Recurring Series

October Recap + Goals

It’s that time again! It’s hard to believe that we’re just two months away from starting a brand-new year, but we are. October was a solid month for me. Nothing terribly exciting happened, and I dealt with some trying issues, but mainly? It was a good month. I felt happy, peaceful, and centered. And I am so ready for what November is going to bring.

Let’s recap October, shall we?

In October, I…

Lived on my own for nine days. And wrote a whole post about my experience. It was fun, it was restorative, and it let me know I am going to really enjoy living on my own.
Went brunette! I loved being a blonde, but it was time to go back to brunette. It took me a while to get used to the darker color, but I’m so happy with the change. It’s a great shade and makes me feel a little sassy.
Walked a 5K with my mom and Dutch. We all had such a fun time walking a 5K towards the end of October. Dutch was a total badass and it was fun to cross the finish line with him.
Celebrated Mia’s first birthday. My cousin’s baby, Mia, turned one in October and it boggles my mind it has been an entire year since she came into our lives! She is such a precious love and I adore her to bits and pieces. Her birthday was so much fun, especially catching up with family we haven’t seen in a while. And girlfriend attacked her smash cake like it was no big thing.
I closed #twookclub for good. I loved hosting #twookclub. It was fun and I was able to read some really awesome books that I wouldn’t normally have picked up because of it. But ultimately, participation was low and my heart just wasn’t into hosting it anymore so I let it go. And I feel really, really good about it. (And everyone’s comments about my hosting were much appreciated. Sometimes, I feel a bit as if I failed by not being able to keep participation up, so your comments helped me to see it was just something that happened.)

Check-In on October Goals

Don’t use my credit card. Nope. I was doing well, up until I had to pay almost $300 for a new iPhone which wiped out all my spending cash. While I managed not to use it during the first two weeks of October, I dipped into it for some expenses for the second two weeks.
Go back to a cash budget system for extras. Nope. I never got into using a cash budget system, and I really want to implement this in the coming year to help me be better about my spending.
Take Dutch to his first 5K and second 3K Pet Walk. Halfsies? We didn’t end up making it to the pet walk (Mia’s birthday party was on the same day) but we did participate in the 5K and had a blast!

Goals for November

Win NaNoWriMo 2013. I am just really excited to get started with writing. I am hoping to write 2,000 words per day and I know I can achieve this because I am so thrilled with the story and getting it out of my head and onto paper.
Get my first tattoo. I want to do this for my birthday! I know exactly what I want, where I want it, and how I want it to look. So now I just have to go do it!
Start food journaling. I like the idea of food journaling more than I like the idea of calorie counting. Calorie counting feels so limiting and it doesn’t reach into the true emotional aspects of food. And I am an emotional eater, through and through, so I think doing food journaling may be the key. I want to learn more about my eating patterns and how I feel before and after I eat food, less about how many calories are in a packet of crackers. We’ll see how this goes.

Categories: Recurring Series

Five For Friday (24)

One.

As I’ve mentioned before, the office environment at my new job was a lot to get used to. I mean, I only have two real experiences with job environments: a preschool and my previous office job. That company was small (11 people total) and we were a close-knit group. And the environment was pretty energetic. We all collaborated on many projects together, which meant lots of meetings, conference calls, and impromptu brainstorming sessions whenever we got a chance. The first time I stepped foot in my new office, it was dead silent. I felt as if I was setting off a bomb just by telling the receptionist I was there for an interview. Seeing how quiet it was, I told myself I could never work in an environment like that.

And my first month, it was hard to get used to this environment. (Plus, I was stuck in a corner by myself which didn’t help matters.) I felt as if I couldn’t even eat an apple without disrupting the quiet. But I noticed this week how much I really enjoy it. I’ve gotten used to it, and it’s absolutely necessary for a writing environment. We’re not collaborating on projects – we’re writing. And writing requires silence. (At least it does for me. A lot of people wear headphones and listen to music, which also works.) I really feel like I’m settling in more, finding my place, and I’m not as terrified as I was in the beginning. It helps that I was moved to another cubicle where I’m surrounded by people now (I’m in a part of the office where I’m surrounded by boys. Seven boys and little ole me. I, um, don’t hate it…), and actually have conversations throughout the day. And I think the more time passes, the more I’ll be able to open up and feel more of a part of the team.

It’s funny, too, because I was telling my mom a work story on Friday during lunch and she said how happy I seem now. Whenever I talked about work at my other job, it was always filled with complaints. And I’m not saying things are butterflies and roses here because I can see how mundane the writing can get, but I will take every mundane writing assignment over dealing with the horribleness I dealt with at my last job. So yes. I’m really, really happy.

Two.

