Tag Archives: 2015

2015 Recap (or How I Did On My Goals)

Posted on December 31, 2015 | 1 comment

It’s the last day of 2015! The year went by super quickly and I can’t believe it’s New Years Eve tonight! First, I want to wish you all a happy new year. And if you are going to be out drinking tonight, please don’t drive.

Now it’s time to look back at my 2015 goals and see how I did.

The first goal that I set for myself was to do 175 workouts this year. Technically, at the time I’m writing this post it hasn’t been completed yet. But that’s because my 175th workout will be at 12:15pm today! I can’t believe that I made this goal! I had so many setbacks with being sick and injured and it seemed impossible for a while. But I really planned it out for the past few months to make sure I got in all the workouts that I needed and I got it done! Not only did I do my 175 workouts (by this afternoon), I made giant strides in my workouts. I’m lifting heavier and my form is so much better. I’m not just working out more, I’m working out harder and smarter. Those are important accomplishments to remember too.

My next goal was to have 4 home cooked dinners a week. This one I kind of failed at. I definitely got less take out and delivery than I have in the past, but I ate a lot of prepared and frozen meals. I guess it is the lesser of two evils, but making dinners myself would have been much better. I think saying that I would cook 4 dinners a week at home were a bit ambitious, but when I started bulk cooking I really thought I had found the perfect solution for me. But then life got in the way and I didn’t do it anymore. While I think that bulk cooking might be great for me, I need to figure out a better way to do it. Maybe only bulk cooking one part of the meal and then mixing it up will be better for me. Or only cooking 2 or 3 meals at a time and not 4 or 5. I’m not giving up on this idea, but I think I need to do some more baby steps.

Next on my 2015 goals was to be down to 2 main day jobs not counting babysitting and the film festival. I’m pretty much there with this goal. I have my 2 main day jobs both from home and I’ve added another sporadic day job doing box office work for an old boss of mine. But technically, I’m down to 2 jobs and I’m finally getting into a more stable place financially (although I’m not making as much as I’d like yet).

Next on the list is something I’m very happy that I was able to accomplish. It was getting into an improv class this year and I finally did it after having it on my goal list for several years! I’m so glad that I took the class at UCB and I keep checking the schedule to see if there is a 201 class that fits into my schedule (nothing yet and I technically don’t have the money yet). But even though I’m not signed up for 201, I still got the first class done and got over my issues with going back into an improv class!

I had also hoped to have traveled more this year. That goal was kind of accomplished by going to Napa and a couple of family trips to San Diego, but I don’t really think I can successfully check this one off the list. I’m taking steps on making sure I travel more in 2016 (I’ve already got 1 trip planned with my mom) but I know that I didn’t do as much traveling as I hoped to do in 2015.

And my final goal for 2015 was to keep blogging, which clearly I did!

I’d say that while I didn’t accomplish everything that I had hoped to do in 2015, I really did get a lot done and I definitely view 2015 as a successful year!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

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Was I Bold? (or Recapping How I Did With My Word Of The Year)

Posted on December 30, 2015 | 2 comments

For this year, I decided to do a word for the year for the first time. I was inspired by my fellow bloggers and decided to go for it. The word that I had decided on was “bold” and I really felt like it was the perfect word for me to use for 2015. Now that the year is about done, I’m looking back at my year and trying to think if I was bold.

I worked hard to remind myself to be bold when I could. I used the word as the background of my computer and used a similar graphic without the word as the background on my phone and iPad. So I was constantly reminded of it. There are still times that I feel like I can’t or won’t be bold, but I think I made a good effort at it.

Bold

The place where I think I was the boldest in 2015 was my acting career. I took new risks in my auditions and wasn’t afraid to make a wrong choice. I know that making an incorrect choice is really better than no choice at all. I decided that I was going to make each character strong in my mind and go with it full force. I know that not all my choices were right (and I didn’t book much this year), but I know that casting directors will remember me for being prepared and taking a risk. So many auditions of mine are in offices that I’ve been in before, so I know that they like me as an actor. It just might have been in the past that the part wasn’t right for me.

Not only was I being bolder in my auditions which allowed me to leave the audition room feeling better, I was bold in my actions outside of performing in the acting world. I never would have thought of running as a SAG-AFTRA delegate in the past, but this year when I was asked to do so I said yes before I could talk myself out of it.

Running as a delegate wasn’t always easy (some of the hate messages I got still are stuck in my head), but I’m so glad that I did it. I met some amazing people and I really had the best time at the National Convention. I’m actually sad that the National Convention isn’t every year. I don’t know if I’ll run for local or national board in the next elections (I’ve got plenty of time to think about that), but there’s no question that I’ll be running as a delegate again. The education that I got about the union during the convention was invaluable and I know that it will make me a better union member for it.

I was also bold in working on overcoming my eating disorder this year. I got a new therapist and I’m now trying medication to help me win this battle. I’m still in the depths of my battle and it feels at times that I will never get over my eating disorder, but I’m done being a victim of it. I’m working hard at it and hopefully sometime soon my hard work will pay off.

Finally, I think I was bold in my social life. Not in the sense that I was bold as a person at events but in the sense that I stopped being scared of saying no to an event and staying home. While I’d love to go out every time that someone has a fun event, sometimes I need to be at home for the evening. I might be tired or not feeling well or I might just not feel up for it and don’t want to force myself to go. But I don’t care anymore about missing things. Sometimes I wish that I could go, but I’m not feeling like I’m missing out on things as much as I did in the past. So saying no is a bold choice.

