25.5 | a check-up

Growing up, I never knew that some people made half birthday's a thing. I'm talking full on celebrations, complete with a party. I guess one isn't enough?

They don't especially help with the whole getting older thing, either. It's not very exciting to say that I'm halfway to 26, is it? Although I did confirm last week that 26 is still a mid-twenties age. So I will not be celebrating the fact that Saturday is my half-birthday. Instead I'll be using it as a reminder to get myself in gear. I've got a list to finish!

Here's what I've done in the past six months. Besides legitimately thinking that I was still 24 for most of those six months. Comments in bold, completed in italic.

1. Run a half marathon This will happen before January 2014! I have been doing so good.
2. Read 25 books and start a reading journal I've read 25 (hi, I'm a nerd), and STARTED the journal. But I currently have no clue where it is.
3. Start an Etsy shop Started! Stocked? HA.
4. Take Andre' to a hockey game Better luck next year.
5. Buy a house YES! One month ago.
6. Visit 5 new cities (new to me or Andre') A will be able to cross this off after Iraq!
7. Find a charity I'm passionate about One of my Houston goals.
8. Saw a dress for myself CANNOT add anymore sewing projects, Kaitlyn!
9. Go skydiving Ehhhhhhh
10. Save $25,000 We were on track to complete this in about 7 months, but the whole house buying thing happened. Here's to getting back on track!
11. Ace the GRE Might as well just scratch this one off.
12. Take a girls trip to Nashville COUGHASHLEYANDALEXACOUGH
13. Learn how to use my camera off auto Help me, please!
14. Find my signature drink Found it. It hated me. Onto the next one.
15. Do laundry once a week Will this ever happen?
16. Join a Chi-O alumni group I need to find out about the Houston groups!
17. Throw a party in our new house CHECK! Success.
18. Find the perfect red lipstick color...and rock it Learning to rock it is hard.
19. Plan a surprise honeymoon for my parents Still "planning..."
20. Start my masters No thanks.
21. Learn how to sew piping Started this in January. Did I finish? NO.
22. Get my wisdom teeth out I'll call the dentist tomorrow...
23. Design my dream home office Design is a stretch.
24. Have 1-year anniversary pictures taken Hey MEG hey!
25. Go a month without eating out Going to attempt this while A is in Iraq. Don't tell me that is cheating.

I actually am surprised that I made any progress at all. I may not have completed a lot, but I think, save a few impossible ones for one reason or another, I'll be able to complete most by January 2014!

 

During a "discussion" recently, A mentioned (he's a good husband, you guys. he only mentioned it because I forced him to, he knew it would upset me) that I have a tendency to get really excited about doing something, then get bored with it, and move onto the next thing. And as much as I hate to admit this, he is right. I get frustrated when something doesn't go the way I envision it to go, so instead of working through it, I put it away and move onto the next thing. Or sometimes I just get bored, honestly. Is it a coincidence that I started my morning runs the morning after this "discussion?" Maybe he should call me out more often.

 

Maybe help me out by tweeting me to JUST DO THE FREAKING LAUNDRY ALREADY...please? A would really appreciate it.

twenty-five

First off, thank you so much to everyone who commented on my style dilemma post! I can't wait to show you on Monday how it all came together.

I turn 25 on Sunday and to be honest, even though I adore birthdays, I am not really looking forward to this one. I needed something to cheer me up, so I decided to make a list of 25 things I want to do while 25. This way I will have things to look forward to this next year. It's been said that I have a habit of starting things and not finishing them, so I'm bookmarking this post. That way it's always in front of me and I really have no excuse for not going these things. 

1. Run a half marathon
2. Read 25 books and start a reading journal
3. Start an Etsy shop
4. Take Andre' to a hockey game
5. Buy a house
6. Visit 5 new cities (new to me or Andre')
7. Find a charity I'm passionate about
8. Saw a dress for myself
9. Go skydiving
10. Save $25,000
11. Ace the GRE
12. Take a girls trip to Nashville
13. Learn how to use my camera off auto
14. Find my signature drink
15. Do laundry once a week
16. Join a Chi-O alumni group
17. Throw a party in our new house
18. Find the perfect red lipstick color...and rock it
19. Plan a surprise honeymoon for my parents
20. Start my masters
21. Learn how to sew piping
22. Get my wisdom teeth out
23. Design my dream home office
24. Have 1-year anniversary pictures taken
25. Go a month without eating out

Some of these goals are silly and some are big ones. But they all have something in common, they're SMART goals!

