April Goals // March Recap

April has always been my favorite month. It's finally warm enough to go outside in a tank top and shorts, all of the flowers are blooming, and it just so happens to be the month I celebrate my birthday (April 2nd, if you're curious). The month of March really went by quickly. I went on vacation with good friends, we worked a lot on our house, and I made a pretty big life decision, which I will talk about at a later date.

Here's what I hoped to accomplish in March:
1. Establish a cleaning schedule (for real). I'm just going to face it, me and schedules don't mix. I attempted to make a cleaning schedule and stick to it, but life usually got in the way. I am happy to report, however, that I did consistently do more chores during the week to free up our weekends, so I'll say this one is COMPLETE!
2. Paint the guest bedroom. We did not paint the blue room, but we DID rip out the carpet and paint the room that will become my husband's office. I'm going to go ahead and say COMPLETE on this one too, because really it was just my goal to do something with our spare rooms.
2. Schedule (some of my) social media posts. I started using Hootsuite last month and I really enjoy it. I won't say that I scheduled posts every day or even for every blog post, but I did use it fairly consistently to promote not only my blog, but some of my favorite bloggers/blog posts throughout the month. COMPLETE!
3. Have blogger collaborations. I totally dropped the ball on this one.
4. Save $2,000. COMPLETE!


April Goals:
Personal:

1. Establish a gym v. running routine. Right now I kind of just run when I feel like it, but with two races coming up, I need to focus on endurance.
2. Spend quality time with my husband, work on developing our love languages and improving our communication skills with each other.

Blogging/Social:

1. Increase my instagram following and engagement. Since April 2015, my instagram account has doubled in followers, and I've done that all on my own! I want to continue to focus on posting quality photos, using relative hashtags, and engaging other accounts. My goal is to grow my account by 100 followers.
2. Work on an editorial calendar that works for me. I attempted last month to make one, and it just didn't work out.
3. Create and host a link up in the beginning of May. I know this is April, but in order for it to happen in May, I need to do all the planning in April.

What are your goals this month? 

How I Exclusively Use a Credit Card (Without Going Into Debt!)

When I was a teenager and when I was in college, credit cards scared the heck out of me. I associated credit cards with debt, collection agencies, and spending money you didn't have. In my 18-21 year old hands, a credit card could have been very dangerous. I know many people who got themselves in over their heads with credit cards when they were younger. Some with a balance of $500-1200 they could never shake, but some getting up to ten thousand dollars in debt. 

I knew I didn't want to get myself into that kind of situation, so I never applied for a credit card. Even after I graduated college, got a job, and my own apartment I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of having a credit card. I had a student loan and also a small bank loan that I paid off when I was 19, and these two loans helped boost my credit score, along with paying my electric bill and my apartment rent. 

When my husband (then boyfriend) and I first applied for a mortgage we ran into a little bit of a road block...Derek didn't have any credit! Like me, he never had a credit card, and didn't have student loans, and on top of that he lived with his parents or in a home owned by his parents throughout college. He was advised that the quickest way to build credit was to get a credit card. I told him to go for it, but I didn't want any part of it. For six months he put all of his gas on the credit card, paid the balance in full every month, and was able to build up a good credit score. 

Fast forward several years, and now I exclusively use my credit card, and I never touch my debit card (unless for some reason I'm needing cash or using a cash back option). So what made me change my mind? 

In short, the answer is: FREE MONEY! Reward points are so awesome you guys, I mean, you are literally getting money for free. 

Anyway, we started with an American Express card for Costco, because at the time, Costco had an exclusive contract with AmEx, and it was the only credit card accepted. There was no annual fee, and we got an immediate $100 bonus if we spent X amount in the first month. We used it every time we went to Costco, for all our gas purchases, and for some restaurant purchases. I was still using my debit card more frequently than using the credit card, so I never really knew how much money we had, and it was frustrating! So we quit using the CC except when we went to Costco. 

Six months later we went to Canada, paid for our tickets out of pocket, along with our hotel in Calgary and our rental car. After talking at length when we returned from our trip, we decided to give another go with using a credit card to build up reward points. We did a lot of heavy research to figure out which credit card would work best for us. We chose the Capitol One Venture, which is a Visa. It has 2% cash back on everything, a low annual fee, and a $400 sign up bonus if we spent $3,000 in the first month - this worked for us because that's the month we went to Vegas and we put our airline tickets, hotel, and all other expenses on the card to help us get to that amount. 

After we both got our cards we started using them exclusively, instead of only with certain purchases. We don't use any money from our bank account, and we don't spend more on our credit card than we get paid every month. It's really as simple as that. When you treat your credit card just as if it were a debit card (spending only what you have available) it can really work out in your favor. 

Since September of last year, we've earned over $900 in rebates. That's about $150 per month that we get back, just by spending money on things we were planning on purchasing anyway. We haven't used it all yet, but we plan on using it toward travel in the upcoming year. 

How Do You Define Success?

suc·cess (səkˈses) 1. noun the accomplishment of an aim or purpose

I was recently asked: How would you define a successful day at work? My immediate thought was: when someone doesn't die (I'm a nurse, in case you were wondering). But my verbal answer was something along the lines of: I have two different types of successful days. The first type of day is when everything goes smoothly. When my paperwork basically completes itself, all of the patients are pleasant, nurses are able to do work without much assistance, and I don't leave with (someone else's) poop on my pants (or my own, I guess). 

