Well, hello there! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I have been going through a lot of changes in my life lately - specifically in the last 3 weeks. So obviously, I didn't post a May or June recap about my progress towards my New Year's Resolutions, and that's because in May and June, there weren't a lot of updates to address. I fell off the weight loss bandwagon, I stopped reading and blogging about it (obviously), and I've been working the same job as I have been for the last 3 1/2 years. Boring, right?
Except let me just get real for a second. Because I just admitted I wasn't moving forward to any of my goals during the months of May and June. Which means I was either a) stagnating in my current position or b) digressing (moving away from my goals). And if I'm being honest, I'm gonna have to go with option number 2. I hardcore got off the healthy eating/exercise train and gained about 7 lbs. I started coming home and laying in bed watching Netflix by myself, because it's so much easier than trying to be productive in my life and my marriage. I started falling back into the old habits that defined me around last October when I realized I needed to begin making changes in my life.
Why is it so easy to go back to the "bad places" in your life when you start to progress toward the "good places"?
And because I was digressing, I began to get depressed. Something had to change. I'm going to be 30 this year, and I can't keep "waiting around" for my life to change in the ways I want it to - I need to start acting now.
So my goals are changing from what they were in December. Out with the old, in with the new.
1) Lose another 20 lbs by my birthday.
2) Finish paying off all debt (besides my student loans) by the end of this year.
3) Become more efficient at my new part-time job (more about that in an upcoming post).
4) Become more spiritually mature in my marriage (this is a very vague goal right now, because I'm not quite sure what this is going to look like, but I'll keep you posted).
So there are my new goals. I know, I know, I didn't mention anything about being a faithful blogger or writer, but right now, those things are on the back burner. I might dabble here and there (for fun), but I have so many other more important things to focus on.
Forward & progressing,
Yours Truly
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Friday, May 5, 2017
April Update on New Year's Resolutions
Below are the New Year's Resolutions I made for 2017. Can you believe 2017 is already A THIRD OF THE WAY DONE?! I can't believe it. I'm turning 30 in about 5 months, but I don't wanna talk about it. Anyway, let's get a progress update on my resolution list, shall we?
1) Lose another 50 pounds - As of this past Sunday, April 30, I have completed two months of my 3-month weight loss challenge in which I've lost about 13 pounds so far! But I have to confess, my exercising has slacked off, so I need to get back on that.
2) Pay off all of our immediate debt - Still working on it - it's definitely a work-in-progress. Obviously, if we're still working on it... Anyway, enough of that. (We're hoping to have everything paid off - except for my students loans - by this time next year!)
3) Rewrite Ravensboro - Still no more progress on this. Sadly, I haven't been bitten by the writing bug lately. But maybe soon, I will be.
4) Finish Harkness - I really can't start on this until Ravensboro is done... ='(
5) Journal/Blog more - I have a few more book summaries waiting to be written and posted on my blog, but I finished the Harry Potter series - yay! Not really journalling right now, but I'll figure out some kind of plan soon.
6) Find out where I should be career-wise - This is honestly still a prayer in my heart, but when you're paying off debt, a career or job change is about the stupidest thing you could possibly do. Am I right? This past weekend, I went to a Beth Moore devotional weekend with my best friend, and God showed me some things to work on in my spiritual walk, so that's at the forefront of things I'm focusing on right now, and honestly, I don't feel the least bit bad about it. At all. So yeah.
What about you? Did you have any New Year's Resolutions going into 2017? How are those working out?
1) Lose another 50 pounds - As of this past Sunday, April 30, I have completed two months of my 3-month weight loss challenge in which I've lost about 13 pounds so far! But I have to confess, my exercising has slacked off, so I need to get back on that.
2) Pay off all of our immediate debt - Still working on it - it's definitely a work-in-progress. Obviously, if we're still working on it... Anyway, enough of that. (We're hoping to have everything paid off - except for my students loans - by this time next year!)
3) Rewrite Ravensboro - Still no more progress on this. Sadly, I haven't been bitten by the writing bug lately. But maybe soon, I will be.
4) Finish Harkness - I really can't start on this until Ravensboro is done... ='(
5) Journal/Blog more - I have a few more book summaries waiting to be written and posted on my blog, but I finished the Harry Potter series - yay! Not really journalling right now, but I'll figure out some kind of plan soon.
