So I promised when I posted my annual review that I would also post something once the new year started about my goals for 2015. Resolutions don’t seem to work, as everyone knows how we all joke about the gyms being more full of people in January that are gone again by February or March. So I have goals. A lot of times those don’t work either, but I’m pretty determined, so this year I’m hoping that they will. I know, a lot of you are probably saying that I’m setting myself up for failure by saying “I’m hoping”, but I’m just being realistic. I’m pretty determined, but I also know my track record. Anyway, let’s talk about how I’m living in 2015.

I don’t really have a nice inventory list made out like I did for my 2014 review, but I do feel like I’m on a good track. I have heard some people talk about having a theme for a year when they start it. If I had to pick a theme for 2015, I think the theme would have to be BALANCE. I feel like I learned a lot about myself last year, and I discovered what I need and don’t need and what works for me and what doesn’t. I started out at the beginning of the year much like this one, pretty determined to be healthier and lose weight. I used the asphalt calculator, to measure my weight and body measurments to know how much fat I have on my body. And I kind of veered in a few different directions with that. I tried to find things that worked, so I tried a few different things. Some worked better than others. For instance, I tried both yoga classes and joining a new gym. I liked both things, but the time and cost it took up to do both proved to not work very well for me. So I stuck with the gym. I didn’t go as often as I should, but I did go. So for now, I dropped the yoga classes. It’s just too much for me. I need to not spend that much money, and honestly, I need a lot of free time. That’s just what works for me.

I also tried some different diets.  Advocare, a green smoothie diet, eMeals… again, some worked, some didn’t. Advocare cost quite a bit, and so many pills made me sick. I know it works for a lot of people, and I know they say the pills are safe… but it just seemed like a LOT of pills to me – too many. I liked the green smoothies, but well… I really like food. I need more to eat than that. eMeals, on the other hand, seems to work well for both myself and Ricky. And it’s probably about the most time and cost effective way for us to cook at home. As I’ve already mentioned, time and money are both pretty important to me.

Also, I didn’t really have any short-term goals or plans in place. Just… lose weight. Now I have more specific goals and plans in place. My gym gives out medallions for each month that you go 12 times. In 2014, I never even got one medallion. I did go, just never that much in one month. This year, it’s my goal to earn all 12 medallions for the whole year. I even have specific days picked out each week to go – Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. If I can’t make it one of those days, I have promised myself that I HAVE to make it up either the day before or after. If I follow these guidelines, I’ll have no problem getting fit this year. My gym makes that easy, as long as you are consistent.

My weight loss goal is to lose 7 pounds each month. If I do that, by the end of the year I will be at this magic goal weight that I’ve had in my head for years but never been able to achieve. Plus, I think 7 pounds a month is a realistic weight goal to try to achieve.

Another thing I learned last year is that I am most definitely an introvert. I knew this before last year, but honestly, I think I’ve come to terms with the fact that I just expect a lot out of people. I’ve had friends disappoint me in the past, and I know that part of that is that I just expect people to be a certain way. I’m not saying that’s necessarily right. In fact, it may very well be something I need to work on in myself. People are different and look at things differently and have different things they think are right. I think generally most people try to be a good person and a good friend. It’s just hard when we all have different ideas and expectations of what that is, and I know that my expectations may just be too high. Knowing this and knowing that my introvert self is generally pretty happy staying at home a lot and just being on my own (or with my family, aka boyfriend and dogs) doing what I want to do, I’m pretty content right now just focusing on my own goals and not pursuing socialization all that much. Now, don’t get me wrong… I’m not becoming a hermit, and I’m not saying I won’t ever hang out with people. I’m not saying to not ask me to hang out, and I’m not saying I won’t ask you to hang out. I definitely will. I’m just saying that right now, for me, I think I’m happier just not pursuing that all that much. And I think that’s ok.

I have some job goals as well, but I don’t like to go into those too much online. Mostly my goal is to get a promotion this year, and there are a lot of indicators that if I put enough work into it, that that is doable. So that’s what I’m going to do. Another thing that I think is worth mentioning about work is that at the end of last year, a couple of things happened to really help me out in bringing more balance and contentment to my life. Ever since I started my job, I’d been driving at least 45 minutes to an hour to and from work almost every day. It really stressed me out a lot, having to put all of that time and energy into my commute, especially during rush hour. But at the end of last year, I got approval to work from home two days a week, and I got moved to an office location that is much closer (about a 10 minute commute) to home. You wouldn’t believe what a stress reducer this is. Having that extra time in the day makes me much less stressed out and more motivated to go to the gym even on days when I work a full day at the office. I think this will be a huge help in meeting my goals this year.

