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 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.

My photo-a-day challenge for 2016

One of my 2016 goals is to work on taking one photo a day as part of a photo journal. Well, that seems pretty daunting to figure out how to take 365 photos, especially since I'm a novice and not a photographer of any sort... well, actually it'll be 366 photos in 2016 because LEAP YEAR! So I decided to take some help from the wonderful world wide web (throwback!) and find monthly challenges on Pinterest to make this a little easier.

January's challenge comes from PosterJack Blog. I don't plan to use the hashtag that's in the image, but I did create an Instagram account to post my photos to. Follow along @kim.guernsey and I'll be using #kgphotos2016 for my monthly challenges.

PS) Other hashtags I'll be using with my photos are:

• #kgchitown - Chicago, where I live, work, and play!
• #kgfatkid - Any and all food related photos! Please don't be offended by the tag, it's an homage to an inside joke from college.
• #kgmomlife - Life is a little different now, with a wonderful child in the picture.
• #kgbookwork - Books are so important to me, that I need to take pictures of them.
• #kglove - This is probably going to be my catchall for photos of family, friends, books, pretty scenery, and anything else that doesn't meet the criteria of the other hashtags or my photo challenge.