January Review & February Goals.

January was a strange month - it was long but it went quickly. It feels like my birthday was ages and ages ago, like it should already be mid-March and not February 4th. Still, I'm in disbelief (as usual) at how quickly I was turning over a page on my calendar.

I didn't have any goals this month because January is always hectic. Having my birthday the week after New Year's means that my holiday season gets extended an extra week. On top of that, we had a lot of snow and I had a lot of year-end stuff to do at work, so I wasn't very motivated to do anything other than remember to sleep, eat vegetables, and drink water. (I can very easily live off of coffee and sugary snacks for quite a while without even noticing.)

Here are my goals for the following month. There are no more excuses - I spent the entirety of January on a break from most goals and responsibilities, so it's time to get back into the swing of it.

No-Spend February. Yup, another one of these. Actually, the only month I did this and was really successful was last August, the very first time I tried it. Even when I'm not super successful, though, it's still a good reminder not to spend my money on silly things. I do allow for spending on the weekends, particularly if I'm going on a date with Erik or out with my friends, but I try to limit it to one activity per weekend. I will also allow for any necessary grocery shopping, which is not a lot because my parents let me eat their food. Otherwise, no fast-food lunches or dinners, no coffee, no for-fun shopping trips, and no online purchases.

Weekly health goals. I'm already behind on this because I went to Erik's at the last minute this weekend and forgot to plan which goals I wanted to tackle on which week. My hope is that some of these will stick after doing them for a week, though the sleeping ones might go awry on the weekends. Anyway, I think it's going to look like this:

• Week One (Feb. 1-7) - Less screen time before bed / going to bed earlier
• Week Two (Feb. 8-14) - Getting up earlier
• Week Three (Feb. 15-21) - More water
• Week Four (Feb. 22-28) - Less processed foods

Since I don't use my phone or computer too much before bed when I'm at Erik's anyway, I already met half of this goal over the weekend. For the rest of the week, I plan on turning off electronics at 9:30pm, getting in bed by 10pm, and having the lights out by 10:30pm (unless I'm exceptionally un-tired, in which case I can stay up later). This will force me to catch up on reading my magazines and all the books I want to read, as well as encourage my journaling and cross-stitch habits, since those are the main non-electronic things I can do.

Complete my Holiday Council work. I was so gung-ho about all of my goals after finishing up the last Holiday Council call before Christmas. Because I knew I'd be busy for a while, I tucked away all of the unfinished paperwork and promised myself to come back to it in the new year. Well, I still haven't done that (oops). This month I plan on sitting down and re-listening to all the calls, reviewing the work I've done, and completing the remaining sheets. This year is going to be fantastic, but I need a plan and seeing as one of my goals is to Be Responsible, I have to sit down and do the work.

Blog more. I am slowly but surely blogging here a little more frequently than before. My goal has been to post twice a week, but I think I managed a weekly post only, if that (and not even on a consistent day every week). This month I'm hoping to stick to my two-posts-a-week goal. We'll see.

What are your goals or intentions for February? How was your January?

#photoadayjune

Now that I have an iPhone, I was finally able to properly participate in the Photo a Day challenge by @fatmumslim. I made an attempt a few months ago using my regular camera, but it was too much work. Having a camera and internet connection at my fingertips made it so much easier. Here's a look at my month in daily photos!

June's Moments.

1 - Erik's heeeeere!
2 - Dinner date with Erik; Lyndsay's 21st birthday extravaganza!

3 - Katie's graduation party; cuddling with Erik.
4 - Panera for dinner.
5 - Day off; breakfast from Panera - yummy chai tea latte & strawberry scone.
6 - Catching up on work even though I was off on Tuesday.
7 - Finally getting in bed at the end of the day.
8 - Dinner with the Lady Lumps!
9 - Justine's shower, then dinner date with Erik.

10 - Snuggling & being lazy with Erik all day.
11 - Leftover Olive Garden ravioli... SO GOOD.
12 - Not feeling sick on the way to work.
13 - Got caught up after being WAY behind on work.
14 - Yummy dinner that Dad made.
15 - Shopping and dinner date with Lynds.
16 - Melissa's bachelorette party!



