Goal Getters / October

Hello, October! It's safe to say this month didn't exactly turn out how I planned it, but that's totally cool. It was a good month all things considered, but a loooooong one. It feels like forever ago that I moved in and started my semester--and that was just a week before September started! Let's review my goals from September...

+ Time management. I think I did about as well as I could have! I had a crazy busy few days last week. Friday morning, I had two exams and a speech and then had to leave straightaway to go to a wedding a few hours away, with only about a few hours to get there. It was definitely stressful, but we made it work. It was really nice to see my family and relax a little bit with them. 

+ Get a week ahead on posts. Yeah, no. This is where the goals kind of started to go downhill. Part of time management is realizing which tasks are not essential and cutting them out when necessary. And to be honest, blogging isn't essential, as much as I love it! So oftentimes, if I'm busy, it's the first thing to go. 

+ Plan a letter-writing challenge. This is coming! Stay tuned.

+Try out biphasic sleeping. Did it for a week. I don't think it's for me right now. Enough on that.

+ Practice calligraphy twice. Nooooope. 

+ Work 25 hours in the lab. I've been waiting on my supervisor to finish growing some samples to me so this didn't happen, but not my fault.

+ Get to know my sorority sisters. I did do this one though! Love my girls. 

Yeah....maybe that was a few too many goals for one month? Obviously I didn't do so hot on most of them. Let's look ahead to the month of October (even though we're already a few days in).

+ Set hourly goals, share them and HIT them every week. I'll share a little bit more about this soon, but basically every week, I set goals for how much time I want to spend on each area of my life, but I've been slacking on them a little bit lately. Look for a both on this soon!

+ Find a Bible study plan that works for me. I've been doing a Bible-in-a-year plan and I just plain don't like it. It makes me rush through the Bible much more than I want to and I just didn't feel like I was getting what I wanted out of it. I'll be looking around the internet and Bible study books that I already have and trying to pick out a new one to follow for a little while. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

+ Find a new place to tithe. Since I'm currently visiting around different churches, I've realized that I've majorly been slacking off on tithing and have a few months worth of income that needs to be tithed. I think it's okay to tithe to a parachurch organization since I don't have a home church, but I want to find one that fits my beliefs and helps achieve what I want done in the world! I'm particularly interested in education (especially for women) in developing countries as well as organizations that do business/job training and that kind of thing. Let me know if you have a favorite organization or charity!

+ Revisit goals once a week. The tricky thing about doing goals once a month is that....I kinda forget they exist sometimes. And that's oftentimes why I don't reach them. I'll be revisiting these goals probably every Sunday and I'm aiming to post midway through the month and update y'all on where I'm at. 

What are your goals for October? Any favorite Bible studies or charities to recommend?

Goal-Getters / September

Hi lovely readers! It has been a LONG month. August was just so jam-packed with activities and travel and new things that July feels like years ago. At the beginning of August, I was still in Michigan for the summer, working. I finished up my summer work, spent a few days at home in North Carolina with my boyfriend H and other friends before I moved back down to Florida for another year at school. 

I'm finally feeling like I'm starting to get settled in--I just unpacked my last bit of stuff into my apartment yesterday (even though I've lived here for three weeks now). I have to say, it's starting to feel like home! 

Of course, I've got another busy month coming up. My classes haven't been too demanding yet, but I know that'll pick up soon! I start my lab work this week and I'm also going through the pledging period at my sorority which will take up a lot of time, but be so worth it. I'll be a busy bee! Here are a few goals I want to keep in mind while I work through September.

+ In short, TIME MANAGEMENT! I have a lot of commitments going on this month. The first 40 days in my sorority are days when we have the most activities, plus I do still work two jobs, plus I have a full load of [tough!] classes! It'll be really crazy, but I know that everything I'm doing is worth my time. I just can't afford to get bogged down or waste [too much] time on Netflix.

+ Get a week ahead on posts. Because life will be so crazy, I want to have a little wiggle room around here to take a few days off blogging if I need to. Life gets busy, ya know?

+ Plan a letter-writing challenge. Yay! I'm really excited about this. I'm planning on putting together a challenge to write letters super regularly--to our friends, family, political leaders, strangers, etc! Let me know if you have any ideas or if you want to be a part of this!

+ Try out biphasic sleep. I know I said I'd do this last month but it just didn't work out with my schedule. I'll let y'all know more about this soon!

And then just a few little goals...

+ Practice calligraphy at least twice.

+ Work at least 25 hours in the lab. 

+ Be intentional about getting to know my sorority sisters!

What are your goals for September?

Goal Getters / August Check In

Hiiii friends. Wow, life is crazy these days! I'm writing this post on Sunday night (#justbeinhonest) because I know I have one of the busiest weeks EVER coming up. Tomorrow, I'll be packing up the car and driving down to Florida. And on Tuesday, I'll move into a new apartment AND start sorority recruitment. Craaaazyyy. 

