Weekly Goals #35

(source)

Happy Monday! Now that it's summer, Mondays are actually happy because they're my one day off! Seriously, I never understood how much I would love Mondays until I started working this job. Even though it's my day off, I still have some errands to run to pick up some stuff for the shop--it seems like there are always errands to run. I tend to put them off as long as possible because the nearest restaurant wholesaler is like an hour away and who has time for that? But then I ran out of napkins on Saturday so I kinda need to go...napkins are actually kind of important in ice cream shops, as it turns out.

Anyways, that's my day! This week should be more of the same old stuff. I'm working every night and beaching it every afternoon (I really do have a pretty sweet deal). One exciting thing: our town-wide barbecue and square dance is on Saturday! My town is super teeny but everyone gathers in the field in the park and we all have a big pork barbecue dinner together. It's really so much fun! I love living in a small town.

Last Week's Goals:

+ spend time being intentional with H when he comes to visit. I think we aced this! After he left, I realized a bunch of things I forgot to show him, but he still saw a lot of my life in those five all-too-short days. We had such a nice time and I miss having him here already! He would stay up for me to come home after work and we recapped our days before going to bed. Now it feels weird to come home to a house of sleeping people!

+ write all my thank you cards! Well I was totally up to date on this, but then I got two more gifts (not that I mind! ;). So I've still got a few to do, but I'm definitely considering this a success.

This Week's Goals:

+ Finish my tattoo calligraphy project. As I mentioned the other day, I was hired to calligraph a tattoo for someone and I'm struggling with it a little. As it happens, the one capital letter it includes is 'C' and my 'C' is so boring. I'm driving myself crazy trying to make it pretty. But I'm working on it.

+ Finish my print designs and order them! This is a big step for me since I only have a few designs done. I'm really sort of scared about this for some reason because it's the first real monetary investment I've put into this project! If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for preparing my prints for this fair, let me know!

+ Exercise. I've been SO bad about exercising since I don't belong to a gym here and I just get distracted whenever I try to work out. Or I get overwhelmed at the thought of an hour of exercise since I'm so out of shape. I've started doing the 7-minute workout to help combat this. This week, I aim to do 14 sets of the 7-minute workout--so only about 15 minutes a day.

That's all for today! I think I may go back to doing these every week since I'm posting more frequently these days. So for once, these might actually be weekly goals! What are your goals + plans this week?

Weekly Goals #34

(photo by me, San Francisco)

Hey y'all! Happy Monday! I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who has left comments on my post the other day about why I'm choosing not to schedule my blog posts anymore (for the most part). I know scheduling posts is super convenient at times + it's certainly a good idea for some bloggers! But I decided that it's not the best thing for me or my blog right now.

I've got a fun but pretty relaxed day today. Earlier today, H and I went out for lunch at one of my fave Italian places in town. They're famous for their Nutella Pie! Yummmmm. This afternoon, my mom and I are getting our nails done--they need sooo much repair after two weeks of hiking and rock climbing and whatnot. So that really needs to happen. And then tonight I'm flying to Florida for my orientation! I'm super excited about seeing my future school again and meeting future classmates but I'm also a little anxious about it so we'll see how it goes.

Then as soon as I get home, I have to pack for Michigan (for the whoooole summer), which naturally takes forever. So I'm kind of really dreading that. Anyways: weekly goals.

LAST WEEK'S GOALS:

+ Have fun in California! Duh, I did. I'll post a recap...someday. No clue when. Life's crazy right now.

+ Take pictures! I did pretty well at this! The first week or so I was a bit shutter-happy and took sooo many pictures. But towards the end of our trip I got lazy and just told myself that someone else would take the pictures and I'd get them later. But I still have lots! I'm thinking about picking the best and offering them as a free stock photo pack. I know I'm not an expert photographer or anything but I thought I'd put them out there! The post photo from this post and the post before are both from my trip. 

THIS WEEK'S GOALS:

+ Give my room a thorough cleaning before leaving for the summer. If there's one thing I hate, it's coming home to a mess. It's gonna be tricky finding time before I leave, since I'm home for, oh, approximately 24 hours in the next week. But it needs to be done.