This week, I have had dreams about a much-adored blogger dying, shattering my iPhone screen again, and seeing my dad and having a wonderful afternoon with him. I’ve been through the gauntlet this week! Sadness, despair, and happiness. The dream about the blogger is one I haven’t been able to get out of my head, and every time I see a post or tweet from her, I get super happy that all is well. And the dream about my dad? Well, just add that to the many dreams I have where things are wonderful and we’re getting to know one another again and I wake up in the happiest of moods. It’s always sobering to wake up and realize that is not my reality. And now I just miss him more than ever.

Three.

For my girls’ cruise (in three weeks!), my friend gave us the news that we were upgraded to two balcony rooms right next to each other. I’ve never been in a balcony room on a cruise! I am so excited, but now I don’t think I’ll ever want to leave the room to do anything. Except eat, since there’s no room service on this cruise. I’m slowly getting more and more excited about this cruise. I’ve been “yay” but not “YAY!” because it’s only two days and we don’t make any stops, but still, it’s a cruise, with four girls I totally adore, and will make for a great, great weekend.

Plus, we are reading Baby-Sitter’s On Board as our book for November. And that’s just the best thing ever.

Four.

I bought Lorde’s CD a few weeks ago and my obsession with her is ridiculous. The CD itself is amazing and I’m in love with just about every track. And basically, I just want to be Lorde when I grow up.

Five.

Some links to my favorite posts this week:

You Think The Stakes Are High Now? Please | The Middle Finger Project

“Are we really passing up life because IT’S A LITTLE MORE FUCKING HARD THAN LYING AROUND ALL DAY? Every single moment IS the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Ash Ambridge is my Internet crush and I loved this post. It was short, simple, and to the point. And that punch in the face I needed.

10 Habits to Help You Be More Present (Part I, Part II) | Jess Lively

“Distraction is a moving target. So our job, as presence-seeking beings, is not to find a “silver bullet” that dissolves our distractions forever, but to realize that we will need to remain aware of what interrupts our presence on a regular basis and make changes accordingly.”

Jess Lively’s blog might be my favorite find of this year. I loved this series she recently did because she offered many great ideas and tips for finding ways to find peace and presence in the busyness of everyday life. She stresses that it’s something we always have to be mindful of and I love her point that distraction is a moving target because it’s so true.

Ten Truths for the Teenage Girl | Living Proof Ministries Blog

“If I’ve learned one thing, I’ve learned that if I can’t always believe what I think about myself, and I can’t always believe what people are saying about me or what the internet says about me, I can believe what the Lord says about me. I can rest in the truth of His word and the promises He gives.”

Lindsee is my soul sister. She’s a girl I would tackle hug if I ever met her and not feel embarrassed because I know she would hug me just as tightly back – even if we’d never met one another before. This post, about a list of things she wanted to tell a 13-year-old girl as she steps into her teenage years, was beautiful. I think it’s applicable for all ages – truths I need to remember myself, at 25. Especially the sentence above. I need to remember that the only opinion that matters is Jesus, and He holds a very high and esteemed opinion of me. 🙂

Happy weekend! I don’t have too many plans. I want to work on my NaNoWriMo plot (it all kicks off one week from today – eek!) and hopefully, get it as finished as I possibly can. And my friend is having a birthday party to celebrate her 30th so I’ll be stopping by to hang out for a few hours. Should be an easy, low-key weekend! My favorite!

Categories: Recurring Series

On Shattered iPhones, Racing with a Dachshund, and Lazy Sundays

Oh, what a weekend! Let’s recap, shall we?

Friday | Friday started off like a normal day. I met my mom for lunch at Chipotle and then had a lazy afternoon. I did some writing, finished a great book, and even tried to spend some time at the pool but the sun disappeared between a rain cloud literally seconds after I sat down on a pool chair. Eventually, I decided to get some errands done. I needed to get gas, wash and vacuum my car, drop some books off at the library, and then wanted to browse at Target. (And by browse, I mean spend a stupid amount of money.)

Well, halfway through washing my car, a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing happened. You see, I had my iPhone sitting on a ledge right by the car wash machine (where you can select different buttons for what you want to use, be it a foaming brush or high-pressure rinse, and also where you put in your quarters). Somehow, my money ran out when I was only halfway done with washing the car and the machine never beeped to tell me so and I was angry because this was taking so effing long and I kept banging the hose against my car and against me and oh my god why is washing a car so difficult and why am I out of breath from this and now I have to use my effing credit card to finish the job because I need to save the rest of my quarters for the vacuum and the stupid vacuum machine doesn’t take credit cards and I was trying to avoid this by bringing FOUR FREAKING DOLLARS IN QUARTERS and NOW since the time had completely run out, I had to give the stupid car wash another $2.00 to restart it. And so. I angrily opened the door to my car (which, by the way, was currently dripping in soap), whipped out my credit card from my purse, slammed the door shut, stomped over to the machine, and swiped my card with so much force that my phone fell off the ledge and landed face-down on the concrete. And when I picked it up, it looked like the picture above. So that’s how I ended my Friday. A shattered iPhone, a half-clean car, and the distinct impression that I may need anger management.

