Do You Believe in Magic?

I did something that felt super grown up yesterday. Over the last week I read the book called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and took its advice. Written by Marie Kondo, a celebrity personal organizer and de-clutter-er from Japan, it tells you everything you need to know to employ the KonMari (her trademarked system) method of decluttering your life. I decided my closet was the perfect victim for this organizing trend, and so Monday was the day it happened. Be forewarned that if you drink too much of her kool-aid, you might start talking to your clothes, thanking your socks for their hard work, and greeting your home each time you arrive at the front door. Whatever, man. The closet looks good, so she must be on to something!

Before I go into the details of how and why this worked for me, let me just say I feel like I'm channeling Gwyneth Paltrow and all of her rich-person minimalism with this whole program. Suddenly I was like "Hmm maybe I'll make kale shakes for breakfast now...and name my firstborn child Apple...and be spiritual but not religious." Then I was all like, "But wait, Anna, remember how you like pop tarts and Jesus and not scarring children for life?" Right. So maybe not.

I digress.

First, I will say that it's always good to evaluate our relationship to stuff, and I found that this kind of confronted the root emotional reasons why we keep stuff, instead of doing a more legalistic "get rid of one thing each day" or "throw away everything you haven't worn in a year" type of method. Here are the steps she follows - distinctive from other advice you've probably heard about putting your house in order. The first step, obviously, should begin with getting rid of stuff.

1. Downsize by category, not by room. Don't go around the house tidying up one room at a time. Work on clothes first. (This is the only one I'm doing - since it's the only category where I had an extreme amount of excess, but you could apply this method to everything you own.)

2. Get ALL OF THE THINGS from one category and put them on the floor in one place. And I mean EV-ER-Y-THI-NG. Yikes. This is where my first-world-guilt kicked in. As I stared at that massive pile of possessions, I couldn't believe that this all belonged to me. Just look at that beaut.

My mountain of stuff. 

3. Physically pick up each item, and ask yourself, "Does this spark joy?" This was the most important question, and the central idea to why you should keep anything. You don't ask whether you wear the item a lot, whether you have worn it in the past two years, whether it is in good condition or not, or even whether somebody gave it to you as a gift. You should be surrounded only by things that you love, that spark joy for one reason or another.

4. Keep the joyful stuff - pitch the rest. For real. Get rid of every last item you own that doesn't have a spark of joy. Now, I had to think around a few things. For example, exercising is something I love to have in my life, but it doesn't spark joy at first - I know it always comes after the workout is finished. So I kept the workout clothes with this in mind. Or, while I don't absolutely love my school-issued Timothy Christian School polo, I do love my job, and it is a joy to work there, so I kept the shirt for our spirit day Fridays. Basically, I tried to be reasonable. After I got going, the "joy" test was very effective and I ended up making all of my decisions to keep or not to keep within about 90 minutes. I sent a crazy amount of stuff off to be donated. For those who are counting, that would be 9 large garbage bags filled to the top, along with a 3-drawer set and a huge storage container, all filled as well. I gave over half of my clothes away. 

5. Put each and every item that you keep back in a specific and intentional place. This seems simple, but it was a really important part of the book. One bonus tip she added: hang things on hangers so that they slope up and to the right. It just looks good that way. So I put my wedding dress on first, then maxi dresses, then regular dresses, followed by skirts on the end.

6. Reevaluate all you know about folding. You can see from some of my pictures how I've changed my folding habits. Here's an article with a few tutorial videos attached: http://goop.com/the-illustrated-guide-to-the-kondo-mari-method/. This is my favorite part, as I can get a good view of everything I own, and, unlike my old method of the stacked-up piles, I don't make a mess every time I want to pick one shirt off of the shelf.

Tank tops, sweaters, and t-shirts

My athletic t-shirts now all fit in one drawer! I gave 30 away in the donation pile. 

Jeans and other pants. 

So there you have it. My closet renovation. AKA, I have too much time on my hands because I'm a teacher on winter break. 

Happy tidying, everyone!

My 26 Before 27

It's time! I love lists and I love setting goals. Partly, of course, to break the rules and feel rebellious while I ignore them, but also to set a purpose for the next leg of the path. Yesterday I checked in on my goals from last year and I made some pretty cool progress! I'm starting out this new phase of 26-year-old-hood, and here is what I'm going to try to do during it:

1. Run in 2 events. Something about paying 30 bucks for a t-shirt and bib number makes me actually train and prepare for an event. I'd like to bring back at least two events into my schedule, as this year didn't have any.

