2020 New Years Resolutions

Wow 2020 feels weird to write! Let's get this decade off to a good start. Last year I didn't make any resolutions because I knew I was going to have a baby halfway through the year and I figured trying to reach new goals while spending half the year feeling gross (in December/January I was battling crazy morning sickness which went away but I didn't know that at the time) and the other half the year taking care of a small human, wasn't a good idea. While both those things went a lot better than I'd imagined, I'm still happy I wasn't balancing it with striving to knock out a list of goals or feeling disappointed in myself for abandoning resolutions even though I had something bigger going on.

I'm actually a very goal oriented person so that's an important point to touch on when before we get going. It's why making a resolution list has been a big thing for me every year and why I like sharing it here. Even though I didn't set out the year with a set of goals, I ended up making some along the way because I knew it would help motivate me in a way that other things just don't.

Here are some of the things I accomplished in 2019:

• Signing up for a 10k shortly after giving birth and set (and completed!) a lot of goals around the training and completing of that race.
• Breastfeeding. Once we realized I was capable of it, holding onto that goal got me through the challenges of making it work well for us (now it's the easiest thing!).
• Planning out what meals I was going to make for the week. This helped me plan out what to grab from the freezer (since most of our protein comes frozen from Buthcerbox, it requires some planning ahead), as well as planning more complicated dishes when Dan was home to help with baby and having leftovers when he wasn't).
• Multitasking! This was HUGE after baby was born. I've always been good at multitasking but getting things done with a small baby was another level. Eventually we figured out how to get things done while watching Brooke. Somethings are easy to do when she can play on her mat and some things I can do while she's napping and some things just need to wait until she goes to bed or Dan is home. Figuring that out helped so much with getting things done. 

Some people hate New Years Resolutions but I love them. I love the chance to look back on my year (or life!) and think, "what do I want to do better?" I'm in such a great place for that. With an almost 6 month old, I have a better idea of what motherhood is about and what are realistic goals for how much time I have in a day. I've spent the last month or so thinking about good goals that fit into my life and the life I'd like to have and I'm really excited about this list.

One last thing - this list revolves a lot around goal setting and what works for me. I've been doing this serious resolution list for like 12 years and I've learned a lot about what motivates me. Those things are: achieving a goal, rewarding myself, and competition. The best competition I've found has been against past Nikki. I'll crush her any chance I get. If you find yourself hating resolutions, maybe turn it around and figure out what motivates you. Everyone is different but we can all do great things.

Exercise More!

If you read this blog, it's no surprise that fitness is a big part of my life. Not being able to exercise to the same extent is one thing I really disliked about being pregnant and the postpartum journey. Once I got cleared to workout, I did a great job. I eased into exercise and then ramped it up in preparation for my race.

..and then life happened! It got dark early so I couldn't run after work. The holidays came and balancing that preparation with a baby and work was a lot. I stopped dead in my tracks and honestly, that feels way worse than not being able to workout because I had a baby.

So I need a plan to get back into a fitness routine... and I have one! First, no wine unless I've worked out that day. It can literally be anything - a walk, a 15 min yoga video, ANYTHING. The point is just to get moving and to reward myself for getting back on that.

Second, train with a purpose! I am way more likely to take my fitness seriously if I have something to train for and I do. I signed up for a short Spartan race in the early spring and a half marathon at the end of May. I'm excited to train for these and get back into racing.

Third, get on a schedule. I've found the hardest part of having a baby isn't changing a diaper or any of the daily tasks, it's that I don't have the freedom to just do things at my convenience. I either need Dan to be home to watch her or I need to take her with me (which doesn't really work with a daycare-less gym). I'd like to work on a combo of things: going to the gym in the morning more when Dan is around to watch Brooke, working out with my videos and equipment at home while she's playing, and trying out the daycare at the YMCA (a membership I've been paying for months and haven't gone since 9 months pregnant). Brooke will also be big enough to ride in the running stroller which is a big part of my half marathon training plan. If I can take her running along a bike path during the day when it's safe, that will be huge in getting my fitness back on track and I'm sure she'll like the view.

As tempting as it is, this goal isn't about weight loss. I do have a goal of remaining baby weight I'd like to lose but if the year ends and I've worked out most days and weigh the same, I'll feel pretty good. It's also not about dieting. I threw around the idea of doing a January Whole30 because I know it works I'd probably easily knock out ten pounds if I did. However, I ultimately decided not to for two reasons. 1) As a breastfeeding Mom, my proiority is feeding my baby. Right now what I'm eating has helped me have a great milk supply so why mess with that? 2) Being a mom can be really hard and full of sacrifices. I don't want to add food as another thing I can't have right now. I also don't think we necessarily eat bad but I also don't deny myself some chocolate snacks or rich cheeses. I love food and I'd like to keep that simple pleasure right now.

Grow My Etsy Shop

A couple of years ago, I had a goal of making some passive income. I made an Etsy shop full of cross stitch downloads and it's done alright. I've basically stopped adding patterns to it since mid-2018 but the ones that are in there sell pretty well. It's not a large amount of money coming in or anything, but maybe it could be? I'd like to get patterns up on the site more regularly. I'm not going to set a strict goal because it's easier to do a bunch of patterns at once, but if I could keep my shop current with new pop culture trends (I'm looking at you Baby Yoda!), it will keep doing business in the background.

Upgrade

This one makes me feel a little greedy but, Dan and I are looking into getting a bigger house. We're so lucky to already own a home, but we always knew when we bought it that it wasn't our forever home. Having a baby has definitely made a big impact on the amount of space we have, but so has the loss of my mom. The latter has meant that holidays are spent at our home which just isn't really big enough to host a large dinner party next to the Christmas tree that takes up half our living room. As someone who love to cook, I feel limited by the amount of counter space I have to work with and usually I'm overflowing onto the dining and coffee tables to have enough prep space. It's definitely a little bit of a selfish problem to have but when we realized that we might be ready for a new house, why stay in a space we're not totally happy with?

We'd like our next home to be our basically forever home. By that, I mean someplace we'd like to stay unless outstanding circumstances changed things aka we win the lottery and can buy our absolute dream home. We've started looking and thought a lot about what we really want out of our next house which means we're not in any rush but getting something new in the next year would be ideal.

It's also really scary thinking about buying a new house though. Buying AND selling at the same time means timing needs to be perfect which can be tough in a competitive San Diego market. I'm also wary of the economy right now. I'm hoping that things work out well for us, but I always like to be cautious about making big moves.

