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...well, tries to at least! This is my "open" challenge of the year in that the entire thing happens during my summer vacation from work, giving me more time to work on my goals! Usually. Not so much this year with a 6 month old in the house - I'm honestly barely keeping life together at this point and I'm kinda not sure how I did it in the spring semester already? But the camping trip went decently; honestly during the day it was pretty great, but at night Baby Girl decided that she hated the camping bassinet and would instantly start screaming and crying the second we put her in it, no matter if she was awake, drowsy, or already sleeping. Of course it's also wildly unsafe to let a 6 month old sleep on the tent floor with her 3 bigger family members, multiple pillows, sleeping bag, and blankets, so my husband and I took shifts sitting up with her all night long so she could sleep on our laps safely while we tried our best not to fall over in exhaustion. Three nights of that, with of course all the other physical activity of hiking and camping, plus the fact we are honestly still working on mastering campfire coffee and cooking...I felt like I needed a vacation from our camping vacation by the time we were done! During the trip my husband was ranting about how he'll never go camping with an infant again - though by the time we were on the road back home, he had decided that maaaaaaaybe a one or two night trip in the early fall would still be worth it ? I was a little disappointed in my strength and stamina on the trip though. I could do everything I needed to do, and I was trying to remember to be gentle with myself, I just gave birth in December and had major abdominal surgery in January and, well, at 37 it's reasonable to take longer to recover than I did back when I had my first surgery (at only 18!) or even my first baby (at 31). But I've definitely been much stronger in very recent memory, so I'd like to keep working to get back to that. Quest One: Stamina While I managed both of our hikes (about 3.5 miles), I was disappointed in how insanely quickly I got tired. So I want to do work on my stamina, but I'm also afraid of setting my goals too high - I struggle with getting out consistently as is, and I am very much the kind of person who says "oh, my goal was twice a week and I only went once in week one? The whole thing is destroyed, better not do anything at all until the next challenge starts!" So I'm going to try a point system instead this challenge: 1 point per walking mile and 2 points per running mile, measured in 0.1 increments, with an initial goal of 10 "points". Quest Two: Water Yeah, I'm still on this one. I've been doing better with an average of 80 ounces over the last few days, but I need to get back to pumping - Baby Girl got the go ahead to try solid foods with the doctor suggesting we start with smashing foods into breastmilk to make our own "purees" (which we have done with avocado (went okay) and sweet potato (major hit!) so far, but it does take about half an ounce per meal. Also we want to go on our first date night since I became pregnant, as it's been more than a year at this point, which will require pumped milk for the sitter to use. And I'm starting to worry about what pumping will look like when I return to work in August - I want to keep her on my milk until she's at least a year old, but I only have about 211 ounces in the freezer at the moment which simply won't stretch that far. So this is kind of a double hitter - I want to get back up to 96 ounces of water per day, and I'm going to try to pump AND freeze enough to add at least 6 ounces to the freezer every week (the max my storage bags will hold while frozen). That's honestly not enough, but 1) I'll need to pump a good bit more than that to meet current demand anyway and 2) slow stash growth is still better than no growth, right? Quest Three: Languages Cheating here a bit because I'm using this to mean both what I teach and what I study! I got the first week of both Spanish 1 and 2 done last challenge, so this challenge I'm going to tackle planning and prepping both weeks 2 and 3 (which is 9 days total thanks to Labor Day, since "week 1" of class is actually the 2nd week kids are in the building). I'm also tacking on another extensive reading challenge - adding at least 10 more quizzes to the Spanish library. For my own language study, I'm going to start this book I got on our first trip to Mexico...I have a sleeping baby on me right now so I'll have to get the title and page numbers later! But it is the first in a historical fiction series that sounded interesting to me at the time, so I bought it with the intention of studying enough to read it before our next trip so I could decide if I wanted to pick up book #2 then or not. Well I finally pulled it off my shelf the other day and was happy to realize it's now at the perfect challenge level for me - I can read about 80-90% of the page fairly easily but there's plenty of struggle and question marks to ensure I'm pushing myself to continue to improve! I want to say chapter 1 went to like...page 24? 