2. Make someone a meal for a baby/life change/just because. I've watched my mom bless so many people throughout the course of my life through cooking meals. I honestly think she's packing up a meal for another family every time I call home. I remember my Grandma Gesch's letters in college always included an anecdote about how wonderful my mom is for cooking for them. It's not a bad thing to be known for feeding other people. Time for me to get on it.

3. Consider a permanent living sitch. Not that we can predict the future, but I know we would like to get into a house one day. This will be the year where research, saving, and planning takes on a more prominent and serious place in our daily discussion. I'm already addicted to RedFin, so oops. This would potentially be a HUGE step for us, and the idea of it already overwhelms me and makes me ridiculously giddy and exhausts me all at once.

4. Make risotto. Dang. We had risotto at the wedding last weekend and it was so good that it really went beyond description. Plus, being able to say that I can make risotto sounds super fancy, and you all know how #imsofancy

5. Stay updated on international news. One of the few great things about an extra long commute last year was the time spent listening to the radio. I was ridiculously up-to-date about all the things. I want to continue on in my news-junkie-dom.

6. Read all of the Psalms. When I think of times when the rubber hits the road, my heart is usually led to the Psalms. My dad sings the Psalms to old ladies in the nursing homes, and I dare you to find me an OCS graduate who can't recite Psalm 8 complete with the actions. I think it's a good place for this fickle-Bible-reader to start her 26th year.

7. Exercise in ways besides running. I screwed up my ankle big time this past spring in a pickup game of volleyball. When I was talking to my Physical Therapist and explained that I usually only run and don't do much else in terms of cross training or variety, she responded with a big DUH ANNA speech, saying that I needed to do other things too. So there you go. Personal trainer friends, I'm open to suggestions!

8. Have a sleepover. So I miss college and wanna watch movies with my friends, okay?

9. Take a class to learn a new skill. Calligraphy? Knitting? Ventriloquism? Time will tell.

10. Floss every day. I try, you guys. I really try. The latest trip to the dentist sent me off with a new resolve to make this happen. (I asked, "Is 3 times a week impressive?" And the lady was like "Mmmmm. Sorry honey.")

11. Make a math group project for my kids. Okay, this is a stupid teacher goal that non-teachers might not appreciate, but I hear and see all of these cool things that veteran teachers do with group projects. Meanwhile, I'm differentiating my little tail off so that every kid gets his or her individual needs met. That's all fine and good, but kids just really love the chance to create stuff together. I'm going to try to do this somehow in Math this year. Teacher friends, I'm open to suggestions!

12. Girls road trip. Brian will be gone for a week in January and a week in March for trips with his high school students. Therefore, I've resolved to get in the car and head out on the open road as well. This summer's trip with Karley and Liz only reinforced my desire to do this more often.

13. Get a library card. HAVING FUN ISN'T HARD...WHEN YOU'VE GOT A LIBRARY CARD! Plus I spend way too much on books. Oops. 

14. Read a new YA fiction series. Harry Potter really made my soul so happy this year, and I want to keep that YA joy flowing. I realize that nothing will ever measure up, but there's something about a series that's so addicting in the best possible way. Nerd friends, I'm open to suggestions!

15. Stay in bed until noon. SO. For the past two years, I've made it a goal to get up early to see the sunrise. And failed. Miserably. So I decided to take it in another direction. I haven't done the noon thing since college, and goodness knows that drifting in and out of sleep on a Saturday morning can be pretty freaking fantastic. It's like a goal to be lazy! I can't wait!

16. Watch every Seinfeld episode in order of its chronological release. All 180 epodes. Giddy-up.

17. Keep a plant alive under my supervision. Meanwhile, everyone I know is pregnant.

18. Try a cleaning schedule. Okay, before you write this one off as definitely not going to happen, I think if I chunk up the cleaning jobs, I won't let it build up because it's too much at once. Here's what I'm thinking: Monday is laundry day, Tuesday is floor day, Wednesday is kitchen day, Thursday is bathroom day, and Friday is for clutter. Saturday and Sunday will no longer be spent with shame and guilt-ridden hours of looking around at the mess and being too overwhelmed to chip away at any of it.

19. Visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. WHO'S WITH ME?!

20. Do something for this refugee crisis. You've all read Ann Voskamp's suggestions at how we can be a small help in this world full of brokenness, right? I want to stop reading headlines and start writing checks. Compared to most people on this planet, I am ridiculously wealthy. God is extravagantly generous with me - why can't I give a refugee kid a new backpack? There are so many little things we can do. Let's start doing them.

