Archive for April 15, 2010

Found Another Sheet of Goals

April 15, 2010 / Twix / No comments

While transforming our empty dining room into our office/studio.

Twix’s Five Year Plan (as of December 12, 2009)

  • 2010 – 23 years old
  • 2011 – 24 years old – Graduation, Spring 2011
    I am on track for this goal
  • 2012 – 25 years old
  • 2013 – 26 years old
  • 2014 – 27 years old
December 12, 2009 – May 12, 2010
  • Get a raise to $12.00/hour at work by February 12, 2010
    This is what I was originally supposed to be getting paid. I did go in and discuss it with my boss, who said that she would up my pay, but she hasn’t done it yet. Since my hours are limited, I am not able to do as much around the office as either of us were anticipating this last semester, so I am not currently in a position to negotiate it with her at this time.
  • Pay off at least 1/3 of my cumulative debts
  • Refine my web design skills (how?)
    My boss actually did talk to me about this one… I need to perfect and hone my CSS design skills so that the websites I create have a more polished, professional look. I need to pay closer attention to detail and to learn to utilize shortcuts where I can. Detail work is the biggest clench for me right now though.
  • Improve my portfolio to include samples of my web work.
    Done.
  • Achieve at least a 3.5 average in all course.
    If I’m lucky this will happen… again I bit off more than I can chew in a fit of ambition. I think the four classes I have I will get at least a 3.0 in. I’ll take only 12 credit hours, POSSIBLY 14 with my portfolio practices class if I can help it in Fall 2010; I am scheduled for 14 this summer.
  • Get a summer internship with a web design firm or a game design company.
    I have already taken steps toward applying for a marketing artist position at game design company in Plano; I also already work for a web design place, more or less, so I question this goal. It may do me well to go out of the academic setting and familiarity of my job so that I can accomplish more.
  • Lose 48 pounds by May 12, 2010
    I’ve lost 13 pounds so far; it was 16, but like I said last time, I am going to reweigh after my “aunt” leaves town. I don’t think that I’m going to be able to lose 32 pounds in a month though. :P
  • Have at least one of my blogs turn profitable.
    Not really my priority goal at this point… Need to finish school and develop myself as an artist, writer, and art historian first.
These goals will have deadlines between Feb. 12, 2010 and May 12, 2010.
  • Get a raise to $12.00/hour by Feb. 12, 2010.
  • Pay off at least 1/3 of my debts (in number) by May 12, 2010.
  • Get my driver’s license by February 12, 2010
    Yay! I did this! But it wasn’t until March but WHATEVER I DID IT! 8D
  • Update my web design skills to be more interactive by May 2010.
    I started qualifying my goals better here… Still working on this.
  • Improve the variety of websites in my portfolio by April 2010.
    I have a few in here, mostly interfaces, but I think I need to step to this.
  • Achieve at least a 3.5 GPA in all courses for Spring 2010.
    Likely not gonna happen. I’ll try my hardest though.
  • Be accepted for a summer internship with a web design or game design firm by May 12, 2010.
    Eep.
  • Produce at least 2 design documents by May 12, 2010.
    Double eep.
  • Lose 48 pounds by May 2010.
    HA.
  • Have at least one blog turn profitable by May 12, 2010.
    This is doable, I suppose. And I think that my new contracted gig with Break Studios fills this qualification. I wanted to make a profit off of my writing.
Now I get to assess where things have gone wrong:
  • I haven’t lost as much weight as I would have liked, much in part to the fact that I don’t go to the gym. I hardly make it to class most of the time, let alone the gym. I will be more careful from now on with how I schedule my classes, so that I have time for both myself and school, even if it means that I will have to do school part-time.
  • The raise thing. I have been spotty with work because of how limited my hours are. Again, I’m going to adjust my workload to be something more manageable, so that I can still continue to earn a living while going to school. Money goals are also tied to this; I barely made enough money sometimes to cover our bills. But hooray! My boyfriend got re-employed, and his income is definitely helping out with things.
  • I need to develop a tighter schedule, which will be much more feasible now that my live-in-boyfriend has a job again and, more importantly, a consistent work schedule. We’ll have to plan around each other, but so far, so good. I don’t want anyone to think that he is an obstacle to my growth; I guess we’re just having to adjust to having to work around another person being in our lives.
  • Portfolio: again, time. However, part of this is due to me not making time. I spent a lot of time on Facebook and things like that, and even now I do… I have been cutting back though. I just need to stay motivated and assign myself deadlines and STICK TO THEM.
Alright. More revising to more realistic goals and the addition and merging of the two lists to account for the future shall happen at a different time. I’m a bit tired and still have lots of work to do tonight.

