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She was meant to have had a lock on the Democratic Party nomination, in a year that looked good for a Democratic presidential candidate.  Hillary Clinton had the sort of star power few could hope to emulate, and she was one half of a couple who virtually embodied the term "power couple" in a party that was firmly in hoc to their machine.  And then came Iowa, and an insurgency that proved to be her undoing.  Barack Obama's soaring rhetoric and hope for change undid Hillary's hopes of breaking the glass ceiling for women in 2008.

And here she is again.  Her machine is intact, her supporters well motivated, she's captured the endorsement of one of the country's leading liberal newspapers, the New York Times; yet once again this once impregnable candidate faces a grassroots insurgency that could de-rail her second attempt at the presidency.

Of course it's not quite the same as 2008.  Hillary is a wiser person and a better candidate.  Her debate performances - under-reported at a time when everyone is obsessing over the Donald's wrecking of the Republican debates - have been far sparkier and effective than before.  Plus, she does have eight more years of hard won experience behind her, four of them as the former insurgent, Barack Obama's Secretary of State.  Bernie, meanwhile, has mobilised extraordinary support, and could certainly provide an upset in Iowa before what looks like a big win in New Hampshire (bordering his own Vermont state).  But Bernie can't match Obama's rhetoric, and he can motivate liberals but arguably not the mainstream who will there to be grabbed in the event of a very rightist Republican nomination.

It can, in fact, only be good for Clinton and the Democratic Party to have a race come much closer.  It would not have benefited Clinton at all to go through a coronation before the rough passage of the main election in autumn.  This way, she has to really hone her campaigning instincts, and she has to work out why so many Democrats and previously uncommitted voters are flocking to Bernie.  This Washington Post piece, and the turning of a sceptic noted here by Cody Gough, shows why "the Bern" is whirling up such a wind, and Hillary would be foolish to discount this.  She runs as an establishment candidate - her experience is a key selling point - at a time when many American voters seem dead set against that amorphous entity.  Capture some of the Sanders insurgency and Hillary really could have a winning formula.

This BBC report brilliantly captures the difference between the Clinton and Sanders rallies in Iowa and in so doing points up much of the distinction between these two seasoned politicians.

Hillary is no shoo-in any more.  Bernie Sanders has done the Democratic party a considerable service for that.  Whether the Senator from Vermont can provide the political weight to balance the excitement of his campaign, against a candidate who has weight aplenty, will ultimately determine who really is the most credible candidate to go against what will likely be one of the most dangerous Republicans in over a generation.  The Democrats should enjoy their primary season.  But they need to get this choice right.

Political reputations rise and fall with the ease and frequency of hot and cold winters.  George Osborne has been riding high for months now - ever since the last election really.  Forgotten were his earlier strategic errors, such as the "omni-shambles" budget with its tax on hot pasties.  In vogue were his Commons socials and the near universal expectation that he would succeed David Cameron.
Well George kindly reminded everyone that his political antenna is not always as well attuned as it should be, when he ill-advisedly tweeted about his distinctly less than overwhelming tax deal with Google at the beginning of this week.

Now the knives are back out, as this Sun piece suggests today.  They've managed to get two ministers to provide them with some juicy quotes about Osborne - he's a social cripple, "just like Gordon Brown"; he's weird "like Milliband".  Osborne must be reeling this morning.  The last two Labour leaders aren't people that Labour politicians want to be compared to, never mind a high flying Tory chancellor.

We shouldn't expect too much from this scuffle.  It's an early shot, a quick hit and run at a time when the Chancellor is particularly vulnerable.  Osborne still controls considerable patronage, and most Tory MPs won't want to be seen to oppose him while he remains the favourite to succeed Cameron.  The Westminster village, as we see time and time again, doesn't operate with the rationality of anywhere else.  That's arguably one of the real messages about today's criticisms.  They may have more than a kernel of truth - Osborne can hardly claim ordinary bloke persona, and he does make egregious strategic errors.  But if he looks like a winner in two years' time, he'll be a winner regardless of his competence.  How do you think Gordon Brown managed it?  The stories of his lethal rages, paranoid rants and social awkwardness were legion well before he was PM.

It's diverting for us when one of the political tribes descends into civil war, and we're a bit bored with it just being the Labour party at the moment.  But the Conservatives aren't exactly bringing up exciting alternatives to the wounded front runner either.  I suspect we haven't heard the name of the next Tory leader in that context yet.  After all, two years is a long time......

Last year was very hectic for me. The reason for this is that in addition to working and running a few races, I was in the market for a home. There are a lot of moving pieces involved when buying a home, especially when you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is one of the hottest places to live (and the most expensive) in the country.