We had a guest speaker during our two days from hell work meeting last week, and something he said really stuck with me. While discussing our professional goals, he mentioned that all goals need to be SMART.

S - specific

M - measurable

A - attainable

R - relevant

T - timely

He said that you will not, no matter how hard you try, accomplish a goal without those five characteristics. For example, one co-worker said he wanted to raise his sales. He told that person to re-word it, to maybe say that he wanted to raise his sales by 3%. (And all goals need to have a start and an end date!) By having all five characteristics you are WAY more likely to accomplish your goal. He, of course, said all of this much more eloquently better than I just did...because that's what he does for a living.

I think one year is the perfect time for goals, or a to-do list in this case. Anything longer than that I'll likely forget about it. (Which is why I took off the 101 in 1001 list that used to be up top. I'm just going to do these lists each year!) 

And the number one thing you need is accountability. That's where you come in! I mentioned this on twitter and Katie tweeted me back about her list and needing to finish it. How perfect would it be if she and I kept up with each other throughout this year on our lists? And not just us! There's got to be more of you out there with similar lists/ideas/goals. 

Hope you all have a great weekend :)

goals and such : 2013

I'm not very good with resolutions...but is anyone, really? 

I decided to make a list of things I hope to accomplish in 2013 instead of lying to myself and saying that I'll do something every day for a year.

And if these things do not happen in 2013, there's always 2014! 

1. Don't let my work control my life.

My job keeps me stressed at least 90% of the time. I pinned the above picture two years ago and this is the year that I will finally DO IT. I don't have high hopes that it will inspire my work, but I have high hopes that it will make me a sane person. I need to work to live, not live to work. Easier said than done.

2. Get to a point where I can say "I ran __ miles today."

This one is going to happen because I run a half marathon on March 3. OH MY GOSH THAT IS SO SOON. Hopefully the watch I talked about in this post will help - it better. I am NOT a runner, but hopefully by 2014 that can change.

3. Work on standing up for myself.

I'm a total pushover, to the point that I'll let others walk all over me. A points this out whenever I let my little sister boss me around. It's bad for my work life, too. Clients know that I'll cave, and that needs to change! 2013 will be the year I take back control! (ha - this one will be the hardest for sure)

4. Take time to be creative.

I am a very creative person, and the act of creating something relaxes me. After our wedding I think I was burned out, so I haven't really taken time for this recently. I know this will help me be happier in 2013. (I specifically want to make time to do these projects : one, two, three (but make it out of old Chi-O shirts), four and five.)

5. Have more date nights.

By this I don't mean go out to dinner more often, I mean have more thoughtful and romantic date nights with A. Sort of like this night. Fun things that will foster the love.

6. Money money money!

I've always been a great saver - thanks, Mom! But in 2012 a lot of my money went towards our wedding, so I wasn't able to save as much as I hoped. We will (hopefully) be buying a house in 2013 - I have the down payment ready, so I'd like to make up that amount this year. Probably won't happen, but I'll start by not buying as many pointless things that I don't really need. I'd also like to start a college fund for our future bambinos. 

7. Travel.

While I would LOVE to go to places like Italy and Greece, that doesn't fit in with goal #6. Realistically it will be weekend trips to random places - I'd like to get in a few more road trips while we still can! My favorite trip of 2012 (besides the honeymoon, but what can top that?) was when we decided on Wednesday to leave on Thursday to go to Biloxi for the weekend. We stayed in Long Beach in a condo and it was a blast, just the two of us. Hopeful trips include: a ski trip with friends, a road trip to Savannah and Charleston, Chicago, NYC and Destin.

via

I hope these will be easier to stick to than a run every day type resolution, but I'm not going to beat myself up if they don't happen. I'm learning to live life in the moment and let what happens, happen. Can't wait to see what does happen!