6) Find out where I should be career-wise - This is honestly still a prayer in my heart, but when you're paying off debt, a career or job change is about the stupidest thing you could possibly do. Am I right? This past weekend, I went to a Beth Moore devotional weekend with my best friend, and God showed me some things to work on in my spiritual walk, so that's at the forefront of things I'm focusing on right now, and honestly, I don't feel the least bit bad about it. At all. So yeah.
What about you? Did you have any New Year's Resolutions going into 2017? How are those working out?
Friday, March 31, 2017
March Update on New Year's Resolutions
Below are the New Year's Resolutions I made for 2017. Can you believe 2017 is already A QUARTER OF THE WAY DONE?! I can't believe it. I'm turning 30 in less than 7 months, but I don't wanna talk about it. Anyway, let's get a progress update on my resolution list, shall we?
1) Lose another 50 pounds - As of this past Sunday, March 26, I have completed one month of my 3-month weight loss challenge in which I've lost about 9 pounds in 4 weeks! Between sickness and back pain, I haven't worked out as much lately, so my exercising has slacked off, but I must have built some muscle, because I can tell I'm still burning fat. Well, it's at more of a simmer, but still...
2) Pay off all of our immediate debt - Still chugging along! Even though we're down to about six bills (at least when it comes to paying off debt), they're still the largest chunks, so I'm having the mentality of "slow & steady wins the race" right now.
3) Rewrite Ravensboro - Still no more progress on this. I'm ashamed to say between work (tax season is here and I work in a tax office), working out, and otherwise being married and being choir director at my church, I haven't had much time to do much else. Including updating Ravensboro.
4) Finish Harkness - I really can't start on this until Ravensboro is done... ='(
5) Journal/Blog more - I have SIX more book summaries waiting to be written and posted on my blog, which is awesome, but I've started slacking on the journaling front - unless you count the food journal I'm doing for my weight loss competition.
6) Find out where I should be career-wise - I just got a raise, so I'm sticking where I'm stuck right now. Hopefully, God will continue to lead me in His will for my career, because I still don't know what to do. I had lunch with a friend the other day, and we were talking about careers and finding jobs doing what we're good at and love to do. Obviously, being a writer or working in a church would be preferable, but I have also considered guidance counseling or camp counseling before. So maybe I'll look into that...
What about you? Did you have any New Year's Resolutions going into 2017? How are those working out?
1) Lose another 50 pounds - As of this past Sunday, March 26, I have completed one month of my 3-month weight loss challenge in which I've lost about 9 pounds in 4 weeks! Between sickness and back pain, I haven't worked out as much lately, so my exercising has slacked off, but I must have built some muscle, because I can tell I'm still burning fat. Well, it's at more of a simmer, but still...
2) Pay off all of our immediate debt - Still chugging along! Even though we're down to about six bills (at least when it comes to paying off debt), they're still the largest chunks, so I'm having the mentality of "slow & steady wins the race" right now.
3) Rewrite Ravensboro - Still no more progress on this. I'm ashamed to say between work (tax season is here and I work in a tax office), working out, and otherwise being married and being choir director at my church, I haven't had much time to do much else. Including updating Ravensboro.
4) Finish Harkness - I really can't start on this until Ravensboro is done... ='(
5) Journal/Blog more - I have SIX more book summaries waiting to be written and posted on my blog, which is awesome, but I've started slacking on the journaling front - unless you count the food journal I'm doing for my weight loss competition.
6) Find out where I should be career-wise - I just got a raise, so I'm sticking where I'm stuck right now. Hopefully, God will continue to lead me in His will for my career, because I still don't know what to do. I had lunch with a friend the other day, and we were talking about careers and finding jobs doing what we're good at and love to do. Obviously, being a writer or working in a church would be preferable, but I have also considered guidance counseling or camp counseling before. So maybe I'll look into that...
What about you? Did you have any New Year's Resolutions going into 2017? How are those working out?
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
February Update on New Year's Resolutions
Below are the New Year's Resolutions I made for 2017. Let's get a progress update, shall we?
1) Lose another 50 pounds - As of Sunday, February 26, I have entered a 3-month-long weight-loss challenge. I needed to do it, because I've been seriously slacking on the weight-loss front. This past weekend, Mom and I took a little trip to St. Augustine (maybe if you ask nicely, I'll write a blog post about it). I definitely gorged myself in order to have a high starting weight for the start of the competition (and to have several "last meals" to think back on fondly during the next three months). Since my initial weigh-in for the competition, I've already gone down SIX POUNDS! Also, I just started doing Jillian Michael's workout video called "Ripped in 30." Guess we'll see how ripped I am in thirty days!