De-Clutter

The older I get, the less interested I am in stuff. I have a lot of knick knacks that just take up space and are a pain in the butt to move. I think I'm pretty attached to what I have already and I've worked on not accumulating more stuff in the past year....

...but if we're going to move, it's definitely important to thin out what we have. While the idea of getting a bigger house is to have more space, I don't want us to be hermit crabs instantly filling that space with a ton of stuff. I'd love for more space to mean more open space. One thing I dislike about this house is how small the rooms are. This was made really evident when we brought the baby home and having her bassinet in our room meant we couldn't open our closet. It made me realize how nice it is just to have some open space in your house and I'd rather have that than lots of objects lying around.

 I know I can clear out a ton of clothes. Becoming a mom means a big lifestyle change and also just some things I've had forever and will likely not wear anymore. I also need to take a serious think about the things I hold onto. I have  a lot of things from my mom that hold a lot of sentimental value but are not useful (like shoes that don't fit me). Is the sentiment worth keeping things I can't use? Can I thin it to some pairs I saw her wear instead of keeping every pair I thought looked nice? On a similar vein, I have a TON of craft stuff from well meaning projects I never finished and sometimes never even started. Will I realistically do any of these? What would I need to be able to do these projects? A different space? (potentially solvable) More time? (a little trickier) A different life? (unlikely to work)

In the next couple of months, I want to do a huge clear out and really think what definitely needs to go and what we might want in our new home. I don't want to bring things just because we'll have more space but because I think we would use the things if the layout of our house gave us easier access to it (e.g. being able to have a dedicated gym space so it's easy to workout instead of having to set up a bunch of equipment each time, a good place to work on crafts projects).

Excited to use these trackers from Elise Joy to stay motivated.
Yes, filling in a bubble is motivating to me.

 Complete a Big Craft Project

Speaking of those crafts... one thing that would help me justify keeping all those supplies would be a finishing a big craft project. Ideally it would be something I already have the supplies for. It's probably not going to be my big Batman Cross Stitch but maybe a smaller one for Brooke? Or a Halloween costume for her? I have so many supplies and I'm trying to balance baby with things I like to do so this will be a good test of that.

Probably not this
(and yes it looks finished but this is like 1/10th of the final image)

Be Reliable

Having a kid this past year has taught me a lot about reliability. Like I said above, the hardest thing about having a child is that you lose the freedom to just go where you want, when you want. You need to have a plan for everything - a plan for someone to watch the baby or a plan for bringing the baby that revolves around their diaper changes, feedings, and naps. It's tricky.

but they missed out on visiting this 

I also felt extremely isolated after giving birth. I had so many people saying they wanted to visit before the baby was born but very few actually did. It hurt my feelings so much that people couldn't take 15-30 minutes to come by, give me a little company, and hold the baby for a few minutes so I could eat something. It was seriously the only thing I wanted from anyone then. (and important to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who did visit, invite us out with the baby, or show up to something you knew we'd be at. It meant so much to me.)

Those two things combined, made me realize that I don't want to be that person to someone else. I know I've told friends with babies that I would go visit and didn't. I've made plans and then changed my mind because it was inconvenient. I see now how crappy that is for the other person and I want to be better. It's something I've been working on for the last few months, but I want to keep the notion in my head when I decide to commit to something.

I do want to add the exception of the baby though. I definitely understand that I'm not always going to be on time for things because that's not how babies work. I also know that I might have all of the best intentions of doing something and she might get sick. Those are reasonable exceptions though and the spirit of the resolution is still good.

And Life...

I always have a few things up my sleeve that I don't put here either because it's just for me or because it doesn't make sense as a goal. In the past, I've had resolutions like "be nicer" but when you can't quantify something, it's hard to know if you did it well. Yes, there are things I'd like to do like "be more present" or "have more patience" but  I can work on that constantly without making it into a list item to check off. Plus, I think accomplishing the 6 goals above will be a big improvement on our daily lives.

Detox December - Update #12

Better late than never!!! I wanted to send this a couple of weeks ago but flu and life happened and I lost track of it! I actually have a lot of posts I wanted to write - I wanted to do a whole year look back on each of goals so hopefully I can get to it while it's still relevant.

Designated Date Time/ Family Time

December was SO FULL of family time. We had Dan's sister and mom visit us for about about 9 days. Closer to Christmas my Dad came down for 4 as well so we each had a sibling and a parent in San Diego.

That means so many family things!!! My favorite was the boating trip that my brother organized. He rented a speed boat and took all of us around San Diego Bay with a stop in Coronado for lunch. 

Family includes just Dan, the pets, and I as well. We started one of my 2018 resolutions and took Harley for her first weekly run or hike. She loved it and so did we. We're so excited to have that piece of time to spend together and be healthy each week. That still leaves out Callie but our horribly insulated house meant lots of couch cuddles with all four us curled up under blankets. I love our little human animal family and I'm happy for all the sweet memories we have.

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

First day back after the holidays!

So many wins and losses with this. The truth is, I started both December and January with the flu/cold beast that going around. I don't mess around when I'm sick so that meant a lot of time in bed and out of the gym. Family in town didn't help things either.

I know what this sounds like - excuses, excuses, excuses. And they are. They're ones out of my control but trust me, I was frustrated too.

The last week of December, post guests and pre sickness part 2, I had the workout schedule of my dreams (well goals.... who dreams of work outs? I mean, I did have a dream that Dan and I were doing an obstacle race last night BUT I DIGRESS) - two a day workouts either in the gym or at home. Yea, it's a rough goal but it's what I need to knock out that Spartan resolution and I've found enough workouts that I really enjoy to make it a fun process.

I've started taking more vitamins and drinking a little less in order to help this goal out more starting in January and... so far I feel amazing! It seems like getting sick so much was a side effect of not getting enough vitamins either because I'm too active or my gut health was messed up and I wasn't absorbing it. I'm like a vitamin preacher now because my mood, energy, and health hasn't felt this good in ages and I'm so ready to conquer my goals.

A new fun way to work out at home too! (thanks Dan)

Meal Planning

Chili secret - double meat, double spices,
ton of hidden veggies!

Without even noticing, I got into such a good rhythym with this. I'd get some ideas for food I felt like, make a shopping list for a few dinners and general things I like to keep in stock and then knock them out through out the week. I went from not feeling like I was doing this goal well to doing it without thinking which is perfect!

