Everything that Shines Ain't Always Gonna Be Gold

Last night I had the pleasure of heading to a beer tasting with five of my closest friends from school.  It was really nice to get out with a group of guys and have a good time, a few drinks, and put school on the back-burner for one night.  It's not often that we all get the opportunity to hang out, mostly because we all live in different places and finding a location and time that is convenient for all is often near impossible.

Big Ten Beer Tasting was the name of the event, and it all happened at the oldest Irish pub in Lincoln Park, a place called the Hidden Shamrock.  At the event, there was about 10 different stands (each from a "Big Ten" city/state) that each had a few beers to try, and I found one that I especially liked.  Half Acres Brewery was well represented with six different beers, my favorite of which was called Chub Step (Porter).  It had a great full body flavor, just a hint of coffee flavor (I'm not much for full-fledged coffee stouts).

At the end of the event there was a raffle, and Bro won a matching set of pint glasses.  Pretty stoked about that pick up.  I think fun was had by all, and hopefully it's something that we can all do again in the near future.

Last night got me thinking about something else that has been on my mind lately too.  It mostly has to do with happiness...

I've discovered that I perform better in school when I'm happy with things outside of school.  Sometimes it's not always easy to see the good in things, it's not easy to do what's best, it's not easy to let go and move on from the past.  Life is a long blackboard that you continually get to keep writing on and creating your story.  So even though what's written behind you is permanent, what goes down in front of you is entirely your choice.

I've made a commitment to myself moving forward onto subsequent semesters.  That is, a list of "goals" that I'm going to focus on.  The list looks something like this, not in any specific order...

Cooking: I want to cook much more than I do now.  I really enjoy cooking, but it sometimes becomes hard with school, commuting and trying to get a workout in.  My goal is to find easy, fast, one pan/pot recipes that I can rely on during stressful times.  If you have any recipes like this, send them my way!!

Workout:  Run at least 30 miles/week through winter.  I also want to do yoga at least once per week and also swim at least 5 miles per week.  I'm committing myself to running a marathon next year at some point, whether that be Chicago or the Twin Cities, or even Madison in the spring.  My goal for my first marathon is a Boston-qualifying time (sub 3:10).  I'm setting my sights on Ironman Wisconsin 2013 if I can talk my buddy T-pain into it... I'll work on that :)  No goal yet for IM WI, I'll hash that out as it gets closer...

Reading: I want to have a leisure reading book going at all times.  The first one on my list, Born to Run which I will start when I leave for Florida.

Church:  I just joined a church in Chicago, and am actually going to brew beer with the pastor tomorrow!  I want to commit to going every week and see where it takes me.  I don't want to be an "in your face" person about religion, so don't expect to hear much more on this front :)

Volunteering:  After the new year, I would like to find an animal shelter or at risk youth program to volunteer at once per week.  I've been so damn fortunate with my life, I think the least I can do is give a few hours per week back for a good cause.

Traveling:  Each year, I am going to go somewhere I've never been before.  This year's goal:  Portland/Seattle/British Columbia.

Relationships:  I need to do a better job nurturing the friendships that I've built both in Chicago and from the past.  I'm going to call my friends once per month at least to catch up and see how they're doing.

I'm sure the list will grow, I'll keep adding to this for sure.  I'm pretty excited for this year's Best Of List, which will be coming out in just a couple weeks!  Got some cool new stuff I found from the last 4 months in Chicago.  On that note...

Cheers!