21. Attend a festival. Complete with a flower garland in my hairzzzz.

22. Watch the long Pride and Prejudice. Who would like to set aside a Saturday and do this with me? Oh hello, Colin Firth circa 1995. Hello there. 

23. Attend a theater or dance performance in Chicago. I am always so intrigued by the ballet ads I see downtown. And I have yet to meet a broadway show I didn't love. Time to get classy.

24. Paint a piece of furniture. True confession: I have two cans of aqua spray paint I'm not sure what to do with, so I figured I may as well make it a goal. That's just me being #Dutch and #cheap

25. Find a mission where I can volunteer or support or visit. Once again, see #20.

26. See live jazz music. This one is partly for Brian and partly for me. Before getting married, I really had no tolerance for jazz music. I get impatient and like my songs to run their full course within 2 minutes and 35 seconds. Brian, on the other hand, can throw in a little Wayne Shorter and be completely happy with a song over 7 minutes long. It's been growing on me and I'd love to experience some live jazz music together. Plus, we Chicagoans live in a cultural center of the genre! Excited to make this into a date night.

So there it is. 26 little things that help me make this life I lead my own. Got any ideas to add?

Checking In on my 25 before 26

Today is the day! My birthday! I had a birthday buddy in my classroom this year for the first time, which was super fun. I have my mind on a lot of things to accomplish this year, and that will come later this week, but today I want to reflect on my 25th year. I want to check in on how I've done with the list I set out to achieve by the time I turned 26. There were some big wins and of course some defeats. Here's how I did:

1. Refrain from purchasing clothes until January 1st, 2015. Success! Accomplished! I think Brian got a skewed sense of what our budget would be since the first 6 months of our marriage were completely mall-purchase-free, but he got over it when the new year came around :) It felt really good to accomplish this (pats self on back), but there is something wonderful about feeling great in a new outfit. I'm starting to veer into the quality-over-quantity territory, but it's hard to spend a lot on one item, trusting that I'll actually use it for years and years. One day I'll invest in those things, I swear. 

2. Go soft-drink-free for a year. IT HAPPENED! VICTORY! I consider this the biggest win of AGW's 25th year. I had my first Coke tonight after a full year without, accompanied by a fan-freaking-tastic Aurelio's pizza. Oh man. I think I got jittery immediately, but it was worth it. 

3. Sponsor a child. I did this one! Oforiwaa lives in Ghana and it's kind of pathetic how little effort it takes me to change a life in such a big way. Let's all do this, okay? 

4. Use money to bless people. Isn't there a thing about not bragging about tithing? I won't delve into the details, but once again, I saw this year how some people blessed me through their giving, and I think this world would be a better place if we took care of each other more often. 

5. Go wine tasting. Thanks to Brian, this one was accomplished. 

6. Use the broiler in my oven. Nope. Making food is hard, guys. 

7. Run for a good cause.  An unfortunate pick-up volleyball accident prevented me from running the actual event, but I can definitely say I coached for a good cause! I was a coach for Girls on the Run for the first time at Calvin and it was such an incredible experience. Absolutely a wonderful cause and loved the season with my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls. 

8. Wake up really early to see the sunrise. Nope. Maybe I should give up on this goal. I see the sunrise in the winter when I drive to work in the darkness. That counts, right? 

9. Have a housewarming party. I threw Jen a baby shower, and I considered that my housewarming party :) I felt like a real live hostess, a true accomplishment of my year! Plus it gave me an excuse to make bacon-wrapped dates. Win win. 

10. Own a houseplant without killing it.  This didn't happen. Not because I tried and failed, but because I didn't even try. I can only conquer so many fears in one year. 

11. Write more consistently. This is always a goal of mine, and always something I struggle with. How can I make time for the stuff that brings me to life in the midst of all of the obligations of life? Writing is one of those things, yet I always struggle with making it happen. I think it will have to be on next year's list again. 

12. Go to a yoga class. Success! This was a great part of my year, just learning how to breathe and think in a mindful way. I'm so so so not an expert and I'm not even close to even being good. I'm kind of a perpetual beginner, but I went to 7 sessions this winter and really loved it. 

13. Always have a book going.  Yep! This was one of the best things on the list to accomplish. ESPECIALLY ALL THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS OH MY GOODNESS JUST CALL ME HERMOINE.

14. Make dinner and have people over to eat it. Done! Did this for Karyn and Shane as well as Jen and Andrew. Nobody died. It's not that scarring of an experience! Maybe I'll do it again this year! I can do hard things! 

15. Keep fresh flowers in the house.  I definitely accomplished this, especially with all my trips to Trader Joe's (hello supercheap bouquets!), which also fed my orange chicken addiction. 