27? Somewhere in there. So I'm going to read that. I'm also going to continue in the new app I've been using for Japanese called Busuu. Think I've finally gotten through all the boring "I definitely remember this despite not using my Japanese since 2006" lessons and am looking forward to getting some new ones under my belt! A lot of their lessons are short, like 10 minutes or less, so I'm going to try for 6 lessons/vaguely 1 hour a week, however that shakes out (1 per day? Great! All 6 crammed in on Sunday? Also valid!) Quest Four: Home/Leisure And then there's my random hobby odds and ends plus stuff to make the fall semester easier at home Big Brother is (like 90%) moved into his new big boy bedroom! But now the nursery needs work to get ready for Baby Girl to move in. For this challenge I'm going to tackle organizing the dresser (storing too-small clothes away, organizing drawers, etc.), preparing the crib the rest of the way (mostly prepping the mattress, as my husband already converted it back after our son got his new twin bed), and cleaning/organizing at least one shelf on the bookcase, which is a completely ridiculous mess of toys, books, and random objects. I also need to sew, of course - I'm nearly to the halfway point of the quilting block swap, and I also have Baby Girl's quilt to work on as well as a dress pattern for her (and that's only the stuff that's officially on the "to sew" list at the moment!) The block swap has to take priority until it's done and all sent out, since I have other people depending on that being completed on time, and then I'm probably actually going to tackle a dress for Baby Girl. She doesn't care if she has a finished quilt yet or not but the dress size will change much faster! Finally (for now), more kitchen projects! I've been baking cookies to freeze for school year desserts, plus I need to make more for my husband's brother Mike, who has been a huge help with my elderly mother-in-law (who isn't even his own mother, but he treats her like she is) but has been having health issues of his own lately, so we want to bring them a big roast and giant plate of cookies to help ease their recent burdens. Plus I'm debating making a batch of meatballs entirely to freeze for those "ugh it's late and we're stupid busy and tired but also hungry" evenings that happen in the fall semester especially, and I've been eyeballing some other random projects I just want to try, like lemon poppy seed scones. So I'll go with...4 more kitchen projects, whatever I feel like making them at the time - though at least one must be cookies for Mike as discussed, probably tomorrow or Thursday, so that'll definitely be project #1! ETA: Oh, I almost forgot! I also need to continue with our Mexico trip planning. I want to finish gathering information on places in Oaxaca state and then start gathering new ideas for Puebla (city OR state) and/or Chiapas. Turns out the hike we wanted to do in Puebla is way too hard for the kids but would also take basically all day - they suggest 7 to 8 hours, despite it only being 8 miles - so we've decided to shelf that goal until the kids are big enough to come with us and/or at least be less of a burden on the local family to watch that long, since many of them are elderly.

aka "how the hell do we still have over 40 days of school left in this year?!?!?!" Okay, it's only 41. So sue me. But 40 is Biblical for "a really fucking long time" for a reason. Other things happening during this challenge: the end of my grad school semester is barely after this challenge ends (May 2nd) IVF transfer #2 is (hopefully) next week, pending tomorrow morning's test results. My son's kindergarten enrollment night is tomorrow but it's been kind of a big deal around the house because he is absolutely terrified of the transition to elementary school. The boy's soccer and baseball seasons are now officially in full swing, which means 3 practices and up to 4 games every week. My youngest niece will have her 1st birthday party, which is always a bit painful (you know, with the whole infertility thing) but should also be fun - her mom is one of my favorites, so that will help! At the changing of the month, we will be at my husband's curriculum meeting out of town (long story short, our state government is passing stupid laws so now government teachers across the state have to re-do their curriculum and he managed to get on the official committee to lead this which is both super awesome and slightly annoying). And the state camping season opens back up on April 1st so we are heading out for Good Friday-Easter Saturday, as has been our opening tradition for the last few years (though might die next year with a slightly-too-early Easter...we'll see!) Quests for this challenge! Quest One: Movement Dropping the yoga and running for purposes of the transfer, but I do have... 1. walk at least 91 miles total before the end of March 31st (the first check in for my year-long challenge) - I am currently at 79.2 miles 2. Continue the 1+ miles per day (kinda) by the