Bridges Through Life

June 2017 Goals

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Instead of Friday Favorites today, I thought I would share some goals with you.

june 2017 goals bridgesthroughlife blog

I can’t believe it is June. I am tired of this rainy East coast weather and hope that summer and sunshine is around the corner soon. I’m slowly getting settled into living in Binghamton. Brian finally helped with some cleaning and I am able to see more of the bedroom floor which helps lighten my load (physically and mentally). I even put some of my workout clothes in a drawer (they didn’t all fit). I must say, it’s weird having a socks and underwear drawer again. When I moved to Philadelphia in April 2014, I never got a dresser or drawers. I literally lived out of my suitcases and had most of my shirts hung in the closet. Well now I have to actually share a closet so I have my winter stuff put away, which is also weird because I have always had all my clothes accessible year round. Hey, Midwest weather and East coast weather can be a little bipolar so you never know. I guess it’s nice to get a little more settled. In a way I never truly settled in either of my apartments in Philadelphia as I always thought we would move and it was always temporary. I just didn’t know to where or when, but I didn’t want to buy a dresser when that could mean more to move.

                So with getting more settled and accepting a job offer, I plan to have more of a daily routine. While I have been ‘go with the flow’ these last 5 months, I am ready for more of a routine again. I believe I accomplish things better with having a routine and I wanted to finally set some goals again. I am keeping it fairly simple this month as I continue to get settled, but maybe will have more detailed fitness goals in July as I figure out how to incorporate my love for exercising before or after work. With that long introduction, here are my goals:

  • Continue blogging 3 times a week – I feel like I have finally found a blogging schedule that works with Monday weekend recaps, Wednesday travel theme and Friday favorites. I would definitely love to bring back Yoga Workshop Fridays and maybe pop in for a Thinking out loud post now and then, but for now that is the structure.
  • Try a new recipe once a week – It’s no question that my happy place is the kitchen (and the gym of course). Not having access to MY kitchen stuff is definitely difficult, but I am trying to make it work. I’ve been trying to find inspiration for new meals to make for lunches and dinners that are easy to prep. Since I will be heading back to work, I may have to bring lunch and dinner with me some days if I head right to the gym or something. I don’t really like eating late, so I would also like to plan a bigger meal for lunch that will keep me full for hours and then eat a lighter dinner. 

    cauliflower fried rice
    cauliflower fried rice I made the other day
  • Settle into my new job – while I have enjoyed nearly 6 months without working and traveling was definitely worth it, once I moved to Binghamton, it was harder to adjust and find things to do. I am looking forward to socializing with my new co workers and getting back into a day job, even though I will miss 8am gym sessions and 9:30am yoga sessions.
  • Weight lift 2-3 times a week – my current weight lift program only requires me going to the gym twice a week, but I will be finishing the 6 week program in just a couple weeks. I am hoping I can meet with a trainer and get a 3 day a week plan now that I have built up some strength again aka not as sore as those first two weeks.        box squats ironworks bridgesthroughlife blog

I definitely think all of these goals are achievable. I will try to keep track of new recipes I make and report back at the end of the month.

 

What are some goals you have this month?

Fall 2016 Goals

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Happy first of September! How did that happen?! Instead of doing monthly goals for September, I thought I would set some fall goals, both fun and personal. First, let’s review August Goals. 

Personal

1. Spending Time writing a few days a week

I wrote more for the blog and I journaled a bit so I would say this was a success. I also spent a LOT of time reading this month (apparently I just need warm weather and a pool to sit by to motivate me, aka get me away from the computer screen). I read a couple personal development books and the latest Harry Potter book. Reading and writing, as important as they are, I never spent a lot of time outside of homework assignments doing them. I think it is great that I can finally enjoy both of them with no grades attached. 

Fitness

1. stretch for 15-20 minutes a day

I definitely worked on more quick 15 minute yoga and stretching sessions at home this month. I didn’t track it everyday, so I am sure I missed a few days, but I definitely put more of a focus on it. As we can see, I need to work on this through my whole body to hopefully prevent another injury in the future. 

 

Now onto Fall Goals (even if I don’t want to admit that Fall is around the corner)

Fun and Personal Fall Goals

fall 2016 goals

  1. apple picking – plan to go back to the place I went last year

  2. carving a pumpkin

  3. foot recovery

  4. downsizing my things – fall is a good time for ebay listings

  5. engagement photos – date is set 

 

 

 

 

Do you have any activities you like to do every Fall?

 

 

 

 

Trying Something New: August Goals

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Hey everyone. With a new month comes new goals. This month I am limiting to one personal and one fitness. I think it will be easier to focus on 1 in each category.

But first, looking back on July goals. I don’t even know where the month of July went. I guess that happens when you are on vacation for a week. Vacation was wonderful and always worth it even when I come back to the most work ever at my job. That’s not so fun but at least I get paid for the overtime which is totally paying for a massage next week that I just booked. I need one so badly and can’t wait. It’s a new to me place so I hope it will be good. 

So how did I do in July?

