Month: July 2020

July Resolution Review!

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We have three days left in this month! I can’t believe I’m more than halfway through the year. Time flies when you’re… in quarantine for five months. Golly. July was a decent month for my resolution goals. It kicked a few of the others in the butt, but I’m feeling strong about the rest!

Let’s take a looky loo:

1. Read 52 books – It’s down to the wire, but I think I’m going to pull it off. See you August 31st for the summer book haul!

2. Do pull ups – I am slowly getting better! I’ve been working on my pull-up strength at the gym roughly twice a week, with baby goals to mark the way. I’m gonna hit this month’s baby goal! It’s exciting!

3. Spend LESS. TIME. SCROLLING – I feel like I did slightly better this month! Taking Twitter off of my phone has helped immensely, and I’ve been cognizant of putting my phone down when other people are talking. That said, Aaron’s mom did chastise me a little bit for being on my phone so much at one point during her visit, so I clearly have a long way to go!

4. Write 104 Blog Posts – Nailed it. Crushed it. Gonna keep crushing it. <- I wrote this last month. Still applies! Yahoo!

5. Romantic trip with Aaron from Dec. 26 2020 – Jan. 2 2021 – My friend Christine said she would watch the cats if Aaron’s family doesn’t visit us for long this holiday season. I’m so excited.

6. Stop engaging in schadenfreude – This one just… RAVAGED me. I mentioned last month that there’s crazy internet things happening right now, and I have more than indulged a little bit, I’ve gone down full rabbit holes. Just last night, I wasn’t feeling well, but rather than go to bed early, I played on my phone and watched some gossip videos (okay, I still went to bed early, but I could have gone to bed earlier). As much as I want a more final conclusion, I don’t think I’m going to get one. In August, I’m going to stay away from it.

7. Take better care of my skin – In the past two weeks, my skin has gone from good to mediocre. I’ve honestly felt fed up with it. My skin care is expensive, and I’ve been taking decent care to apply it. My scars are still prominent, and I’m still experiencing breakouts on my chest and back!

8. Go stargazing – I want to see the stars tonight. It’s two different meteor showers tonight! I might wake up early and go to a field to enjoy them.

9. Get a new job – Emotionally broken down because of this one. I’ve been applying to jobs, but I feel like I hit a breaking point yesterday. I want something new, and I’m ready to move forward with something more suited to what I like doing!

10. Do a handstand – I genuinely think I’m going to pull this off by the end of the year. I’ve been working on pushing off the wall at the gym, and at some points it feels like I’m going to stay up, even for a second. It’s totally mind over matter, but like the pull-ups, I’m making tiny goals for each month. I accomplished this month’s tiny goal, so now I need to see about what my next tiny goal should be for August. I can hold an L stand just fine, but does that mean I now balance with only my knee? Hold it more with just the edge of my sneaker? Research is needed!

11. Go see two of my favorite performers – Big L on this one. I take pride knowing this isn’t my fault, but I really want some live music. Today I was thinking about how much I would hate, but still want to try, going to Coachella. I’d be hot and insecure about my body the whole time, from the looks of it everyone who goes is on drugs, and the team behind Coachella has a shady history. In 2021, assuming the world returns to normal, I’m hoping all my favorite artists and stand up comedians have new material for me to enjoy in person!

12. Lose weight – I’m slowly getting there. I mathematically won’t hit my goal weight by Dec. 31st without making potentially life-threatening decisions, but I’m still shooting to an adjacent goal.

13. Give Aaron a great 26th birthday – Um… see previous post. I did it!

14. Be a better friend, wife, sister, daughter and granddaughter – I spoke with friends on Skype, I spoke a handful of times with my mom, and I’ve spoken to my grandparents three times this month. My sister came to stay with us for July 4th Weekend and she loved it! I’m planning another trip home with her and my mom for next weekend, so I’m optimistic about August, too. I think I’ve been doing a great job with Aaron too, between a good birthday and just general support and love and attention.