16. Go on a road trip with Brian.  Done! We hit up Milwaukee this year, and also managed to do a friend road trip with Danny and Reese to Tennessee. It was wonderful. There was a cabin and Harry Potter reading and bacon cooking and puzzle assembling and cocoa drinking. 

17. Spend more time intentionally technology-free. All that reading helped with this a bit. Always a good thing to keep in mind. 

18. Be tidier. Yikes. This was not accomplished. I'm blaming my hour-long commute from this year. So there. 

19. Accessorize more. I did it! I bought a few statement necklaces, and Brian even got me one too! He bought the gold one that I wore to a family friend's wedding last weekend. Here's a picture of that and of the one I wore to meet my new kids and their parents. So sophisticated #exceptitsfromtarget #targetisfancy #hatersgonnahate #noshameselfie

20. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago for a new exhibition.  Oops. 

21. Paint a watercolor picture. Nope. 

22. Wash off my makeup every night. I did this! I'm an adult!

23. Try 10 recipes I have never tried before. I did. And now I know 12 recipes. #domesticgoddess

24. Get my planning for school done before the weekend for a full month. This helped my weekends big time. I did this the whole month of March and it just really made me less depressed on Sunday night. 

25. Listen to the Lord. One of the hardest things about my year was following this rule. I had to decide where I was going to teach for the 2015 - 2016 school year, and discerning what God was saying was a hard thing. I ended up leaving Calvin Christian, a place I absolutely LOVE, for Timothy Christian, a place that was at the time an unknown. I don't think that God "wanted" me to leave or stay, but I do think God wanted me to serve him. So, no, a sign didn't come down from heaven. And no, I didn't hear His voice. But I do believe that I was listening to the Lord's leading when I had to face that tough choice. I'm learning the hard way that God works in wonderful and beautiful ways, blessing my life in the day-to-day. I feel God's presence right here at Timothy Christian School, and I'm loving the idea that I get to teach God's kids every day. Listening to God doesn't take away the doubts that I have; rather, it makes me at peace in the tension between certainty and confusion, where I tend to usually dwell. Listening to God makes me know that it's okay to live in that tension too. 

It's been a good year :) 

On Lists and Saying "Yes"

I think I can safely say that Brian and I had a great time for New Year's Eve. We went out to a place in Wicker Park with Brian's college friends and my life friends (isn't it cool how you can adopt other people's college friends?) for dinner, drinks, conversations, and scrabble. A few of us even started the dance floor, which I'm not sure was really meant to be a dance floor, but a floor was present and we danced on it nonetheless. 

I was thinking about New Year's and how much I love the beginning of new things, fresh starts, and how much I always love to make New Year's Resolutions. A chance to make a list, you say? Sign me up! I make them every year. I even beat New Year's to the punch by making Birthday Resolutions each year. Yet, sometimes, I feel like these resolutions resound with the tone of Self Deprivation. Running, diets, yoga classes, bedtimes, water consumed, handwritten notes sent, and achievements reached are all forged out of some sort of intense gritting-of-the-teeth. Discipline. (Oh how I wish I was more disciplined!) When I inevitably fail to complete something on the list, then, this cycles me downward pretty quickly into feeling guilty, shaming myself, and needless stress. 

Instead of adding to that already-25-items-long-list that I made on my birthday, I decided to back off the resolutions a bit this year and give the to-do-lists a break. Lists are my weakness (do you notice that on the right hand side of this very blog the most common topic for my blog posts are lists?) and while they are helpful for organizing this scattered mind of mine, sometimes they need to just be set aside. A little less gritting of the teeth. Maybe I'll return to the list of resolutions another year, but I think 2015 will be a good year for taking a break.

2014 was a year of lists. Planning our wedding. Finishing grad school. Finishing Teach for America but continuing with my career in teaching. Finding a new job. Setting up a new classroom. Finding a new apartment. Changing my name. There were lots of things to complete on lots of to-do lists. They were all wonderful things. I want to do healthy, good, and loving things not because they've appeared on my list of obligations, but because I know they are healthy, good, and loving in and of themselves. I just want to take a break from approaching life in a theme of forcing myself away from bad things, always in self deprivation, and more toward consistently embracing what is truly good. Of course I want to run more, sleep well, choose kindness, pray daily, and live fully. For this year, though, maybe there doesn't have to be a list present in order for those things to happen. Change and improvement doesn't have to be forced, and it surely doesn't need to involve guilt when a mark is missed.