I thought I would break down my search into a few posts, starting with the beginning, which was financing. Oh the joys of getting a loan. Now, I have no idea what the right or wrong way to go about this is, but I will talk about the way that I did it, and what seemed to work for me.

First, I pulled my credit report. I have heard, and I am not sure if this is true, that it is better to pull it 6 times in one month than 6 times over the course of a year. So I pulled it, knowing that the lenders would also pull it. Luckily, it was in good shape.

The next thing I wanted was a pre-approval letter. I had no idea what I was getting myself in for, but I did know that a pre-approval letter was better than a pre-qualify. With a pre-approval, the lender gets mostly all of your paperwork and then they use that to figure out how much they will be willing to lend you. This is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is hard to figure out how much you can afford. I spent a lot of time on the internet plugging in numbers, but until the lender actually used my actual hard data to get an amount, I was just guessing (with the help of Google).

The second reason that it's important is that it helps to submit the pre-approval letter with your offer. This can help convince the seller that you are serious about the offer, and it will make them more comfortable that your agreement is not going to fall through due to lack of financing. In the Bay Area, your offer will most likely not get accepted without a pre-approval letter.

To get a pre-approval letter, you have to figure out who you want to try to get a letter and/or a loan from. How do you figure this out? Good question! Once again, I turned to Google (and Zillow) to find out who could give me the best rate. In addition, I asked several people who they had used and how their experience had been. I got a lot of different answers. Zillow named two internet banks and Bank of America as having the best rates. Two of my friends used Quicken (internet bank) and Bank of America.

So, I contacted one internet bank, Bank of America (who happens to be where I have had my accounts since I was a teenager) and Citibank. What happened next was this:

The internet bank asked me to fill out a form with my financial info and send it back to them. The lady was very nice and the operation seemed legitimate. I filled out the form and sent it back and got a pre-approval letter the next day.

Bank of America connected me to Texas. I finally got routed to a local agent, who barely spoke English (sorry!) and tried to talk me into getting a 5/1 arm (adjustable rate) instead of the 30 year fixed that I asked her for. She then asked me to send in about 400 different kinds of paperwork, including all of my Bank of America  bank statements. I sent them all to her and did not hear back from her for three weeks (when I called her, her message said she was on vacation).

Citibank sent me an unprofessional email with no signature or logo that looked like a 12 year old had sent it, asking for 400 different kinds of paperwork. I told them I would feel more comfortable seeing a real person and giving my documents to them and the guy blew me off.

Since the Citibank guy seemed unprofessional, I contacted a third option, a local broker, and I sent him all my 400 different kinds of paperwork. He was very helpful and even helped me run a few different scenarios, depending on my down payment and/or desired purchase price. The guy was easy to reach on the phone and answered any (dumb) questions I had throughout the entire process.

The verdict: The amount I could qualify for was less than I wanted, since they could not count bonuses or overtime unless you could show two full years and proof that it would be ongoing. Bummer. So that meant the amount I thought I could spend was not the actual amount... in addition, I found it very strange that they ask you how much you want to spend. Can't they just crunch all the numbers and then tell you what the absolute max is?

My advice: Try a bunch of different lenders. You have no commitment to them. Once you have all of your 400 documents in pdf form, you may as well send them to as many lenders as you can!

In addition, my realtor told me a few tips. (1) the big banks (BofA etc) take forever to get you an answer, sometimes meaning you lose the house because you can't get financing in time. I know this as well because I work for a big bank and I see some of the frustration over how long thing take. (2) The internet banks will give anybody a pre-approval letter and will often give you the number YOU want, rather than what you can really afford. This causes problems later when it comes to getting the actual loan. Due to this, often times sellers will not accept offers if the letter is from an internet bank.

So, there we have it, my new understanding of financing in a nutshell.

Have you gotten a home loan? What advice or tips do you have for others regarding the situation? 

*Disclaimer: I am not a professional. Any opinions I give are my own and you should do your own research before making any rash decisions. :) 

I have had several requests from people to give everyone a tour of my "new" house.  I have to admit, I have been putting it together little by little and it's still not fully settled in, so that is why I have been stalling on the "house tour". Three months after I moved in, I finally got a couch, and I am still working on sorting things out and deciding where their place in the house (or the Goodwill bag) will be.

The new house is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath and is about 1,000 SF. The reason I chose it was that the location is convenient to the freeway and public transportation. I also really loved the hardwood floors and the large backyard. It's also on a dead end street, and only has 8 houses on the street, which I see as a plus. Without further ado, here are a couple of photos of the new place.

Front of House (right before lots of raking!)

