The 30 Day Ghetto Mocha Challenge...

. . . has commenced!

I know, I know... Here I go with this Bikram yoga crap again.
I have completely failed at my 2011 resolution to "Stretch my comfort zone" and I have yet to complete a legit 30 Day Bikram yoga challenge (which also happens to be #12 on my list!).

BUT... over the year, I have acquired a new Bikram accountability partner:  Ghetto Mocha!

We both love the benefits of Bikram, and we both want to complete a 30 Day Challenge... so to help light a fire under our butts, we made a little wager to make things interesting :)

Starting today, the first person to complete 30 consecutive days of Bikram wins the challenge.  If we go 5 days, but miss Day 6... we have to start all over.  We have both purchased $50 gift cards for Lululemon Athletica (our favorite store), and the loser of the challenge has to hand their gift card over to the winner, giving the winner a total of $100 to spend!

It's gonna be a long and difficult road, but regardless of the winner, we will both reap the health benefits!  Other than losing some weight, I'm gonna attempt to regulate my sleep-- AGAIN.  I also wanna see how my appetite changes, and if yoga will help curb my cravings...

Day 1/30

breakfast (645am):
grande sugar-free hazelnut soy latte
swiss miss hot cocoa
small S&S saimin

snack (1045am):
an pan with cream cheese

lunch (1230pm):
grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and salami

dinner (7pm):
tocino and rice
small salad
coffee

Total water intake for the day: 2 liters.

Had to drive into work early to avoid the Honolulu Marathon traffic.  Today was sucha LONG work day!  I wasn't sure that I would make it outta Bikram's class alive!  My balance was completely off, and during one of the floor poses, I felt so SICK, I actually had to take a break and lie down.

I blame the grilled  cheese sandwich.

Felt a little tired around 830pm, but I forced myself to stay awake.

Why did I do that?!
Tomorrow we'll see what time I wake up, and I'll do my first weigh-in :)

Let's hope this works . . .

616 Chronicles...

...it's about time I told you.

For the past few years, I have been spotting 616 everywhere and in every combination and situation imaginable:

At Paper-Souce.com while shopping for a new calendar...

At work in the morning...

At home in the evening...

In my car...

Driving behind other cars...

When choosing passwords...

On my chocolate expiration date...

Even imported chocolate from France...

On Snapple boxes...

While unfolding boxes...

Seriously, the list goes on.

Now the reason why 616 stands out to me?  It's my birthday.

The weird thing is, it only started to become more of an occurrence in the past few years.  Every year, for the past 4 years, I keep expecting something BIG to happen on that day.  Nothing.

I think the universe is trying to tell me something, but I haven't quite figured that out yet.

Hmm...

Today is the Day...

. . . that #22 gets crossed off my list of "30 in my 30's! :)

After a fun 2 year relationship on the road, and 6 1/2 years as the tenant of my garage, my little Mia is finally going to Scrap Yard Heaven!

My little Mia :)

After my '91 Civic Si got stolen from right in front of my house (the memory still makes me sick to my stomach), I purchased this Miata to fill the void.

I loved this car!  I could fit in the smallest parking spaces, zip in and out of traffic, it was great on gas, and I never had to give more than one person a ride home!

I remember getting my first speeding ticket in Hawai'i with this car.  My roommate at the time and I were driving home from work.  I'm a Californian, so I naturally have a lead foot.

Roommate:  "Aren't you scared of getting pulled over?"

Me:              "I haven't gotten pulled over yet."

***5 miles later, blue lights behind me as we're driving down Red Hill***

Roommate:  "Sorry."

I also got into my first car accident on 'Oahu with the Miata... I was driving to work on my 23rd birthday in stop-and-go traffic.  I was at a standstill right below the Pali Highway sign.  A fast approaching mini-van in my rearview mirror caught my attention.  Quickly realizing the mini-van wasn't going to stop, I brace myself for the impact.  After the crash, I step out of my car to check the damages.  The first thing I see is the front of the mini-van completely smashed in.  I was scared to see what the back of my little Miata looked like.  When I first bought my car, people would always tell me that if I got into an accident my car would be totaled.  To my surprise, my bumper was only cracked down the middle.  Even my trunk still worked!  My little Mia was SOLID.

I'm gonna miss her.
It's bittersweet.  As sad as I am to see her go. . .

. . . I'm really happy she's gone.

I can't wait to transform our garage!

Temperature check...

. . . say "AHHH..."

So it's just about a quarter into 2011, and it's time to see where I stand with the promises I made to myself for 2011... (it's a good thing one of those promises wasn't to be a consistent blogger!)

1)  Thanks a Latte a little less...
Surprisingly, it seems that I have successfully curbed my Starbucks habit so far.  I was lucky enough to be blessed with a little over $100 Starbucks gift cards from Christmas, and when the year began, I loaded $50 of my own money to kick-off my resolution.  I am happy to report that I still have a balance of $72 on my card :)  A few key factors helped: My Keurig, having REALLY good coffee available at work, and giving up Starbucks for Lent this year (a few more days 'til Easter!).

2)  Stretching my comfort zone...
I'm ashamed to say that there has been NO stretching of ANY comfort zone.  I keep making excuses and not setting myself up for success.  We just started crating Wally, so for awhile that was my excuse for not going after work.  My days off I am so exhausted, so my body refuses to get up in the morning.  BUT... tomorrow is another day, and hopefully I can get the ball rolling sometime NOW.  What's really irritating is that I'm wasting $100 every month when I don't go.  You'd think that would be enough motivation, right??  I need an Accountability Partner :(

3)  The Great Purge of 2011
When I clean, I tend to make a big mess first.  So I'm cleaning things out... but my house is a complete MESS.  Seriously.  It's terrible.  Another problem I'm finding is storage space.  My house just doesn't have enough of it.  I know, I know... it's a process, but I'm still fighting to get out of the "paralysis by analysis" mode.