The second type of successful day are the ones that don't really feel like success, but they are in their own way. They're the days when everything seems to be going wrong: I don't have time for paperwork and weekly reports because I'm training a new nurse and three patients have had a bowel movement and one is in respiratory distress. The doctor needs me to round with him and there's a code on second floor. These days leave me feeling frazzled, but also with a sense of accomplishment, because maybe in the moment I didn't feel great, but at the end of the day I was still able to help, teach, and comfort other people.

Many people define success differently. You may define success as having a house, a car, and a stable job - while others may define success as having the vocational freedom to travel, work per diem, freelance, and ride a bike. When it comes to finances, success for me means being able to put money in my savings account every month while still being able to enjoy an occasional dinner or evening out with my husband. 

When it comes to my blog, I define success as having genuine interaction and conversation with readers. Someone asked on a blogging support group, how do you define success in the blogging world? Yes I enjoy it when a post gets many page views (but to be honest I only check my "stats" about once a week) and it definitely makes me smile when I get a lot of likes on my instagram posts. But I think real success, for me, is the amount of influence my post has. If there's genuine conversation and interest in what I have to say. 

Success also means reaching my personal goals. A successful week for me looks like: getting to work on time every day AND eating a nutritious breakfast, having a blog post pre-scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and going to the gym at least four times per week before work. It means having stimulating conversations with my husband rather than getting lost in our respective screens for hours at a time. It means cooking balanced meals in the evenings rather than ordering pizza. It means that on Friday nights, I go to bed thinking, "wow, what a great week". 

I think it's so awesome that success can be defined in so many ways. It's awesome that one person's success doesn't invalidate another person's, even if their opinions of what "success" means are totally opposite. 

How do you define success with your blog? Your daily life?

March Goals + February Review

Last month I set four goals for myself. Pretty broad, simple goals. I did this because I was starting fresh - I hadn't been keeping track of my monthly goals since August of last year. I didn't want to start out with too much too fast. I didn't want to set myself up for failure. 

In February, my goals were to: 

1. Establish a cleaning schedule. My goal was to do one "big" chore each weeknight (vacuum, sweep/mop, clean bathroom, etc) so I could have free time on the weekends. I'll say I'm getting better but there's still a lot of room for improvement. 

2. Blog regularly. I think I nailed this one (if I do say so myself). There was only one week where I didn't schedule three blog posts so I will count that as a win in my book. COMPLETE!

3. Try two new recipes. I actually tried four - and they were all pretty big hits. COMPLETE!

4. Visit churches. While we weren't able to go every weekend, we were able to visit new churches in our area. It's still too soon to know if we've found "the one" yet, but I'm enjoying the process. COMPLETE!

This month, my goals are to: 

1. Establish a cleaning schedule (for real). 

2. Paint the guest bedroom. Right now it's an awful bright teal/turquoise color (which sounds lovely) but it is just a little too bright for our taste. We're more of a neutral-loving family so more grey-beige it will be! 

3. Schedule (some of) my social media posts. I just signed up for Hootsuite (late to the game, party of one) and am really liking how user-friendly it can be. I try to schedule five twitter posts per day, and then organically post as well. This is great for a busy day at work when I literally don't pick up my phone until I leave. My next goal is to incorporate my blog facebook page posts as well. 

4. Have some blogger collaborations! I have a few ideas floating around in my head and a few bloggers in mind - I'm just a little nervous to take the leap. (Ps if you're interested in working together, please email me!) 

5. Save $2,000. As a family, we were doing great in the money-saving game. That is, until we bought a house. Now we're so caught up in renovating, remodeling, and decorating that we haven't actually contributed to our savings account since the end of December. We want to go on some fun vacations this year and need some dolla' billz saved up for them. 

What are your goals this month?

Linking up here and here!

Night Owl to Lark: How I Became a Morning Person

In college, I stayed up until all hours of the night/early morning. I'd put in about 3-4 hours of sleep, then get up and do it all over again the next day. Nursing school was a prime example - early mornings, long hours, and late nights spent studying or writing papers. I even continued these habits into my adult life - staying up until midnight or 1 a.m. just doing nothing important - reading a book or scrolling the internet.

Now, I (usually) wake up at 5 a.m. and get shit done. Here's what I do daily to make life as a morning person a little easier.

START THE NIGHT BEFORE

If I take 10-15 minutes each night to prepare for the morning ahead, it seems to shorten the time it takes for me to get ready by at least 30 minutes - crazy how that works, right? I usually set out my workout clothes and shoes, choose what I'm going to have for lunch the next day, and set up my coffee maker. I don't usually lay out my work clothes because I wear scrubs daily and that takes little to no brain power.

WAKE UP 30 MINUTES EARLIER THAN "NEEDED"

My husband wakes up at 5, and while I don't "have to" be up until sometime between 5:30 and 6 a.m. I usually just go ahead and get up when he does. And by "get up" I mean lay in the bed and scroll through my phone for about ten minutes then get up and get dressed for the gym. This helps with the problem I have with over-snoozing my alarm clock. Plus my husband is noisy when he's getting ready so I may as well get up rather than attempt restless sleep.

GET MOVING

I like to go to the gym every morning because exercise increases endorphins and gives me more energy throughout the day. I'm actually more tired if I skip the gym than if I wake up earlier to go.

EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST

You may  know that breakfast food is my favorite kind of food so I really enjoy getting to sit down to eat some oatmeal or whole wheat toast with (yummy) homemade jam. Studies show that people who eat a healthy breakfast are less hungry throughout the day, have better energy levels, and are healthier in general.

HAVE A BEDTIME

We have a pretty strict weekend bedtime of 9-9:30 pm on weeknights. Some may say that's really early but that's actually just when we leave the living room and start getting ready for bed. I usually stay awake until 10 or 10:30 chatting with my husband or reading a book. Whatever time you choose to set as your "bedtime" sticking to it will help you feel refreshed when you wake up and ready to take on the day.

Are you more productive in the mornings or late at night? What does your morning routine consist of?

2016 Word of the Year

In 2015 I chose a word that I would focus on for the year. The word was "growth" and I layed out the ways in which I wanted to grow (you can read the full post here, and update posts here and here). Looking back, I did a LOT of growing in 2015. I grew emotionally and spiritually. I grew in my role as a wife as me and my husband fumbled through the first year of marriage - learning about each others likes/dislikes, quirks, and feelings. I grew as a nurse and as a friend. 2015 was a good year for growth.

This year the word I've chosen is "breathe". I guess I should say its my mantra rather than my "word". I don't have specific goals this time around, I just want to remind myself to breathe.

My mom's cancer diagnosis in May literally knocked the breath out of me. It shook me in ways I still cannot put into words. When someone you love receives such detrimental news, it can be so hard to remember to live life normally - to go about the mundane day to day activities with a smile on your face - because you have this cloud hanging over you.

That's when I have to remind myself to breathe. In through the nose, slowly filling up my lungs - out through the mouth, pursed lips like I'm letting off steam. Three times slowly.

Marriage is not what I expected. I'm not saying that negatively - because marriage is awesome. I have a man in my life who is just the right amount of leader, supporter, and encourager - it's just that sometimes (in my stubborn, self-righteousness) I can't always see how great he is.

Sometimes I see his leadership as bossiness (related: I plan on writing one day about my views/struggles/personal relationship with submission as discussed in the Bible), sometimes I see his encouragement as being pushy.Sometimes I have a bad day at work and I take it out on him when I get home - that's not fair, but it happens anyway. Sometimes it's the other way around. In the morning we still love each other, but at night it's laying facing away from each other and muttered "I love yous" and "goodnights."

My husband has strong opinions on many things - so do I. Many times we are on the same side, but there are occasions where we butt heads. Seemingly, there is no eye-to-eye, no compromise, no agreements.

That's when I have to remind myself to breathe. In through the nose, slowly filling up my lungs - out through the mouth, pursed lips like I'm letting off steam. Three times slowly.

Life as a nurse is funny. Some days are awesome: when the patients are kind and the day goes smoothly and I go home in the evenings with a virtual pat on the back and a smile on my face thinking, "This is what I'm supposed to be doing, this is where I belong."

Then there are the other days. The days when I blow the vein, the days when I'm late on every med pass because I spent 30 minutes in one room trying to console the new stroke patient who just can't stop crying. The days my boss is breathing down my neck because I didn't turn in last months reports on time and this months are due yesterday. The days when I go home with tears in my eyes, questioning, "Is this where I am supposed to be? Why do I put myself through this [job] day in and day out?"

That's when I have to remind myself to breathe. In through the nose, slowly filling up my lungs - out through the mouth, pursed lips like I'm letting off steam. Three times slowly.

My plan for 2016 is this: Breathe. Practice grace. Drink a lot of coffee. Breathe. Talk to Jesus. Trust in my marriage. Breathe.  

Do you have a word/mantra for the year?  

   

February Goals

I kind of (totally) dropped the ball in January when it came to making goals. Basically my only goal was to sleep when I could because we were going balls to the wall working on our house, in addition to myself working a lot of (unexpected) overtime.
But we pushed through and survived January without any injuries and now February has started and I feel like I can take a deep breath in and say "oh yeah, we've started a new year." And with a new  year means new goals which means new things to try and all kinds of other fun stuff.

This month I want to:
Establish a cleaning schedule Not that I didn't keep a clean house before (okay I'll admit there was the occasional cat-hair-tumbleweed but I'm blaming hardwood flooring) but the week usually consisted of me doing some light cleaning (read: washing dishes and picking up clutter) and leaving all the "real" cleaning to be done on weekends. During the winter, this isn't too much of a bad thing because I don't really like leaving my house when it's cold but with warmer weather right around the corner, I want to get in the habit of knocking out some heaving cleaning during the weeks so I can spend my weekends having fun.
Blog regularly I still haven't gotten into a groove with this whole "blogging regularly" thing and I want to fix it. I have all the ideas, it's the time management part that seems to be escaping me. I also haven't figured out what "regularly" means to me yet - I think I want to try for three times a week but that Monday morning post always seems to elude me. Anyone have any tips or tricks for getting shit done when it comes to planning blog posts?
Try two new recipes Originally I was going to say five new recipes, but that's more than one per week and new recipes require a lot of thought and planning and I'm just going to be very honest and say that when I come home from work, thinking and planning are not on the top of my priority list. So this month, I will aim to try two new recipes. I want to try one new dinner recipe and one new dessert recipe.
Visit Churches I've discussed many times before how real the struggle is when it comes to finding a church home - and now I feel like I've got to start the process all over again with our recent move. Thankfully we've been invited to attend church with several of our new neighbors, and even if it doesn't feel like a good fit for us, it will be an opportunity to meet new people in our community.
What are your goals this month?