+ Write thank you notes. I feel like I'm drowning in thank you notes...but kind of in a good way, if there is a good way to drown. I received soo many lovely gifts + checks for my graduation and need to, ya know, thank people for giving me their hard-earned money. I've written like 25 but still have 15+ to do...so yeah. There's that.

+ Practice hand lettering at least twice. I absolutely love practicing my lettering, whether it's with a pen + ink or a brush (even though I struggle so hard at brush lettering). I'm hoping to start making some projects out of my lettering + I need to keep practicing even though life is kind of crazy right now. Even in 45-60 minute chunks, I can feel myself improving and that's exciting!

+ Respond to comments! Okay so my cardinal rule of goal-setting is to make sure I don't make too many goals...but I just have so many things to get done this week! I haven't responded to any comments since I left for my hiking trip (sorry everyone!) and I feel so bad! I've been reading them all but I want to get back to all of you ASAP!

What are your goals for the week? How do you stay sane when traveling a lot?

Weekly Goals #32

Hello all! I hope you had a lovely Easter if you celebrate it or just a lovely weekend! I had Friday and Monday off and my weekend was oh-so-relaxing...I'm not looking forward to putting that nose back on the grindstone tomorrow. 

On Friday, H and I went out for lunch at a local Cajun place and tried to go golfing, only to find that the driving range was closed. After a quick google, we found out that the owners of the range just up and left a few weeks ago. So no golfing (I was not-so-secretly relieved)! On Saturday, I did lots of exam review + visited my long-neglected lover (aka, the library). Sunday was for church with my family and lunch with kids. Then yesterday, H and I went out again to get us some Genghis Grill (which is delish, by the way). It was just a very laid-back, happy weekend. Also, it should be noted that I watched approximately six episodes of Breaking Bad this weekend...

But even with all of that awesome quality time with Netflix, I still managed to kick butt on my weekly goal! Which, if we recall from last Monday, was to exercise for at least 45 minutes three times + my two soccer practices. Check, check! Well sort of. My first two workouts were about 35 and 40 minutes each because I procrastinated and had to get home for dinner. But yesterday, I got a solid hour and a half in, so that felt good! So I'm considering this week a success!

I have two goals this week: stay on track with my exam prep + finish my book! I've made a daily schedule of which sections to review for each course and I'm already behind! :/ I just need to focus on putting in the time so I'm not super stressed out the night before! Secondly, I'm reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and unfortunately, I'm not liking it as much as I hoped. But I've heard great things so I just need to keep working through it. As soon as I finish it, I'll post a recap with The Memory Keeper's Daughter and Reconstructing Amelia.

What are your weekly goals?

Weekly Goals #31

For the record, let it be known that I'm completely aware that these "weekly goals" are more like "every-few-weeks-aka-when-I-feel-like-it goals". But for clarity, let's keep calling them weekly goals. 

This past weekend, I visited my future college for the bajillionth time. I'm getting so excited to move myself into my apartment/suite in August! Yay college! But now it's back to my last few weeks of school before I graduate. And let me tell you guys....senioritis: so real. It's so, so real. 

Let's review last week's (aka the goals I made like a month ago...on my birthday, no less) goals! I made a goal about exercising. Like I've mentioned, H and I have a big event coming up in less than two weeks. Personally, I hate everything about the idea of a "big event" because that means a late night, lots of people, lots of socializing, and lots of anxiety. The last time we went to an event like this one (and it was much, much smaller), I had a panic attack, got sick, and had to leave after only half an hour. Even thinking about that night, I get a little emotional because I've never felt that nervous and out of control. 

I'm not generally an anxious person. I don't get stressed about work or classes, like ever. Something about feeling like I have to live up to some expectation of how to act and not knowing how makes me feel lost. It's a totally confusing feeling for me. And obviously, a really miserable one too. 

