FinishYear Week 18

Well, I'm 18 weeks into FinshYear, and I feel like I'm making some very good progress! I fear that soon I won't have much to update on. But, here's where I'm at:

-Finish Master's Degree: Check.

-Finish Health Psych Cert: My Preventive Psych class is officially finished! Did my last online assignment, hit "Send" and had a little celebration because I did not enjoy that class. 

I feel discouraged, though, because I have no idea if I'll be able to finish this goal in 2012 or not. The class that I want to take in order to finish this cert is not being offered until next summer. I CAN finish the cert in the fall by taking a less preferred class. But I REALLY want to take Neuropsychological Assessment. My Master's is finished, my loans are astronomical, and I'm not sure I want to pay over $2,000 for a class I'm not interested in. So, I may wait until next summer to take the last class. That will mean that I do not finish this goal this year, but I might have to be OK with that.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: I mailed his last letter last week and finally learned the rules for mailing letters internationally. For this reason, I feel I now have no excuse not to write to him more frequently.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This one is on hiatus for now. Not much else to do on it for now.

-Read through the Bible by the end of 2012: Continuing to plug away at this one! I'm halfway through Week 10 of the Bible and we're in Week 18 of 2012, so I'm catching up! Into Deuteronomy now.

So, I'm feeling OK. I'm starting to think that I might need to add some more goals. I had a longer list at the beginning of the year, but factors outside my control have made it such that I have not been able to complete some, while others turned out to not be feasible, and still others have been finished. At this point, I'm really only working on finishing a letter to Karabo once a month and finishing the Bible this year. That's not much fun to read about, is it? HA! So, maybe time to brainstorm some new goals...

FinishYear Week 17

Well, it's been 17 weeks! I apologize for not updating for Week 16 last week. I confess I had not made much progress on some of my goals (OK, all of my goals) because my entire week was consumed with preparing for some photography mini sessions to benefit fundraising for my missions trip to Jamaica this summer. All other goals took a backseat. Saturday I was photographing literally all day, and Sunday was recovering (boy, was I sore!) and and editing. So, for here is my list of goals, and the progress that I made for Week 17:

-Finish Master's Degree: Check.

-Finish Health Psych Cert: I attended my last class in person and gave my presentation. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in my paper writing and need to re-write about half of it. My teacher was very understanding (thank goodness!) and the re-write is already done. I have one more online assignment to do and then this class is DONE.

Learned that the last class I need to finish the cert is not offered this summer like I thought it would be. So, might not be able to finish cert until the fall. Not sure yet, need to further explore some of my options. Feeling a bit discouraged, but it'll all work, because everything always does. 

-Finish a letter to Karabo: Accomplished. Now I need to mail it, which is always a challenge. I can never remember all the rules for sending mail internationally, so I need to find time to get to the post office and this time, I will take notes. I've had the letter in my planner for a week now!

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This one is on hiatus for now.

-Read through the Bible by the end of 2012: I did not read consistently two weeks ago, but did read consistently this week. I am now on Week 9, Day 2 of the Bible, and we are in Week 17 of 2012, so I'm catching up! I feel good about this one and am still enjoying it, though getting through all the rules in Leviticus was a challenge at times!

So, I'm feeling good! How about you?

FinishYear Week 15

Well, it's been 15 weeks! Here’s my list of goals, and the progress that I made:

-Finish Master's Degree: Check.

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This was week 14 of class. One more to go! Stayed home sick from class this week, not much else to report. Can't wait to turn in my paper and get it off my shoulders.

Learned that the last class I need to finish the cert is not offered this summer like I thought it would be. So, might not be able to finish cert until the fall. Not sure yet, need to further explore some of my options. Feeling a bit discouraged, but it'll all work, because everything always does. 

-Finish a letter to Karabo: This goal got pushed back because I was still fighting off bugs this week.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: Still sick, see above.

-Read through the Bible by the end of 2012: I read every day this week. Finished Genesis and Job, now in Exodus. Reading through story of the Exodus very quickly, as it's always been a favorite of mine. I remember sitting in my room and reading through the story for fun as a little girl.

So, all in all, not a great week. Still fighting off a bug, and was focused on a craft show, an engagement session, and some other personal things this week.

How about you guys?

Finish Year Week 14

Well, it's been 14 weeks! Here’s my list of goals, and the progress that I made:

-Finish Master's Degree: Check.