Good timing too - Having so many visitors and holidays meant really having to be organized. I try to think of things to make that are delicious, healthy, and might even be enjoyable for the pickiest of eaters. I know the parents really enjoyed a lot of the dishes I made and it makes me happy to share my cooking.

I also got to plan out Christmas Eve dinner! We had so much meat which also meant lots of leftovers and less cooking in the wake of our busy Ides of December. Sometimes my favorite way to plan meals... is just to make so much food that I have leftovers for days and don't have to worry about it. 

Take an Annual Trip with My Husband

I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for next year's big trip! We want to get a deal and a lot of it will depend on our tax return so we'll have to wait and see....

But I'm really excited for our little trips. We don't have anything set right now but with only a few weddings in 2018, all within driving distance - we have some room in our time and money budgets to go on some more weekend trips. We definitely want to visit the Bay Area a couple of times this year. We've also been promising my brother in Seattle that we'll make it up there some time. Lastly, I think I'm finally recovered from my trip to Vegas 5 years ago and would love to go again some time this year. So many little trips to look forward to even if we're still figuring out the big one.

Read a Book a Week

If you remember from November, I'd already hit my goal of 52 books for the year so I could have sat back in December, not read anything, and called it a day.

Well, that's not my style.

I kept up my reading and was able to finish another 5 books in December. Honestly though.. I had thought it was more like 7. Some of these novels like Turtles All the Way Down and Warcross were such quick reads for me that I know I finished in a couple of days. I guess they were balanced out by Lincoln in the Bardo and Eleanor Oliphant which were very different books that were harder to just knock out. Plus, being sick always makes it hard for me to do anything, even read. I try to do that instead of watching TV but I usually go for the more mindless option. 

Me Time

I guess here's the problem with writing this over two weeks after the fact... it's harder to remember the month. I've looked through the pictures, I've thought back on the month, and I can't remember if I had any me time. I'm going to go with... probably not. December is crazy busy for everyone. I was sick, we had our workouts, we had 2-3 people staying with us at one point, there was Christmas, I hosted Christmas Eve.

It was a lot. Maybe that's why I thought I'd read more books that I had? All my free time probably was reading... I just didn't have that much of it. 

Detox December

This goal very quickly went by the wayside. I got sick a couple of days into the month and getting sick for me means ordering a bunch of take out and laying in my bed cave. It's definitely not 80/20 paleo! To be fair though, I at least wasn't drinking that week... but I came back from it with a vengeance - having several drinks every day and pushing my limits on the weekends. 

Coming out of the holidays, I leveled out a bit. I wanted to make our post-Christmas week the December that I'd intended. I did my two a day workouts, I didn't drink during the week, and I made us healthier dinners... and I was back in bed with the flu and Indian food the next week.

It's funny how that's happened.. the week after Thanksgiving and Christmas were the only ones I met my goals on and they were followed by getting sick. The timing is so odd being that little bit healthier didn't really help much. It showed me that maybe my lifestyle isn't really the issue and there's something else going on. As I mentioned earlier, I started taking a lot of vitamins and probiotics in order to get my immune system under control so I can focus on my goals better.

And I think it's working! Aside from that first sick week in January, things are looking good. I've been better about working out 1-2 times a day and trying to go on walks or do something easy the other days. I've been great about sticking to 1 glass of wine a day and frankly - I usually don't feel like more. January is going really well so far.

And that's a wrap for December 2017! I definitely want to do a look back on all the individual goals but until then, you can see what I have in store for 2018.

2018 New Year Resolutions

Last year's habits went so well. I finished the year feeling really good about where things were. I had built up a lot of the habits that I'd wanted to work on. Instead of making a resolution, which feels like a one time change, I wanted to strengthen every day occurrences to make my life better and fuller. Even the one off monthly goals went great and added extra things to think about and work on over the year.

It worked out so well, that at this time, I don't feel like there are many habits to add to my life at this time. I know as my life and responsibilities grow and change, I can find room for new habits, but right now things look really good.

On the flip side though, there are more one off things I'd like to work on.... so it's back to resolutions!!!

Spartan Trifecta

This is my BIG goal for the year. I think it actually showed up on an older resolution list but it ended up not working out. This year, Dan and I are already signed up. We have all the resources to train - we just have to do it! The first two races are at the end of this month and the last (and longest) is in May. That means this will be done mid-way through the year if all goes well! That's why I had to line up some other goals...


But first... what are my fears or concerns? First, it's going to be hard. I know I can do a Sprint but those were always a challenge as it was. The first two races are back to back - the Super on Saturday (8-10 miles) with the Sprint (3-5 miles) on Sunday. I'm not worried about the Sprint but the Super scares me. I don't like running long distances and that has obstacles on top. I'm actually less worried about the Beast (12-14 miles) in May because I have so much time to train.

My second feel is my immune system. I'm on my second cold/flu in a month as I write this. That's 2 weeks I've taken out of my training which makes the January dates even scarier. It also means getting sick isn't a preventative for another cold. I'd be so bummed if I got sick right before a race and had to postpone. I started stocking up on essential oils and probiotics. I need to change my routine and stay healthy so I can do this.

One New Etsy Item a Week

My Etsy shop thrived last year. I did a job of adding a bunch of listings, including some hot trends (THANK YOU PORGS). I made 60% of my all time income in the last year. I doubled what I made in 2016. These aren't huge numbers or anything but it's still a growing business.

Obviously, the key to growing the business is keep adding products! Since it's all downloads, having a lot of stock doesn't add too much work for me. I just have to do it. Extra items also drives a lot of traffic to my shop because people find it through search terms and buy something else.

Grow My Etsy Business to Amazon

I found out a few weeks ago that Amazon has an Etsy-like off-shoot for homemade and artisan products. I wasn't sure my patterns would fit but... they had some! I'd love to list my items there as well but it will take some set up. I'll need an actual business name and maybe some other set up. I definitely want to look into it.

Change My Name

I still haven't changed my name legally since getting married. It's just seemed like a lot of work and there was no need yet. I just need to start filling out the paperwork and get it done though.

Waste Less

I feel like I always have one vague, untrackable goal. This one is just to waste less. It's definitely a follow up from the meal planning goal from last time. I think if I'm smart about grocery shopping and thinking about what we need and will actually eat, we'll waste less food. We'll also spend less money.

This applies to more than food too! In general, I've been trying to buy fewer non-consumable goods. We don't have room in our house for more junk so only buying things we really want or need has saved money and space. I rent my clothes, I borrow books, I stream movies - I don't need to buy these things as much.