end of the challenge with 29 more miles on/after April 1st I'd like to add a third one, but we'll see. I get really nervous around transfers (when high impact and/or twisting movements become No Good At All) and last time, the injection med made me stupidly angry - and not only am I still on it this go around, but I'm on a much higher dose of it, so...we'll see what I'm even mentally capable of by that point Quest Two: Nutrition I am under no delusions that I'm doing great here. 1. I've started increasing my caffeine consumption again (bad for my overall health and Super Bad for the transfer). This was partly due to exhaustion, partly due to hot coffee/cold soda being comfort items for me during a tough time, and partly because my husband cut down on his coffee consumption but is still making the same amount of coffee every day. To combat this, I am increasing my required daily water to ~24 ounces (3 mugs, more or less) and will be going on a hard caffeine limit after the transfer date. 2. When stressed, I also tend to turn to highly processed boxed food. Frozen garlic bread, pasta meals in bags (or just straight up boxed mac and cheese! I LOVE Annie's white cheddar shells...), lots of sugary cereals, pop-tarts and snack crackers like cheez-its...so my goal is that at least 3 times during this challenge, I will go an entire day without any of that. No boxes, bags, or other packages of highly processed stuff - ingredients that come in packaging are of course okay, like we eat a lot of canned beans for example. This will include non-homemade desserts like Easter candy though! Would like to think I can do this more than 3 days, but let's start low to be safe. Quest Three: Work/Languages Oh, my old friend. How I love and hate this quest. 1. keep up with the weekly department Instagram posts - I think I've said before that this really isn't a "proper" quest anymore, but I keep on forgetting about it when I delete it so here it is again! 2. Rock out in Reckley's class - I have a bunch of tareas and discussion boards left, 2 exams (one opening tomorrow!), 1 essay, and a final project. Currently working on tarea 4 where I am 7 questions deep (out of 17); I also really need to knock out discussion board 3 and 4 ASAP, preferably today/this week 3. Spanish 2 Unit 6 - Putting my curriculum stuff on here seems to also help me get it done, so...let's rock it out. The order of units are changing over the summer but for right now, it's unit 6 (the sports unit). Units 6 and 7 are also a bit shorter due to needing to cut about 8 days from the quarter for finals at the end of the semester, so that should help a little bit too 4. Write ER quizzes up to #45 - I got to #28 last challenge, but the books are getting more complex, so 45 feels like a good start. (Refresher note - these are comprehension quizzes for all the Spanish-language books in my personal classroom library to better support my extensive reading program next school year) 5. Maya Erikson y el misterio del laberinto - I'd love to say I'll finish this during this challenge, but that feels like A Lot. So let's just start with finishing chapter 4 and go from there. Currently on page 77 and chapter 5 starts on page 95, that should not be a huge deal at all (especially considering one of my top reading times is Wednesday night, so I'd love to come on here tomorrow and tell you all I already have to bump it up!) 6. Grading - I don't really have a specific goal here, honestly, because it fluctuates so flipping much, but Lord knows I just need to get on this and hopefully by putting it here, I will start plowing through it a bit better. Currently behind on 3rd and 6th hours the most. Quest Four: Home and Hobbies My other favorite quest to hate because I usually do terribly at it, hahaha. 1. log cabin quilt - I finally got the top (and back!) done during last challenge. I decided it's not worth the cost to send it to the longarmer, so I'm hand-tying the thing. This, however, takes forever and a year, especially given that I am tying it at only 1.5 inch intervals because I might not love the design but I want it to be super durable for camping purposes. Currently about 117 knots in and my goal for this challenge is going to be to get to 450 knots, which will be approximately 1/4 of the overall quilt. 2. dog toys - fix at least 2 of the dog toys 3. garden/yard - I bought some seeds already (for our herbs/annual flowers) but I still need to buy some sort of grass or clover seed and decide how I'm going to move a maple tree seedling...we need to finish cutting down two dead trees, so I want to keep it if I can to help replace those, and then figure out what else I'll find or buy to replace the other one. I also want to at least price out some simple fountains or maybe a bird bath instead? And maybe a garden statue, I really want one of Artemis but that's probably too specific for now given our very tight budget. And my hummingbird feeder broke over the winter too...depending on our weather, some of this might happen at the end of this challenge, but a good bit of it is really just preparations for May.