15. Be happy – I think July was a good month, but while Aaron’s parents were here, I thought a lot about what I want for my future, physically, mentally and emotionally. It kind of hurt my heart to think about things in the negative that way. That said, the rest of the month was light, fun, and I felt relaxed, if not happy!

I’ll talk a little bit more about this in an upcoming post, but one of the books I read this month taught me something about the importance of priorities. If you have too many priorities, you have none. That in mind, I want to make getting a new job, speaking to my grandparents, and losing weight my top priorities for the rest of the year. Of course I won’t ignore my other resolutions/goals, but I want to keep those three at the forefront of my mind for the rest of the year. Let’s see how that translates into my next resolution posts!

Storytime Sunday: Aaron’s Birthday!

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Wednesday, July 22 was Aaron’s 26th birthday. As I’ve said a handful of times, one of my new year’s resolutions for 2020 was to make sure Aaron had a great birthday.

Folks: Mission accomplished!

His parents are in town to celebrate his birthday, driving down from Vermont where there is only a limited amount of COVID-19 cases. With them, they brought a few presents for Aaron to enjoy! They stopped off in St. Augustine to visit the distillery and pick up a few of his favorite spirits (my idea, of course). In the days leading up to his birthday, his mom cooked him his favorite meals… and bought us bikes! We own bikes now! I can tell he’s really excited to go on bike rides together. We both had to work this week, but his parents went on searches to buy us the right accessories. We’re hoping to go to our original neighborhood to enjoy their bike trails!

I took the day off of work to enjoy the day with Aaron. His parents treated us to fresh banana bread for breakfast while Aaron opened his parents’ gifts. They included fresh spices, coffee from New Orleans, and spicy snacks, among other treats. They got a box of New Orleans beignet mix for me to make on Saturday, too!

Aaron and I decided to go to EPCOT that day to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival. There has been a LOT of hullabaloo and discourse about the Disney parks being open right now, but we threw caution to the wind! We’ve been in isolation during quarantine, and it was a special occasion. For all the anger over the parks reopening, Disney is really doing a great job of keeping both guests and employees safe. They are only at 50% capacity, employees are wearing masks and face shields, and the lines are spaced out to have each party six feet apart. As well, there are plastic walls separating the employees and the guests and enforcing guests to only take off their masks when eating or drinking.

We went on a rainy weekday. There were no crowds whatsoever. It was wonderful! When we first got to the park, we headed right for the Mexico booth, where Aaron got a mango margarita and a pork tostada. I stopped at the booth across from his that had plant-based foods, where I got an Impossible Burger slider with a wasabi cream sauce. I didn’t try Aaron’s tostada, but I had some of his margarita! It was very tasty. After that, we went on the 3 Caballeros ride, where we had a car to ourselves and sat front row. Something about the spacing made the ride perfectly in sync, and we didn’t hear the effects looping the whole time. Apparently one of the characters broke yesterday, so his animatronic was missing during the end sequence, but it was still fun! Aaron hadn’t noticed that part of the ride features a group of Mexican villagers hitting a Donald Duck pinata, and it was sweet to see his excitement at seeing something for the first time.

After the 3 Caballeros ride, we went to the Norway pavilion to ride the Frozen Ever After ride. It was the longest wait we had the entire day… roughly thirty minutes, max. Again, front row of the car, with no awkward loops! The music always makes me cry, I just love “Frozen” so much. We then went through the China pavilion, where I treated Aaron to a beef bao bun and I got an order of chicken dumplings! I was bummed that they didn’t have any boba tea like they usually do during their special festivals, but I get the desire to minimize unnecessary resources. After that, it started to rain, so we quickly moved on through to Africa, where Aaron and I marveled at some of the cute merchandise. We considered splitting something in Italy, but decided to stop there on our next visit, if there is one! Aaron grabbed a quick coffee in the America pavilion, while I went to Japan to get sushi in a flowerpot! It was served in a decorative cup, with salmon and salmon roe piled onto a tall bed of rice. Aaron then got us some hot sake. It was my first time trying sake, and I’m not a big drinker, but Aaron thought it’d be fun to try it hot on a rainy day! It felt warm in my tummy but I hated the taste. I think the next time I try sake it’ll be in Japan.. the REAL Japan!

