The countdown is on…

Today is July 1st and that means that half of the year is now officially over. Summer is finally here, I will celebrate my 27th birthday on Wednesday, my vacation is about to start in two weeks and I’m counting down the number of uni & work stuff I have to do. As we speak I have one more exam and two papers to go at uni and I have two more resits to grade and my desk to clean at work. In other words: life is pretty good at the moment. And since the year is halfway through, I thought it would be nice to reflect on what this first half of 2011 has brought me so far.

On January 1st I wrote the following:

My 2011 eleven:

Eleven things I want to do, improve or work on some more for the next year.

1. Keep my job for another year

2. Getting as many credits as possible in uni

3. Discover even more great music

4. Save more money

5. Get started on paying back my student loan

6. Don’t be afraid to say no to people (This is a work in progress)

7. Watch my waistline by working out regularly and eating healthy (also an on going process)

8. Be satisfied with what I have. (Another work in progress)

9. Take better care of my hair

10. Successfully battle part of my hayfever

11. Find a potential Mr. Right

Now let’s see how this has turned out so far.

1.) That’s a yes! I wrote a post about it a few weeks ago.

2.) So far I have 25 ECTS. I need 30 to keep my grant and 60 to make the year. If I pass all of the exams, papers & presentations that I will have handed in before the start of my vacation, I will have 58. So nearly there! Which is really not that bad, considering I spend most of my time at work, rather than at uni. I am also confident that I will get those 58 ECs, as I have never failed a presentation or a paper in my life. The only course I’m nervous about is Statistics, but hey, I actually have a good feeling about that one as well. So, I’m really hoping that’s a pass as well. Fingers Crossed!

3.) This has been an easy one for me. Some of the amazing bands & artists I’ve gotten into this year:

– I Blame Coco

– The Kills

– Does it Offend You, Yeah

– My Morning Jacket

– Peter Broderick

– Pete & the Pirates

– Warpaint

– and the list goes on and on and on… and we’re only half way!

4.) I’m doing good on this one as well. I already have more money saved up now than I had around the same time last year. Which is a plus to me. As for the no buy period I put myself on at the end of May: I’ve been doing good, but I did cave and bought a few things last week. I did last all the way from the end of May till the end of June though and I haven’t been on any major splurges and I’m not planning on doing that until I go to Dublin. So YAY for me! (P.S. I will show you what I bought in a separate blog post ;-))

5.) Check, check, double check. My reason for saving up money is so I can pay back big chunks of my student loan before I have to pay back for real. I got an extension on my grace period because I went back to school, so for as long as I’m in uni I will have time to save up some money and pay back a good part of the loan so I can actually buy or rent a more expensive house in the near future.

6.) Still working on this one. I think I will have to work on this for the rest of my life as I’m naturally someone who wants to be involved in anything and everything. My main problem is that if I say no, I’m not really good at explaining why not. But then again, I feel like I don’t have to explain anything in the first place.

7.) Again doing good here. I didn’t balloon like crazy over the spring months and still fit all of my clothes. Woohoo!

8.) This one I haven’t been to good with. Then again, I work to live. I don’t live to work. But that’s just my opinion.

9.) After getting some tips from Noelle, I now feel my hair is healthier, less greasy and my waves stay put a whole lot better.

10.) And another double check on this one. I have been able to successfully eat apples for the first time in 3 years. Plus, around this time last year and the year before that I was sick and extremely tired from all my hayfever. Haven’t had that yet this year and I don’t think it’s going to happen as well. In fact, I’m taking less meds now too!

11.) Eeeeeh. Not doing so good on this front. But then again, I’m never looking for potential Mr. Rights in the first place. Perhaps I should change that huh?

Q: What have you been doing in the past 6 months?