the belle lumiere

01) grow and cultivate a pink rosebush – I’ve been to the nursery twice to find the perfect rosebush, and the first time I walked away empty handed, the second time (today in fact) I came home with basically everything but a rosebush! It’s really not the right time of year to be looking at them, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to go back in a couple of months time and pick one up to work on for the last part of the year.

02) learn meditation – I’ve not really made any progress with this goal at all. I received a Deepak Chopra CD for Christmas, but I haven’t been making the time to actually listen & work on my meditation skills at all throughout 2010. I will try to refocus on this over the course of the next few weeks.

03) learn to cook 5 beautiful dishes – I’ve not done too badly with this one, as cooking is something I do on a regular basis. I’ve managed to get 2 recipes basically perfected, so I just need to find 3 more that I want to work on. Luckily Masterchef has inspired practically the whole country to work on their cooking, so there are lots of interesting and easy recipes floating around at the moment!

04) work up my fitness to be able to run for 45 minutes without having to stop – Surprisingly this is the goal I would say I have under the most control. I’ve tried a few different fitness routines, but sticking to the Couch to 5K program has really done wonders for my stamina so far. I’ve had to backtrack slightly because of illness and a back injury, but having the plan basically all in place and ready to go without me having to think too much about it has really helped my motivation. Fingers crossed that if all goes to plan, in 6 weeks I should be at goal!

05) buy a pair of christian louboutin heels – I’ve made absolutely no progress with this goal at all. Oops! I will probably need to start saving soon, as my shopping budget does not really allow for $1000 shoes to be purchased on a whim. I’ll need to think about this, and figure out what I’ll need to ‘put aside’ each pay in order to afford a pair of Louboutins this year. Perhaps they could be my Christmas present to myself…?

06) grow my hair halfway down my back – Thankfully this is a goal that I really have to put minimal effort in to see progress, so it seems to be going quite well! I get my hair trimmed once every 8 weeks or so (which is a little longer than I technically should be waiting between trims, I know) and at this stage my hair is longer than it’s ever been in my life, and is sitting just under my shoulder blades. I think by the end of this year I should be able to achieve this goal quite easily.

07) decorate the bedroom properly – I still have quite a way to go with this goal, but I do have plans for a big furniture purchase in August of this year. My best friend and I have planned for an all day shopping trip, and I’m hoping that I find some lovely but rather inexpensive pieces for the bedroom. I also wanted to get some painting done, but I’m not sure how likely that is at this stage. Time will tell.

08) read 50 of the top 100 books of all time (I figure 100 is a bit much for 1 year) – I decided a little while ago that 50 books off of this list was basically impossible, as I’m not capable of reading 1 book a week and living my life as I do now. So I’ve decided to read as many as I like, but focus on the books from the list that I actually am really interested in reading. I’ve also allowed myself some books that aren’t on the list, because there have been a lot that I’ve come across that I’ve really been fascinated by.

09) join and regularly donate to a charity (the RSPCA) – This is unfortunately a goal that I haven’t gotten around to achieving. I have, however been making an effort notes instead of coins when the opportunity for charity presents itself. Which is pretty much once a week, as I work in the city, and there are always collections happening right outside the train station when I arrive in the mornings. I don’t feel like this is enough for me to count this goal as achieved, so I plan on looking a little more into RSPCA donations and what will suit my budget and lifestyle.

10) get my teeth professionally whitened – I’ve made no progress with this whatsoever. I was planning on asking my grandfather (who used to be a dentist prior to retirement) if it’s really necessary for me to get them whitened, or if a professional clean would suffice. I don’t have too many issues with yellowing or anything like that, so I’m thinking that a good clean might be enough.

It’s been over half a year now, and I’ve made some small progress with some of the items on my list, but others have fallen completely by the wayside. I am planning on making a conscious effort to work on the goals that I’ve forgotten about, or ‘put off’ until now. I’ll post my updates as I go, and hopefully I can get this all done before the end of 2010!