Front Porch (my parents made the wreath)

Kitchen

Kitchen

Living Room

Living Room

Living Room

"Office" (haven't figured this room out yet)

Sun Room / Reading Nook -- window seat

Sun Room / Reading Nook -- corner nook

Bathroom

As I mentioned and as you can see, I still have a long way to go! I need to put up photos, especially in the living room above the couch,  and I still need to organize things and do a major purge. I am not big on decorating, but have been having fun doing a few DIY projects, which I will have to share later. I have also done a bit of work to the front and back yard, but will have to save that for another post as well!

Do you like decorating? When you move, how long does it take you to get everything sorted in the new place? Where is your "go to" place for home decor?

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We didn't understand America back in 1776 and we're not very good at it now.  If gun laws are clear evidence of that, the popularity of Sarah Palin is even better evidence.

The woman who did more than anyone else, apart from Barack Obama, to ruin John McCain's chances of the presidency in 2008 is back as a political cheerleader-cum-would-be-office-holder.  And for Donald Trump, possibly the nearest male equivalent to her own brand of populist, anti-establishment, celebrity-seeking, not always sense-making political showmanship.

Trump's campaign is still largely focussed on outmanouevring his closest and most sinister rival for the Republican nomination, Ted Cruz, a man hated equally by everyone who he works with, whether left or right.  And he's done it again.  Trump's original anti-Muslim comment was designed to outflank Cruz, and receiving the endorsement of Palin is another humdinger that must be rankling with the Texas senator.  (In fact, we know it does because a Cruz staffer had a go at Palin hours before her much anticipated endorsement of Trump, causing a minor twitterstorm generated by Bristol Palin who attacked Cruz back. It's all fun and games and mutual love in the Christian vote-seeking Republican camp).

Palin is still a crowd-puller amongst Tea Party conservatives and the fundamentalist Christian base which Cruz appeals to so much, as the Telegraph's David Lawlor shows in his rolling pieces on the Iowa meeting.  It speaks volumes about Republican grassroots' political sensibilities that she is.  After torpedoing the McCain bid in 2008 she promptly left elective politics, resigning as Governor of Alaska (from where you can see Russia, as she memorably reminded everyone when asked to give evidence of her foreign policy expertise) to pursue a more lucrative career as a media celebrity.  She must still rank as one of the most proudly stupid and ignorant people to ever seek elective office, and her rambling endorsement of Trump was filled again with her own string of bizarre and meaningless catch-phrases ("We're not gonna chill, we're gonna drill, baby, drill"; they're replacing the safety nets with hammocks"; and lots of "Doggone....").

But Palin has energised the Trump campaign as the Iowa vote approaches on Feb 1st., and if her endorsement swings enough of that mid-western state's conservative base towards the Donald such that he beats the hitherto-favourite Cruz, well then his bid for the eventual Republican nomination is looking stronger than anyone - including probably Donald himself - might have ever believed.

I love the Republican race.  I just don't want any of them to be president.

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Bless them.  MPs gathered in numbers not usually seen for debates to discuss the pressing issue of whether Donald Trump, who hasn't got any immediate plans to visit Britain, should be banned just in case he ever does.  As they earnestly debated the ins and outs of an essentially trivial petition, you almost felt that they believed America was watching and listening.  The full range of faux outrage was on display, with one MP dramatically declaring that Donald Trump had insulted her personally.

Oh dear.  Never mind the fact that this debate effectively took Trump at his own valuation.  Never mind that MPs were debating something they themselves couldn't actually affect (the power to ban is the Home Secretary's).  Never mind that there must have been 101 other ways for MPs to spend their time that might actually have had an impact on their constituents.  The key thing about this debate was the continued suffering British politicians have that somehow, in a mind somewhere across the Atlantic, Britain actually matters.

She doesn't, and hasn't since 1812 when British troops burned down the executive mansion in a sort of last hurrah.  The Americans repainted it and had a place they could now call the White House, which was nice.  But the feeling in Britain, ever since America started becoming the No 1 Nation, has long been that somehow we are tied together in a uniquely special relationship.  Alas, reality shows us a rather different picture, as a quick historical gander through the distinctly unspecial relationship will show.  Here are its principal lowlights, which I set out some time ago, when David Cameron was in the first throes of his infatuation with Barack Obama.

Roosevelt and Churchill.
This is where it was meant to have started. FDR moved heaven and earth to get US aid to brave little Britain, and he and Churchill bestrode the post-war world stage like conquering colossi joined at the hip. Yes?

Er, well not quite. Roosevelt was a thoroughly reluctant interventionist. He gave short shrift to the pro-interventionist Century Group, deferring instead to advisers like Sumner Welles, who in January 1940 was still determined to get Hitler and Mussolini to talk peace. When help did come, Roosevelt extracted everything he could from Britain and then tried to make sure the Atlantic War was firmly eastern focused, which suited American interests better. Neville Chamberlain had always believed that the cost of American help would be too high – he wasn’t wrong. Military bases, trading concessions and considerable regional influence was all ceded to the USA. The Roosevelt-Churchill relationship existed mainly in the mind of Churchill himself, who did so much to propagate it. Which is surprising, given the way FDR himself sought to undermine Churchill in front of Stalin at Yalta.