We bought Aaron’s mom some fans in the big Japan store, and then moved on to Morocco, where Aaron got spicy hummus fries. That’s always a favorite for him! From there, we went to France, where we intended to watch “Impresiones de France,” which is a twenty-minute film about the beauty of France. It’s a highlight for me on every EPCOT visit… but they’ve sort of replaced it! They only show the film at night now, and during the day the film is a “Beauty and the Beast” singalong. The film retcons the original plot, with Lefou (Gaston’s lackey) feeling fed up with Gaston’s bullying, getting Belle and the Beast together. It was cute and I thoroughly enjoyed it and with Josh Gad killing it as Lefou in the live-action movie, I would be totally interested in seeing an extended version of that retcon. I think it was Disney’s first bit of 2D animation in years!

Aaron then got a goat cheese tart at the France booth before we “crossed the English channel” into the London pavilion. While there, I saw one of the Youtube personalities we follow! His name is Tim and I’ve seen him once before in town, because he regularly films in the Disney area. I didn’t say hi because I didn’t want to be annoying, but it was neat to see him in action (and see his video posted inside the park the next day)!

We went into the Festival showcase to enjoy a few of the other booths. Typically, they jam-pack six booths into the entrance of the World Showcase, but I’m assuming they moved those six booths into a private convention space within the park to make it safe for guests. Aaron and I split a fancy plate of mac and cheese, and I stopped for a treat at the… drumroll please… dessert and champagne booth! I got a glass of Veuve Cliquot rose and a liquid nitro M&M cake pop. It was delicious! I think both the cake pop and the mac n cheese were our food highlights of the trip.

Before heading home, we stopped off at “Living with the Land,” where you get to see all the exciting research Disney scientists are completing about agriculture and how to farm more responsibly. It’s such a great concept, and I’d love to see some of their methods prominently featured in the factory farming that makes omnivore life so depressing! On our way off we stopped in “The Seas with Nemo and Friends.” It’s a “Finding Nemo” themed ride that empties out in EPCOT’s large aquarium (it’s even bigger than the EPCOT ball)! We watched the manatee rescues they keep onsite. I love manatees! They might be my favorite animal. I love manatees, dogs, and penguins. I’m twelve years old, you see.

Once we got home, I was feeling a bit dehydrated, so I took a pre-birthday dinner nap. His parents had been up the night before, preparing Aaron’s birthday dinner: chicken poppyseed casserole and chocolate marshmallow pie! You serve baked chicken cooked with crackers and cream of chicken soup (topped with poppyseed), with a side of rice, green beans, and warm bread. We only have it once a year on his birthday, and it is delicious! Between the casserole and the pie, Aaron opened the rest of his gifts, from my family and myself. My family got him an iced coffee maker, an iced coffee tumbler, and my mom got him multiple bags of coffee from Kookaburra cafe, an Australian cafe we love in St. Augustine!

I got Aaron a few nice treats. From me, he got a compilation book of Critical Role (a DnD based podcast he loves) fan art. I also got him a series of field notebooks with designs from the National Parks Service, including Acadia National Park, where he used to go camping as a kid! I also got him a bottle of spicy chicken sauce designed by Keith Hapsberger, a Youtube personality we watch together (ten out of ten recommend his “Eat the Menu” series).

The real coup de grace: two volumes of “Star Wars” concept art from principal artist Ralph McQuarrie. It was the first present from me he opened, and his parents had to get him to stop reading to focus on the other gifts he had! He kept turning the page and talking about each design he saw. It warmed my lil’ heart.