Erick the Red: No Zero Days I've done a few of these challenges over the past few years, and had some pretty good successes. Also failed more than a couple times. This round I am starting slow and simple. Two clear-cut daily goals to solidify daily habits. I plan to check in daily or near-daily to update my progress, and maybe go over some details. I appreciate feedback and positive peer-pressure. 1. Hike outside at least one mile per day. I am glad to have a job, but working from home has meant that I sometimes go two or three days without stepping out my front door. I plan to throw on my weighted vest or a backpack with a ruck plate about three times per week. 2. Complete at least one page in my Latin language textbook. My COVID lock-down hobby has been learning Latin. The textbook I have is called "Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata", which is great, but I get distracted easily with other Latin language resources. I need to focus more on making steady progress on formal training. My other resources are free apps like Duolingo or Xochi, Latin Language Youtube channels including Magister Craft and Luke Ranieri's Scorpio Martianus, and a series of fun novellas by Lance Piantaginni. In both cases I am working towards bigger long-term goals, but for now I need to establish a foundation.

Challenge Number 4!!! And no Firefly reference in the title because I ran out of decent quotes I thought could apply, bummer. Main Goal: Lose 10-15 pounds and/or 2-3 inches from arms/waist/hips/thigh/calves. I would love to do have this accomplished by New Year’s Eve. That gives me 3 ½ months - 1 pound per week for the 15 pounds goal. What’s going to make this challenge interesting, though, is that I have challenged myself not to weigh or measure myself until the end of the year. The numbers make me depressed. I’ve gone into one too many tailspins because of the scale or tape measure not showing what I want. So, to make sure I continue this year on a good note (because I sure as hell need it), I’m not going to step on the scale or pull out the measuring tape. I'm just going to focus on working out and cleaning up my diet (yet again). Main 3 goals: Do cardio 3x a week Strength train 1x week Swim 1x a week (with a 1 week exception)Mini goals: Track food 5 days a week Practice Swedish 30 minutes a weekNot to be confused with a mini challenge. These are goals I want to accomplish throughout the entire challenge, but aren’t as important as my main three. I will not be grading my mini goals. Just a yay or nay each week if completed. Scoring: Each Main Goal will be graded on a scale of A-F. Fully completed will get an A while never even attempted will get an F. Partially completed or half assed attempted will get somewhere in the B-D range. I did get overwhelmed last challenge with keeping up with my thread and with others. So I apologize in advance if I go ghost for a week or two. I also may be on vacation the last week of the challenge, but still determining my vacation days for the rest of the year, so of that I'm not yet sure. Let's get this started!!! <---(more energy than I'm feeling)

It's my third challenge and I'm still flying! If you've been with me since the beginning, Welcome back! If this is your first time stopping in, Welcome and I hope you get a chuckle from all my typos and odd sentences. I apparently have a thing against proof reading before I hit post, lol. I've decided to focus my third challenge around whole body well being. This means I will be focusing on body, mind, and dental (nothing gross I promise). Main Quest Lose 10 pounds/ 2-3 inches by Columbus Day weekend (October). My doctor wants 20 something, but I've looked at the calendar and that's just not possible for me. This gives me roughly 1 pound per week. If I don't reach it, well, that's okay because right now even 5 pounds will make me happy. And while I am obsessed with the number on the scale it's actually the inches that really matter. If my clothes continue to fit better all the better! Challenge 3 Goals 1) Do my strength training DVD 1x a week 2) Practice my Swedish 30 minutes a week 3) Wear my retainer at least 3x a week To help move along my weight loss I know I need to get into strength training. Last challenge I failed with the BBWW. Half of it was due to injury and the other half was because it's just not my style of working out. I need a DVD or personal trainer to follow. Since right now I can't afford a personal trainer I will do my DVDs that I've collected over the year. I will complete one workout at least once a week. I'm going to be an auntie!! And my future niece/nephew is going to be speaking Swedish along with English. And knowing my brother's child, it will speak Swedish when it's trying to say something bad to us thinking we don't understand. Also, it will also be really nice to talk to my sister-in-law and her family in their language, so I'm attempting to learn. I've bought Rosetta Stone and will complete at least one lesson a week. My retainers, the bane of my existence. Okay, not really, but I've become really lax as of late with wearing them. I went through years of wearing braces and got my teeth so nice and straight. Not so much anymore. I've already had to get a new bottom retainer a handful years ago last time I got lax. Now the teeth are on the move again. I need to get them back in line. So, I must wear my retainers three times a week. I can't let my parents money go to complete waste. As with last challenge, I will reward myself by getting my cartilage re-pierced if I can drop my weight back into the 170s (only 4 pounds away). I've been wanting to do this for years, but haven't. This gives me some nice motivation. I can do this!