17 - Spending all day in bed.
18 - Running late in the morning but miraculously making it on time.
19 - Clearing off my desk.
20 - Getting speakers on my computer so I can listen to music!
21 - Finishing the check run in the morning (it usually takes most of my day).
22 - Baking cookies and snuggles with Erik.
23 - Road trip; first official potluck dinner and game night with my friends.
24 - All the cousins together at my cousin's high school graduation party for the first time in 5 years; taking secret shots with Lyndsay.


25 - Sick day to catch up on sleep.
26 - Watching the Olympic qualifiers for swimming.
27 - SYTYCD Top 20! MIA'S BACK!!
28 - Getting to bed early after a week of staying up late.
29 - Dinner with the boys (Erik and his four best friends).
30 - Getting Rita's with Erik and sitting on his front lawn enjoying the gorgeous weather.

May's Moments.

1 - Getting caught up on my work.
2 - Getting through work even though I felt sick in the morning.
3 - Finding red velvet ice cream at the store.
4 - Finally Friday!
5 - Having a day to do absolutely NOTHING.
6 - Movies with Ash & the crew; snuggles with Erik.
7 - Rangers win by tying with 6 secs left! And then getting an overtime goal!
8 - Getting in bed early.
9 - Out to Champps with Erik, Kim, and Bobby.
10 - Natalie's professional wedding pics go up on Facebook!

 {photo credit}

11 - Shopping!
12 - Time with Erik; girls night with Nat and Justine.
13 - Yummy breakfast at Erik's.
14 - Making plans for Erik to stay over two nights during the week.
15 - Light traffic on the drive home.
16 - Erik being here when I got home from work!
17 - Erik being here when I got home from work! (Seriously, good enough to be the highlight of both days.)
18 - Drinks with Ash!
19 - Rangers win! Shutout!
20 - IPHONE! Going out to dinner with my family.
21 - Fast day at work.
22 - Panera for dinner.
23 - Took a sick day, which was relaxing; super nice weather; pizza for dinner.
24 - Erik remembering to send me a picture of the beach while he was on vacation.

25 - Quiet Friday for catching up on work; fave meal for dinner.
26 - Sangria night with Lynds.
27 - Lazy Sunday.
28 - Sunny day! Enjoyed the weather by washing the cars.
29 - Not a lot of traffic on the way to work.
30 - Toys at lunch! (Perks of working for a company that owns fast food franchises.)

31 - BBQ chicken for dinner!

What did May have in store for you? 

April & May Goals.

April was so crazily busy, but I've already discussed that to death here. Let's launch into how my goals went.

12 Changes

April was insane, but worked in tandem with the goal I hoped to accomplish. My sleeping schedule had previously been disgraceful. Once I started working, however, I really had no other choice but to get up at 7am and get to bed by 10pm so that I wasn't exhausted. Last weekend was my first time deviating from the schedule, but even then, I was sleepy by midnight and only slept late to "catch up" on sleep. (I know you can't actually do that, although I'm convinced that I am an advanced sleeper.) So thanks to my job, my change for this month was definitely accomplished.

Getting used to working full-time is a huge shift for me and the thought of tackling goals this month made me really exhausted. I checked my list and saw that I have one that's forcibly being enacted: limiting my time online.

As far as I know, I'm not really allowed to be online at work. Since I don't have an iPhone, that's 8 hours (plus around 2 for commuting) of not logging into Facebook, Twitter, or reading any blogs. When I get home, I eat and relax, eventually reaching for my laptop but not making it a priority. Basically, this goal will be accomplished pretty easily, but that's exactly what I need during my first full month of work.

1. Take vitamins/probiotic daily
2. Exercise at least three days a week
3. Craft at least once a week
4. Journal daily
5. Read every day (from a book, not a blog/the internet)
6. Reduce sugar intake
7. Reduce processed food intake
8. Limit time spent online
9. Put at least $10 from every paycheck in savings
10. Drink more water
11. Get on a regular sleeping schedule

Digital Day Off

My day off in April was a great success! I will admit that I cheated, but only because I wanted to check for any bachelorette party updates. In the morning, I allowed myself to check my personal e-mail and only log onto Facebook to see if I had any new messages or notifications. After that, I could only use it to look something up or to write something down on my to-do list.

