Goals Check In

It's December 2nd and a great time to check in on my 2015 goals.

2015 Resolutions

1  Clean the office in my apartment and dispose of unneeded items.

Check - the office is still a mild reservoir of junk, but it's much improved

2  Arrive at places 10 minutes early.

Looking like a 2017 2016 goal.  I accidentally typed 2017 the first time and had to come back and revise this post...is my subconscious trying to tell me something?

3  Focus on being a considerate and caring wife.

Progress - This is a weird goal, because it's kind of like a continual goal.  I think marriage is definitely work and it's important not to slack or take your partner for granted.

4  Focus on one cookbook a month and cook at least 2 recipes from this book a week.

I've only been able to partially do this - with our work schedules finding time for dinner together at home has been hard.  We usually only cook 2-3x a week.  I was able to really focus on some of my recipe books, in particular Thug Kitchen and Southern Cooking Bible.  I didn't really reach this goal though.

5  If Aaron and I do not go to or stream church on Sunday, watch the sermon by Tuesday that week.

Sigh.

6  Finish my South Africa photobook.

Complete. :-)

7  Regularly limit my sugar intake to 25g a day, at least 4 out of 7 days a week.

Check - this is another continual goal but I think I've been really working myself towards it and can consider it achieved.

8  Work out twice a week and weigh myself weekly. 

Check - whenever humanly possible I'm at the gym twice a week.  Weighing myself is still kind of painful though.   

9  Instead of feeling like getting ready for bed is a burden, make it more of spa and pampering experience with music and candles.

Progress - I noticed this goal has been neglected so I've been working on it this week.

10  Work on building a nest egg with Aaron outside of retirement - rainy day funds, future house fund. 

Progress - Aaron and I have gotten better at monitoring our spending so we can tuck away money.  Our nest egg got set back when Aaron's car broke down and we decided to get a new car.  However I think that in general we're wiser about our spending this year.

11  Make my mother a wedding album.

Really need to at least order this by Christmas so I can give her an IOU.

12  Redecorate the bedroom.

Check - pretty happy about that!

5 goals completed.  3 goals in progress.  4 goals that were not really addressed.  Some I'm definitely rolling over into next year - getting places 10 minutes early, streaming the church service by Tuesday.  I'm not really sure what new goals I'll incorporate.  Right now, it's crunch time and I still have time to make some of these happen.

Refresh

Did I mention that Aaron and I moved?  We moved to a cute combined corporate-retail-apartment neighborhood in Raleigh.  Underneath our apartment is a nail salon and hair salon, with 2 restaurants on the way and across the street are small sets of office buildings.  Our windows look out onto a lush green square that provides a nice touch to it all.  It's still a developing neighborhood that's really convenient to downtown as well as the highway.  We love it, it's great, but our apartment is still filled with boxes, unpacking isn't that fun!

So since the last few months of my life have been stressful-to say the least- I wanted to take some time this week to refresh before we go on vacation this weekend.  Aaron and I started Sunday with church and brunch.  We attend World Overcromers church, which is a non-denominational, come-as-you-are type church.  It's great and our pastor, Pastor Andy, is so down to earth, real, hilarious and inspiring.  I actually felt invigorated as we left.

Brunch at Capital City 16 - delicious.

Yesterday, I took a spa afternoon at La Therapie.  I had a wonderful lavender aromatherapy massage.  The girl did some chiropractic-like techniques against some of my bones which actually felt good-I don't know if I would have agreed to it had she asked me beforehand-but it actually felt nice, didn't hurt, she was gentle.  It was actually the best massage I've ever had, included with it was a scalp massage and a paraffin foot treatment with foot massage.  Afterwards I just enjoyed the sauna and the relaxation room.  24 hours out, I still feel calmer and more put together.  It was a great way to physically reset my body.

I haven't been to many spas (The Umstead in Cary is still on my to do list) but so far my favorite spa experience was at Qua Spa in Las Vegas.  It's the spa at Caesar's Palace and it is truly amazing, a whole day ordeal.  They have a roman bath concept with 3 pools that are hot, body temperature and cold.  They have an amazing jacuzzi, as well as sauna, steam room and even an ice room complete with faux snow.  If you're wondering, it's separated by sex, so you won't see any boys the whole day-not sure how that works if you want a couples treatment.  If you're going to Vegas and have time to spare, I highly recommend it.  I enjoyed this when traveling to Vegas with Aaron on a business trip of his, I'm so happy I chose to do this!

heaven on earth at Qua :)

Well, for the rest of this week I'll be unpacking the house and preparing for our trip to EUROPE!!!  We are going to London and Positano, Italy.  We leave Saturday.  Isn't that crazy?  I think I live a life of highs and lows.  HIGH going to Europe.  LOW being at the Veteran's Affairs hospital all day and all night and being paged at 5am to see a demented patient.  It definitely has lots of ups and downs but I'm looking forward to more good times ahead!  

Goals Check In

Roughly 10 weeks into the new year, it's a good time for a goals check-in.

2015 Resolutions

1  Clean the office in my apartment and dispose of  unneeded items.

CHECK - Aaron was a huge help with this one. :-)

2  Arrive at places 10 minutes early.

Sigh.  Still working on this.

3  Focus on being a considerate and caring wife.

Well, unless I'm tired and hungry.

