So....I finally got around to checking into the cute little green frog on the Caribou Coffee bag. Pretty cool stuff. As a side note, I remember some peeps complaining that we weren't getting a Starbucks. I didn't really care either way. I only order tea or hot chocolate. I stand firm in my belief that coffee stunted my growth. Anyhoo, check out the cool video and information here. To summarize, I think these guys are pretty sweet and I'm really happy its not the other guy. Greenwashing doesn't appear to be occurring there.
Anyone else super excited for 2012? I'm still going strong in my lifestyle changes. Well, except for the cold showers. I did NOT sprout chest hair, I'm just a total wimp. Way too cold for that here in Nebraska. The first full month I started timing my showers and not running the water the entire time I shaved off almost $40 off my water bill. And that was in August while I was still watering my lawn. Pretty shocking and eye opening. Once the weather heats up again I will be resuming this practice.
I increased my walking around town as I live pretty close to many amenities and stores. From the end of June to mid October I lost a little over 25 pounds. I was under an immense amount of stress which I think contributed to my weight loss, but I can't deny that some of my changes also played a part. I'm only driving my car to work and not the gas guzzler. New job is not bus route friendly which is a bummer. I've also cut down on a lot of needless driving by consciously thinking about combining trips or taking a quick walk to the store instead of driving. Still can't bring myself to part with the guzzler, the thing straight up dominates in the snow. Recycling glass is a bit of a pain in the butt. I will save that for another post, but for the record I'm not happy the city doesn't pick up glass.
I'm still bumbling my way through some Spanish classes. I think my pronunciation has improved but I'm still slower than molasses when it comes to conversation. Although, I was barely there for my last class I still think it helped. Baby steps, baby steps. I met up with one of my former instructors last weekend and paired up with three native Spanish speakers and practiced for close to an hour. Great experience and practice. It was weird to hear them talk of their frustrations in learning English and then thinking holy crap that's exactly how I feel with Spanish. One gal was telling me how she gets so frustrated because she feels like she understand a lot but is so slow to put together an answer or a sentence. Literally, I wanted to hug her. We have the same problem with a different language. A definite bonding moment and I hope to meet with them again.
I talked with my host family in December and it made me miss them and want to run back to Costa Rica all over again. Talking in Spanish over the phone was definitely much harder than in person. I can't pantomime or play charades when I can't think of the word. All in all it went pretty good though. I had a helluva time figuring out why she didn't want me to call her cell. I finally figured out that she accidentally took it into the ocean and it's not working. So definitely call the house not the cell. Check.
January 23rd marks the start of a 100 day healthy lifestyle challenge. I'll try to blog a few things about that next week. My body is going to hate me for the first week. I'm certain this will produce some colorful commentary.
¡Hasta luego!
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