But H really, really wants to go to this event and so we're going. I don't want a repeat of last time so I've been trying to take steps to avoid it. I've been practicing doing 4-7-8 breaths (in for 4 counts, hold for 7, out for 8) whenever I start getting anxious, using my anxiety beads and journaling. It's seemed to help, so far, but I'm not convinced that I'll be feeling this confident about it in two weeks. 

Part of my anti-anxiety plan is making sure I don't have any other sources of anxiety. I made sure to get a dress that I really like, I'm going to practice my hair and makeup ahead of time and most of all, I'm exercising to lose a couple pounds before the event. I figure if I can feel great about how I look, I'll be a little less nervous about how to act and all. 

As part of that goal, I joined the #1800minutechallenge, which you might have heard about on Twitter or other blogs. Basically, the goal is to exercise (in any way!) for 1800 minutes during April and May, which comes out to about 30 minutes a day. I play soccer 2-3 times a week with a recreational team, but I'm supplementing that with running intervals on the treadmill and the occasional elliptical workout. 

This week, my goal is to exercise for at least 45 minutes, three times outside of soccer. I'm also tracking my steps and my water intake and working to cut out desserts while eating solid servings of vegetables (my weakness). 

What are your goals for the week? How do you manage your anxiety? What do you like to do for exercise?

Weekly Goals #30

 Helloooooo ladies! Happy Monday! Last week off from classes was oh-so-lovely! I spent the whole week with my family in Florida, where we biked around, ate so. much. yummy food and just generally hung out. Even though it was rainy a good part of the week, we still got enough beach time in for me to get sunburnt. Where did I get sunburnt, you ask? My armpits. Like that little crook in front of your shoulder. Somehow, that's the only place (other than the tops of my feet, which always get scorched) that got as red as all the traffic lights that I occasionally run. I'm almost cried trying to put on a sports bra the next day (is that TMI? #sorrynotsorry).

Aaaaaanyways, I'm back to school this week and all the excitement that that brings! I've got about a month until exams so while the learning in my classes is winding down, the crazy stress of exams is right around the corner. :/ to add to that stress, I have something almost every weekend in April. Prayers, y'all. Send 'em this way. 

Last week, I talked about trying to find time for all the minutiae that comes with blogging beyond simply writing posts--the comments, the social media, the sponsorships, etc etc etc. I tried to be intentional about spending time doing all these things. I didn't do quite as much interaction as I had hoped as far it's social media (I'm working on it, really!), but I still feel good about my effort. 

I had been frustrated, as others of you are, that there's not a good way to comment from the bloglovin' app or even an iPhone in general. Just so ya know, I have found that the google chrome browser app will remember your login info for websites so it will keep you logged in to disqus. So that makes commenting a little but easier. I still have to bother to open up the post in chrome, but at least I don't have to log in every single time that I want to comment. 

So obviously, it's a process. But I'm on my way. 

Sort of shifting gears (I'm terrible at segues), I want to share my goal for next week--and really the next few weeks. I have a big, formal event with H in about a month. To out it straight, I'm really nervous. I get super anxious (like I cry and have to go home like a three year old who missed her nap) at social events, especially ones that require dressing up and being perfect all evening and socializing and dancing and yucky yuck yuck. But H really, really wants to go and I'm trying to be the fabulous girlfriend that I know I am somewhere inside, so we're going. 

I'm trying to plan ahead and make as many things as stress-free as possible, so that I have as little anxiety as possible. I made sure that I got a dress I like and that I feel good in. But I'm also going to work on getting in shape for the event, because I always feel better when I'm in shape. This week, my goal is to exercise today, Tuesday and Wednesday, since I'll be out of town Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday with no chance to work out. 

I've found this treadmill workout that involves really short intervals (:30 to 1:00) that make up four bigger phases: incline, sprints, endurance and hills. I've never been a huge fan of the treadmill but I've run it a few times and it's not bad! I'll be doing that at least twice this week. 

What are your goals for the week? How do you exercise when you're out of town and without a gym/fitness center?

