Just Do It June - 2017 Update #6

Another month has come and gone! June was a huge month for me. I "just did" so many new things or tackled pesky chores that had been lingering on my to-do list for months. I'm really loving the one-off resolutions and I think I'd also like to do some posts that circle back on some of the past ones. Some are building on each other nicely but even ones like Fabulous February have been in the back on my mind on a day to day basis.

Let's focus on June though! I finally started working part time as a Real Estate Agent in addition to my full time job and 7,562 hobbies. It was a really busy month but I didn't let that stop me from also holding that Housewarming party and taking care of some much needed chores. Both of those things had been lingering on my to-do list for almost 9 months. That's insane. This month was all about just tackling those to-dos and it really took a big weight off my shoulders.

Designated Date Time

We really haven't been as good about this as we were earlier in the year. We've basically ditched our weekly hikes and most "us" time has just been doing chores side by side or watching TV together. However - we have been better at sporadic evening walks. There's something so pleasant about summer nights and Harley loves when we go for a family stroll through the neighborhood. Whenever I'm not feeling too busy, I'll suggest it. Dan and doggy never say no.

Dan also realized that maybe we need some more fun activity time together and booked a surprise date for the end of the month. He had bought us tickets for opening night of a video game exhibit at the local science museum. We got to play Dance Central in front of a room full of people and Mario Kart on the wall of the planetarium. We also just played a bunch of retro and obscure games. It was really fun and I was so happy he wanted to get us tickets for something cool to do on our own.

We spent a lot of June hanging out with a lot of our friends. I'd been feeling really detached after being out of town for basically a month and really needed to socialize more. While it was fun spending time with people, that date night was a good reminder that we need to make time for each other too.

 Here are some shots of Mario Kart in the Planetarium. It's hard to see the game with the lights on but you can't tell the size with the lights off so I present both to you.

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

This is the first time since before my mom passed away, that I really feel like I've gotten back on my exercise schedule. When your life gets derailed, it takes a long time to get things back on track. This has been about 3 months of trying to get one of my biggest priorities back to where it was and I feel like I only just got there near the end of the month.

But it feels so good to have some aspect of "normal" back. Last week, Dan and I finally made it back to an exercise class that we attend religiously every Thursday (it's even in a church!) for the first time in about 11 weeks. It felt right and like an important piece of me was back in place.

When you exercise, you get to be Katniss

We also had our races this month! I really wanted to feel like I was giving it my all but after 2-3 months of much less working out than is usual for me, that was hard. The night before the first race, we subbed into a kickball game as well. In an effort to show off, I definitely over-exerted a little and hurt my Achilles. I definitely don't feel like I was able to give the race my all, but somehow I still managed to come in the top 10 of non-competitive women. I'm excited for what that will mean for me when I am able to give it my best effort. Maybe it means I'll need to graduate to the competitive level!

This habit was a great example of Just Doing It. I went from working out two days a week to four days a week and that's more normal for me. I feel better, have more energy, and my muscle tone is coming back. I love seeing and feeling the little changes that remind me why I like fitness so much.

Meal Planning

I did the thing I didn't want to do. I turned some of my meal planning into meal prepping and it happened for the most natural reason - time management. I have a secret. I'm really bad at lunch. People assume that because I work from home, I have a lot of lunch freedom. Generally, I'm pretty busy until around 1-2 and then I'm picky about what I want to eat. By the time I get around to eating most days it's usually pretty late for lunch or I run out to buy something or throw together some snacks so I don't waste my appetite for dinner. While we usually have some leftovers, I don't really like eating the same thing several meals in a row. It's a super first world problem but with adding the real estate job, I really needed to fix this issue because I now had even less time in my day.

I still don't like the general idea of meal prepping - make a bunch of food on Sunday and eat the same meals all week. It continues the problem of being picky about eating the same thing for each meal.... and then it hit me. Why don't I take my leftovers and freeze them? Then I don't have to have the same thing every day. If I'm feeling picky, it's ok because I'll have built up a variety of lunches in the freezer so I'll have a choice.

This all came to me near the end of the month. I will still have the problem of limited freezer space BUT I've been wanting to pull the trigger on an extra storage freezer and this could be it. It will also give me a chance to make things like curries and spicy foods that Dan doesn't like - and keep them as freezer lunches for myself. I already bought containers and labels and I'm excited to start cooking and freezing big batches of lunches for myself.

Take an Annual Trip with My Husband

Doing the math, it seems unlikely we'll be able to take another big trip this year which stinks because the travel bug is biting really hard. Dan and I didn't take a lot of trips early in our relationship. They were mostly short, domestic trips. Since getting married, we've had two fun international trips and it reminded me how much I want to do and see. Unfortunately, we're both going to be grinding down to our last few hours of PTO after taking the rest of our time for weddings and Comicon. I'm glad this is a new habit/priority though and I can't wait until whatever we come up with for next year.

