2017: The Year of Self-Care

Hi friends! First off, thank you SO much for everyone's kind words and encouragement about being back in the blogging world. I would be lying if I didn't mention how intimidating it has been to return. Everyone's kind words have really fueled me. I am so excited about working on this space moving forward! So that leads me to...it is currently February of 2017. Did you set New Year's Resolutions? If so, have you stuck with them? These aren't rhetorical...I want to hear what y'all have to say!

Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe that if you have goals you should set them right then and there. There's nothing magical about waiting till January 1st. But that being said, there is a feeling of a fresh start in the New Year...a new planner, a new batch of PTO ;), etc. I decided that in 2017 I really wanted to work on taking better care of myself.

If ya know me, you know that I like to talk out everythinggggg ad nauseum. So leading up to the start of the New Year I talked through it with friends, family, and coworkers to really pinpoint how I wanted to make self-care work with a few tangible items. 

I do want to add a side note here...I realize that in perspective to a whole lot of people, I take great care of myself. I have access to great medical care, I workout hard, I eat nutritious food, etc...I don't take that for granted. I also am single and don't have children right now. I realize this is the time in my life to set self-care habits. Ok, off my soapbox.

What really instigated this goal was that I was starting to feel the affects of not sleeping enough. Sleeping is incredibly crucial to our overall wellness. When I don't sleep enough I tend to eat more, eat worse, be less productive, and the list goes on and on. I knew that this was weighing on me so I knew that would be my first goal.

I also started to think more about taking better long-term care of my skin. I have been religious since middle school about taking my makeup off before bed and cleansing my face. I started incorporating moisturizer in there as I got older too. I would go through spurts of trying new products but I never made a habit out of it. So there came my second goal. A small aside here...doesn't my Mom have beautiful skin!? I hope it's genetic.

My last goal stemmed from my time pouring into what QUALITY of food I'm eating and how active I'm being. I really started developing food habits. I read every label. I hardly ever eat processed food. I am more mindful of the quality food I'm eating. More on that at a later date! I wanted to see how those changes manifested! So my last goal is getting a physical. I haven't had a physical since my senior year of high school!!!! EEK! I know that it's time for me to check in on my health.

So to wrap up...my overarching goal for 2017 is Self-Care. I plan on carrying this out by...

1. Getting more sleep

2. Taking care of my skin

3. Getting a physical

I plan on doing a post on goal 1 and 2 (Goal 3 is scheduled and that's all there is to say about that), which details what I'm doing to carry forward with those goals. But it's only February! I would love to hear your opinions on my goals. Anything that I should be keeping in mind? Anything I should add to my list?

I will keep checking back in on these goals as 2017 progresses. I am fully committed to these goals. I'm ready to hear what y'all are doing!

December Goals

Hi, hello, good morning! Hope everyone is having a great week! The week is flying by. Frankly, the year is flying by. I cannot believe I'm writing my December goals already. Seriously...how is it already Christmas season!? Don't get me wrong...I don't hate it. Well any who...let's check out how I did on my November goals.

NOVEMBER

1. Buy ACC Championship tickets. Done! This Saturday is the game at Bank of America stadium here in Charlotte. My friend, Max, and I are going and we are beyond excited! He's my Clemson buddy and I'm so thankful to have someone who loves Clemson as much as I do. Go Tigers!

2. Blog more recipes. Eek. Okay, well this was a little rough. I don't even have a great excuse to give y'all. But stay tuned! I did try this yummy cookie recipe...you should definitely check it out!

 

I also made a delicious brunch of Egg Pastries and Scones. I can't put into words how yummy these are!

 

3. Start Christmas shopping. Well, I've started. I've gotten a couple of gifts done but have awhile to go. I put so much pride into getting the right gifts but it's hard when your family has everything they need! Any ideas are appreciated!

4. Panther's game. Done! My cousin (and one of my best friends!) came to visit for the Panthers' game vs. the Redskins. It was a lot of fun and they kept their undefeated record! WHOO HOO! These are the only pictures we took though...

