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goals

December Dreams/Goals.

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Can anyone believe that it’s already December 5th?! This month flew by! I’m both exhausted and excited thinking about December.

…but I’m already getting ahead of myself. Because I have not yet reviewed my November Goals/Dreams.

November Dreams/Goals:

1. Finish this cleanse. Done! Week four was completed November 14th.
2. Read at least 3 new books, from start to finish! 2/3 of the way complete. Still, I think I did pretty well considering how crazy busy the month of November was. I read The Overnight Socialite by Birdie Clark {which was unusually good, by the way} and The Help by Kathryn Stockett {which I’m going to have to review and dedicate a whole post to}.
3. Have at least one date night a week. Done!
4. Run at least 10 miles a week. Mostly a major fail. It was hard to get my butt moving after work because it was getting so dark out. I ran zero miles this week; 2 last week; 5 the week before; and 12 the first week of November. I really need a treadmill. Sigh.
5. Learn 2 new dinner recipes. 1 out of 2. Only technically learned one new dinner recipe. The second one was cookies. Do cookies count as dinner? I think yes.
6. Continue without caffeine through the month of November. Done! Proud to say I am still going strong without it.
7. Travel to Denver the week of Thanksgiving. Done! It was a rough plane ride and I’m pretty sure BF never wants to fly with me again, but I can check this off my list!
8. Plan my budget for 2011. Fail. Didn’t even begin. And had to do some restructuring of my existing budget.
9. Create a meal and chore plan for the last three weeks of the month to make my work weeks less stressful and my weekends more enjoyable. Done. Made life so much easier!
10. Figure out a way to clear the stress from my life. This is ongoing. But I’ve learned a lot this past month.
11. Help cook our Thanksgiving dinner in Ohio the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We really didn’t do any cooking. So… fail.
12. Spend lots of quality time with BF and my family. Done. It was lovely.
13. Sleep earlier, rise earlier, but sleep more. Done. With the exception of most of this week. Getting back in the swing of real life these past few days has been rough. Other than that, I did really well with making sure I was in bed at a reasonable hour and waking up at an early hour.
14. Reflect and meditate more. Whether that be in complete silence, in yoga, or with a journal. Not at all done. Didn’t even start. Bummer.

Regardless of my November progress, a new month means a new focus and a clean start! I’ve got a lot on my mind for this month.

December Dreams/Goals:

1. Blog on a daily basis from today through the end of December.
2. Read at least 3 new books.
3. Spend Christmas Eve with BFs amazing family and have a fantastic time.
4. Attend my family holiday party and soak up as much family time as possible.
5. Send one hour a week reflecting, writing and/or meditating. 
6. Finally figure out my 2011 budget.
7. Find a way to fit in more daily exercise, even if that means running during my lunch break.
8. Organize my photos on my computer and back them up.
9. Finish my holiday cards and send them out.
10. Bake at least 4 new cookie recipes and blog about them!
11. Continue to sleep earlier, rise earlier and sleep more! 
12. Continue to stay on top of house duties during the week to make my weekends more enjoyable. 
13. Go to at least 1 yoga class a week and create an at-home practice.
14. Start the second part of our detox program.
15. Bring lunch to work every day. Do not eat takeout at lunch at all.
16. Continue without any caffeine through the month of December.
17. Keep a food diary from now until the 31st. Make note of not only what I eat, but how I feel afterward as to better help my stomach issues.
18. Take vitamins every day from now through the end of December.

My list has certainly grown since last month, but I’m confident that I can tackle all of these items! Please hold me accountable!


And now I challenge you… set one dream or goal you would like to set for yourself for the month of December! What is it? 

PS. Have you entered my Mr. Beams LED light giveaway? You should.

November Goals/Dreams.

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A new month brings new goals and dreams. The past few months I’ve been reflecting on the month ahead; solidifying plans; setting little goals to keep myself on track; and most importantly, to be a better me!

November Goals/Dreams:

1. Finish this cleanse.
2. Read at least 3 new books, from start to finish!
3. Have at least one date night a week.
4. Run at least 10 miles a week.

5. Learn 2 new dinner recipes.

6. Continue without caffeine through the month of November.

7. Travel to Denver the week of Thanksgiving.

8. Plan my budget for 2011.

9. Create a meal and chore plan for the last three weeks of the month to make my work weeks less stressful and my weekends more enjoyable.