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This was week 13 of class. Two more to go! I wrote 11 pages of the 10 page paper this week. So glad to have that off my shoulders. It's not due for another 2 1/2 weeks or so, but I knew this was the only weekend I'd get uninterrupted time to work on it. I hope to tweak it a little bit once I get some questions clarified in class this week, but it's mostly done.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: This goal got pushed back because I was sick more days than not this week.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: I transferred all photographs that are not mine personally for the past two years to the external hard drive. There is some more organization to be done actually ON the hard drive, but the photos are there, which was the important first step.

-Read through the Bible by the end of 2012: I went back to Lifeway and picked up a second copy of my chronological Bible, because I have no idea how long it will take me to get my first copy back from my brother's house. I read about half of the days this week because I've been sick for about six days now and been sleeping as much as I can.

So, all in all, an alright week here. How about everyone out there?

FinishYear Week 13

Well, it's been 13 weeks! Week 13 of FinishYear is over and I've been excited to post about it because it was a big week for me!

Here’s my list of goals, and the progress that I made:

-Finish Master's Degree: To quote my friend Beth - DONE! FINISHED! THROUGH! COMPLETED! OVER! FULFILLED! REALIZED! SUCCEEDED! This one is done, and I simultaneously feel 1) proud/excited/like I want to shout from the rooftops that I finally DID IT, and 2) completely the same. So yeah, I guess I'll be taking this one of the list!

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This was week 12 of class. Three more to go! We had a guest speaker in class and I completed our second to last online assignment. I plan to write the bulk of the paper this week or next.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: Today starts April! And little Karabo turns 3 this month!  Time to start him another letter.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: I saved enough money for my 1 TB external hard drive last week and placed the order. It shipped SO quickly, and arrived in my mailbox yesterday! I was away photographing a wedding, so I just got it this morning. I hope to spend some time this evening beginning the process of transferring clients's photographs from my personal computer to the drive.

-Read through the Bible by the end of 2012: I read every day this week! I'm really enjoying this Bible so far. However, I completely failed and left it at my brother and sister in law's house when I stayed there last night after an out of town wedding. Realized it about halfway home this morning. So, I'm not sure how much progress I'll make on this goal this coming week because I'm not sure how long it will take me to get it back. BUMMER!

So that's Week 13! YAY! How is it going for everyone else?

FinishYear Week 12

Week 12 of FinishYear is over! I can't believe we're 3 months in! So, it's that time again!

Here’s my list of goals, and the progress (or lack thereof!) that I made:

-Finish Master's Degree: I finished my thesis defense on Friday and it was accepted!!! This means that I passed and I got my Master's degree!! Just a few hours of work on revisions and getting the final paper printed, then I'll be done with this one!

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This week was the eleventh week of class. Four more weeks to go. We talked more about our papers for the class and I plan to use next week to do some preliminary writing.
-Finish a letter to Karabo: Completed this monthly goal last week.
-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: I put $5 in my "External Hard Drive" envelope this week. I now have a little under $70 saved. I also had a photo shoot this evening and may use part of the money from that to complete my savings for this goal so that the hard drive can be ordered next week or so. I have many photo shoots coming up, so I really need to free up some space on my computer!

I'm also going to be adding a new goal. I picked up a chronological Bible this week because I had always been fascinated with them, and I found one on sale at Lifeway. I didn't realize that it is also a yearly Bible, broken down into readings by day so that you can read the entire Bible in a year. I've tried to do this before on several occasions with mixed success. However, this particular Bible has a little box at the bottom of each entry so you can check off that you completed that day's readings. Is't as if the author KNEW that I am a task completer! Sooooooo, new goal is to finish reading the Bible by the end of 2012. Yes, that means I have some catching up to do, but it's OK, I think I can do it! This goal will go in place of my previous goal of filling up my Scripture cards. I realized that I had not structured that goal well for myself, which was inhibiting my progress. Additionally, the goal of writing them down in that format was not meaningful to me, and if it's not meaningful, then why finish when I can finish something that is? Like reading the whole Bible!

So that's Week 12!

FinishYear Week 11

I can't believe that today marks the end of Week 11 of FinishYear! Sometimes I still think it's February, and I can't believe it's late March already! Anyway, FinishYear is a term I'm using from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger whom I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions. Dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, we're eleven weeks in, and here's how I'm doing on the goals I designated for FinishYear.