I might die.  

I'm totally terrified of this week, but also really, really excited. I have really high hopes for this year. 

Anyways, let's talk about goals! I've finished up the first half of my month (in Michigan/NC) and I'm ready to start the next half (or at least as ready as I'll ever be!). Here's how my goals have been going...

+ Try to spend ten minutes every day in the Bible. I've been doing well with this! H and I have been doing a study in the She Reads Truth app about hymns, because we both love traditional hymns and all the history and good theology in them. I also started a Bible in 365 Days program that I do most days. So this one is a big beautiful check!

+ Keep my bloglovin' feed below 100 (check!) and comment on blogs (not so check...). But I'm definitely going to make an effort on commenting starting, like, right now.

+ Keep posting at least three times a week and get a few posts scheduled ahead of time. Well the fact that I'm writing this (Wednesday) post on Sunday makes me feel good! I hope to get a little further ahead to give me some wiggle room, but you know, I'm doing just fine.

And for the second half of the month, I'll be working on some recipes, being super outgoing, and the witchcraft that is biphasic sleep. Read more on the last edition of Goal Getters!

How are your goals for the month going??

Goal Getters / August

This month is going to have a lotttt of changes. In the next few weeks, I'll be finishing up my summer job here in Michigan, going home to North Carolina for a few days, and then moving into my new apartment in Florida and starting my next year of school! Because my month is so split in every way possible, I'm going to make goals for each half of the month.

Michigan goals (first half of the month):

+ Try to spend at least ten minutes every day in the Bible. I used to do this every day before I went to bed, but these days I'm so tired by the time I get to go to sleep that I honestly skip it pretty often. So it's just something I want to try to be a little more intentional about. 

+ Keep my bloglovin' feed below 100 and comment more often on blogs! I'm also looking to read new blogs--a couple new ones I've been reading are Ready or Not, Ever Emma, and From Roses. It's easy to feel like you've read all the interesting blogs out there, but there are really so many still out there. Comment below with your favorite blogs!

+ Keep posting at least three times a week, and work on getting ahead of schedule on my blog posts. I'm anticipating a crazy first couple weeks at school and I want to make sure my blog is on solid footing while I'm settling in!

Florida goals (second half of the month):

+ Put together a list/binder of healthy, easy recipes. I'll be cooking every meal for myself for the first time ever in my life and, well, I really don't want to get fat. I plan on taking some time to meal prep and collect recipes and make sure that I treat my body well in the way that I eat.

+ Be crazy outgoing. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you probably know that I'm an introvert and that being in big groups where I don't know a lot of people sometimes makes me nervous! But I'm convinced that this is just because I haven't had enough practice with that kind of situation. So I want to make it a goal not to shy away from scary situations and events and just have fun!

+ Focus on getting in a biphasic sleep routine. I'll talk about this more soon, but in short, I'll be trying different sleep schedules in order to get up early for my classes AND stay up late for fun events. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

What are your goals for the month? Any favorite blogs to share?

Goal-Getters / July Wrap-Up

IT'S AUGUST. I feel like most months I tend to say that time has flown by, but for once it seems like summer has been lasting forever. Between all the work and class, I can't say it's been all that relaxing! But that's okay, sometimes. :)

Just really quickly today, I want to review my goals I made for July. And I saw quickly because...well, I didn't do so hot on all of them. *cue that emoji gritting his teeth*

+ Read four books. I did complete this one, if you include a book that I got about 2/3 through and quit. I'm also halfway through a fifth so I definitely think that should count, right? For the record, the one that I hated was Tigers in Red Weather. I also read The Husband's Secret (terrible title, okay book) and Stiff (absolutely fabulously weird), and now that I'm trying to come up with it, I have no clue what the fourth one was. Oops!

+ Maintain good study habits with class. Pretty good! I didn't leave anything totally to the last minute and I'm almost finished!

+ Exercise three times a week. Not even close. We're just gonna leave it at that. I don't know what to do with myself without a gym. :(

+ Develop an hour's worth of kickboxing material for my group fitness class. Ehhhh I had forgotten just how much time it takes to choreograph new material. But I probably got five or six new songs done, so I'll take that. 

Enough on that. I'm still working on my goals for August but I'll write them up soon! In the meantime, how did you do on your goals this month?

Goal-Getters / July Check-in

Two weeks ago, at the beginning of July, I made a few goals for the month with the plan to check in midway through. So here we are!

Welp. This is why I thought this check-in would be a good idea. I haven't forgotten about my goals, per se, I've just not done a stellar job of achieving them. Sad face. Let's look at my goals a little more closely and I'll update you as to how they're all going!

+ Read four books. I did finish one book and it was a long one--The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair. I'm about eighty pages into the next one, so I've fallen a little bit behind, but it's all good. I'd rather enjoy the books I am reading instead of picking short, easy reads. Any recommendations for the next book?