My 1001 Days are Over

I can't believe it, but it has snuck up on me: my 1001 days ended on January 19, 2016. While I didn't accomplish everything on my list, I'm still pretty proud of the things I DID finish. A year ago, I wrote about the things I accomplished in 2014, and here's what I've been able to cross off since then:

Run an obstacle race

My husband and I participated in an obstacle/mud race held in Auburn, AL. I wrote about my experience and what I learned from the race here.

A photo posted by Kalyn (@kalynlouise23) on Mar 21, 2015 at 9:48am PDT

Grow my own vegetables

Last year, we planted jalepenos, banana peppers, and habanero peppers and they grew successfully. This year we want to plant potatoes, romaine lettuce, squash, and of course more peppers.

Buy a house

We closed on our first house together on December 4th, 2015. We refinished our kitchen cabinets right away and have several more renovations to work on throughout the year.

Give a handmade gift

I've given several hand made gifts over the past year, but my favorite was the ring dish I created using this tutorial. I made several for myself, of course.

Make my own Christmas cards

A photo posted by Kalyn (@kalynlouise23) on Dec 10, 2015 at 2:59pm PST

I did a little "humblebrag" post on being pleasantly surprised with the results of taking our own photos a few months ago. I turned a few of them into our Christmas cards.

Host a dinner party

We love having people over for dinner! I've said before that my love language is cooking/serving food - I can't get enough of it! My goal for 2016 is to have monthly dinner parties at our new house.

Make Ice cream from scratch

We borrowed an ice cream maker from my inlaws and made ice cream a couple times last year. I'm a HUGE ice-cream fan, so I definitely have plans of making it again this year!

Watch a play at a local theater

There is a theater just down the road from our new house, and over the summer (before we moved) I went several times with a girlfriend to watch some plays. My favorite was a western-themed dinner show!

Watch a Cirque du Soleil show

We watched Zumanity when we went to Las Vegas in September.

Decorate for a holiday

I have been trying to decorate for ALL the holidays. Last year wasn't a big year for décor because I knew we'd be moving but this year it's on like Donkey Kong.

Set a savings goal

In 2014 we set a savings goal to put a down payment on a house - we were able to reach it and actually have some money left over after we bought our house! This year our savings will go toward more travel - our plan is to go back to Canada this summer and next year we will go to Europe.

Buy a piece of original art

For our first anniversary in October, I had our vows written by Brooks in her beautiful calligraphy/handwriting. Best purchase ever! I also recently purchased an original watercolor painting of my wedding bouquet, but it isn't completed yet. I seriously can't wait to get it.

Go kayaking

We went over the summer with a group of friends and then again when we were in Canada. I love any kind of water activities so this will definitely be happening again this summer.

Carve pumpkins for Halloween

This was so much fun - I felt just like a kid again.

Visit 10 new places.

I didn't cover new places last year, so here's everywhere I've been over the past two years:

-New Orleans, LA

-Charlotte, NC

-Greenville, SC

-Cinnamon Beach, FL

-Orlando, FL

-Las Vegas, NV

-Jekyll Island, GA

-Banff, AB, Canada

-Shuswap Lake, BC, Canada

-Oak Mountain in Birmingham, AL

-Sugar Mountain, NC

I didn't think I'd reach my goal, but we thankfully were able to have a lot of opportunities to travel recently and hopefully we will make it to ten new places in 2016!

The past 1001 days have included a whirlwind of life changes for me - including moving, marriage, pets, and new jobs. When I created this list of goals, a thousand days seemed like it would take forever, but time has really flown. If or when I do decide to make a new list of goals (maybe thirty before thirty?) I think I will try to set some more realistic ones rather than silly things like graffiti a bathroom stall.

Looking back, the past three years have been more than wonderful, and of course I can't wait to see what the next ones have in store!

Have you ever set a massive list of goals for yourself like 101 things in 1001 days? How successful were you in crossing them off?

Books from 2015 and Reading Goals for 2016

My goal in 2015 was to read 30 books, and I read 28. I'm not going to say I "failed" because 12 of the 28 books were 800+ pages (I read both the Outlander series and the Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones series, which were monstrous). I do wish I would have made it to 30, but I'm still happy with the amount that I crossed off my list!

Here are the books I read in 2015:

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
The Giver - Lois Lowry
The Girl You Left Behind - Jojo Moyes
The Last Original Wife - Dorothea Benton Frank
Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand
Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon
Voyager - Diana Gabaldon
Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
Drums of Autumn - Diana Gabaldon
Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
The Fiery Cross - Diana Gabaldon
Madame Picasso - Anne Girard
The Good Girl - Mary Kubica
A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Diana Gabaldon
An Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon
Written in My Own Heart's blood - Diana Gabaldon
Mad miss Mimic - Sarah Henstra
The Five Love Languages - Gary Chapman
Georgia Bottoms - Mark Childress
The Matchmaker - Elin Hilderbrand
The Last Letter From Your Lover - Jojo Moyes
A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
A Clash of Kings - George R. R. Martin
A Storm of Swords - George R. R. Martin
A Feast for Crows - George R. R. Martin

Started (but didn't finish in 2015)
A Dance with Dragons - George R. R. Martin
May we be Forgiven - A. M. Homes

My goals for 2016 are much the same as last year, to continue reading at a steady pace and to introduce new authors into my life. I'm keeping the goal of 30-40 books this year (I still think 50 is too stout to attempt) and I want to try to find one more series to get into.