Re-Coop Real Estate Expenses

Real Estate didn't really go the way I expected. I'm toning down my involvement this year because there are just too many expenses just to exist as an agent. I'm not totally out of the game though. I still have my license and a relationship with my broker. I can still be involved indirectly and help out friends looking for a place. I'd love to still get a deal under my belt which would help me at least break even with everything I spent getting my license.

Do One Chore a Day

This is a big change for me! Aside from cooking, I hate doing chores. I'm not a neat person and I'm allergic to doing dishes. The only thing that I can tolerate is laundry (warm clothes and my favorite tops clean!) and vacuuming (we have like 40 sq ft of carpet).

However... I found that when guests visit, I was much more successful if I started cleaning a week out and did a little bit each day. I noticed chores didn't really take that long if you did a little at a time instead of one big day of cleaning that can be overwhelming.

Chores are the best when you don't let them get out of hand in the first place! The goal is to do some little thing every day to keep up with chores. Whether it's laundry (yay!) or cleaning the bathroom (ick!), chipping away at it here and there will keep our house looking nice all the time, instead of just rushing to clean before we have people visit.

(so obviously cooking isn't counted as a chore for this)

Weekly Doggy Walk/Hike/Run

Straight forward - a hike or run with doggy and Dan! We've already started this by doing laps around Fiesta Island. Doggy gets to play and we get to train for our races. The plan is to start with Fiesta Island and once we've mastered that, maybe we can move onto some of the tougher San Diego hikes. We all get our exercise and everyone is happy.

Weekly Date

And also something for just us... Dan and I are great about spending time together, but I think a weekly date is a great idea too. A lot of our gifts lately have been Groupons so it would be good to make sure we use them! I also got us Movie Passes so in a pinch, spending the evening at a movie is good. I just think it's important to do things together outside of the house.

Secret Goal

Every year I have one goal that I'm not quite ready to share. Some things are better as surprises until they're ready.




Whew, so that feels like a lot! A lot of the goals fit together though. Taking the dog for a weekly run will help me train for my races. Doing one chore a day will help minimize stress so I can work on the other goals. They all fit into my secret goal. I'm not resting on my laurels in 2018 but I'm also not reaching for anything crazy. All these are really reasonable goals that have either been bucket list items or things I've already found some success in. I'm excited to push them to the next level.

I'll be back soon with my December 2017 post as well as some follow ups on my goals!

February 2017 - Habit Check In #2

I'm really loving how this structure for my goals has given me more to write about! I've been trying to throw out some other posts in between as well but obviously that has to work around time and well, having something to write about. I have a few adventures next month that should give some more blog fodder and I also want to review more of the kitchen and wine gadgets that I use every day.

Anyways, here's how February went!

Family Time

This has easily become the highlight of my week. We've started really planning our weekends around when we can get our family walk in and this month, it wasn't easy. Each of the weeks, we had some big conflict trying to keep us from our walk but we made it anyways.

Week 1, we were out of town for my work. I have to work Superbowl every year and we usually make it into a little weekend getaway to LA. We usually walk on Saturdays but had gone to Universal Studios instead. While the quantity of walking would probably count it, the spirit wasn't there. Instead, we planned to go Sunday morning before work. It ended up being really hectic between eat breakfast, packing, and making sure I got to work on time - but we did it. It was a short mile-ish loop around the parcourse near my parent's house but it was something.

Weeks 2-3 we were dealing with busy weekends and bad weather. We had a hardcore workout one week and race the next and both weekends it was supposed to be rainy on the day we could do our hike. Hiking isn't quite as fun if it's super muddy, especially with a dog, so we timed our walks to breaks in the weather and just found paved trails - usually waterfront. While not a true hike, it gave us some awesome views and helped us find some new paths.

Week 4 should have just been a disaster. We went back and forth on where to go - the weather was finally nice enough for a real hike, but we had plans that we'd be late for if we did something too intensive. We'd been loving the water so we decided to do Torrey Pines - but when we parked we saw lots of "no dogs" signs. I didn't want to drive around looking for something else since we'd already lost so much time so we decided just to take the dog to a nearby dog beach. We had so much fun playing and splashing around and got the bonus of finding a new fun beach. We'll have to circle back to Torrey Pines another day but it always sucks to leave the dog at home when we go on an adventure.

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

I don't really have much to say on this one. I've definitely been working out a lot and mostly sticking to the schedule I set myself but I'm not perfect and I missed a lot of days as well. For some reason, every Monday this month, something came up to keep my climbing partners and myself out of the gym. I also missed a lot of Body Pump classes either because I had another workout or just something fun came up... like free beer tasting. All these things totally happen but for March I'd like to pull it in and try to really hit my weekly schedule.

On the plus side - while I've missed a bunch of gym time, I've been walking a whole lot more with the dog. Usually, they're just little short walks around the block but they've been a nice way for both of us to get a little sunshine and exercise. We've also tried to do work around the garden whenever it's been sunny out and it's nice putting those muscles to some functional use.

The 2017 kilometer challenge is going well too! Extra walks mean extra chipping away at it, even if they're on the short side. At the end of last month, I had 64km and this month I had 119. That means I'm being consistent (giving myself a break on the 3 shorter days this month) which is great for me and great for the dog. Also, last year, I had 244 km for the whole year. That means that in 2 months, I've gone half as far as I did.. IN A YEAR. It's crazy and I'm so proud at how we've made something as simple as going on more walks, runs, and hikes into such a regular habit.

Meal Planning

This one continues to challenge me. I did add a section for planning out dinners in my daily planner but I'm still not being consistent. To help get on track though, I did a few stocking up dinners. What are those? That's when I cook something really big that I know will last a few nights and then we just have to find sides to go with them (usually making tacos). Examples are pulled pork, brisket, and chili. The added benefit is that they're made in the slow cooker or pressure cooker so I can prep them and let them cook while doing other things!

Brisket!!!!!

Slow cooked pork!!!!

Take an Annual Trip with my Husband

Not much progress here which is bad because our trip is coming up really fast. What I really need to do is get our taxes together so we can see if we have a bigger budget for excursions and things.... Obviously next month there needs to be a lot of work here, but I did try to get an idea of the budget and things.

Read a Book a Week

In January, I read way over the book/week goal which was awesome. For February, I was right on track, and that was ok too. I knew that some months would be harder to meet the goal and February was one of those - but I met it anyways! Just barely!

