In The Tradition 2018

It is time for the third annual In The Tradition letter.  Similar to last year, I start with the five things from the past year that stand out in my mind.  I followed that with my Top Ten from the books, movies, and TV shows I consumed over the year.  At the end, I talked about a couple goals for the upcoming year that I will pursue.

Five 2018 Highlights

Hiking:  Last year I set a goal to complete twelve hikes for the year.  In general, I wanted to increase the length and difficulty of the hikes that I was doing.  I also wanted to do a full day hike.  I did complete my twelve hikes for the year (listed below).  I think I did succeed in increasing length and difficulty of the hikes I was doing over last year.  I did not do anything that I would qualify as a full day hike though.  Maybe I will complete that next year.

- Manassas Battlefield National Park – First Manassas Trail (altered route) – 5 miles (approx.)

- Burke Lake Park – Lake Trail – 5 miles

- Bull Run Regional Park – Bluebell Trail/part of Bull Run Occoquan Trail – 5 miles

- Harper’s Ferry National Park – Visitor Center Trail/Jefferson’s Rock Trail/Across Trellis Bridge – 6 

  miles

- Manassas Battlefield National Park – Second Manassas Trail – 7 miles

- Seneca Creek State Park – Lake Trail – 5 miles

- Lake Anna State Park – Five different connected trails (sorry I do not have the names) – 5 miles

- Manassas Battlefield National Park – First Manassas Trail (not altered) – 6 miles

- Shenandoah National Park – Hazel Falls & Caves – 6 miles – Terrain-wise, this was the most 

  difficult hike I did.  It also is my favorite one of the year.

- Hemlock Overlook Regional Park – Red Trail – 3 miles

- Bull Run Regional Park – White Trail/part of Bull Run Occoquan Trail – 3 miles

- Lake Accotink Park – Lake Trail – 4 miles

CPA Exam:  This year, I finally got started on the CPA exam.  I have been talking about doing it forever.  I have started and stopped studying a few times over the last couple of years.  I finally got serious and sat for the first exam in March 2018.  Since then I have taken two more sections in September 2018 and December 2018.  I now have (high!) passing scores in REG, FAR, and AUD.  In a few days, I will dive into studying for BEC, my final part, expecting to take it in March 2019.  It will be such a relief when this task is behind me.  The CPA exam is a major undertaking, and it has not been easy for me.  I am glad that I finally made the decision to just do it.

Work:  I quit my job this year.  I have been complaining about it for years.  I kept hoping that various changes made by the company and by myself would make it better.  My experience fluctuated over time, but it never reached a point where I felt good about everything.  I finally had to face the fact that the company and the job were not a good fit for me anymore.  August 2017, I made a promise to myself that if I had not found a new job by August 2018 I would quit anyway.  It turns out I could not even wait that long.  I just got to a place during the March 31^st year-end close process where I said I cannot do this anymore.  As soon as we filed the 10K for the year, I gave my notice.  My last day was toward the end of June.  I have not had a job since.  While I originally thought I would start looking after a few weeks off, I soon made the decision to put more priority on the CPA studying.  That endeavor is a big time commitment, we are not hurting that much on the financial front, and I just do not feel like going back to work yet.  I cannot stay unemployed forever.  I imagine it will be years before I will have another opportunity to take an extended period of time off once I do go back to work.  Therefore, I want to enjoy this while I can make it last.

Husband and Work:  In an unexpected twist, my husband quit his job in February.  He decided he hated every action of the firm that had bought the company where he was employed.  He would come home furious every day, ranting and raving about things that were supposedly done (sometimes actions directly affecting him, sometimes just business decisions they made).  I finally said if you are that upset you need to quit because I cannot handle your mood any longer.  So he did.  On one hand, I was glad because he quit being so angry all the time.  On the other hand, he was so negative about me quitting my job the first couple times I mentioned it, that it annoyed me when he started talking about quitting his.  It was like he was somehow allowed to make that decision, but I was being impulsive and irrational with my quit-by-August-2018 plan.  Of course, once he made the decision to quit, he no longer had any footing to disagree with my decision to quit mine too.  It was scary to quit when I did because he had not found a new job yet, but I did it anyway.  Luckily, he actually found one before I had made it through my full notice period.  We ended up with both of us home together for only one week.  His new job is much more aligned with what he wants to do responsibility-wise, but he still complains a lot about the company, the people around him, etc.  I honestly think he will never find a job that he likes.  Complaining is fine (after all I do it too) but he cannot be the crazy angry person he was during January.  He also cannot quit again until he has been there for a while unless something truly unconscionable happens or he find something else first.