Maybe growth doesn't have to come from a place of deprivation, of saying "no" to all the wrong things, but from a place of saying "yes" to the right things: to peace, renewal, and the good. I know God can speak into my life without all of my lists, and this year I'm going to give Him a chance to do it. 

My 25 Before 26

You guys. I turned 25. Karley of course was a ridiculously good friend along with Mel and Liz and they planned me a surprise party that made me feel so freaking warm and fuzzy inside. I got a lot of comments about how this year makes me a quarter of a century. My dad said, "Hey Anna, only three more quarters to go!" I said, "Until I die? That's morbid Dad!" And he goes, "No...just three more quarters to go...until you turn...100." It's weird to have the first half of my twenties behind me, but I also love that those years have been lived. I really became myself in these past five years, made some dumb choices, made some good ones, but mostly just made my way in this world. As I did last year, I want to look at this year ahead as a year of opportunity; a way to accomplish things and never forget that this world is never finished in amazing me with new things, big and small, to try and discover and experience. Here we go, friends. My 25 goals before I turn 26!

1. Refrain from purchasing clothes until January 1st, 2015. I know it seems somewhat negative to have a "don't" as the first thing on my list, but it's the one I'm most determined to accomplish. I wanted to see what it felt like to go without buying clothes for six straight months. I've been on this thing since July 1, 2014, and plan to make it to New Year's Day. The (self-imposed) contest goes like this: I don't buy clothes (pants, jeans, tops, shirts, sweaters, shoes, etc...underwear and other accessories like tights are allowed in moderation so that I can be work appropriate haha) for six full months. If I make it to the end of the six months good on my promise, I'm going to reward myself with a small shopping day splurge. This is not meant to show solidarity with people less fortunate, as I am fully aware that my lack of spending does absolutely nothing to impact the lives of others and there are much, much better ways to support those who lack materially. This challenge came up when I was moving all of my clothes to our new place and realized that I don't always appreciate what I have. I love my clothes and want to put them to use; make them earn their keep. I love shopping almost as much, but there are better ways to spend my time and resources. So sorry, Anthro magazines, you'll just have to be eye candy for now. Whew. That was a long explanation for my first goal. The others are much shorter, I promise.

2. Go soft-drink-free for a year. No soda. No coke. No sugary-caffeiney-teeth-rotting nectar to complement my delicious bacon cheeseburger at DMK. Wish me luck.

3. Sponsor a child. 

4. Use money to bless people. I have been blown away by how God takes care of me, takes care of Brian and I together, and how generous our friends and family (and sometimes people out of the blue) are when it comes to money. Too often I'm counting and counting over and over what we've saved so far, only to forget that we could not have done it without the generosity of others. I want to be smart enough with my money so that it can be available to support other people.

5. Go wine tasting.

6. Use the broiler in my oven.I don't even know what that really means, but I see a lot of steak recipes in this great cook book I have that calls for me to use it, and yet I'm still scared. It's uncharted territory in the Gesch Whartnaby household, and I plan to chart that territory in the next year.

7. Run for a good cause. 

8. Wake up really early to see the sunrise. This is a repeat of last year, but I want to do it again. So there.

9. Have a housewarming party. I suppose my surprise party kind of christened our apartment as the first time we had people over, but I still want to host some sort of event. I love it here and want to share it!

10. Own a houseplant without killing it. 

11. Write more consistently. That means on this blog and in my journal. One of the things that makes me feel like "me" is writing things down. It's so basic of a thing, but it's important to me, and I should do it more often. I guess quantitatively that means something like 8x per month as a minimum on this blog and about 5x per week in my journal.

12. Go to a yoga class. I still haven't done it! How am I 25 years old without this being accomplished?! Up until now I've only ventured to the youtube yoga videos in the comfort of my own home, but this is the year where I will get out there and try a class or two.

13. Always have a book going. Last year I was good about reading during the breaks from school, but my reading life dropped off during the weeks and months of teaching. I want to always, always be in the middle of a book, no matter what time of year it is. I've never actually read Harry Potter, and I'm thinking it's the series I want to tackle this year.

14. Make dinner and have people over to eat it. This terrifies me, but I think is important to do before I turn the ripe old age of 26. C'mon Anna, woman up!

15. Keep fresh flowers in the house. 

16. Go on a road trip with Brian. 

17. Spend more time intentionally technology-free. I want to purposely leave my phone in the other room for an entire evening and be okay with it, on a consistent basis.

18. Be tidier. If you've ever met my dear cousin Liz, you would understand why she is the inspiration for this challenge. Stay tuned for how I figure out some strategies that work for me to keep up a clean apartment, for it shall need some creative thinking.

