Update

Hello my friends!

I just wanted to give you a little update on what's going on with me these days.

First off, I wanted to let you know that I am trying to remove myself from Facebook as much as possible. It's become mostly a negative in my life insomuch that it wastes a lot of my time and sometimes the stuff people post makes me judge them in ways I don't like.

I'm going to keep using Messenger and keep my Facebook linked to my Instagram, and I'll probably get on there as needed to ask for suggestions and coordinate stuff, but I am trying to cut the newsfeed out of my life almost entirely. That being said, if you need anything or there is something you need me to see, you can always send me a message or tag me on something or write on my wall and I'll get an email about it.

In the week since I've cut back, I've noticed myself using the time I would have spent scrolling aimlessly for different things. I've been reading a lot more news articles and I've been messaging with friends directly. I like this. I appreciate knowing more about what's going on in the world and having more time to spend talking with the people I care about and developing those relationships instead of randomly pressing like on 432908 different things without actually communicating much of anything. Life feels a lot quieter somehow and I like that.

The second item of note is that I have decided to stop doing monthly goals posts on here, at least for now. I'm trying to focus on creating habits rather than checking things off of a list. I mean, I've still got about five or six handwritten lists going at any time, but those are more short term goals and tasks that need to be completed. Instead of creating random goals for writing or exercise, for example, I'm creating time each day or each week for these habits to form. I do well with routines so I feel good about this change.

Anyway, I just wanted to take a minute to update. I'm trying to be the best version of myself and I hope these changes are helpful! As always, feel free to leave a comment here or shoot me a message if you'd like to chat :)

Lots of Thoughts

It is January 2nd, 2017, and I have a lot of thoughts running around in my head that need out. I've tried writing these things out in an organized fashion but it is not working. I've decided just to spew them all out at once.

It's a brain dump!

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I am SO glad I'm not throwing up any more. Yesterday was possibly the longest day of my life. I think I felt every single minute of the day. The 3 hour car ride was definitely the longest car ride I've ever been on. Thank the Lord for the wonderful Emergency Room with its kind nurses and bags of fluids and free pants and anti-nausea medications. So, so grateful.

I have been wanting to write a post about NaNoWriMo but I haven't been able to get it just the way I want it. I have several drafts just about NaNo, which is crazy. I don't know if I'll ever get one finished. In short, I LOVED NaNo and I think I'll continue giving it a try each year. What a wonderful experience. And no, you can't read my book yet. I still haven't read it. I'm a little afraid to.

One thing I learned about writing this year is that it doesn't have to be for a purpose. Writing for the sake of the writing process is a completely valid hobby. Writing needs to be practiced just like other hobbies and abilities. Writing can become a habit, as it did for me during the month of November. I love writing, so very much, and I hope to continue growing as a writer simply by writing more. Will I ever have a book published? Maybe. Maybe not. I need to keep working at it.

I am so, so grateful that we moved into this house. I am so glad we found it. I am so glad that all of our other offers were rejected. This house is just what we need right now and I am looking forward to loving it and living in it and making it ours as the year(s) continue. Hopefully we can figure out how to do that without exceeding our budget.

2017 sounds kind of futuristic to me. Tim will be 30 this year. I'll be 31. That's how old my parents were when I was born. The kids will be 6 and 9 by the year's end. That sounds crazy!

I love being 30. Something about turning 30 has given me the confidence to be who I am with less fear about what others think about it. It's great and powerful. I am great and powerful.

I have wonderful people in my life. I am grateful for friends who do puzzles with me and send me random pictures of cats and babies and their faces throughout the day. God bless Snapchat. I love you, friends. I love that I can have hour long phone chats with my sister. I'm grateful for all the people who listen and laugh and love me and play games with me and stay up late talking to me. It takes a village to raise an adult too, y'know.

I love our church and our Life Group especially. I didn't realize I needed to see all your faces every Wednesday night, but I do.

