In January, I had four goals for the year. They were simple, attainable (mostly), and they were going to happen. This is the segment from last year's post at about this time.
Goals
- My dad and I are running a 5K in May. We run but we don't enter races. This is a motivating tactic to expand our training and general running practices. A 5K isn't much but races are scary. So we're starting small.
- Achieve 3.5GPA for both my semesters this year. I was close last semester and still might make it as I'm still waiting on one mark. This might be a bit of a stretch but having the aim on the outset of the semester gives me motivation to work hard from start to finish.
- Save tuition for my fall semester at Regina. This is a bigger deal because the school to which I'm transferring doesn't hold the provincial support and subsequent tuition subsidization as the school I now attend. So because I live at home and have generally small needs it's attainable but saving money still requires a decision every month to put that chunk of money away.
- Take my Harmony 4 exam in May or August. That's a vein of classical music theory. The variance in time depends on my teacher. She'll decide when I'm not too stupid to actually write the exam. Oh bless her heart for dealing with me. She's wonderful.
So, I look back, and I think, pretty darn good, Hannah, pretty darn good.
Come February, I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle. Just before this, I came across a book called (I'm not kidding about the title of this book) Half-Marathon: You can do it! I thought it was funny because, as if. Also, no I couldn't run a half-marathon. But as it turned out, I really could. The plan was simple and something I could probably stick to. I looked up the race info on the Queen City Marathon and decided to sign up. I'm always motivated by paying money to do something. If I've paid for it, it's going to happen. A combination of Suzy, CandyCorn, and my cell phone, ended with a ridiculous week off of work and my introduction to the Virgin Suicides. It also put training on hold. Four weeks out of commission, I was concerned. But my dear friend Jenn, convinced me that I would bounce back, and to just give it time. I listened.
In March, my best friend had her baby. PAISLEY!!!! Talk about the best thing to ever happen to my life. Legit. She is so amazing. Both Paisley and her mom. Motherhood is kind of crazy right? How do you even approach motherhood? But Karlie's been seriously killing it. And Paisley is a healthy, hilarious and brilliant baby. I am so beyond blessed to have her in my life.
This was at the beginning of August.
This was at the beginning of December. She is too much.
Fast-forward to April, school finally ended for the year. I did not meet my hoped for GPA of 3.5. I did however nail down a solid method of studying psych and embracing objective fields of study.
May allowed for an amazing change of pace - employment wise. I got the summer student position doing children's programming at the Library, where I work anyway. So I got to go on leave from my current position, which was sweet. As weird as it is to be a part of a union, there are a lot of super boss things about it. Also! the first degree I did was a BA in Ministry. This, I recognize, is a weird major. People often say, "so you could, like, be a minister?" And I respond, "well, yes, but mostly I learned the dynamics and intricacies of doing children's programming. So it's nice to know that I get, every once in a while, to put that to use. Anyway, the position itself, spread over thirteen weeks was kind of sucky but it provided extra funds for the fall semester, another goal, so you know, two down.
Come August, I had been doing training for the half marathon for about two months. It wasn't going super well. I had put my gym membership on hold for two months because I figured I would just run outside, but unless I ran at night, the sun was far to hot and murderous to run at all. I was consistent enough with my long runs to feel about 50% confident, which wasn't exactly what I'd hoped for. The eleventh of August brought about my Harmony IV exam. In the world of classical music, this is pretty advanced, and after struggling through a good measure of my time with my instructor, it was truly as advanced as I was going to get. I wrote the exam and called her after to say that we might have gotten lucky. I think I for sure passed and I might have even gotten honors! At this level, you have to get honors to move on to higher levels of study. I was kind of hoping to get one or two marks below honors to ensure I couldn't continue. I got my grade back on September 12th, however, and I did indeed achieve honors; four marks higher than necessary. This felt like a major fluke, but whatever man. At that moment in time, I killed that crap.
At the start of September, I began my fourteenth semester of undergraduate work at the University of Regina. I've been doing this a while, so I don't really care anymore how all of this goes down, but I noticed almost immediately, the difference of being in a classroom. Professors are amazing. 4/5 of my profs were just beyond great. One, I am willing to blame for not achieving (yet again) my hoped for 3.5 GPA, but I did a bunch of personal bests grade wise on individual assignments as well as a few exams. So I'm satisfied. I also had an incredible philosophy professor, who convinced me, simply through is presence and a little bit of his teaching, that philosophy is the best thing ever. So I've decided on a philosophy minor/will probably finish the degree over the next decade. Ha.
Also in September, I raced the Queen City Half Marathon. This was quite the experience. I was so nervous the day before. I felt like I was going to my ultimate doom and Darth Vader's theme song was following me around all day long. I was also super sensitive and felt like whining "you guuyyysss, just leave me alone! I'm going to die tomorrow!" But the day came. I painted my nails, and suited up, to run forever. And I survived. Handily. I came in 9 minutes slower than my goal time, but my goal time was already a bit of a stretch. There are people all along the course that take pictures of you and then dangle those pictures over you, wanting you to pay for them, and I'm like, no way man. I'm gonna screen shot that.
It was just so fun you guys. So much more fun than I ever knew was possible.
I'm pretty sure I'm passing Paisley here. She was crying so hard. But I was so happy she came.
I call this my hardcore finishers face.
Like, as if right? Look at her sad little face. And look at me and Karlie laughing at her. Hahahaha.
And that covered the goals I had for last year. I feel like it might have been my best year yet. Possibly because I had actual goals to work toward, but mostly because of Paisley. Ill be back tomorrow to tell you about my plans for 2013! Not that I really truly know what they are yet.
I'll make some up.
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