P.S. Today's my birthday! I'm not big on birthdays, but I just couldn't write this post without sneaking that in. :)

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Getting Involved in the Blog Community

The last few weeks have been weird here on the blog. Can you feel it? I know I can. I've been out of town a good bit and I've had more guest posts than normal. I've scheduled all my posts ahead of time. I've been so busy with school that all the little details that come with blogging have fallen by the wayside. I've hardly been on Twitter, much less have I been sharing my own posts and much much less have I been sharing others posts--something that I love to do. I've been scanning through my blog feed on my phone, only reading the posts with really good titles/pictures. And when I find a good post, I never comment. 

As a result, I've been feeling a little bit sad about this blog. (I'm not going anywhere--exhale!) I've come to the conclusion that I can't put in half the time that I used to into this relationship (because this is sort of like my weird relationship with the people of the internet) and expect all of the same results. I've been spreading myself too thin. 

So this is my one goal for the week: get involved in the blog community again. I'm on vacation for a week, and for me, that means way more blogging. I'm really excited to start my new mission to 'revive my blog lovelife' and I hope it's not too late to build all my relationships back up with my blog and blog-reading friends. So I thought I'd lay out my step-by-step plan to squish myself back into this circle of friends and invite you to come along with me! If you're not feeling fulfilled by blogging lately, try one of these things!

Sponsoring. I used to think it was like paying for friends (which, incidentally, is also how I felt about sororities), but it's really not. It's visually (and financially) supporting the blogs you love. For me, the views and followers I get from sponsoring other blogs are minimal, I'm more interested in making a connection with another blogger. 

Sharing other blogger's posts. I love doing this because it helps me connect with both other bloggers and my followers. Every blogger loves to see someone love on a post that they spent time on and you're helping provide your followers with even more quality content to read!

Comment on the blogs you read. I find it especially inconvenient to comment on other blogs because I read 90% of my Bloglovin' feed from my phone. But I know how disappointed I feel when I spend hours on a post that I think will be a smash hit, only to watch it go without comments. Think about it this way: pretend you had some really great news and had lunch with your best friend to tell her your exciting news. But when you tell her, she just sits and looks at you. How sad would that be?! That's how blogging without comments feels. I know I'm bad at responding to comments, but I read every single one (and even save screenshots on my phone of many!).

Respond to comments left on your own blog (if you have one). This goes hand-in-hand with the last one, but I just have to mention it since I'm kinda-sorta terrible at it. I will respond to 90% of comments left here over time, but it may be 2-3 weeks before I get to it. I want to be better about responding promptly. How can I build a conversation with you lovely people if I wait two weeks to reply?!

Send an email! I've only done this a few times but I'd like to do it more. It seems like a somewhat revolutionary idea, to email a blogger instead of just commenting. But if you read a post that really, really clicks with you or helps you in a new way, I promise that you can make any blogger's day with a two-sentence email that tells them that. 

So all of these collective steps make up my goal for the week. Now I need you to help me. Leave a comment with a favorite blog, a favorite post (yours or someone else's!), an idea on how to get involved in the blog community or just any thoughts on this post. And I promise, I will respond. 

Weekly Goals #29

Hellooooo loves! Happy Monday! Well, I'm finally back from my trip to Colorado. Though lovely, I feel like I've been gone forever. I've hardly opened up my computer in a week and a half and it feels just weird-weird-weird. I'm still getting back into the swing of things so I'm keeping things super short and casual today.

Last week, I made a goal to exercise while on vacation. But I sooorta underestimated how much of an exercise skiing is in itself! Did you know that you can burn upwards of 400 calories an hour skiing? Yeah, for real, you can believe how excited I was to learn that, especially considering that some days I skied from 9 till 4. That's a whole lotta calories to get rid of! Needless to say, I got them all back with some Nutella ;) So I'm totally fine with not exercising officially all week since I walked around town lots + skied. 

But I'm not gonna spoil too much since I have a little recap planned for later this week. Just know that my awesome week included not only skiing, but also tubing, good food, drama and dogsledding. Yes. And if I can convince him, H might share a little bit about when he went snowmobiling!