Saturday | My mom and I started our day with a few hours spent walking around the Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete which was a lot of fun. Lots of vendors to see and yummy food to sample and eat. It was a fun few hours but so hot and a bit miserable. We wound up buying some fresh produce and my mom treated me to a cupcake. (So delish!)

Later on in the day, my mom, Dutch, and I participated in a 5K! It was Dutch’s first and though he’s a pretty active old pup, I didn’t know if he had it in him to complete the whole thing. The race started at 5:30 and we got there about an hour early so I think it depleted his energy a little bit (so much to see! And sniff!). Dutch, though, was a total badass. While we ended up walking the whole thing (we thought he might want to run a bit but every time we tried, he basically gave us a “WTF?” face and kept walking), and he was one of the few that finished. (A lot of the dogs quit after 1 – 2 miles.) He did so well and everyone thought he was just the most adorable thing ever. Because he was. Duh. It was just so much fun to complete a race with Dutch!

Almost immediately after completing the race, though, the arch on my left foot cramped up and the pain was excruciating. I could barely walk on it and the pain reverberated down the side of my foot. It’s probably the worst cramping I’ve ever experienced. Even just touching my arch lightly was intensely painful. After about two hours (and two soaks in hot water), the pain level decreased a bit. (I could walk on my whole foot, but it was still really sore.) I am so at a loss for what to do about it. This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with an excruciating arch cramp after completing a race. I have high arches and I underpronate. I’ve been fitted for running shoes, even fitted for custom insoles, but nothing does the trick. Not supportive shoes, not insoles. It is just so frustrating because it’s not like I ran 10 miles with no training! I went on a 3-mile walk. All I can think of is possibly overuse of my muscle (I haven’t been exercising as much as I should lately) and being dehydrated (it was a super hot day and I was thirsty before the race even began). My feet are weird.

Sunday | Sunday morning, I had an early appointment at the Genius Bar to get my phone fixed. (I tried an iPhone repair shop but they couldn’t help me.) Unfortunately, the Genius Bar didn’t yet have screens in for the 5s phones (?!?!?), so I had to buy an entirely new phone for $287. Isn’t that wonderful? It’s wonderful. It’s so wonderful. (This case will be ordered very soon. I’m not dealing with a shattered screen again.)

The rest of Sunday was pretty low-key. My mom and I went to Panera for breakfast, and then she treated me to a pedicure. (Because she’s just the best.) We did our grocery shopping for the week, and then we lazed around the house. I watched football, wrote a few blog posts, did laundry and prepped lunches for the week, and started a new book! All in all, a lovely end to a crazy weekend. A weekend I definitely do not want to repeat any time soon.

So how was your weekend? No shattered phone screens, I hope?

Categories: Recurring Series

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Happy Friday! A while back, Katelin wrote up this fun post on what she did yesterday, is doing today, and may do tomorrow, and it’s always been on my list to do it myself but I’ve never gotten around to it! But today seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.

Yesterday, I…

Spent the majority of my day proofreading content from a writer who only worked at my place for a little over a month. It’s actually a lot of work because I am having to rewrite a lot of it, but I’m really enjoying it. (I just hope my editor likes it as well!) I’m two months into my new job and I still don’t have a solid base of clients, but I hear that’s very normal and to just enjoy it, because there will be a time I’m up to my eyeballs in content writing. So I’m biding my time, being patient, and showing off my skills whenever I can.
Went out for lunch. There’s a big mall with a great food court less than 5 minutes from my work, and it’s always nice to get away for an hour. I typically eat lunch at my desk when I bring it, which means 9.5 hours of sitting at my desk, inside. I need fresh air! (And there’s nowhere really to walk outside where I work, which kinda sucks.) So it was nice to get out into the sunshine and away from work for an hour.
Went for a long walk with Dutch. He may be eleven and have really short legs, but the little guy is a speedster. It was a brisk walk!
Had chicken nuggets and fries for dinner and it did not make me feel good. It’s just a good reminder that eating healthy may not be the most fun, but it’s better than feeling like crap.

Today, I…

Will continue working on the huge proofreading job I was given earlier this week.
Will start my weekend at 11:30! Woohoo! I still cannot get over half-day Fridays. The best perk!
Will. Wash. My. Car. This has been on my to-do list for two weeks and my car is embarrassingly dirty, both inside and outside. It needs a good wash and vacuum. I cannot go home until she is sparkling clean!
Will finish my last character analysis for my NaNoWriMo book, and start working on my plot! I have two strong characters in mind but haven’t yet figured out the plot, how they’re going to get together, their internal character struggles, and all that jazz.
Will try to get caught up on my DVR. I’m about two weeks behind on many of my shows, such as Parenthood, Nashville, and The Blacklist. Eek!