-Finish Master's Degree: I finished my thesis defense presentation and made up my notes for it this week. I can't believe that this loooooooooong journey will likely be almost over on Friday! I defend my thesis at 10am on Friday, the 23rd, so if you think of it, PRAY!

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This week was the tenth week of class. Five more weeks to go. I read through the prevention plan that I will assess and supplement for this semester's paper. I also began an outline for the paper.

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: Did nothing on this one.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: I sent out Karabo's Easter card this week! It has a search and find game in it. He's only 2, but I hope he will enjoy it!

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: I put $10 in my "External Hard Drive" envelope this week. I now have a little over $60 saved, and at this rate, I may have a 500MB or 1TB hard drive by the end of May. Then I will begin the process of transferring photos.

Because I defend my Master's thesis this Friday, it took up the majority of my time this week. 

How's it going for you?

Finish Year Week 10

First of all, my apologies for not updating last week. With Pop Pop still hospitalized, many things have been pushed to the back burner, and last week, this blog was one of them.


Today marks the end of Week 10 of FinishYear! FinishYear is a term I'm using from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger whom I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, we're ten weeks in, and here's how I'm doing on the goals I designated for FinishYear.

-Finish Master's Degree: Over the course of the last two weeks, I've made up my presentation for my defense. I should have started practicing it and making up notes by now, but again, things have taken a backseat with my grandfather in the hospital. We are hopeful he will transition to rehabilitation this week and then I will have more time to work on this, because he will be in State College, as opposed to here in Hershey.

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This week was the ninth week of class, but we did not meet because it was Spring Break. YAY! Six more weeks to go. However, I completed the third element of our second discussion forum online last night and selected a prevention program to review for my Program Plan paper. I plan to print out the 65 page review today or tomorrow and begin digging through the material this week.

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: Again, really slacking on this one. I've been spending a lot of time reading my Bible, just not writing down verses because I'm getting stuck on the idea that I have to wait for a verse to really jump out at me before I write it in my little book for keeping. Wondering if I'm approaching this one the wrong way. Not sure, but I may need to re-evaluate this goal.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: This is a monthly goal, and I sent Karabo's birthday card. I hope he gets it in time, his birthday is in early April. I also got at Easter card in the mail from World Vision and plan to send that out to him this week, as Easter is also in early April this year.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This week, I put another $12 in my envelope of savings for an external hard drive. I'm about halfway there!

In the end, it was an alright week for me. Honestly, these goals haven't been my priority this week. Spending time with Pop Pop and Gram in the hospital on a daily basis while they're this close has been my top priority, so some of these took a backseat, and to tell the truth, I'm OK with that. It's Finish YEAR, not Finish Month or Finish Season, so I'm not worried.

How's it going for you?

Finish Year Week 8

Finish Year Week 8

Today marks the end of Week 78of FinishYear! FinishYear is a term I'm using from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger whom I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, we're eight weeks in, and here's how I'm doing on the goals I designated for FinishYear.

-Finish Master's Degree: Drafts have been finished and a date for my defense has been set! I'll defend my thesis (and potentially finish this thing) on Friday, March 23rd at 10am. Let the panic commence...

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This week was the seventh week of class. Eight more to go. It was difficult to go to class this week because Pop Pop is back in the hospital with a larger brain bleed, so I was tempted to use my one allowed "skip" this week. But, next week is an online discussion forum, so I needed to go to class to get instructions on that. I completed the first part of the discussion forum already for this week, and I hope to use some time this week to select a prevention program to evaluate for my semester paper. Really need to start that this week...

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: I feel OK about this one. I feel great about the fact that I spent more time in Scripture this week than in previous weeks. I did not, however, write down any verses in my book because 1) they didn't pop out at me, or 2) much of the time spent reading was away from home, and I did not have my cards with me. With Pop Pop in the hospital this week, I was there a lot, and much reading was done from my pocket Bible in his hospital room. That's OK, the cards can travel with me if need be!

-Finish a letter to Karabo: I got a birthday card for Karabo! Plan this week is to mail it, and hopefully it'll get to him by early April, but Lesotho is so far away that sometimes it takes months for mail to get to him.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This week, I put another $10 in my hard drive envelope!

In the end, it was an OK week for FinishYear, despite craziness at work and the unexpected stress of Pop Pop's stroke putting him in the hospital for most of the week.

How's it going for you??