So what did I do in my spare time? I had lunch with my grandparents, read more of The Happiness Project, vacuumed my room, worked on the bathroom, and cleared some clutter in my room. At night I went to visit Mark and allowed myself one more Facebook check, since I was telling him all about the bachelorette party plans. There were some updates, so I responded accordingly, sent out an e-mail, then went back to hanging out with Mark.

A Goal a Month

My little goal for April was to have a "clean" eating week before the wedding. It didn't happen, although I introduced green monster smoothies into my diet, which is some kind of improvement. This month, I want to take myself to dinner.

Going out to dinner by myself is on my 30 Before 30 list and I've been dying to do it. I have plenty of opportunities, seeing as Erik will be away this weekend and then later this month for a trip with his friends. Plus, being at work all day makes me want to do fun, out-of-the-house activities during the weekend, which includes intense cravings for going to dinner. This should be really fun.

April's Moments.

1 - Visiting Mark and hearing all about his new girlfriend.
2 - Bonding with my brother as we cleaned out his closet.
3 - Finding a cookies-and-cream chocolate bunny for Erik for Easter.
4 - Phone interview; dinner with my grandparents and aunt (whom I was visiting).
5 - Seeing the downstairs bathroom all finished; sleepover with Erik.
6 - Sun-dried tomato bagel with cream cheese, yum!
7 - Buying myself tulips because I wanted flowers in my room

8 - Easter!
9 - Getting the job I interviewed for!!
10 - Home-cooked dinner with my aunt, uncle, and cousin.
11 - Panera date with Danielle.
12 - Waking up with Erik.
13 - Relaxing all day; reading outside; taking a soothing bath.
14 - Melissa's bridal shower and Natalie's bachelorette party (and I survived it without being anxious/sick)!

15 - Sleeping in and lounging alllllll day.
16 - Finding out my hair appointment for the wedding is at 10:30 and not 8:30.
17 - Reading outside all day; cuddling with Erik.
18 - Finishing Nat's scrapbook.
19 - Outing with Erik's cousins.
20 - Rehearsal dinner for Natalie's wedding!

Erik photobombing our Lady Lumps photo out of sheer jealousy.

21 - THE WEDDING, obviously.
22 - Hanging out with Erik and sleeping in.
23 - First day of work went pretty well.
24 - Getting the hang of my work.
25 - Not feeling completely exhausted after work.
26 - Panera for dinner! Chicken soup and chicken caesar sandwich... so good.
27 - Dinner date with Erik.
28 - Spending all day with Erik; poker night; Rangers win!
29 - Sleeping in (with Erik... do you see a pattern? He's on this list a whole lot...)
30 - Not feeling overwhelmed at work.

March's Moments.

1 - Finally seeing Erik after a long few weeks
2 - Playing poker with Erik and my family
3 - Warm weather and open windows
4 - Waffle fries and cheese with dinner
5 - Crafting with Lynds!
6 - Chips and cheese, my fave
7 - Applying to my dream job
8 - 72-degree weather
9 - Finding a perfect nail polish color to match my bridesmaid dress
10 - Spending the whole day with Erik
11 - More crafting with Lynds, including a late-night McDonald's run
12 - Making a lot of progress on the bathroom
13 - French toast-flavored waffles
14 - Catching up on New Girl
15 - Chocolate cupcakes
16 - Baking cupcakes for my brother's birthday and the St. Patty's Day party
17 - St. Patty's Day party and some entertaining drunken conversations
18 - Corned beef, YUM
19 - Finding clips for my shoes
20 - Sick cuddles with Erik
21 - Watching cartoons in bed
22 - Picking floor tile and paint colors
23 - Dinner out and another poker night with Erik
24 - Hanging out at Champps with Bobby and Kim
25 - Breakfast in bed
26 - Being productive by exercising and running errands
27 - Loving all the paint color choices for the BR (which is rare, since my mom and I have differing tastes)
28 - Quiznos after a successful shopping trip
29 - Finishing errands!
30 - Sent out lots of job applications
31 - Painted the bathroom (almost done!)