Here are some books I'm interested in reading  in 2016:

The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
"A historical fiction based during the 17th century in Canada after the arrival of French Jesuit missionaries. The book is written from three perspectives: (1) Snow Falls, a young Iroquois girl, (2) Pere Christoph, the missionary kidnapped along sider her, and (3) Bird, the Huron warrior who is holding both of them captive."

Safekeeping by Jessamyn Hope
"This novel follows Adam, an addict from NYC, traveling to an Israeli kibbutz in 1994 to fulfill his grandfather's dying wish. But the woman he's set out to find, and the legend behind a stored famiy keepsake he carries, soon set him on a course far more complex than he anticipated."


After You by Jojo Moyes (sequel to Me Before You)
I was a big fan of Me Before You, but was never expecting a sequel. Me Before You ended the way a good book should - it left me wanting more, but it also had a sense of finality and closure. I'm still a huge fan of Moyes and am interested to see what some of the characters are up to now.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hopkin
"Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can."
That quote alone left me wanting to get my hands on this book ASAP! I'm a big fan of mysteries and this one seems like it will satiate my craving for a little while.

The Mountain Story by Lori Lansens
The jacket teaser alone ("Five days. Four lost hikers. Three survivors.") has me on the edge of my seat already.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of my nook (if you're a nook user, let me know so we can share some books!) and I love having an e-reader, but I'm not at all opposed to hard-copy books. I was actually given a huge box of John Grisham novels by a sweet patient's family member and plan on diving in to some of those as well.

If you have any recommendations on books to read this year, I'd love to hear them!

August Goals: I'm Really Bad at Bucket Lists

Remember that time I created a Summer Bucket List and I was so excited to do all the fun things this summer? Yeah, about that...
Things I sort-of Accomplished: Go to the beach: we haven't gone three times, and we actually haven't even stayed at the beach. Both have just been day trips, but it's been fun nonetheless. We're both in a wedding in September and the respective bachelor/bachelorette parties are at the beach so I can actually cross this goal all the way off!
Visit some place new: we went to Canada! Technically, it wasn't a new place for Derek, but it only had to be new for me. I talked about Lake Louise last week, and on Wednesday I'll be sharing some more about our trip.
Go camping: I'm going to count part of our stay in Canada as camping just because the bathroom wasn't located inside the cabin. Other than that, it really wasn't primitive at all.
Get back on track with my fitness goals: Last month was definitely better than June. I don't know what happened in June, but me and the gym just didn't get along. I'm back to going 4-5 times a week, and have even started trying Zumba once a week with a co-worker. It's so much fun! 
Things I haven't checked off and probably won't before the end of summer: Read the Harry Potter series. I decided to finish Outlander instead. I'm going strong, half way through the seventh book, An Echo in the Bone.
Practice Skiing: every time we've gone boating, it's just been more about cruising and having a good time. Who knows though, I may get a wild hair and give it another go before summer ends.
Make smores. I just don't see myself building a fire anytime soon.
Other Goals for the Month: Create a monthy budget, and by "budget" I mean that very loosely, because we like to be spontaneous. I guess I should say that I want to create a "savings goal" instead of a budget. We've replaced the money we took from our savings account when we bought my car in December, and we are ready to get back on the real-estate horse and looking at homes again.
Continue updating my prayer journal. I did a really good job of it in the spring, but started slacking off this summer. It's my goal to be intentional with scripture reading, prayer, and worship time. 
Re-finish my bar cart. I got my hands on an (old, rusted, paint peeling off) bar cart from some friends of my in-laws and I'm half way done updating it. It's going to be a great addition to our den, mainly because there isn't a lot of room in our cabinets for our alcohol. And also because this pretty painting needs a home. 
Pack and take my lunch to work every day except Fridays. I'm trying to make healthier choices when  it comes to my meals, and this is so much easier to do when I pack my own lunches. It's always so tempting to just go through a drive through and eat the spicy chicken sandwich when I don't have my meal right in front of me. I'm taking Fridays off because sometimes I meat Derek for lunch, and a girl can't live on salads and chicken breasts, ya know?
What are your goals for this month?

July Goals: Summer Bucket List Update

I'm going to be one of those super annoying people who are always wondering how it is already another month and say, HOW IN THE HECK IS IT ALREADY JULY?? Did June even happen? I think I must have slept through it. Back in May, I came up with a list of things I wanted to accomplish this summer and I thought I'd mark my progress and see what I've done and what I need to cram in to this last month of summer. 

Sidebar: do you consider July or August the last month of summer? I've always considered July the last month because, growing up, school started back in August and that always meant the end of summer to me.

My would-have-been 4th of July outfit if it weren't for the torrential downpours.