Finish Year Week 7

Today marks the end of Week 7 of FinishYear! FinishYear is a term I'm using from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger whom I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, we're seven weeks in, and here's how I'm doing on the goals I designated for FinishYear

-Finish Master's Degree: I submitted three more drafts this week, each with just a few more small edits than the previous draft. I just finished draft #7 and I believe it is ready to go to my committee! I started dialogue with my professors this week and I will likely defend this thing on either March 15  or March 22. Just waiting on one more professors to chime in with her availability before we nail down a date, this sucker gets emailed out, and I start to panic! Feel good and terrified about this one!

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This week was the sixth week of class. Nine more to go. Earned a 30/30 on last week's discussion forum and narrowed down a topic idea for my Prevention Plan Overview paper due April 26. I plan to review and evaluate a currently implemented plan on preventing household injuries in the special needs population. Feel good about this one!

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: I feel OK about this one. I feel great about the fact that I spent more time in Scripture this week than in previous weeks. I did not, however, write down any verses in my book because 1) they didn't pop out at me, or 2) much of the time spent reading was away from home, and I did not have my cards with me. With Pop Pop in the hospital this week, I was there a lot, and much reading was done from my pocket Bible in his hospital room. That's OK, the cards can travel with me if need be!

-Finish a letter to Karabo: I emailed Karabo this week! It's so neat that World Vision offer this option, because all of the customs laws at the post office confuse me, and there are lots of rules about names and ID numbers in specific spots on the envelopes that make me nervous I'm going to mess up and he won't get his letter. I got a birthday card for him in the mail from World Vision yesterday, it seems so early to be thinking about his 3rd birthday, which is in early April, but Lesotho is far away!

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This week, I put $10 in my external hard drive envelope. I now have $25 saved toward this purchase, so I'm about 25% of the way there, if I want to get a 500MB drive. I think that will be enough. 1 TB is just HUGE and since I don't keep client's photos more than 1 year, I don't think I'll need that much space. Feeling on track for this one!

In the end, it was a pretty good week for FinishYear, despite craziness at work and the unexpected stress of Pop Pop's stroke putting him in the hospital for most of the week.

How's it going for you??

Book Review - Surprised By Laughter: The Comic World of C. S. Lewis

Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis is written by Dr. Terry Lindvall and examines how C. S. Lewis incorporated humor into his writings. Dr. Lindvall covers four types of humor utilized by Lewis and gives examples of how these types of humor were manifested in Lewis’ writings and in his life.

Honestly, I didn’t love this book. I enjoyed parts of it (even laughed out loud at some of them!), but overall, it was difficult to read. The beginning was very slow for me, and definitely written at a PhD level. Dr. Lindvall is very well written and makes excellent points in his writing, but this is not “leisure” reading. It is also quite lengthy, so prepare to spend quite a bit of time in this book if you choose to read it. The good parts, though, really do offer the reader a look at who C. S. Lewis really was, on a level that feels almost private, intimate, and privileged. It is refreshing to learn that one of the great thinkers and writers of the 20^th century was really such a fun person, too!

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book to review from Book Sneeze.

Finish Year Week 6

Today marks the end of Week 6 of FinishYear! FinishYear is a term I'm using from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger who I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, six weeks in, here's how I'm doing on the goals I designated for FinishYear

-Finish Master's Degree: I got draft #3 back this week and I got the green light to schedule my oral defense! Paper is all formatted except for one table that needs special formatting. Awaiting instruction on that matter, then emails will go out to schedule defense! Whoa!

-Finish Health Psych Cert: This week was the fifth week of class. Ten more to go. Completed an online discussion forum and I think I did well.

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: I added two Scripture passages this week.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: I planned to write to Karabo this past week, but I dropped the ball on this one, because I was focusing on my thesis and Health Psych Cert goals. Glad this is a monthly goal, it definitely needs to happen this week. Or tonight, as soon as I post this.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This week, I was not able to put any money in the envelope for the external hard drive, but I did research some options at Best Buy and Amazon.com. 

In the end, it was an alright week for FinishYear. Most of my work went toward my Master's Degree goal, and I feel excellent and very excited about that one. Once it's finished, I might add some goals to FinishYear.

How's it going for everyone else? Anything going particularly well or needing more attention for you guys?  

