WEEKEND WRAPUP / WEEKLY GOALS

We had a pretty low key weekend...and it was awesome. After too many non-eventful weekends, I get restless...but for now, they are definitely welcome.

We cooked every dinner this weekend...which is kind of a big deal (see previous weekends). I made this spicy pasta Friday night. I also painted my nails...something I hadn't done in far too long. The color is Watermelon by Essie.  C had to go into work for a bit Saturday morning, so I read and drank some green tea. It's taken a while to get used to plain green tea (no sugar), but I am really enjoying it now.  Saturday afternoon, we met up with my mom and Dalton (nephew) and I took a couple of cute shots of him in the bluebonnets near where we live. And, yesterday, we took the afternoon off...drove through the country a bit. We stopped to look at a few houses and spent the rest of the time dreaming of the future. It was kind of amazing.

Today has started off slow...as Monday's do. I am dragging. Lots of things on my to-do list...but I've spent a good amount of the day snuggling with Daphne.

So, I started a new thing last week where I set a couple of weekly goals (instead of a massive list of monthly goals). The hope was that it would help me be more focused, and in turn, more accomplished. I'm not sure week one is a good representation of those ambitions. But, I'm going to give it another try this week!

Here's last week's goals:

SPIRITUAL: Read thru She Reads Truth daily Bible reading. Go to church Sunday.
Ehh...I did read the app several days...but we didn't get to church Sunday. I hate that!!

FINANCIAL: Work towards finalizing budget (I've been slacking!).
Still working on this. Yesterday's drive/dream session (and looking at those houses) re-ignited the fire to get to saving though!

MENTAL: Read at least 1 book.
Done! I read the newest installment in Melissa Bourban's Magical Dressmaking series (A Seamless Murder, pictured above). It was cute. 

PHYSICAL: Walk at least 4x (I've been slacking with this too). Go to WW.
I did go to WW (see recap here). I only managed to workout twice though. 

PERSONAL: Get up by 10 every morning (so this will probably require going to sleep before 3 or 4!)
This is the biggest struggle for me. I have managed to go to bed a lot earlier (save for one night when I went to bed at 7 in the morning!!!). But, I usually wake up at 3 or 4 can't go back to sleep for several hours. This is a work in progress. It's a lot better than it has been though...so that is promising.

FAMILY: Spend quality time (no tv/social media) with C.
Yesterday's drive was fun. We also managed to just hang out a lot last week. Love him!

CREATIVE: Take a photo everyday. Blog 3x.
I think I did pretty good with this. I blogged 5x last week! That was my goal for the month...so that feels good! I'm pretty sure I took a pic everyday also. I missed a few days of putting one on Insta...but I still took at least one picture a day. Yay!

PROFESSIONAL: Finish paperwork for school (pray over this). Wrap up all open orders for design stuff.
I have one "old" order I'm still trying to finish up...hopefully today or tomorrow. I've prayed a lot about the school thing...we'll see what happens!

So, I guess I did okay. Maybe about 50%. I'm going to try and do a little better this week...especially since this weeks goals are pretty much the same as last weeks.

SPIRITUAL: Read thru She Reads Truth daily Bible reading. Go to church Sunday.

FINANCIAL: Work towards finalizing budget.

MENTAL: Read at least 1 book.

PHYSICAL: Walk at least 4x. Go to WW. Track EVERY day. 

PERSONAL: Get up by 10 every morning (keep trying!!)

FAMILY: Spend quality time (no tv/social media) with C. Send out all the birthday cards I've not sent out!

CREATIVE: Take a photo everyday. Blog 3x.

PROFESSIONAL: Follow up with school stuff. Wrap up all open orders for design stuff.

These seem like pretty basic goals for the week...and they are. I feel kind of silly even putting them on my to-do list...they should really be routine. Hopefully I can make that happen in the next couple of weeks and move on to some bigger challenges!

linking up with Meg for Mingle Monday

BOOK UPDATE

Every year, I set a goal to read a specific number of books. 52 was the magic number for several years. But, I never did quite make it. So this year, I thought I would be super smart and set my goal for 60 (or 5 books a month). I figured even if I didn't quite make that....I may just hit the 52. HA.

I started the year off on the wrong foot...reading only 2 books in January. But, I've been in a bit of a zone here lately, so I thought I would share what I've been reading.

I shared January's books here. Since then, I have read 16 books.

I finished up the Pretty Little Liars (by Sara Shepard) series with Vicious. I'll be the first to admit that the books (and the show, for that matter) are a bit repetitive (and unrealistic). But...I love them. Guilty pleasure. That being said, I finished this book in February, and I honestly could not tell you much about it. I think the main problem is that I read through them so quickly and they are kind of brainless, zoned-out reads. But, sometimes those are a good thing. 

The Devil in the Junior League (Linda Francis Lee) was pretty cute. 