Truman and Attlee
Well, Attlee didn’t speak much anyway, but his Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin did, and it was Bevin who felt so downtrodden by Truman’s Secretary of State that he advocated British ownership of nuclear weapons, if only so that “no foreign secretary gets spoken to by an American Secretary of State like that again”. It was another Truman Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, who caustically remarked that “Britain has lost an empire but not yet found a role”. Thanks for the support Dean.

Eisenhower

One word really. Suez. When Anthony Eden tried to protect British interests in the Suez Canal, Eisenhower was the first and most important statesman out of the blocks to condemn him. And then begin a run on the pound. Never mind that Khrushchev was slaughtering Hungarian rebels at the time – Britain was Enemy No. 1! Oh, and lest we forget, it was Eisenhower as US Supreme Commander who stymied Churchill and Montgomery’s plan to beat the Russians to Berlin. The Russians weren’t a threat you see.

Nixon and Heath
Possibly the only really effective working relationship between a US President and a British Prime minister, because it was based on an understanding that there wasn’t actually a Special Relationship at all. Both Heath and Nixon believed that America’s real focus in Europe was never going to be a single country, but a united European organization. Nixon, in any case, was very clearly identifying the East as the true arena for US activity.

Reagan and Thatcher
This is where it’s meant to really go into overdrive. If the lovebirds Maggie and Ron didn’t have a special relationship, then who did? But, alas, for all their cooing to each other in public, Reagan not only proved notoriously slow to throw support behind Britain in the Falklands crisis, but then didn’t let Thatcher know when he invaded the Commonwealth country of Grenada. Britain had to content herself by joining 108 other nations in condemning the invasion at the UN. Tellingly, Reagan later recollected than when Thatcher phoned him to say he shouldn’t go ahead, "She was very adamant and continued to insist that we cancel our landings on Grenada. I couldn't tell her that it had already begun." Special Relationship indeed.

Bush and Blair
No world leader was more determined to show his support for the US than Tony Blair. No other world leader was greeted familiarly as “Yo, Blair”. But for all the support he gave to George W. Bush’s strategy of middle east invasion, Blair’s voice was heard as tinnily as anyone else’s when it came to trying to influence US foreign policy. It was one of the supreme, defining failures of his premiership.

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Attention in the US presidential primaries is focusing more on the Republican race than the Democratic one, not least because there actually is a Republican race, whereas whatever the enthusiasm of Bernie Sanders' supporters, no-one is yet thinking in terms of Hillary not winning the Democratic nomination.

Republican debates are offering some great moments as they fight lack rats in a sack, but it is worth turning to look at Hillary in the more measured Democrat debates too.  Sanders has at least offered some useful challenge to Clinton, absorbing the zeitgeist of the liberal left in her party and forcing her to recognise and deal with it.  And, the debates are a measure of what Hillary might be able to offer in the main presidential run-off after summer.

The evidence from the latest Democratic debate - at least according to Slate - is that she is one classy and effective debater; a better debater than campaigner says Isaac Chotiner.  And that means whoever wins the Republican race, they are going to have their wacky political offerings put under a sharp, forensic and public spotlight.  Which could well see them melt as the vast army of mid-term non-voters turns out to ensure the White House stays centrist.

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It says a lot about the Republican party that it looks as if it will spend the next few months deciding whether Donald Trump or Ted Cruz should be the standard bearer for all of its hopes and aspirations in November's presidential elections.

Of course much can change - and probably will - by then, but in the meantime we have weeks' worth of hard-right posturing on the part of those two lead candidates to get through.  And it's taken some doing, but Ted Cruz is managing to make Trump look like a decent, compassionate, upstanding and moderate man of great political wisdom.  Cruz is an unprincipled flip-flopper (see this detailed take-down of his various immigration positions) whose pronouncements and rallies carry the deep whiff of sulphur, but the recent Republican debate exchange at least showed him being verbally out-manouevred by the Donald.

Cruz took a swipe - as he has done previously - at what he calls "New York values".  Now "New York values" can often be used as shorthand in America for a variety of unseemly accusations.  The very first episode of the seminal political drama "West Wing" saw this sharp exchange on the subject between liberal Toby and a hard-right Christian activist:



But Cruz meant social liberal.  When he referred to "New York values" he was addressing his fundamentalist Christian base and attacking such anathema as same-sex tolerance, diversity and liberal ethics.  And he might have meant Donald Trump, whose outsize personality is certainly very definitely of New York.  Cruz' unpleasant insinuations could have been left hanging, but Trump rose to the occasion for once, and gave a great take-down.

