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?

Update + 4 Random Things

Hi friends! Well that was an unplanned little break in there! Long story short, I've been having computer issues which have been a big pain. But thankfully, my computer's back in action so I am too! Sooo, I just wanted to update y'all on things going on in my life!

1 / I have been spending lots of time in Scripture and it's so wonderful. There's a new app from Proverbs 31 Ministries called First 5 that I really love. In the app, you can set an alarm and then as soon as it goes off in the morning, it prompts you to read through a short scripture reading and devotional. It makes for such an easy starting point to get some Bible reading in every day. I'm going to write a post about my favorite Bible/faith apps soon but for now, y'all should check it out!

2 / I really want to get a hedgehog this fall. I know, I might be crazy. But seriously guys, I've been thinking about this for ages and I just want a little prickly friend. Plus, you can't say no to this. It's just a little tricky to have a pet when I'll be back and forth between Florida (college) and North Carolina (home).

3 / I've decided that stamp collecting isn't just for weird old men. In case you don't believe me, just look at these beautiful coastal bird stamps for postcards. Or these, these or these. Also: did you know you can get stamps mailed to you? Anyone else think that's weird?

4 / I've been loving the global marketplaces that instagram has been featuring. When I was in Provence, France, my favorite thing was always to go to the market every morning. Like the colors and the smells of fresh bread and produce was the happiest way to start off your day! The Souks Market in Marrakesh, Morocco was my favorite!

Alright. There's your daily dose of randomness! I'll be back with some normal posts soon, I promise. Stick around ;)

A Simple Method to Fall Asleep Faster

Lately, I've been testing out a different sleep cycle called biphasic sleeping, which, like it sounds, refers to sleeping in two sections a day instead of one long chunk during the night. To do this, I sleep about 4.5 hours during the night (usually 2am-6:30am) and then take a 60-90 minute nap in the afternoon around 2 or 3pm. Supposedly, according to mostly anecdotal evidence, this can make you feel just as rested as if you were sleeping eight hours during the night, even though it only adds up to six hours (or less!) a day. 

I'm going to talk about this little experiment more in the future, once I've been at it for a little longer. But for now I want to talk about a cool method I've learned to help you fall asleep faster. Before I started this experiment, I was more in the habit of watching Netflix or noodling around on Bloglovin' until I got sleepy (which is horrible, I know). 

So I'm not used to laying around, waiting to fall asleep. I started to get in that irritating mental state where you try to hard to fall asleep that you never get sleepy. You know what I mean? So naturally, I took to the all-knowing google to look for ways to fall asleep faster so I don't have to wait through that waiting period. 

And I found out about 4-7-8 breathing. 

There's a medical doctor from Harvard named Dr. Andrew Weil who developed this technique and he calls it "a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system." And the awesome thing? It's super super easy.

That's all there is to it! Dr. Weil claims that if you practice two sets of four breaths every day for two months, you should be able to fall asleep in around a minute. While I'm skeptical of that, it definitely helps me relax whether I'm stressed or just trying to fall asleep. 

Have you every tried 4-7-8 breathing? 

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?