Southern Comfort (Fern Michaels) was a quick, easy read. Thought it was kind of cheesy, but not awful. I've not read any other Fern Michaels stuff, so I'm not sure if that is par for the course or not. 

I got Yeah Maybe (by Joey Hodges) after Ryan posted a link to her blog. This turned out to be really cute. It reminded me of a lot of other young adult books I've read....and I mean that in a good way. 

Speaking of young adult, I finally finished up book 2 and 3 of The Selection series. The Elite and The One were both pretty good. I enjoyed The Selection the most of the three, but I'm looking forward to the next book coming out next month. I definitely recommend these books. 

I picked up The Andy Cohen Diaries on a whim one day at the library. I enjoyed his first book, and occasionally catch Watch What Happens Live. Anyway, once I started it, I could not stop. I'm a nosy girl, and this appeased my curiosity of what it's like to be a celebrity (of sorts) and hang out with famous people. 

I finally finished Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin. I took notes as I read this book, so it took me a bit longer to read. That being said, I really enjoyed it. It challenged me to be more attentive and focused when reading the Bible. Jen gives an approach to studying that reminded me a lot of college. In fact, I'm not sure I studied anything in college with as much thought as this. Of course, if anything is going to be studied so carefully, it should be the Bible, right? I have already put into practice some of the things she discusses and will be keeping this book for future reference. I may do an update on this and how it is working for me in the future.

I have been trying to finish The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead FOREVER. Seriously. According to goodreads.com, I started the book in August and didn't finish it until March. That's not to say it was awful. I just routinely have a difficult time getting into these books. I end up really liking each book though. They are a spin off of her series Vampire Academy...so I feel like I've been a part of "this world" for a long time. There are three more books in the series. Hopefully I can get through them in the next few weeks! I am interested to see how everything works out.

ALL THE AMISH BOOKS

I read my first Amish book in January. And now, I'm hooked. Well, I should say that I'm hooked to Beverly Lewis. I tried to read two other authors (Leaving Lancaster by Kate Lloyd and A Change of Heart by Beth Wiseman) and I didn't care for either of those as much.

I did finish up the Rose Trilogy by Lewis. Both The Judgement and The Mercy were really good. I miss the families though. That is one thing I hate about a good book or series...I miss the characters when I'm done!!

I also started the Home to Hickory Hollow series. There are 5 stand alone books in the series, and I've read three so far (I'm starting book 4 today). The Fiddler has been my favorite of the three, so far. Each book has a new main character, but characters from the other books make appearances, so that is fun.

WEIGH IN WEDNESDAY

Another Wednesday, another weigh in.

I woke up Tuesday morning and immediately weighed (at home) per my daily ritual. It had me at super low (for me, right now anyway) number. I weighed a couple more times...just to double check. Ha. Not sure what that says about my confidence in that number.

I ate out A LOT last week/weekend. Seriously. Every night starting Tuesday night. And every meal over the three day weekend (except breakfasts...which I didn't eat at all. And Sunday dinner we finally cooked). I'm a little shocked that the scale showed a loss at home. And, while I was excited about the new low number...I was also trying to not get my hopes up in case the scale at the meeting said something totally different.

But, it was a good week. I lost 2.2 pounds this past week!!

So I'm at 31.2 lost so far. Yay!!

I didn't work out much last week and ate out so much...so I'm not sure what to think. But...I have noticed I don't eat AS MUCH when I eat. Lots of salads or grilled chicken. I'm also not snacking as much. So maybe that is helping me out. Either way, I need to get back to tracking my points...if anything, that helps me to not overeat. 

Plugging right along. I've got my eye on the 50 lb mark. That's my next big goal. Secretly hoping to hit it before my brother's high school graduation in June. I would need to lose 2 pounds every week to do that. So, we'll see. 

I get so discouraged with how far I still have to go. I mean it's sad, but 30 pounds is a drop in the bucket compared to what I need to lose. I was expressing this to C...and he reminded me that 30 pounds is a lot of weight. My niece weighs about 30 pounds...and I can barely lift her. I certainly can't hold her for very long. It's crazy to think I was carrying that around all day everyday this time last year!

WEEKLY GOALS

If you've been following my blog much at all, you know I love a good to-do list. I'm a goal setting kind of girl. Unfortunately, I'm not always so good at the follow thru. So, I'm trying something new this month. I have some bigger goals for the month, but I thought I would try and set some smaller weekly goals.

I saw Hannah's breakdown for her monthly goals and loved the idea. Hopefully this will simplify things for me as I set some weekly goals. I'm using the following categories: spiritual, financial, mental, physical, personal, family, social, creative and professional. I may not use every category every week though.

SPIRITUAL: Read thru She Reads Truth daily Bible reading. Go to church Sunday.

FINANCIAL: Work towards finalizing budget (I've been slacking!).

MENTAL: Read at least 1 book.

PHYSICAL: Walk at least 4x (I've been slacking with this too). Go to WW.