FinishYear Week #5

Finish Year is a term I copied from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger who I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, some friends and I sat down and made our Finish Lists for 2012 and I will share mine. In 2012, I will:
-FINISH my Master's Degree
-FINISH my Clinical Health Psychology Certification
-FINISH a book of index cards that I purchased two years ago for the purpose of filling it with Scripture verses that were meaningful to me. I started, and it's time I finish. But, in order to fill it with Scripture, guess what I have to read? That's right. Scripture. Double bonus on this one!
-FINISH at least one letter to my sponsored child, Karabo in Lesotho, each month.
-FINISH plans for a classification/storage system for my clients' photographs.

Today marks the end of Week 5, so it's time for an update! Here's how I did on each of my goals:

-Finish Master's Degree: Last night, I turned in draft #3 and I think it's really good! I know that it still needs some work, but I believe it will be mostly formatting. I learned how to make APA style tables this week and also attached all my tables, figures, and measures to the end of the document.



-Finish Health Psych Cert: This week was the fourth week of class. Eleven more to go. I learned I received a 25/25 on my presentation from last week. This coming week we won't be meeting in person but we'll do an online discussion forum.

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: I added one verse this week. Better than last week but I can do better.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: This is a monthly goal, which I plan to complete this week.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This week, I saved  only a few dollars toward my external hard drive, but again, it's FinishYEAR, not finish month, so I have quite some time to save this money. I'm going on a missions trip to Jamaica in July, so most of the money I would have saved for external hard drive got allocated to a fundraising envelope for that trip. 

In the end, it was a so-so week for FinishYear. Most of my work went toward my Master's Degree goal, and I feel REALLY good about that one.

How's it going for everyone else? Anything going particularly well or needing more attention for you guys? 

    

Finish Year Week 4

Finish Year is a term I copied from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger who I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, some friends and I sat down and made our Finish Lists for 2012 and I will share mine. In 2012, I will:
-FINISH my Master's Degree
-FINISH my Clinical Health Psychology Certification
-FINISH a book of index cards that I purchased two years ago for the purpose of filling it with Scripture verses that were meaningful to me. I started, and it's time I finish. But, in order to fill it with Scripture, guess what I have to read? That's right. Scripture. Double bonus on this one!
-FINISH at least one letter to my sponsored child, Karabo in Lesotho, each month.
-FINISH plans for a classification/storage system for my clients' photographs.

Today marks the end of Week 4, so it's time for an update! Here's how I did on each of my goals:

-Finish Master's Degree: I wasn't able to do any work on my thesis this week because my professor has not yet returned it to me with her revisions. I hope to get my second draft back soon so I can make progress on this one because I'm nervous that if I don't get it back soon, I might run out of time to graduate in May. 

-Finish Health Psych Cert: Last week was the third week of class and I presented a training lesson to my class on using social stories as a teaching tool to help prevent sexual abuse to people with autism. One more thing off the list toward finishing this class. Feeling good about it, got lots of good feedback from classmates, and I'll get my grade this week.

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: I added one verse this week. Better than last week but I can do better.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: This is a monthly goal, which was completed last week. I am looking forward to writing him a Valentine's letter  and telling him about Valentine's Day in America.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: This week, I saved $15 towards the purchase of an  external hard drive for my clients' photos! Feeling good about this one! Hope to have the hard drive by May.

All in all, this was an OK week for my finish goals. .

How's it going for everyone else?

Finish Year Week 3

Finish Year is a term I copied from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger who I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, some friends and I sat down and made our Finish Lists for 2012 and I will share mine. In 2012, I will:
-FINISH my Master's Degree
-FINISH my Clinical Health Psychology Certification
-FINISH a book of index cards that I purchased two years ago for the purpose of filling it with Scripture verses that were meaningful to me. I started, and it's time I finish. But, in order to fill it with Scripture, guess what I have to read? That's right. Scripture. Double bonus on this one!
-FINISH paying off my student loan with the smallest balance
-FINISH at least one letter to my sponsored child, Karabo in Lesotho, each month.
-FINISH plans for a classification/storage system for my clients' photographs.

Today marks the end of Week 3, so it's time for an update! Here's how I did on each of my goals:

-Finish Master's Degree: This week, I began structuring the beginning pages of my thesis (i.e. title page, signatory page, table of contents, lists of figures, etc.) and restructured my Conclusions Section. I will be submitting a second draft to my advisor either tonight or tomorrow. I feel OK about this one. Like last week, i have more questions that I need my professor to answer, though, before I can say I feel better about it. Additionally, time keeps ticking and I feel nervous with each day that goes by that I won't get it done in time to graduate on May 5th. However, I know that the current draft is as good as I can make it given the knowledge that I have right now, so I suppose that is all I or anyone else can ask of me.