We each had a slice of chocolate marshmallow pie (it’s what it sounds like: melt chocolate bars with marshmallows, fill into a graham cracker pie crust, top with whipped cream), and split a gingerbread s’mores that his parents got at a chocolate cafe they visited while we were in EPCOT that day.

After pie, Aaron and I went upstairs. He showed me some art from his Critical Role book, and I followed some of the artists I liked on Instagram between reading one of my books. I went to sleep while he ended his birthday playing his new video game!

 

  • So, let’s recap:
  • A day at Disney
  • Great food
  • Youtuber spot!
  • Birthday dinner
  • Chocolate pie
  • Awesome gifts

I think he had a pretty great birthday. Especially considering that we were in an unprecedented pandemic with the world in shutdown mode! I hope he felt all the love that I could give that day. Now… what to get him for our anniversary? Christmas is five months away, too! Until then, I’m so happy I got this resolution accomplished. He deserves all of the birthday magic, and more.

 

 

 

I need a reboot!

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We are one week out from the month of August! I have to be honest, I feel like dog trash. Aaron’s parents have been in town for his birthday, which has meant lots of yummy… fattening food. I am bloated and my skin is terrible. My hair feels dull. My workout schedule’s been thrown off by a mile. I need a detox from the inside out or something!

I’m not talking a lemon, cayenne pepper, maple syrup and water mixture only for four days. I’m in need of a massage, a facial, and like… okay maybe that mixture just to get rid of the salt from the three days straight of meats and cheeses. And a Wonder Woman-themed Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

I’ve been looking at my self care/spa Pinterest boards for ideas on how to bring some glow back into my soul. Of course, “drink water” is everywhere.

Here are a few other commonalities for feeling (and looking) your best when in need of a “glow-up”:
-Exfoliate, shave, then lotion with coconut oil and vanilla extract or cocoa/shea butter
-Ice water first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening
-Put vaseline on where your perfume will go
-Brush your teeth twice daily and keep gum/mints nearby
-Cut the junk food!

Aaron’s parents are slated to leave either tomorrow night or Saturday morning! I’ll miss them plenty, they bring such love into the house and it’s nice for Aaron to get some family attention (I feel so lucky to have my parents a three hour drive away from me)! That said, I’m looking forward to getting back to the status quo. I’ve really been in the groove of a morning workout, work, a snack and a nap, and then dinner and a walk with Aaron before bed.

With that, I’m off to snoozeville… but I think I’ll have some ice water first!

Minimalist Wardrobe: The Purge Occurred

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Yesterday, I woke up early and went for a long walk. I came home, took a nice shower, and put on a pair of jeans and a fitted tee shirt. I did my makeup nicely and blew out my hair.

I was ready.

I turned on my “Office Ladies” podcast, and created a mountain of all of my clothes. The purge commenced.

Rather than split items into four or five categories, I kept it simple: “Keep it” or “Donate.” I did set aside a handful of tee shirts that I want to recycle into a quilt! I found multiple companies that do this for you (it seems like a craft that I should outsource. I can fix a basic hem but stitching together a full blanket is too advanced for my skills!). Prices are on a sliding scale, so we’ll see how that goes.

While sorting my clothes, I kept this color palette in my head:

minimalistcolorpalette

As you can see, no bright colors, no neon shades, and (finally) no navy. Navy makes me feel like an old woman. Some girls can rock it, but most navy clothes my size can also be found on cranky moms who are one tantrum away from a breakdown.

I eliminated a lot of clothes that were faded in fashion and color. I kept a few things that would work if I lost a few pounds, but my goal is to pare down further as I slim down more. I even donated a few higher quality items! I’m honestly not sure if any of my items would get me any kind of money at a consignment store, and to be honest, I’d rather someone shopping at Goodwill find my gently used tunics for six dollars than see it gouged out at a Fashion Planet.