2) Pay off all of our immediate debt - We used part of our tax refund to pay off yet another bill, but then another $1,000 worth of unpaid debt surfaced. So since then, I've taken a little break from thinking too much about our debt, because it hurts my head and my heart.
3) Rewrite Ravensboro - I'm ashamed to say between work (tax season is here and I work in a tax office), working out, and otherwise being married and being choir director at my church, I haven't had much time to do much else. Including updating Ravensboro.
4) Finish Harkness - I really can't start on this until Ravensboro is done... ='(
5) Journal/Blog more - I've written more than a few book summaries on my blog, AND I started a journal again last week. Now to just discipline to write in it faithfully.
6) Find out where I should be career-wise - I just got a raise, so I'm sticking where I'm stuck right now. Hopefully, God will continue to lead me in His will for my career, because I still don't know what to do. I love writing, and I would love to work in a church, but I'm not finding any lucrative opportunities to do this =/
What about you? Did you have any New Year's Resolutions going into 2017? How are those working out?
1) Lose another 50 pounds - As of Sunday, February 26, I have entered a 3-month-long weight-loss challenge. I needed to do it, because I've been seriously slacking on the weight-loss front. This past weekend, Mom and I took a little trip to St. Augustine (maybe if you ask nicely, I'll write a blog post about it). I definitely gorged myself in order to have a high starting weight for the start of the competition (and to have several "last meals" to think back on fondly during the next three months). Since my initial weigh-in for the competition, I've already gone down SIX POUNDS! Also, I just started doing Jillian Michael's workout video called "Ripped in 30." Guess we'll see how ripped I am in thirty days!
2) Pay off all of our immediate debt - We used part of our tax refund to pay off yet another bill, but then another $1,000 worth of unpaid debt surfaced. So since then, I've taken a little break from thinking too much about our debt, because it hurts my head and my heart.
3) Rewrite Ravensboro - I'm ashamed to say between work (tax season is here and I work in a tax office), working out, and otherwise being married and being choir director at my church, I haven't had much time to do much else. Including updating Ravensboro.
4) Finish Harkness - I really can't start on this until Ravensboro is done... ='(
5) Journal/Blog more - I've written more than a few book summaries on my blog, AND I started a journal again last week. Now to just discipline to write in it faithfully.
6) Find out where I should be career-wise - I just got a raise, so I'm sticking where I'm stuck right now. Hopefully, God will continue to lead me in His will for my career, because I still don't know what to do. I love writing, and I would love to work in a church, but I'm not finding any lucrative opportunities to do this =/
What about you? Did you have any New Year's Resolutions going into 2017? How are those working out?
Sunday, January 1, 2017
2016 in Review
When I think of where Tyler & I were at the beginning of 2016 and where we are now, I am FLOORED at the number of changes God has wrought in our lives in the past year.
The BIGGEST change I can think of is that we moved TWICE in 2016! That's right - you heard me - TWO TIMES in a year. (By the way, I'm fond of emphasizing words by using all-caps; just so you know, it's not that I'm yelling at you in text form. haha) In March of 2016, we moved from the apartment we'd been living in since we got married (a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment in Auburndale) to a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in Winter Haven. And we did it all in one weekend, with the help of our families. The house we moved into, funnily enough, had just been vacated by my best friend, Hannah, her husband, and their two dogs, Major and Colonel. The house is owned by Pastor Osborne (the pastor of the church I grew up in - Faith Baptist Church) and his wife. It was a blessing for my husband, myself and our two cats, Jojo & Jeeves (pictured below) to have a place to stretch out in.
After living in the house (and did I mention it was on a LAKE?!) from March - October, we realized God was trying to get our attention about our finances. We were pretty deep in debt (from schooling and other investments into our current jobs), and with a rent payment, we couldn't afford to make the payments needed to get rid of our debt. So we started praying about it, and I asked my mom if we could move in with her until we got our debts squared away. She graciously agreed, and so, at the end of October, we moved (once again in a weekend) from the "Lake House" to my mom's condo, which was a whopping 2 minute drive down the road. haha It has been such a blessing to be with my mom during this season. We did have to make a few adjustments though. The hardest adjustment for me was getting rid of our cats. I probably cried for a week straight after we got rid of them, but thankfully, the woman who took them attends the same church we do, and she's kept me up-to-date with pictures and cute little anecdotes, so I know she's taking good care of them!
