Let's catch up!

I haven't been keeping up with posting to the blog lately. I've been meaning to post every Sunday night but the last couple of weeks haven't worked out that way. I have quite a few ideas cooking for future post topics, but in the meantime, let's review how February has been for me.

My photo challenge went really well. Sure, I missed a day or two and even posted some photos late, but the point was that I actually kept myself looking for those moments to capture and share on my Instagram account. I am really proud of some of the shots I managed to get. Head over to my page and check out what I was up to!

My step challenge went really well too. Most weekdays went well and I stayed close to my 10,000 steps/day challenge. Some days even went over! I actually won a FitBit "Workweek Hustle" challenge that I was in with some friends. Also, the change I made to my weekend goal of aiming for 2500 steps/day instead was exactly what I needed this month. I was able to shoot for 2500 much more easily than squeezing in 10k on a weekend day. I felt good that I was able to stick to my goals!

I wasn't doing too good on my eating habits. Not much to report on that, but I've decided to take a bit of a different approach that might suit me better. I'm not a fan of the idea of diets that deprive me of something or are low-carb/low-fat/low-whatever. I'm just going to rearrange when I eat things. My breakfasts will be more protein heavy (eggs, meat, peanut butter, diary) so that I satiate my hunger early on and stay full longer. I want to aim for more plant-based foods at lunch so salads, soups full of veggies, and wraps or sandwiches with less bread, if possible. At dinner is when I'll carbo-load. I don't mean to go nuts with carbs but that's when I'll have my fill of pasta, potatoes, rice, etc. I don't plan on going nuts with this "guideline" but I'm hoping focusing my meals will help me choose more wisely. If I can get myself to track my meals, that will help me check if I'm sticking to my plan.

I've managed to get a lot of reading done this past month, even though I meant to slow down of the year. I got into reading all of Gretchen Rubin's happiness books and couldn't stop. She is a big reason why I keep this blog and reading up on her work just felt like the right way to get motivated and creative with my blog. Hopefully I'll get my reviews posted eventually but those aren't my focuses right now. The other books I've read are just plain fun for me... except Anna Karenina... that's the pick for the Eclectic Readers book group and I can't get myself to finish it! That may be my Everest to conquer this year, if I don't finish in time for our discussion.

February also marked the month of my 31st birthday. It's been a good month for me. I'm hoping March is going to be good too! I'll be celebrating my 6th wedding anniversary with the Husband. There are a few events with friends on the social calendar. I look forward to tackling some books that I've left unfinished on my nightstand. I hope to step up my efforts for my health.

One more day to get through February. Happy Leap Year!

PS) Here's my March Photo challenge. It comes from a 2013 post on the Embracing Beauty site. You can also check my Photo page in the top link bar or go see what I've pinned on Pinterest.

One Year Older! One Year Wiser?

"I want to be 90 and wise AF but look young and hot." -LO

On Sunday, I turned 31 years old. 😲 (Yes, my birthday was, is, and always will be on Valentine's Day.)

When I turned 30 last year, I didn't expect to be hit by that cliche realization that I needed to take better care of myself. But it did hit me.

For the past year plus, I've been attempting to get myself in better health and just take better care of myself. I can't say that most of it comes from being more mindful and conscientious. Honestly, I just want to look good.

Does that make me shallow? I don't care.

I've been obsessed with skin care. I have a new routine that seems to be helping my face, but unfortunately I still suffer from adult acne and blackheads. Not a glamorous thing to admit, but it happens. Anyway, it's nothing special and I don't use any specific kinds of products. (I've never been much of a brand person.) I make sure to wash my face every morning and to use exfoliating scrub every night. I use toner and micellar water, interchangeably. A little acne spot treatment where needed. Every other night, I swap between night cream and a glycolic peel. Every now and then, I might use one of those rotating scrub brushes or maybe a clay mask. It sounds like a bit much but it's actually not that hard to keep up with.

