Hi everyone, I’m home! I spent the entire day yesterday flying from Guatemala City to Buffalo, New York. It literally took all day and we were pooped. I’m still pretty tired as I got up rather early this morning but I’m glad because I had quite a bit to do. I’ll post a recap of my trip in the coming days with a smattering of photos. The rest will likely appear on my flickr account.
Tomorrow is my first day at my new job. I’m nervous! I had several nightmares on my trip about screwing up at my new job but I’m not going to let myself get psyched out. They wouldn’t have hired me if they didn’t think I was competent so I’m going to keep that in mind tomorrow while learning all sort of new things.
The majority of this post I had written about a week before I left. My intention was to post it prior to leaving but that didn’t end up happening unfortunately. Still, it’s quite relevant since they’re my New Year’s resolutions!
Looking back on 2007, I think I can safely say that I have had a good year. I improved my school marks significantly, graduated from university successfully, found a well-paying job, eliminated my credit card debt, met G.’s mother, and began thinking about my future (yay budgeting!). As for smaller steps, I managed to read over thirty books this entire year, finally got a great hair cut, went blonde, and managed to go to the United States (scratched that doozy off my travel list! 
).
Overall, a great year. My rabbit unfortunately died, but these sort of things happen and I’m okay with it now. I hope 2008 is just as good, if not even better! Without further ado, here are my plans to make 2008 the year of Olga.
1. Become Wardrobe Conscious
At school I wasn’t much of a shopper, primarily because I didn’t have the cash to do it. Over time, I just became accustomed to never seeing the inside of a mall for months at a time. While that may have saved me from getting more than one credit card to indulge a shopping addiction, it has also led me to having a pretty shatty wardrobe. To be fair, over the past six months it has grown in size and in quality – to an extent.
However, I don’t feel comfortable in all of my clothing. I lean more towards wearing jeans and cotton shirts to work because A) they are comfortable and B) they are easy to match and find. Now, my office doesn’t have the strictest policy on work attire but I still feel embarrassed when I arrive to work in jeans and a t-shirt on a Monday morning. Call it Catholic guilt.
My goal in 2008 is to begin compiling a wardrobe that is easy enough to wear as my current wardrobe. My inspiration is Allie who actually looks a heck of a lot like me, except for the fact that she wears really nice clothes and I usually don’t.
This resolution is probably going to be a lot of fun to work with than my next one but I can already tell it will be difficult for me as well. I think a lot of women have the same problem that I do – we tend to buy clothing that is in style because it looks good in the moment. We see people like Lindsey Lohan, Jessica Alba, etc. wearing things that – perhaps in another time and place – would make us laugh our asses off (skinny jeans?! Are you KIDDING ME?!), but instead we want to wear them cause they are “in”.
Classic pieces are the things that will last a lifetime – or at least more than one season. They flatter your figure, make you look feminine, and support your personality in more ways than skinny jeans ever could, because you choose clothes that make you look good, not what everyone else is wearing.
I will concentrate on building up a collection of well-made clothes that suit my figure and my personality.
A part of why I am deciding 2008 is the year of the runway is because my new job starts on Monday. In my new position, I will have a more conspicuous role in the company. I don’t feel comfortable in my clothes now when I barely see anyone. I’ll feel downright embarrassed in the new year if I don’t dress presentably.
2. Live Actively
Yes, I’m a big girl. My issue is not with how I look but how I live my life, which, I’m afraid to say, is not very active.
In November I began working on this as I felt that I had nothing to wait for. It’s no time like the present when you want to improve your health, I think. The build up has been small but steady. I have a membership at Curves two minutes away from my work and I go three times a week, the recommended minimum. It’s a hard work out for this big ass of mine. I expect to see it get easier as I go more often but for now I’m still sweating like a stuck pig after my thirty-minute circuit run.
I have issues with Curves, which I might mention in a later post, but for now I’m going to stick with just that. My membership runs out in the late spring of 2008 and at that point I expect to have the stamina and energy to take on a Big Girl gym (i.e. a real gym, as I like to call it).
My goal is to also get back on the horse whenever I have bad days/weeks/hopefully not months. It’s easy to get downhearted when you’re trying to improve yourself. I’ve recently discovered the value of self-help books, which I think can really help me in my 2008 goals.
3. Budget My Money
Again, this is something that I have already begun to do. I have learned through a variety of money blogs, library books, and miscellaneous internet resources that budgeting is really, really important and easy to do. As long as you have a willingness to save money and access to Microsoft Excel or an equivalent, you can really do a lot to take control of your financials.
Since June 2007 I have paid my credit card off each month, saved enough for a trip to Central America, and developed a budget to pay down my OSAP in five years instead of the ten that they estimated I would be paying for. I’ll be saving almost $10,000 in interest alone by using the budget I have made for myself! I’m proud of my achievements and I hope to keep working on them in 2008.
Some of the financial goals I have for 2008 include moving out of my parent’s house, creating a retirement savings plan, and going to Germany for Oktoberfest in September.
So there you go, three big goals with a variety of smaller ones in between. I think it will make for a pretty full year, don’t you?
Oh, and it’s probably not something I need to mention but I also plan on reading another thirty books this year. Maybe I’ll even break my 2007 record!