Our last report from Agent H.N. relayed that she had crash landed on an Ice planet during her first deployment. It has been 11 months and 7 days since her last transmission. We must assume her to be M.I.A. I looked in the mirror one more time, shocked once again by the drastic change in my appearance. I have to say it felt pretty stinking awesome. Almost a year ago, I discovered this unbelievable time lord power when I was fatally injured after my ship crash...and woke up as a blonde. Still as bloody gangely as ever, though. I have since been on the run from the band of pirates that caused my regeneration on the ice planet, running from system to system, barely surviving. My training fell to the wayside as I struggled to stay alive. But now, I knew, as I stared in the mirror at my newly regenerated features, red hair and all, that something had to change. This time it had been a deadly plague, one I could have avoided if I had kept my wits about me. This regeneration had been different: a great deal of regeneration energy had been left over. I could still see it glowing around my hands if I tried. I was determined to use this power to help shape myself into what I had to become. And also....there was something else. A new sense of...awareness? of power? I wasn’t sure, but I was certainly going to find out. HEY EVERYONE I’m back!!! And I’ve regenerated....TWICE. So moving to Florida completely derailed me it’s been massive chaos. This is not to say that I didn’t necessarily enjoy the chaos sometimes, but I’ve made absolutely zero progress fitness-wise. I lost a TON of weight (OMG I saw the number 5!!!) and then promptly gained it all back (Booooo). I got to ten push ups, and then lost it (I’m back to 4). I’ m ready to get back to some serious training and I missed you guys!! My internet has also been ridiculously spotty and I finally have real internets now. Updates: School has been going wonderfully, I love learning and it’s an absolute blast so far. (side note: I had wondered about being the same age as my peers....and I hate it LOL. When I was a kid, at first I hated being the 10 year old in high school or the 13 year old in college, I felt like I was going to get stepped on or something HAHA. But now that there are actually students a year or two YOUNGER than me in some classes, it makes me feel like an absolute dunce. haha. I guess it’s all in what you get used to.) So Challenge Goals. Woot Woot Yay Yay. You may not have noticed that in my recent regeneration I became a Gallifreyan Jedi. I have only just begun to be aware of these powers and must train them accordingly. I had a hard time determining my main quest, because this challenge is a bit of an experiment. I want to see what happens when i do a bunch of stuff.... So caveat’s expressed, my main quest is: Hit 159 pounds. Again. *clears throat* Ok So I want to go back to doing a lot of the things that I used to as a kid (and also was skinny as a rail...) I’m not going to weigh myself for the duration of the challenge, because even though losing weight is my main quest this time, I want to go about it by focusing on NOT losing weight. Goal 1: Get out walking/running/playing parkour at least 5x per week. Why it’s a challenge: I am busy. I am not a morning person. I usually get home well after dark. I am not a morning person. I also hate mornings. And that time period before noon. Why I want to do it anyway: As a kid this was a habit of mine. I got up every morning at 5am (WHAT KIND OF PERSON WAS I???!!) and went running in the woods. Running, jumping, walking, rock climbing, swinging on vines. I didn’t do this with the goal of losing weight. I did this because I was friggin luke skywalker with yoda on my back, jumping around and running on rocks and generally having all the fun. I was usually out there for about an hour and 5ish miles before I came back and had breakfast and went to school. That is a ton of excercize to start the day. Plan of attack: Go out and do stuff. I’m really going to try to make this every morning before breakfast, but I will be satisfied if I do it in the evening if i really can’t pull it off earlier. I’m aiming for every day, but a full A will come from 5 days a week, every week. I’m just going to go out and have fun moving around outside, without thinking about calories or whatever. 