I've also been trying to be more active. My key focus is to walk the recommended 10,000 steps everyday to be considered active. I usually manage to hit this goal most weekdays, but weekends are my down time, so I strive for 2500 steps. No real reason why, just something to get me moving. In the past, some days I don't even break 1000, so this was at least an improvement. Eventually I'd like to exercise more regularly but I'm not there yet. Im not a fan of gyms but enjoy workout classes. I don't mind doing workout DVDs at home but find that I don't always have the self-discipline needed to stick to them. I'll figure something out for myself, but for now, the walking is a huge win for me. I've gotten back to my pre-pregnancy weight and maintained it. My legs are much more muscular and stronger than they were. I'm not going to scoff at any of that.

My real down fall is my diet. I LOVE food!!! So sometimes I let myself indulge a bit much and I don't use much self-control. I don't mind eating healthy, but I have a hard time sustaining that habit. I'm trying to get myself to follow a simple 80/20 rule -- 80% of the week, I will try to eat as well as I can, and then I will allow 20% of wiggle room for the delicious-but-not-so-good-for-you food. I haven't succeeded yet but if I can pick back up the habit of tracking calories, I will probably have a better shot.

Anyway... this isn't very compelling stuff, but I hope that now I'm 31 years old, I'm going to attempt to take things a step further. Now that I have an active toddle to chase around, I really want to be as healthy as I can be for her and for myself.

Quote by my awesome friend LO. She is beautiful, smart, talented, and an all-around badass. She welcomed me into the "Mommy's Club" with open arms, even though we're separated by over 1,000 miles. She is a top-notch feminist. She makes me laugh like hell. She is pretty damn great. So, LO, if you're reading this, this is my love letter to you. Don't let it get to your head, though. I need one of us to stay grounded. 😎

The Me I Will Never Be

Want to know a weird way to simplify life? 

Admit the things about yourself that you secretly fantasize about and hope will come true one day. This is a surprisingly effective way to come to terms with your true self and diminish the amount of guilt (or whatever negative term) you feel about yourself.

Things I will never be/enjoy/do:

• Be fancy - even the slightest. Dressing up and putting on makeup is for super special occasions and even then, I'm usually underdressed. 
• Be a human music encyclopedia - for some reason, I think I will have the time and energy to listen to all the great music EVER made and just know randomness about Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, etc. 
• Be a jet setter - I like the idea of being a world traveler, but I have a hard enough time getting myself to go on long weekend trips an hour away from home.
• Be artistic, like singing or dancing - Maybe I'm creative in other ways, I don't know, but I am not musically inclined whatsoever.
• Be a gardener - I do not have a green thumb. Plants die in my care. I already know my future home will have the smallest yard ever.
• Be a persuasive salesperson-type - Nope. 
• Be a scrapbooker - I want to save memories, but I think I need to figure out a different way to do it.
• Love spicy foods - I can handle a little bit of heat, but I will never enjoy having my mouth on fire.
• Wear makeup - I don't wear makeup daily. My bare minimum effort is moisturizer lotion. Step up is mascara and lipstick. Eyeliner and eyeshadow for when I feel ambitious. Anything beyond that means I'm trying to be fancy. (See bullet 1.)
• Wear heels over 2 inches tall - Hell no.
• Going out - I really like being home and being on my computer or reading a book. Yes, I make plans and go out occasionally. But I will never fully 100% want to go out more than staying home.
• Know how to decorate my home - I watch HGtv with the hope of suddenly developing an eye for interior design. Except that I decorate my home with things I like, find comfortable, and that sure as heck don't match or make a "statement". My home is for living - no style magazine covers to see here, folks.
• Be even nerdier - This one is weird. I consider myself more of an academic nerd. I was good in school and did really well in most subjects. Sometimes though, I think I didn't get into enough of the extracurricular nerdy/geeky things that I should've. I can't even begin to explain this one. Let's just leave it be.
• Politically informed - I wish were better about learning more on topics that intrigue me and researching politicians and their platforms. I get garbled up, click bait tidbits and then move on. As much as I want to know more, I'm not sure I'm going to do anything to change that.

These are a few of the things I know for sure that I have secretly wanted to do more of or be better at. Some things about myself, I already admit to and have no problem with: being a lifelong fan of the Backstreet Boys, not enjoying sports (watching or participating), and who knows what else that I can't think of right now. It just seems like if I can come to terms with the life I imagine having and really focus on the one I'm already living, then it will serve to simplify things like what I will spend time, money, and energy on.