19. Accessorize more. The only jewelry I ever wear is my wedding/engagement ring combo. As lovely as they are (and they are) I want to amp this one up.

20. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago for a new exhibition.

21. Paint a watercolor picture.

22. Wash off my makeup every night. Pathetic that this one needs to be a goal, but yet, I am so, so lazy in this regard.

23. Try 10 recipes I have never tried before. Let me know if you have suggestions please!

24. Get my planning for school done before the weekend for a full month. Usually my Saturdays and Sundays are plagued with this slight feeling of dread that I have to get my work done. I want to pick a whole month to show myself that I can budget my time wisely and have the payoff be a very chilled out weekend.

25. Listen to the Lord. The tradition of Christianity in which I grew up was a strong, true, and wonderful one, but it didn't necessarily stress actually listening for the voice of the Lord. I want to spend more time acting out Psalm 46:10, really being still, and asking the Lord what he wants from me and for me. I want to investigate this part of my faith this year.

Join in if you'd like - what do you want to do in this year of your life?

Checking In: My 24 Before 25

Last year, around my birthday, I came up with a list of 24 goals I wanted to accomplish before I turned 25. I will surely make a list again this year for my next set of ideas, but before I go forward, I thought it would be fun to hold myself accountable to the ideas I had. Some of them definitely have been accomplished, some have definitely not. Like not even close. But I'm happy for the little victories and fun areas of personal growth. I like being an adult a lot for this reason, I feel really like I'm growing into myself more and more. So let's see how I did...

 1. Have a regular fitness routine. Meh. Didn't really accomplish this one because I'm just as on-again-and-off-again with running and working out as I was at this time last year.

2. Write a book. Swing, and a miss. I started a project (actually a really cool one!) but then employment, finding a job, and working my little butt off to be the best teacher I could be got in the way. And I still feel like I have miles to go in becoming a better teacher. But the book idea will have to simmer for now.

3. Read 5 books, just for the sake of reading them. We have a winner! Definitely accomplished this one. I read all 3 of Shauna Niequist's books this past year, along with a great collection of nonfiction stories from Annie Dillard, Soul Pancake, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls, Sacred Marriage, The Meaning of Marriage, two books on teacher professional development, The Fault in Our Stars, and my favorite book that I read this past year, hands down, goes to The Book Thief. I was weeping, people; it was that good. The #1 biggest disappointment of the year in the literary department goes to Allegiant, Veronica Roth's third installment to her YA fiction series. It was bad. So I'd say Marcus Zusak gets my bid for Best Book of Anna Gesch Whartnaby's year.

4. Ged rid of clothes I don't wear. Also a success! I donated a total of 8 brown paper Trader Joe's bags to Goodwill. This doesn't mean, however, that my closet has any empty space at all. It just means I can mostly see all of the clothes that I own now. And that's a good thing.

5. Learn a new song in sign language. Nope. Forgot to do it completely.

6. Learn about wine. Again, nope. Unless "learning about wine" means "drinking more wine," I didn't get to that one this year. It will be in some form on the list to come.

7. Wake up really early to go to the beach to see the sunrise. A modified victory. I woke up really early one weekend to see the sunrise, but it wasn't at the beach. It was on my deck at my little apartment in Pilsen and it was very lovely. I then went to the coffee shop on the corner and I considered this halfway accomplished.

8. Take picture of murals in Pilsen. I got to take some great Pilsen pictures with Brian this year at Second Fridays for an open art gallery night. I'd love to go back and take more.

9. Paint a piece of furniture in a fun color. Nope. Just assembled furniture from IKEA and World Market instead. Getting married definitely changes your ideas of what you want to do when it comes to furniture.

10. Host people at my apartment for a fun event. Yipee! I had girls over for a Christmas party last December and it was both fun and delicious, as the treats that people brought to share were the best part.

11. Find a mentor. This has been one of the biggest parts of the last year in my life. I have been meeting with a mentor from my church since this past February, and it has had such a great impact on my spiritual life. I love her, look up to her, and wish that someday I'll have as much poise, confidence, and wisdom as she does.

12. Bake a cake or cupcakes from scratch. Check! Thanks 100% to the lovely Reese Eschmann Pyne, this one was accomplished.

13. Learn to use a grill. Halfway, as I've been more intentional about watching my mother-in-law craft delicious food on the grill for us to eat, but don't actually own a grill of my own to practice on. This will have to be a work in progress.

14. Create something crafty to hang up on the walls of my apartment. Done! I found cool map layouts of Chicago and Philadelphia and paired them with some frames I found to surprise Brian for our first apartment together.