January's Moments.

Last year, I saw a cool monthly recap on Stephany's blog that noted one memorable experience from every single day. I loved it so much, but I'm a stickler for doing things all-or-nothing, which meant I had to wait until the new year to start. Here we go!

1 - Ringing in the New Year by watching old-school Nickelodeon shows with Erik.
2 - The Rangers win the Winter Classic! Yay!
3 - We found out my cousin, who has some learning issues and has been struggling to complete her associates degree, will finally graduate in May!
4 - Wine and Doritos with Lyndsay, because we're classy.
5 - Going to the Rangers game to celebrate mine and Erik's anniversary.

6 - Ice skating with our friends Bobby and Kim.
7 - My party! Drinking a whole bottle of wine, dancing to Shakira with Erik in Just Dance, seeing almost all of my friends, getting tons of great gifts.
8 - Erik getting me Dunkin Donuts for my birthday breakfast.
9 - Using my new nail buffer from Lyndsay. My nails were so pretty after.
10 - Rewarding myself for going to the dentist with my first Essie nail polish (Power Clutch).

11 - I had lunch with my grandparents and aunt, and they brought me cannoli cake. Yum.
12 - Hanging out with "the guys" (Erik and his friends).
13 - Date night with Kim to see Beauty & the Beast in 3D.
14 - Epic wine night with Lyndsay, which included lots of bonding.
15 - Giants win!
16 - Going out for fro yo and getting my go-to combo: vanilla with Oreo pieces.
17 - Video chatting with Erik.
18 - Finally applying to some jobs!
19 - Trying something new at half-off apps night at Applebees - I got the chicken wonton tacos and they were pretty good.
20 - Having the giggles with Erik (there may or may not have been alcohol involved).
21 - Hot chocolate with breakfast.
22 - GIANTS WIN AND ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!

23 - Braving work even though I wasn't feeling well.
24 - Getting chores done.
25 - I took an epic nap after my failed dentist appointment.
26 - Finding a top at Target to complete an outfit I was thinking of.
27 - Chinese food dinner date with Erik.
28 - The NHL All-Star skills competition. It was hilarious, especially during the breakaway competition - they all did really fancy (or silly) shots. Loved it.

29 - January's #twookclub chat
30 - I'm watching HIMYM for the first time (from the start) and I finished Season 1.
31 - Michael Jackson Glee episode!

What were some memorable moments from your January?

Farewell, December.

December was the typical hustle-and-bustle of the holiday season. There were Christmas songs playing from my laptop daily while I worked on craft projects for my friends' gifts and baked boxes of yummy treats. In between, I sipped hot chocolate, watched all of my favorite Christmas movies, and wrote some love letters for the 12 Days of Love Letter Writing.

It all culminated in the best holiday weekend I have in memory. I excitedly swapped gifts with my boyfriend, caught up on the lives of family members, and enjoyed every moment of it with barely a moment of anxiety. I sat around the tree with Erik's family and felt so comfortable and not a single bit out of place; it was a wonderful feeling and I'm grateful to be so welcomed by them.

I won't be addressing my goals because barely kept them in mind this month. However, I will say that I remained pretty stress-free, took care of myself, and tried my hardest to soak in every single joyful experience this season. It was a great month; a great close to the end of what has been a most wonderful year.

Instead of a recap of my year, I'm posting the links to my monthly recaps. Feel free to read through to see all of the things that made this year special for me.

January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November 

Belated November Recap & December Goals.

November. Let’s start from the end and work our way back, shall we?

The final week of my November was cah-razy. It started when my cousin, who drove across the country from California, arrived at our doorstep at 10:30 Thanksgiving morning (when company wasn’t expected until 2). It ended with me curled up in bed for two days dealing with and recovering from a stomach bug. In between was a myriad of poor choices – copious drinking two days in a row, driving to Erik’s despite being exhausted, going shopping and subjecting my low immune system to the germs of hundreds of strangers – all which culminated in my illness.