PERSONAL: Get up by 10 every morning (so this will probably require going to sleep before 3 or 4!)

FAMILY: Spend quality time (no tv/social media) with C.

CREATIVE: Take a photo everyday. Blog 3x.

PROFESSIONAL: Finish paperwork for school (pray over this). Wrap up all open orders for design stuff.

Seems easy enough, right?! Praying for more success with this method. Hope y'all are having a good week!

WEEKEND WRAPUP

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter weekend!!

my daffodil's finally bloomed!

C had a 3 day weekend. This is SO rare...as he normally works at least half a day on Saturdays. They have been super busy so he is always working overtime here lately. But...we had THREE whole days with nothing on the books. It was definitely a treat!!
We did lots of eating out. I woke up about a half pound less than I was on Thursday morning...so maybe I'm learning how to reel it in while eating out? We didn't get a lot of chips and breads. Those seem to be my issues.

Thursday night, we met my mom and niece for dinner.

Friday we did some shopping and birthday party location scouting. C has a BIG birthday coming up this summer, and we don't know where we are going to have the party! Just another reason I would love to have my own home!!

We did some more shopping on Saturday and wound up at ATT Stadium (I still call it Cowboys Stadium!!). C wanted to look at some hats and jerseys. We managed to leave empty handed (yay for small $ miracles).

Then, we met my dad for dinner at a BBQ place in Fort Worth. My friend's husband was doing an acoustic show out near the patio. Good food, good music and some good visiting. It got kind of cold though, and then it started lightning and raining. My dad had rode his Harley up there, so we all left.

We had church yesterday, which was really great. It wasn't a typical "Easter" sermon....but the message was pretty moving.

And then...the Easter bunny brought us a treat.

Meet Daphne. She's just the sweetest thing. We are getting used to having a fur-baby in the house again, but it hasn't been too bad. She cried a little last night...but she has done really well today. She is a big fan of C. In fact, he just got home and she is curled up on the couch next to him as I type. I basically don't exist now. Ha.

Have a great week!

Linking up with Meg for Mingle Monday.

HAPPY APRIL

It finally feels like spring around here. I'm not sure how I feel about that...as I dread Texas summers. I guess I'll try and enjoy the beautiful blooms and not-too-hot weather as long as it lasts.

Once again, I didn't get much marked off my monthly goals. March was a difficult month...and unlike other months, it seemed to drag on. Hopefully this month will be different!

MARCH GOALS

:: work out 15 times
:: hit the 35 pounds lost mark
:: refinish buffet & dining room chairs
:: get new clothes for Vegas trip (I need new clothes in the worst way!!)
:: go to eye doctor and get new glasses & contacts
:: get new phones
:: go to church every Sunday
:: finish (and win!) the diet bet I started in Feb.
:: daily exercises
:: new makeup!!!
:: get the ball rolling with school stuff
:: color hair
:: blog 10 times
:: read 9 books (eek)
:: read Bible regularly
:: work on budget (ongoing)
:: cards calender (send!)
:: make bracelet
:: go to WW meeting EVERY Tuesday
:: wash Jeep (seriously)
:: start organizing my pictures
:: go to VEGAS (end of month)

I didn't quite hit the 35lb lost mark. I forgot to do my Weigh In Wednesday post yesterday, but I lost .8 which put me at 29 pounds down. While I'm grateful for the loss, it was pretty anti-climatic. I'm looking forward to (finally) hitting the THIRTY! pound mark next week!! Fingers crossed.

We had to postpone our Vegas trip. Hopefully we will be able to go this fall.
I feel like a few of those things (umm the dining room chairs and buffet as well as cleaning my Jeep) may never get done!! But I have the best intentions every month. Ha.

I am going to try and do things a little different this month...to see if I can't be more successful with my goals.

Read the Bible regularly. I downloaded the She Reads Truth app, and I think I'm going to do the Bible in a year plan.
Work out at least 4x a week. I've been doing pretty good about walking. I just want to stick with this!
Go to my Weight Watcher meeting every week. I consistently do better when I go for my weigh in and stay for the meeting.
Hit the 35 pound lost mark. I'll need to lose 6 pounds this month to hit this goal. Completely do-able.
Read 5 books. I'm in a reading zone right now. Loving Beverly Lewis (Amish) books.
Blog 5 times. I blogged 4x last month. I can do it!! Ha.
Take a picture a day. I missed yesterday (naturally). But I've been wanting to do this for a while and now that we have new phones...I don't have an excuse not to.
Start planning C's birthday. It will be here before I know it!! Lots of ideas already!
Budgeting (continued). Didn't do so good in March with the budget. Thinking of rereading some Dave Ramsey to get in the right frame of mind.
Make weekly goals (and you know, DO them). Hoping this will help me be a bit more focused (and accomplished) this month. We'll see how it goes!

Keeping things pretty simple this month. Here's to a happy and blessed April!