*sigh*

Bonus)  10K for a rainy day...
Up until yesterday, I was doing GREAT.  I was a little ahead of schedule, and it looked like I was gonna smash the 10K benchmark.  Then came TAXES.  I didn't anticipate paying $1700 in taxes this year, so now I'm behind.  I'm a little bummed, but I think I can make it up in the 2nd half of this year.  I just gotta make sure that I stay within budget for my planned trips this year (O.o).

On the other hand...
My Lenten sacrifices have been holding up exceptionally well!  This year I chose to give up Starbucks (not only Starbucks coffee, but also coffee cake and anything else inside of Starbucks), soda and my credit card.  I did indulge in half of a can of Coke, but it was on a Sunday, and technically that isn't considered cheating :)  The most painful (and most proud) moment was purchasing my Indy airfare without using my credit card!  Ouch.

Five more days 'til Easter!!  Man, I can't wait to have a root beer float...

My Life...

. . .according to Facebook?

I rarely play around with apps on Facebook, but I came across this particular app and I was curious to see what I chose to share with the Facebook world in 2010:

This app displays less than 20 of your statuses, but it's interesting to look back on, nonetheless :)  Overall, 2010 was a good year (The San Francisco Giants won the World Series!!) and I have lots to be thankful for... 

One.One.Eleven.

. . . 'tis the year for resolutions to be resolved!

Obviously my big goals of 2010 were a bit unrealistic.  I may have been too ambitious?  Maybe I should have taken the time to put together a plan of attack?  I mean, seriously, how did I end up blogging LESS than 2009??  That's just sad.  My most recent failure?  OPERATION:  Insomnia Kicked My Ass.  Yeah, that might have been a little too ambitious.... (but that won't stop me from trying again!)

Excuses aside, I think that after a year at my new job I am finally beginning to settle into a consistent schedule and I'm starting to get into a groove.  I can feel it.  2011 is my year to get things done!

I don't want to set myself up for failure.  My greatest weakness is taking on more than I can handle.  I usually start with this huge list of things I wanna accomplish by the end of the year, and then after looking back at the list, I enter "paralysis by analysis" mode and NOTHING gets accomplished.  Not much of a confidence booster.

In an effort to rebuild my confidence (I can set goals and achieve them) and still keep my over-ambitious self happy... I have decided to set a few comfortable goals, and one bonus goal that is a bit of a stretch to accomplish.

1) Thanks a Latte a little less...
I'm putting myself on a Starbucks budget of $50 a month.  I know what you may be thinking... $50 a month on Starbucks sounds like a lot.  If you only knew how much money I averaged per month in 2010, you would understand that $50 is gonna be a stretch!  But never fear, I have devised a plan!

I scheduled to auto-reload $50 onto my Starbucks card every month on the 1st.  $4 for a tall soy sugar-free hazelnut latte breaks down to about 3 times a week.  Since mom-in-law bought me a Keurig coffee maker, I plan to brew my morning coffee at home before I leave for work and on rough days I keep those mini cans of Starbucks Doubleshots handy!

When I say $50 a month, I am only factoring in my own money.  Gift cards will be a bonus, and will not count against my $50.  So if I receive a gift card, I can indulge in a grande latte and coffee cake!  Any balance left over at the end of the month will roll over to the next month, so I can save a few bucks one month and I can splurge a little next month :)

2) Stretching my comfort zone...
I have been telling myself for years that I want to practice Bikram Yoga on a regular basis.  YEARS!  2011 is the year to make that happen!  I can go to the 5:30am class on one of my days off, and the 3:30pm class 2x a week after work.  When you break things down that way, it seems simple enough right?  The hardest part is convincing myself not to auto-pilot home after work...

3) The Great Purge of 2011
I have lived in my home for a little over 8 years.  In that time, [PW] and I have both left our old sales manager positions and have emptied out our offices into our home.  I have had 5 different roommates who have all left at least a few things behind.  Over the years my garage has served as a storage unit for several different friends, and only God knows how much crap I have accumulated.  I do not wanna end up as one of those sad people on Hoarders.  Sad thing is, I think I'm getting pretty close.

Considering how much crap we have, I am giving myself one year to complete this task.  I do mini -purges and I think I'm making progress, but no matter how much crap I throw away or donate, there's no change.  This year, there WILL be a change!

Bonus) 10K for a rainy day...
I am big advocate of saving money.  I love to save for a rainy day!  Unfortunately, at the end of the year I always look back and wish I had saved more.  This year I wanna set aside 10K.  That breaks down to about $835/month.  I know that's gonna be a stretch, which is why I have decided to make this my Bonus resolution.  The little things add up, so things like cutting back on Starbucks and not eating out as much will hopefully help the cause.

It's the first day of the year and I'm proud to report that I haven't had Starbucks, I haven't spent a cent, and I just threw out a couple of old pillows! :)

Baby steps, baby steps...

The Battle Continues...

. . . and Insomnia is kickin' my ass.

As you may have guessed, OPERATION: Insomnia Sucks! isn't going too well.  I've been feeling under the weather, so I have been catching up on sleep this past week.  I want to say that it has helped tremendously, but then I would be lying.  My cat naps have been during the day, so my nights have been... sleepless.

So here I am, Night #19, it's 2:51am and I'm back at Square One.

Alright.  Maybe curing my insomnia in 30 days was a little ambitious.  You think I can do it in 60? :)