August 2019.

Just like that July is over and August is here. This summer is flying by! The goal is to finish all my house projects by the fall so I can reapply for my certification exam, then start studying/getting organized for the next one as soon as possible.

AUGUST 1-31
2-4: Work on the office - Rearrange furniture, install swing-arm sconce, hang art/+, organize closet, vacuum; Remove painters tape, hang small mirrors (3) in stair nook; Clean out/clean the fridge & freezer; Clean master bathroom, top to bottom. **CrossFit Games**
Fun: Maybe out on Saturday night

9-11: Work on guest bedroom - Fold/organize/store fall & winter wardrobe, organize closet, hang art/+, vacuum.
Fun: Spray Tan + SAR at WW on 8/9

16-18: Continue to work on guest bedroom/closet

23-25: Clean guest bathroom - Fill old anchor holes, install shelving, organize cabinet, clean the bathroom, top to bottom, hang b/w curtains, 

30-31: Clean the kitchen, first floor; Organize coat closet

Also...
1. Get my car inspected
2. Get my car registration renewed3. Money goals:
- Call to cancel first account since it has been PIF for nearly a year.
- Keep second account PIF
- Pay off or nearly pay off third account
- Leave money in account for potential projects (master bathroom, screen in back porch, privacy fences)
4. Do more of what makes me happy, makes me feel like me...
5. Cut out HFCS soda completely
6. Take a break from the very tasty chocolate milk from whole foods
7. Be disciplined about going to the gym (basically every day that Mom and I aren't playing tennis) and adding weight training back into my routine too.

July 2019.

Just like that the year is half over. It's July. I had a brief vacation & took 3 glorious days off from work. I went down to the beach to see my best friend for a couple days and then enjoyed a long weekend. It was great. The timing worked out so that when I came back, it was a 4-day work week with the 4th of July holiday. Needless to say, the next 2 months until Labor Day are going to D-R-A-G!

I decided to take a break from studying and did not apply for the next cycle of exam windows, to take the test in November. I have a lot to do with my house -- my guest room is..not available for guests. :-/ I want to hang my art collection, paint the garage and get organized. I'm hoping maybe I would have a garage sale or something late summer/early fall to try to sell versus just donate my "good stuff." I'm really hoping to make the most of the summer (what's left of it) and get my mind right to reapply and then study for the certification exam. I'm also considering some courses at a local university.

Other plans for the month? My family has two birthdays to celebrate - my sister turns 42 and my nephew turns 5.

July 5-7: Hang art in living room; Pick up downstairs; Laundry; Celebrate my sister's birthday; Reapply my tan ;)

July 12-14: (Pay Day) Tennis with my mom;   Vacuum stairs; Reapply my tan :)

July 19-21: Celebrate my nephew's birthday; Paint stair nook; Clean the floors downstairs; Reapply my tan; Tennis with my mom

July 26-28: (Pay Day)  Rearrange master bedroom and hang art/mirror(s); Vacuum upstairs; Work on guest room; Work on office; Out!

June 2019.

It's my birthday month!! It is also a super busy month work-wise and personally; hard to even come up with a list for the month. There's so much to do!

May 2019.

31 DAY CHALLENGE

+ DRINK ONLY: juice, water, Clearly Canadian, daily smooth. Some alcohol is okay...I just haven't really been drinking at all lately so it's not a big deal if I do have 1 or 2. The goal is to not drink soda. fail. if anything, i increased my soda intake. oops. 

+ EAT ONLY MEALS: The goal here is to cut down on my snacking. It's not that what I snack on is necessarily bad, but that some days at work after lunch I will snack all the way until I leave at 5pm. The goal this month is to eat only what I prepare myself or a few of the good GF frozen options (pizza!), and clean chocolate. Saying goodbye to my GF pretzels, chips and M&Ms. i did well sticking to mostly all GF options except i still snacked at work.

+ GYM CHALLENGE: I'm not going to change unless I get my butt to the gym and do that more than one or two days a week. The ultimate plan is to work out 6 days a week, but for now, if I could get there at least 4 days on a regular basis, I could be okay with that. M-F hit the gym before work + Sundays after church. i've been going in the evenings after work, usually 7:30-8:30ish. it's great and so nice to have a routine rather than to keep trying to get up at 4:30 am and not going. 

+ HOME CHALLENGE: In addition to hitting the gym in the mornings, I also want to do an evening challenge of body weight movements...mostly so that when I come home from work I don't just melt into the couch until it's time to go to bed. Movements include:

- OH PVC Squats

- Lunges

- Glute Bridges

- Fire Hydrants

- Donkey Kicks

- Frog Pumps

- Sit Ups

MORE MONTHLY GOALS:

1. Attend church at least twice. i've been every week.

2. Contact the HVAC company about moving my thermostat. i'm going to pause this idea until after the summer...i think i can just hang my picture over the box for now.

3. Contact the painters about repairing and painting my drywall. i fixed the hole in my ceiling.

4. Contact the cabinet folks about getting more shelves for my kitchen cabinets.

5. Pay down balance on Account #2. It is helpful May is a 3-paycheck month. 1-2 payments left until it's PIF.

6. Oral care: Brush & floss after every meal; use ACT after brushing and flossing; use teeth whiteners. my dentist said yesterday that things are looking better in there.

7. Skin care: Use a charcoal or clay mask once a week (Fridays or Saturdays); use VP spin brush to clean my face nightly; Continue using BC peel and overnight cream; Switch to using BC day cream versus my typical pre-makeup lotion. 