A few items I bade farewell to were sentimental: a jersey I got in college as a gift from my Dad, my old college sweatshirt (with a bleach stain), and a pair of comfy pajamas were the ones I held in a hug and said thank you to before putting them in with the rest of the donation items. My “ideal” self can appreciate sentiment, so I took pictures of each one, too!

All in all, my two drawers that could barely hold my pants became two neatly condensed shelves, and I narrowed down my shirts to one drawer! I now have a whole drawer for my sports/at home bras. That’s an ideal situation when all I do is work from home and work out at the gym!

Currently, I have two garbage bags sat at the foot of my staircase to be given to Goodwill. My closet ONLY has clothes that I want to wear. Honestly, I feel pretty darn great!

2020 Style: Going Minimalist

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Fun fact about me: As a girl who doesn’t love shopping, I have a lot of clothes. A LOT of clothes. I feel like my closet is overflowing and fully stacked with outfits and shirts and sweaters that I never wear. On top of that, I hardly ever shop on my own. My mom is often generous enough to take me shopping once a year, which is typically when I restock on clothes. I’m twenty-six years old. I love my mom, but if I’m only buying pants when my mommy takes me shopping, am I really an adult?

Let’s be clear: I drink celery juice and love chicken fingers. There’s a happy medium to keeping my adult self tethered to my childlike sense of wonder and innocence. I can enjoy a pair of workout pants from my mom every once in a while, but if I’m counting on an Old Navy run with her to give my closet a refresh, without throwing out the old stuff, I’m making a mistake somewhere.

I’ve decided my happy medium will occur threefold:

  1. Determine my style.
  2. Purge my closet.
  3. Buy the essentials.

Then, I can go shopping with my mom only when absolutely necessary, and buy items that will stay with me for at least two years worth of usage. No more fast fashion!

Minimalism is praised as the environmentally and economically sound choice for fashion more often these days. Think about it: if you buy cheap quality clothes, you’ll replace them sooner rather than later, inducing an endless cycle of mottled tee shirts and leggings with pilling in the thighs (just me? Probably not. Thighs like maple syrup, thick and sweet, a thank you very much). If you spend the extra money on clothes you know you’ll wear, multiple times over, you’ll spend less money in the long run.

Financially speaking, I tend to keep in mind when buying items of the financial practice of considering each dollar on an item is a use. If I’m going to wear a pair of workout pants thirty five times, then yes! Pay $35 dollars for the yoga pants!

I was inspired to go minimalist (or at least, guided to the idea) by these two videos from Keltie O’ Connor. Both detail her tips and lifestyle as someone with a minimalist wardrobe. According to her, she can fit all her clothes into two boxes, and she owns roughly five pieces of furniture. Imagine having that kind of freedom to pack up and go at a day’s notice! All she needs is a pickup truck with one of those extendo-carts. Aaron and I needed three car trips and a rent truck to move from our last apartment to our current one. It makes you think.

In this video, she offers up five tips to get the wardrobe you want:
1.Research online of what your ideal self looks like.
2. Write your ideal self (what does she do? Who are her friends? Where does she live?)
3. Based on your ideal self: What does she wear?
4. Devise a checklist of what she has. GET SPECIFIC.
5. Clear out the closet of what she wouldn’t wear.
6. BECOME THE SELF: buy clothes only she would wear.

She stresses that step five is tough. Minimalizing your wardrobe takes time to get used to, and it’s not an overnight process! Paring down to the essentials takes time. I couldn’t agree more.

In this video, Keltie goes into the purge process: pick a date to “purge” your wardrobe. Dress for it (like your ideal self), pull everything out of your closet, divide it into piles ranging from “love it” to “donate it” to “sell it” to “recycle it.” Make it a peaceful day, play calming music, light a candle if you want! It’s a freeing feeling.

I’m excited for this new experience. I’m going to purge my clothes on Saturday, July 18.

