A Portion of My Dash

It's been quite a number of days since my first blog post with my orignal goals on it.  I thought I'd update the goals to see where I am...

For those of you who don't remember, the original list looked a little like this :

Short term goals include:

Keeping up my fabulous daily dress code
Getting on a strict(er) budget
Make new friends
read a good book
clean my car
start training for the half marathon 3-5 days a week
Get invovled with LifeTeen as a Core member
Cut back on the number of sodas consumed in a week to less than 2

Long term goals include:
Meet a fabulous man who will treat me like his queen
Get my own apartment
Stick to said budget
Pay off my car
Pay off my student loans
Keep said new friends
FINISH said half marathon (Feb 2011- Disney Princess Run)
Lose 10 lbs by Dec 25, 2010

Let's start with the short term goals...
My fabulous dress code is still wonderful :) [ CHECK ]
My budget is much stricter, thanks to QUICKEN!! [ CHECK ]
New friends  = Calliebaker and lets be honest..we all know how thats going :) [ CHECK ]
I've read Captivating, White Hot, and I'm almost done with Wild at Heart. Good book? [ CHECK]
My car WAS clean...and then got dirty again. I think that one is just an on going item on the "to-do" list...
Training for the half marathon has consisted of a strict workout schedule:

• Monday: Stretch and Weights.
• Tuesday: 3,4, or 5 mile run.
• Wednesday: 3 mile run or Cross train
• Thursday: 3, 4, or 5 mile run and weights
• Friday: REST (best day of the week)
• Saturday: LONG RUN (started at 4 miles, and increased one mile a week until we get to 13.1...bitches)
• Sunday: 30-60 min cross train

Training? [ CHECK ]
I haven't quite got invovled with LifeTeen yet..I've been going to church more (with sam!) so that is a huge improvement. I've also been reading a daily devotional prayer and going to Adoration once a week.  I'd consider that a major step in the right direction.  I'm hoping to be invovled by this Fall.
I drink soda once a week. And it's always diet or Zero :] [ CHECK ]
 
Now on to the Long Term Goals...
Met a FABULOUS man who's made me his queen :D Couldn't ask for anyone better in my life! I've never known love like this. [ CHECK ]
I'm hoping to get my own apartment by August (realistically that means October). Hopefully Callie and I can find a place together :D
My car and my student loans will be paid off by December at the absolute latest. That's a great feeling! Thanks to my budget :)
Half Marathon race is in 17 days...and counting!
I have lost 5 lbs... not quite as much as I wanted but hey... I'll take it! I'm looking better than ever!!
 
 
So, all in all I'd say my goals that I set for myself months ago are going SWIMMINGLY! 
 
I'm loving life right now. I'm loving my job and my boyfriend and my friends.  I haven't been so truely blessed with everything in my life and I couldn't ask for anything to go better right now.  God has given me so much that I am so thankful for.  Not long ago, I was listening to a speaker talk about this poem. It's called The Dash and it "captures not the date you were born, or the date you die—but the importance of The Dash between those years. It's what you do with your Dash to make a difference with your life" and it goes a little something like this:

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of his friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth…
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard…
are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left.
That can still be rearranged

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile…
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy’s being read
with your life’s actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent your dash?