Things I've accomplished: Nothing - gasp! I have not completely checked off one single thing from my Summer Bucket List. The closest I've come is going to the beach, my goal was to go three times this summer and I've been twice.
Things to-do: -Visit someplace new. We are booked to leave for Canada later this month! -Make homemade ice cream. I really don't know why I put this on my list. It's so, so good but we don't even have an ice cream maker! But with Blue Bell shutting down, I am having some serious ice cream withdrawals. -Have a picture for every day. I'm trying really really hard on this one!! Some awesome bloggers have come up with some fun instagram challenges (here, here, here, and here) and it has really helped with this, but I just can't seem to get it done every single day. I will admit though that it's forcing me to think outside the box a little! -Make s'mores/go camping. I am going to count our stay in Canada as part of our camping experience since we'll be staying in prehistoric really old cabins. -Get better at skiing. Haven't had a chance fr this one yet, we've been so busy on weekends that we just haven't had much time for boating this summer. -Finish the scsbc15 book challenge. I've put a big dent in this by reading the first five books of the Outlander series, but I've still got a ways to go.

• 5 points - freebie/any book: The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon (992 pages) 
• 10 points - any book you've never heard of: undecided 
• 10 points - book on my TBR list: Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander #2) (752 pages) 
• 10 points - Goodreads "Best Book" in 2014: The Good Girl by Mary Kubica 
• 15 points - a new author: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (896 pages) 
• 15 points - an author you've read before: The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes 
• 15 points - "light" or "dark" in the title: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
• 20 points - city/state/country in the title: Paris Red by Maureen Gibbon 
• 20 points - an animal on the cover: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 
• 25 points - part of a four (or more) book series: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (870 pages) 
• 25 points - longer than 500 pages: Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (1070 pages) 
• 30 points - alliterative title: Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (240 pages) currently reading

As you can see, I've only crossed off four books since starting the challenge, but I'm giving myself a little leeway since they were monster books! 
Other goals: -Get on track with my gym habits and stop eating like a cow. I always said I wasn't going to be "one of those women" who gained weight after the wedding, and I am still of that mindset, but my body seems to be disagreeing with me. -Do some exploring in our hometowns. Montgomery was one of the top 10 most historical cities in the U.S. in 2014 and I want to see and do some new things. -Try more new things, like taking the photos above, and cooking salmon fillets for the first time (delicious), and hiking to the top of a mountain.
What are your goals for the rest of the summer?

Growth: Halfway through 2015

In January, I decided that my word/phrase/focus for the year of 2015 would be "growth." I wanted to grow in many ways: spiritually, financially, and physically. Some things cannot be tangibly measured, but I thought I'd do a little update of sorts. 

Financially Our goal this year is to buy a home. To buy a house you need money for a down payment, for closing costs, for repairs, for the inspection, and I could go on and on but basically you need money. We are fortunate enough to rent a home that is not costing us a fortune. We have almost replaced the cash we took from savings to buy my car in December, and for that I couldn't be happier. Our goal was to put away $3000 per month starting in January. We haven't met that goal every month but we've been close. We have a budget (I use that word loosely) that we aim for but we also like to be spontaneous and we don't restrict ourselves when fun opportunities arrive (heck, we bought another car for fun). I'd say we are on track with growing financially! 
Family I'd say that this is the easiest of the four ways I want to grow. Derek's family is wonderful and I love spending time with them. I can only hope he feels the same about my family. With my mom's diagnosis, I can say that I've even become closer to my own family, something I didn't think would ever be possible. Also, I'm not knocked up yet so we didn't grow in that way, but I'm totally okay with waiting! 
Spiritually How do you measure spirituality? We haven't found a church to attend regularly but I have become more comfortable with my faith. I pray often, and find myself comforted more and more by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. I have worked on sharing the Gospel and talking more openly about my faith with my family and friends - something that wasn't always easy for me. 
Physically This is the part where I try to casually change the subject away from reaching my goals to talking about how much ice cream I've eaten over the past six months. My gym time has drastically decreased since January. I joined a new gym that month and started a new workout routing and was absolutely loving it - I went to a fun class twice a week, I continued weight lifting 3-4 times a week and I would try to swim once or twice a week as well. I'm not sure what happened but at some point I began fizzling out. I find myself making excuses to miss the gym or just flat out not going for no reason at all! I'm unmotivated, not eating well, and it's showing. I seriously need a change! 
All things considered, I think I'm doing fairly well with growing this year, however I do see ways in which I can improve. I need to start focusing daily on growth, rather than it being a passing thought or something just on the back of my mind.
What were your goals for 2015? Have you stuck to them? 

Summer 2015 Bucket List

I love goals. I love setting them, I love crossing them off a list. I make a list every morning of things I want to do that day and crossing them off throughout the day. I love everything about it. From big, huge, life-changing goals, to the smallest thing on my to-do list.
This summer, there's a few things I want to accomplish:

Go to the beach at least three times. I've got plans to go this Saturday with a girlfriend of mine from high school. I literally cannot wait.

Get better at skiing. Though we don't have a ski boat we have a boat and we have skis and I was able to get up really well last summer (much improved from the summer before). I also want to try wakeboarding.

Make homemade ice cream. Derek's uncle has the best recipe, but my mom tells me the secret is just beating the egg whites. I used to love making homemade vanilla (or peach, with the peaches coming from trees in our yard) ice cream with my parents and I want it to be something Derek and I can continue doing throughout our marriage. 

