Halfway through the year that is. Like a few other bloggers today, I want to revisit my 2011 goals and see where I am.

1. Be a size five 5/6 for my 5 year wedding anniversary on August 12, 2011. This one may surprise you. NOT. Hehe. But really, this is a big goal for 2011. Time to do work!

I’m well on my way. I’m hovering around a size 8 right now. I’ve gotten my goal jeans buttoned, but they don’t quite ‘fit’ yet. I really need to focus on healthy balance the next month and a half to meet this goal.

2. Decrease recreational and unnecessary spending. This will be a tough challenge, and I’m not going to set a specific monetary number to it. But I want to spend less, save more. This is going to require some sacrifices but I’m ready. We’re considering “cutting the cord” so to speak on our Dish Network and going with just basic cable, hulu, Netflix. It’s time to take some of those credit cards out of the wallet to prevent some impulse shopping and I really need to stop doing so much online shopping. Amazon just makes it so damn easy dangerous. And with this I really want to stick to my menu planning.

This is always a work in progress but I’m definitely doing well. I cut up my favorite credit card and also removed it from my amazon and paypal accounts. I recently decided to take the Garmin Forerunner plunge and instead of 1-clicking my way to owning one on Amazon I made myself sell a few things on eBay I no longer wanted and needed to fund the purchase. It arrives tomorrow! However, I have been slacking on my menu planning.

3. Accomplish at least three of my fitness goals.

I’ve completed 1 of my fitness goals and if all goes well I will definitely accomplish 3 more of them by October 17th.

4. Become a better blogger. I need to spend more time editing, fixing errors, doing more quality writing, etc. I just kind of jumped into the blogging world with no preparation so it’s time to get things done right.

Ummm I’m not sure about this… you tell me! I’m still not much of a proofreader and I don’t know if I do anything here that is considered ‘quality’ writing… but I’m OK with that.

5. Be a better mom and wife. I’ve learned a lot this year about being a mom, and will continue to learn. I want to have more patience and less frustration. My husband has been a rockstar this past year and I want to return the favor and be the best wife I can be.

I think I’m getting better at this. I’m continually working to find the balance in my new role as a mom and continue to also grow into my role as a wife. I definitely feel less frustrated these days… but that MIGHT have something to do with Miles finally sleeping through the night.

6. Get, and keep, my life organized. I have several closets and drawers that are always a disaster and I avoid them. It’s time to tackle them. It might take me all damn year to get to them all, but that’s OK. This also goes for other aspects of my life too. I want to keep my finances organized, my email inbox, etc. Part of this goal is also to take more everyday photos.

Check! I’m continually purging closets and cabinets. I still have more to go, but I am loving the less cluttered feel of our house. I’m definitely taking more photos too!

7. Set small goals and rewards. It’s easy, especially this time of year, to get caught up into making big goals and become overwhelmed and set up to fail. I want to make goals for myself on all levels. I also want to reward myself when I reach some of them. You may see some mini-posts this year with my small goals.

Check! I recently reached my 10% weight loss goal and rewarded myself. I’m setting goals for each race I enter. I set goals for myself each work day and try to commit to knocking so many things off my to-do list. My rewards might be as little as an iTunes download… but it works!

How about you? What 2011 goals/resolutions have you reached already or stuck with?

Never use the auto-clean on your oven if you haven’t cleaned your oven in 5 years.

Mike and I built our house 5 years ago this summer. We bought a new oven. I cooked and baked a lot over the last 5 years. Lots of cheese dripping off the edge of a pizza, a few French fries dropped here or there, overflowing goodness from a lasagna… you get the point. I admit, I should clean my oven on a regular basis but… I just don’t.

Today, I thought since the oven was still warm from making my lunch I’d turn on the ‘auto-clean’. Then I head back to my office with my lunch. Then 10 minutes or so later the nanny yells, “Kimi, you’re oven is on FIRE!”

I quickly dart up the stairs and see this is no exaggeration. The inside of the oven is FLAMES. Not a smoldering old French fry. FLAMES. Smoke is coming out the top. OMG.

I immediately assessed the situation. While the fire was alarming it seemed somewhat contained so I didn’t want to call the fire department immediately. I opened the door and window and then grabbed the box of baking soda. I thought I’d open the door toss in the baking soda and shut the door.

