Off to some tropical islands...

And...by the time you read this, I'll be in a different country! It still astounds me that I can visit so many different, exotic countries with a 3 hour flight from Auckland: Rarotonga, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Australia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Cook Islands...

I'm sort of treating myself with this trip--since I probably will be too worried about money to do much travelling after I quit my job/my contract ends in April, this is my last hurrah.

I also fit in another run before I left. Hope my body is beach-ready!

More details after I return the second week of January.

C25K week 6, workout 2 done!

Today I had to work out early because I had to be ready for a dinner at 8 pm. I ended up running around 6:30 instead of my usual 7:30, and making it a quick one--only ~30 minutes. Man, I don't want to do THAT again! It was soo incredibly hot! And the sun was beating down on me. My face was bright bright red, even after about 5 minutes of cool down and another 10 minutes of stretching.

But it was an OK run, I suppose. I had to do 10 minutes of running, then 3 minutes walking (again, I felt like it was too long), then another 10 minutes. It's funny--when I did my 30 minute run, and long runs before then, it got easier towards the end--the hard part was the first km or so. With these C25K runs, I'm finding it easy to get through the first interval, but really difficult to get through the next few. Oh well. Work out done for yet another day!

Also, everyone I know around my age that wasn't married before now, is now engaged! I am the last one standing...probably forever. :)

Log for Boxing Day

It's Boxing Day, and I was determined to not let my two-day Xmas no exercise streak continue. I did two missions on Zombies, Run! in the rain, and completed the Week 6, Day 1 C25K workout. It was not easy, but I felt like the walking intervals were too long (3 min.).

Weeks 5 and 6 of C25K are when $hit gets real. Earlier in the week, you're supposed to do all these smaller intervals of running and walking, but then by the end, they have you running 20+ minutes straight. I have already done 30 min. straight of running, but I have a mental block against doing it again, so I'm easing into it with the C25K runs.

I had an easy day. I bought a snorkel and mask for snorkeling in the tropics next week, and am in the throes of a mess of packing for that trip. I'm bringing absolutely everything. It's nuts.

Workout and Xmas Update

I didn't end up doing anything for the 24th and 25th--other activities got in the way:

On Christmas Eve, I went to see the Hobbit and do some shopping at the local mall. Courtesy of someone I did a favor for at work, I had two movie vouchers that I used to take me and my friend to the movies. While at the mall, I bought a bunch of school supplies to take with me to the outer islands of Vanuatu when I go next week. In the evening, my friend and I went to a candlelight church service, which is my favorite service of the year. Very meaningful and interesting, because I went to a different kind of church (Unitarian) than I did while growing up. I didn't get home until about 9:45, which meant I lost my running window.

On Christmas, I finished baking one of the dessert dishes I learned in my cooking class, and took it over to a friend's place. We were there from mid-day until about midnight, which also meant that I lost my running window. It was fun, though, and we played Taboo and Cranium and had a nice grill out outside. Everyone liked my dessert, and I have officially conquered the skill of caramelization. Success, though one friend liked it better when I slightly burned the caramel. :)

I'm back at it this evening.

Happy Holidays to all (NOT Merry Christmas as everyone says here, regardless of to whom they are speaking--you might not celebrate Xmas!! :))!

Running Plus Volcano = Death

So tonight I tried something a little different: 2 missions of Zombies, Run! (with zombie chases turned off) plus a Couch to 5K training run, on the way to the summit of Mt Eden and back home.

Uh...yeah. Homie ain't ready fo' all dat.

The running plus climbing the volcano made me winded way earlier than I usually am, even during pre-my recent running phase. Either/or works best.

But I made it. Another hour, enjoying sweating in the out of doors. Before you know it, I'll be healthy and junk. The skies were remarkably clear for Auckland, so I got a great view all the way out to Great Barrier Island. The various peaks of the Coromandel peninsula were even visible! Amazing considering we are supposed to be under a weather warning in a few short hours (conveniently, over Christmas, BAH HUMBUG!).

