Day 82

Wow, 82... hmm..

I have to admit my productivity has definitely increased within the past week. Not quite so many distractions and as school is getting closer (exactly a month away), I have my work cut out for me.

I received the reading list a couple of days ago and have begun to receive those books. I suppose I will add them to my book a week on here... which I have not kept up with, but will probably be able to fairly soon. I read a chapter out of each book that I've received today:

Singing and the Actor by Gillyanne Keyes
The New Music Theater by Salzman and Desi
The Actor and the Text by Cicely Berry

Although I am enjoying all of them (because I am a full-fledged geek), the most engaging and interesting to me has been Berry's. I almost feel like my journey to enlightenment (in a theatrical sense) has begun. There are things already that I agree and disagree with in these books, but at least they are thought-provoking enough for me to have an opinion? All this talk of theatre is getting me really anxious to get back out there and do it! I feel so stagnate this summer choosing to not audition for anything and just saving up money... which I don't by any means regret, it's just something I had to do.... London is not going to be cheap.

I've also gotten better about working out and have begun to start running again. Yesterday really reminded me how much I miss it. I suddenly felt ready to run another half-marathon. Wish I had the time cause I would sooooo train to run a full if I could. Hopefully I can kick my butt into better shape before school starts. Claire and I already have plans to do hot yoga and dance classes outside of school, so it'll be a very physical year for sure.

Working on Rosetta still. I was talking with Jimmy last night about it. I am SOOO much better at translating than speaking. Maybe it simply has to do with confidence?.. I dunno... I've already promised Sarah I would come see her in Berlin and Anna-Lena that I would visit her in Elspe... which means I would also have to go to Köln... cause well... I say that like I 'have' to...as in I wouldn't want to which is soooo far from the fact. I miss Köln. :( But...sidetracked, the point is, I would get to practice... if they will let me.. They always want to practice their English, so I will just need them to focus for me. lol.

Day 45

1781 Days to go...

Been pretty focused on getting London stuff taking care of. This is going to be a big move. Still haven't decided what I'm going to do with all my stuff. Yard sale maybe?

Been reading quite a bit.. adhd style, mind you. It's kind of gotten ridiculous... I have five books in my purse at the moment... It's starting to weigh me down. Hopefully I can focus enough to finish a particular one soon.

I haven't been exercising like I should... at all. So I guess I'm tattle-telling on myself right now. I have been eating healthy for the most part though.

Still doing Rosetta when I find time to... I really need someone to sit around and speak German with. Any takers?

Day 32

1794 Days to go...

Just finished reading Last Train to Nibroc by Arlene Hutton... who is actually Beth Lincks... Got the play from Beth back in 2007 at the American College Theatre Festival and have never read the entire thing, so I figured I'd start over. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Quite inspiring and it's loosely based on a true story which is always nice. I'm going to read the sequel soon. I believe she was writing a third play to follow those, but I'm not sure if it ever got finished. I did a play reading for her about two years ago with part of the unfinished script... hmm.

Speaking of theatre... this summer has been slightly depressing in that realm. I had decided from the get-go to just work all summer and not do any theatre... because, well, let's face it.. Nashville theatre doesn't pay hardly anything anyways... : / That's why I am getting out of here asap. BUT... it has been sad. Good thing I'll be immersed in it soon enough. : )

I went grocery shopping! Which means I'm eating super healthy again! Working on kicking my butt into better shape.

On top of reading, I need to up my "one movie a week" game... Definitely have not been sticking to that so I'll have to watch a few this week to make up for it.

Day 24

1802 Days left to go...

Wow, has time passed or what?

Can I just say that the past two weeks have been the most unproductive weeks of my life... but... completely productive in the sense that I have made some of the best memories ever. It was a very relaxing yet incredibly exhausting time that I couldn't recreate if I tried. I guess I can say that I made progress on my "Laugh Hard Everyday" goal...A nice last summer before moving to London, indeed.