Goals: From July 2009

April 14, 2010 / Twix / No comments

I found a notebook that has the goals I wrote down in July 2009. I figured that it’s a good time now for me to re-examine myself and my goals, because things have gotten to be in a disarray again. Here’s the text from the journal. I’m writing corrections underneath it in a different color…

July 30, 2009

Writing down goals from a yellow legal pad.

  • Graduate by Spring 2011 with a BFA Visual Communication and a history minor.
    I’ll be graduating in Spring 2011 with a BA in Studio Art with a painting emphasis and an art history minor.
  • Save $10,000 toward the purchase of a home by 2014.
    Still working on getting my finances straight. I’ve run into a lot of unforeseen issues, and my school situation has attacked my work hours. =/ But this goal is pretty far off.
  • Have 3 children, adopt 2 children.
    Not happening right now. Married first in 2011. Thank god I realized that this goal is still ambiguous back then and didn’t put any nearby date on this.
  • Be 165 pounds by August 2010.
    193 right now! I was down to 190, might still be; I might have water weight right now.
  • Have Braces off by Sept. 2011.
    Not happening. Still have to get the braces on.
  • Bra strap length natural hair by August 2010.
    Self-relaxing with lye relaxer setback; will try aiming for this by August 2011?
It goes on to talk about this purity movement thing that I wanted to do with art, but that’s unimportant. I’ll write more. I have homework to do. I know I have another list of goals around here, and there were specific things that I was aiming for. I need to revise these soon, though; graduation is approaching and I want a good game plan.

Thumbprint Cookies

April 14, 2010 / Twix / No comments

Thumbprint cookies! There is an awesome bakery here, but in South Arlington, called “Paris Bakery”, that makes very awesome thumbprint style cookies. Even though they’re only fifty cent a piece (sixty cent a piece, if you get the double cookie with the filling), they’re pretty addictive, and a dozen of them equals six bucks! So I decided to learn how to make them on my own. I combined two recipes: a thumbprint cookie from allrecipes.com, and a chocolate frosting recipe from cooks.com. That said: here we go!


For the cookies:
1/4 c. butter, room temperature
1/2 c sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. milk
1/2 c cornstarch
1.25 c. all-purpose flour (my all-purpose flour has whole wheat flour in it, but it’s cool if yours doesn’t!)

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F; line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I did this, but I think next time I’ll use foil, like I usually do. The wax paper that I do makes cookies stick to it…)
  2. Cream together butter, sugar, and salt. Beat in vanilla, milk, and cornstarch; stir in flour until combined.
  3. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in course sugar, if desired (I didn’t). Place on the baking sheet and make a shallow indentation with your thumb.
  4. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until just brown.
  5. Cool on wire rack.
Supposedly, this yields 2 dozen cookies. I’ve made the first dozen, but am allowing the dough to chill in our fridge until I’m ready to make the rest, lest they all get eaten right away. Now onto the frosting! I only used half the recipe for the chocolate frosting and, because our coffee maker is broken right now, I don’t have any available. I will be using it next time though!

For the Chocolate Frosting:
6 tbsp. cocoa
 6 tbsp. butter
 1 tsp. vanilla
 3 c. confectioners sugar
You want to just combine the ingredients for the frosting, but make sure to do it with a flat spoon or something, and start out pretty slow; the confectioner’s sugar will try to get everywhere otherwise, and the butter needs to combine with the dry ingredients very well in order to accomplish the frosting. That said, I think they turned out pretty great! I might add a bit more milk next time to the cookie recipe, as the dough was still a bit crumbly. These aren’t the exact texture as the cookies from the bakery, either, but I did enjoy them. I’ll probably start making them for friends and neighbors as gifts.
Also, I’m pretty sure that the supplies for two dozen of these darlings costs me wayyy less than the six they cost at the store. Still; I love Paris Bakery, and I’ll still shop there and support a nice local bakery.
 

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