B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y

I turned 27 on Sunday. 27!! I don't really know how that happened, but it feels painfully close to 30. I usually don't mention this at home because Boyfriend is closer to 30 than I am and I think that it may be a sensitive situation. I usually forget how old I am, so I comfort myself with the fact that I'll probably think I'm still 25 by next month. That's fine by me.

Anyway, I was thinking that maybe my birthday would be a better time to make resolutions for myself than the new year. Something about reaching another birthday, becoming older and (hopefully) wiser makes me feel like I should be putting that grown up-ness toward my daily life. I was hoping to post about things that I am trying to be more motivated about soon, so I think I can safely combine that with my birthday resolutions and forge ahead. P.S. The following list is pretty similar to my list of goals for the month of August, so you can really see where my mind is these days... Haha.

1. Physical exercise/working out. I am not a fan of working out. I am not, and will probably never be, the type of person who goes to the gym on a regular basis. The only sort of exercise I have ever done consistently is dance. And marching band (that totally counts!). I do like to walk, though, so I think I need to get out there and walk several times a week. Every day would be cool, but let's be real. That just isn't happening. I kicked off my new year of life by going for an unintentionally long walk yesterday evening. I don't live too far from Frick Park in Pittsburgh, so I walked down to the trails (about half a mile) and decided to go on a trail that was listed as being about half a mile. This seemed like a reasonable way to get started. It would have been great if I hadn't gone onto another trail... I realized it was getting dark, so I ended up turning around and retracing my steps somewhat. By the time I got back to the house, I had walked about 4.5 miles. Oops. Haha. It was good, though. I'll do it again. Plus, the trails are really nice and well kept. A lot of people were making use of them with their dogs/strollers/bikes. 

2. Cooking/baking. I usually prefer to bake more than to cook, but I need to do more of both. I want to be more health conscious in my cooking habits, too, so that I have reasonably healthy things to take to work for lunch. Thank goodness cooler weather is coming. I like making soup a whole heck of a lot. Yummmm. I've been making a lot of baked goods from scratch recently. I'd be okay continuing that trend. Haha.

3. Cleaning. Ohhhhh, cleaning. It is, basically, the worst. It is literally never over and it doesn't last long at all. I need to think of a system. Right now, my cleaning is willy-nilly all over the place and I do what I can when I can. I need to come up with a system that works for me and do things on certain days and be consistent. CONSISTENCY. This, apparently, need to be my life theme. My mantra? I don't know. I just need to do it. I seriously don't know how people with children and full time jobs accomplish this stuff. Mom, how did you do it? It's just crazy.

4. Correspondence. I love writing letters. I love mailing letters! I love getting letters in the mail. I need to be better about sending things out in a timely manner (email, too, to be honest). If you have sent me a letter recently, I have it sitting on my mantle right now and I promise I will write you back soon. I want to! Your letter made me smile! It still makes me smile! You are awesome.

5. Photography. Boyfriend gave me a new camera for Christmas. It is a step between a point and shoot and a DSLR. Not super fancy, but a bit fancier than the point and shoot my parents bought me in 2006. I have used the camera, but not nearly as much as I would like. I also want to know more about the ins and outs of it. I take a heck of a lot of pictures of The Duck when we're with her, but I want to do so much more! Nature! Naaaaaaature!!!! You know. I'm going to get on this.

Okay, I realize now that this list could go on and freaking on, so I'm going to wrap it up now. I have a list (I love lists! Who doesn't?) of ideas for posts that I need to sift through, so look out for more posts soon! I'm a big fan of you reading this. I hope you enjoy it. 

Happy Birthday to me! Haha.