There are quite a few good ideas scattered between these two videos, but here’s two that I’m using to inspire me:
1. Pick five to seven words to describe your ideal self.
Mine are:

  • Powerful
  • Confident
  • Feminine
  • Alluring
  • Smart
  • Comfortable
  • Cool

2. Pick a color palette of colors that go well together.
My chosen colors are:

  • Black
  • White
  • Grey
  • Burgundy
  • Green
  • Pink

The goal is to not go outside of this color palette, and I’m game: with a few exceptions. My ideal self has a killer red dress for fancy occasions. I may not wear red a whole lot, because it’s a bit too loud for me on a regular day. There’s a time and place for red. It’s fancy occasions, where Batman might show up when Bruce Wayne suddenly vanishes.

Stay tuned for my “Purge” experience!

 

Get to Know Me: This or That Travel Edition

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If I hadn’t established this enough yet, let me say it plain and outright: I want to travel the world. If I had it my way, I’d have a remote job that let me work on any and every corner of the world, so I could spend six months in Hawaii, three months in Israel, a year in London, five months in Japan… you get it. I want to see it (and live it) all.

That said, it’s easy to say “I want to travel.” Here’s a closer look at my travel preferences and aspirations, a la “This or That”:

  • City or Nature? These days, I’m vibing more on natural locations. I feel like I’d enjoy living in nature long-term and living in the city short-term. That said, I wish I could evenly divide my time between London and Manhattan, so you tell me.
  • AirBnB or Hotel? Hotel. Apparently AirBnBs are ruining the tourism industry in a lot of less wealthy nations. If staying in a resort helps the locals, then I will HUMBLY oblige!
  • Plane or Train? I love flying, but I think I love trains more. You really get to watch the world pass you by as you journey into the unknown. Also I’ve had food poisoning on a plane, twice. Trains are 0 for 2 in that capacity!
  • Art or History? Realistically both, but if I HAD to pick, I’d say art. I think art encompasses history and vice versa, but I think I’d spend more time in the Met than in the Museum of Natural History (note: I should compare my time in the two the next time I get the chance to go to NYC).
  • Adventure or Relax? Mathematically speaking, relax. I’m going to adventure out in a big city, and I’m going to climb a waterfall or go ziplining in places more tranquil. That said, when I relax, I REALLY relax. Park my butt in the sand and have someone bring me a snack, because I’m not going anywhere.
  • Group or Alone? I love solo trips. I’m on no one else’s schedule, I can follow my every impulse, and sometimes I discover some really cool places and have moments just for me. Travelling with my friends and family is special, but I have a soft spot for heading out on my own.
  • Plan It or Wing It? PLAN IT. PLAN IT. PLAN IT. Listen, Linda. Have a day with no agenda. Go out and find something you didn’t think you’d find. But book your lodging, book your flight, tell your boss, and pack up right. Some people don’t plan out where they’re going to stay that night, and I’m so frazzled. What if you don’t find anything? You’re gonna sleep on the street in an unfamiliar place? That’s not being carefree, that’s being irresponsible. You loon.
  • Backpack or Suitcase? Suitcase long term, backpack short term. I’m not backpacking through Europe. I see girls go hike the Appalachian Trail with a massive pack on their shoulders. I did that once when I was twelve. That was enough!
  • Resort or Cruise? CRUISE. You cover more ground when you’re not stuck to the ground! I love a quiet and clean resort but if given the choice between seeing three tropical locations instead of one over the course of the week, and I’ll set sail. And probably listen to the “Titanic” soundtrack while I pack.
  • Sight seeing or Shopping? Sight seeing. That’s not even a question. If I find something a loved one might like, cool beans. I keep souvenirs in the back of my head when I go places, but I value what I see and the photos I take more than a trinket (that said, my mom gets honey in every place she visits. I made sure to buy her honey on the honeymoon. See what I did there?).
  • Party trip or Romantic Trip? By default, I have to go with Romantic. I have only been on one party trip. It was fun, but I had a better time on my honeymoon.
  • Tourist Spots or Hidden Gems? Hidden Gems! I’m a hipster, I want to find the quiet places that people won’t think of firsthand. That said, hidden gems often lie within a few blocks of the main attractions. See the big-ticket sights, then take a walk. You never know what’s out there!

