March Madness! Or, How I Can't Get My Act Together

Well, with all good-intentioned resolutions will eventually come stumbling blocks. I will call my stumbling block "March 2016". I've been pretty mediocre, and maybe downright pathetic, at following through with some of my goals this month. Sure, I could make up a laundry list of reasons but I'm not really here to air out said dirty laundry. Actually, it's more like gently worn and might require a sniff test. J/k*. I'm just lazy.

Here's what's up... I haven't posted a damn thing this entire month. I've drafted a few ideas but nothing's been catching my interest for me to bother beefing up and posting to the interwebiverse (patent pending... well, no... not really). I was doing pretty well on my photo challenge for the first half of the month but hit a creativity block (which resembles me not checking my challenge topic list on a daily basis) so nothing's been going up on Instagram except pictures I've taken of food. Mmmm, food.

But check it out, here's what I've been doing in the meanwhile, since I haven't been posting here:

Every year, I fill out a NCAA March Madness bracket, much like thousands upon thousands of Americans. Except I know squat about college basketball, also like many other thousands of Americans. My method is simple. I select teams using an arbitrary algorithm I've created and which resides solely in my brain that factors in the school's name, the mascot, the team colors, and the ranking. Essentially, I guess and hope for the best. All of this (lack of) effort is pretty much to see if I can beat my husband at something he takes rather seriously. Turns out though, my pick to win the whole thing was a bust early on. So Hubs and I are counting how many teams we chose correctly overall and tallying it up. Whoever made the most correct picks wins! Grand prize: an ice cream sundae!! Hubs says the whole thing is wrapping up soon (like I'd know, heh) so I'll get to find out shortly if I win or not. (I'm one pick behind him and hoping beyond all hope that I get my sundae, dammit!) 

I also celebrated my wedding anniversary this month. It's been 6 years of marriage and 8 years together. We had a long-overdue day date to the movies and lunch since it's been awhile that we've gone anywhere in daylight without our Baby G. So why didn't we have a romantic dinner date instead? Glad you asked! Because I had a very important date to see Nick Carter in concert that night... without Hubs! That's why!

"Hi, my name is Kim. I'm 31 years old. I've been a die-hard Backstreet Boys fan for more than half my life. Nick Carter is my favorite."

"Hi, Kim!"

Something (else?) cool happened this month. I won a free book giveaway on Goodreads! It's The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg. This is actually the 5th book I've won over the last several years. I'm really looking forward to reading this one! As for the past books, I only read 2 of the 4 that I got. Though, I have every intention to read the other 2 this year, finally!

Also book related, I finally finished the Chronicles of Narnia series. It's taken most of my adult life before I ever bothered to look into the series, and took over the past 2 years to get through all seven books. I feel very accomplished now, and I've been basking in my own self-approval. *smug smile*

As far as my other goals go, I haven't been very good at recording moments I want to remember with my daughter. She's a toddler now and at an age when she's constantly surprising us with the new things she's learned or picked up. It's quite difficult to keep up with, honestly. My heart breaks a little for my future-self who may not remember little things like when Baby G started using certain words correctly or when she figured out how to do something new, but my present-self is very much enjoying the moments and soaking it all in. In that respect, my heart fills up a little more and sometimes I think it will burst with love and pride when I just sit and observe my little girl. (You know, when she's not throwing a tantrum or something).

So, there you have it. A month later, I finally checked back in to my blog. I'm hoping to do better next month. Until next time (whenever that is....)!!

* "Just kidding"

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.