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.

Second Sunday: January - Girls' Night Out

Yesterday was the second Sunday of January and my inaugural "Second Sunday" of connecting with the people I care about and don't get to see enough of.

I had a lovely dinner out with girlfriends at Little Goat Diner here in Chicago. Some were mutual friends who hadn't seen each other in awhile. Some were meeting each other for the first time. All got along and seemed to have fun, which was what I was hoping for!

It was COLD out last night, something ridiculous like 8 degrees F. I needed something to warm my belly so I had a yummy cup of hot chocolate and I ordered the delicious grilled cheese and split a side of brussel sprouts with one of my friends.

Side note: If anyone ever eats at Little Goat or Girl and the Goat (both owned by Stephanie Izard of Top Chef fame), please get the brussel sprouts at LG or the broccoli at G&G. Both are dressed with the most phenomenal fish sauce vinaigrette. Seriously. You can thank me later.

We talked about everything! Weddings, babies, bachelorette parties, Vegas, Britney (bitch), and there was even a little geeky conversation about IT work. It was great to see friends and even greater that they were enjoying themselves.

This was the perfect kickoff to my goal this year. Now... what to do next month?!

How reading LESS will make this bookworm happier

In the spirit of #simplify2016 and #connect2016, I'm tackling one of my most beloved but all too often neglected hobbies: reading.

In any given year, I attempt to read numerous books for several reasons or occasions.

I am part of an online book club called Eclectic Readers so there is at least 12 books that I try to go through in a year. I'm not always successful. If I can't finish a book and/or make it to a group discussion, I make up for it by listening to our nifty podcast.

I also participate in a "book bingo", which if you don't know what it is, I highly recommend a Google search on the topic. The bingo card usually covers 24 books of varying genres, some spots taken care of through my book club selections, but the rest are picks of my own.

On top of that, I try to set a Goodreads challenge for myself so if I'm feeling ambitious and want to read more than 24 books, I have to make up the difference for the challenge.

In case you missed it in my first post, "The Inspiration", I happened to have a baby in 2014. She is in full on toddler mode now so there seems to be little time, if any, to sit down and crack open a nice, cold beer book. That means for most of 2015, I struggled to keep up with something that I deeply love and NEED in order to keep my peace of mind and my imagination strong.

So, let's do this, 2016! I am setting out to simplify life by cutting out book bingo (*sad face emoji with tears*) and focusing mainly on my Eclectic Readers book club picks. This in turn will help me connect again with the amazing members of this group. I'll also be able to keep my challenge count reasonable.

I haven't been in this book club for as long as some other members, but in the time I've been a member and the few times I've been able to join discussions, I've been privileged enough to learn A LOT from some amazing people. I've been exposed to genres I wouldn't normally choose for myself, and I've listened to opinions and insight that I couldn't have possibly come up with myself. This book club covers quite a few things that I love about life: reading, friends, and meaningful conversations.

Seriously, I think I felt my heart grow bigger just thinking about being able to be more connected and engaged with my ER friends. I can't wait!

My One Word for 2016

ETA 2/2/16: I did decide on one word. My theme this year is Simplify.

Well, I couldn't decide on one word... so I have two words for 2016.

Simplify. Connect.

The first word I immediately thought of for my theme was simplify. I've been on a clean and purge mission the last couple of months of 2015 and I wanted to continue that, but it goes beyond the physical act of simplifying our belongings. I wanted to simplify the things I do and find ways to make life easier. I want to work smarter, not harder. I want to keep things to the basics and fundamentals. It's too easy to take on more or to find complicated ways of going about things. Sometimes the best things in life are the simplest tasks and pleasures. I want that... no, I need that. Life is hard enough on us, why make it harder?

As soon as I thought of simplify, I quickly thought of the next word, connect. In this sense, I mean relationships. I knew that efforts to simplify other aspects of my life would potentially give me time to build up my connections. My main priority is to be better about keeping in touch with my family in Florida and to make face-to-face plans with my friends in Chicago or to plan calls or video chats with my long-distance friends. I want to connect with people, the ones who mean something to me. A secondary look at connecting is of course, technology. I can utilize technology to connect to the people I love, but also, this blogs is a form of connecting to the internet and to whoever is reading it. I want to keep the technology aspect of connecting to a reasonable level. I don't want it to consume my time and take away from other more important things, but I do appreciate that technology will assist me in realizing my two themes for 2016.

I'm not one for making resolutions, but I look forward to sharing how I achieve these themes in my everyday life.

#simplify2016
#connect2016

The Inspiration

I used to keep an online journal back in college and it was one of my most treasured "possessions" - something just for me. After I graduated and settled into the "real world", I still craved the therapy and expression that my journal afforded me, but I wanted something less informal and something more structured. I've played with blogging on and off for the past several years but never found a theme or unifying idea to base my blogs on. They were all reincarnations of my old online journal and never felt quite right, not quite what I wanted to achieve and maintain. I needed a focus. I needed a foundation. I needed inspiration.

Now I have it.

One of my newest addictions is listening to podcasts. The most recent one I've been listening to is "Happier" hosted by Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft. I love that this podcast offers real, achievable tips for living a happier life. One of the tips that resonated with me became the basis for this blog.

Pick a one-word theme for the year. The idea is very simple - pick a word that will describe the kind of life you want to live for the year.

I actually read about this tip a few years back - there was something about it in a magazine (of which the title I can't recall) that Gretchen Rubin wrote. At the time, a blog wasn't something I was considering as a personal project but nonetheless, I wanted to find a way to incorporate the one-word theme into my life.

I actually remember this more vividly than I should. It was the tail-end of 2013 and I decided that "happy" was going to be my theme for 2014. I wanted to make decisions and do things that would contribute to me being happy. For that particular point in my life, that meant I was going to cut back on commitments that gave me anxiety or displeasure and that I would spend more time with my husband.

2014 ended up being a banner year in our house. We were settling into our first purchased home, and we decided it was the right time to start our family. I got pregnant pretty much right away (possibly due to my new happy mindset??) and we welcomed a beautiful baby girl in October 2014.

Fast forward a year and I am now reconnecting to this happiness tip that made a difference in my life. It hit me that this was how I would create a focus for a blog. The best part to me is that every year, I can start fresh with a new word, and I don't have to feel bored or constrained to one idea indefinitely that might not matter to me in the future. This blog will also be a vehicle for me to record ways I follow other happiness tips and things in life in general, all of which will hopefully tie into my one-word theme.

Stay tuned for the next post when I reveal what my one word will be for 2016!