5 = A 4 = B 3 = C Less = F Goal 2: Dance Breaks What it is: I just recently got a new job (whoooohoooohooo) where I am now working from home. As such, I can get up, move around, eat dinner, whatever, while I’m on the clock. However we are still required to take a 30 minute lunch break. These will be dancing breaks. Why it’s a challenge: My shifts are late and a lot of times my breaks will be like 9pm. I’m probably gonna want to be taking a nap. Why I want to do it anyway: I have wanted for a long time to get back into breakdancing. I used to be fairly good at it in grade school and high school, but then it just kind of faded out of my life. Sad panda. It advances my main quest by being active, and does so in a fun way that I don’t even notice. Plan of attack: I will work on six moves, one per week. week one: 6 step week two: cc’s week three: indian step week four: swipe week five: various freezes week six: 3 step I used to be able to do weeks 1-5, I’ve never been able to do a 3 step so I left it for last, hopefully I’ll have worked up to it by then. I’ll earn an A if I do this during at least half my shifts. So if I work 6 days, this will be 3 times. 0.5 of shifts = A 0.25 of shifts= B Only once a week= C Less= F Goal 3: Push ups, A.K.A. Earth-downs Why this is a challenge: push ups are hard and the last thing I want to be doing in the morning. Because I hate mornings. Why I want to do it anyway: I want to be stronger. I am seriously tired of being a wuss about this, and it’s time I seriously started training for my one-arm push up that I desire so much. All the seriousness. Also I used to do push ups every morning as well, before, during, or after my run/climb every morning. And I used to be able to do 20 of them. It advances my main quest both because it is activity and secondly because stronger muscle is more metabolically efficient. Plan of attack: I was intrigued by this article: http://www.lovingfit.com/fitness/improve-your-push-ups/ and am therefore going to attempt this program on weeks 1, 3, and 5. On the in between weeks I am going to try to do 30 seconds of pushups every morning (full or knee, whatever I am capable of.) I am only going to grade myself on the program weeks, the goal here is mainly to get stronger and build up a base of reps. A full A is to complete all 21 days of push ups. 21 days= A > 18 =B > 15 = C > 10 = D <10= F Life goal: something in russian EVERY DAY I am so lazy about this, I cannot even express. I'm actually disgusted by my level of sloth surrounding this topic. Therfore it is a top challenge priority. Why it is a challenge: part 1: i tend to be kind of intuitive when it comes to languages and I can pick them up fairly quickly (speaking and understanding only). This at first glance sounds like not-a-challenge, but my problem lies in the fact that im the biggest lazy-head when it comes to actually studying. Im making aproximatly the same amount of progress as my fellow students who do about an hour of study a day, and I literally have not cracked a book on this in 3 weeks. I get too caught up in comparing myself to others than looking st what kind of effort im actually putting in. Part 2: I just found out that im dyslexic. Yay. This only took 23 years to diagnose. And now im learning a new alphabet and reading is megahard. Why I want to do it anyway: Re: part1: This is not good. This is BAD. How much progress could I be making if I actually bothered to study? I will be much more useful if I am fluent than if I am just trudging along doing the minimum. Re: part2: Im going no need to be able to read and spell, so yeah. Plan of attack: I need to do at least SOMETHING in russian every day. This could be (best) rossetta stone or pimsleur, (good) workbook work, (ok) reading something in a russian book/website, or (if im super exhausted) listening to a russian song or audiobook or a movie in russian. All the days = A All the days > < 3/4 Of the days = B 3/4 of the days > < 1/2 the days = C Anything less is lazy and = F Alright! Allons-y, vamanos, пойдем, اجازه دهید به, vamos, gehen wir, twende, 我们走å§, let’s go!