I need more upbeat workout music, getting tired of my playlist:

Any suggestions? (Yes, I like explicit versions, especially when working out!)

An Easy Walk, then another climb

The streak continues. I put in 40 minutes or so last night on an easy walk and my hip felt OK yesterday. Today, however, the soreness continued when I probed my IT band and hip a little bit. Nevertheless, I decided to go up Mt Eden again, taking it slower today. Hope to get back to 10K training soon.

It is very interesting to me that walking briskly and climbing hills could induce pain, but running for 30 minutes straight on a relatively level surface did not.

Prepping for the Holidays

Time to get my game plan on for Xmas and NYE!

I have trips planned for both. Unfortunately, the weather is looking less than sparkly for the 25th here in the Northland, but I have tent camping at the beach lined up. I finally get out of town for Christmas, and it rains! Noooooo! Sigh. I wish I had the moolah to transport me and my friends to whatever locale happens to be sunny.

Fortunately NYE is in entirely different country, so I'm hoping the weather there is better at that time.

At least I have my money sorted! I've gone through my credit cards and paid off those that are due close to the time I'm away. One less worry! I have about $600 to spend for the rest of the month, not including the $1K savings that I've set aside.

After I'm back, I'll have to start the long, onerous process of doing my US taxes. It will be even more awful this year because I started my taxable investment fund. Lord knows how complicated that will make the forms.

I just calculated that I have made approximately $660 extra bucks from renting out my garage, though! That is awesome and completely passive income.

Networking Question

I know I'm supposed to network, but how do you do it, really? Especially as I'm going to be looking for a new job soon, I have really tried to make inroads to various groups of people in the US who are doing what I want to be doing.

Last September, a friend invited me to a lunch/tour of an organization that her friend was in. Now, this organization hosts my dream job in the perfect location--only a few hours away from my parents, in a thriving city, etc. The job would be in my preferred field, making a difference, incorporating outreach and scientific collaboration, etc. Everything I could ask for. My friends' friend toured us around the facilities and introduced us to the group working there. They are fantastic, from what I can tell. The people are also really laid back, nice, fun, and casual, but very smart and hard working, on the cutting edge of science. I had a good time while having lunch with these people, and followed up with several of them with emails and LinkedIn connections after I returned to NZ. I didn't mention that I was planning to look for a job (their job!) yet.

Recently, a friend in NZ met one of the people I met in September while she at a conference in our field. He fell ill while there, and she told me all about it. We were sad about it, because he was so nice, and wanted to know if he was any better.

So I wrote an email to one of my new networking buddies at his organization to check up on him and to pass along my well wishes, as well as wish her happy holidays. Was that appropriate? How do you keep in contact with people you've met just once and want to keep in your network? I'm a bit socially awkward normally, so I really don't know if that was even an appropriate gesture.

And at what point do I ask them for a favor, to keep me in mind for any job openings in their organization? Should I move back and then tell them? Or should I start now, four months before I can even entertain the thought of moving?

Up a Volcano

Last night I continued my streak of daily exercise. I've been running, but needed to give my muscles a break, I thought. So I decided to climb my local volcano, Mt Eden, as I have done in the past. Without trying, I scaled it and got back home in an hour. It usually takes me a little bit longer than that. Last night I was able to climb it in one shot--no breaks at all. I usually have to catch my breath halfway up and at the top. So it is nice to know that my endurance and strength has improved.

For the first time since starting to run, though, my right IT band and knee were hurting last night. I thought only running made it hurt? Maybe it is delayed onset soreness, but I don't know. I will do a short walk tonight just to keep momentum, but make it very easy, just in case.

I did take a few seconds to appreciate and scan the view and sunset while continuing to hike. It is a gorgeous view. I'm going to miss that, and the opportunity to literally climb mountains every day, when I leave NZ.