Health & Wellness:  When I looked back at all my monthly reflections, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my diet and exercise.  I put a lot of emphasis, especially after I quit my job, on trying to get into better shape.  I wanted to do it in a way that was more sustainable than doing a crash diet.  I used the My Fitness Pal app to track my eating habits.  Initially, I just logged everything to get a base-line for where I was.  Then, I started gradually decreasing my goal from an average of where it was down to a net 1800 calories per day.  I also gave myself “low calorie” days once or twice a week, where I tried to keep it below 1200.  Some months I was more successful than others at staying below my limits, but overall the logging process worked pretty well for me.  I also put a lot more emphasis on working out this year.  I did some group classes, some at home workouts, circuit training, and the aforementioned hiking.  I have discovered that I really love group classes.   I resisted these for a long time because the initial attendance to an unknown class intimidates me.  However, I have tried a couple of them now, and once I get over the initial fear, they really work for me.  I find that the energy of the people around me helps me to go for longer and to have more fun during the workout.  My favorite this year was Ballet Burn, which is really more of a mix of Pilates and Barre rather than classical ballet.  Even so, it allows me to move my body in ways I have not done in years, and I have discovered I miss dancing a lot.  Overall, I lost ten pounds during the year, but gained about two back over the holidays.  This works out to a net eight pounds lost for the year.  If I can do the same thing again in 2019 and 2020, I should be right about where I would consider a reasonable weight for my height and body composition.

Top Ten Favorite Entertainment Items of 2018 (no particular order)

Note:  These were consumed by me this year, not necessarily released this year.

TV Series:  The Tudors (only watched Season 1 so far)

TV Series:  Stranger Things (watched Season 2 this year, still amazing)

Movie:  Green Book

Movie:  Rudderless

Movie:  Avengers:  Infinity War

Book:  The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh

Book:  Carnivalesque by Neil Jordan

Book:  All The Ugly & Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

Book:  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (the movie is amazing as well)

Book:  The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Upcoming 2018 Goals

Career:  It is not a particularly fun goal, but 2019 has to be the year I get myself moving forward again on my career.  Since I am not independently wealthy and my husband’s salary does not really accommodate our spending habits on its own, I need to go back to work before our savings runs out.  I am extremely grateful that I saved so much over the past few years, because I have been able to take my time with the transition.  I cannot go indefinitely though, and I need to start the process of going back to work soon.  This is especially true if I want to give myself some time to be picky before being forced to take whatever comes my way.  I still have ideas about what I want to do going forward (teaching, financial literacy, etc), but I think I will likely end up back in corporate accounting at least for a few years.  Once I pass the CPA exam, I still need to get the other requirements out of the way to be fully licensed.  Plus many of the ideas I have are not flushed out, I am not sure how to pursue, and/or I feel might be better to try on a part-time basis first.  I will keep my eyes open as I apply for jobs, but I do have to be realistic about what is out there and what I am qualified to do.

Hiking:  It seemed like a shame not to include a new hiking goal, so here it is.  My goal for 2019 is to complete 4 unique hikes during the year.  By unique, I mean trails I have never done before.  I want to keep hiking for fun and as part of being healthy, but I do not want to put so much pressure on myself.  It takes the fun out when I have to worry about how many I have done and whether I am repeating trails.  I would rather just feel free to hop over to Hemlock or Bull Run to be outside and active, and not worry about research and travel to make sure I am trying new things all the time.

There you have it, my third annual In The Tradition letter.  I think this year was an interesting year for me, a challenging year, a risky year, a growth year.  I hope 2018 was a good year for all of you, and I hope 2019 is even better for everyone.