist and optometrist and make appointments.
• Take care of myself - get my hair cut, paint my toes, shave my legs.

Physical

• Complete a 5K on Feb 9. 
• Run 3x a week
• Bike to work once a week
• Continue your strength training twice a week
• Check out the pool at Stanford
• Check out the gym at Stanford
• Look into one yoga class during the week

Organizational

• Unpack the last three boxes
• Tidy up living room and keep it tidy
• Keep track of my goals and how I'm doing. Blog about goals weekly.

Relationships

• Call Mom and Dad twice a week
• Send a card
• Call my in-laws once

New Things

• Do something new every week!

Well, there you have it folks! My goals for this month! Let's see how I do!