Owning up to the me I'll never be let's me actually enjoy being the me I already am.

Did you get that??

One Month Check-In

It's been officially one month since I started to live my life by my one word theme(s). So far, I would say I'm doing well, even if not much has changed overall in my life. Here are the updates of what I've been up to:

My photo-a-day challenge

So maybe I forgot a few days but I'm really proud of myself for figuring out a new form of social media (Instagram, wha wha!). I'm also proud of myself for being more aware of my surroundings so that I could find ways to complete a daily photo challenge. It was an exercise for my creativity skills, which I honestly don't practice enough. I'm wrapping up January's challenge and looking forward to the pictures I will take in February.

Second Sundays
There's not much to report back on this since I've only had one go-around at this goal. I did write about the dinner I had with my friends so that's really the extent of my update. I'm skipping the 2nd Sunday in February since it's my birthday, and I will be spending time with my family but that'll give me more time to think about what I want to do with my friends in March.

Eclectic Readers Book Club
We had our first meeting of 2016 about the graphic novel The Sculptor by Scott McCloud. I more or less enjoyed the graphic novel and we had a great discussion around it. The Eclectic Readers podcast did a great episode on the story and one of our members/podcasters even had a Twitter exchange with the author. (These are the things that a bookworm lives for.)

Our next book is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. This is one of those classics that any avid reader has on their to-read list, and honestly, without the accountability of a book club, I never would've gotten to this on my own. The length of the book intimidated me and the "classic-ness" of it made me feel... well, unworthy of reading it. I don't know how that makes sense but that's how I generally feel about classics... like my wee little brain can't handle it. Since this is so long, we are postponing our discussion until March and that's fine by me since I'm not even halfway through and there's only a month left to read. (Thank goodness it's a leap year with an extra day in February!)

Baby G Moments
Sometimes it's hard to remember to jot down a quick memory or to post about a moment with my daughter that's really touched me. I want to be better about this. Maybe I just need to be better at tweeting and use that like a one-sentence journal of my Baby G moments.

10,000 Steps per Day
I still have not completed one full month of walking 10,000 steps each day of the month. The closest I got was back in September and I dropped out toward the end of the month (like the 25th or 26th) because of a very bad day that had me unmotivated. I'm going to try not to set myself up to fail. In February, I plan to hit 10,000 steps on weekdays and aim for 2,500 steps/day on weekends. Weekends are my downfall and I'm ok with that now. Acceptance.

So, onto my big ones! My two words for this year: simplify and connect.

I am taking it slowly but I think I've got a handle on simplifying where I can. I still find opportunities to try and cut out the extra clutter and drown out the distracting noises of life. One thing I want to tackle is to unsubscribe from newsletters and promotions that I never read. It's such a pain seeing my email inbox fill up with junk. Anyway, I am continuing to go through our house and get rid of things or sell stuff. Our guest bedroom is going to be my Mt. Everest though. We've been storing random junk in there and it needs to be cleared out, like yesterday. I'm also keeping things simple by saying no when I can and not cluttering up my calendar with unnecessary stuff. I feel like I actually have more free weekends (right now) so we'll see if it stays that way.

As for my theme to connect more with my loved ones. I'm going strong with this one. I've had some dinners and lunches with friends. I have a brunch coming up and am trying to plan playdates with some mom friends. The only problem is that I don't really feel like this is my theme for the year. It's definitely a resolution I've made and so far, I'm sticking with it. But I am going to have to retire "connect" from My One Word Year for 2016. Maybe I will revive it in the future and really spend a year connecting with more creative activities, but right now, it's not what my main focus is.

So there you have it... I'm actually down to just one word for this year and it is SIMPLIFY! I'm doing great on most of my resolutions and goals, which quite frankly, I'm shocked with that progress. Maybe it's incorporating more social media outlets to keep myself accountable. Maybe it's thinking I have people who actually read this blog. Maybe it's just because I actually care this time around and made goals that I could stick to.

Maybe all of the above.