Just Get it Done

The squat challenge. It is definitely a love hate thing. There is nothing worse than getting all cozy in bed at night, reading for a few minutes, and then turning off the lights to enter into a happy dream land, only to have your eyes pop open in despair as you recall that you haven’t done your 185 squats. Oh man. That is a terrible moment.You hop out of bed mumbling under your breath. Just get it done.

Anyway, moving on to recap my specific goals for last week. My accomplishments were subpar. I had this wonderful plan of displaying a beautiful before and after of my Photoshop project that was on my goal list for last week. But…. I failed.

I rocked the crunches every day (except Sunday, a day of rest of course). And I did my taxes (what a relief to have that over so early in the year). And I shot some pictures that I want to practice with in Photoshop… but I never got to the actual doing part of that. There is always this week….

Even with the Photoshop mishap, this little system worked really well for me. So I am excited to tackle a few more little things this week.

Here is my new list of goals:

-          Get rid of ten pieces of clothing. I just have way too much…

-          Do 200 crunches and 1 minute plank every day

-          Run ten miles. Not necessarily at one time, but I have not incorporated much running into my winter workout routine, and spring is coming!

-          Re-memorize James 1. I memorized this long ago, but I want to start refreshing all of my scripture. This one is a good place to start.

-          And I am going to keep the Photoshop one picture on the list since I did not do so last week. Her we have a new week with new editing motivation and possibilities!

Just a few things that I am going to be improving this week. Should be fun :)

January Recap

So Robyn over at Invincible Summer is doing a month recap post every month this year. She is briefly recapping her month alongside a photo of her and her hubby. I love this idea! So I am going to put whatever brilliant post I had planned for the day (since I am so good at doing that… he he) on hold so that we don’t get too far into February without reminiscing about January.

This picture seemed appropriate since it was taken like a minute after midnight on January 1^st as we welcomed yet another wonderful year.

January Highlights:

Started the healthy New Year out strong by juicing six days a week.

Took two overnight trips to Disneyland. One with Cory’s family, and one with mine.

Started looking at buying our first home!

Celebrated our THREE YEAR anniversary. 

Started researching and applying for teachers preparation programs.

Worked out like crazy people! 

Hosted my very first link up. 

The "Busy Nothings" of a Blessed Life

Friday again! I don’t mean to sound redundant, but isn’t it crazy how fast the weeks are passing? At least in my happy little world. Today I am linking up with Darci over at the Good Life Blog and the rest of the ladies, to talk about five current things in my life. Sorry if they do not seem all that interesting, it is just the little “busy nothings” that are the making of a wonderful, blessed, and happy life. 

1.    This beautiful place we live in. I mean wow. The sunsets have been amazing lately. My memory card is packed full of the beautiful colorful sky. This is my favorite view from my deck. Amazing. I know. (With everything that can be done on the computer these days, I feel the need to point out that this picture is straight off camera, the colors are not enhanced, and there were no filters on my lens. It was just that amazing.)

2.    I am reading through the Bible this year and this week I happened upon one of those obscure scriptures that you wouldn’t necessarily think would be… what you needed per se. And yet, it hit me so hard and I was like “thank you, Jesus.” Exodus 14:15 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘why are you crying out to me?’ Tell the Israelites to move on.” Sometimes I find myself praying and asking God for all of the answers and specific direction… and sometimes it is just time to make a decision and move forward. As long as I am continually seeking Him he will direct my steps. He will use his word to do so, and this time, I believe He did. 

3.    I had my two nieces and nephew over for a tea part yesterday. They are so cute. Whenever we have tea parties the girls suddenly develop British accents and start calling me “mother.” So funny. 

4.     The Cheesecake Factory. I don’t know how this happened but Cory and I just went there for the first time and oh my goodness, it was amazing. I am on the New Year’s eating plan where I don’t eat bread, or pasta, or cheesecake…. Yeah that was all thrown out the window in a hurry. It was so delicious. I have this issue with becoming obsessed with the same meal at the same restaurant for a long time…. And then I get sick of it. It is weird. But right now it is all about the Cheesecake Factory. 

5.    I am having such fun with my new lens. My wonderful L series 70-200 that Cory gave me. I don’t know how to truly utilize it yet, but every picture I take with it is just so lovely. Could be in my head, I don’t know. But I am really enjoying playing with it and trying to figure it out. 

So there are the five little bits of my week. Hope you all have a wonderful Friday and happy weekend!

A Disney February

Due to the strict Blogathon schedule I have been on for the whole month of January, I have not been linking up with many other blogs. Therefore, I think it is high time for another Disney Wordless Wednesday post :)

Cory had a great idea to start putting together our own Disneyland Scavenger Hunt. So all of the trips that we have taken to Disneyland in the last few weeks have been with this prospect in mind. And man, when you are looking for obscure photos of Disneyland, they are definitely to be had. It is going to be so much fun!

For my February Calendar shot I put together a little collage of some of the photos that will be included in our Scavenger Hunt. If you live near Disneyland, you might have some fun trying to find the locations of some of these images. I am quite a Disneyland lover.... and I would never have known a lot of these. If you do happen to try, I hope you leave a comment!

February - It's the New January

One month of the New Year is already gone and I feel like I am still recovering from my Christmas blues and New Year prep. How is it that the time just goes?

Confession…. Just last week I took the Christmas lights off my house because I didn’t want to be “that person.” You know the one who leaves their lights up all year (but doesn’t turn them on) just because they never got around to taking them down, and then once July hits they decide they may as well leave them up for the coming Christmas. Yeah… that person. Another confession…. I still have several of my Christmas decorations out. Because I got several new ones this year I couldn’t fit everything into my same Christmas boxes, so I never finished Christmas clean up. Therefore, my awesome Santa is still sitting in his rocker on my buffet.

Last week, I was discussing the sad state of my goals with my little sister and she said, “February is the new January, don’t you know.” Relief just poured over me. Hooray, a new month with a fresh start to hit this year with lofty goals and enthusiastic productivity. 

I have been thinking a lot about the power of accountability. It is one thing to determine in one’s mind all of the things that need to get accomplished, and another thing to tell someone else that you need to do them. 

With that being said, for the month of February I am going to do a little goal reboot. Every Sunday evening or Monday morning (it’s my blog…. Whatever I feel like doing) I am going to post three goals that I want to work on this week. They don’t have to big things. They can be as simple as washing your hair every day (pretty ambitious I would say). But just little things that I want or need to be working on in addition to all of my every day necessities. 

I am doing this for me, because I think it will help me to do a little extra every week. However, because I am going to miss the blogathon so much, and because maybe some of you can empathize with this goal situation, I am going to create a link up. If you want to join me for this month on working on a few simple goals every week, I would love to help motivate you! And that is the beauty of it, one week at a time. It is very doable.

With that being said, here are few things I am going to work on this week. Pretty easy I would say, which means I am setting myself up for feeling successful and good about myself. Very important :) 

1.       Prepare for and file our taxes.

2.       Do 250 crunches every day this week (Now is the time to start working on that beach body).

3.       Edit one photo in photo shop (this may seem like a tiny goal but man is that program a challenge for me. I feel like pulling my hair out after sitting at the computer for an hour).

If you want to join in, then link below. Either way, have a wonderful Monday!