Now-- This is where I would usually come back in and give some great goals to accomplish by the end of the week, but I'm going to have to hold off on that for now. The only goal from now until Sunday is to hear great music and have a great time with friends at Bonnaroo. When I get back though... It is ON like donkey kong.

I've also been spending a good amount of time trying to work out this ridiculous loan and student visa process for London. Not a fan...So much left to do before I go.

Since I last posted, I did finish reading Harry Potter. And I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Enough so to be about a third of the way through the second now. My book a week goal, however, will be mixed up a little bit--meaning I am determined that it will not just be Harry Potter books all summer...for variety's sake if nothing else. As far as writing goes, I've been working a bit, so most of my writing has been scribbles on a guest check at work... but that still counts, right?

When I get back from the Roo, hopefully the weather will be nicer as I plan to be hitting the trails full force and seeing how far I can run (yeah, I know, still haven't done that...procrastinating? I would say so).... It will be nice I'm sure.

Day Nine

1817 Days to go...

Well I said I would update, so here it goes...

I finished The Catcher in the Rye and am I thinking I don't think I finished it when I read it back in the day--that or my memory is fading.. which it always is. I thought the book was brilliant. There are still some issues that I haven't quite answered in my mind regarding the dynamics of the character though-- or rather if he was a dynamic character or not?? Regardless, the novel was genius and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. So much so that I was slightly sad when it ended. I wanted to know more about Holden's life... oh well. I hope to be a catcher in the rye.

In week two now and thinking I should get back to writing more. It hasn't seemed like I've accomplished an incredible amount this week, but I sure have kept myself busy with stuff...so much so that I haven't written much. This week I will. : )

Hoping to finish Harry Potter this week. I say that very ambitiously as I have only read two chapters, but I am determined. I am just so dang A.D.D... I've been reading so many other things on top of my "book of the week"... ha. I forgot how much I love poetry. I picked up one of my old books that I used to read poetry from called "Poet's Choice".. err something like that... It's basically a collection of the best poetry chosen by poets themselves and then discussed. It's a nice break from the day just to read a short poem for a few minutes that you can ponder on the rest of your day.

So, let's see-- things to focus on this week:
1) See how far I can run just for the heck of it
2) Practice guitar MORE... it's been hard to focus for some reason.
3) Write.

Day Eight

1818 Days to go...

Well a full first week on here has come to a close and I am looking forward to many more productive weeks ahead... : ) I have to admit that my productivity yesterday was not on these goals much at all other than reading Catcher... It was dedicated to catching up on the final season of Lost so I could make it to Ricardo's "Aloha to Lost Luau" last night... The series has come to an end... It was nice while it lasted... More updates soon....

Day Six

1820 Days to go...

Gonna make this quick, cause I've got some very special friends to hang with in a few....

Today was fairly productive. I watched my movie for this week!! "There's No Business Like Show Business"...beautiful... gotta love Irving Berlin... and Ethel and Marilyn, too I suppose.

Mein Deutsch is coming along as well!

I have to finish Catcher tomorrooooowwwww.....

Day Five

1821 Days to go....

On my fifth day now and I must say that it has already been quite rewarding. My progress in learning German has come quite a ways...not that I know it or anything, but I feel like I've learned a lot and have an overwhelming desire to do more. Since I didn't get to do much Stonin' (can i say that?) yesterday, I am planning to make up for it today. : )

I'll also practice some geeetar. I've been thinking that I want to add some sort of incredibly adventurous goal to my list, but haven't decided on it yet. Maybe backpacking through Europe?? too cliche'? hmmm... climb Mt. Everest?? nah. I've already been skydiving... maybe base jumping?? I dunno. Any ideas, cyberland??? Anyone out there???

Also looking for some books to read. I need suggestions.

It's coming to the end of the week, so I need to finish Catcher. I've been reading Harry along the way too, so it's slowed me down. I did finish Traveling Light, but I don't think I'll count that one as my one book a week, since it's a short poetry book.