5. Lose 2 lbs....oops. Okay, well I ate this month, that's for sure. But it was fun doing it ;) I will work on this in the next few months! Especially after the holiday saeason.

DECEMBER

1. Celebrate my birthday! I am so excited for this one. My birthday is on Monday. I love my birthday. Even though I have to work this year I am excited to spend time with my parents this weekend and go to dinner with my friends on Monday! 

2. Go Ice Skating. When Max and I went to watch the Clemson game the other week in the city we noticed them building the ice skating rink. I got so excited because I've never been ice skating! I think it'll be so much fun and a great Christmastime activity!

3. Plan for Christmas dinner from afar. Crying already over the fact that I have to work on Christmas eve. Seriously, that's no fun. But I still want to decorate our dinner table and plan the meal like I did last year. I wrote about our Christmas last year. You should check it out!

4. Plan and have book club. I've mentioned this before but we finally made some actual plans. In a couple of weeks we're having book club with my girlfriends from work! We're going to read Girl on a Train. I'm hosting at my apartment so I am so excited to plan. Here are some of my appetizer ideas...

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5. Budget. So I've gone a little crazy with my spending lately. Luckily, I don;t have debt and I still pay my credit card bill off every month but I need reign in my spending, nonetheless. I would love to hear any tips, ideas, blogs, etc. to follow to help me!

Well, there you have it! I love Christmastime so much. I want to savor every single moment of the season. Have a great day friends! Friday Favorites coming up on Friday--see you then! xoxo

November Goals

Happy November 4th...let that soak in. Not only is it November {WHERE DID OCTOBER GO} but it's also the 4th. Time has been flying by lately. Well any who, it's that time again...monthly goals! Full disclosure, goals have been a weak area for me. Time goes so quickly that goals fall to the side a lot of times. Let's see how October went and what's up for November.

October

1. Pack and prepare for my trip. DONE. I talked a little bit about what I packed here. Also, if you missed it I covered the first part of my trip on Monday. Check it out!

2. Figuring out my new routine. I've made strides in this but have a ways to go. I have gotten better about getting on track with working out but quiet time hasn't become a part of my new routine. I hate it, but I'm being honest. Need to work on that.

3. Get dental work done. Didn't accomplish this because of work and trip conflicts but I rescheduled for next week. I'm very big on taking care of my teeth so I don't like pushing this off! Gotta keep those pearly whites in check.

4. Meet up with friends and family in Charlotte. Well, I had the opportunity to meet up with a reader, Laura, which was great! I also planned to meet up with a sorority sister next week so making progress.

5. Book club. Well, that's a hot mess. Trying to coordinate schedules is a headache ;) Stay tuned.

November

1. Buy my ACC Championship tickets. I've made no bones about it, I'm obsessed with my Clemson tigers. This year has been awesome because we're killing it! We're #3 in the AP Poll and the #1 pick in the CFB rankings! I LOVE MY TIGERS!!! That being said, the ACC championship is in Charlotte and I have to be there. I need to go ahead and get my tickets.

2. Blog more recipes. I love writing and experimenting with recipes. It's definitely one of my passions. Working {do I sound like a broken record yet?} makes it hard to cook. I just am so tired after work that I don't feel like whipping up an elaborate meal. I'm trying to work on that this month.

Veggie Pizza

Meatloaf

Faux mashed potatoes

3. Start Christmas shopping. I want to have plenty of time to pick thoughtful and intentional gifts so I try to start my shopping early. Also, it takes less of a financial hit if I start earlier rather than saving it all to the last minute. 

4. Get a good outfit for the Panther's game. My cousin, Brenna, is coming down with some of her friends to go to the Panthers' game! I'm so excited! I'm not a huge NFL fan but the Panthers do have my heart. Also, they're killing it too! My teams are making me proud. This is my first Panthers' game so I want to make sure I have a good outfit to remember the occasion ;) Here is some of my outfit inspiration...

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5. Lose 2 lbs. I've talked some about my efforts to eat cleaner and lose a little weight. Well, I've made a lot of progress. I'll blog about that later but this month I want to add an additional 2 pounds to my lost list. I want to lose it the healthy way that's why I don't set unrealistic expectations for myself. There's been a lot of sweating. I look good, right?