… So, can this quarantine end now? I’m itching to book an adventure!

July Goal-Setting!

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This month, I’m trying something new. I want to set goals for the entire month to help me progress on my personal goals for the entire year. I have six months to get things done, and I want them all done.

I know that some odds are stacked against me: it looks like we’re headed towards another shutdown, which will put going to the gym on hold (which won’t stop my workouts, but will hinder my pull-up goal), and will lead to further job freezing (which will lead to my top priority of getting a new job on hold). I really hope that after all of this, 2021 is a year of prosperity for the world. I hope people go to more restaurants, spend time with their families, and do the dang thing, because life just isn’t that long.

I won’t let the coronavirus (or “Miss ‘Rona” as people who cope with the unending certainty of life with humor have termed it) stop me dead in my tracks. I will keep biking, even if the concrete beneath me turns into hummus.

Here are my six goals for July:

  1. Read all the books I didn’t read last month this month, and four more. I want to do an eight book, “Summer reading” wrap up post at the end of the month.
  2. Stick to my current weight loss plan. I’ve been at it for a few weeks, and I FEEL like it’s working. I want to come back at the end of the month and say “I’ve kept going.” If it’s not as effective at the end of this month, I’ll switch, but I don’t want to switch until then. I often get jaded and quit. Quitters never win, and winners never quit… but those who don’t win and don’t quit are stupid.
  3. Clean out my closet. It will make me happy to finally go through my clothes and see what fits and what doesn’t. It’s going to be a brutal job, but I’ll put together a “capsule wardrobe” of essentials I will keep even if they don’t fit just so I don’t have NOTHING to wear as my progress continues. I’m thinking that will be twelve mix-and-match items. I know I have a drawer of pants that don’t fit anymore, and quite frankly, I think the fact that I can’t shut my drawer is more aggravating than the fact that it’s filled with pants that are too tight.
  4. Call my grandmother twice, call my grandfather once, and email my grandfather once. My communication with them should be so much better than it currently is.
  5. Hold an L-hold on both legs for forty-five seconds (for my handstand resolution), and dead-hang for fifteen seconds (for my pull-up resolution).
  6. Facetime chat with my three “friend groups.” I have a lot of great friends in my life, and for all that Zoom has been having its day with family chats during lockdown, because I’m so used to long-distance friendships, I’ve barely hopped on camera to say hi to my friends! I think this month I can change that.

I’m eager to come back July 31st with these results. I’m committing: Check in post on July 31st on these goals SPECIFICALLY. Go-go-gadget goal setting!

 

Mid-2020: A Resolution Round Up

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We are officially at the halfway point of 2020. When we kicked off the roaring twenties, I didn’t think we’d see a worldwide pandemic, massive wildfires, a watershed moment in the BLM movement, nor as of this past week, a YouTube reckoning culminating in Dramageddon 3. Don’t even get me started on that whole mess.

The things I set out to do seem so meager in the wake of all of this, but I think all I can do is just keep plugging away and doing the next right thing.

I’m going to go over the progress I’ve made this month, and then assess how I want things to change or move forward in the six months to come. I have an idea or two churning in my brain, but there are other things that I need to work through in this space.

Strap on your swimsuits, kids, because we’re gonna dive in now!

1. Read 52 books – I have made it through one and a half books this month. I am unimpressed with myself.

2. Do pull ups – I have made it back to the gym! My gym is open and I can start practicing again… and as predicted, I am back at square one. Drat. I am bummed but will get back to it.

3. Spend LESS. TIME. SCROLLING – I feel like I may have made a dent in this! I didn’t bring my phone with me EVERYWHERE this month, and I ended up deleting Twitter from my phone. Just in the past month I feel like it brought me more exhaustion than joy. I still have a ways to go, but I feel so much better this month.