15. Eat sushi. Yep. I liked it, but am still wondering how people eat that as their entire meals.

16. Pay off grad school and be debt free. Ahhhhh. This one feels the best. I feel the most grownup about accomplishing this one.

17. Spend less per week on groceries. Check! I found that I was throwing away a ton of food because I couldn't eat it in time before it went bad. I started making lists before going to the store and really stuck to them, which helped me a lot. Since I spent $40 on myself per week, I figured I could keep it to 80 or 90 per week on Brian and I together. So far that's worked out well!

18. Get a no-chip manicure. My sneaky sister-in-law Stephanie, who knew about my engagement before I did, offered to go with me to cross this one off the list just a few days before Brian popped the question.

19. Give more money away to church and charities. While this is always an area we can do more and more of,  I would consider this past year a success! I got better with giving consistently to my church and got to sponsor a Campus Crusade member at Northwestern in Evanston for her year of service,

20. Go to a yoga class. Still haven't done it. I'm too nervous to look stupid as a newbie!

21. Start to figure out where I will live/work/be for age 25 and beyond. This one DEFINITELY was accomplished this year. I know that I will live, work, and be alongside of Brian Edward Whartnaby for as long as we both shall live. That was the best accomplishment of my 24th year.

22. Write more thank-you notes. Yep. Weddings will do that to you. I've also managed to write a few more just for kicks, and I recommend it as a cheap and easy way to make people feel really special.

23. Read the Bible more. In conjunction with #11, I would say this area has become more real in my life. Not just because it is happening more often, but because, little by little, it starts to feel less like an obligation and more like a place of rest. Still working on it too.

24. Go on a road trip to a place I've never driven before. Success! I drove myself to the Twin Cities for my dear friend Jen's wedding this summer. It is such a great area and now realize that Minnesota has excellent qualities, in spite of its football team.

Whew! It's been a good ride! The final count is 17/24, and I'd say that's not too shabby. I accomplished lot of big things this year and ignored lots of little ones. Stay tuned for what's on my radar as I embark on this next quarter century.

My 24 Before 25

Last weekend, Brian took me home to Wisconsin for my birthday weekend. My work life is in a crazy phase, so it was awesome for us to sit around a fire with my parents and stare at the stars in the crystal clear sky. We shot guns (more on that later), sat and talked with my grandpa and great aunt, and ate more calories than I would like to think about with my aunt and uncle.

But, as it was my birthday, I am now 24 years old. Whaaa? Why is it that I feel like I'm perpetually 16 in this adult world? Yet the number goes up each year. I do think I'm more mature now than I was a year ago, but somehow it still feels weird. I suppose that if I felt more accomplished I might feel more mature each year at my birthday. So I've decided to do just that. I've decided to accomplish things.  Here is a list of things, large and small, that I want to accomplish before I turn 25. Next year around my birthday I'll check in to see if I actually did any of this stuff!

My 24 Before 25

1. Have a regular fitness routine. I'm on and off this year, from intense running for a half marathon to slacking for the whole entire beginning of the school year. At a time where running is necessary to relieve stress and clear up my mind, I don't make time for it. I want to get better at this for next year.

2. Write a book.

3. Read 5 books, just for the sake of reading them. 

4. Get rid of clothes that I don't wear. Jen, my roommate, is really great at being a minimalist. She's constantly throwing stuff out. I feel like she lives lighter because of that. Pack-rat-dom brings me down. I think my rule will be that if I haven't worn it in a year, it's got to go.

5. Learn a new song in sign language.

6. Learn about wine. I don't understand wine. But I like it. So I want to learn about it.

7. Wake up really early and go to the beach to see the sun rise.

8. Take pictures of some of the murals in Pilsen with my nice camera. This neighborhood is a special place

9. Paint a piece of furniture in a fun color. 

10. Host people over at my apartment for a fun event. 

11. Find a mentor. Whether that age difference is one year or fifty, getting advice from someone older is important.

12. Bake a cake or cupcakes from scratch. 

13. Learn to use a grill. 

14. Create something crafty to hang up on the wall or put in my apartment. 

15. Eat sushi. I've only tried one piece of sushi once in my life. I've never "gone out for sushi" like most hip girls my age have done. I feel like this needs to happen.

16. Pay off grad school and be debt free. 

17. Spend less per week on groceries. 

18. Get a no-chip manicure. 

19. Give more money away to church and charities. (This goes hand in hand with 16 and 17.)

20. Go to a yoga class. Namaste.

21. Start to figure out where I will live/work/be for age 25 and beyond. And when I say "start to figure out" I mean just that. In no way do I intend to know my life path/calling/future a year from today. Something tells me that life is more about changing lanes along the way than reaching a destination.