In the meantime, here's another picture from our trip to Europe!

Read a Book a Week

I only finished three books this month. It happens. This is why I had such a buffer built up - because I can't do everything. Starting in real estate is like starting your own business. I was also trying to get back on a solid fitness schedule and knock out a lot of things I'd been putting off. It didn't help that one of the books was a longer, slower read.

I have another super long book to read next month, but I also have some ideas. I'm on the road a lot more with this real estate gig so it's time to start listening to audio books again! I think that will really help me stay on schedule and get to my reading goal this year.

Me Time

This month was obviously busy for me. I was balancing so much more in terms of juggling two jobs, but there's something about stress that lights me up. I somehow managed all of that and tackled some big projects around the house. While that meant less me time, it was time better used. I was taking my time and putting it toward something bigger.

I read an article this month that felt really relative. It was 4 people under thirty and what they did to become millionaires before 40. The last was a young woman who said to invest in yourself. Use your time thoughtfully, invest in your ideas, and start your own businesses. It felt really in line with what I've been trying to do. So while "me time" is on the back burner for a little while, it's being invested and I hope it reaps some serious rewards down the line.

But that's not to say it was a total shut out. I mentioned doing a few races, and afterwards, I needed to recover. Sometimes that's taking a night off from the gym and taking it easy for a day. I made time for friends. I got back on my workout schedule. This is definitely a piece of the puzzle that needs to fit a little better going forward but this month was full of transitions for me so I'm confident I can carve out more me time when everything is all set. 

Just Do It June

The first day of June started the way many of my days do. I stayed in bed a little longer than I should have, asked Dan to make me coffee, and then opened my computer and started working - not really getting out of bed until I needed breakfast. It's a nice perk of working from home but it's also an easy way to get stuck in a rut and this month was about moving out of ruts, doing more. So - I decided to fix that. I spent my lunch break starting to organize my office. I spent my afternoon getting ahead on work projects and actually sitting at my desk. Whenever I had to wait for something to load, I used that time to multitask and get a little more organized. I'm a big believer that you need to set precedents for yourself and I wanted to have this first day of June set the example of how this month was going to go.

Always have a book handy

It's crazy how much we can do when we set our minds to it. I decided to keep my goals reasonable - I didn't want to stress myself out or create unreasonable deadlines. For example, I had been putting off hemming some curtains since we moved into our house 9 months ago. Finally, I got so annoyed with them dragging on the floor and not closing that I added it to my immediate to do list. I had four to do but I decided to just try to do the first two over the course of two days when I was less busy. I ended up doing all four within a couple of hours. I'd put off this task for so long but once I started going, I realized it wasn't that hard and it made more sense just to knock it all out while I had all the tools set up. It was a good lesson that sometimes things that we put off for a long time blow up in our minds as really difficult projects, but they actually end up being pretty manageable when we just sit down and do it. I'm also happy that I didn't tell myself it would take an hour and then stress out when it took a little longer. It's nice to give yourself more than enough time to do something and be pleasantly surprised when you can do it faster and have extra time for other things. On the flip side, the days where I made huge lists of things to do, I ended up feeling overwhelmed and struggling to cross anything off my list - I didn't even know where to start. Even re-reading this section is a good reminder that I need to pace myself and give myself reasonable goals, especially when I have so much I'd like to do.

I also have truly just jumped into this real estate career. It's unbelievable to me how quickly this ball has been rolling, but I love it. I signed my papers on a Saturday, had my orientation that Monday, and by Sunday was sitting at my first Open House. Real Estate is all about finding opportunities and jumping on them which fits really well with my personality. Even though it's only been a few weeks, I feel like I'm moving right along and creating good habits that will help me build this business. I'm excited about what my future holds.

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Jigsaw July

At this point, you're probably wondering where I'm even coming up with these names. I'm not going to lie, it was really hard to think of another J word that fit what I wanted to do so bear with me. 

After June, I know that anything is possible. I started a second career. I finally had that housewarming party. I took on several projects that I'd been meaning to get to. I even finally went to the dentist. I just did it. I can just do anything... but that's the tip of the iceberg. Always "just doing" projects isn't sustainable. You need balance. June was about starting. It was about knowing things were possible. July is about fitting it all together, like a jigsaw puzzle (there it is!!!).

These monthly challenges are separate but cumulative so I really like that July builds off of June, which built off of May. I put my best effort forward, just went after my goals, and now I want to find the best way to balance my full time job, my entry into real estate, my fitness, my hobbies, my friends, and me time. It's a lot. There's a reason these are challenges, but the idea of these habits and check ins is to be constantly moving towards being my best self.