10. Figure out a way to clear the stress from my life.

11. Help cook our Thanksgiving dinner in Ohio the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

12. Spend lots of quality time with BF and my family.

13. Sleep earlier, rise earlier, but sleep more.

14. Reflect and meditate more. Whether that be in complete silence, in yoga, or with a journal.

It’s safe to say I really struggled with my goals for October. There were some things that I didn’t think about in the grand scheme of things. But here is an update…


October Goals/Dreams:

– Attend at least one yoga class per week. {Not so fabulous. I made it to maybe two, maybe three, yoga classes. Why? Scheduling. I struggled with scheduling this entire month. Between my job, BFs job, the puppies, other priorities, and the unforeseen cleanse, it didn’t work out well. Why did the cleanse prohibit my yoga practice? Let’s just say the cleanse has left me inconsistent as to when I can expect certain things. So I have not wanted to risk it. That is all.}

– Celebrate my birthday in a meaningful way. {Accomplished! I had a lovely birthday, thanks to BF!}

– Run my first 5k in about 3 years. {Accomplished! Finished in under 26 minutes!}

– Cook at least 2 dinners a week. {Not so much. We definitely ate out a lot less in the month of October. But as for me cooking? That was rare. Like, never. OK, maybe once. Maybe.}

– Read 4 new books. {Shamefully, I didn’t even finish one. Not one! This is unacceptable.}

– Attend a sporting event. {Done! We went to a University of Akron football game!}

– Run at least 60 miles this month. {Major fail. I pretty much took the last two weeks of October off. This is unacceptable as well.}

– Spend much needed time with family. {A win! Spent time with BF and the pups, as well as my Mom and Dad a few times. Very much needed!}

– Continue to spend serious quality time with BF and the pups. {See above! Definitely did this.}
– Finally sort through my clutter from my move. {Fail. While I did go through a lot of house clutter, none of the boxes have been touched. But soon they will.}
– Continue to stress less. {First two weeks of the month = Accomplished. Last week of the month = Fail. I started to stress. A lot. And it showed.}

– Bake something new and adventurous! {I baked Gluten Free cupcakes for the first time! And I brought them to a party where GF is pretty much unheard of. They were… interesting. Heavier than a normal fluffy cupcake.}

What are your goals and dreams for the month of November?
{image via weheartit.com}

October dreams and goals.

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A new month brings new goals!

October Goals/Dreams:

– Attend at least one yoga class per week.

– Celebrate my birthday in a meaningful way.

– Run my first 5k in about 3 years.

– Cook at least 2 dinners a week.

– Read 4 new books.

– Attend a sporting event.

– Run at least 60 miles this month.

– Spend much needed time with family.

– Continue to spend serious quality time with BF and the pups.

– Finally sort through my clutter from my move.

– Continue to stress less.

– Bake something new and adventurous!


Here’s a look back out my September goals/dreams:

– Finish the Couch 2 5k program and begin the Bridge to 10k program. Win! We finished mid-month!

– Attend one yoga class at Cleveland Yoga per week. Almost win. I attended three classes. I was away in LA rather unexpectedly for one week, so I missed class that week.

– Spend less time adding events to my planner and spend more time just living at home and spending quality time with BF and the pups. Most definitely a win. My priorities were very straight this month. Lots of QT with BF and the pups.

– Cook more food at home and spend less time and money eating unhealthy food while I’m out. Definite win. And I actually cooked this month! I never cook. BF does. But we shared this responsibility well this month! In fact, I smell something delicious cooking now.

– Go to the Akron Zips vs. Syracuse Orange football game. Lose. It rained that day, so we decided to stay inside that day. Not the worst thing that could happen, right?

– Sort through the clutter from my moves and sell/giveaway the unused items. Lose. I didn’t find (or make) the time.

– Learn to utilize all that my Mac Book has to offer. Lose. I didn’t even begin to do this.

– Find direction and put together a plan. In my own way I most definitely did this.

– Keep myself organized. I did OK at this. It could still use some improvement. Work in progress for sure.

– Read at least 4 new books. Lose. I didn’t even finish one! Ugh! Not cool.

– Stress less. Win. Definite win. I made every conscious effort to keep myself grounded and in the present. And it helped.