Until then, let me share my goals for the week. I've got a lot to do to get back in place for the coming weeks. I'm missing classes again today because I'm in Tennessee. I'll need to be super focused to get caught up on classwork. In addition, I didn't write any blog posts for like ten whole days (they were all scheduled! gasp!) so my stock of prewritten posts is down to nil. This week I want to get back to my normal schedule of being at least three or four posts ahead. 

That's all today--what are your goals for the week?

Weekly Goals #27

(Death to the Stock Photo)

What. a. week. Let me tell you, this has been one of those weeks that I'm just ready to be done with + forget about. As someone who occasionally-borderline-obsesses over getting things done, it's hard for me to acknowledge that sometimes there are weeks when things just don't come together. But I'm learning to accept that + it's okay. 

I'm committing myself to making this week the exact opposite. I'm gonna get stuff done + I'm gonna be ready for my trip to Breckenridge, CO (!!) + I'm going to be happy + calm + all sorts of good things.

How did I do last week?

Sucky. I'll just say it. I mean, I could totally get out here and make all sorts of excuses why I basically did nothing all week, but I'm not even going to. I didn't run. Not even once. I think I need to admit to myself that I can choose not to run + still exercise. I have this thing where I don't accept a workout unless it includes running. But I hate running. So I just don't work out at all. But I actually like doing other workout-y things, it's just running that psychs me out. So whatever. I've got that to work on.

BUTTTTTTT I did manage to finish my website for a drunk driving prevention campaign. It's not public but I just needed to tell y'all that I finished it because that's some exciting stuff.

My goals for this week:

Get all ready for my trip to Breckenridge! I think I've all but forgotten to mention my trip but I'm leaving on Saturday for Colorado to get me some mountain air! I'll have posts planned out + I'll be responding to comments + emails (a little more slowly), but I don't plan on writing any posts while I'm there. I've got a few more posts to write and my bag to pack but then I'm ready to go!

Try a few new ways to exercise. Maybe not "new" exactly, but not running. I'm thinking about at-home conditioning, maybe a Jillian Michaels DVD, a bike ride if the ice all melts, and kickboxing if I can get someone to go with me. I'd love your input on this--how do you workout, especially outside of a traditional gym? 

Aaaaand, I've got a science bit for today!! Yay! I don't know how many of you actually read/like this section, but I know I really enjoy sharing the bits with you + hopefully you find yourself learning new things along with me, even if you're not a "science person". This one is totally cool + even you non-science people might find it interesting! 

What does sand look like when you magnify it 250x? This magical picture. 

Isn't that the coolest? Just consider this the next time you're walking on a beach...you're walking on billions of teeny-tiny gems just like these!! Please tell me someone else thinks this is cool. Anyways, if you're interested, you can see the whole collection of images of sand under a microscope. It makes me wonder what other cool things there are in the world that we're totally unaware of!

Alright, that's it. Take care, polar bears!

Weekly Goals #26

Hey loves! I hope you had a fantastic, utterly stellar weekend! I had a pretty great one myself. Saturday, I woke up early, on my own (which is the greatest feeling ever) and got right to work. I've really grown into my Saturday morning routine (which I described in a recent productivity post) + I'm actually getting stuff done on the weekend! It's so lovely.

Saturday night, I went out with H on our quasi-Valentine's Day date. We made yummy pancakes, and he indulged me by making mine super underdone, just the way I like them. Then we headed off to a concert for some local bands. We had a great night!

Last week, in my weekly goals post, I really enjoyed sharing some of the things that made me laugh that week + a lot of you did too! Let's be honest, Monday's just need more laughter. Here's some more silly things to get you through today!

 

How did I do last week?

Last week was just crazy. Classes were pretty much insane and my computer just decided to be a douche on me, basically all week. Not cool. Point is, my wishes didn't go all that great + I'm just trying to make excuses. I made a goal to go running and ended up just going once. But ya know, I didn't specify how much sooo I was sort of successful? 