Love NZ's smallness, sometimes

One of my favorite AND least favorite things about NZ is how small it is. I'll focus on the good, today. The opportunities to do great things exist here, simply because there's no competition and at some point, they just need bodies. I've noticed that if you are half-way competent, you get all sorts of crazy awards. This guy I know who would be less than mediocre in the US has won prestigious, internationally recognized awards, gotten a billion in funding, about 12 overseas fellowships, and has been fast-tracked to tenured professor after about 3 years on the job. It is ridiculous--all he does is show up and sound half way smart. I know this guy professionally and personally, and he doesn't give a $hit--most of his evenings and life are spent drinking. There's no way he would have gotten as far as he has if he weren't in NZ...

Another consequence of its tinyness is that when there is a big name in town, there is a good chance you're going to run into them. Take my friend, C, for example. A few weeks ago she ran into a drummer for a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR I'd cut off a finger to hang out with band out at a nightclub, and ended up swapping numbers and getting free tix and back stage passes to his concert. 

Another friend parties with the All Blacks, while yet another is close friends with the millionaire owners of the Coffee Club, a majorly successful coffee chain across NZ and Oz.

Yesterday, I had my own run-in with a MAJOR rap star that is blowing up the charts right now, and whose album has been selected for all sorts of top 10 of 2012 lists. Out shopping, I notice that the girl in front of me is totally freaking out, OMG OMG OMG style. I have just passed three african american dudes, which is totally weird enough in NZ for me to take notice, as I have barely seen just one black American in NZ, let alone three all in the same place. (For some reason, African-Americans just don't come to NZ. I don't know why, but they are totally under-represented here, while white Germans are very over-represented. Coming from an area with nearly a 1:1 ratio of blacks to whites, it feels odd here in NZ, and I really miss that culture and diversity around me.)

Anyway, this girl is freaking out about the three dudes I had just nonchalantly passed. I actually thought of asking them where they were from, since they are obviously so out of place here in NZ and obviously fellow Americans, but thought better of it as they were videotaping themselves speaking loudly making fun of the clothes in the store, and smelled of weed. No need to engage...or so I thought. The girl starts practically hyperventilating. She goes up to the shortest dude, and says, "I am your biggest fan...I l-love you!" He is totally awesome about it, and says, "Really? What's your favorite song?" She answers and he asks her to sing it with him. She starts horribly rapping his lyrics at him in a trembly voice. It was hilarious!! I not only didn't know who the guy was, I didn't really care to make an idiot of myself about it.

And then I recognized the lyrics. I had just downloaded this guy's album last week and was listening to it, non-stop! This guy was amazing! So he and I had a decent conversation about New Zealand and the stuff he should see while he was here. The initial fan girl was shooting me eye-daggers, because I was so chilled out and normal, I guess, and had ruined her moment. Ah well, he jetted with his posse (who I later realized was on stage with him during his shows) as soon as he could after the girl got her iphone instagram photo. I think he's used to being bum rushed wherever he goes now and was afraid she'd start a screaming riot.

And all that happened just on a short 15 minute shop in my neighborhood on my way home from work. :)

http://youtu.be/nLCqSMDEQsA

Bullying at Work

I'm currently working with a bully. He is kind of a big name in my field, but I think he is using that to intimidate us into doing certain things. The rest of my group is all women, and I think he thinks he is above us.  I was stoked to invite him to be a part of my little group (of which I am the head), and was even more stoked when he agreed to help us out on a project. But there have been all these surprises. For example, when he agreed to help, he was coming over to NZ from overseas for a conference anyway. When he arrived, he informed us that he expected us to pay for his hotel and food and all incidentals, etc., even though this hadn't been discussed beforehand. For us, it was more like, oh, you're coming anyway, why don't you join us for this field campaign we are doing, since it is in your area of expertise? But we accommodated him, because he is a big name, and because we truly thought he'd be a big help.

Well, then he got here and went totally rogue on us. Half of his data isn't even useful because he didn't follow our prescribed protocol for collecting the data. In science, you have to have a rationale, a strategy to collect data, in order to compare datasets accurately. So that sucked.