Aside from all of that, however, November was good to me. I attended a belated Halloween party and saw the gorgeous house that my friends recently bought and revamped. We celebrated Natalie’s birthday with a small shindig at her fiancé’s house and I embraced my love for Christmas.

Let’s see how my goals fared this month.

Get healthy. This is continuously at a stand-still. I always end up being ‘too busy’ to deal with it.

Work on my anxiety. I dealt pretty well with the surprise arrival of my cousin on Thanksgiving, so I get props for that.

Live in the moment. I’m getting better at it as each month goes by, but still not perfect.

Stay in touch. Not good at all. I had a weird mood swing in the middle of the month and decided that I was done playing secretary with all of my friends, so I didn’t contact anyone.

Be me and stop worrying what other people think. No specific examples, but I think I’m doing at a good job with this one.

My goals for the rest of the year:
•    eat fewer processed foods and less sugar – no
•    exercise daily (or at least make an attempt) – no
•    find time for myself every day – not really
•    go with my gut and don't do things for others unless those things are also going to make me happy – yes
•    go to the dentist (which I have been avoiding all. year. long. That's just depressing.)  - still no, but I’m –thisclose- to calling

I have this tendency to throw in the towel for December because there is simply too much going on, which I predict will happen again. At the very least, I'll be trying my hardest to meet my goals of eating healthy and exercising so that I don't crash and burn after the holidays are over.

{Have you signed up to receive a Christmas card from me yet? If not, go here and do it!}

October's Over; Now for November.

October was, in a word, fun. The weather was weird – a cold blast, then summer-like weather, and finally a snowstorm for Halloween weekend – but I enjoyed every last second of it.

We celebrated Erik’s birthday twice over, with a party at my house and a fancy-schmancy dinner date. I attended the So You Think You Can Dance tour with Cort and Ash, missed the hockey game I was supposed to go to with Erik and his friends, but planned a second trip for November. Speaking of hockey, my boyfriend’s Rangers obsession has started to grow on me and I found myself actually enjoying the games and caring about the result.

There were more birthday outings for Erik’s roommate, dress shopping with Danielle, and a visit to my grandparents’ house to do some chores for them. I found myself in a bit of a funk for the last week of the month, but I pulled myself out of it and enjoyed my snowed-in weekend at Erik’s and a Halloween with lots of trick-or-treaters.

For whatever reason, I am ten times more excited about the holiday season than I usually am… and that’s saying something because I’m always excited. I can’t wait to start planning desserts and shopping for gifts; it’s my favorite time of the year.

Also, check out my two new vlogs: one about this weekend's freak snow storm and another for the We Blog, We Vlog Time Capsule challenge.

So Long, September.

September. I bet you can’t guess what the highlight of my month was. (That’s sarcasm, because I’ll actually bet that you already did.) If you guessed my best friend’s wedding… you’re right!

The first week of September was the busiest and filled with pre-wedding and wedding goodness. There was the bachelorette party in NYC, last-minute trips to Danielle’s house to help with prep, the rehearsal dinner, and of course, wedding day itself.

The best part of it all, which I failed to mention in my recap of the day, was seeing my best friend and her new husband look so incredibly happy together. Watching them walk around the reception hand-in-hand with huge smiles on their faces warmed my heart so much. And every time I stole a glance at them dancing during the slow songs, they seemed in a world of their own. It was truly a beautiful thing to witness.

(I will say, however, that I’m missing the bridal party terribly. It was fun to bond with them and it feels weird not to see or talk to them constantly about wedding preparations.)

The rest of the month was pretty quite after all of that. I wanted it that way; I knew the week of the wedding would stress me out (because what doesn’t stress me out?), so I didn’t want a calendar full of plans.

The following weekend was MusicFest, which was thoroughly disappointing after last year. But I spent the entire weekend with E, which was really nice. Other than that, there were very few social outings – mostly, I just hung out with E and his friends from school, including a movie date with his roommate’s girlfriend.

What passed the time for the rest of this month? Working, doing chores around the house, and watching all the fall premieres on TV. Aside from the first uber-busy week, it was a quiet month. After being sick for the last few days, I’m ready to start filling my calendar up again.