Go camping. We went last year on Memorial Day weekend, and I hope we continue the tradition.

Have a picture for every day. I've already (kind of) gotten in the habit with #30photosinbetween and #20happydaysinmay so I hope to continue it throughout summer. Maybe I should make my own hashtag? Isn't that what all the cool kids are doing nowadays?

Make s'mores. Because duh.

Complete the #scsbc15. Last year I participated in the reading challenge, but unfortunately I didn't complete all the categories. I'm a little late to start this year (it officially began May 1) but I'm determined to finish! My preliminary list below:

• Freebie - any book! (5 points): Undecided
• Any book you've never heard of (10 points): Undecided
• A book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years. (10 points): Undecided
• A book that won a Goodreads “Best Book” award in 2014. (10 points): The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
• A book by an author who is completely new to you. (15 points): The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
• A book by an author you have read before. (15 points): The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes - I've read Me Before You (amazing) and The Girl You Left Behind (also good) by Moyes and I've debated on reading One plus One but have heard some bad reviews.
• A book with "light" or "dark" in the title. (15 points): Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
• Any book with the name of a city, state or country in the title. (20 points): Paris Red by Maureen Gibbon
• Read a book with an animal on the cover. (20 points): The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - This would be a re-read for me but it's been several, several years since I've read it and for some reason it's been on my mind lately.
• Read a book that is part of a series with at least four books. (25 points): Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (second book in "The Giver" series)
• Read a book that is longer than 500 pages long. (25 points): Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• +Read a book with an alliterative title. (30 points): Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

As you can see, it's a pretty extensive list but I'm still missing a few. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. And it's not too late to join in the fun!
Read the Harry Potter series from start to finish (again). Yes I've done this one a time or two (or eight) but it just never gets old. Maybe I'll try to fit a couple of these books in to the missing categories above. 
Visit someplace new. Derek and I already did this when we went to Jekyll Island but of course I'm always up for a new adventure. Derek is going to Nashville (to which I've never been) for a bachelor party later this summer and I'm pretty jealous about it!
What's on your bucket list this summer?

An update on Growth (and the patience it requires)

At the beginning of the year I chose a word (or mantra) that I would focus on and apply throughout different aspects of my life: growth. I can say that with all the growing I'm trying to do, I kind of forgot about one of the most important aspects of growth in a healthy way: patience. Just like with a garden, growth of the personal kind take time. It takes nurturing and plenty of water and good sunlight. You check the soil day in and day out, with nothing to show for your effort then one day you see it - the  little green bud that proves you can do it. In many areas, my bud is still underground, soaking in the sun and the water and getting itself ready for life in the harsh open air. But, sometimes I forget that. Sometimes, I see friends, family, even strangers, taking the steps I want to take. Their plants blooming and blossoming in ways my little bud can only dream of. I think - why can't that be me? Why can't I be the one buying the house? Adding to my family. But then I remember. It's not my timeline, it's His.

Throughout the last few months I've been focusing on ways that I have grown instead of ways that I haven't. Ways that I've improved my own life instead of how others have grown theirs. I have a wonderful husband who came with a great set of in laws. We have two precious kitties, who we love and spoil (probably a little more than we care to admit.)  I have to remind myself, constantly, to be patient. To remember that just because my blooms haven't blossomed yet, that they're getting ready to. They're still under the soil, soaking in all their nutrients and spreading their roots before they peep up to say hello. Did you choose a mantra for 2015? How are you using it in your day to day life?

What a Mud Race Taught Me about Myself

If you follow me on twitter or instagram, you may have seen that I participated in my very first mud race a few weekends ago in Auburn. I talked about the importance of trying new things to keep yourself on your toes, and this did exactly that.



Before the race - so clean!



 

 

Thanks to Autosport Bodyworks of Opelika for the finish line photos!

It was a 5k (3.2 mile) race held at The Great American Park in Auburn, Alabama with over 20 obstacles, including multiple mud pits, a water slide, hay bales, and 10 foot walls to climb (photos slideshow here). To say it was a test is an understatement. My awesome husband ran the race with me for moral (and physical) support and I was so glad he did! It definitely helped to have a partner for encouragement.

 

Running this kind of race will help you to learn a few things about yourself along the way:

 

+Just because you're a "runner" doesn't mean a mud race won't be difficult for you! (My time was almost doubled from what it takes me to run a "normal" 5k.)

 

+It's a great test for a relationship. Need to know if someone will really be there for you? Have them run a mud race with you!

 

+If you didn't know your calves were there before, you'll definitely be able to find and feel them then next day.

 

+Wear clothes you don't care about getting ruined. When they say "mud pits" they mean up-to-your-chest-sink-holes filled with watery mud that you may or may not need to be pulled out of.

 

+There are two types of people in a mud race: the tiptoe-around-the-edge type and the hurl-yourself-in-the-middle type.

 

+You can probably jump over two hay bales, but not three (okay, maybe that's just me) and you'll need some help.

 

+Climbing over a 10 foot wall is a lot less scary than than you think.

 

+There's no feeling like finally seeing the finish line... until you see the small bonfire you have to jump over to get there.

 

+But really, the feeling of accomplishment at the end is awesome!

 

+You'll start looking up upcoming mud races in the area as soon as you get home (and get showered) because you're already pumped about doing another.

 

Watching the races was almost as fun as participating!