We're writing up a paper based on results, and the rest of us have worked on it since February of this year. Last week, we sent him a nearly finished draft to get some of his edits and input. He's next to last on the authorship list. I ordered the authors based on fairness--who contributed what. For example, I demoted myself from first author because I honestly felt I didn't contribute as much as one of my co-authors. And the last author is my boss, because all she did was come up with the original idea for the project and put up the money for it. The other two women and I (mostly me) did all the planning, writing, data collecting and processing, etc., for the past two years on the project. Anyway, this guy decides to ask for third author rights, even though he did absolutely nothing on the paper until now, and even now all he did was just add a bunch of his papers to the references list and insert citations to his own work. Easily, he contributed the least, aside from my boss. He stated that he helped us come up with the idea and worked hard in the field and therefore deserved it and all sorts of nonsense. It is ridiculous--we came up with the idea of how to do the project on our own, before he even published any of his studies, and easily overworked him in the field--he gave up halfway through one day while the rest of us kept working for another two days.

Because he is a big name, though, one of my co-authors decided to acquiesce to his demand without telling the rest of us. She bumped another author (not herself) down to meet his demand, and the original third author woman was really surprised, as was I. I made my case and I could tell that my co-author felt very persuaded by him. Basically, he bullied her into it. I can't stand that entitlement attitude! Just because he knows we're a nice group of women and he is slightly above us on the academic totem pole, it feels like he took advantage. Not good! In the end, my co-author listened to my pleas to rectify the situation and I offered to take the blame. I guess you could say that I bullied her back into the original order. But that didn't benefit me at all, so I felt justified in it.

Lesson learned: big names = big egos. I just wish the world was fairer. For my part, I'll try to keep it that way in my little corner, no matter what it takes, even if it is to the detriment of my career. Karma has to come into play somewhere, right?

Making Running Fun

I've run the past three evenings, even though I have major deadlines. I just love the Zombies, Run! app! I can't wait to hear more of the story and outrun zombies. I got caught and eaten tonight, though, somehow. I was running for my life, literally, and then all of a sudden: "Items dropped. Zombies distracted." = that means that they've got you.

One way it doesn't work is that I am so focused on not getting eaten that I save up energy in case there is a zombie chase suddenly. That means I don't always run when I'm supposed to (I've also downloaded a Bridge to 10K trainer that tells me when to run and when to do a walking interval), instead I save my running for when there is a zombie chase.

Oh well. At least it is getting me out there. I should hold off a little bit, though--I don't want to over-train. I am going to have to skip my cross training of yoga and pilates and dance for the next few weeks while I'm out of town for holiday fun.

Zombies, Run!

Haha. This past week, although I didn't do any running, I did install a few running apps on my phone and transfer some music over. I have exactly one pair of running pants with a pocket, meaning I can use my smartphone while on a run as long as those are clean. This has many, many advantages, and a few disadvantages...

Advantages:

1. Several free apps are available to track your distance, time, speed, etc. I tried Nike+ Runner, and it totally bombed on my phone. I tried RunKeeper tonight and it seemed to do OK. This is really great.
2. GPS tracking! Lovely.
3. Workout training programs are available through the apps. I hope to complete a 10K one.
4. You can listen to your playlists on your phone, just as you can your mp3 player.
5. You can pay for several apps to make your running life more interesting, such as Zombies, Run! More on that later.

Disadvantages:

1. My smartphone is way bigger and heavier than my mp3 player, so I have to wear my one pair of workout pants that has a pocket with it. I don't have a clip or armband yet. 
2. It is a PAIN PAIN PAIN in the butt to transfer music from my computer to my phone. They suggest using WinAmp for several running apps, but I couldn't figure out how to get my playlists on Windows Media to WinAmp and to my phone. Playlists don't transfer over for some reason, instead I had to find each song in my workout playlist and put it in a folder to be transferred over, and THEN name the list of songs as a playlist. PAIN.
3. I can't forward through songs I don't like, or change the volume, as my phone is in a pocket near my waistband on my back. 

But somehow I made it through and did a little running this afternoon. I did mostly interval work, though, which feels totally wimpy compared to 35 minutes of non-stop running. I went almost the same distance as I did last Saturday, but walking half of it. 