8. Pass my exam!*** try again! :(

9. House projects: Paint! moved to June

a. Garage (+ install shelf & hang ladders)

b. Nook in entry (black!!)

April 2019.

This year, as do all prior years, just seems to be passing so quickly. There are so many things to do and get done. Now that winter seems to almost be gone now in North Carolina, it's time to think about planting flowers and hanging string lights on the back porch and enjoying warmer nights outside. I am all for it! But first, I have my big test looming in less than 60 days. So, after this last weekend in March, I'll go back into hibernation for a couple of months to shove my nose in my books, flip through my flash cards and get in as much studying as I can between now and then. The house projects will wait until after it's over - hopefully I can put the study materials away and enjoy the fruits of my labor. We'll see. Besides studying my butt off, here are my plans for the month of April:

1. Attend church at least twice (Easter Sunday counts!)
2. Contact company to move my thermostat
a. Contact painters about repairing and painting my drywall (2 places)
3. As much as I want to SPEND on new spring things...continue to pay down balance for Account #2 (to be paid off by/for my birthday in June)
4. Start doing all the things I need to do to change me and my life instead of just talking about it and planning it...I just need to DO IT! These "things" include:
a. Hit the gym...a lot. M-F before work + Sundays after church. No skipping days no matter how jell-o-y my legs feel.
b. Getting my butt to the gym before work means getting my body in bed by 9:30 pm. This means leaving my phone somewhere else - it is so easy to lay in bed and stay on that thing for an hour. I have 2 other obnoxious alarms so oversleeping isn't really a fear anymore. Plus, I love my sound machine.
c. Establish morning and nightly beauty/self-care routines that go beyond my post-shower use of my Rodan+Fields regimen:
- Brush and floss after every mean (at work, this should help with my chronic all-day snacking!)
- Use ACT after brushing and flossing (per my dentist's instruction, this is more important than brushing?!)
- Use a charcoal or clay mask once a week (this should be easier to do since I'm going into hibernation from things happening at night on the weekends)
- Clean my face. Don't get me wrong, I use make up remover wipes pretty regularly but I'm super bad at washing my face (when I'm not in the shower). I have this wonderful spin brush from Vanity Planet that I love, face cleanser that smells great...it just hasn't been a priority.
- Use Beauty Counter's Resurfacing Peel + Moisturizer a minimum of 3x/week (Slowly, I'm making the switch over to more of their products...and the Peel is awesome. I used it once and the next morning, my forehead already looked less pimply.)
- Dermaflash at least once. It didn't really do for me what it does in the videos, but I also didn't properly prep so I'm wondering if I really follow all the directions, I'll get better results.
- Use my face sucker at least once a week. I just like saying "face sucker." :)
5. 30 DAY CHALLENGE
+ DRINK ONLY: juice, water, Clearly Canadian, daily smoothie (I have to start making my own - this has become an expensive choice at nearly $4 each). I don't know how I feel about alcohol...I generally don't drink that much when I'm home, so I'm not saying I won't have any, but I doubt I'll have the equivalent of a 6-pk by month's end -- plus, I don't drink beer. So it'd be cider or wine. Ooh trouble. LOL
+ EAT: no bread/gluten-containing foods. Stick to what I prepare myself and GF options. For the most part, I am good about this -- except when it comes to sweets. Goodbye M&Ms. :(
+ NO CRAP: I really want to know if removing soda, bread and crap from my diet along with adequate exercise will cure my skin conditions (eczema & allergic reactions)
+ AT HOME CHALLENGE: On top of going to the gym in the mornings, I also want to do an evening challenge of body weight movements...mostly so that when I come home after work, I keep moving and just don't melt into the sofa. I'm thinking either a 3 RFT or an AMRAP...nothing crazy.
- OH PVC Squats
- Lunges
- Glute Bridges
- Fire Hydrants
- Donkey Kicks
- Sit Ups

The "moral of the story" is I'm not getting any younger and if I don't start really taking care of myself now, I don't know what's going to happen. 30 days...I'll give myself 30 days and see if I can change my life for the better.

March 2019.

- continue to pay down balance for snowball #3
- pay off balance for snowball #2 (<$200)
- attend church at least twice
- birthdays: mom and bestie
- start really going & not just planning/dreaming/not going to the gym in the mornings before work (total: 4-6 days/week)
- contact hvac company to move my thermostat
- contact painters about repairing and painting my drywall
- donate old decor and furniture
- 30 day challenge: NO SODA
- hang art and mirrors
- STUDY
- bestie comes to visit!

February 2019

January just flew by didn't it! I had a serious case of the blues towards the end of December that carried into the first month of the new year. It's really hard to talk about and yet easy. Depression isn't so bad...it just is a drag. To sweep in and knock you on your butt, telling you you're a failure, that you're never going to meet the right one, that life is just better if you sleep all day, watch tv and go back to bed. Trust me, it's not. SO, in honor of putting the first month of the new year behind us, here's to having the best February of 2019! :)

1. continue to keep balances PIF for snowball #1 and snowball #2
2. continue to pay down balance for snowball #3
3. celebrate my dad's birthday
4. attend church at least twice
5. hit the gym at least 4 days a week
6. contact HVAC company about moving my thermostat
7. contact painters about repairing and painting my drywall
8. get rid of furniture and old decor (donate to DRM)
9. 28 day challenge: NO SODA (kill me now!)
10. rearrange office and guest room + both closets
11. hang art
12. rearrange/organize coat closet on first floor
13. sleeper sofa to be delivered mid-month
14. start studying!