The second change I can think of is that Tyler, after having to move between jobs since we got married, is finally established as a mechanic at a full-service gas station and auto shop in Lakeland. It's such a blessing to us to know that we both have consistent income in order to pay off the aforementioned debt ;) Of course, I'm going on three years of being employed as an Office Manager at a tax & financial office in Winter Haven. It's not my dream job/career, but it's a full-time job doing something I'm qualified to do, so right now, I'll take it!
Tyler and I are currently attending Life Church in Auburndale where I serve as the Choir Director and he serves as part-time Bass player/part-time member of the security team. Being involved in the worship team there definitely keeps us active parts of a body of Christ, and it's a good feeling!
I'm still continuing with my hobby of writing; unfortunately, it's taken a backseat for me in light of other commitments on my time. Apart from work and spending time with my husband, I started a healthy eating plan back in mid-October and have lost 30 pounds so far! Below is a before and after photo JUST OF MY FACE! I recently joined a gym, so I'm going to try to become a regular at lifting weights, running on the treadmill, shaking my groove thing in a Zumba class, or whatever I have to do to reach my goal of either (a) losing 80 pounds by the time I turn thirty or (b) dropping 5 dress sizes - whichever comes first.
Well, that's all I can really think of for now. Hope you're all having a great 2017 so far, and if you'd like to learn more about my adventures over time, feel free to look around my blog!
The BIGGEST change I can think of is that we moved TWICE in 2016! That's right - you heard me - TWO TIMES in a year. (By the way, I'm fond of emphasizing words by using all-caps; just so you know, it's not that I'm yelling at you in text form. haha) In March of 2016, we moved from the apartment we'd been living in since we got married (a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment in Auburndale) to a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in Winter Haven. And we did it all in one weekend, with the help of our families. The house we moved into, funnily enough, had just been vacated by my best friend, Hannah, her husband, and their two dogs, Major and Colonel. The house is owned by Pastor Osborne (the pastor of the church I grew up in - Faith Baptist Church) and his wife. It was a blessing for my husband, myself and our two cats, Jojo & Jeeves (pictured below) to have a place to stretch out in.
After living in the house (and did I mention it was on a LAKE?!) from March - October, we realized God was trying to get our attention about our finances. We were pretty deep in debt (from schooling and other investments into our current jobs), and with a rent payment, we couldn't afford to make the payments needed to get rid of our debt. So we started praying about it, and I asked my mom if we could move in with her until we got our debts squared away. She graciously agreed, and so, at the end of October, we moved (once again in a weekend) from the "Lake House" to my mom's condo, which was a whopping 2 minute drive down the road. haha It has been such a blessing to be with my mom during this season. We did have to make a few adjustments though. The hardest adjustment for me was getting rid of our cats. I probably cried for a week straight after we got rid of them, but thankfully, the woman who took them attends the same church we do, and she's kept me up-to-date with pictures and cute little anecdotes, so I know she's taking good care of them!
The second change I can think of is that Tyler, after having to move between jobs since we got married, is finally established as a mechanic at a full-service gas station and auto shop in Lakeland. It's such a blessing to us to know that we both have consistent income in order to pay off the aforementioned debt ;) Of course, I'm going on three years of being employed as an Office Manager at a tax & financial office in Winter Haven. It's not my dream job/career, but it's a full-time job doing something I'm qualified to do, so right now, I'll take it!
Tyler and I are currently attending Life Church in Auburndale where I serve as the Choir Director and he serves as part-time Bass player/part-time member of the security team. Being involved in the worship team there definitely keeps us active parts of a body of Christ, and it's a good feeling!
I'm still continuing with my hobby of writing; unfortunately, it's taken a backseat for me in light of other commitments on my time. Apart from work and spending time with my husband, I started a healthy eating plan back in mid-October and have lost 30 pounds so far! Below is a before and after photo JUST OF MY FACE! I recently joined a gym, so I'm going to try to become a regular at lifting weights, running on the treadmill, shaking my groove thing in a Zumba class, or whatever I have to do to reach my goal of either (a) losing 80 pounds by the time I turn thirty or (b) dropping 5 dress sizes - whichever comes first.
Well, that's all I can really think of for now. Hope you're all having a great 2017 so far, and if you'd like to learn more about my adventures over time, feel free to look around my blog!
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