I have had four giant bottles of Powerade today and I finally cut myself off and switched to water. Rehydration, people. It's a serious matter. I ate a bowl of chicken soup for dinner and longingly looked at Lydia's pizza while she longingly looked at my soup. I think Lexi would be jealous of how many Saltines I ate today. I can't wait to eat more food tomorrow.

Life is all about ups and downs. Ups and downs. I mention them in just about every reflective piece of writing I create, and I finally GET it. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE UPS AND DOWNS! Downs suck, but they make ups more beautiful. Ups are great, but you wouldn't appreciate them without the downs. I am a very optimistic and positive person and I have grown through the ups and downs that 2016 brought my way.

The beginning of the year 2016 was kind of hard. There were some challenges There were some really hard moments where I wondered if I would make it through, and how I would make it through. There were some scary times that haunted me. I watched a LOT of TV.  Like, a LOT. It was kind of my way of dealing with hard things. My brain attempted to sabotage me, but I got the better of it. HA! I'm forever grateful for my amazing therapist who pointed me toward the medical professional I needed to get things sorted out. Brain health needs to be talked about without stigma. The brain is an organ that needs care just like like all the other organs in the body. My brain requires some medication to work properly, and that is OK. I feel so much better now than I did a year ago.

The middle of the year was characterized by transition. Changes. The end of the year was good and busy and full of people and love. I got into the habit of writing regularly and now I struggle to stay current on my TV. Yeah, Trump got elected, but I think we will be OK. At least we know SNL will have a lot of material to work with, huh? Gotta look on the bright side. Gotta keep fighting.

Kate McKinnon and John Oliver crack me up. New Girl and Brooklyn 99 are my favorite shows. I'm not current on This Is Us, but I'm loving it. Thank you, entertaining people, for entertaining me.

I have a gym membership and I know how to use it.

I'm really enjoying teaching again.

I love Spotify. When my 3 months of Premium end, I am going to be really disappointed. 90s music makes me so happy.

We are going to get that hole in the kitchen floor taken care of, folks. Sooner rather than later.

I put up multi-colored Christmas lights in my puzzle room and I am excited about it. Christmas lights make me happy and I don't care if they are tacky, Tim. Love you.

I am apparently in a very grateful and positive mood. I guess feeling better after feeling bad will do that to you.

2016 is over and done, 2017 is fresh and new and full of possibility. I mean, starting off the year violently ill was not how I pictured it, but that violent illness has already made me appreciate being able to keep liquids down, something I take for granted daily.

Ups and downs, my friends. Ups and downs.

November and December Goals

November Goals Analysis

November was a busy busy month and I am glad I did not try to accomplish too much outside of these few goals. The month truly flew by. I think December will be another light month for goals as there is already so much going on. 

Have a super awesome time in the Dominican Republic - Well this wasn't hard! I got to go with two lovely fun ladies and stay in an incredible resort where food and drink were always available and I got daily naps. It was the best. I have never been on a trip with friends or stayed in such a nice place and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do something special. 

Celebrate Lexi's birthday - Check. With everything that was going on, we celebrated early and it was fun. This was also the first year I did not make the cake myself and it was kind of a relief even though it was expensive to buy one. I can't believe she is 8! I was traveling on her actual birthday but Tim and her grandparents made it special for her :)

Welcome a nephew into the family - Check! I have the sweetest little nephew, Gryffin. In a family full of girls, it will be exciting to see what this little boy is all about. 

Plan out the rest of 2016's science lessons for Legacy - Check! Turns out we didn't have many days of actual class left. I'm getting a head start on next semester's planning as well. 

Assess reading and math skills - Check. Doing well in both areas. Assessing helped me discover a few areas that we needed to revisit, which was helpful too. 

WRITE A 50,000 WORD NOVEL! - Freaking check, man! This deserves a separate post so I'm working on that. 

Do cool stuff with cool people - What kind of goal is this? Not very quantifiable, geez. I had a blast on my trip as I mentioned and enjoyed Thanksgiving with our families. But I don't know if I actually did enough cool stuff with enough cool people...where does one draw the limit?