I'm starting later, because I was in a bit of a funk. Those happen During the mini-challenge, I did a bunch of push-ups, and I really liked how it feels to have a bit more muscle in the shoulder region again. Being a bit stronger and having a bit more muscle just feels.. physically good? This is a thing I want. So, I think this challenge is a good time for me to get serious about doing body-weight exercises again. Also, erhm, I kinda finally got over the idea that "guys will not like me when I look strong, oh no" I don't care anymore. This kind of thinking is blocking my fun. Some goals that are doing the opposite of that: - Strong Nyxy: Push-ups and body weight squats. because I like those. A calendar will be hung on the wall to check how often I do some kind of workout session it, according to the do-it-or-mark-it thing I did last challenge. Thus, there are no goals regarding how often I do things. Following that same attitude, I'll try to determine what is enough activity for one workout session for me by setting no goals, but just writing down what I do - Curious Nyxy That thing I do for my back? I feel ready to try to make it harder. right now it looks like this: I'm pretty sure I could move back into the direction of doing a bridge, if I want. But, the goal is to kind of play around and see how different progressions/variants of these moves feel This can join with the rest of my workout stuff, really. - Relaxed Nyxy I will continue doing the exercises that were in my anti-shyness workbook. I almost got trough the whole thing last challenge, it might be good to reread some parts and see what that does for me, especially because it made a big difference for me already :) I'm counting this as a physical goal, because of how much it reduces my stress, like is argued for in this super great video: - Eloquent Nyxy I made a small stack of cards to learn more Serbian. Just HAVING the cards seems to convince me "Serbian Vocabulary" is a fun thing to play while having a tea. The goal is simple: turn that list of words I have into cards completely, so I end up with a little stack of things to say. It will prevent stuff like today's chicken incident. Since the goal itself is some kind of handwork involving scissors and markers, it's very attainable, if I end up learning serbian as a consequence, good. There's like, no pressure here.

Hi I'm QofC and I'm back for my third challenge! I am currently living in Tomsk, Russia teaching English to what seems like most of the city. I am starting my challenge on January 2nd. Main Goal: Increase my self confidence! Motivation: I want to feel good about myself and eliminate the areas that make me feel like a failure. Confidence Boosters: Study Russian: Study Russian everyday, starting with 10 minutes a day and increasing 10 minutes every week. Why? This will boost my confidence because I will be able to communicate with people much more easily and I have little wins when I understand words that I studied. How? Part of my studying must include my flashcards. I can also count time spent on Bliu-Bliu, Lang-8, making flashcards, or working on my Big Book of Russian Grammar. Grading: After two exceptions I drop a letter grade for everyday I miss. In the event of extenuating circumstances I must study my flashcards at minimum and make up the additional time within the week. WIS +4 Be Polished: Be dressed and polished within an hour of waking up. Why? When I am well dressed, and I know I'm well dressed, I feel better about myself and clothing usually gives me a confidence boost. Also I won't feel like I'm not well dressed for work. How? Polished means that I am thoughtfully dressed for the day, with make-up, jewelry, my hair done, my nails done and scent. Smelling nice is a treat for myself. The only exceptions are days when I am sick. Grading: I will allow myself two exceptions. Afterwards I drop a letter grade for everyday that I miss. CHA +4 Be Prepared: Be completely prepared for classes two days in advance. Why? I always feel like a terrible teacher and person when I procrastinate on lesson planning and ultimately have a hastily put together or unplanned lesson. How? This means that I have my lesson plans written out, all printed material is printed, and all necessary materials are gathered. The only exception would be when I gust lecture because I don't often know the topic until a day or two in advance. I think I will have around 36 classes to prepare for, I will know for sure when my holiday break ends. Grading: I will allow myself one additional exception. For every non-exception class I miss I drop a letter grade. WIS +2 CHA +2 Side Quest: Practice a handstand for five minutes everyday. On days when being upside down is not an option I must sit and quietly think about handstands or practice floor planks. Grading: For everyday I miss I drop a letter grade. STR +3 Rewards: If I get an A for my Russian I will buy myself a Russian book to read. If I get an A for the first two weeks of being polished I will buy myself a new hair clip. If I get an A for being prepared I will buy myself new sock yarn. If I post 60 posts I get to change my name to something more fitting with new me! Давайте Ñделаем Ñто! Let's do this!