I think the next task I need to incorporate more is songwriting. Whenever I actually sit down and focus and start writing, it feels wonderful. It's just getting over that huge bump. There's always an initial writer's block... don't know why. It's weird cause whenever I'm not trying to write and I'm in the worst possible place to do so (my car, for example), I always have so much to say... I've even tried to write things down while driving before.... I don't recommend that, kids.

Gotta start kicking my butt into better shape too if I wanna get that six-pack! ha! I haven't been running in quite some time now...and I think that is why I'm so afraid to do so. There was a point in time when I could run thirteen miles and be okay... I really should try to push myself sometime this week and see how far I can make myself run. I will definitely keep ya posted on that one... maybe! ha!

Day Four

I'm sleepy, but I felt I needed to update....

Today wasn't the most productive unless you look at the fact that my working a double helped my long-term goal of being financially stable?? ha....

I also read quite a bit this morning.

More tomorrow...

Goodnight.

Day Three

1823 Days to go....

Picked up that good ole Fender today. Very dusty and more out of tune than I've probably ever heard a guitar be. It was kind of depressing really. Practiced all the major chords. All I can say is F Major can go on with it's bad self... I am quite angry at that chord. The others I picked back up fairly quickly though. This is not going to be an easy feat however. My fingers just don't know how to do some of these things. : /

Read another book yesterday. A book of short poems called Traveling Light by David Wagoner. Quite interesting. I posted some of my favorites from the book on my other blog. It's kind of an adult book disguised as a children's book. I would definitely recommend trying it out.

Still reading The Catcher in the Rye... and decided to throw another book in the mix because I'm A.D.D. like that.... After much thought, I've decided to see what all the hype is all about with Harry Potter. I mean, really, people went nuts (and are still going..) over these books and I've never been interested in the least to read them, but my brother owns them all, so I figured 'why not?'. I think that's my new motto these days. So I read the first chapter yesterday. Decent so far. We will see how it goes....

Got my exercise in today by jumping on the trampoline for a while. What a stress reliever. No joke. Try it if you haven't. And if you don't have a trampoline, come on over. I will jump anytime, you name it.

Ich sprach mehr Deutscher heute. Also started a French lesson today on Rosetta Stone. I know, I know, I already told you that I'm A.D.D.... I'm not really sure how people go about learning languages... If two is one too many to learn at a time, but I figured...yes, you already know... why not??

Day Two

1824 Days left to go....

Yesterday I worked out and decided to start on a new book, since I'm reading at least one a week. I chose The Catcher in the Rye, mainly because A) it was staring at me from the top of my pile of books on my dresser and B) it's been so long since I've read it that I can't remember a thing of what it's about... except that it was good...I think.

Today I did about seven lessons of German on Rosetta Stone. It really is an intelligent way to go about learning a new language. They call it "Dynamic Immersion"....which is based on the idea that to learn a language you must be completely immersed in it...So, instead of teaching you vocabulary and grammar in a conventional way, simply through reading and writing, it takes on a more visual approach. You see images and are able to visually relate them to words...as well as being able to hear them said to you through the program. It's very effective so far...Although I feel like most of what I have done in the program I already know, just because I've already taken German I.... It's good review though for sure. I kind of put the language down for a while unfortunately.

I think at some point today I'm going to pick up my dusty old fender strat...

Here's more for my goals list... cause why not, right?!

12) Watch the sunrise and sunset
----I mean, I'm sure I've done this...but I don't know if I've ever really watched. You know what I mean?? No, this will not be done on the same day! ha!

13) Have a garden
----One of my own. With yummy organic things I can eat. : ) I started a vegetable garden indoor once... but it died. I got too busy to give it all of my love. I will try again at some point.

14) Go Scuba-diving
-----No explanation here. Never done it. Always wanted to. I've been skydiving... would this be the opposite??? hmm...