Make something for Thanksgiving that isn't a salad - OK to be fair, I was told to bring appetizers and games and I brought those, plus some champagne. But all I "made" was a trip to Target, so....

Continue with weights twice weekly - I did well until my trip. Then I came home to Thanksgiving and other busy situations and I have not been back :(

Attempt to incorporate cardio with some regularity - See above.

Brainstorm what to do next with the YouTube channel - Yeah, nope. Which means there probably should not BE a YouTube channel, but there is just something fun about it. For me. And Laura. Probably not for anyone who watches. I think this definitely needs to go back to the drawing board. Or maybe just straight into the garbage can. Who knows.

December Goals

House

Continue brainstorming what to do with the kitchen/fireplace room, as we call it
Agree upon a name for that room

Personal

Incorporate some phone-free quiet time into each day
Slowly reincorporate journaling into my life

Family

Drive around and look at Christmas lights together

Wellness

PUT DOWN THE COOKIES AND GO BACK TO THE GYM! (Maybe tough love is the right approach?)
Actually practice karate outside of class and be prepared for testing day

Social

Host a gathering of some sort

School

Ask the kids for ideas on what they'd like to learn about in Science and Social Studies
Take some time to do traditional Christmas/Winter activities
Research and consider adding an extracurricular activity for the kids

Creative

Work on and possibly finish a short story I've been putting off for a while
Read the story I wrote last month and try not to cry when it's garbage
Develop a rough outline for said story 

October & November Goals

October Goals Analysis

  Hey, so we're 1/3 of the way through the month and I decided it was probably time to go over my monthly goals. October felt really busy but I didn't do a great job with my goals. I'm glad I've at least continued assessing my goals regularly. That feels good! Cutting straight to the chase.

Spend some time in Lawrence at the Pumpkin Patch - Check. We had a fun day in Lawrence. I might want to get back to living there someday. I even managed to lose my wedding ring there.

Try out my Dad's gym - Check. I even resisted free pizza night.

Consider getting a membership and starting a weight routine - I now have a membership and I've been shooting for weights twice weekly. Going to add in some cardio as time permits. I'm enjoying it, especially now that I know the WiFi password ;)

Get together with friends every week in some form - Yup. This is so nice. I love you, friends!

Finish the next writing unit - Check. It was like pulling teeth in some ways, but we got those suckers done.

Get caught back up with planning - Pretty much. 

Publish at least two more episodes of That's Puzzling (the first episode is here if you haven't had the pleasure of watching it) - Yep. I think a total of 2 people have watched them, so that's good. 

Have someone come out and look at our kitchen - So he came and looked but that's as far as we've gotten. We have a semblance of a plan but haven't executed it yet. 

Finish a story - I didn't finish a story but I made headway in one story. 

Finish at least two chapters of Alexander Hamilton - I finished one chapter and started another. This book is fascinating but it's hard. Lots of words, haha, and it's not so much a bedtime story as it is a history book. 

Pick out a new sink - Nope. But MAN do I want one! With a sprayer. 

Pick up and unpack more boxes - Didn't even go through the boxes I picked up. I suck. 

Get into a morning routine for writing and Bible reading - Nope.

Have Book Club? - Nope. I haven't even tried to read the book. Sorry, friends!

~~~~~

November's goals are short and sweet, mostly because one of them is to WRITE A FREAKING BOOK. So I'll be pleased if I can just get that one crossed off.

November Goals 

House

Sorry house, I'm not making any promises this month

Personal

Have a super awesome time in the Dominican Republic!!!

Family

Celebrate Lexi's birthday
Welcome a nephew into the family (I have zero control over this, it's all you Lindsey! Very excited.)
Make something for Thanksgiving that isn't a salad

Wellness

Continue with weights twice weekly
Attempt to incorporate cardio with some regularity

Social

Do cool stuff with cool people

School

Plan out the rest of 2016's science lessons for Legacy
Assess reading and math skills

Creative

WRITE A 50,000 WORD NOVEL!
Brainstorm what to do next with the YouTube channel