Trump may lose out to Cruz in Iowa - due Feb 1st - while Cruz may lose out to Trump in New Hampshire.  But if they keep the top two spots as the primary season goes on, the whole Republican party is going to be the one that loses out.  Yet you get the impression that for many members losing out on the White House is an acceptable consequence of keeping the Republican brand tea-party pure.  What a party.

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The world of print is over and will be overtaken and then replaced by its digital oppressor.  This has been declared for so long - a bit like Nostradamus' many and varied predictions for the end of the world - that we have probably ceased listening to it.  But the world of print is suffering, and in particular there exists a small but growing debate about the rewarding of writers.

One thing that the online world has done is to allow vast numbers of amateur writers to publish themselves and their meandering thoughts.  This blog, and this writer, is one example.  Such openness, so the argument runs, has led to a serious under-rewarding of professional writers.  With so much free stuff available, why pay?  The Huffington Post, a big online news affair, generates loads of its stuff by getting desperate people to write for it for free, and it is not alone.

I'm not sure I wholly agree that this should lead to the undermining of proper, good writers however.  Nick Cohen, an excellent, stimulating, readable journalist and author, has a great pop at the Oxford Literary Festival for refusing to pay its authorial speakers, in an online piece for the Spectator here.

Now let's be clear.  I think Cohen is a superb writer.  I willingly fork out for his books and I would buy magazines for his articles without a backward glance at my ever-decreasing bank account.  But I can also access him for free.  See above.  So why would I pay?  His perfectly just argument is a little undermined by the willingness of his employer to give so much of his stuff away.

The internet grew up with a mantra that it should all be free, but of course by "all" we really only mean the unedited commentary and news part of it.  Newspapers and magazines have done themselves no favours by hawking so much of their material for free, and it is perhaps not surprising that cheese-paring literary festivals like Oxford have followed suit and tried to extract writers to speak for free whilst paying for pretty everyone else who works at the festival.

Writers should absolutely be able to charge for their appearances.  Writers with confidence in the quality and marketability of their work should vigorously protect their right to be read on payment of an appropriate sum.   It would be a decent and affirming nod to the validity of the knowledge economy if that were the case.  Meanwhile, the rather less edified grafters on widely unread blogs should also be allowed to luxuriate in the illusion that people might also read our less elevated free offerings.  See.  The market at work.

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Tory MP Nick Herbert is leading the EU "Stay" campaign - or one of them at any rate - and not before time if a poll in the Mail is to be believed.  According to the Survation poll the "Leave" option now leads by 6%, given impetus it would seem, by concerns over terrorist attacks and a migrant influx that would clearly not exist if we weren't in the EU.

The Telegraph describes this as a "war", although quite why the preparation to debate an important referendum issue should be a "war" is puzzling in itself.  The Telegraph lost a lot of its news credibility some time ago when its cozy relationship with HSBC was revealed, but still.  A war?

Nick Herbert is effectively leading what will be the minority view within the Tory party about Europe.  Sceptics in the Tory party - up to and including the cabinet - are so plentiful that David Cameron has almost seemed besieged by his desire to secure a deal which could persuade people to vote to stay in.  As Nick Clegg - resurfacing on today's Marr show - remarked, it is going to be important to remember that the EU referendum extends rather further than the broiling civil war amongst the Tories.

Another salvo in the right-wing exchanges was fired in the Telegraph as well.  "Historians for Britain", a fantastically named group presumably suggesting that other historians are not at all committed to Britain, has dished the notion that the EU has had any role in preserving peace since the war.  And in this, I have to cautiously agree.  I think the EU has been a remarkable development in a continent which little over half a century ago was used to tearing itself to bits every few years on the battlefield, but yes I think NATO more than the EU can claim the credit for actually helping to preserve the very peace from which the EU has emerged and flourished.  The EU's forays into foreign policy have not been particularly effective - witness eastern Ukraine, a crisis begun at least in part by heavy handed EU overtures to pro-western Ukrainian politicians - and they struggle to speak with a single voice over such things as migration or the middle eastern conflict.  But still.  At least they do speak. And meet. And negotiate. And hold summits and things.  I doubt there's a person alive in the war-tortured middle east - outside the gun-toting, violence-inflicting, morally abandoned psycho loons of ISIS and their associates - who wouldn't rather have an EU type approach to inter-state affairs than the military machisma currently prevailing.

The referendum will hopefully be based on rational pro and anti arguments, but in amongst it I have to confess that there is a wholly emotive endorsement on my part of the whole EU experiment, and what it is meant to represent.