In addition to being pressed for time, I also read a couple of longer books - like over 500 pages. All four of my books this month were really fast reads that I hated putting down and that was probably the real driver behind finishing this month.

All in all, I read 4 books in 4 weeks coming in exactly at my goal.

Edit: these screenshots come from Goodreads. A book social media site I use to track my reading. I also usually write reviews of all the books I read in case you're interesting in the reasons behind my scores.

Me Time

This month I learned that me time can come in a lot of shapes and sizes. Sometimes it's just listening to my body or my needs. Earlier in the month, Dan and I went to a free bootcamp workout and it kicked our butts. The next day, I was so sore and instead of pushing myself, I just took a day off. I cancelled my gym plans, I made a really simple dinner, and then I just soaked in the tub for an hour. It felt so good, and the next day I felt better... but the next day was Valentine's Day and I had another dilemma. I could go to the gym, but then I'd be home late and be rushing to make dinner and get things done and wouldn't be able to just enjoy the night and spend time with Dan so I decided to take another day off from the gym. I love working out and I'm so happy with what's happening with my fitness but I think finding the balance and knowing when to take some time off so that I don't overdo it or stress myself out is important too.

I'm also learning that I don't want me time to be lazy time. I could totally veg out in front of the TV all day but I'm trying to make my free time work for me. Lately I've been doing a lot of gardening when I have down time or making more time to make sure I eat solid meals while I work from home. While I'm still moving - I feel a lot better in general when I'm being productive.

Fabulous February

but hey - this outfit was pretty cute
so not a total fail?

This was basically a fail. I mean, it's not like I dress terrible or anything. The few times I did go out, I styled my hair and picked a cute outfit. I just think that, in general, my style is fitness chic and I'm totally ok with that. I like dressing up when I get the chance but I'm still going to be rocking yoga pants and tank tops most of the time. I don't need to force cuteness or dress up to run errands - that's just not my thing.

This probably ended up being more of a "Feel Good February." I think I've come a long way from some of the things that caused me to be more self-conscious. All of the habits above are leading me to feel great, have more energy, and most importantly, have a sound mind. I've tried to treat myself better day to day including little things like eating a good breakfast each morning and trying to get some sunshine each day. Working out more has also coincided with drinking a lot less and getting better sleep. All of the habits together are having the effect of making me feel really good and that's awesome.

My monthly goal for next month was going to be Mo' Money March - in attempt to save more money. However, we're going to need to do a lot of spending in related to the last bit of planning for our trip so I think I might take this the other direction and work on ways to make mo' money. I still have an Etsy shop and despite awesome sales in January, February was really slow. I want to find ways to connect with potential buyers more and try to naturally grow interest in my shop.

I also will be wrapping up my class which means I have some open time to study for a certification that will open up some moonlighting possibilities for me. I should also try spending less money but I like the idea of focusing on ways I can make more money as well... it seems more sustainable long term.

2017 - No Resolutions, Just Habits

I think this post will make the most sense if you read my last one about 2016 resolutions so I highly recommend doing that now. Ok - all good? Great!

So - if you read my last post, you know that I had... quite the year in 2016. I got married, I bought a house, and had some huge life changes. I also had the really normal experience of feeling self conscious and like a really imperfect human. I gave myself a couple of weeks to feel sad and wonder what was wrong me and then I decided to stop being sad and to be awesome again. 

How does one do that? You throw yourself into meaningful habits. Some people might call them resolutions but resolutions always feel really tied to New Years. They also feel like something that expires when the year is over. I had two problems with this - I started at the end of 2016 so it didn't feel like something I was doing just for this new year.... and I wanted these to be lifelong changes. 

Family Time

When I felt really disconnected last year, I remembered that even though I sometimes feel lonely, I'm not alone. I have a husband. That's like a built in friend for life that will have to jump through a lot of hoops to not have to put up with me (sucker). I think he kind of likes me too so that's good. We came back from our honeymoon and I wanted to see all of my friends and show off our house and talk about our wedding and honeymoon - but they didn't seem to want to do that. Instead Dan and I spent a lot of time together. We put together our house. We went on hikes and walks. He came with my to visit my parents and cheered me on my races. We continued our mission of drinking every stout in San Diego. One person can't always be the whole world for you but sometimes one person is enough to make a really big difference and I'm happy Dan is my person. 

It reminded me that as much as I am a social butterfly that loves hosting parties and spending time with lots of friends - spending quality time with my husband is just as important. I decided that once a week we should at least go on a long walk or hike together. Two weeks in, it's been really fun. In addition to some quality time together (plus dog), we've already checked out two new trails in San Diego. Next week it's supposed to rain so we'll have to find another plan but that's ok. We, of course, still have every day things like dinner and tv shows together but there's something nice about getting out of the house together... especially doing something free. And sometimes we do not free things like go on beer and donut dates. 

These two pictures were the same day. #earnedit

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

The second thing I did after our honeymoon was to get back on a workout schedule. I started pretty slowly too. One class one week, two the next... and on and on. I found out a friend and her boyfriend go to my climbing gym so I now had climbing partners and friends to keep my accountable. Dan and I take body pump together every week and I even started grabbing a second class on weekends. I take the dog for more walks than ever. Last week I logged 10 workouts so I think that's a good place to cap it (If you're wondering how I can physically bear doing that much - some days the double workouts were a short yoga class or a walk with the dog). 

I feel fantastic. Up until now I'd been feeling... lethargic. I'd get a full nights sleep and still feel tired in the middle of the day. Now I wake up on my own before my alarm and I don't get that afternoon crash. I can't wait to really measure my results at my next couple of races. 

Meal Planning

If you're like me, you think of meal planning and you think of 7 really boring copies of the same meal stuffed into various tupperware.

Yea, No. 

What I mean by meal planning is looking at my week and figuring out what to cook for dinner each night. I love cooking so that's not the problem. My problem comes with shopping. I have this very human habit of going to a store and buying everything that looks delicious. It all sounds great until I get home and forget about it and then it goes bad. Not only is it bad for money but it's really wasteful.

For a couple weeks last year, I wrote out what I wanted to make each night, what I needed for it, and when I'd go shopping for each meal. This included when we'd eat leftovers. It was super cost effective and had very little waste. It also helped me plan meals around the workout schedule. Like Thursdays - our class is at 6:30. At best, if I start dinner right when we get home, we're eating at 8:30 and usually later. Thursdays are a perfect day for slow cooking. 

