goals list check-in

on 17 june, i made a list of goals i wanted to accomplish before i turned 30.  i figured since i only have 4 months to go, i might as well check in:

1) run the cascade lakes relay and the portland marathon (training in progress)  i did the cascade lakes relay and had an awesome time!  i'm actually signed up to do the hood to coast in august 2011 with my tnt girls.  we are called the 'fit beaches.'  hehe.  

unfortunately, the portland marathon thing didn't work out because of IT band syndrome.  i'm trying again for the eugene marathon on 1 may, but - honestly - i'm not feeling so confident.  i had IT band problems again on saturday (the first time this season).  i'm debating on whether i want to go through the whole physical therapy debacle again.  it didn't work last time.  i'm running again tomorrow (12 miles if all goes well), so i'll know more once that happens. 

2) sell the house in nz; explore options for buying here in the valley  we have the house back on the market as of the end of november, but not one person has looked at it.  so frustrating!  the market in cromwell is dead as a doornail right now and the realtors don't seem to have anything optimistic to say to us (that is, if they say anything at all - communication doesn't seem to be their strong point).  we might just have to call this goal a wash for now.

3) start a 401k (i.e. finally be a responsible adult) - plus some other financial goals  started the 401k, but then stopped contributing in january, as i am now working on my debt snowball.  according to my schedule, i should have my two student loans paid off in 18 months!!  how amazing will that be?  

4) buy a nikon d90, keep reading photography books and blogs, and see if we can't create some acceptable images!  i am extremely happy to say that, due to my amazing employer, this is underway!  i got the camera last month and started photography classes this week!  i'm SO, SO, SO excited!!!

5) go to nz for dane and julia's wedding and christmas with the douglas clan  due to dave ramsey, i opted to forgo this trip.  chad and i went solo for a few weeks -- i went to michigan for the holidays and he went to nz.  it worked out very well, as i hadn't been back to michigan since the previous christmas.

6) book trip to chile and peru (even if the actual travel doesn't happen until after my 30th birthday)  the plans for this trip are underway, although it has been edited to include peru and argentina!  we have a whiteboard on our fridge that is tracking our savings goals and we should be on track to book flights in june for travel in november.  we're tentatively going to peru to hike to machu picchu, followed by a couple of weeks in argentina -- mendoza, salta and buenos aires.  


i guess - overall - this isn't so bad.  goals 1 and 2 are kind of out of my hands, goals 3 and 5 got amended for bigger goals, and goals 4 and 6 are very much underway.