It's that time of year again! Money pie time! This year was fun because a coworker loved that I did this last year and decided to join in the fun. We have been presenting each other with our "pie" each quarter to see where things have gone over time. 

Here's the breakdown! But first, a couple of notes. First, I did not include any savings in this chart. I do put aside money for retirement as well as an emergency fund and a fun money fund. However, as this money is not technically an expense, it is not included. Also, I excluded my down payment, as it would have inflated the "home" category to over 90 percent. 

Home: Like last year, this includes rent and utilities but this year, as well as taxes and insurance, this category was also furnishings heavy. As I said, I did not include my down payment. However, there were still a lot of things, such as blinds, appliances and other misc items, that I will not have to buy every year, but that were a big expense this  year. I was a bit aghast at the high percentage, but if I just had rent/utilities only, it would be closer to 33%, which is about right, according to articles like this. 

Travel: I hope I never have to make this category smaller. I have mentioned this before, but I will skimp on most everything before I give this one up! As you can see I forwent shopping for travel this year. I have a great trip to Europe, as well as several other trips around the US to visit with friends, and several road trips to do active things around California. 

Transportation: This category is mostly commuting, but I also rent a car approximately one weekend per month in order to visit family or friends or to go to a running event. I did not try to separate the costs for running related things into the entertainment category, as they are often all intertwined. 

Groceries/Eating Out: Funny that these are almost the same! I probably only eat out about once a month, so this shows that when I do eat out, it is a major event! Eating out also includes coffee shops and beer, which is probably the majority of my expense in that category! I also put all Costco trips in the grocery category, even though there were some other odds and ends in the basket usually.

Misc: This includes haircuts, gifts and donations, credit card fees.. things like that. The bulk of it is gifts and donations. I think I got my hair cut twice last year!

Health: This includes pre-tax deductions and any copay or charge for contact lenses etc.

Entertainment: This includes movies, baseball games, and running related (or other hobbies) expenses. Truly this year I did not spend a lot on running gear, only race fees. Also, like I said before, my transportation to running events was either carpooling or it went into the transportation or travel category. It may be better to try to separate those out this year to get a more accurate idea of where the money is going.

Shopping: If it's not food, I don't buy it! This category included clothing, toiletries and items from Target that were not home or running related. I literally bought maybe 4 (Banana Republic) shirts for myself this year from a thrift store, and that was about it! k

So, what did I learn from this? I am pretty happy about where I spent my money in 2015. If needed, I could definitely spend less on travel. Currently it is not necessary, but it would have to be the first thing to get a haircut if I needed some extra money. As you can see, I don't really spend a lot on unnecessary things, except for travel. I am also happy about how much I am putting aside and am trying to increase my savings amounts if I get a raise this year, instead of just spending more.

What is the biggest piece of your spending pie? Do you keep track of where your money goes? What are your financial goals this year? 

Last year I did not post my goals because I tend to be a private person and a lot of my goals I don't feel that I really want to put out there, even though I do have a list of my own. This year, I will post a few of my goals however, in the hopes that posting them will keep me honest! 

1. Run a 100 mile race. This was on the list last year and I did not quite make it. However, this year I am ready to try again! I have a couple races in mind, but it's hard, as they are all lotteries. We shall see which one chooses me, I guess. After I find out which race I will do, it will be time to get the training schedule sorted out. Which brings me to my next goal.

2. Run 2,000 miles / climb 250,000 ft elevation: Last year I ran about 1,800 miles and climbed about 250,000 feet, so this goal is attainable. However, I also want to be smart about my training, as last year I got injured which put a damper on my running, which was not fun at all. I would like to train smart and to have a plan, which is something that really helps me when it comes to setting goals. I have a "little red book" where I plan to keep track of my miles and my training in general, in hopes that it will help me in the long run (pun intended). 

3. Read 52 books. Last year I read 77 books, but I feel like with an increase in running comes a decrease in reading. So, to be realistic, I will try to read one a week and if I have time for more than that, then great, but I don't want to be stressed or annoyed at myself for setting an unrealistic goal. 

4. Read 12 books from my own shelves. I am copying Lisa on this one! I think that it's a great idea to actually read books that I already have (and then possibly give them away) instead of keeping them for no reason. To be clear, if it's an excellent book, I may keep it, but if it's not, its going in the Goodwill pile! 

5. Ride my bike to work 2 times per week: Last year I ended up riding my bike 102 times, which would average out to about 1 time per week. This year I would like to improve upon that plan, as I really enjoy getting out early and getting a bit of exercise before I head to work! So far, so good, as last week I rode my bike into work twice and would have done it more but it was pouring rain the other three days of the week! 

6. Practice my Spanish: This one is hard to quantify, but I would like to improve my Spanish by talking to a friend for at least 5 minutes once a week, studying and learning at least 100 new words per week and possibly taking my vacation this year to a Spanish speaking country.