I’m still finalizing what my word for 2016 will be and I’ll be sharing that next week. But I’m really happy how I embraced bold as my word for 2015 and the results that I got from it!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Be Bold (or My Word For 2015)

Posted on January 9, 2015 | 3 comments

I’ve seen several other bloggers do a post for their word of the year. I didn’t think much about it at first, but then I noticed more and more people doing it. So I thought about it for a while and decided to have a word for 2015.

And this is what I came up with.

IMG_4430

My word for 2015 is bold. Or more specifically, be bold.

I’ve never been a shy person, but I’ve noticed that I’ve been quieting myself down lately. I didn’t want to be seen as aggressive, boasting, or bragging. But then I realized that all the things I was scared of sharing were positive changes that I’ve made in my life.

I should be embarrassed or ashamed to share my workout or food successes. When I have a great audition or book something, I want to do it without worrying that people are thinking I’m full of myself.

But my fears of sharing things really doesn’t have to do anything with anyone else. It was my fear of how others would perceive me.

But in the second half of 2014, I started to be more vocal about the things that are going well in my life. And I realized that not only were people not annoyed by them, they liked to see them! I’m still shocked every time that someone tells me how much they love reading my workout recaps or seeing my photos after I finished a crazy workout.

Now that I’m more comfortable being bold in my personal life, I’m trying to take this philosophy to my professional life. For so long I’ve seen friends put together amazing projects that I’d love to be a part of. But I always figured that if they wanted me to be a part of it, they’d ask me. But if I don’t ask, how would they know that I’m interested?

This really doesn’t count for major network shows (unless I hang out socially with the casting director for that show and even then it would be a little weird). But for friends who are putting together their own web series or movies, there’s nothing wrong with asking them privately if there are any parts in their project that I would be right for and I could come in and audition for.

I’m still a little scared to approach people about projects I want to be a part of, but that’s what I’m working toward this year.

Since I spend probably too much time at my computer (especially since that’s where I work from for my day job), I decided to change the background of my desktop from my favorite picture from Lake Tahoe to something that will remind me of my word of the year.

Screen Shot 2015-01-08 at 9.22.46 PM

You can see that my neat freak and OCD tendencies even manifest on my computer desktop. It’s actually messier than I’d rather have it.

I know that I set goals as well, but I feel like this is more like a theme for the year instead of specific goals.

Do any of you have a word for the year? I’d love to hear what your words are and why you felt like they were the right choice for 2015!

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What I Plan To Do This Year (or 2015 Goals)

Posted on January 1, 2015 | 5 comments

Now that I’ve reflected back on my 2014 goals and how well I accomplished them, I really thought hard about what I want my 2015 goals to be. I think I’ve got a good list going for this year and I’m excited to see how well I get them done over the next year.

My first goal is workout related. I want to get 175 workouts done in 2015. That’s pretty much 3-4 workouts every week of the year. I’m not allowing myself workout vacation time (even though my dad did suggest it). I’m sure a majority of the 175 workouts will be at Orangetheory. I have every intention of going at least 3 times a week (and trying to add in a 4th day every other week). But I’m also going to include any 5Ks that I chose to do this year as well as other fitness classes (SoulCycle and maybe trying yoga again). I will also consider including hiking, but I don’t think I’ll have a lot of hiking days except when I get to Tahoe in the summer.

My next goal is a food goal. I want to have home cooked dinners at least 4 times a week. Since I started bulk cooking, I’ve been eating something home cooked most weeknights. I usually prepare food for 4 nights and then on weekends I’m out. And many times on Tuesdays or Thursdays (when I don’t workout after my day job) I don’t necessarily eat dinner. I’ll have a big late breakfast (since my shift doesn’t start until 10am) and then have another bigger meal around 4 or 5pm. Both of those meals are home cooked, but I don’t know if it counts as dinner. So I’m saying home cooked dinners 4 nights a week. If I do more than that, all the better for me.

Next is a day job goal. I want to be down to 2 main day jobs (not counting babysitting or running the film festival). Right now, I have 1 main day job and 6 sporadic jobs. I don’t make enough each week (to the point that I’m still collecting unemployment to make up for the fact that I don’t make enough to not be eligible anymore) and this needs to end. I’m enjoying my box office from home job and if I made enough doing that job I’d be so happy. But I don’t think that will be a reality even with the raise we are supposed to get this year. And while I love being able to make some extra money babysitting, I don’t see that as something that will make enough to make up for what I’m lacking. So I need to find one more steady day job that has regular hours to help me make enough to pay all my bills comfortably. There is a chance to make the film festival another main day job, but there is no guarantee with that.

And I’ve made this a goal in the past, but I really want to get into an improv class this year. I think that now that I feel secure with my day job and have a steady schedule with it, I will be able to pick out a class time that will work for me. I’m working on saving up the money for the class right now.

Again, another repeat goal from last year, but I’d like to travel again this year. I have a trip to Napa planned in 2 months and I’m really looking forward to that. And there is a possibility of another New York trip in the fall this year. I don’t know if I’ll have any other trips (besides visiting my parents or grandparents) but 2 trips in one year sounds wonderful to me!

And my final goal which is a goal every year is to keep blogging. Not just on here, but on other sites as well. I freelance on two blogs and I’ve written a few guest posts on other sites. I had no idea when I started this blog how important and therapeutic writing would become for me. It’s an amazing journal of the past few years of my life and I love going back and reading some of my old posts to remind me how far I’ve come. And I can’t wait to track 2015 the same way.

So those are my main goals for 2015. And in a year, I’ll let you all know how I did with them.

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Travel, Weight Loss, Work

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