My goals for this week:

But I finally found a plan that I think should be good for me. I'm past a couch to 5K plan, but a 10K is a wee bit ambitious these days. In my previous/better running days, I was using Hal Higdon's 1/2 marathon plan. Obviously, that's not a good choice for me either, but I did find a couch to 8K plan that I'll use. Because I'm not training for any specific race, I'm definitely not exercising six days a week, because that's just unrealistic and I'll get frustrated with myself if I set the bar that high. My goal is to run two miles on Monday and two miles on Wednesday. I definitely hope to step that up in the coming weeks but, this week is pretty busy, plus from Thursday on, I'll be in Michigan and there's no way I'm running outside there. 

My second goal is to actually finish that nonprofit website, you know, the one I meant to finish like three weeks ago? To be fair, I don't actually have a deadline until the end of February, but I want to finish it as soon as possible. 

That's about it! What are your goals for the week?

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Weekly Goals #25

Heyyyy nuggets! Happy Monday. Yeah right. Actually, I had a pretty good weekend so I'm not too stressed going into Monday. On Thursday, my computer just decided to peace out on me + wouldn't turn on or cooperate with me. Let me tell you, I spend a whole lot of time on the computer and that was super stressful. I was panic-emailing all my clients telling them I'd be back as soon as possible + I'd try to make sure I didn't lose their designs and in general, trying to stay sane. Thankfully, all my clients are lovely + rational people + no one got mad at me :) On Saturday I got my computer up-and-running so I worked through the weekend to catch up on lost time. 

Despite all that, my weekend was really nice. I had a lovely date with H that involved watching SVU (fact: I'm actually addicted to watching SVU) + eating a whole lot of Qdoba. So duh, that was good. And that put together with the fact that I got some nice sleep + eno (hammock) time, I'm one happy girl! 

In my effort to keep things that way for the rest of today, I've decided to share some sort of funny things along with my weekly goals on Mondays. Guys, I'm telling you straight: the humor section on Pinterest = GOLD. I'll tell you a thousand more times; it's just beyond great. Please tell me someone else thinks this is as hilarious as I do: 

This is how I felt every. single. moment of the Superbowl.

Guys, I'm just sitting at home alone, laughing out loud. I feel like a weirdo.

Okay, let's be serious. Back to the actual point of this post now. Since it's Monday, it's time to set my goals for the week and recap how I did on my goals from last week. 

How did I do last week?

Last week, I made three goals: to continue writing posts ahead of time/stick to my editorial calendar, be at least 80% done with my drunk driving awareness campaign site for a local law firm + to continue practicing journaling. 

Number one? Booyah. I'm not as far ahead as I would like to be, but I'm currently about five posts ahead of schedule, which I have to say, feels AWESOME. I never really understood the point of writing ahead of time before I tried it, but I'll admit that I'm officially a believer. Now, whenever I'm in the mood to write, I'll sit down for a few hours and crank out 2-3 posts, just like that!

Goal number two (making progress on my charity site) was pas bon this week. I only finished two pages out of ten for the entire site. But I'm okay with that. My "due date" that I've made for myself is still more than a week away + with all my computer issues, my design time had to be focused on my more immediate clients. 

Goal number three was also a success! I'm really not a big fan of journaling, but I'm learning to like it. I journaled three times this week + I'm really proud of myself!

My goals for this week:

A few days ago, I shared my goals for all of February. The hardest of those goals for me will be to continue building a habit of running, so I'm going to focus on that this week. I really have a love-hate relationship with running. I hate the actual act of running, but I love the pride that comes with running further than I have before, the strength I feel in my body + the endorphins. This week, I'm going to run three times, even if it's a short, mini, 15 minute jog. Whatever gets me outside + moving.

I'm just gonna stick with that for the week! That'll be tough enough.

What are your goals for the week? Do you run (help!)?

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Weekly Wishes #24

Hello loves! Happy Monday! Ew. Mondays. I saw this on Pinterest the other day and just about peed myself since I'm pretty sure that's me on Mondays. Poor lady. Side note: if you ever need a good laugh, the humor section on Pinterest is gold. Gold, I tell you. Last week, I just pitched a hissy fit because I was stressed about my move (which okay, I know isn't for like eight months, but still) and generally made everyone around me miserable. Half an hour on Pinterest? I'm just peachy. You know it's sad when Pinterest cheers you up more than friends...