Tomorrow, I…

Will visit the Saturday Morning Market for the first time ever! We went over the summer but that was a mini version since the real market runs from October – May. They have over 200 vendors, live music, and lots of yummy food to sample and buy. I’m so excited!
Will scope out a new cupcake shop. You see, my birthday is on Thanksgiving this year and I really want to bring cupcakes to the family dinner to celebrate. But I have yet to find a really good cupcake shop in the area, so I’m on a mission to find it. It’s a hard life I lead.
Will get a pedicure! Yay!
Will spend a crapload of money at Target, because it’s payday week and that’s just what I do.
Will participate in a fun Halloween 5K with my mom and Dutch. We didn’t end up making it to the SPCA 3K Pet Walk, but I really wanted to do this event because it looks like a fun time! I’m not so worried about Dutch being able to complete the race, as I am worried about me keeping up with him!

What’s something you did yesterday, did or will do today, and will do tomorrow?

Categories: Recurring Series

Five For Friday (22)

1. Brunette

Yes – I made the change and I couldn’t be happier! I was actually thinking I would gradually darken my hair until it was the auburn color I wanted, but then I just couldn’t stop looking at this picture and decided to just go for it. It’s such a big change that it’s taken me a while to get used to it, even though I’ve been brunette before. But it’s so much fun at the same time. And I’ve gotten so many compliments on it, which always feels good. As for the cut, I am really on the fence about it. I wanted a long bob (like this), because my long hair was driving me nuts but I wasn’t ready to commit to short hair again. I think my problem with it is that my cut is uneven (as evidenced below). It’s actually shocking that it is uneven because I used the same stylist I’ve been using since I was 16 and she has never done a bad job. So I’m not sure if she meant to cut it like this, but I am way too anal to have an uneven cut… even if it is meant to be uneven. I made an appointment to get it fixed tomorrow morning so hopefully, after that, I will love it. Fingers crossed.

2. Phone

My phone arrived on Monday and I am in love! For one, I am just happy to have a phone again but honestly, the iPhone 5S is such a huge upgrade from the iPhone 4. It’s longer, which is a feature I totally love. The camera is a million times better and the new fingerprint technology is such a cool addition. I can use my fingerprint to unlock my phone and buy apps, so it basically feels like I’m living in a sci-fi movie. The battery life is good, but not exceptional. I can use it for a full day (or just about) without it dying, which is nice because my 4 would die within 4-6 hours, so I’m hoping the good battery stays around for a while. And I’m just happy to be back in 2013 again, and have a smartphone.

3. Dutch

Dutch had a routine check-up at the vet this week. All of his blood work came back normal, though we did learn he had the beginning stages of a UTI. Poor little dude! They were able to administer a shot and now we know to keep his water bowl replenished and take him on more walks. I was worried for a bit because he weighed in at 8.4 lbs, which is 2 lbs less than normal but the vet didn’t seem to be concerned. He’s still at an ideal weight for a mini-dachshund. I guess all these stairs at our apartment are a good workout for him! He runs up them like they ain’t no thang.

I did ask a question about his eyesight because his eyes look very cloudy, but he doesn’t seem to have any problem seeing or running up and down stairs (even stairs that he doesn’t normally use). But the vet says it’s just normal aging, so basically, Dutch, you’re an old man.

Visits at the vet always freak me out, because I always worry I think I’m taking him in for a check-up and they’ll find something terrible in his blood work and he’ll have to be put to sleep right then and there. I never said I was normal. But my boy is healthy and I aim to keep him that way for as long as I can!

4. Mom

MY MOM IS BACK! My mom came back late Sunday afternoon after being gone for 9 days and it is so good to have her home. I enjoyed my alone time and having the apartment to myself, but I also really, really, really missed her. She had a great time on her cruise and her boyfriend is officially hooked on cruises, too. (He’s talking about his next one being a two-week wedding cruise?!?!?!)

I am really happy to have her back, though. I missed my best friend!

5. #twookclub

I made the decision to close #twookclub. It’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time, based on the fact that participation has dropped considerably (usually, only 1 – 3 people come to the chats) and my heart just isn’t into running the book club anymore. It’s hard to get excited about something when nobody else is, you know? I feel so much peace about this decision and this weekend, unless someone steps forward and wants to take it over, I will be closing down the Goodreads group and giving up the Twitter handle. It was fun while it lasted, but it’s time to move on.

Happy weekend!