Personal 

  1. Decide on a wedding venue

Well just when we agreed on a place, I called them and found out they have renovations scheduled for a few months around the time we want so that’s a no go. I still like one of the first places I got a quote for, it’s all about convincing the boy…

      2. Have more fun

Man, it was so great to have a vacation this month. A whole week driving around, planning as we went and visiting some friends along the way. Some days I was amazed we spent 12 hours traveling, but our stops were long and worth it. Now I just need to make sure I continue to spend my time well in the evenings and on weekends to have more fun in life. 

Fitness

    1. 35 push ups in a row

       This never happened sadly. July passed in a flash and when I got back from vacation, I was working back into my workouts and super sore, I couldn’t push it with my bad shoulder. Maybe another month. 

   2. do more than 1 pull up in a row

       I pretty much have this. I mean I played around on my friend’s pull up bar when visiting her in Canada. I totally need one so I can hang around (literally) all the time and just work on holding myself and giving me a great way to practice outside of the gym. 

aug goals

Plans for August….

Personal

    1. Spend time writing a few days a week

           I wanted to say write daily, but I didn’t know if I could commit to that as well. So starting smaller, writing a few times a week, basically aiming for every other day. Of course blogging helps, but even just writing in my journal, which is what I did on vacation was so relaxing. I used to journal daily in college and I miss that. Part of the reason I started this blog though was to encourage me to write more again as well and it has helped. When I write a lot even if it doesn’t make sense, it definitely helps me be creative and get even more blog ideas.

2016-07-31 16.09.01

Fitness

    1. stretch for 15-20 minutes a day

             I am realizing that while I am still considered young, I don’t bounce back like I used to. It is also a challenge to work out at 5am because you haven’t moved around a lot which is why warm ups are crucial. I warm up on the treadmill or bike, but I feel like I need more. I need more stretching to get my hips more open and work on my flexibility. I am hoping that taking this month to focus on stretching will help me build a better habit of it. 

 

I think it will be great to have these two goals to focus on. Of course I still have some wedding planning to figure out and do hope to work on that as well. Also a side note, June’s goals were some of my greatest as the Netflix one has stuck around and I continue to try to make new recipes. Goal setting and actually following through can lead to good things 

Do you have any goals for the month?

Recap June Goals and Setting July 2016 Goals

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Hey everyone!! We are about a week into a new month, so it’s time to look at some new goals. But first, looking back on June and how I did.

Personal

  1. No Netflix on weekday mornings

This was probably my most successful goal. Not only did I cut out Netflix and TV on weekday mornings but also in the evening except for Friday since that evening leads into the weekend. Honestly I plan to keep this up. It has made my mornings and evenings more productive and overall I can even see an improvement on my mood because I am not wasting as much time.

  1. Make one new recipe a week

This has also been a success. I am still experimenting with different breakfasts as I got a little tired of the breakfast burritos thing. Some have been more of a success than others. I was also part of the Summer Sweat Series which gave me plenty of meal ideas. I didn’t follow the plan completely since it was made for 2 people and there were just so many different recipes, but I made 1 or 2 dishes from it each week.

  1. Decide on a wedding venue

This was a fail, but we are getting closer…maybe. More quotes, more places, just need to actually sit down with Brian to decide. I will be putting this on my July goals though.

Fitness

  1. Attend or do a yoga class at home at least once a week

I started out the first week of June really good with this, but then I was having issues with my foot and so I stepped back. Other than teaching and a few 5-10 minute sessions I didn’t do too well on this.

  1. 20 push ups a day

This one went better than the yoga goal, but towards the end of the month, I slacked on this. I can however, more easily do 20 push ups so perhaps instead of making it a daily thing, I will set a certain number of push ups in a row goal for July.

Time for some new goals

july goals

Personal

  1. Decide on a wedding venue

Same as last month. I just want to put a deposit down and have that out of the way since that is the big one.

  1. Have more fun

So this is pretty general, but I feel like I have been so serious lately. I need to turn on music more and dance around or something. I think having a week vacation this month will help a lot. I am really looking forward to it, even though there are hardly any plans in place with it being a road trip, but that actually somewhat excites me even more. That and I will have my phone off for a week because it doesn’t work in the middle of nowhere. Perfect to disconnect though.

Fitness

  1. 35 push ups in a row

This was actually Susie’s suggestion when I commented on her July goals post last week. 20/22 push ups is getting easier, so working to 35 would be awesome!

  1. Do more than 1 pull up in a row

So for a while my fitness goal was to get back to doing a full pull up. I got to 1 pull up and amazingly I tested my strength when I passed a playground at the state park over the weekend and I could still do the one. However, a second one was not in the cards, so I would definitely like to work on my pull ups more.

goal

I think these are all pretty doable. I have a couple other fitness goals in mind, but since I will be on vacation for a week and my foot is still so-so, I don’t want to set ones this month that I won’t be able to achieve. This is a good list and one I believe I can stick to.

What are some goals you are setting this month?

Are you going on vacation soon?

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