2011: A Year in Review

“2011 was a rough year. I’m glad to see it go” – this was the sentiment one of my close friends when I asked him about the New Year and I have to agree…

When I look back over 2011 it is a jumble of work, school and more work. I started the year with the goal to lose some weight, but I only stayed the same for the entire year. I got a personal trainer for 3 months and realized that personal training is worthless without a serious diet change – and I changed my diet, just not enough and not consistently enough.

Work was a nightmare. I worked for Denton Bible Church for the first 8 months of the year and was self-employed running both http://www.eddierenz.com my web design business and http://www.soundandshow.com – my DJ Business all while juggling the financial responsibility of Dallas Theological Seminary – which cost me about $5000 out of pocket which might not seem like a lot, but when you have to pay $600 a month on a self-employed/part-time church worker budget it can be a real burden.

As far as actual income for 2011 I did pretty good. I made almost the same Salary that I made with Texas Instruments but I still don’t have health insurance and I sometimes miss the security of that weekly paycheck, but, there is nothing like being your own boss. There is a thrill that comes with not knowing if you are going to make any money for the next month and literally living by faith and watching God provide week after week, month after month. I live a very nice life and the challenges that I face are mostly self-induced.

Some of the Highlights from 2011

1. Found Author Harlan Coben and have enjoyed reading his books.

2. Re-Branded my Web Design business to Chemist Creative.

3. Started going to The Village Church and I LOVE it.

4. Started my Masters in Media and Communication at DTS

5. Started Crossfit

So, what’s in store for 2012?

I plan to kick off the New Year with a 30 Day Paleo Diet challenge. This year I’m doing it with friends and we have consequences for cheating. How do you stick to a plan? Accountability with consequences. Our consequences is 30 burpees for every cheating incident. If you don’t know what a burpee is you can check it out here:

I’m also doing Crossfit which is definitely a challenge for me. Well, I think it is a challenge for everyone that does it and the real challenge is being mentally tough and pushing yourself beyond your limits. Here is a quick video so you can get the idea of the ridiculousness of these workouts:

While personal training pushed me to my limits I don’t think it pushed me like these Crossfit workouts have pushed me. Plus, you are doing the workouts with other people and so there is a community aspect to the workouts.

By the end of 2012 I’d like to look like Alistair Overeem… who by the way defeated Brock Lesnar pretty effortlessly last night in UFC 141.

Big Goals for 2012

1. Reach a Goal weight of 300
2. Pay off all miscellaneous debt
3. Visit Jimmy in Shang Hai
4. Run the 8 Mile at the Turkey Trot