goals – Page 2

October Goals 2017 and September Recap

September 29, 2017 by Alicia Leave a Comment

September seemed to fly by and again I am ready to move to the next month. I am once again hoping this month will be better than the last. I do have to say that I had some great times in September though. I was happy that the weather warmed up. I know everyone has been in Fall mode, but I was happy to have some 90 degree days before the cold returns. This weekend is supposed to be a bit cooler, in the 60-70 degree range, but that weather is still beautiful for outdoor activities.

Honestly, this month I did not do most of my goals, but I did accomplish the most important one to me: SELF CARE.

Self care – I cleaned up my diet and began cooking and doing loads of meal prep again. My face definitely cleared up. I also got a haircut, 2 massages and treated myself to a few items.
Apple picking – still hasn’t happened, hopefully in October?
New York state parks – Brian has actually been working for 3 straight weeks. He has had a few breaks, but not long enough to drive home and back, so I haven’t seen him most of the month and I didn’t get to any state parks

One goal that wasn’t listed that I did do in September was go to Animal Adventure Park.

I was happy that I finally made it there since they are only open until mid October or so. That was fun to get out with a new friend as well.

October Goals

Moving onto October…I was having a tough time figuring out what I want to do. I want to keep it simple, so here are my goals.

Make a new workout plan or get an online trainer – I’m not a personal trainer (maybe one day), but I am still learning about how to put together a proper workout plan. I love powerlifting and want a bit of guidance on my workouts so I am thinking of investing a bit into an online trainer. I have one in mind to try out and I think October may finally be the month to do so.
Save more money – I went a little overboard on treating myself and then the unexpected visit home definitely cost some money. I feel fortunate that I have savings that I was able to go home as it was a choice, not mandatory, but I was happy to go and support my family. Hopefully nothing too crazy unexpected occurs in October and I can focus on necessities and save up more.
Anniversary dinner with Brian – October is our 8 year anniversary together and all I asked from Brian was for a nice dinner, wearing clean clothes (even if that means we have to buy new clothes for him…anyone else struggle with boys??). It’s not a big request so I’m hoping to make it happen.

engagement photos — one year ago we took our engagement pics, I think we’ll need to do another round of pictures soon since the wedding is a bit far away

I can’t believe we are entering the last quarter of the year. I am already thinking back on this year, everything I accomplished through the highs and lows. All I can say is that keeping a gratitude journal of some sort really helps your attitude and has helped me in these tough times and is also something I can look back on and think, wow, look at all that I have.

What are you hoping to accomplish in October?

September 2017 Goals and August Recap

September 6, 2017 by Alicia Leave a Comment

I never could have predicted the happenings in August. What an emotional month. I am happy we can put August behind us and move forward with September. Yes I will miss summer, but I think it is time for a new season, just please no snow yet. I never appreciated the beauty of Fall until I experienced Fall in New York state. The leaves, colors and cooler temps make fall so beautiful. This is why I must live somewhere with the four seasons. I hope to get in some park walking to experience the beauty in Fall, but before we get to September goals, let’s see how August went.

Set up Photo Gallery on Blog of Bridge Photos – success!! I learned how to create a photo gallery and it wasn’t that hard! Now I can continue to add to this page when I go places and do more bridges. I also arranged them in date order. There were times when I was doing bridges more consistently that the curve in my back got really good and there were times that I just wasn’t as consistent but it is cool to see them all.
Philly Art Museum Oct 2015
Update Yoga Page – rearranged and updated with my Yoga Workshop Friday series so that it is much easier to find specific poses and my posts. I also just added all my yin yoga weekend links.
Pass yin yoga training – DONE!!
Explore bullet journaling – I am still playing with layouts, but I like the concept of the bullet journal and it is nice to use to plan ahead and write my everyday things I am grateful for, etc.

September Goals

Self care – July and August were so busy and I need to learn to take a step back every now and then. I need to get back on my meal prep game after all the amazing food with the funerals in August. I need to get back to veggies and less processed food and less sugar. Honestly my face hasn’t been this broken out in ages and I know food is a huge part of that. Also just being mindful of my form when weightlifting and trying to balance out my right and left sides because as I get more aware of my body through yoga, I notice my imbalances more which then can lead to me experiencing some pain. Also little things like a hair cut, massage and doctor appointments. Just taking care of myself. September weekends are a little more open for doing so.
Apple picking – September means apples are back in season and I know there is some apple picking somewhere around where I live so I hope to seek some out. I used to eat an apple a day and now I kind of only eat a bunch when it’s apple season.
New York state parks – I am hoping there will be at least one weekend where Brian is around that we can go walk on a trail through some state parks. It’s funny whenever I tell people I live in New York and they assume the city, but there is sooo much more to New York state than the city and there are some fabulous state parks to do day trips to.

I think I will leave my goals at just 3 for the month. In addition to the goals above, I plan to ease back into my weight lifting and hopefully feel more balanced with my self care.

What are your favorite Fall activities?

August 2017 Goals and July Recap

August 2, 2017 by Alicia 1 Comment

I knew July would pass by in a blink with 3 of my weekends being booked with things. I really can’t believe summer is nearly over. I feel a little gypped from summer with all the rain we have had. Plus I am one of those people that bugs like to bite so I can’t sit outside at the house. The park with more openness/ less woods seems better but I run errands and such on weekends that I don’t get much time there. I am glad I got my summer fix in Australia this year.

Anyway, July goals. I did really well. The only one that didn’t happen was getting to a state park which I knew was a reach goal.