WRONG.

The handy thing about oven cleaning is that it auto locks itself shut because it is SO hot. Probably a good idea in theory, unless the inside is on fire. Crap.

So I pulled the oven out from its little cubby area and unplugged it. I’m not sure why, but it seemed logical. Then I assessed the flames again… they seemed lower. So I opened more windows and continued to watch it. The flames continued to slow down. Whew.

Eventually the flames went out. Thank God.

OK, this is scary shit.

If I was home alone I would have turned this auto-clean on and went back to my office and not thought twice about it. If the nanny and Miles hadn’t been sitting at the table eating lunch they would not have seen it. They could have been playing in the other room or outside or on a walk.

The thought of this scares the crap out of me.

Lessons to take from this…

• Don’t ‘auto-clean’ your oven if there is crap in it that could catch on fire.
• Don’t ever leave your ‘auto-cleaning’ oven unattended.
• Keep a fire extinguisher handy. You never know.
• Check your smoke alarms, make sure they are in working order.

Let’s just say I did NOT cook tonight.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a class taught by NEO’s own Daily Downward Dog… aka Maria! We connected via twitter this winter and she let me know she would be teaching classes in Vermilion this summer! I was thrilled to learn this!

I haven’t been to a yoga class since earlier this year. I was loving class at Solaluna in Oberlin, but not loving the drive during the winter months. From there I moved my yoga practicing to home in short increments. It was refreshing to get to a real class this week!

We enjoyed warm sun and fresh air along the Vermilion river for a 50 minute session. Maria’s theme for the class was play. We focused on playing with our movements to best fit our own practice and keeping things fun. We let go of our egos and expectations and really lived in the moment.

This class was the perfect way to start the day! It was also the perfect opportunity to rock my new Lululemon goodies from Sunday’s Fun Day!

Maria holds classes on the beach on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at the Firefly Resort in Huron, just west of Vermilion. Classes are $10 each, or buy 10 classes for $80. I’ll definitely be doing some downward facing dogs on the beach with Maria quite soon!

So tell me, what’s your favorite yoga move? Or if you’ve never done yoga have you wanted to?

My favorite move is a tie between child’s pose (for relaxing) and tree pose (for feeling strong).

*Disclosure: I was not asked to review this yoga class and did not attend for free. I just wanted to share! Opinions are my own.

Well, week one is in the books! It was an easy week to ease into training. I am still proud to say I got in all my workouts these week, spent time with my foam roller and got some decent sleep in as well.

Planned Week & Actual Week:

My ‘long run’ this week was only slated for 5 miles. Most runners wouldn’t qualify that as a ‘long run’ but I do. The long run went really well actually. I probably could have easily tacked on a few more but instead I just tried to push it the last few miles and build my confidence that I completed the run easily.

This upcoming week features my first brick workout. Yes, I’m marathon training but I also have a duathlon rapidly approach on August 14th that I’d like to be able to finish! This weeks long run promises to be a great time too since it’ll be my first training run with Christie. I’ve promised her some back roads of Vermilion and a post-run ice bath in the kiddie pool! When you train with me you really get the best of it all.

Factoids from this week:

• Humidity is brutal, even on the shortest of runs.
• Speed work is a great way to get a super good workout in a short amount of time.
• Being a parent is really really hard when you see your child in pain. (Don’t worry, he’s OK now.)
• The movie Cars is pretty cute. (Yes, I just now watched the original in its entirety.)

Goals for the upcoming week:

• Get in all of my miles.
• 2 Diet Cokes or less per day.
• Attend at least 1 yoga class.

Here’s a question Christie and I discussed recently… do you ladies (or guys) run with mace?

I don’t but I think I would if I ran at a park.

Nothing beats a summertime Sunday Funday! Am I right Justin? Am I right?

Start it off with a little brunch with one of your besties…

Continue the fun with some Lululemon LOVE.

Have intense debates over Ryan Reynolds or Bradley Cooper. (Luckily we each had our allegiance here so there was no cat fight.)

Hit up the playground with your hubs and cutie child.

Finish it up with 12+ miles on the bike and hanging out with the boys!

How’d you spend your Sunday Funday?