Weekend Recap + 2015 Goals: Where I'm At

Good Monday to you all! This weekend was wonderful for me but not too exciting to share. It pretty much consisted of a lot of planning, cleaning, binge-watching, working out, and eating. 

Friday night we had dinner with friends and then went to Target to look at placemats for the kitchen table. I'm wanting to do four different but coordinating patterns like I did for Christmas, so trying to decide which four patterns will work best together. Looking at ones like these, in blues and greys: 

I didn't get them yet, but hopefully soon. We also may have gotten some ice cream to eat while we binge-watched X-Files, because Friday night and we are party animals. 

Saturday morning we slept in, ran some errands and then had lunch at Al's Pizza. We spent the afternoon and evening relaxing and I did some planning for our trip in April to this gorgeous place: 

And worked on our budget. I also did double workouts on Saturday because I had missed Thursday night's workout, and this face is all I have to say about that: 

I can't remember a time when my muscles were more fatigued. Like, my muscles were shaking and by the end of the second workout I could barely get through the moves and I was pretty much yelling at the screen like "Burpees with a shuffle in between?? Are you NUTS??" 

Sunday morning Adam went out to the RC field and I cleaned the whole house which was glorious and then Adam came home and we found this on Hulu Plus: 

And binge-watched some more. Dinner was Cruiser's, where I was good and ate chicken instead of the cheeseburger and fries I wanted to eat, so that's something. 

I also did a little planning for my gallery wall. I'm trying to figure out how much I can use of what I already have and what I'm going to have to buy to complete it. 

And that was my weekend! Told you it was not too thrilling. But it totally accomplished the goal of relaxing, so works for me! 

And now for a review of how I did in January on my 2015 goals: 

1. Continue cultivating a healthy lifestyle of nutritious food, regular exercise, and good rest- I'm giving myself a solid C+ on this one this month. Once again I started out the month strong but struggled a little a couple weeks in. I did lose 3 pounds in the first week of the month (I know some of that was water weight though) but I hit a plateau after that. But then I just sat down and kind of reevaluated my plan and what I was doing and reworked a few things, and this last week or so I have felt a lot more confident in what I'm doing going forward and been a lot more consistent. 

2. Connect more with my family and friends OUTSIDE of social media- I did pretty well with this! Adam and I had our monthly day together on Valentine's Day, and we were able to get together with friends for dinner a few times. 

3. Send more snail mail- I sent my aunt a "Just thinking of you" card and she loved it! I also participated in the Valentine's Goodies Swap which was SO much fun! I want to work on sending more mail though, at least two or three things a month going forward. 

4. Grow my blog- My new design was launched this month, thanks to the lovely Sarah of Social and Chic! I also started utilizing Pinterest and pinning some of my posts that I felt were "pinnable," connecting with more bloggers, and looking more into advertising through sponsorship of other blogs. I have decided one of my goals is to have at least one post a week that I feel is "pinnable," something that is useful to others, like a recipe or sharing good products. 

5. Read at least 50 new (or new to me) books this year- I didn't read as many books this month as I did last month, but I did alright. I actually need to go back and count because I haven't been keeping track, but I think I only read about 3 books this month, much less than last month. Definitely going to try to pick up the pace in March. 

That's it for me! How was your weekend? 

Weekend Recap + 2015 Goals: Where I'm At

Well what a wonderfully relaxing weekend I had! The weather here was perfect, a little taste of Spring to come, and I am SO over winter and SO ready for Spring and Summer! (Yes, I realize how ridiculous it is that I'm already tired of winter considering what our "winter" consists of in Florida)

Friday I wore my new cardigan to work, so of course I had to take a selfie:

IDK what that weird blueish area is on my cardigan in the picture, it wasn't really there! 

Friday night we went to dinner with friends at Carrabba's and then had a wild and crazy night at home watching shows on Amazon Prime.

It was super dark in there. And Adam likes to make crazy faces at me when I try to take pics of him. 

Saturday I spent most of the day at home cleaning and getting the house reset for the week. We had dinner with my Aunt and Uncle and I got to hear about plans for my cousin's wedding! So excited for him! My Aunt and I made plans to get together in the next few weeks so I can help with the planning for the rehearsal dinner. I love weddings! ::insert heart-eyed emojis::

Sunday I slept in and and watched my weekend show, Lark Rise to Candleford. I watch this one usually on Sunday mornings when Adam's out at the RC field. It's not really his kind of show.

Then I got an itch to craft and made a new wreath for the front door: 

After lunch I headed out to the grocery store to grab stuff for dinner (not smart on the day of the Super Bowl, it was crazy!) and had to stop by DD for my new fav, White Chocolate Raspberry Iced Coffee. 

I made some "Crack" Pretzels, per Adam's request: 

And Adam grilled burgers for dinner. 