Study yin yoga – success! Even after the first weekend I came out knowing so much more about yin and what it is.
highly recommend this book if you are interested in yin
Blogfest/ IDEA world – major success!! Flights were thankfully all on time. Landed late in Detroit coming home but still made my connection with a sprint through the airport. Also thank goodness for motion sick pills. I connected with so many bloggers and personal trainers. I traded some of my business cards with people and overall the convention was a dream with blogging and fitness people sharing my interests. I am now really hoping to make next year. I already started looking up approximate flight prices to San Diego. In case you missed it, I wrote about my Blogfest/IDEA takeaways here.
IDEA world party my roommate Linda
Yoga 2 times a week – If I count my yin training, I did yoga 2-3 times a week most weeks so I would say success again.
Go to the mall – over July 4th weekend I was excited to go to the Syracuse mall. I like walking around big malls even if I leave with only 1 bag. I love my new jeans I bought and I know in time I will find work clothes I love. It was also nice to have an afternoon with Brian.
Going to a state park – like I said, this was a fail but hopefully in the Fall with the pretty leaves and when I am done with yoga training I will be able to go. Nicer to hike in cooler temps too.

August goals

Set up photo gallery on blog of bridge photos – This is one suggestion I got from Blogfest during peer review of blogs and I love it. Of course I have no idea how to set up a photo gallery but there are always new things to learn so hopefully I can figure it out. I already have a good portion of my bridge photos in a separate folder on my computer so once I figure out the gallery set up, should be easy to upload the photos. Already got a head start on this on the 30th, check out my page so far.
Update Yoga page – I haven’t updated this page since 2015 and want to add in my Yoga Workshop Friday posts with thumbnails hopefully too
Pass yin yoga training – Just two more weekends of yin training and it will be complete. That goes so much faster than a 200hr training over 6 months. I have learned so much and I really think yin yoga balances me out with my weight training. Even though I learned weight training is more yin like, I feel more calm in yin yoga and it reminds me to breathe and be OK in stillness.
Explore bullet journaling – I don’t know if this is a new thing or it just recently became so popular but I have been watching Caitlin’s corner on YouTube and she does so many fun bullet journaling videos. I love the artsy part of the bullet journal and I recently listened to The Chatty Sisters bullet journaling and love how there are many different ways you can do it. Of course I want to use lots of colors and just bought a starter pack of Tombow pens.

With yin training, August is feeling pretty busy. I think these goals are pretty good for focusing on. I am definitely processing my notes from Blogfest and Idea world and feeling inspired and motivated to continue to work on this hobby of mine. It’s nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the day.

Have you tried Bullet Journaling?

What is one of your goals for August?

July 2017 Goals and June Recap

June 30, 2017 by Alicia 2 Comments

I can’t believe we are at the last day of June already. This month has absolutely flown by. In July I am even busier so I have a feeling July will go by in a blink, but I am going to try to hold onto this summer weather we have been having and enjoy myself. So honestly I kind of forgot about my June goals, despite writing and posting them on the blog. But I did well at 3 out of 4 so that’s pretty good right?!

OK so recapping June first:

Continue blogging 3 times a week – I think I missed one week where I only posted twice, but other than that, 3 times a week has been pretty achievable.
Try a new recipe once a week – FAIL, I definitely didn’t really look up recipes. One week I lived on hamburgers, the next week turkey burgers and this week chicken breast. Nothing really new, just simple meals. Sometimes simple works better.
Settle into my new job – I feel pretty settled in, though still not entirely sure of daily duties. I have a lot of monthly things and eventually have to keep track of that. I really like the company though and my co workers and I know soon I will get more things to do.
Weight lift 2-3 times a week – I stuck with 2 days a week as I had plans to follow for 2 days. I will now increase to probably 4 days a week. Met with a trainer this week to work on deadlifts and go over a plan I put together for powerlifting.

So like I said, met 3 of 4 pretty well. Now onto July.

Study yin yoga – I start my yin yoga training in July and can’t wait to dive into the books I just got for the training.
Enjoy BlogFest and connect with more bloggers – I don’t know if I mentioned, but I am going to BlogFest in Las Vegas. I am sooo excited to go for the first time. I have read blogger reviews and recaps in the last couple years and have always wanted to go. Glad I could make it happen this year.
Go to yoga classes at least 2x a week – I have been going to 3-4 yoga classes a week currently, but as I add more weight lifting and start yin training, I think keeping up with 2 a week will be good. Aerial yoga is a must for each week. Check out my post on Aerial yoga.
Go to Syracuse mall or an outlet mall – I still want to get more clothes for work. Some of my black pants are worn out from the last couple years and it would be nice to replace them. Hoping to hit up July 4^th sales this weekend. I specified Syracuse mall as it’s the closest, very large, mall to me now at just an hour away. [Remember I am a big city person and used to having tons of stores to shop at.]I also want to see the Go karts and such that they have there as they were under construction the last time I went there, I believe in 2012?
Go to a state park for an afternoon to hike and walk around – I really want to take advantage of summer and explore one of the many New York state parks. I think that is the great thing about NY, is having so many state parks. I would love to spend a Sunday with Brian at a park. Unfortunately this means hoping Brian gets a Sunday off, which is probably not very likely, but if it happens, definitely dragging him to a park.

engagement photo from Sept 2016 at Buttermilk Falls State Park Ithaca NY

Again I am keeping it fairly simple this month as I find that is the best way to achieve my goals. I know that July will be an exciting month with all that I have planned and I also hope the weather stays nice for more outdoor lunches at work and walks.

Do you have any July plans?

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