I also tried out Zombies, Run! tonight. It was interesting and fun, and I think I'll keep on using it for fun runs (partly because I paid about $10 for it), but it didn't really motivate me or suit my interval schedule very well. For example, I had to do a sprint interval and just at the end of it, while I was winded, I had to run even faster to get away from some zombies that were closing in on me. The moans of the undead definitely spurred me on for a few minutes, but it didn't exactly fit my workout plan. The rest of the time, I could have just walked and the ZR! program wouldn't have cared at all. It required about 5 to 10 minutes of running, total, I think.

So, all in all, this running thing is pretty fun. No soreness to speak of, just some tightness a day after I run. It is very odd, because I'm usually really sore after any sort of workout, and I'm definitely pushing myself. Maybe I am doing better at correcting my stance and running profile?

It's beginning to look a lot like summer...

...eeeeeeeverywhere you go.

I've been in NZ for 5 Christmas seasons now, and I still can't get used to it. How can I? It's shorts and t-shirts weather, and I'm supposed to believe that Xmas is only 10 days away?! Nonsense!

Oh but it is glorious outside! Last weekend it was so beautiful out, and I announced to all of my friends that summer had finally arrived! And this weekend it has been just as nice. I wore shorts for the first time since being at home in the US during the US summer.

I miss running, though. I didn't get to this past week, due to 18 hour a day work schedules that kept me in the lab and barely sleeping 3 hours a day. Can you say MAJOR DEADLINES? I could barely think, let alone have energy for a run. I went out for groceries today, and ended up walking my usual running route out of nostalgia. I think I may be getting slightly addicted to it.

I guiltily bailed from work an hour early today (Saturday) to bask in the sunshine, at long last! I went out for food, and I think Christmas finally hit me. The warm weather, music, and sales had me wanting to shop!

The problem is, I'm not getting anyone presents this year. I don't know when I decided it, but that is what is happening. I usually get my mom, dad, sister, and a few close friends in the US and NZ gifts. Firstly, I'm not really talking to my sister (still). As for my mom and dad--while I was researching my ancestors, I made a game plan to try to get a family photobook together and give it to my Dad's side of the family by Xmas, but a crucial piece hasn't been located yet. I hope it does get found. As for close friends, if I see something they'd like, I buy it and send it to them randomly. It seems more natural than casting about for anything barely suitable when forced to by a holiday. I am spending the holiday with a good friend here in NZ, and while in the US this past September, I found something she'd love and brought it back to NZ. I'm saving it for our Christmas trip.

So I'm left with no shopping to do for Christmas.

I'm not a scrooge--I certainly don't expect to receive any gifts, either, and I'm happy to wish people happy holidays when appropriate. (Though it IS a little weird here, how they always wish you 'Happy Christmas' regardless of your possible religious affiliation. Are there no Jewish or other religions in NZ?! It feels so very un-PC to assume that everyone you meet is Christian and celebrates Christmas.) I just am not participating in the shopping craze this year. It feels awesome!

5K Dunzo!

The worst thing that can happen when you are about to start a run happened today--my mp3 player ran out of battery. I can't run without music!!! I mean, I have, but it is a slog, and I've been lagging this past week, so I knew I needed some motivation.

I decided to try out my smartphone on a run. It is too big and heavy to run with all the time, I think, but it may do OK once in a while. I downloaded Nike+ Runner to try it out, and then downloaded Jango to have music. Pandora doesn't work on smartphones in NZ--BLAST IT! But Jango was fabulous. It didn't drain my battery and hardly used any bandwidth. Nike+ was a real loser. It just crashed every time I tried to start my run, but my phone said the app was still open. I uninstalled it as soon as I got home.

Today I went out for about an hour, running at least 37 of those minutes. I did a 6 minute warm up (.7 km) and about 15 minutes of cool down. I was trying to get to 5 km today, but didn't really map it out beforehand. I added a huge hill towards the latter half of my run, running down and back up it. I'd thought I'd have to start walking while climbing back up the hill, but somehow I had enough gas to make it up to the top again. More on how far I ran when I can get mapmyrun to work...