4. Write 104 Blog Posts – Nailed it. Crushed it. Gonna keep crushing it.

5. Romantic trip with Aaron from Dec. 26 2020 – Jan. 2 2021 – Great news! Even if our cruise gets cancelled because of COVID, my mom says she will reallocate that money into a different vacation for us to take as a family somewhere in Florida. We’ll social distance and wear masks and order room service if we need to, but no matter what, Aaron and I will have a great beach week to end the year. And boy golly, we will have earned it.

6. Stop engaging in schadenfreude – This was an interesting month for internet schadenfreude. I checked in on one of the influencers I made a point to not monitor this year and I was happy to see she was living mostly quietly and not engaging in self-sabotage. I didn’t re-follow her accounts, but I did check in on her. I don’t know if the aforementioned Dramageddon 3 counts as internet schadenfreude, because I don’t know how much joy I find in the betrayal, anger, jealousy, and potentially criminal behavior. If it counts, I know I will indulge in this as a hopefully full-circle moment. If things ESCALATE, I hope that all the internet gossip (again, I don’t like thinking of criminal behavior as “tea” or “scandalous” when criminals should be in jail) just comes out at once and we can start to rebuild. I genuinely think this past week and the upcoming month will be another watershed moment of sorts, only within the YouTube community. I think some parts of the community will break down entirely and have to start to rebuild.

7. Take better care of my skin – I got a sunburn this weekend. I was a full on lobster. And yet, I feel like my acne scarring isn’t as prominent. Progress!

8. Go stargazing – Our curfew has been lifted as of this month! According to this article, there will be three astronomical events this month. I want to see at least one!

9. Get a new job – I felt super fatigued at work this month. I still have my current job and I don’t know if I’m going to get this one finished this year, no matter how ready I feel to move on to the next big thing. A pandemic isn’t the best time to not have a job, or look for a new one.

10. Do a handstand – Back at the gym means back at the wall! I’ve started to move forward with this resolution. I’ve been doing L-stands at the gym to get my sense of balance and the feeling of my whole weight in my palms and shoulders.

11. Go see two of my favorite performers – On the plus side, Hamilton is streaming, with the original cast, on Friday July 3rd. So at least I will finally get to see it. That said, between performing artists and an apparent Broadway blackout until the end of the year, I will not get this resolution completed. I am disappointed, but not beating myself up about it.

12. Lose weight – Progress is being made. That’s all I’ll say.

13. Give Aaron a great 26th birthday – As of now, we have plans to go to Disney on Aaron’s birthday! I’ve bought one present for him already, and I know my mom and sister have, too. I told his parents a good gift idea. His parents are coming to town to cook him his birthday dinner. I’m already excited for him.

14. Be a better friend, wife, sister, daughter and granddaughter – I had a good month with my friends this month, save for a facetime chat that all my friends forgot about until three days after our planned chat date. Aaron and I are stronger than ever. I love him so much. I had a great time with my sister and my mother this weekend, and my dad and I caught up over the phone twice this month. I spoke to my grandfather on the phone two weeks ago briefly, but I didn’t speak to my grandmother. On top of that, I found out this past week that because of a spike in cases, I can no longer go to NY to see my grandparents in July. It hurts my heart. I need to talk to them more.

15. Be happy – This month had a lot of highs and lows. I felt very happy some days, and very drained on others. I want to feel less of the latter in the upcoming months.

Here are some thoughts I have about improving my progress on these resolutions:

  • If I don’t love a book two days in, I stop reading it and find something I’ll actually like reading.
  • Call my grandparents twice a month, email my grandfather once.
  • Assuming the world returns to normal, I will see four live shows next year, either standup, concerts, or Broadway/National Tours.
  • Focus on my arm/strength training to build up my ability to pull myself up and hold myself up in a handstand and a pull up.
  • Do the next right thing. I think that’s the 2020 mantra.

Six months down, six months to go!