1. A fun afternoon with my nephew. A few Sundays ago, my brother and nephew came over to watch the playoff games. It was just the three of us and for once, I was his BFF. Usually, my mom is and I’m thrown to the back burner but he came in a fabulous mood and it was a lot of fun having him over. (Exhausting! But fun.) It’s so thrilling to see him grow into this little person we can hang out with. Anytime I would try to steal a few moments alone on the couch, there was his adorable face and little voice asking me, “Why aren’t you playing with me anymore?” Who can deny him anything? Not me!
2. Best Body Bootcamp. I love strength training so, so much. It is my #1 workout love. I love how strong and capable it makes me feel, especially when I find myself able to lift heavier weights. Best Body Bootcamp is perfect for me, allows me to work at my own pace, and just makes me feel good about myself. I’m so glad I made the decision to participate in this round, and I know I’ll continue participating as long as Tina hosts them!
3. Coffee date with a good friend. I’ve been trying to get together with my old work BFF for months now and we finally both had time on a Sunday morning to meet for breakfast. It was fabulous spending time catching up with her and we made plans for pedicures next month. I’m really bad at keeping in touch with people, but this girl was basically my better half when we worked together and not having her in my life is not okay!
4. Giving up soda. This is something I never expected to actually accomplish! Sunday will mark three weeks since I’ve had a sip of soda – or anything carbonated! (I’ve tried sparkling water but they all end up tasting diet-y to me.) I’m not really sure how long I want to go before I have soda again. I really want to make it to 30 days and evaluate from there. Hopefully, I won’t even feel the need to have one. But I also know my ultimate goal isn’t to never have a soda ever again, but to not have it as often and not be as addicted to it as I was.
5. Taking my first steps towards a freelance career. Making the decision to write 50 different guest blogs this year is a crazy, exciting, frightening goal and I’m so glad I have so many of you guys supporting me as I begin this endeavor. I’ve written two guest blogs so far and I’m trying to write two a week which means it’s going to take me a while to get this goal marked off. Ultimately, I know I want to become a full-time freelance writer in the near future but it’s going to take a lot of work on my part to get me there. I’m ready!
6. Beginning the planning process for Bloggers in D.C.! AHHH! I can’t believe this whole thing is happening! It’s amazing how one little tweet can spark something incredible. We have a date (June 21-23), a location (D.C.), and I’ve got flight alerts locked up to snag the best deal at the right time. I am so excited to spend a weekend in D.C. with some of my favorite bloggers. Hopefully, we can find a great apartment for a fair price soon and things will really start feeling real!
7. The Niners made it to the Superbowl! Holy crap! I’m still freaking out about this. The Superbowl is going to be mighty stressful this year! But in the best possible way. (And can you believe it? HarBowl! Can you imagine having two boys, watching them grow up, and then years down the road they are head coaching in a Superbowl against each other?!)
8. Paying off my last credit card. I am completely credit card debt free and I am so happy about that! It feels really good to not have those balances hanging over my head. Now comes the hard part – not using it unnecessarily!
9. Quiet weekends at home. When my mom is home, she is very go, go, go, let’s do this and this and this. Me? I am a homebody. I like being at home. I like lounging around, reading and writing and watching TV. The work week can be so crazy that I like those two days of downtime. I like going out and doing stuff, don’t get me wrong, but more often than not, I like to be at home. So with my mom going to Orlando to spend time with her boyfriend often, I’ve had the apartment to myself and plenty of time to rest and recharge and spend time with me. It’s been amazing.
10. An amazing first and second date. If I were sitting across from you right now as I read through this blog post, you would see the biggest smile spread across my face and a blush stealing across my cheeks. Last Thursday, I went on a first date with a guy I had been messaging and texting with for a few weeks. We had dinner, strolled through downtown, snuggled on a bench, and shared a first kiss. It was an amazing, amazing evening. We met for lunch and more downtown fun on Saturday afternoon and it was just as fantastic as the first date. It’s in the early stages but he makes me ridiculously happy and I’m excited to see where this will go. Tonight, we’re going on our third date and no guy has ever interested me enough to get a third date out of me. That’s something!
What did you love about January?
awww, Steph. Looks like 2013 has been pretty good to you so far? The thing to recognize is it’s because you made all these things happen yourself. *applause*
Third date, third date, third date, third date!!!
Ahhh to #10. So exciting! Enjoy the date night!!!!!
(the rest of your month looked pretty good, too, though, based on this list! love it!)
What is Bloggers in D.C.? Who are you meeting? Sounds fun! Let me know if you need suggestions for hotels, restaurants, or other fun stuff in the city. 🙂
Also: THIRD DATE, WOOOOOO!
It’s basically a bunch of us who can’t afford BiSC coming together for a weekend in DC. We’re looking to rent an apartment for the weekend but haven’t really made any firm plans of where we’re staying yet. Any suggestions you can give us would be AWESOME! Right now, it looks like Allison (@withfaithgrace), Lauren (@laureneverafter), Kristen (@kristencurator), and Erica (@lovelyanomoly) want to come. We have a few people who don’t know yet if that weekend will work but we also have Becky (@loveverydaylife), Mandy (@MandyKTD), and Lauren (@laurentheanimal) playing tour guide for us. I’m excited and just hope it works out!
Yea!! That is so so exciting that you have had some awesome dates with someone special. I hope last night’s date was equally awesome! 🙂
I think it’s great that giving up soda made the list of things you loved this month. It definitely shows that you do have will power!!
Things I loved this month were quality time with my boyfriend, a long weekend that gave me a nice little break from work, and having breakfast with my friend when I was in Austin for work!
You had an amazing freaking month. Let’s see how February goes! So exciting that D.C seems to be working out as well, blogger meet-ups, dates, nephew time, all such good stuff!
I’ll say it again: you rocked the sh*t outta January! Great job!!!
My biggest accomplishment in January was knitting a baby blanket – a labor of love, a lot of work, but incredible to do! (And wahoo for bloggers in D.C.!)
What a great month for you! So glad to hear someone special has caught your attention 🙂
OH, how exciting. Blogger Meetup in D.C. – who’s coming? I know that was triggered by the BiSC announcement earlier this year, right?
Didn’t you think about going?
I did think about going to BiSC but I just couldn’t afford it. Between registration and the plane ticket… it’s just too much money for me. DC will be much, much more affordable for me!