I ran 5.24 km! I did that in those 37 minutes. That's about 8.5 km/hour. Obviously, that isn't very fast. I did have to wait at a lot of stoplights/crossings, but I'm not going to lie--it was a hard one today. But I've done my 5K now! Yayeee!

I want to start adding sprints and intervals to my running to try to get better times. In 2002 or so, I did a 5K in under 30 minutes. I'd love to get back in that shape.

It makes me think that if I continue, I could definitely do a 10K in March with my friend.

If I'm not sore from this one, I'm not sure what is going on. Luckily, I definitely felt sore just after my run.

I also had a manicure and pedicure today, to prepare for summer! It was at a kind of discount place but it was still more splurging and luxuriousness/pampering than I usually allow myself to partake in. Hopefully I can just maintain the red toenail polish for the rest of the season. (My fingernails are already chipped, as I knew they'd be, but I chose a nude color so it doesn't show as much.)

[ETA: This 5k run, although I'm proud of it, was a BAD idea. I have a workout hangover like no other right now. Fever, extremely sore throat, raging headache, and joint pain, to the max. My mono flare up/whatever I have is NOT happy with me.]

Training Run

It was rainy and horribly humid today, but I went on my training run with my runner friends this evening. Another non-runner friend joined, and so it didn't end up being very hard-core, except that it was raining and I've never run in the rain before!

We did about 3 km in 28 minutes or less. I wasn't really paying attention. There were a lot of other people around, so it was a kind of constant sprint then slow down kind of run, with a few walks in there for the other non-runner friend.

Like usual, I had a hard time getting going, but once I was about 1 km into it, all was well.

Even though it wasn't as strict as I expected, I'm glad I did it. Running with friends is so much easier and more interesting. The other half of it is that you're running at a different pace than you would by yourself, and I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to keep up, or that I'd look terribly out of shape, but the trade off is good.

One friend said that she thought I could handle the much longer 9 km race in March with her. We'll see...

Monday Work Out Confessional

Time goes by so fast!

Yesterday (Sunday) I did nothing. I wasn't even sore from my unintended 4.4 km run on Saturday! My muscles were tight on Sunday, and they are slightly tight today, but nothing major. How'd that happen?! I am hoping I have the correct running form and that is why, but I don't know how that happened, because I don't feel like I'm doing anything differently than usual, and usually I have very sore IT bands, particularly on my right side. But this past week? Nope, nothin. Weird.

I moved up my training run on the real race course to Wednesday, so that will happen then. It just made sense since I've hit my goal of running 3 km in 30 minutes, and have done it at least twice now, with no soreness. I am running with a few runner friends on Weds. and hopefully they can push me/advise me/etc. I'm excited to see how I do!

Today (Monday) I am scheduled to do yoga, but work needed me to do something so I missed the class. I was going to go run after work, but I ran into some problems (at work) and I ended up working til 10 pm. I didn't have time to eat enough before going on a run. I would have passed out. I came home and ate dinner just now (nearly 11 pm).

Oh, so it's back to the usual grind today, I guess: I only have enough time/energy during the day for a proper workout or a proper work day. Since my training run is Wednesday, maybe I should take it easy tomorrow (Tuesday?). I don't know.

I was able to fit in a short (20 min.) yoga session tonight after dinner settled, but that was it. It hardly counts, but I'm counting it!!

Treating the blog as a fitness journal is working well for me.

Saturday Workout

Well, I ran today again! Despite really, really not wanting to. I was supposed to run 2.5 km today. I don't know what is going on, but I'm losing all motivation and have been extremely tired the past couple of days. And my stomach huuuurrrrttsss! It could be those vaccinations, the typhoid pills, or maybe hormones. All, likely...

