Final Report on 2012 Goals

I struggled a lot last year (Jan - Dec 2011).  We had just moved 1279 miles away from the only home I ever knew.  I missed my hometown, my family, my friends, our house in the mountains, the Anthropology department at UCCS, wide open spaces, sidewalks, the dramatic landscape and vast amounts of public land; I really missed everything.

My Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Source: Wikipedia.org

During our first several months in Circleville, we lived in a tiny flea-infested apartment.  I was a newbie at managing fleas (they don't live in Colorado).  I failed at getting rid of them despite bombs, fogging, and cat bath attempts.  We weren't planning to stay in that apartment forever, but it was hard to be positive.  Dusty worked 50 hours a week, but I couldn't find a job for the first five months.  I spent many lonely days in that apartment fending off boredom with Netflix and Sims and feeling sorry for myself.  When the weather was nice enough to go outside, I realized that my neighborhood had no sidewalks and there were no parks to go to that weren't strictly ballparks.  

The weather was especially hard to adjust to.  The sky was always grey.  The humidity was heavy in the air.  My favorite time of day was evening when the fireflies came out, but even then I was attacked by mosquitoes.  Rain showers lasted for hours and hours.  The electricity supply was inconsistent.  

I was unable to make friends in our new little town.  I felt really... different, like a real foreigner.  I was waiting to become a state resident before going back to school.  I couldn't talk to people without bringing up Colorado.  It was all I knew, and with Colorado I compared everything in Ohio.  I had too much free time to think about all that was wrong with our new home.  It was really hard for me to stay optimistic when I was unable to find work, and I had trouble relating to my small-town neighbors.

Circleville, Ohio
Source: www.ci.circleville.oh.us

I was depressed, but I decided to use my free time to invest in my health.  I joined the YMCA and discovered that I love to run on the treadmill.  I found a good primary care physician who introduced me to the rest of my healthcare team: my nutritionist, physical therapist, gynecologist, and endocrinologist.  In March, I began taking powerful medications to regulate my hormone disorders.  I continued therapy sessions over the phone with my mental health counselor in Colorado.

I started to find things to be grateful for.  Tornado sirens were neat; I actually liked hearing them because they were different.  I found solace keeping our bird feeders stocked and watching the astonishing variety of birds that visited our porch.  I saw my first cardinal.

In May, I was hired to sell electronics at Sears, and finally had a place to be and people to socialize with.  Eventually I started to feel more comfortable with Dusty's Ohio family, and by the end of 2011, I had registered for classes at Ohio State University and was looking forward to a productive and happy 2012.

On January 1, 2012, I posted these goals.  Some I've accomplished, others I have not.  I never really know how each year will be.  However, because of the steps I took in 2011 to improve my life, the year of 2012 has been a pretty terrific one.  Since I have consciously been working on self-improvement, I believe each year has been better than the last.

So, here is the list of goals I wanted to accomplish in 2012.

2012 Goals:

1. post these goals on my blog (January 1)
2. give an update after my birthday (June 16)
3. give a final report at the end of the year (December 31)
4. write as many blog posts as I wrote last year (21/45)
5. begin a regular exercise program (April)
6. plant a flower garden
7. plant a veggie garden
8. build a snowman  (no snow!) 
9. fly a kite
10. carve a jack o'lantern (October 20)
11. read 12 books (19/12)
12. go on a day-hike of 5+ miles 
13. visit a zoo 
• Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (July 2)
14. visit an art museum 
• Columbus Museum of Art (January 5) 
• Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati (January 16)
• Wexner Center for the Arts (June 14)
15. visit an aquarium  (April, July)
16. finish painting the bathroom  (November 20)
17. unpack all of our boxes 
18. put a guest bed in the guest room (October 11)
19. bake goodies and give them away for no particular reason 
20. donate to NPR  (June)
21. pick another borrower to lend to on Kiva.org 
22. buy, borrow, or rent a canoe and take it out on a lake by myself
23. join a club
• English Language Partnership Program
• Women's Glee Club
• Adopt-A-School
• Roundtown Ringers
24. take a road trip to Niagara Falls and cross the border into Canada for the first time 
25. visit my beloved Colorado (May 24 - 29)
26. play on the beach (any beach!)
27. mail four unexpected letters/cards
28. visit five unique parks, museums, historical sites, etc. 
• Columbus Museum of Art (January 5) 
• Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (January 16) 
• The Topiary Park, Columbus (January 17)
• Purple People Bridge, Cincinnati (April) 
• Garden of the Gods (May 25)
• Wexner Center for the Arts (June 14)
29. go camping
30. volunteer 25 hours (210/25)
• 10 hours as a Classroom Assistant, tutoring 7th Grade English
• 200 hours as a Match Grant Intern at World Relief Columbus, assisting refugees with job readiness training and placement
31. enter a photo contest
32. attend an American Indian gathering 
33. add five counties to my list of U.S. counties visited
34. complete 12 courses at Ohio State (14/12)
• Music Cultures of the World 
• Women's Glee Club (x3 terms)
• Phonetics 
• Intro to Fiction 
• College Survey 
• U.S. Colonial Literature
• British Literature
• Disability Studies
• Evolution: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
• Cultural Conflict in Developing Nations
• Orientalism: Contemporary Views of the Ancient Near East
• Probability, Data, and Decision Making
35. maintain 3.0+ GPA (3.02)
36. attend the Circleville Pumpkin Show (October 18, 20)
37. preserve some of the harvest to enjoy during the winter 
38. vote in November elections (November 6)
39. complete all Christmas shopping by November 30th 
40. decorate the outside of the house with lights for Christmas (November 17)
41. mail all Christmas presents by December 15th
42. register and begin practicing for the GRE