It also has the added benefit of letting me be creative or reference my many cookbooks and all of Pinterest. A couple of times, I realized I had some awesome protein that I didn't have any ideas for. I got to spend time looking through recipes for something cool to do - something I wouldn't have been to throw together with out a little planning. 

I haven't been doing this the last few weeks but I want to get back on the meal planning train very soon. 

Take an Annual Trip with my Husband

Not very long into our honeymoon Dan said "We should take a trip like this every year." My response: "You are absolutely right." Up until that honeymoon, we hadn't taken a trip that wasn't for a race, wedding, or family. That's crazy. It was so nice to be away from all our stress and also not have to be anywhere at a certain time. 

I'm so excited we already have our trip to Europe planned. It's something we've talked about since we first started dating and we are finally making it a reality. It will definitely be a very different trip than our honeymoon in Mexico but I know it is going to be one awesome adventure. 

Read a Book a Week

This is a goal I had in high school and re-visited a couple of years ago. The last two years, I came just a few books short of my goal of 52. So far this year I've read 4 books in 2 weeks so I'm ahead of the game a little bit. I like getting a head start in January because life happens and you just can't always set aside reading time. Although - part of this habit is to make sure reading time is a priority. Sunny day? Go lay in the backyard and read. Rainy day? Go curl up on the couch and read. Sick day? Lay in bed with some tea and Emergen-c.... and read. Waiting for something? Read. Mad? Read. Bored? Read. Hungry? Make a sandwich and read while you eat. 

Read.

Me Time

I am definitely the kind of person who stretches myself too thin whenever I can. I hate saying no to things because I hate when people do it to me and I know I always have a great time when I go out. Sometimes though, I just want things a little quieter. I also get the feeling that most people already are deep into the habit of just saying no when they need time for themselves and maybe it's time I did it too. 

Finally, at the beginning of this year, I was able to find a little pocket of time that was truly for me. While reading may seem like "me time" I'm usually up against a deadline for book club or the library so sometimes I'm rushing a book in when I'd kind of rather be doing something else. That something else is playing video games. It may seem silly, but it's one of my passions and I hadn't truly been able to play one since 2015. I was a little worried I'd turn on my PS4 and forget what buttons did what but it came back so naturally and being able to really escape to another world was just what I needed. The games I like usually have a good amount of adventure and problem solving (Assassain's Creed, Batman Arkham, God of War) so taking the animus to the French Revolution lately has been so good for my brain. 

And Yea All the Stuff From Last Year

I still want to be patient and find balance and go to Mexico and not be a Bridezilla (I think I'm going to NAIL this one) and watch my temper. Resolutions shouldn't be about doing something for a year and then stopping. They should be about making positive changes for life.... then you're not getting older, you're just getting more awesome.

2016 Resolutions Re-Visited

Hey blog world - it's been a while. Normally this is the point where I apologize profusely and give lots of excuses on why I didn't write. I had a lot of excuses too - planning a wedding, travel, family illness, burnout.... but the truth is... I did write, a lot. I have so many drafts saved.... but I felt really self conscious and got the feeling that I didn't have any place to stand on a pedal-stool and give my opinions on things because I don't have it all figured out and most of the time I'm really really not sure of things myself - so I decided to not post the posts I'd written and to not write the things in my head or share the opinions I was creating. I'd go on long walks or runs (aka thinking time) and draft blog posts in my head.... and not do anything with them. I'd try out a new gadget I'd bought or received and think about how amazing it was (or wasn't) and want to tell someone... but not. Eventually, I decided that maybe it was good to at least circle back to my annual resolution posts, even if they were a little late.

And for my insecurities? They're still there. Some have worked themselves out through time or patience (not my strengths but I'm working on it) or just brutally throwing myself into any other passion within reach. Others are still forcefully there but they kind of came to a head this weekend with two friendships I was feeling a little disconnected from. One responded to me with coldness and bluntness and the other said "Why didn't you just tell me how you felt?" It always sucks to have your feelings disregarded but the bright side is that everyone is different and while someone might hurt you, someone else will show you kindness that reminds you why you do this and why you want to keep writing your blog even if you feel insecure sometimes.

So back to the main event - New Years Resolutions!!!! Looking at the list from last year is kind of a wonderful thing. While 2016 was a terrible year for most, it was the year I got married and bought a house and I will always remember the good that came from it. It was also the year I knocked off the most off my resolution list. While I can't give myself a 100% because a lot of the items weren't "all or nothing" - I have to admit, I didn't fail any of the items either. I had some missteps but in the end it all came out ok.

Here goes...

Not Be a Bridezilla

Well, I had my moments. I feel like I burned some of my Bridezilla-ing early on and it showed me I need to keep my cool and be more understanding. Looking back, I wish I hadn't over re-acted early on because it just made for some tough patches with friends and in the big picture, it all worked out ok. I think the hardest part about weddings is that it's not always obvious what's a huge deal and what's a little deal and it makes everything seem really huge. Spoiler alert big deal stuff is: family, groom, and marriage license showing up. Yea, food and clothes and alcohol are important too but you can get married without them. After that cheetahs and people having fun. Lastly, things looking nice. Everything else is a cherry on top. Spoiler again - the stuff I got mad about didn't even make that list. I'm an idiot sometimes.

 I still had some stressful moments later but I think I kept a better perspective as it got closer to the wedding and my priorities changed. Everything ended up looking amazing and all important people were accounted for. Our guests had a great time, we have amazing memories and pictures, and mostly, I got a pretty great husband out of the deal. I give this resolution a C.

Maintain or Gain

This one may seem a little weird. I wanted to make sure I didn't lose any more body mass last year. I wanted to either stay the same weight or build muscle. I've always wanted to be a strong girl and I think I'm above average but I wanted to push it last year. The wedding really side-lined my workout plans but afterwards, I became a more regular fixture at the climbing gym and at Body Pump class. I eventually added in some cardio (in the form of dog walks and runs so that the benefit can extend to another). I did two obstacle races at the end of the year that I strongly out-performed my past self in and have several more lined up for this year. All in all, I'm definitely stronger than I was this time last year and I'm moving more towards a fit physique than a skinny one.