Adam's double cheeseburger :: My cheeseburger :: They ain't pretty, but they were delicious! 

Then it was time for the game! I was disappointed that Seattle lost, and with that heartbreaking interception in the end zone, ouch! But it was a pretty good game. 

And now for a review of how I did in January on my 2015 goals:

1. Continue cultivating a healthy lifestyle of nutritious food, regular exercise, and good rest- Yeah, I did great with this for about half the month, and then I seriously lost my drive. Starting fresh today! I think it will help me to pick a more specific goal date instead of just in the next few months. So I would like to lose 10 pounds by April 1st. (April Fool's Day, HA!) That allows for a fairly slow pace of about 1 pound a week (I'm nothing if not realistic). 

2. Connect more with my family and friends OUTSIDE of social media- I feel like I did pretty well with this one! Adam and I had out first "day trip" of the year last weekend, we had dinner with friends on Friday and my Aunt and Uncle on Saturday, and I actually took a break from Facebook this month which definitely helped me focus on other things. 

3. Send more snail mail- I just barely got this one done, but I did it! I sent my first snail mail card on Saturday! Last day of January but it counts! 

4. Grow my blog- I did pretty well with this- worked on posting more blog related stuff to social media, got things going toward my new blog design, and worked on making connections with new bloggers. 

5. Read at least 50 new (or new to me) books this year- I was a reading machine this month! Some of these were re-reads because I was getting back into a series that I had started and never finished a while ago, but I completed 7 books and am about halfway through an 8th. 

How are you doing on your 2015 goals? Did you watch the Super Bowl? 

Writing down the Vision

This post is part of The Peony Project's monthly link-up

I don't know what it is exactly, but I am just really excited for this year. I have no idea what it holds (I'm not Miss Cleo or anything. Am I dating myself there? Please tell me you know who Miss Cleo is). And of course I have concerns and uncertainties because hello, it's me. But still there is this excitement for what lies ahead. 

I know resolutions are cliche and kind of a joke, because let's face it, many of them are unrealistic and too broad. Goals are typically more specific and attainable, with steps to get you there. That's kind of where I'm at with my vision for this year. I'm not trying to change everything about myself in one fell swoop (And why would I? I'm pretty cool. And humble too). I'm working towards specific things in my life that I want to do better at, while always keeping in mind that I'm not striving for "perfect" or to have "arrived" because that's not the end game here. 

So I have some goals for this year. Nothing mind-blowing. Pretty simple, and probably kind of ordinary, but they're important to me. They've all just been in my head so far, but I think there's something really important about actually writing down your vision and goals, it crystallizes them in your mind and makes them more approachable, if you will. Plus in writing them here I'm telling all of you, so yay for accountability! Yet another bonus of blogging. So here they are: 

One

 Continue cultivating a healthy lifestyle of nutritious food, regular exercise, and good rest. This is a journey I started last year, and I have been amazed at how much better I feel. I still struggle with consistency in this area sometimes, but I've found a program and way of life that works for me, and is easy to jump back into when I fall off the wagon. Within this, I have about 10 more pounds that I would like to lose, and I would like to get stronger in my upper body (i.e. doing REAL pushups, better and longer planks, and lifting heavier weights) and my endurance. 

Two

Connect more with my family and friends OUTSIDE of social media. Facebook is great and all, but it can't take the place of a real conversation on the phone or face-to-face. Again something I started last year, but want to continue and do even more this year. 

For me and Adam this means continuing our monthly day trips, just the two of us, where we set aside a whole Saturday or Sunday each month to go somewhere and explore together, connect with each other, and have fun. With my friends and family this means being more intentional with scheduling coffee dates, dinner, shopping with my BFF, etc. Making time for what's important, PEOPLE. 

Three

Sort of along those same lines, send more snail mail. At least once a month, I want to send a card to someone. As I mentioned in the post about the Holiday Card Swap I did, I was inspired to send more cards and notes, not just on holidays or birthdays, but "just because". Just to let people know I'm thinking about them and I care. 

Four

Grow my blog. I'm still kind of a newbie so for me this may mean different things than it does for someone more seasoned. For me it means: 
- Getting a new design to make my blog more inviting and personalized (in the works!)
- Start sponsoring other blogs to gain exposure.
- Read more about blogging from those who have been at this longer and have wisdom to share. 
- Plan and schedule posts in advance so that I can be really confident in my content. 
- 3 posts a week, but don't feel pressured to post 4 or 5 unless I just want to. I don't want my content or quality to suffer because I am pushing for something that just isn't there.

Five

Read at least 50 new (or new to me) books this year. I love to read, it's my happy place, but lately I haven't been devoting as much time to it. I definitely want to make it more of a priority this year. 

I have lots of other little things I would like to work on or work towards, but these are the major ones. What are your goals this year?