+ Maintain good study habits with my class. Yeah, I'm doing okay with this one. I've been keeping up and getting good grades, but what I really would like is to be a little ahead of schedule so I can relax a little. That would be so much nicer! New goal: finish every assignment/quiz/whatever at least one day before it's due.

+ Exercise at least three times a week consistently. Nope. Didn't happen. Not consistently or even really at all. I have been doing better about just living a more active life; I've been biking to work and the grocery store and the bank and taking nice walks on the beach. New goal: exercise five times before the end of the month.

+ Develop an hour's worth of material for kickboxing. Not quite, but I'm on my way there! I've started choreographing a few new songs. I'm hoping to hold a just-for-fun class for friends soon and I'll get to try some new stuff out then!

What are your goals this month?

Goal-Getters / July

In the past on this blog, I've tried writing out my goals both weekly and monthly and neither of them worked out quite right for me. So new plan: I'd like to try setting goals at the beginning of the month like usual, but then instead of going a whole month on those goals (and--let's be honest--forgetting what most of them were by the end of the month), I'm planning on doing a check-in on my goals halfway through the month.

Sound like a good plan? If you'd like to join in with me, leave your links below and I can check out your goals and support you in them. :)

+ Read four books. WOW this one is crazy ambitious for me. Four books! One month! I'm part of the reading program for adults at my local public library and if I can read six books (I've already read two) by the end of July, I can be entered in a drawing for a Kindle. And really…I kind of doubt that there will be that many entries so I feel like I definitely have a decent chance of winning if I can enter.

+ Maintain good study habits with my class! I'm taking an online Agricultural Economics course over the next month and a half, just to get it out of the way. It's a little bit tricky to stay on task when it's online because there are no lectures to attend or office hours or whatnot. It's all up to me to stay on track!

+ Exercise at least three times a week consistently. I've still got maybe seven pounds left of my Freshman Fifteen (it's totally a real thing) that I'm working on, but it's tricky to get in exercise when I'm not part of a gym here in Michigan since I'm only here for the summer. That means my options are pretty much bodyweight exercise or running, neither of which I'm too fond of.

+ Develop at least another hour's worth of material for kickboxing class. Starting in August, I'll be teaching a class every single week! I really want to keep things fresh for my participants so we're not doing the same routines every week but I'm not the best at writing new routines quickly. That's why I want to plan ahead and get plenty prepared this summer!

I think that's plenty for now! So in two weeks or so, we'll check back in and see how I'm doing on all of these!

What are your goals for the summer?

Curated Weekly / 15

Oops! I just realized I missed the curated post last week because I was too busy packing up to come home to NC for spring break. Well I'm here and my spring break is just about over (cue sad face). I've spent the week with my brother, but mostly by myself since he's been in school. I am definitely an introvert but it's been really weird to have this much time to myself! Right now, I'm visiting H at his school. Yay!

ALSO. I chopped off my hair. Check it.

• Bright and bold color combinations [Rekita Nicole]
• 18 ways to strengthen your intuition [MindBodyGreen]
• I love these icons from Creative Market
• 20 make ahead lunches for work [The Sunshine Blog]
• It's okay to be bad at your hobbies [The Dainty Squid]
• Sarah's favorite condensed fonts [A Fine Line]
• How to make your graphics work for you [Kory Woodard]
• 6 steps to a meal plan that will save you money [poverty luxe.]

In case you missed them...

• My favorite blogs and websites
• How to spend more time reading
• Handcrafted gift ideas for ladies you love

I love this super fancy 'ooh la la' print from The And So Collection.

Next week is H's and my anniversary and so I thought I'd get a little mushy and share some songs that make me think of our love. Listen here.

• First Day of My Life / Bright Eyes
• You Belong to Me / Carla Bruni
• World Spins Madly On / The Weepies
• You Remind Me Of Home / Ben Gibbard
• I Won't Give Up / Jason Mraz
• These Arms of Mine / Otis Redding
• Just You and Me / Zee Avi
• Free Bird / Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Wanted / Hunter Hayes
• You Are The Best Thing / Ray LaMontagne
• Anyone Else But You / The Moldy Peaches
• Do You Remember / Jack Johnson
• At Last / Leftover Cuties
• Nothing Was Stolen (Love Me Foolishly) / Phosphorescent

This week, I'm heading back to school, back to work, back to life (ewwwww). I have a big chemistry exam on Tuesday and my big goal is to study hard and ace it. Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to take a little break while I'm with H this weekend to study + then study again Sunday afternoon and pretty much all afternoon Monday. This is seriously my top priority because I'm not the best at chemistry. 

Other than that, in the next few weeks, I want to make a point to have lunch with someone I don't know well/haven't ever hung out with. 

What's going on in your world this weekend?