month end check-in just to keep me honest.
So far, things are looking pretty good.
1. I quit smoking "cold turkey" on January 5th and am going closing in on 2 months with no desire to smoke.
2 I also, have been using my LA Fitness membership.
Yes, I'm going to the gym almost every evening. For the month of February, my goal has been to add more exercises to my treadmill walking. I have to learn to take this slowly. I've had days when I pushed myself so hard and lost myself in my ipod music that I found myself exhausting my back. The harder workout has forced me to look at how bad I have been at making sure I eat well and sleep 7 hrs. I still see this as progress!!
3. My biggest success this month has been my Spanish studies. Yes! I have started watching a new telenovela "En Otra Piel" on Telemundo. I have the closed captioning on so I can read the Spanish and pick out words I am not familiar with to look up in my dictionary. I'm finding great success with this method. As the Spanish on television is sounding less like blah blah blah , I'm actually understanding more and more of what is being said. Somedays I leave the tv on Telemundo and listen. I have to admit, I'm becoming a big fan of "Caso Cerrado". I also got an I-phone app called "Duolingo". I love it. I'm creating my own version of Spanish immersion right here in Los Angeles! I'm slowly branching out into small conversations via text with friends and in person with a few neighbors. I am taking the long view on this goal but I feel I am making tremendous progress as I find the years of study I thought were lost are bubbling up to the surface of my mind.
It is strange, I got sick over the weekend and found myself with laryngitis all week. Not being able to talk much has had me listening more to everything. I had moments when I responded to things in my head in Spanish and was like "Wait! What just happened?" It was fun and weird but I guess not being able to speak has me craving self-expression anyway I can. :)
4. I have been getting a bit more social.
I treated a friend to go see a mutual friend perform in a play. It was a fun and interesting adventure into the heart of Hollywoood. I can't believe it would have actually have been more convenient to catch the mtero train from North Hollywood to Highland avenue. The theater was across from the Dolby Theater so parking was hellish. We still had fun.
I also made a point to meet friends I got together with this month at a neighborhood cafe called Priscilla's Gourmet Coffee and Tea shop. It was just a way to push me to go out and be social. Unfortunately, getting laryngitis this week made my monthly foodie adventure with my buddie Larissa fall off the schedule. Hey, it has been painful swallowing water so I simply would not have enjoyed any foodie outing.
5. I set up some goals to save for using my Capital one 360 accounts and have found this a smart way for me to get in the habit of saving toward things. I also have been using Mint .com to track my finances without any BS. It is a bit humbling learning to set a budget, learning to live within a budget, and recognizing how much I have been living beyond my means. Recognizing this, I have set small goals to reduce spending, pay off debts and gradually live beneath my means.
I have to say I am very proud I am finally getting my finances under control. This is a long term journey and it will take a while but I am creating new healthy habits in so many areas of my life, I can only be grateful!
Life is GREAT! Month 2 is ending but 10 more months left to grow and increase my JOY and NET WORTH!!!
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