Some of the things I did last year made me pretty happy, like achieving (and surpassing) my goal of reading 30 books. So I plan on continuing that this year, with a goal of reading 40 this time and having more non-fiction books in there (which tend to be more difficult for me to stay focused on reading).

So, all in all, there’s an idea of my plan for the year. It really is all about finding balance. In 2014 I discovered things that worked for me and things that didn’t, and in 2015 I plan on pursuing the things that did work and the things that made me happy and brought me balance. Get ready… it’s going to be a great year!

Last week I heard about this event that was coming to Phoenix – The Marvel Experience. As much of a geek as I am, I was surprised that it was the first time I had heard about it. Apparently, Phoenix is only the first stop on a U.S. tour that the event is on. It sounded like something unique and interesting, so I requested a media pass to the event to be able to check it out and write about it. I thought they could use a little more publicity, since this was the first I’d heard about it. I got two media passes, so I invited Ricky to tag along so he could do his own review of it on his blog as well.

When buying a ticket for it on Ticketmaster, the ticket times are staggered, and you can buy one for an entry time of any half hour during the hours they are open. Our media passes were for any time on Sunday, so we picked them up at will call and just got in line. The outside setup was pretty impressive, and after parking and getting in line, it almost immediately reminded me of standing in line at an amusement park ride, particularly the Outer Limits ride at Kings Island in Ohio, which I’ve been on countless times.

The initial line wasn’t too painful, and we were ushered into an area where we were given a wristband with a piece of plastic on the top that was supposed to track our progress. (There were places set up to register our wristbands, but they weren’t working. I’d tried to find some reviews of the Experience ahead of time, and read some things that said this was because they were out in the sun, but I don’t know that for sure.)

After getting our wristband, we were ushered into a tent with TV screens and posters of Marvel superheroes. We got our picture taken in front of a green screen at the beginning of our wait in line. Again, comparing this to an amusement park ride, the line wasn’t too bad, maybe a half hour or so. But this was also the third time we’d had to wait in line so far (to get in, to get a wristband, and now to enter the next tent).

Once we made it through this line, we watched a video instructing us what the story was about and then moving along into the next tent (this tent may have been one of the several domes, but I didn’t notice for sure) which was the “Training Academy”. This part would probably be good mostly for children, with informational screens and mini-games you could play. From what I could tell, the major attractions were the rock-climbing wall and the maze. But Ricky and I skipped those, because – go figure – there was a line for each of them and we didn’t feel like waiting again. You could move on from the Training Academy whenever you chose to, but once you did, there was no way to go back in. Not a big deal to us, as we felt like these were mostly kids’ games anyway. So we moved right along.

After given a bit of instruction and some Marvel trivia from what seemed like the most enthusiastic staff member we encountered during the whole experience, we moved into what I believe was the largest dome. We watched as a fight scene unfolded around us and when it was over, we prepared to enter the transport, the next stage of the Experience.

This part was probably my favorite part of the whole thing. The setup was highly themed and again reminded me of the beginning of an amusement park ride, and actually, a pretty good one. I won’t spoil the ending or what happens in this stage, but to me, it’s definitely the best part of the whole experience.

At the end, you end up in a Marvel gift shop (again, not unlike the rides at Disney World or Universal Studios) with the opportunity to buy Marvel merchandise as well as purchase your photo that was taken earlier on in the Experience.

All in all, we thought that this was a pretty enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. It seemed a lot like kind of an extended version of an amusement park experience, with different stages that would suit both children and adults alike. I’d recommend it if you didn’t have to pay for several people/children to go, as the price ($27.50 for adults, plus Ticketmaster fees and $10 for parking) could potentially be a barrier in that case. Also, the fact that you have to wait in line multiple times could cause children to grow pretty tired and antsy (the ones in front of us certainly did) and also get old to adults as well. But if you’re looking for a fun and unique experience to spend a bit of cash on, especially if you’re a Marvel fan, I’d recommend the Marvel Experience as a good way to spend an afternoon in Phoenix. Check it out while it is here at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick through January 3.