22. Write more Thank-You notes. 

23. Read the Bible more. Right now, this is embarrassing to admit, but I'm averaging about 3, maybe 4 times a week. I need to do it every day to feel like my life is good and happy and right and on-track.

24. Go on a road trip to a place I've never driven before. 

The Best Pintentions: 2013

Here we are, it's January 1, 2013! Once again, I've turned to my Pinterest account to help artistically illustrate the four areas of my life that I want to work on this year. While there might be some overlap from last year's list, I am excited to focus in on this stuff in the next 365 days:

#1: Be kind. I find that it is very easy for me to be very kind, polite, and considerate to strangers and new people that I meet. Yet when it comes to my friends, family, and students that I see on a regular basis, I give them a second-rate version of myself. Why is that? That's not fair. I want to be kind even when I don't feel like it. 

#2: Be Hopeful. Let me tell you, it is easy for me to lose sight of the goodness and possibilities of what could happen during a school week. Just because a lot of things are broken doesn't mean that a lot of great things can't still happen. This means for my kids, for my school, for my own life, and for this crazy world. There is a lot of crap going on these days! But that just means there needs to be more hopeful people rolling up their sleeves and getting to work; there needs to be people out there who believe that things can really change. 

#3. Run, Forrest, Run. I feel better when I run. That's a simple fact. Plus I think I look better too. So this year will have more moments like my November 15k in it. This year I want to do at least 2 organized running events. So stay tuned! I'm eyeing up the Shamrock Shuffle, maybe a Color Run, and maybe a half marathon? Aieee! 

#4: Stop talking, start praying. In case you can't tell, I'm a talker. This can be a strength, but when it comes to actually solving problems or overcoming struggles, it's a definite weakness. Talking about it can quickly digress into complaining about it. This is not only unproductive, but starts to hamper that hopeful spirit (see #3) that I am seeking to cultivate. I want to start using my words to make something happen, not further dig myself into the mud. This resolution is going to take the most work and daily commitment out of myself, but I think it's also the most important.

All right! So there you have it: the things I'm focusing on this year. I'd love to talk about your ideas too. Let's make 2013 fab-u-lous. 

Check Up On It

It's the last day of 2012! Errybody's status is rocking info about the SUPER SICK party they're attending and I am loving the vibes that come each year on today and tomorrow's date. There is something wonderful about celebrating a fresh start. About starting clean. About starting over. About trying again. (And who can resist a blog post with a title taken from this Beyonce song?!)

This year, on January 1st I made a list of 5 New Year's Resolutions or goals for the following 365 days. Since today is the last day of the year, I wanted to look back and see how I did. (Can you see now how I'm very goal-oriented? Love those lists.) Looking back, there were times I lost focus, and times where I definitely did the opposite of what I wanted to do, but I am generally happy with what I set out to do and how I worked at my goals. Let's review:

Goal #1: Listen to my own body.
Goal #2: Stay Open.
Goal #3: Practice the best kind of love.
Goal #4: Be brave.
Goal #5: Cut myself some slack.

I would say I failed miserably on Goal #1, except for the fact that I have come lightyears in this category from the dismal food and sleep habits I employed in college. I still have a ways to go, as I often sleepwalk into school after staying up too late the night before, and the fact that I go into hibernation mode when it gets cold outside needs addressing. Goals #2 and 4 are those that I am most proud of. I've stayed really open minded and (I think) brave with my application process, acceptance, and work through Teach For America as well as my move to the city of Chicago. I didn't know where or how (or if) I'd ever find good new friends after my graduation dispersed those closest to me, but God definitely showed me his providence yet again in that area. Goals #3 and 5 also showed a lot of improvement, but are things that I need to continue to work on. Learning to love others above myself and learning to not be so hard on myself are two areas that always need work for me. But hey, it's good for me to realize that I'm inching along with a lot of help from God and others.

It's important to me that I continue to do this kind of stuff. A lot of people see resolutions as somewhat silly and shallow, but to me they are really important "north stars" that keep me headed in the right direction. I like the person I am today so much more than the person I used to be. When I think back to freshman-in-college Anna, I almost laugh at the self-importance I touted around. Let's keep moving forward, shall we? Tomorrow will feature a new post with my goals for 2013...hopefully I get to talk with some of you about your goals too!

And since I love Zooey and you, here is another re-post of her beautiful voice singing a song perfect for tonight. I'm currently in Cali with a college friend reunion and very much looking forward to waking up with a fresh outlook on 1/1/2013. Cheers!