7. Try new things: This goal is multi faceted. I would like to visit 12 places that I have never been before. This can be a running trail or a city or a country. I would like to learn one new recipe a week or 52 in a row; either way is fine with me. I often make "new" things but usually they are just tossing a few things in a pot and calling it good. We shall see how it goes, as I am not really a recipe follower except in baking, but I would like to try! The last is to try 6 new things this year. Last year, one of the things was snowshoeing. I also tried Russian food for the first time. You are never too old to learn a new trick!

8. Spend less than I spent last year: You may think this is easy, because hello, I bought a house. However, I am not including my down payment in my "expenses" for 2015. Every year I break down my spending to see where I spent the most (will be posted soon!) and this year I was a little embarrassed by my spending. I am still quite frugal and a lot of it did go into the house (my "home" category was over 50% of my expenditures), but I need to cut back a bit and put more money into savings! 

This is all the goals I am going to post here, but I also have a couple of personal financial and life goals that are going on a separate list as well. I have found that it's best for me to have about 6 - 10 goals, otherwise they get overwhelming and I cannot complete them and then I get frustrated. So, along with the 8 here, I have two others that I would like to accomplish this year. 

What are your goals for 2016? 

December was packed full of fun and family and food! I am sad to see it go, while at the same time am looking forward to starting a new year full of fresh new things! I am going to keep this one short, as I mostly already talked about a lot of these same things in my Best Of posts.

Running: I picked things up at the end of the month and managed to run 142 miles in December. In addition, I had 4 strength training sessions, 15 miles of biking and 6 miles of hiking. All in all, I would call it a success, as my total "activities" equaled 40. My goal for the month was 30, but the fact that I ride to AND from work, equaling 2 activities per day, really upped the numbers more than I thought it would.

Reading: In December I read 5 books; my favorites were:

The Beekeeper's Apprentice: A fun play on Sherlock Holmes with a new assistant, teenager Mary Russel. Its fun to see them solve mysteries and to see the inner workings of Holmes' mind through Mary's eyes.

The Architect's Apprentice: Set in late 1500s in Istanbul, this is an interesting glance at life in those times. We get to meet a white elephant, the sultan, his architect and the 4 apprentices and to learn their stories.

 Inside the O'Briens: Another good book by Lisa Genova (Still Alice) which goes into the heartache that comes to families along with Huntington Disease. Like Still Alice, I couldn't put it down.

Travel: December was mostly filled with holiday travel, and I got to see many old friends and family and to meet many new family members as well!

What was December like for you? What are you reading right now? 

Ten years ago, in 2006 (*whoa! ten years!), I said to myself, "self, you need to get your butt in gear" and I signed up for the Bridge to Bridge Race in San Francisco. It was a 7k and I finished in 43 minutes, which is just under a 10 minute mile. Before signing up for this race, I was a lackadaisical runner. I would run three or four miles once or twice a week if I was having a good week. I think my longest run at the time was about 6 miles. But I got it in my head that I was going to run the Mardi Gras half marathon in New Orleans, which is in February, and this was step number one.

Fast forward to almost ten years later and my "self" of those days would never fathom where my running journey would take me. This year, I ran about 1,800 miles, which is not the most number of miles that I have ever run in one year. I also had some struggles with motivation and I had my first DNF which probably was part of the problem. I had a couple of injuries. I would not say it was my most productive running year. However, I feel that this year was more about quality over quantity. So, without further ado, the best of 2015 running.

1. Going to Yosemite: In May I went with my family to Yosemite Valley and in August, I went with some friends to the Tioga Pass area. Both times I had a great time running around, seeing things from a perspective that not a lot of people get to see Yosemite from, and enjoying the fresh air and the outdoors. I love the Sierra Nevada mountains and hope to plan many more trips into their midst in the coming years!

Cathedral Lakes (photo credit: John)

Half Dome (photo credit: Dad)

2. Winning top female in my age group for the Pacific branch of the USATF: This was unexpected actually, as I don't really keep track of the standings, plus they are a bit confusing to interpret at times. However, right before the last race of the season, my friend told me that I was currently second and that all I had to do was beat the first place girl at this race. I spent the whole race checking to see where she was and to make sure that she did not get in front of me. In the end, it was just enough to secure first place in my age!

John Muir Trail (photo credit: John)

3. New friends and good friends: I say this every year, but there is just something about endless hours of running with someone that really cements a friendship. You see the good, the bad and the ugly and usually you still stick around. I still run a lot by myself, but have been lucky to meet a lot of new friends as well as firm up relationships with a lot of existing friends. I love it when time spent together with friends can be outdoors instead of at a bar or something!