But I did it! Actually, I meant to run only 2.5 km, but since I didn't put my ortho-k lenses in last night, I didn't catch the street name where I was supposed to turn around, and I blew past it. I ended up running 2.2 km one way...meaning I ran 4.4 km total, and walked another 1 km for warm up and cool down. Yikes! I am betting I am sore tomorrow! 4.4 km of running, outside! It took me 5 minutes to warm up, then 34 minutes to run the 4.4 km, so my running pace was about 7.5 km/hr. (Hmmm...I'm a little hesitant to believe all that. I wonder if Google maps is all that accurate for short distances?)  In any case, I definitely did 3 km in 30 minutes. If I'm not sore from today, I'll need to look at upping my game, distance and time wise.

Workout Fridays and Sundays...

I'm not sure what to do on Fridays, workout-wise.

I'd been preparing to be Very Sore after my 30 minute run on Thursday evening, but I wasn't sore at all on Friday and I'm not sore today (Saturday). I guess treadmill running is just much easier on the body! I hadn't planned on doing any running on Friday, since I'd be sore. But then I wasn't, and there aren't any fitness classes I'm interested in that day, so I did nothing. In the end, I didn't run because was very very tired--probably from the polio and tetanus/diptheria shots (the injection sites are still sore and achy), and the typhoid pill regimen I started on Friday morning. It is a weak dose of the virus, so my body is probably busy fighting them all off and making antibodies. The typhoid pills have been known to give people some feelings of being ill, and I was definitely a little nauseated yesterday (not 100% today, either).

Sundays are also a rest day with no classes available. I don't think that's good--I want to do something every day!

But for future weeks, I have to come up with a plan for Fridays and Sundays. If the weather is good, I can always walk outside or climb a volcano, I suppose. But what if it's rainy? or cold? I'll have to come up with a plan...

I have to run 2.5 km this evening as per my schedule! This Friday is the big test day, where I go around the race course to check it out. I made a date with a runner friend so I stick to my schedule and push myself to be able to run with him this week.

2013 Financial Goals

In 2013, my tentative plan is to move back to the US. JUST as I get settled in and think I have everything sorted, of course I plan to make a huge change. 

This move will require quite a bit of capital, but I've started preparing for that eventuality already. I have my first $5K for my first Roth investment saved (YAY!!), and I have another $4K USD to throw at moving expenses (soon to be $6K if all goes well with savings for the rest of 2012), as well as airmiles and another $3K NZD saved for flights. So, I'm going to say that my move is taken care of, financially, at least. I'm not going to worry about it--after all, I have plenty of experience moving now, and I've moved under much worse circumstances: once as a poor college student with a tiny income, once $11K in debt with no job, friends, car, or home, and internationally with no job and very little saved up. I am confident that I got this. On to the goals!

1) Review 2012 spreadsheets and revise budget for 2013. DONE January 2013

2) Save $3K NZD in my 2014 US Trip Fund by April 2013. I do this every year. If I move this won't even be necessary and will be used to help me move and settle in again. I should be able to do this by April. DONE March 2013

3) Increase automatic long-term savings allotment to at least $600 a month: $250+/month (taxable account), $175+ (Europe Fund), and $175+ (House Downpayment Fund). DONE Jan 2013

4) As soon as my 2014 US Trip Fund is complete, I'll split the monthly overages to my Europe, House Downpayment, and taxable account funds to buy Vanguard Admiral shares to get lower expense ratios by the end of the year. NO--moving or salary decreasing :(

5) Review my insurances (will probably cancel my expensive renter's insurance) and financial and will and trust documents to make sure all is up to date as possible. Renter's insurance: CANCELLED as of May 2013; other insurances to be renewed in July; will and trust docs to be reviewed in September when I am home on vacation. Insurances renewed October 2013; will and trust docs need to be reviewed

And, as usual,

6) Track every penny and stay out of debt.

That's it! Six relatively easy financial goals! For the entire year! Everything else I can think of is done. It's just taking care of life from here on out: paying cc bills, monthly savings summaries and tracking net worth, and filing my federal taxes. I have a feeling something will happen to shake things up, but until then: autopilot.

My non-financial goals will be much more difficult to figure out/achieve.