15) Watch a movie a week
-----I'm an actress yet I haven't seen very many movies. It's sad really. Think I may have seen more plays. I never have time to watch movies, but I am going to make some.

16) Go on a hot-air balloon
----I don't know why, but I have always been enthralled by these beautifully-colored balloons flying through the sky...maybe it's from "A Chipmunk Adventure"... I loved that movie as a child... : )

17) Learn new things
----I know this sounds vague, but in my mind it makes complete sense. I want to learn things that I just don't know about...or how to be better at them...like painting, for example. I love painting...but I don't think I'm very good. It's so therapeutic though. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to be able to do something therapeutic well??

18) Be financially stable (for longer than a month!)
----This is definitely a long-term goal that will hopefully be accomplished by the end of these five years... : )

The Start of the Beginning of the Rest of my Life

Today's Date: May 17th, 2010
End Date: May 17th, 2015

1825 Days left to go!

I've just graduated from college and am moving to London from Nashville in September to go to grad school. I've realized that the next five years are potentially going to be the most influential and (hopefully) most exciting of my life. That said, as I brew over this freshly brewed cup of coffee I've decided to start this blog....

Why you say?

Well, I've always been a "To-List-Kinda-Girl"...It helps me. It puts everything into perspective and keeps me on track. I don't want to live my life and not make some kind of progress.... preferably a little everyday... :) Which is where this blog comes into play....

I plan to write out goals that I would like to accomplish over the next five years and keep track of my progress on achieving those goals...

Here are a few in my head at the moment:
1) Learn at least two languages
----I know this one seems to be a remarkable task, but if it's something I stay focused on, I know I can make it happen... "Learn" is the word that needs clarification in this goal. What does "learn a language" really mean? Well, for me, it is simply to be able to hold a decent conversation in that language. I would really like to learn German, French, and Spanish, so we will see how that goes! I already have a bit of German under my belt, but it is by no means a small task at hand.... Rosetta Stone will be my best friend in this process.

2) Live in at least two different countries

3) Visit three I have never been to
----This goal is in addition to the ones I've already visited. I love traveling and I feel that my traveling experiences thus far have been some of the best experiences of my life... I want more!! So far I've visited Germany, England, France, and Honduras. And since I'm moving to London in September (granted everything falls into place), one of those goals will be met.

4) (Actually) Learn to play guitar
----This is something I have attempted to do for a while... I even took lessons for a while back in high school, but definitely put it on the backburner and am back at base one.

5) Play my original songs in a public setting
----I've been writing songs for about nine years now, but have never really attempted to get them all together and actually DOOOOO sooomething. This will be a task for sure. I have so many songs that need to be fiiiiiiinished.

6) Become a better dancer
----It's just not my forte. Love doing it. Can do. But would LOVE to be better.

7) Run a full marathon
----I ran a half-marathon back in 2005 and, well, enough said! : )

8) Read at least one book a week
----Now that I'm out of school and HAVE TIME! : )

9) Decrease my body fat percentage... just cause it's good for me.
----I am at about 25% right now, so I think a good goal would be 21%. There are so many reasons why I want to do this... For one, once you hit your thirties it's all downhill (typically), so being 22, I think it's very important for me to get a good start on the rest of my life. It's not like I'm out of shape or anything right now... I'm actually in the best shape I've been in, but I think always working towards being healthier is something everyone should consider. Not to mention the fact that a six-pack would be nice. :) hehe.

10) Truly give back.
----I've done some volunteer work in the past and it's always been something I've felt I should do more of. On top of volunteer work, I want to make sure that the loved ones in my life always know how much I care about them. Giving is always more fulfilling than getting.

11) Laugh everyday.
----It's easy to get caught up in things. And laughter really is a medicine, even when it's forced. Making yourself laugh sounds ridiculous, but it forces you to let go... In turn, your body releases endorphins and makes you happy. :)

I think this is enough for now. I will definitely be adding more along the way. Keep ya posted!!!