Pacing at San Diego 100M (photo credit: Chris J.)

4. Pacing: This goes hand in hand with number three, but there is something so satisfying with pacing someone! They are doing their best and they have a goal and they are tired and it's the middle of the night and it's cold... I never have anything to do with their success, but it sure is a great feeling to be part of it! This year, I paced a friend who ended up getting 10th overall, another who got 2nd overall, and one unofficial pace with a friend who finished UTMB. I also helped crew for a couple of friends and it is also very inspiring. I am so proud of all of them and so honored that they chose me to be there with them for their big day.

Multnomah Falls, OR

5. Road Trips! This was a favorite last year as well. So much so, that we added flights to our "road" trips! I spent many hours in the car this year, on the way to Auburn, Squaw, South Lake Tahoe, San Jose, Marin county, Sonoma county, Yosemite and more! In addition, I flew with friends to Portland OR for the Gorge Waterfall 100k, and I went to San Diego to pace a friend at the SD100. All were fun times and it's good to get out and see more of my state as well as to explore other states in the name of running (**and beer).

Taylorsville, CA (photo credit: Mom)

6. Dad's first half marathon: This goes hand in hand with number 4, but I thought it deserved a spot of it's own. My dad ran his first half marathon this year and I could not be more proud! He did excellent, scoring first in his age group and 7th overall! I "paced" him, if you could call it that, because I could barely keep up with him! He ran at just over an 8 minute mile pace!

So there you have it. This year of running has been more of an emotional one, in both good ways and bad. I wasn't the fastest; I did not run the most miles, but I had a lot of fun. I also know that the good definitely outweighs any bad, no matter what! Here's to a great 2016 full of running and friends and road trips!

What were your favorite active moments of 2015? What's on your fitness agenda for 2016? 

I just realized that I never did a goals post for 2015. However, that does not mean I did not have them. So, retroactively, I am going to do a quick rundown of how I did on my 2015 goals.

Read 52 books: Completed. Actually I read 77 books. I am not really sure how, except for the fact that I did not run as much as I have in past years. I also traveled a bit, which usually equates to more reading. 

Run a hundred mile race: Did Not Complete. I signed up for one; I trained for one; I was at the starting line that day. However, due to an untimely injury, I did not finish. This was very hard for me; not only was I disappointed in myself, but I had a lot of people who were there for me, who traveled a far distance, who supported me, and I feel like I let them down as well. However, it's something I know that I cannot change, so I am moving on! 

Increase my value add at work: Completed. I have learned so much this year at work and it's been not only a fun journey but an interesting one. Each day I find out something that I didn't know the day before. I love that and it's what keeps me coming to work each day with a smile on my face, looking forward to each day. In addition, this new knowledge has made me a good resource for others on the team, and that is a feeling you can't replicate.  Everyone has their strengths and I am so glad that this job has allowed me to show and to hone some of mine. 

Buy a house: Completed. Early in the year, I began my search for a home. As simple as this seems, this was not an easy goal to achieve! The prices in the Bay Area are ridiculous; people were bidding sometimes 30 - 40% over the asking price. I spent A LOT of time on Redfin, riding my bike to open houses, talking to my realtor and putting in bids that never got accepted. Luckily in May, my offer was accepted and now I am the proud owner of my own little piece of the American Dream. 

Ride my bike to work at least one day a week: Completed (I started this goal after I moved (May), and my total rides were 101, with a total mileage of about 200 miles). This one is a bit hard because unfortunately I cannot ride all the way to work because there is a huge body of water in the way. However, I have been riding approximately 3 - 4 times a week to the train station, where I catch the morning train. It has been great to be out in the neighborhood and get a bit of fresh air and exercise, plus its way faster than taking the bus! Also, as an added bonus, I ran a trail race after practically no running training, but I think due to the biking, I ran faster than I thought I would! 

Yearly Purge: Partially Completed. This one is a hard one to quantify. I purged in January, then I bought a house, then I went and got all my stuff out of storage that had been sitting there for 10 years. My goal was to NOT accumulate a bunch of crap, which I did a pretty good job of (aka, did not BUY a bunch of crap). However, I also wanted to get rid of a bunch of stuff, which I did. HOWEVER, I still have a long way to go. I call this one half done. 

Several Running Goals: Run more miles than last year. Did Not Complete.  Get a 100k PR. Completed. Get a 50M PR. Not Completed/Completed (I usually go by race, not by distance and I beat my time on one 50M and did not beat it on another...)

All in all I am very happy with the way my goals went even though I did not complete them all. I think the fear of not completing goals is often what holds people back from trying to push themselves, and I am a firm believer that it's better to try to push and to fail than to not try at all! 

What were you goals for last year? Did you accomplish what you set out to do?