 

So if you've got an upcoming race (check out this website for races in your area) and you're on the fence about whether or not you want to participate, I'm just going to go ahead and say DO IT! I have done tons of races (for competition and for fun) over the years and I can say this was one of the most fun. There were participants of all ages, sizes, and anything in between and each and every one had the biggest smile on their faces crossing the finish line.

Have you ever ran in a mud or obstacle race? Do any of these resonate with you too?

 

On trying new things

One thing that I believe is essential to growth - spiritual, mental, and physical - is trying new things. Not that you have to try something "new" every day or even every week, but every once in a while doing something that's a little out of your comfort zone. Heck, it could even be doing something you're used to doing, but doing it in a different way.

Some new things I've tried recently:
+Praying out loud and writing my prayers down. Not necessarily a "prayer journal" but I would write them down on any piece of paper I had handy.
+Going to a new gym and trying new workout routines. I used to do strictly weightlifting, but now I go to a fun interval training class twice a week and I swim twice a week, in addition to shorter weight sessions. 
+Making less blog-related commitments. Even though I finished school, my job still took up a lot of my time, and I wanted to use my evenings to relax with my husband instead of always being on the computer. Now I try to keep it to 1-2 nights a week with only 3 (ish) blog posts per week.
+Calling my girlfriends. This one is my favorite. Sure, I kept up with my girlfriends via texting, facebook, etc, but it wasn't the same as actual conversation. Wedding planning brought lots of phone calls and fun chats and I decided it was actually nice talking on the phone so now I try to make a point to make phone calls at least once a month to far away friends.
Some new things I plan on trying soon:
+Using a planner....HA just kidding. I've tried that one one too many times to be silly enough to think it would work.
+Figuring out some ways to eliminate frivolous spending. The first step I took was cancelling all subscription emails to all clothing stores, and it's seemed to help. What are your recommendations?
+Participating in my first obstacle race. I've signed up for the Mud Mania race in Auburn. As the site says, this ain't your mama's 5k: it's a bootcamp style 5k course with over 20 obstacles along the way. They've been hosting it in Auburn for the last three years, and the proceeds go to helping assist veterans in the area. I'm pretty nervous about it, but excited to cross something off my bucket list at the same time. Anyone that's done one before have any tips? Anyone want to join me??

What are some new things you've tried recently?

2015: A year of Growth

At the beginning of 2014, instead of writing a post about New Year's resolutions, I wrote some un-resolutions. The post itself was pretty successful, and (in my opinion) I was pretty successful with keeping my un-resolutions. I didn't put pressure on myself to accomplish things I couldn't and I didn't set many "specific" goals, but it was still a way to hold myself accountable for a few things - things that would improve my general happiness. 

This year, again instead of resolutions, I decided to do something a little different. I've seen many people (bloggers and non-bloggers) come up with a word, phrase, or mantra to focus on for the year of 2015. I thought it would be a good idea to have one for myself. The easy part was deciding to have one - the hard part was actually CHOOSING my phrase. 

After lots and lots (read:several days) of thought and deliberation I finally decided: 2015 would be a year of growth.

I'm also participating in Pen & Peplum's hand lettering challenge - there's a new prompt for every week. Check it out on her Instagram!

The year 2014 didn't have a word/phrase assigned to it, but if it would have, it would be "chaotic" because there was so much going on. Moving, engagement, marriage, moving again... it was exhausting. Even though it was exhausting, it was still exhilarating, still fun, and I didn't want my life to suddenly become un-fun and boring... maybe I just want the pace to slow down a little. I still want to keep moving, keep growing. 

In 2015, I want to grow financially. Derek and I already have a nice little nest egg (that decreased slightly when I bought my car) and we want to continue adding to it. We want to save enough to make a hefty down payment on our dream house. Sadly we didn't get our dream house last year, even though that was our original plan. Sure, there were houses to buy, but they weren't places we could exactly call "home". Now that we've got an excellent (temporary) solution, we're working on really growing our savings. 

In 2015, I want to grow my family. Whoa, whoa hold your horses. Before anyone jumps to anything - Derek and I aren't planning on kids being in the mix for a good little while. When I got married, I gained a whole bunch of awesome people that I now get to call "family" and my goal in 2015 is to get to know them all better. To laugh with them and share with them. To travel (YAY Maine and British Columbia) and visit and really become part of their family. 

In 2015, I want to grow spiritually. Growing up, I didn't have a strong relationship with God - in fact there were times when I even questioned His existence and the truth of His word. This year, I want to participate in a bible study - whether online, with a group of friends, or with my husband. I want to find a church to call home. This is difficult because Derek and I come from different spiritual backgrounds, and we have different ways of worshipping. I know there is a place for us though, and in 2015 I hope to find it. 

In 2015, I want to grow physically. I think I'm done growing "up" and I sure hope I'm done growing out, but I want to grow my strength. Since I started working out in 2012, I've made progress. I won't say tons of progress, but progress is still progress. (Say progress again). I've gone from not being able to do a single unassisted pull-up to being able to do SIX. In a row! I've gone from not being able to run a mile without thinking I was going to die to COMPLETING two triathlons (with more in my future). This year, I plan to focus on becoming stronger and faster, making (mostly) good choices when it comes to what I put in my body, and pushing myself to my absolute limit. 

What are your plans in 2015?