-Finish Health Psych Cert: I am two weeks into my second to last class. Because finishing this goal cannot be expedited by my own efforts (the semester is 15 weeks long no matter how hard I work), my progress on this one will be relatively steady. I spent all of Thursday night writing the lit review and references portions of my presentation to be given this week. I will make copies of my articles tomorrow. I plan to use this Tuesday to draft the presentation notes. I feel very good about this one, right on track.

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: I dropped the ball big time on this goal this week. I came across a verse I very much wanted to add, but when I turned to where it was in my Bible, it turns out I had the reference wrong. I was lazy and did not search very hard for it. I do not feel good about this.

-Finish paying off smallest loan: Honestly, this goal will probably go away, reason being I met with my dad and a family friend who is a loans attorney to look at my student loan repayment plan, and I realized that I was reading my statement wrong. My balance is actually higher than I thought it was (hooray!), making it impossible for me to finish this loan this year. So yeah, not feeling great about this one to say the least.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: This is a monthly goal, which was completed last week. I am looking forward to writing him a Valentine's letter  and telling him about Valentine's Day in America.

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: One item on my To Do List for today (for when I get home) is to begin an envelope entitled "External Hard Drive" so that my extra cash at the end of each week can be accumulated to purchase an external hard drive for my clients' photos. I doubt I'll need a full terabyte at this point, which will make it a little less pricey, and easier to save the money for it.

All in all, this was a so-so week for my finish goals. .

How are you doing finishing what you want to finish?

Finish Year Week 2

I realize I did not write a Finish Year Week 1 post, but I figure it's better late than never.

Finish Year is a term I copied from Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger who I follow regularly because he is both wise and hilarious! He suggested at the end of the 2011 that we all challenge ourselves to make 2012 a year of finishing things, as opposed to starting new resolutions because let's face it, dreams are great and all, but unfinished dreams accomplish nothing. FINISHING changes your life, if not the world!

So, some friends and I sat down and made our Finish Lists for 2012 and I will share mine. In 2012, I will:
-FINISH my Master's Degree
-FINISH my Clinical Health Psychology Certification
-FINISH a book of index cards that I purchased two years ago for the purpose of filling it with Scripture verses that were meaningful to me. I started, and it's time I finish. But, in order to fill it with Scripture, guess what I have to read? That's right. Scripture. Double bonus on this one!
-FINISH paying off my student loan with the smallest balance
-FINISH at least one letter to my sponsored child, Karabo in Lesotho, each month.
-FINISH plans for a classification/storage system for my clients' photographs.

Now, all of that being said, it's time for an update! As I said before, I didn't update at the end of Week 1, so this will be the first update.

-Finish Master's Degree: I worked for 2 hours on my thesis tonight and added two pages and a few new ideas to my paper. I feel OK about this one. I have more questions that I need my professor to answer, though, before I can say I feel better about it.

-Finish Health Psych Cert: Classes started this past week. I am one week into my second to last class. Because finishing this goal cannot be expedited by my own efforts (the semester is 15 weeks long no matter how hard I work), my progress on this one will be relatively steady. But, I also spend time in the library yesterday morning researching for my first presentation and read through 6 articles in the afternoon. I feel quite good about this one.

-Finish Scripture Index Cards: I added two verses this week. I can do better on this one.

-Finish paying off smallest loan: I am about to send in this month's payment this week and as long as I can pay this amount each month, I will be good to go to pay it off in December. I feel OK about this one.

-Finish a letter to Karabo: I put a letter in the mail yesterday! This one was easy because WorldVision sent the card to me, so this one required less effort on my part. Other months will take a little more time, but I still feel very good, writing to him makes me happy!

-Finish a storage/classification system for clients' photographs: I looked into external hard drives this week and did some price comparisons. More expensive than I had hoped/expected. Will need to save up for this one, but it's Finish YEAR, not Finish MONTH. I have space left on my hard drive, so there is time for this one. In the meantime, I can use CDs if need be.

So, all in all, I'm pleased to say I did at least something for each goal this week.

What are you finishing?