4  Focus on one cookbook a month and cook at least 2 recipes from this book a week.

I definitely haven't done this.  Since I'm on a semi-diet to try to get ready for bikini season this summer, my dinners have been alternating between salads with chick'fil'a strips on top or whole grain pasta tossed in sauce.  Aaron has also been traveling a lot with his job, so I haven't had anyone to cook for which is a huge motivator for me.

5  If Aaron and I do not go to or stream church on Sunday, watch the sermon by Tuesday that week.

Sigh.

6  Finish my South Africa photobook.

Progress I've finished a rough draft, now I just need to revise it.

7  Regularly limit my sugar intake to 25g a day, at least 4 out of 7 days a week.

Progress I think I'm doing pretty well this.

8  Work out twice a week and weigh myself weekly. 

Check.  I decided to face the music, get my butt to the gym and put myself on a small diet to shake off some of that winter insulation.   

9  Instead of feeling like getting ready for bed is a burden, make it more of spa and pampering experience with music and candles.

I've barely tried this.  Definitely need to step it up.

10  Work on building a nest egg with Aaron outside of retirement - rainy day funds, future house fund. 

We're not really building a nest egg yet but at least I'm second guessing my usual purchases.

11  Make my mother a wedding album.

No progress yet.  Hopefully after the South Africa book is finished.

12  Redecorate the bedroom.

Check!  I need to share some pictures online.  I redid the bed using mainly John Robshaw linens and now it is navy and white, just as I always wanted.  I definitely need some wall art and curtains wouldn't hurt either, but at least the bedroom is no longer an eye sore.

3 out of 12 goals achieved isn't bad since this is the third month of the year!  Hope I can keep this up and have them all knocked out by 2016.  I also have my self-care goals-today I went to meditation, which was awesome.  I've been staying hydrated and focusing on things that make me happy like shopping and listening to audiotapes.  I just finished Little Women and checked out The Da Vinci Code.  So far, so good but always room for improvement.  :-)

Self Care

As a psychiatrist, all day I'm recommending and "prescribing" self care to my patients.  Funny thing, because as a resident, self care is pretty low on my list.  These past couple of weeks have been especially hard for me.  I have been working many 12 hour shifts, 5-6 days a week.  To be honest, although I love my specialty, I do not like being a resident.  I like learning.  But I hate long shifts in the hospital, sometimes logging 60-70 hours a week.  I didn't really understand my life would be like this when I entered medical school.  I'm not sure I still would have went to medical school if I knew life would be like this.  Nonetheless, I don't regret my decision (err, I usually don't regret my decision) because ultimately my goal is to work part time and as a doctor I can work part time and often make more then people working full time.  However the road to get there is long and painful.  It's marked by many tears and overall crabbiness.  Second year is the hardest year of Duke residency and ER and consultation-liaison psychiatry are the hardest rotations.  So now I'm right in the thick of things and it's a struggle.  Come to July and things should turn around - my call schedule drops to one weekend a month and I get 20% raise.  However even with July so close sometimes I feel like it's not worth it!!!  When all you want is 2 days off a week instead of 1-last weekend I didn't even get that-life can become quite testing.

I refuse to let this post become one long rant.  So on the upside, to make life a little more bearable until I get to July, I have resolved to invest in more brief moments of self care.  Here are some small things I am resolving to do to help get me through.

-read my Bible.  I have the YouVersion Bible app on my phone.  It comes with plenty of easy reading plans, currently I'm reading The Five Love Languages for Her Bible study plan.  Most of the plans are short and take just about 5 minutes to read and another few minutes for processing.  I always feel much calmer afterwards.
-shower time.  For some reason, it's hard for me to motivate myself to get in the shower.  I'd rather just flop into my bed.  But once the water is raining down on me, the shower is a totally happy and therapeutic place. I have lots of aromatherapy body washes and lotions that I love to use.
-audiobooks.  Listening to audiobooks on the commute to work is a great way to ease stress and not fume over traffic.  I'm currently listening to Little Women which is so inspiring and refreshing.  I also recommend The Help and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
-drinking water and tea.  Hydration is key, 'nuff said.
-returning to meditation I had to stop going to guided meditation because of my work schedule, but now I have to reprioritize and start going again.  It helps me a lot with anxiety and focus.  I go to Patanjali's Place in Durham since it's close to Duke.
-wardrobe.  Looking good is feeling good, but also feeling bad is looking bad.  Or something like that.  Some days I'm too tired to think of proper outfit but then I find myself at work feeling embarrassed about how plain I look.  There's probably some direct correlation between my level of confidence and the size of my hair that day (well it's probably a curve that goes downhill when things start to get frizzy).  So despite the stress and sleep deprivation, I still need to take the time in the morning to look good because in the end that's what good for me. You know, change your hair change your life, gotta do me, it is what it is and insert any other ridiculous phrases. :)

Self care is taking off with a bang tomorrow because Aaron and I are going on vacation! We're going with a group to Snowshoe and I'm so excited.  It will be my first time snowboarding.  It is strange to go on such an active vacation but I'm going to take my time and take many breaks so I can rest up too.  We're coming back Tuesday and I'll have the rest of the week off to continue the self preservation.

What do you guys do to relax?  Share below!!