My plan for this year to add in a weekly yoga class by my friend Lindsey (who also sells amazing natural products) as well and keep taking any opportunity to head outdoors with the dog for a walk, run, or hike. That will put my at something like 7-10 workouts per week. It might sound intense but since I didn't nail this goal in 2016, I definitely will this year. I give this one a B+

Start a Passive Income Business

My Etsy shop has been rocking! I really wanted to add some more patterns and things to my shop so I could just make money without doing much. I found that the hardest part of making patterns was finding good images to convert so whenever I wanted a distraction, I would just look for cool images to use. I also figured out how to use the Etsy advertising and while it's costing me a little bit, it's bringing in so many sales that it's totally worth it. It's gotten to the point where I sell a few patterns a week and I'd love to work on boosting that even more so that the income is enough to supplement the extra expenses we have now that we are homeowners. And if it's not that much - it would be fun to move it to own's account and use whatever's in it at the end of the year to splurge on an expensive treat like a fancy night out.

I've also been working on starting an active income business because I realized the only way to get rich is to really work for myself. However, those plans took a side line for wedding planning and house buying but 2017 is definitely the year to tackle that. I don't want to get to much into it but look for more later this year. This one gets an A-.

P.S. Look at this picture compared to where it was last year!!!! I didn't have a ton of time to stitch this year, and a lot of it was spent making a gift for a friend but the comparison is AMAZING. It will probably take me ten years to finish this but I should just post a picture a year so I can track my progress.

MexiCAN

WE FINALLY WENT TO MEXICO!!! We wanted something really relaxing and not super expensive after our wedding. I think some people call this kind of a trip a honeymoon but we keep telling ourselves that our trip to Europe this year is our Honeymoon... I digress.

Mexico was incredible. We went to an all-inclusive resort in San Jose del Cabo and it was amazing. We did an activity in the morning like bike riding or archery or shooting or swimming with dolphins (wait, what?) and then relaxed by the pool and ate all the food all afternoon. Oh you want to know about the dolphin thing? Well, Dan won the shooting competition and won BOGO dolphin swimming passes. That was more than enough to persuade us so we got to live that dream!

I know an all-inclusive resort isn't real Mexico but we got to the country, we spoke Spanish (even Dan said a few words!), we saw some beautiful sites, we drank a lot, and we swam with dolphins (I'm not going to let that go). I've been wanting to cross the San Diego border into TJ this year and I REALLY want to take a little road trip to Ensenada. Some friends keep suggesting it and I keep responding very affirmatively so I think we'll be making that happen. This resolution gets an A.

Watch My Temper

I will probably always be working on this one. If you read the Bridezilla section of this one, than you know I obviously didn't ace this one. This feels like the kind of thing that will be a growth project for me my whole life and I can only take it situation by situation. As I talked about in the intro to this post, I felt really self conscious after the wedding last year. The reasons were normally things that I would have gotten really mad about and sent some angry texts. Instead I kept it mostly to myself. I'd broach it a little with Dan or some outside friends (because another thing I've been working on is not gossiping as much, at least not to friends of the people involved) and it seemed like something that would work itself out. Months later when the issue seemed to be getting worse instead of better, I finally decided to stand up for myself. I'm sure it didn't go well but I'm happy I gave myself months to think about it instead of just snapping like I did other times this year.

The most important thing I've learned from this one - most of the time I'm overreacting and I just need to be more patient or understanding and it's better to be the bigger person and give it another shot. However - some of the time, you've rolled over one too many times and you need to stand up for yourself because patient and understanding or not - YOU ARE A PERSON WITH FEELINGS and maybe those feelings are little more sensitive and maybe you have a bad temper but you still deserve to be treated with respect. I give this one a B because holy fuck I came really far by the end of the year.

Keep It All About Balance

This was the shining light of my year. In a year full of craziness in the world, craziness in my life, and the usual craziness of just living in my head... I think I'm getting really close to this balance thing. The whole trying to be angry less and work out more - they're kind of a perfect partnership. When I was feeling left out and insecure and self conscious - I threw all of that energy into working out more and reading more and immersing myself into some of my passions. I created a workout schedule that is as good as having plans. Some of that workout schedule involves working out with friends who keep me accountable for showing up and yes, one of those friends is my dog. I reached out to other groups of friends and have connected more with them. I picked up from my book club hiatus with a stronger passion than ever for my group. I joined some new meetups that reflect the direction I want my life to be heading in. I played a video game for the first time in a year and half or so. I'm finding that when I feel disconnected from people, maybe it's good to focus that time on my husband, my pets, and mostly, me. I give this one an A because as the most subjective of the resolutions, and one that probably no one ever gets perfect, I feel really good about where I am.

And that's our lead in for 2017....

2016 New Years Resolutions

Better late than never! I always try to get this ready to launch on the first... but I guess we're doing the first of February instead of January this year. Good thing none of my resolutions are being timely.

For those of you who are new - one of the few things that have been constant on my blog are my annual New Years Resolutions. I've always loved how making them public adds a level of accountability. It's also taught me about how to make resolutions that are accomplishable and realistic. I don't always get them all of them done but it is nice to see how much I can get done each year.

So let's see what I have in store for 2016.

Not Be a Bridezilla

One of the biggest things happening in 2016 is my wedding! It's a really exciting time but also stressful for sure. As the planning ramps up, I can definitely understand how some people lose it. I really want to make sure I keep my priorities in line though. From the start, I've wanted this to be a fun event that really reflects my relationship from Dan and keeping that perspective has helped a lot. We've been lucky that we had a reasonable list of "must haves" that are falling in line easily and we're not wasting energy on things that aren't important. However, with any big event, there are always surprises and wild cards and you can't control everything so the goal will be to keep my cool when things don't work out.

If any readers want to help out here - I've already had people get mad at me for choices I've made regarding the wedding. I can't keep everyone happy and I will never be happy if I try to do that. I'm working hard to make this a fun event and to make as many people feel included and thought of as possible. I'm not going to get 100% on this. If in any way I upset in this process, I am sorry. Please don't yell at me. It is not my intention to exclude or alienate anyone.

Maintain or Gain

Here's your typical weight related New Year's Resolution... but with a twist. I lost a lot of weight last year - probably about 15 pounds all together. It was definitely way further than I thought I would get and I don't want to lose anymore weight. I feel more comfortable, my clothes fit, and I feel really healthy. I think my next step is building some more muscle weight. I was doing so much running last year that I think some of the weight I lost was muscle weight and I want to build that back up and really look and feel strong. This past month I've been working on building a solid but fun weekly exercise routine where I'm working hard to get strong and see all the work pay off. I can't imagine anything sexier than having toned back and arm muscles as I toss my bouquet on my wedding day.

