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hello all! i'm so excited to be a Ranger for my second challenge! true to Ranger form, i am doing a hybrid of two other classes for this next 6 weeks. but instead of the usual Scout-Warrior blend, i'll be combining the Assassin and Druid ways of life. we'll see how it goes! main life goal - to shape myself into a real-life version of my d&d character over the past few years, i've slowly been coming to terms with the nerd side of myself. becoming a part of the NF community and participating in the last 6 week challenge did a lot to help me feel confident and secure in who i am as a nerd, as well as i who i am physically. part of this growing confidence is the realization that i admire my d&d character quite a lot. after all, she was formed from the traits i think are the most badass, so of course i think she's cool! she's someone i'm content to pretend to be for hours on end. and now, i realize that i don't have to just pretend to be like her. i really can be like her! granted, i'll never be part of the Eladrin race, i can't change the fact that i was born in California in favor of being born in the Feywild, and my 5 foot 2 will never become her 6 foot. but i can become lithe and nimble enough to run through the woods in the most efficient way possible. i can learn about the natural world around me. and i've already started my training as an archer! so in short, my main quest is to become the person i'd like to be - to be a parkour yoga witch! parkour - my goal here is [surprise, surprise] to pick up parkour! super exciting and also kinda scary. i just love the idea of being able to effectively run away from zombies! i will do this by following the guidelines laid out in this post: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/08/12/the-definitive-guide-to-parkour-for-beginners/ three or four times a week. yoga - this goal is pretty clear too. i've recently realized that a lot of the flexibility i had in the past is slowly disappearing, and i want to reverse that loss. it seems especially important as i start parkour. so, regain this, i will do yoga designed specifically to increase flexibility three times a week. [any help with a suggestion for a good program or video series to follow here would be appreciated!] witch - this is probably the most exciting piece of my challenge. for years now, i've been interested in herbal medicine, wildcrafting, making tinctures, and the like. even before that, i loved the idea of being a witch. [picture crazy gray hair, a ramshackle hut on a drizzly choppy coast, lots of cats...you know the type.] it all seemed so romantic to me. now, my big dream is to live on a few wooded acres with about 10 chickens, maybe a few sheep, and a huge garden of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. [and some flowers, too. ] by and large, i would make my living as a midwife [no matter what, i plan to start this career in the next few years] but i would spend a lot of my time making soothing or healing remedies from the plants in my backyard. i could go on and on about this dream of being a modern day throwback to the super old school witches, but suffice it to say, i need to know a lot about herbs for it to come true. and i figure there's no point in waiting until i have those wooded acres to learn! i will accomplish this goal by doing one plant-related bit of learning every week. this could be anything from watching a video about how to make tinctures on youtube, to reading a book on the properties of various plants, to taking a seminar on wildcrafting. but i have to learn at least one valuable piece of information each week. life quest - for the last 6 week challenge, i completed a whole42. i have no interest in doing that again so soon, but i do know that i need to keep myself accountable for my eating habits. and i really don't mind tracking everything i eat. so the rules i'm setting for myself here are as follows: build every meal from an appropriately sized portion of meat and fill the rest of the plate with veggies, limit grain and dairy intake [once per week for each is plenty], be realistic about sweet/fat/salty cravings [no mindlessly eating junk food; no chowing down on non-special desserts or snacks like Oreos, Lays, and the like; must savor and be mindful when eating special treats like home-baked pies, my favorite ranger cookie recipe, and the like], no snacking in between meals, write down every thing i eat every day. grading - parkour: i think an adjustable scale is necessary, since i have little idea how well or poorly my body will take to this training. so, depending on my level of exhaustion, soreness, etc, i will adjust how may times per week i should be doing this training. A - 24 through 18 total sessions [3 or 4 times/week], B - 18 sessions [3 times/week], D - 12 sessions [2 times/week], F - 6 or fewer sessions [1 or no times/week] yoga: A - 24 total sessions [4 times/week], B - 18 sessions [3 times/week], D - 12 sessions [2 times/week], F - 6 or fewer sessions [1 or no times/week] witch: A - total of 6 or more sessions, B - 5 sessions, C - 4 sessions, D - 3 sessions, F - 2 or fewer sessions life quest: A - 100% compliance, B - 90%, C - 80%, D - 70%, F - 60% or lower please let me know if you have any suggestions to make a better challenge for myself. again, i'm so excited to be hanging out with fellow Rangers for the next 6 weeks! now let's all go kick some ass!