Annyyyways, I'm gonna attempt to start my week off right with some of those weekly wishes. But let's recap. Last week I made two goals: successfully transition back into classes and stick with my new checklist system. I think I aced both of them! I didn't have to stay up too late with class work and I used my checklist every day but one! And since it seems like some of you are curious about this mysterious checklist system, I'll be sharing it in the next few days!

Moving on, I'm setting a few goals for the upcoming week! Firstly, I've been basically Wonder Woman since last weekend, actually getting things on my editorial calendar and written ahead of time. Someone please congratulate me. I want to continue writing posts in advance so that things can be a little more consistent around here.

I also have a project that I'm working on that I'd like to work on a lot this week. I'm making a drunk driving info site for a local law office + I've got a few more pages and some code to finish up. My goal is to finish or be at least 80% done by the end of the week!

My third and last goal (because even three goals might be more than I can handle) is to practice journaling. I go in and out of phases where I journal regularly and then not at all. All in all, I've more or less decided that journaling isn't the thing for me. I generally get impatient with it and it frustrates me to go back and look at what I wrote in the past. But with the current transitions in my life with moving and all, I think journaling is an important habit for the stage I'm currently living. I've been focusing on just taking fifteen minutes ever day or every other day to reflect on my day, not only the bad things but also the good. This week, I'd like to journal at least a page every other day.

What are your goals for the week? Do you journal?

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weekly wishes #22

So I've decided that the first sentence of a blog post is officially the most awkward sentence in the world. Usually I just say 'hi, friends' or something like that, but I kind of feel like I'm just greeting my computer + that's just weird. So super random survey, how do you start your posts? I need help...

Wow, I'm beyond weird today. 

For real, let me just get to it. Last week, my goals were to spend intentional time with my family + get some cleaning done! I made the first goal because my family is very sociable + likes to spend time together (I know, and they think I'm the weird one). When I hole up in my room, people tend to get mad at me. And it's not because I don't like them, I'm just an introvert. So I made sure this week to spend time with people on my own terms. That means generally not in big groups + doing non-stressful things. Like my grandma and I spent time reading together and my sister and I organized our jewelry together. Things like that.

And let me tell you, I aced my cleaning goal! I did make a goal to do 30 minutes a day, but I never really timed it. But I pretty consistently kept things put away in their proper place + spent a little time cleaning up areas that got out of control, like my desk or bathroom cabinet. 

In the process, I found that I hoard pencils, hand sanitizer + makeup. I have four bronzers. Four. I don't even wear bronzer... I also have over 200 pencils, and six bottles of hand sanitizer. That's just weird.

(p.s. is that font so Seventeen magazine or what?!)

Point is, I did good. 

So when I was brainstorming goals for this coming week, I sort of made the mistake (uh, I mean brilliant decision) of asking H for ideas. So in case it wasn't obvious, we have H to thank for the first two...

+Well first some background. I hate just about any social situation in which I have to make small talk. I hate meeting new people (except like through blogging or other common interests). I hate dancing. The last time I was at a situation that incorporated just one of those (dancing), I had a panic attack. Obviously, I'm not in a hurry to relive that experience. But unfortunately, weddings incorporate all of the above. And even more unfortunately, H has a cousin getting married on Saturday and I just might die (okay, okay, I'm happy for the guy; it's not unfortunate). It seems kind of silly to make a goal not to die, but I'm gonna do it anyways. And I'm going to dance with H, that's part b. Oh, sweet baby Jesus in the manger, this might be bad...

+Send H a random compliment every day of the week. Haha of course, this was all his idea, but I'm happy to oblige. And while we're at it, let me introduce you to the amazingness that is Daily Odd Compliments. You're so welcome.

That's all for my goals for the week! But since we're on the topic of awesome things, let me share with you a non-literal rockstar who is quite possibly the most awesome blogger around, Z of Sometimes Z Takes Pictures (off whom I totally ripped yesterday's post).

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Start Here: Favorite Posts of 2013: January - June // Seven Reasons I Am Not an Adult // Outfit Post - Tulletelage