Start a Passive Income Business

At a brunch a few weeks ago, some friends suggested I start an Etsy store because I'm always doing crafty things. "Well, I have one" was my response. Yea, I have an Etsy store and it does really ok. Right now I just sell cross stitch patterns, but it's been pretty good. I keep a large quantity of digital downloads and when one is purchased, I just get an email that money has been sent to my Paypal. I don't have to do anything because my buyers instantly get to download they're pattern. I do very little and make about $10-30 a month on two patterns. Two. My goal is to make more creative and fun patterns and get that amount more. All of my work is on the front end of creating the patterns and then the store runs on it's own. I just need to make the time to make my patterns and have the extra dollah bills roll in.

MexiCAN

Last year I had resolutions to go to Mexico and Canada. Of course, I made it to the country that is three states away and not the one I can drive to in 30 minutes. There's no excuse for that. I am definitely making it down there this year.

Watch My Temper

Last year, I got upset about something and it almost cost me a friendship. I've always been a little sensitive and it definitely hurts my relationships. I really want to think about things before getting upset and find more constructive ways about communicating the things that upset me. The trick here will also be to make sure I don't let myself get walked over to the point where I get frustrated. Already this year, I've had a week where I had to back down and back down and back down and finally after a week of it, I completely snapped over something small and spent the whole night crying....

Keep It All About Balance

...which leads to the last resolution. Everything is a give and take and this year is going to be keeping my cool while standing up for myself and giving up something for the wedding to keep another thing that is more important and balance and compromise and patience. This year is going to be amazing and trying and it's going to have a lot of ups and downs. In this first month, I've already seen a lot of that. I want to make sure I keep my perspective and find the balance of when to work hard and when to take time for myself and when to back down and when to fight back. I think working on those skills will be great for building character and give me the right tools to take into a marriage.

2015 New Year's Resolution Recap

It's the last day of the year - time to look back on 2015 and see how we did with our resolutions. I take my resolutions pretty seriously and I love putting them on the blog so I feel more accountable to them. So... let's see how I did!!!

Visit at Least Two New Countries 

My goal was to go to Canada and Mexico. It always felt weird to me that with all of the traveling I've done, I'd never been to the two closest countries. I had a half marathon in Canada so that was a sure thing. It was so cool going to a country so similar to the United States but still so different. I also LOVE exchange rates and this one was nicely in our favor. Most things were similar in price but the exchange gave Dollar holders a 30% discount. I also went on this trip with 3 of my best friends that I'd moved away from and it was so fun getting the gang back together.

I didn't do so well with Mexico though. Even though I could have done this one by simply driving 45 minutes and walking across the border, I totally dropped the ball. It sounds so easy but I was worried about traffic and safety. I think the best way to do this would be to find a bus tour or something to go a little further south than TJ, and spend a couple of days in Ensenada with Dan. It's definitely going back on the list for next year.

Run a Half Marathon 

I didn't run a half marathon this year... I ran TWO. I'm sign up for two more next year and I can't wait! Having a big race to train for is the best way to keep me accountable on runs and I need that to get myself out the door. The races themselves are a huge challenge but there are so many fun things to experience along the way - gorgeous views, cheerers, funny signs, music. The experience of the races are great. So is the training though because was the best way to...

Fall in Love... With San Diego 

Since I was running 3-4 times a week, I got to explore a lot of San Diego. We luckily lived in a area where I had a ton of trails - the harbor, all around Balboa Park, and then just exploring other hikes and trails I could drive to. Now we live in a new neighborhood and I'm excited to lace up my running shoes and explore these trails too. 

San Diego as a whole is really amazing though. It feels like a mix of my favorite things about the Bay Area and LA and I'm excited to keep having adventures in our new home. 

Find a Community in San Diego 

This was an interesting one for me. In the Bay Area, I had such a big group of friends from college and then my smaller blondetourage. When I made this resolution, I was kind of thinking something similar - I would find another huge group and a smaller group within that. However, so far, it's been more isolated one off friendships - and there is nothing wrong with that. At the moment, I think I'm making great one on one relationships and that can be a lot stronger than a big community. We've only been here a year, so a big community is still possible but I'm so happy I've made a few awesome friends for now. 

Finish a Big Creative Project 

This is one of those resolutions that turned out completely different than I imagined. I thought my big creative project would be a huge cross stitch (which I'm working on) or an awesome new cosplay (materials purchased!) but I didn't finish any of those (yet!) because something else came up.

Over the summer, my aunt passed away. She was a big reason why I love creating things. She taught me how to paint and sculpt. She showed me art can be as simple as painting a basket, coloring in the lines, or creating beautiful ceramics. I always felt bad that I didn't take art classes in college or keep pursuing art as much as I wanted to. I've been better in recent years with my costumes and cross stitch, but after she passed, I decided to take that art class. I got to create several awesome projects. The biggest would of course be a several foot long topographic map of California made of corks. I know my aunt would be proud of me and I look forward to taking more of them in the future.

Open Up Our Hearts 

This resolution was about adopting a new pet. I wanted a puppy long before Rocco passed away. I remember that awful day though and I turned and cried into Dan that I didn't even want a puppy any more because pets die far too soon. Obviously, I didn't mean that, but it is hard to lose a pet.

I fell in love with Harley the moment I saw her. I knew she was the puppy we were taking home. She immediately felt so comfortable and perfect with us. As she's grown, I know we got just the right dog. She's not too small but definitely not big. She's athletic and so so loving. Like her parents, she can be a little... willful, but at the end of the day, all she wants is cuddles and belly rubs and kisses. She perfectly fit the whole in our hearts and keeps up with our lifestyle.

I'd be lying if I didn't look at her sometimes and realize that I only get so much time with her. That's always the problem with opening your heart to a pet, they sadly don't stick around as much as you want them to, but I know we are going to love her as much as possible for as long as we have her.

The Trifecta -

This one was at the back of my mind the whole year and it just didn't happen. Between my family tradgedies, training for the half, art classes, and finances, I just couldn't make it happen. I'd like to say it will be pushed to next year but doing these races is really expense and we have a wedding to put on. I do belong to a couple of gyms now though so my goal is to keep up with training and be ready to tackle the beast (and super and sprint) in 2017!


2015 was a wild ride and I'm looking forward to next year. I hope it's a little more stable - the ups and downs of moving, getting a puppy, losing an aunt, getting engaged, and moving again have made it hard for us to enjoy every day adventures or travel so onto the next. Happy New Year everyone!