Let's make November a good one! See you back here Friday for my favorites. Love you all! xoxo

September Goals

Ahhh September...in my mind it's fall. I cannot wait! I am in such a good spot in my life right now that I cannot wait to make September great! On the other hand, August goals didn't go that great...oops! See goal 7 and you'll probably know why the other one's fell to the wayside :)

Okay, so I did fine tune my budget and most importantly...passed the Series 7 so the other goals were a flop. But passing the 7 was worth it all!

So September will be the month of productivity.

1.  Get my hair cut and maybe....colored. Stay tuned! Check out my post here to hear my thoughts on coloring my hair.

2. Decorate our living room. Our the furniture is so pretty but there is little to no decor. My plan is to look for some steals to fix up!

3. Create a Facebook page for Post Grad in Progress! I am so blessed to have so many readers but definitely want to get my blog out there more.

4. This ties in with number 3 but I also want to find more linkups to be apart of. Any ideas? I'd love to hear them!

5. Get involved in a Women's Bible Study. I really would love to have a network of girlfriends that have similar values. 

Well, I can't wait for this month! It's the last month of training at work before I'm on my own in my role. This summer has FLOWN BY! Does anyone else feel this way? Well anyways, I'm ready for fall! 

We're halfway there to a 3 day weekend!! Praise. Xoxo 

August Goals

Happy Monday, friends! Some of my favorite bloggers post their monthly goals on their blogs. I'm a very type A goal-oriented person so this is right up my alley. I also think a huge aspect of creating goals is accountability. So, I'm asking y'all to be my accountability partners.

So here we go...I'm ready to make August a great month!

1. My first goal, is to decorate my living room with a new DIY decor idea. Don't worry, once I figure it out I will feature it on here! Here is some of the inspiration for my decor...

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I don't think I'll use this on candles but maybe a vase...I'm not sure. 

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I think this would be great in a more neutral color. It reminds me of looking for sea glass with my Grandma!

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I love this. I love decorating with candles and this looks so simple. It looks like I really like candles haha!

2. Secondly, I want to fine tune my budget. I created a budget before I started my job but it needs to be reworked after being in the real world for 2.5 months. Also, with the craziness of studying I've neglected my budget. I'm ready to get back on track! For budgeting, I use is EveryDollar Budget. I really like it and it's free!

For all those who are into retirement planning and/or finance like myself, I plan on also reworking my portfolio for my retirement account. 

3. Third, I want to buy some "fun" clothing. I cleaned out my closet before I graduated and got rid of college clothing. Before I began my job my Mom took me shopping for work clothes so now I need some clothes for the weekends, dinners, social events, etc. I'll probably hit up the mecca, Nordstrom! I'm thinking a few things along these lines...

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4. I love a good slow cooker recipe. I even had a whole post dedicated to my love for it! I also like to create my own recipes like my meatloaf and my pizza. My goal for August, is to create some fall recipes for the slow cooker...stay tuned!

5. Quiet time is the best way to start my day. I love to read my devotional and read the Bible when I drink my coffee in the mornings. When I started my job, I started working out at 6:30 am classes so my quiet time schedule dissipated. Not an excuse, but it's real life. My goal for August is to figure out a way to incorporate my quiet time back into my everyday life. 

6. Eating healthier is my 6th goal...sigh. I'm great at the whole working out bit but the diet is my ultimate struggle. I know dieting is the key to losing weight but it's easier to talk about then to put it in action. I can go a couple days with eating well then blow it in an hour one random night. Keeping it real, but it's a fear of mine that I'll never get it under control and I'll be unhappy with my weight forever. Hoping August is the month that I make the right diet choices. 

7. My 7th and absolute most important goal for August is PASSING THE SERIES 7. Again, I'm a broken record but I really need this. This is my last opportunity to pass and it secures my job. Please keep me in your prayers! 

Well, those are my August goals. What are some of your goals? Any tips for helping me complete my goals? Have a great day!